SINgle or SINGle

One afternoon my wife and I were sitting in traffic in Houston Texas, and the license plate on the car in front of us was a vanity plate that said “single.” As we sat there I was looking at that license plate and two words just jumped out at me. The first word that jumped out at me was the word was SIN and the second word was SING. I looked at my wife and I asked her.”Do you think their singleness is just a life of sin or do you think they sing praises to God through their singleness?”She looked at me kind of funny and said what are you talking about? I said the license plate on the car in front of us says “single” and two words just really jumped out at me “sin” and “sing” and I just wonder since they’re advertising that they are single is sin more prevalent in their singleness or do they sing praises to God. This is something that I've thought about, prayed about for a long time and even asked myself, when I was single was it a sin-gle life or a sing-le life? Is this something that you've ever thought about or even asked yourself when you were single or if you are single right now have you ever asked yourself the question of what kind of life are your living? Students/teenagers in your singleness right now have you asked yourself that question? You should because the Bible tells us in first Corinthians 10:31 “So, whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Yes I think this even means in your singleness do all to the glory of God whether you’re single or a single again this is something that I believe is worth examining. Is my singleness singing praises to God? If you look at first Corinthians 10: 23 it reads.” All things are lawful” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Verse 24 continues with; “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” This brings up a good question how can my being single build up? If I'm single and searching for a mate how can I live out verse 24 (that no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.) ₁According to Warren Wiersbe he explains that Paul had one great goal in life; to glorify the Lord by winning the lost and building up the saints. To reach this goal, he was willing to pay any price. He was willing even to give up his personal rights! He sacrificed immediate gains for eternal rewards, immediate pleasures for eternal joys. I'm not suggesting that you give up the pursuit of a spouse or even give up dating. What I am suggesting, be it a high school student, college student, single adult or a single again, is ask this question. Which word represents my singleness the best SIN or SING? It is clear when you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation that God has one central purpose for mankind……His glory. Absolutely nothing else matters more to God than the glory of His name. ₂The simple truth that none of us can escape is God is Creator and we are the creation, God does not exist for us; we exist for Him. If God is created us to glorify His great name, and we are His creation why do we continually try to remove Him from His high position of Creator and God and place ourselves in this position? If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ I ask that you examine it and see are you a follower or do you try to get Him to follow you. If you're reading this blog today and you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ I ask that you contact a church in your area or e-mail me at fluid 2819@yahoo.com and let someone help you discover the greatest and most fulfilling relationship you will ever have. Thanks to: ₁The Bible Exposition Commentary by Warren W. Wierbe ₂Concept and thoughts provoked by Experiencing Christ Within by Dwight Edwards

Four Things That Puzzles Me About People

Just a couple weeks ago I was in one of the local hair salons getting a haircut. There were three stylist, and four customers in the shop at the time. Each stylist had a customer in their chair; I was sitting in the middle chair along the bank of stations. There was one customer seated and waiting along with her approximately 8-year-old son. The lady in the chair to the left of me was talking about having some of the local high school girls in her car one evening. She had more teenagers in her car than she had seatbelts for. They were encouraging her to drive faster as they came upon some railroad tracks so they could go over the tracks fast and get the thrill of feeling airborne. She refused to do so, and then she described how one of the young ladies was urging her on in a very vulgar way calling her a P_ _ _ y . After saying the word P_ _ _ _y four or five times the stylist that was cutting my hair called her by name and said, “ watch your mouth there's a minister in the room.” The thing that puzzles me about that was that none of the ladies bothered to point out to her that there was an eight-year-old boy in the room. Why do people not watch their language around young tender ears? Just a few days after the hair salon incident my wife and I are enjoying lunch at an Olive Garden in Austin when a couple with a child came in and were seated at the booth behind us. The first thing the waiter did was offer the couple a sample of the house wine. In which they both said, “Yes.” After the free sample the couple both ordered a glass of wine and the waiter continued to refill their wine glasses throughout the dinner service. The thing that puzzles me about this is why parents would continually drink with their children along with them knowing that they were going to get in the car and drive. Another thing that puzzles me about this is why would a waiter or restaurant assume the responsibility for parents drinking with the child just to have a sale of alcohol? The third thing that puzzles me about people is why some people will trust someone that is holding the door open for them and just walk through the open door and others put their hand out to keep the door from closing on them but it is very clear that the person holding the door is not letting go of it. Is this a trust issue of the people that are putting their hands out to keep the door from hitting them do they suffer with trust issues? What about the people that keep their hands in their natural position and continues to just walk through the door trusting the person is not going to let the door go on them? Side note on this I have noticed that when I hold the door open for someone at church I never have anyone put their hand out to keep the door open, puzzling. The fourth and final thing that puzzles me is that when students (that go to Church) get in trouble, outside of the church, one of the first things they are grounded from is church. Why? Yes I know that we have fun in youth group but youth group is more than just fun activities youth group is a time and a place where we try to instill Godly character and responsibility into the students so that puzzles me why a student would ever be grounded from church. Why not take their phone or iPOD away, or television or other electronics, or make them come straight home from school and be in their room? Why would you want to keep them from coming to youth group and hearing how they need to respect authority, make wiser choices, etc.? A place where Christ can get a hold on their heart and change the way they think about the rules at home. If we keep even the small group time a priority in our lives perhaps the students would see the God is important and they need to pay attention to what is being said as it is scripture and very beneficial to their life. What are things that puzzle you about people? And what do you think about the four things that puzzle me about people? Please feel free to respond to this posting.

