This is a warning ahead of time that there may be information stored in this blog that could be harmful to your mental health.

I loved last night’s Ash Wednesday Service. Having it outside is the way it should be done, it reminds us that we are part of creation. “From dust we came and dust we shall return!”

The only trouble with the service is the imposition of ashes. It is messy. We mix the ashes with a little bit of olive oil to make a paste. The paste is impossible to get clean. I washed my hands numerous times last night, and then used a fingernail file but there is no way to get rid of the black. I despise dirty fingernails, just a pet peeve of mine I guess, but I don’t like them!

This morning when I woke up there they were again, dirty finger nails. I can’ t have that. So in the shower (insert mental health warning here) I was scrubbing like mad and still couldn’t get them clean so I uttered the phrase to my wife, “Get me a finger nail file and some bleach!” Her look was priceless, and not in a good way. Long story short, bleached the snot out of my hands and along with the fingernail file got my nails clean, much to my relief!

That experience got me to thinking; I wish I spent as much time trying to rid myself of sins as I did trying to get my fingernails clean. If I am honest I am sorry for my sins and wish I didn’t do them, but a lot of times I don’t implement a plan to stop doing them. I ask for God’s forgiveness, sometimes I ask for other’s forgiveness but do I put things into place to clean the mess up. I am painfully aware of how my dirty fingernails make me feel dirty but I am not aware of how my sins can make me seem “dirty” to other people. God forgives me but do I worry about trying to make sure I stay clean.

So this Lenten Season as I remember the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus I am thankful for the forgiveness given to me through the cross. I am going to show that thankfulness by putting some “cleaning” time in on my sins. If it were only as easy to clean my sins as getting some bleach and a fingernail file.

Peace,
Scott

So I am sitting here waiting for my son's dentist appointment to get done and I decided to make good use of the time by posting a blog.

Okay so let me vent here a little bit! I can’t imagine what could go wrong next at the building. The top two choices are a sinkhole or mold spores!! Seriously this has been one uphill struggle since the beginning. Dave, Michelle and I sat down this week to review the building plans since I am going to a seminar on how to build churches next week. They want my input!! Go figure! We realized that our journey to build began Nov. 11, 2004. It has taken over 4 years from start to finish. I need to thank those on the building team for all they have done over the last 4 years and a special thanks to David Welsh and Michelle Gorgol who have co-chaired the team. I couldn’t have done it with out them

Okay, back to what else could go wrong! This week we had furniture delivered. This was unexpected and they called saying we are at the building now come unload the stuff. So we rush down there only to discover it is the identical order from 2 weeks ago! Even the company didn’t know they had shipped it to us. The dimmer switch still isn’t here!!! They say by Thursday! We found out that yes there is an Internet cable running out to the school just like they told us, but no we cannot tap into it because it is a dedicated school line! So now we are scrambling to get the Internet to the building. We have figured out a solution or two, but we may move in with no internet!!!

I’ll confess there are times I just laugh because I think that keeps me from crying! The list of issues we have had from county, zoning, water, etc… would take 3 to 4 single typed pages!!!

So I was writing about this in my journal this morning when I began to read James 5, which was my assigned reading for the day. James 5:7-11 “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
Good words and even better timing!

Just thought I’d share that with you. Have a great week.

Grace and Peace,
Scott

So I am keeping this commitment I made to myself to blog once a week. I wish I could blog more but …okay I don’t wish I could blog more because I would. If I wanted to do I would find the time to do it and I would have stuff to share more than once a week. It is true isn’t it, that we find time for things that are important to us. We say, “Oh I wish I had time to do…” but if we really wanted to do it we would find the time.

I heard about someone who was keeping a food journal. They wrote down whatever they ate. I mean everything from breakfast to the snack, to the cookie they stole from their co-worker. The goal was to help them see how much they really eat every day. I am thinking about doing a time journal, writing down how I spend every moment of the day. I think I may find it a little depressing. I probably waste a lot of time.

The passage in Ephesians 5 rings in my head “make the most of every opportunity.” It is part of a passage where Paul says, “live as wise not as unwise.” How many opportunities have I missed because I haven’t lived as wise but have been unwise? It’s not so much that I have wasted chunks of times; it is the little things that eat away at you. You know 30 minutes watching a show I’ve seen 100 times, staying up just a little late, but then having to sleep in to catch up on sleep. I guess I could go on and on but I won’t, that would be a waste of time.

So my commitment this next week is to watch my time so that I can have the time to make the most of every opportunity.
Grace and Peace.

