Pastor

I am a Pastor.

I am not exactly sure what I want to blog about this, but I felt that I needed to mention it. So, I am mentioning it.

Edgewood Baptist Church unanimously voted me in as the Pastor. I had applied to be the interim Pastor as they were looking for someone permanent, but immediately before the vote someone made a motion to simply vote me in as the permanent Pastor. Someone else seconded it, and before I knew it, I was the Pastor.

It is a small church that isn't currently in a position to hire someone full-time, so they really needed a person to come in and work another job and do this on the side. I saw the need and wanted to fill it if I could.

The truth is that I have been wanting to be the Pastor of Edgewood since 1992... and now I am.

Since I started, my hope has been simple - That I would be God's mouthpiece. Like John the Baptist I am saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease!" I am hoping that my sermons will be full of Jesus and empty of me! In the book of I Samuel, it says that when the prophet Samuel began to speak that God did not let any of his words fall to the ground. That is my hope, that none of my words would fall to the ground.

It has been really good these last few weeks, and we have seen God answer some prayers and move in the lives of some people. Whether or not He is going to do something big, I don't know, but I do believe that He is going to do something.

If you are the praying sort, I would appreciate a prayer or two for the little church in Danville, IL

Life Accomplishment #3

(Given in no particular order...)

I am tops at something!

I had to take the Praxis Test in math, in order to get my SC State teaching license. I was really worried about it for a while, and especially when I saw the study materials. It covers every area of math that is offered at the highschool level: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Probability and Statistics. (And I may have left something out.)

I spent several days at Barnes and Noble, drinking some coffee and studying the practice books. It was well over a hundred dollars each time you took the test, so I knew that I couldn't afford to fail it.

On the day of the test, I told God all of the details and what would happen if I didn't pass. And even though He already knew, he patiently listened to my requests. I was sitting in the room, waiting for the test and listening to the other teachers in the room. Most of them were talking about how many times they had taken this particular test. I prayed some more.

Not only did He help me pass the test on the first try, I also scored in the top 15% of all the people who have ever taken this test. They sent me a letter and a nice little certificate, and I am sure that somewhere my name went into some governmental data base as someone to keep their eyes on. (At least that is what I tell myself.)

Life Accomplishment #2

(Given in no particular order)

I have two great children of whom I am extremely proud.

I need to say with each and every accomplishment that I put on this blog, that the glory of the accomplishment does not go to me. Some people list their accomplishments or achievements as a way to lift themselves up, sort of a self-promotion, or a "look at me" mentality. This is prideful, and frankly its naive. I want to make sure that all readers understand that any accomplishment that I list is purely because of the grace of God. The are in reality, His accomplishments.

Psalm 19 is one of my favorite Psalms, and I am currently going through this psalm in my Bible class at BRCA. I bring this up at this point because of Psalm 19:7, which states, "...The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making Wise the Simple." I love this particular verse because it gives me great hope. You see, I could easily drop myself into the category of the simpletons, but by God's grace, and that alone, I am seeing the fruits of wisdom in my life.

One of these fruits is evident in my children. They are both a pure blessing of God and an accomplishment of God. Here is a picture of them at work with me. I work a part-time job at my church doing some janitorial work. I will occasionally haul them of to work with me, and it is not to run around the halls playing and screaming. They are there to work. There are certain things that they can do, and that is exactly what they do while they are there.

They have done such a good job that my boss has more than once been disappointed that they weren't there because he had a job for them to handle. Their absence also affects me when I don't bring them, because some of the basic jobs that I do take so much longer to get done.

They are both doing great in school this year, which also makes me very proud of them. In fact, most of the time when we go to a friend's house with the children, we will get at least one, "... your kids are so good." We usually shrug it off, but it brings great joy to my heart. Proverbs 10:1 says, "A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother." This is so true.

I am extremely proud of my boys. I am not ashamed at all that they are mine. The one (and only one) hope that I have for them, is that they will turn to Jesus Christ. I genuinely don't care what they choose in life as far as occupation or anything else, as long as Jesus is their Lord.


See the extremely short list of Life Accomplishments

Life Accomplishment #1

(Given in no particular order)

I married the love of my life,
          and I am still married to her.

She was my high school girlfriend. Well, actually she was the high school girlfriend. I had other girlfriends, but she was the one that I would always go back to. She was the girl that I loved.

We got married in 1996, and I have never... Never... had a day of regret. (Surprised honey?) It is absolutely true.

Don't get me wrong. There have been some times that were really difficult. Really. There have been some times that I wasn't sure that we were going to make it.

But God is so faithful. And He is the one who deserves the credit for this accomplishment. He has allowed me to keep the wife of my youth, and what a wonderful blessing that is turning out to be.

In a world that discards marriage so easily. Where people drop out of marriage the way they drop out of heir cell phone contracts, I am so happy that when the going got tough, we didn't give up. I think that I am more "in love" today than I was 11 years ago.


If I am going to list some life accomplishments, then this is the best place to start. Of all the things that I have done in my life, getting (and staying) married is one of my greatest accomplishments.