Why Christians should be like NASCAR drivers

Good morning! If you are a first time guest of ours today I’d like to welcome you. My name is Charlie and I am the Student Ministries Pastor. Back in February I had the opportunity to enjoy watching my favorite sport. You see I'm a NASCAR fan. The bad thing about NASCAR is the races are typically held on Sunday afternoon so I really don't get the chance to watch that many races. The Daytona 500 is the race of races for the year. The Daytona 500 is the championship race, what is unique about this is it's also the first race of the year. If you're not a NASCAR fan let me tell you just a little bit about the Daytona 500. It originally was raced right on the beach there in Daytona instead of the track it is now run on. In 2006 the race attracted over 20 million viewers worldwide. From 1971 - 2011 it was generally associated with Presidents' Day week end. This year's Daytona was the 54th running of the great race. Because of the weather conditions during the scheduled 2012 race the Daytona 500 was rescheduled from Sunday to Monday night. It was the first time in 54 years of the Daytona 500 that the race was not only postponed but ran as a night race. Due to the race starting at 7 PM on Monday and a 2 hour red flag the race finally ended Tuesday, February 28 at 1 AM. Richard Petty has won the race 7 times (more than any other competitor), Cale Yarborough has had 4 victories, and Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Gordon all share 3 victories each at Daytona 500. When I lived in Columbus, TX I always enjoyed going out to I-10 on Monday night or early Tuesday morning to see all of the tractor-trailers that had stopped at the rest area that were transporting the NASCAR race cars to the next race in Arizona. As I remembered this while watching the Daytona 500 I began to think that Christians should be like NASCAR drivers. The Daytona 500 this year was plagued with delay after delay for the first time in its history it began on a Monday night and through rain delays and a 2 hour red flag delay due to a fiery crash where over 200 gallons of jet fuel had spilled onto the race track and was burning. I noticed these drivers, with chaos all around them, were focused on the prize at hand. Knowing they would run another race the next weekend in Arizona they were not packing up their cars and moving to the next race. Even during that delay that caused the race to go into Tuesday morning these drivers were on the track encouraging each other laughing and having a good time. As I began to look at the race in other areas I noticed that NASCAR has one of the largest fan bases in the USA. Then I began to think about what kind of shape these drivers have to be in to run this race, the endurance they have to have. Typically it's a three-hour race consisting of 500 miles. How many of us in this room today think that we can do 500 miles in three hours? I will tell you I'm not cut out for it. Like me, there are many types of NASCAR fans. There are the ones that can tell you all of the stats of all of the drivers, that's not me. Some can tell you what race is held in what city and when, that's not me. I am the kind of fan that watches for one reason, I watch for the wrecks, to see 10 cars spin out on the straightaway with all the smoke, flying sparks, metal crushing, watching for someone to drive through the middle of it without being touched! To me it is fascinating! Yes, I even like it when the cars come off of the track to the infield, hit the grass and speed up like a rocket, and sometimes they even go airborne! To me that brings NASCAR alive! So I began to think about all the similarities between NASCAR drivers and Christians and the more I thought about them the more I thought Christians should be like NASCAR drivers. They have one of the largest fan bases in this country. They stay focused on the task at hand they keep the prize before them not allowing any delays or distractions to keep them from finishing the race. Some drivers will even have to go behind the wall to remove sheet metal from their car so that they can go out and finish the race because there is value in finishing the race. NASCAR drivers are disciplined they're not only disciplined in their physical being in order to drive 500 miles in three hours but they are disciplined in the way that they run the race. NASCAR drivers are constantly in contact with two people one is their spotter that has a vantage point where they can see the whole track. The spotter is able to tell the driver where hazards are on the track. The other person is the crew chief. They’re constantly talking about how the car is running, how it's handling, what kind of adjustments need to be made, always looking to see how they can finish better in the race. So what do you think? Should Christians be more like NASCAR drivers? This morning, if you have your Bibles with you, I would like for you to turn to Hebrews chapter 12 where we're going to look at verses 1 - 4. So if you will turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12 we’ll begin with verse 1. “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is been set before us looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God consider him who endures for sinners such hostility against Himself so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted in your struggles against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Why Christians should be like NASCAR drivers Avoiding Hazards That Can Spin Your Relationship with God out of Control This morning I would like for you to look with me at 4 hazardous areas that we as Christians need to steer away from as we run the race God has set before us. The main reason that I am a NASCAR fan and one of the things that brings the race alive for me is when cars are spinning out. I love seeing the smoke from the tires, the sparks from the sheet metal as the cars spin all over the track, cars going in different directions, smacking into the wall, shooting across the infield, like a rocket, and some cars even going airborne. There are many hazards to avoid as you drive through the middle of all the chaos and then to be able to do that and come out on the other side without a scratch on your car is something that seldom happens. Our first hazard is DISTRACTIONS We have the lust of the flesh, or the lust of the eye, or pride