So I am going to try to blog at least once a week, maybe more that I know some of you are reading. I realized one of the reasons I don't like to blog is because I don't like to write. I am a talker not a writer. My brain and my mouth move to fast for my typing skills. Plus I didn't take English 7th-9th grade because of "the gifted program," so my comma use and punctuation sucks!I've always been self conscious of that, but here we go again...

I was reading in a prayer book for Celtic spirituality stuff tonight and came across this: "The Jesus breath: Anthony called his two companions... and said to them, 'Always breathe Christ'" by Athanasius of Alexandra, Life of Anthony.

That's good always breathe Christ. What a great goal that my every breath, my every moment would be centered on Christ. Shoot, my every thought on Christ.

Reading further on in the book, "What I do is pray. How I pray is breath." Thomas Merton.

Okay, that is really good. Reminds me of the Rob Bell video on Breath. I can't remember it all off the top of my head but what stands out to me is taking a breath is the very first thing we do in this world and the very last thing. Rob Bell made some connection between breath and the name of God that in the Hebrew language they were similar.

Wouldn't it be cool if the first thing we did was offer a prayer and the last thing we did was a prayer. Playing that out even further, every breath we take is a prayer. (It is also a good Police song, note random 80's music reference.)

Maybe a good practice for us would be to slowly breath in and as we are breathing in may we see the presence of Christ in us. As we breath out in a long and slow breath may that be a releasing of our self, a letting go of our worries, fears, sin, whatever. In with Christ, out with us. Just breath.

Made me think, have you ever been out of breath or had the breath knocked out of you. Scary feeling. So is not having God in my life.

Okay enough random thoughts for the day. Share your thoughts with me and have a great week.

Grace and Peace
Scott

Okay, so I’m not that good with this blogging stuff. I want to blog I just forget. I also am not a fan of writing. Grammar issues, and it takes to long, I’d rather just say it. Of course some might say I still have grammar issues speaking as well. Oh well, here goes another stab at this blogging stuff.

I got two things today that made life so much better. First, two of my favorite authors (Tim Dorsey and Carl Hiaasen) came out with new books today. Both of the books downloaded into my Kindle overnight. It is so good just to escape into the world of fiction and laugh. Sometimes we just need to laugh. Laughter seems to release the tension of the real world. I like to think that Jesus and the disciples laughed a lot. When we life we are enjoying life. I think that is what God wants from us, to enjoy life. Sometimes we followers of Christ take things too seriously.

The second thing I got today is iLife 09 and iWork 09. Okay so I am a Mac junkie, but these new programs are in a word AWESOME! Love them. As I was playing with them tonight I got to thinking wouldn’t it be great if we could order new software for our life. You know just get an upgrade to a new an improved version with new abilities, etc… It’d be great. We don’t get upgrades we have to work at it. The computer is simple put in a cd, click install and upgrade. For us we have to work at it. We put in the time in the gym. Eat healthy. Spend time reading scripture, attending seminars, counselors, etc…. all to get an upgrade. It would be nice just to have a cd for a new and improved me. Yet I think sometimes it isn’t the upgrade that is important as much as it is the journey that gets us there.

Well those are random thoughts for tonight. I am working on this blogging stuff. Hey if you are reading this let me know.
Peace out!

So I voted today. I like the early voting. I can vote around my schedule rather than trying to cram it into a Tuesday. I voted because I am a good citizen, not that I think it really matters which is kind of depressing as I sit here now and reflect about my vote. I voted because I am a good American, that’s my duty, my privilege, and my right. But did my faith matter in my vote? Does my walk with Jesus depend on my vote?

If you listen to some folks (preachers, politicians, pundits) yes it does. Who you vote for President, or which amendment you support seems to say something about your walk with Jesus. As I voted I voted for whom I thought was the best choice for president, yet I don’t think he fully represents my faith. Of course if I had voted for the other guy I would have felt the same way. I don’t think either candidate fully embraces Kingdom of God values. So I selected a leader of a “Christian Nation” who I don’t think will fully represent Christian values. Something seems wrong with that. Yet not voting seems wrong to, so what is a follower of Christ to do?

So I voted today and I prayed for our nation. Maybe this is what a Christ follower is to do!

I was listening to a sports radio show today when the guy said, “Going to a baseball game today is like going to church. You get there and if you are under 40 you start looking around and see that there is no one there like you. It’s not hip, or exciting, it’s for old guys. Baseball isn’t reaching the younger generation. They are going to the NFL, NASCAR, or even the NBA.” The talk show host was pointing out why the baseball playoffs were on TBS, because the major networks knew that the number one target audience for advertisers, males 18-34, wouldn’t be watching. The big networks see baseball as the thing of the past, just like the church, according to this one talk show host.

