When I first began to understand that God was calling me into the ministry, I thought that it was going to be about helping people to get closer to God, have a better understanding of His will,  while providing opportunities for meaningful life service and ministry to others.  I never thought that preaching would be about popularity and that pastoring would be about politics, but it seems that is a lot of what we have made it now a days!

I have been serving the Lord in ministry for the past 25 years and I have to tell you that it is more challenging than it has ever been.  I have always loved the church.  The church was a place of encouragement, comfort, purpose and guidance the whole time that I was growing up.  I was fortunate to have ministers that taught me how to have a personal, meaningful and active relationship with my Savor by investing time in prayer and God’s Word.  This personal relationship sustains me and gets me through the roughest of times.

Church has changed a lot through the years and I am not talking about the change that most people are fussing about.  I am not talking about music, dress or any of the little side issues that the devil has learned to use as big distractions for most of us.  I am talking about heart attitudes, mean spirits and an overall selfishness that seems to convince us that it is all about me, while telling myself that it is about others.

The church is not about me and it’s not about you!  It’s about Jesus and reaching out into a lost, hurt and dying world with the amazing grace that changed our lives so that we can live for His glory.  I am not so sure where we messed this thing up, but if we are all honest, we must admit that we have messed it up.

The question now is this:  What are we going to do about it?  Might I suggest a few steps?

1.)  Stop talking to everybody else about what you like and don’t like and start talking to God about what He likes and doesn’t like!  I mean really – whose opinion really matters here?  If we would talk to God, then we would here from God and if we heard from God, it would have to change our lives!

2.)  Remember:  You are part of the problem or part of the solution and only one of these options allows you to bring glory to God!  (More on this later this week!)

3.)  Get involved, not so that you can share your two cents worth, but so that you can give it your all, because God is worthy and we are needy!  Don’t talk about doing and stop pretending that you are doing it!  Do it – really do it – whatever it that God has called, gifted and equipped you to do.

Hope this helps you in your journey and if you will take the time to take it seriously, you will be amazed at what God can and will do through you!

As weeks go, this has been one big roller coaster ride with ups and downs.  Last weekend was rough, with the devil giving me a pretty good beating.  He knows where it hurts and does not hesitate to hit there.  I thought we might be coming up to the last round, because he just kept pounding relentlessly all week-long!  Several of you that know me, noticed that I was not myself – the spiritual warfare and fight against getting stuck in a rut of depression is the main reason and I found myself leaning on the ropes a few times!

It’s not that there were not a lot of good things that happened this past week.  There were plenty of good things.  Worship was great and I was super blessed to add a good friend to the membership of our church on Sunday.

VBS began and I think we have some of the most amazing ministry volunteers that I have ever seen – they really worked hard to make sure that everything was just perfect for the sharing of the Gospel in a fun, creative and inspirational environment.

God continues to amaze me as He unfolds the mission ministry of Northwood called Gace Place out into our community.  And the faithfulness of the every week and sometimes daily volunteers does more for my spirit than words can say.  We were also extra blessed to have a mission team of 29 teenagers and youth leaders from churches in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virgina to help us with a major organization project that is going to be a huge blessing to our volunteers and shoppers!

I also personally witnessed other random acts of ministry being performed by the Northwood family – several of our men making sure the grass gets cut and looks good for Sunday.  Men and ladies working to make sure that the building is picked up, cleaned and comfortable.  All ages doing little things that make a big difference in other people’s lives.

Right now, I am sitting in my back yard, listening to the crickets.  I have just watched as the sun went down and the night-time begins to fall around me and as rough as parts of this week have been, I can’t help but to focus on how great this week has been.  You will notice, I did not mention any of the negative things that the devil used to punch on me with, because those things don’t really matter.

Even when the devil is attacking, especially when the devil is attacking, you can count on the fact that God is present, working and performing miracles that will use the attacks of the devil to grow us for God’s glory and man’s blessing!

Well, I guess I better go inside, my girls are calling – they say my Father’s Day present is ready.  It must be something good, if I am getting it a day early – see it just gets sweeter and sweeter and one day it’s going to turn to sugar!

I hope I get to see or hear from you during this next week and I pray that something I do or say will motivate and encourage you into a closer walk with the One Who loves you more than you could dream or imagine!  God Bless & Press On!  MJH ><>

It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people are willing to work together!  Almost everyday of my life, I have the blessing of watching lives impacted and made better because a small group of people are willing to work together.  I am sad to say that I also on an almost weekly basis see lives that miss getting impacted and made better, because of people not working together.  I can’t help but to believe that the one makes God smile and the other causes Him to frown!

I want my life to bring a smile to the face of God, so I am in a fresh and new way dedicating myself to doing everything that I can to work with others in bringing glory to God and blessing to others!  God has been so good to me and I want to do and be good back!  I would love to join you and have you join me, so if your are really interested in doing something to bring a smile to the face of God, let me know what you are up to and how I can help and know that you are welcome any time to join me in the things that God has me doing!

Now before we go, let’s think about the top three things that get in the way of our working together for God’s glory:  1.)  It’s Not My Idea!  If it’s not our idea, then we sometimes have a hard time getting involved and helping others.  2.)  It’s Not The Way I Would Do It!  If you are not going to do it my way, then I’m just not going to participate!  3.)  It’s Not Something I Want To Do!  If we don’t want to do it, then most of the time we won’t do it!

You will notice in each of these excuses the “I/My/Me” attitude!  This attitude will get in the way of working together every time!  The old saying is true:  “There is no “I” in “Team”!

Today, I have been blessed to see 29 teenagers from other churches come into Grace Place and work together as a team with our Grace Place team to help us take some major steps in getting our storage area better organized.  It may seem like a very insignificant thing, but it will be a huge thing when we get ready to switch the GP Store from summer to winter!  We are getting things accomplished together that we just could not do even with the very faithful, dedicated and hardworking crew of ministry volunteers that give all they’ve got and then some.

The really beautiful thing is seeing the “Us/Our/We” attitude instead of the “I/My/Me” attitude!  Glad that God let’s us be a part of His team!

God Bless, Press On And Keep It Real!