of life. These hazards can get our relationship with God spinning out of control. I’d like for us to contemplate a few common activities that most of us participate in that sets us up for spin outs in these areas. What you watch on TV or at the movies is something to really evaluate. Think about your favorite TV show. Is it one that makes fun of the Savior, or mocks Him and what Christianity is about? If it does then this is a hazard that needs to be avoided because once you find yourself laughing at jokes about your Savior, about Almighty God you have just found a hazard that will be causing your relationship with God to spin out of control. What about the music you listen to? Is it music that is encouraging and uplifting or is it music with words that tears down marriage relationships or goes against Biblical standards? If you have even a moment of hesitation this is a hazard that could cause your relationship with God to spin out of control. Teenagers, does your music glorify sex, drinking, or drugs? If it does then you just hit a hazard that will begin spinning your relationship with God out of control. Here's a big one for married men and women; how much time do you spend alone with the opposite sex, someone that is not your spouse? I'm telling you this is a hazard just like the one I described that happens in the race where there is smoke, sparks, sheet metal and all kinds of hazards that you cannot maneuver your way through because this is one that not only affects you but this is a hazard that can cause your spouse or your children to have their relationship with God spin out of control. The other night after doing a little study on this message I was sitting there watching TV and I saw a commercial that I'd seen 1000 times. I’m sure you have seen one similar to it. It’s the first time I've seen this particular commercial but the message was the same as others. It was a beer commercial and the tagline was; drink responsibly and get a designated driver. In my opinion this is not drinking responsibly. It is driving responsibly but it's not drinking responsibly. If you drink so much that you have to have someone drive you home or that you don’t make a wise choice where to be then you are in a hazard and your relationship with God has begun spinning out of control. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying that you should or shouldn't drink. What I am saying is if you do it, do it responsibly and keep your faculties about yourself. Because once you start losing your faculties you just opened yourself up for so many hazards to come your way. (Read article) Some other distractions that you need to avoid are wandering eyes, laziness, gluttony, greed, telling little white lies or stretching the truth just a little bit are hazards too and they will cause your relationship with God to spin out of control. All of these hazards are what I believe verse 1 is referring to when it says, “let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us.” If we aren’t careful the lust of our flesh, our eye, or the pride of life-“we got this Lord, you don’t have to worry”-will create drag in our lives and keep us from leaning on Christ’s strength for the endurance to complete the race set before us. Our second hazard is DEVOTION You are probably trying to figure out how devotion can be hazardous. Well it all depends on what you are devoted to. We need to let go of our hazardous activities and take them to the Savior to deal with. There's a verse in John chapter 4 that used to drive me crazy. I know that God has put every word in this book for a reason. I know that He has purposefully placed every word in this book. So I read every commentary I could find trying to find out the full meaning of the verse. I could never find one that addresses John chapter 4 verse 28. I would like you to turn there with me. John chapter 4 verse 28 says, “So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people”… this is the part that puzzled me. Why did she leave her water pot? After much prayer and a lot of time with God I believe He revealed the answer He had for me. That water pot was heavy and cumbersome. That reminds me of our sins, the hazards that we collide with. The ones we don't give up to God that we keep a hold on. Like the water pot they are heavy and cumbersome and they slow us down. The Samaritan woman left her water pot at the feet of Jesus; which is the second thing that God showed me and I think we need to realize is we need to leave our sins at the feet of Jesus so that we can go quickly. We need to stay in the race and the only way is to continue to keep our eyes focused on the prize. Just like those NASCAR drivers leave the things that slow them down in the pits so they can keep their eyes focused on the prize and finishing the race. Looking back to the 500, typically on Tuesday morning is when the cars are already in Texas headed towards their next race in Arizona. But this time the drivers had their eyes focused on the prize and you know some of those drivers took their cars behind the wall and stripped off damaged sheet metal so that they could go out and finish the race. There is great value in finishing the race even if you don't finish first. You don't want to give up halfway through even when you feel you can't make it anymore. If you feel like giving up on God then those hazards have already put you into the wall and your relationship with Him has crashed. You need to determine what you will choose to give your whole heart to. You can’t drive down the middle of the road. You have to decide which side you will be driving on. Get on the wrong side and you will be driving head on into hazardous paths. To what or whom are your eyes focused on? Verse 2 of our passage tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus. He is our source and is the one who will help us finish the race we are in. Our third hazard is LACK OF DISCIPLINE AND DETERMINATION When the NASCAR driver pulls out on the track he's disciplined, he's in shape. If you are not growing in your relationship with Christ then you’ve spun out and hit a brick wall. It’s not enough to just sign up for the race; you have to participate, to prepare. Without the discipline to answer the call of God and without the determination to follow through with what He has given you then you will get to the end but what have you done while in the