The trouble for me is the talk show guy is right. The church does a poor job of reaching the under 40 male. If we are honest the church does a poor job reaching the under 40 crowd in general. Why doesn’t the church reach the under 40 crowd? Is it because like baseball the church hasn’t changed with the culture? Is church irrelevant to contemporary culture?

The church has become synonymous with being so against culture that we can’t reach those in the culture anymore. Like baseball if we don’t figure out a way to reach the younger generation we may find ourselves slowly fading from the national spotlight, or perhaps we already have.

Scott

Random thought: Go Rays! The World Series comes to Tampa, sorry Boston. Can you believe the Rays may win the World Series before the Cubs!

Some statistics I got from a book I was reading, “Jesus wants to save Christians”
• American has less than 5% of the world’s population and owns 20% of the world’s wealth.
• One Billion people do not have access to clear water every day, while every day the average American uses 400-600 liters of clean water.
• Every 7 seconds, somewhere in the world a child under 5 dies of hunger, while Americans throw away 14% of the food we purchase.
• More than half of the world lives on less than $2 a day, while the average American teenager spends nearly $150 a week.
• 40% of people in the world lack basic sanitation, while 49 million diapers are used and thrown away in American every day.
• Americans spend more annually on trash bags than nearly half the world does on all goods.
Those are some sobering statistics for me, and they should be for you. As the author of the book says, “This isn’t about guilt. Guilt isn’t helpful. Honesty is helpful. Awareness is helpful. Knowledge is helpful. Guilt isn’t.”

“God Bless America?
God has.
And we should be very, very grateful”

by, Rob Bell, “Jesus wants to save Christians.”

Really very challenging to me. Reminds me to be grateful, but more than that I hear the scripture passage of Genesis where God calls Abram and tells him that God will make him a great nation and will bless him and he will be a blessing to others. It got me to thinking, are we a blessing? Are we taking what God has given us and blessing others, or are we complaining about what we don’t have?

Something to chew on.
Scott

Random thought: Could the Rays actually beat the Red Sox? Shocking! I’m loving October baseball.

The question and answer stuff in worship is a lot of fun for me, but it is also stressful. You don’t know what the questions are, and I am always afraid that I am going to say something off the cuff that will come out the wrong way. So I hope if someone was caught off guard by a statement that they will follow up with me.

Even though the Q&A was to wrap up the Sex Series, I thought one of the best question came from the 9:30 gathering, “How can I keep my faith when I am at my wits end?” That is a real struggle for a lot of us. There is so much going on in our lives and God can feel so far away. After taking some time today to reflect on that question I am still sticking with my answer from Sunday.

The answer? You keep doing the things that brought you close to God in the first place. You don’t quit, you don’t give up, and you keep seeking God. Too often what happens is with all the stuff happening God gets put towards the back of the line, and then we wonder where is God, why doesn’t God feel close? Why isn’t God helping? Put God back at the front of the line.

What’s hard is sometimes you do all the stuff you were doing and God doesn’t feel close. In fact it feels as though you’ve only added more stuff to your plate, not less stuff. At that point you’ve got to question, why isn’t God speaking to me, why can’t I hear God, what’s going on? The answers may be difficult because I am willing to bet you are like me, and it isn’t God’s fault it’s mine. I’m too busy to listen. I’m too wrapped up in my stuff to hear. I don’t like God’s answer. I don’t want to do what God wants me to do. Or the worst one, “God, I know I need you in my life, but right now I can’t stop and deal with you I got my own stuff going on.”
Just some thoughts.

Random thought of the day: Don’t you feel sorry for Cub fans!

So one of the things I learned today that was challenging to me was, “You have 30 seconds to make a first impression.” Man that is short. That means when someone first meets me in 30 seconds they have formed an opinion about me that will stick with them. In fact the facilitator today said that it takes 20 other positive experiences to overcome a bad first impression. Talk about pressure about always being on your game!

Then I realized the impact this has on COF. 30 seconds, that means from the parking lot to the greeters is the most critical time. Guests who are coming for the first time are clearing forming an impression by what they see in the first 30 seconds. Do we greet them? Are we helping them find where they need to go or do they have to figure that out on their own? Do they feel welcomed? Do they notice people like themselves or are we different from them? Are there signs directing them? Are there smiling faces? What kind of first impression do we make, and this is before they get to worship?!!