race? How have you run? You don’t want to get to the end and not have the reward of hearing your Savior say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” You don’t want to get there and not have any jewels on your crowns to lay at Jesus’ feet. Lack of discipline and determination to run the race well will not cost you your citizenship in heaven but it will cost you your reward. There is a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Keep your eyes straight ahead. What Christ has for your future is more important than what is behind you. We need to focus on our future not our past. We should look at our future then our present, and our past last. The things in our past should compel us to focus on the prize of Christ. Verses 3 &4 remind us why we need to be determined and devoted. (Read verses) Christ shed His blood for us. Have you struggled in your race to be faithful to the point of shedding your blood? Be devoted-none of us have given our all yet. Stay determined –no matter what. Christ faced more in the 3 years of His ministry than we can imagine even facing in out lifetime. HE did it so that we won’t grow weary or lose heart (give up). Stay determined –stay in the race and run it well Our final hazard is SATISFACTION One of the most dangerous hazards in the Christian’s life is being satisfied with where they are in their walk. We compare ourselves with other Christians and think we are farther along in our spirituality than they are. You think that since you are so “mature” that you can forego your quiet time for a few days. After all you get plenty of time in God’s Word on Sunday morning. God understands that you need to sleep in every other Sunday, or that you’ve had a really hard week and can skip Bible Study this week so you can catch up. You don’t need to stretch your muscles too hard you know. Think too highly of yourself and you have just begun another spin out, one that will land you in a pile of mangled metal. Just know that the sign of a mature Christian is that they can honestly evaluate themselves and strive to do better. They understand that to keep from spinning out they need a support team. The NASCAR drivers have one of the largest fan bases in the country. We can see that we as Christians have a fan base as well. NASCAR’s fan base has, only sat in the stands. Our fan base, they've run the good race and won it. Where or to whom do you get your advice from? Is it someone that doesn't go to church or doesn't have a relationship with God? If so you're already spinning out of control. Being in a community that's not authentic you will get advice that is very worldly and self-serving. If you want your relationship with God to spin out of control and crash then at all cost avoid authentic community. Not investing in a community of believers, being in a group where you build trust and develop good relationships with other Christians sets you on a dangerous track. When you are in an authentic community you have fellow Christians who can lovingly encourage you to stay on the right track and help you avoid the crashes. The best way to avoid distractions, be devoted to your relationship with Christ, be more disciplined and stay in the race and run it with determination to gain the prize, and never being satisfied with where you are in Christ is to be part of an authentic community of believers. The Christian who is focused on the prize at hand will not let anything stop him from finishing that race not even when everything around them collapses. Let’s look back at our passage. We see God gives us a word of encouragement in telling us we have a cloud of witnesses that are in heaven right now encouraging us on, watching us run this race. We need to spend time in His Word and learn about the race people like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joshua, any and all that are mentioned in Hebrews 11 so that we can understand why they cheer so passionately for us to complete the same race they have already run. If we look back at Nehemiah, who we’ve been studying about the past several weeks we see that he kept his eyes on the goal. He was devoted to his calling. He did not give into the distracting invitations and stayed focused on getting the wall built. What we will learn from these Old Testament characters is that staying focused on the prize is wholly a matter of values and priorities, living for that which matters most. Not ever being satisfied with our relationship shows we are focused on the prize because as we run this race there are changes at every turn and things that try to cause us to spin out. That each time we resist we sharpen our focus. The more focused we are on the prize the more we see things that try to entangle and ensnare us. We are able to quickly move past them. Do you quench for a thirsting that can only be satisfied by Christ/ IN CLOSING…An authentic community will cheer you on and encourage you to keep going while everything around you collapses. They will go wild as you run to claim the prize. Are you in an authentic community? It is more than just being here on Sunday mornings for church. Being a part of authentic community is being involved in the ministries that take place within this body, being plugged in serving somewhere. You don’t have to be a member of the church to serve in the ministries here. You need to be investing in a small group so that they can in turn invest in you. We have a fan base of an authentic community of believers that have gone on before us and others that are in this room today. We have the best tool ever to complete the race and it's called the Holy Bible we have a support team that is second to none. The NASCAR driver has a crew chief and spotter he depends on to get him through his race as safe as possible and an owner to provide for his needs in the race. Our crew chief is Jesus Christ and our spotter is the Holy Spirit. Our owner and manager is God, Yahweh. Christians should be like NASCAR drivers we should not take our eyes off the prize ladies and gentlemen. If you don't know what the prize is I’ll tell you right now, it's Jesus Christ our Savior and He is seated at the right hand of God. There is no one else, there is nothing else that has the position, the authority, and the ability other Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to keep us from spinning out and crashing our relationship with God.

COMFORT

Little boy-yet a full grown man Looking at his dad At whose side he stands Hero is the name he’s called Touching hands that have worked so hard His passing to his home is no longer stalled What a void, a deep and cavernous loss As the family feels the sting of death The man himself sees the victory of the cross Rest assured dear loved ones your Father really knows best For He’s called your husband, dad, uncle, grandpa and friend To a beautiful place of peace and rest In Him place your life and trust The same as your loved one did His life showed a relationship with Jesus was a must Knowing that the God of love forgave him of his past He walked daily with His Lord His life was strong, sturdy, and steadfast Even at a time of sorrow or pain There is hope in the One who for you died From Him strength and grace you will gain This is what my Dad's life taught He lived to repay the One who gave it all ‘Cause his eternal life at a great price was bought Written by Christian Matlock, My Wife

Are You a Proverbs 31 Man?

As Mother's Day was approaching I began to think about the Proverbs 31 woman. I remember as a single Christian man it was my hope and prayer that God would bring me a Proverbs 31 woman to marry. I believe that most single Christian men would say that their hope and prayer would be the same as mine. After meeting the woman that would be my wife I remember having a conversation with her about the Proverbs 31 woman. She said that this was a very hard and sometimes impossible standard for single Christian women to be gauged by. This made me curious so I began to ask different women their thoughts on living up to or being compared to the Proverbs 31 woman. I discovered most of the answers were aligned with the comments of my wife. As I read Proverbs 31 a question began to develop, “Am I a Proverbs 31 man?” I know what you're thinking, “How did you come up with that question?” Especially since this is a Proverbs that has always been connected, and directed to women. This Proverbs has been preached and will continue to be preached on Mother's Day for years. So how would I come up with a question like this? I believe the answer to this is obvious once you begin to really look at the passages. Proverbs 31, beginning with verse 1: “The words of King Lemuel, an oracle that his mother taught him.” In this verse we see words of wisdom and/or instruction from a mother to her son. In verse 2 we see the providence of who he is; "my son", "of my womb", "of my vows". Verse 3 reads "do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy Kings." In the day that this advice was passed on it was common practice for kings to have multiple wives and concubines. What the mother was advising her son to avoid was participating in adulterous activities that would take away his strength or the ability to rule wisely as a King. Verses 4 & 5 say, "it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted." This mother is not saying to her son that drinking is bad. What she is suggesting is that as a King it is better to rule with a clear mind. Verses 8 and 9 read like this, "Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Here she is telling him to speak for the people that don't have a voice, stand up for the ones that don't have the means. We can see in these first few verses, of Proverbs 31, that these are instructions for a young man on how to live his life free from adulterous activities and this includes such things as pornography and other acts of loose living. “Being sober of mind” is not only talking about having a clear mind to reason and make decisions with but to “rule with a sober mind” will also keep you from all sorts of debauchery from poor judgement. As we move on through Proverbs 31 and get to the end of the chapter in verses 28, 29, & 30 where there are instructions for a man/husband explaining that he should praise his wife exalting her above other women. Let her know that she has done well; and in his eyes is above and beyond all other women. We see, in verse 30, that her true beauty comes from her love of the Lord and how she serves Him. After examining these verses; the instruction for the young man from his mother, and the explanation for the husband who should be praising his wife for her life and dedication to her family, I began to ask myself am I a Proverbs 31 man? Is it unfair for us as guys to set such high expectations on single Christian women and our wives to live up to what this woman has lived throughout her life. Obviously by reading the Scriptures we see that she is not a single woman but is in her later years of life as her husband is an elder of the community. So in reality the single Christian man should pray for a woman/wife who desires to walk the journey to become a Proverbs 31 woman. The husband should pray that he can be the man his wife needs to feel free to walk this road to be the wife/woman she knows in her heart she desires to be. I hope and pray that this question will be one that men will ponder and ask themselves, “Am I a Proverbs 31 man? Do you live up to the qualifications that a man should live up to who has a wife with a desire to live a life of this standard?