I guess it really is true you never get a second chance to make a first impression. If folks don’t have a good impression of COF they aren’t going to check us out 19 more times to see if we get better, so we had better be good on the first time!
Just some thoughts I am chewing on!

Peace,

Scott

Random thought…
Why can’t the whole baseball season be as exciting as October baseball?!! That’s all I’m saying.

I have to learn to hit the right button so you can leave comments! My bad.

Scott 

It is my goal to do better on writing on the blog. Perhaps this generate some discussion at COF. I hope to hear from you on the blog, and I will do my best to communicate with you via the blog.

I am attending a training session this week on how I can become a better leader. Some thoughts from today’s session that really stood out to me:

“If you are not willing to grow, you are not fit to lead!” WOW! That is awesome. Leaders have to be growing, changing, adapting. Because if we aren’t we aren’t leading anywhere we are staying put! One of the things that I appreciate about Glen Loy is he is almost 70, been doing ministry for almost 50 years and still he looks for opportunities to learn and grow. I hope I am that way at 70!

It’s not only “leaders” that need to be growing, but “disciples” as well. One of the core values at COF is “We believe faith is a journey not a destination.” There is always, always, always, the next step on the journey. We are constantly growing and changing. The key is how are we changing and growing. Are we moving closer to Christ on our journey or further away? Are our decisions, actions, empowering us to grow in our faith, or are they taking energy and resources away from our growth in Christ? Just some thoughts to chew on for today.

What is the next step for you on your journey of faith?

Random thought for the day:
I don’t like tea! I like coffee. Coffee is driving, energetic, bold, like the bass guitar. Tea is fruity, soothing, weak, like the harp! That’s all I’m saying.

Last night was a great service, and if you weren't there you missed a powerful moment in the life of our church with our prayer and healing service. A special thanks to Megan Z and her team that organized this event. I am looking forward to the prayer and healing service on August 6. When we gather to pray God moves in a mighty way.
Back to questions of the week: "If you believe Christ died for you, but do not change your worldly ways or thoughts are you saved?" That's a great question because there are so many issues in it that I could spend pages on writing the answers, but I won't.

First, to the issued of "saved." That's just a word I don't like in our faith because it automatically leads to saved from what? Which the typical answer is that we are saved from hell. Yet I don't believe the only reason Jesus came and died on the cross is so we can get the "get out of burning in hell free card." I believe that as it says in John 10:10, "He came that we might have life and have it abundantly." Salvation is much more than where we spend eternity it is about how we live now. We can live the best life possible when we align or orient our lives to Jesus's way, when we live according to God's unforced rhythms of grace.

So with that said to answer the question, I do think how we live our lives is an indication of our relationship with Jesus. So what are "worldly ways?" I think our faith and how we live it out is much more than don't drink, cuss, smoke or chew or go with girls who do! Living the way of Jesus and letting go of worldly ways means not responding to evil with evil, it means forgiving those who hurt us, it is taking care of those in need, it is reaching out to lend a helping hand, it is praying for one another, it is carrying each other's burdens, it is letting go of the past, it is taking a day to rest and honor God, it is offering a way that is different from our got to have it now consumer culture. That doesn't answer the question but yeah I think if we don't change our ways and are not constantly work at orienting ourselves to Jesus then we will miss out on living life to the fullest. What that means for our salvation, I'll let you and God figure that one out. For me and my house, we will serve God and try to put God first in all we do.

Okay so I got to do something really cool yesterday. I sort of broke a rule, shocking I know, but late Thursday afternoon the boys and I went out to the property to "inspect" the work. They climbed the pile of dirt, I walked the site. When I got to the back area I saw the stakes and realized that they had marked out the building and begun to flatten the ground around it. Well I know the blueprints pretty well so I could figure out where things were. I went and stood where I hopefully will be preaching from in a few months. I got to tell you it felt pretty good! It will be nicer once there is a floor, walls, air conditioning, bug control, etc. But it felt good.
Then I had one of those moments where I began to think about all that will happen there. I wondered how many people will accept Jesus there in that space? How many folks will begin their journey of faith right there? How many weddings will I do there? How many marriages will begin, and then I thought how many marriages will be saved in this building because the husband and wife connect with Jesus? How many funerals and memorial services? How many baptisms? How many, I mean the list could go on and on and on. But it is pretty awesome to think about all that God will do in that place that right now is just a 100 by 200 marked off piece of dirt!

With that said we need to pray for all that God will do, for all that God is doing, and for all that God has done. We need to ask for God to continue to guide us and lead us on this journey.

Well I really enjoyed the question and answer session last weekend. Plus I got some great ideas for upcoming sermons, and i also thought i will take some time to answer questions that either we didn't get to or only answered at one service.

Do you think God is please with us? Humanity?

Yes and no. I think God views us like a lot of us view our children. Don't your kids thrill you at times, and at other times disappoint you? And it isn't that God is mad at us, but just disappointed. God recognizes our potential, God knows all the good we can do and
when we don't live up to our potential God is disappointed.

Yet at the same time during those moments when we do live up to our potential, when we do live out God's calling i our lives God is so pleased. I see God like Eddie Murphy in "The Nutty Professor': "Hercules, Hercules, that's my boy!!!!"

Ultimately I belive God loves us in the good and bad moments! Even when we let God down God reaches out to us in love and gives us another chance. In the end I believe that at the core God is pleased!

So a friend of mine shared a thought with me about the 30 Days To Live series. He said that normally our messages are about us putting others first etc... but this series was more centered on us. Then he said, "If you knew that I only had 30 days to live wouldn't you treat me differently?" Great question and thought. I would treat someone differently if I knew that they only had 30 days. I would spend more time with them, I would be more patient, forgiving, etc... How cool would it be if we treated everyone we meet as though they only had 30 days to live! Of course even if my friend only had 30 days to live I would still count every golf swing!

Don't forget next weekend, April 26/27, is "Question and Doubt Week" at COF. Whatever questions or doubts you have we are going to spend some time wrestling with them at COF. You can email them too me, turn them in this weekend in worship or ask them next weekend. We believe at COF it is in the wrestling with the questions that we grow in our faith!

I hope you will invite someone to join with you this week in worship!! You never know when your invitation will begin the journey that will change someone's life. This will be a great week to invite someone!!! In worship this week take some time to get to know someone new.
See you this weekend, Scott

So they tell me confession is good for the soul! We will see. My confession; last week we talked about the scripture passage from Matthew 6:27, "Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?" I thought I was doing pretty good on this. I don't worry about much aside from how bad is FSU football going to be this year. A friend of mine challenged me, "So you don't worry about the building?"

Well that's been tough to chew on this week. I realized I do worry about the building. I have worried about the building and it hasn't helped. If anything I have wasted hours and added gray hairs over the building, but not one ounce of concrete has been poured let alone a tree being removed. I've worried about when are we building? Are we doing enough or should we push the counties more? Are we pushing too much? Why are they so slow? What should we be doing that we aren't doing? Then I think about COF, I worry about the folks who are irritated cause we aren't doing anything. I worry that some folks will get tired of sitting those seats at the school and tired of nothing happening and move on to other places. I worry that the school will get tired of waiting on us and invite us to leave. I worry that some folks will get angry because they've given to help build the building and see no results. I worry that the garnet and gold color pattern won't make the final cut. (Actually that is one worry I don't have) The rest of the worries I do have and more. I haven't even touch on the "what if" worries.I was reading in First Peter this week and came across the line, "In all this you greatly rejoice, though no for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine. I realized that I need to make some changes. I have made the decision to start seeing the building process not as a frustration or failure but as an opportunity for God to shape my faith, to refine my faith.

So that's my confession. If I only had 30 days to live, if I knew my time was short I wouldn't worry. I would trust God and God's timing.

I hope you will invite someone to join with you this week in worship!! You never know when your invitation will begin the journey that will change someone's life. This will be a great week to invite someone!!! In worship this week take some time to get to know someone new.
See you this weekend, Scott

I am writing to you from where I can see Florida State University! I am in a hotel overlooking the campus! Oh I love Tallahassee in the spring the only time that is better is in the fall when you have a winning football team! I've had a busy week I started the week in St. Simon's Island GA at a conference on how to share our faith, and I am ending it in Tallahassee interviewing college students who want to work at the youth camp this summer.

I am looking forward to getting home to COF and Four Corners tonight. I don't like being away from family, and from friends. Being away from COF reminded me how much I enjoy being the pastor there and how much I enjoy worship on the weekend. I hope you enjoy it as well and that you are sharing that joy with friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc...

There are lots of events happening the month of March with the Blessing of the Animals, BBQ, and all the Easter Stuff. These are great events to invite friends to attend with you. Take advantage of the opportunity and share your faith.

I hope you will invite someone to join with you this week in worship!! You never know when your invitation will begin the journey that will change someone's life. This will be a great week to invite someone!!! In worship this week take some time to get to know someone new.
See you this weekend, Scott