A Man I Respect

Today I loaded up my lawnmower. My wife and I drove about an hour to my mom and dad's house. Their grass was in need of being mowed and my dad has not been able to mow it for quite awhile. I mowed the front yard, both side yards, and was in the process of mowing the back yard when I saw mom and dad come out of the house across the deck and begin the slow and long process of coming down the porch steps.
My dad has always mowed his yard and been very proud of his nicely manicured lawn. He would spend almost every hour of every day outside either sitting in his swing, just piddling around the yard, or perhaps in his pavilion polishing the granite countertops or hanging something new that he had found on the wall.
Today dad came out because he wanted to go out and just look at his pavilion. This was only the second time he had made it into his backyard and his pavilion since Thanksgiving some four months ago.
As I mowed the yard I watched my dad slowly make his way just to the edge of the pavilion stand there for just a couple of minutes looking and then he turned and he made his way back to the house. As I watched him go step by step across the brick sidewalk that he and I lay just a few years ago I began to cry. Dad is just a mere shell of the man he once was. It was hard seeing that he needed to hold onto mom as he walked back to the house. Today he struggled with putting thoughts together and forming the words to speak.
My dad, Ed Matlock, is one of the godliest men I know. I can’t say that my dad was the kind of father that I saw reading the Bible nightly or even on his knees praying daily, but what I saw was a man that loves God, serves Him, and praises Him. My dad taught me many lessons of faith growing up. One of the first ones was serving. My dad was a active deacon for 54 years, and he believed that if the doors needed to be unlocked and things set up then we would be the family to do that. If the doors needed to be unlocked well then they needed to be locked as well and so we would stay and clean and lock the doors after everyone had left.
Hebrews 10:25 says for us not to forsake the assembling of one another. This is another lesson that my dad taught me was to meet with my fellow Christians whenever there was a meeting going on whether it was a Sunday morning or night then you needed to be there. If there was one on Wednesday we should be at that one as well, and if someone was doing something in the church they needed support of their brothers and sisters and we should be there to support them as well.
Another area of faith that my dad taught me was giving. He felt if you had something you weren’t using anymore you needed to find someone to give it to who could use it or if you felt you needed a newer version someone could still use the older one and you needed to give it away. He taught me that as blessed as I am God wants me to give something to someone whether I needed it or not. Not only did he do this with material things I watched him do this with his time as well. He gave of his time when others needed assistance, or just someone to sit with them.
Another area of faith that my dad taught me was in giving the first 10% to the church. This was an area that I watched my dad lead our family in many times. It didn't matter if we were broke dad always honored God with his giving whether we were sitting on top of the world or broke he continued to give his 10% to God and praising Him every step of the way.
I give my parents a lot of the credit for me going into the ministry because of the examples that they were for me growing up. Their teaching me to trust in God, to serve Him, to love others, to give my time, talents, money, and even giving away the material possessions that I may have to someone else in need.
Probably the most important thing that my dad taught me was how to be a godly husband. My dad honors my mother and loves her unconditionally and for this I am so thankful. My dad is not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination, but he is a man of integrity, of love, generosity, and so much more.
As I watch my dad deteriorate, his eyesight failing, his mind slowing, and his body failing; I find it hard to watch someone you love and respect the way I do my dad. The peace and the joy that I find in all this is in his future. I know when God calls him home he will be sitting at our Savior’s feet.
Dad, I love you.

A Wife's Call to Her Husband's Ministry

I am at the age most people begin looking at retirement. Imagine the surprise I felt when my husband came to me and said he knew God was calling him into full-time ministry! We had been through a very rough church split and were driving almost an hour to attend a church we believed God called us to be a part of. Changing careers was not on my agenda. I have somewhat of a career working in the public school system and was extremely happy with where I was working. I promised my husband I would pray through it with him and seek God’s direction. He began doing seminary classes and preparing for a new life’s calling. Between my jobs at private and public schools and volunteer church work I have 20+ years experience of working in youth ministry Honestly, I was really surprised at how God worked in our lives and placed us where we are. When my husband was called to be the Student Ministries Pastor at the church we’d been attending it meant moving. A precious individual in our church offered for us to stay with him while we looked for a place to live in Gonzales. The plan was for me to stay in our home except for Sunday and Wednesday nights since they are the specific times of ministry. I clearly remember (a few weeks into this new life) one evening, as I was walking, I felt this deep longing in my heart to be where my husband was and to be with the people God had called us to minister to. Yes you understood correctly, I said us. I almost felt jealous that he was there full-time. Although I wasn’t the paid staff member I knew it was just as much my calling to be involved in the ministry we are a part of. So the next day I loaded up my car and went to our temporary home full-time. It took a few months but God provided a nice house in a great area for us to live in. As tiring as it gets at times driving back and forth to my job, rushing to get home in time for whatever ministry we are a part of that evening, it is exhilarating and so satisfying knowing we are right where God wants us to be, doing what He has called us to do. I know most people would think that we are a little on the “old side” to be working with youth, even the kids tease us sometimes, but I believe at the time He placed us here they needed our laid back personalities to ease them through the changes they were going through. It has been an incredible journey seeing all the wonderful changes God is making not only in our students, but us as well. I fully trust and believe Him when He assures me, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” And trust me it is only by HIS strength that I can keep up the non-stop schedule. To see my husband’s heart break over a situation that a student is going through or the joy that bubbles out of his heart and explodes into the room when he sees a student “get it” or sees them grow in an area we’d been praying for them to change in is just amazing. But then, why wouldn’t it be when we serve such an incredible and amazing God. I can’t tell you that students know and comprehend how much God loves them but I do know if they can understand and comprehend that the love my husband and I pour and pray over them is just a thimble full compared to what God has for them then we are heading in the right direction with them to understanding His love. I love our community and the direction the youth pastors/leaders are heading and know that being on God’s side we are going to make great strides in reaching the youth of our community for Him. I love being a minister’s wife and the privileges that come with it. Seeing God at work up close and personal in so many areas as well as being a part of a team that loves God with all their heart, soul, and mind, and want to encourage those of all ages that when we embrace that we are embracing the most incredible life one could have and be on a journey that never stops being exciting. Look out Gonzales, because God is on the move!!!