Everyone has questions. We ask them everyday. My son came in the other day with this funny list of questions. Thought I’d share them with you and then add some that are a little more serious at the end.

• When a cow laughs does milk come up its nose?
• Why is abbreviation such a long word?
• When you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?
• What was the best thing before sliced bread?
• Do you need a silencer if you are going to shoot a mime?

• Why do I think I know who God gives His grace and mercy to?
• Why do I sing if it’s not coming from the heart?
• Why do I talk about holiness and purity, and then welcome the filth and immorality into my home through the television?
• Why do I expect more from others than I do myself?
• Why am I not reading my Bible regularly if it’s supposedly so important to me?
• Why do I give if it’s only out of obligation?
• Why do I live, talk and act one way on Sunday, and another way at work on Monday?
• Why do I carry my cellular phone everywhere but can’t remember to take my Bible anywhere?
• Why do I hold these $5 petty grudges and grievances against others when God has forgiven me of millions of dollars of moral debt (Matthew 18:21-35)?
• Why aren’t I more excited about getting to heaven?
• “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be; When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.” Why wait till then?!

What “why” question can you add?

How about a little fun today. Here are 10 quotes from some of my favorite movies of all-time. Can you guess the movies?

If you frequent my blog, surely you’ve noticed by now that I love lists. I’m a list guy. I make “to do” lists nearly everyday. When I start thinking about preaching, I often think of lists. Even blogging has become a list thing. I especially love “Top 10″ lists. Remember these?

• Top 10 Reasons I’m Excited about Heaven
• Top 10 Worst Christmas Gifts … Ever
• 10 Things I Wish My Wife would Whisper in my Ear
• 10 Ways to Put Someone to Sleep during the Sermon
• Then there were 8 Signs you are Growing Up Spiritually (Okay, so I was two short)

So I got to thinking of some other things I’d like to share and sure enough, I ended up with another “10 Things” post. So when it comes to lists, like them or not, they are here to stay on my blog.

Here are 10 Lessons I’ve Learned in Ministry…

1. It’s not a job. When you begin to see it as just a job you need to get out of ministry and do something else.
2. You cannot please everyone, nor can you make everyone happy. So don’t sweat it.
3. Church bulletins are a necessary evil. They are a pain in the neck, but you cannot over-communicate with your congregation.
4. Get out of the office and among people. You can’t sit in an office all day and do ministry.
5. Sometimes you have to let people leave the church. For example, Jesus allowed the rich young ruler to walk away. Another example, the space shuttle has to lose some of its parts to make it into space.
6. There’s a fine line between faith and stupidity. Knowing the difference can make all the difference.
7. You can’t do everything, so don’t try.
8. It’s okay to rest, relax and sometimes go hide. Jesus did.
9. Seek wisdom from others. There’s some smart people out there.
10. Far more important than your ministry and only second to God is your family. Don’t neglect them.

So, what are some things you’ve learned from doing what you do?

Wow, what a weekend. I left Friday afternoon with a big group of teenagers to go skiing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After two hard day’s of skiing, two short nights of little sleep and getting in last night at 1:00 a.m., I’m wiped out. I kind of feel like I’ve been run over by a large truck.

Can you think of any more “When I was a kid” sayings?

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as [...]

I’m an early riser. It’s my favorite part of the day. It’s still dark outside, I’m finishing up my 3rd cup of coffee and my quiet time has ended. I need to start dragging boys out of bed for school. I’ve a few things I need to tell you about and then, as promised, I’ll [...]

Wanna snuggle on the couch and watch Sportscenter? The Deuce is my favorite restaurant too. Wanna go there now? You ought to upgrade your old mp3 player and get you an IPod Nano. The mufflers sound great on your pickup, but are you sure they are loud enough? Can I go running with you today? [...]

If I was wanting to bore someone to death or put them to sleep during the sermon, here are a few things I might try: Use big words that no one uses in everyday life. Don’t use humor. Don’t make any life applications. Don’t challenge me or encourage me. Quote tons of scripture and don’t [...]

We’ve been needing to remodel our church auditorium for some time now. As of Thursday morning, the remodeling project has begun, like it or not. You see sometime during the night Wednesday, a water valve broke in the balcony above the auditorium and flooded the balcony, auditorium and basement of the church building. Major water [...]

A year or so ago while on a trip, my family of six ate at a nice sit down restaurant. It was one of those “order off the menu” places. When the food came we all enjoyed a good tasting meal, but 3 of the 4 boys said, “We’re still hungry, is there anything else [...]

Lea There she is. My valentine. The love of my life. I am rich in marriage. Money can’t buy what I have. I have a soul mate and someone I can trust. I am minutes away from open arms at anytime during my day. She is my confidant, friend and lover. I have what all [...]

My 5 year-old son Cooper, climbed up in my lap last night with three books to read: The Giant Jam Sandwich, Owly and Great White Sharks. Usually included in his stack of books to read is “The Three Little Pigs.” I think he likes it because dad can do a pretty mean “Big Bad Wolf” [...]

I really enjoyed preaching yesterday about memorial stones. In Joshua 3 and 4 we are told the story of when the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan River into their new promised land, Canaan. God stopped the flow of the Jordan so that the Israelites could cross the river on dry land. As they [...]

Lea and I have always tried to attend marriage seminars, His Needs/Her Needs training and other things that build our relationship. I think every couple will agree, “We want the best marriages possible.” If my marriage is bad, I want to make it good. If my marriage is good, I want to make it great. [...]

1. I Don’t Like Church 2. Trey, Tell Me God Won’t Take My Baby 3. Real Church 4. A Few Things I Think About Grace 5. Toilet Lids, A Male Bonding Weekend & God’s Will Tomorrow we’ll finish up some “family’ things as we look at marriage.

As I was leaving the cemetery yesterday following a funeral I had a man shake my hand and say, “Hell of a funeral, preacher, hell of a funeral.” Wow, that was a first. I really believe he was trying to pay me an honest compliment. One of these days I’ve got to write a book [...]

Nothing is more important to me than raising my 4 boys. And as a dad, I don’t want to be “just a father,” I want to be an “unforgettable father.” So how can I become an unforgettable father? Where do I go to find an example of an unforgettable father? What can I say to [...]

I’d like to focus some posts this week on families. We’ll be covering a few things like parenting, marriage, and traits of healthy families this week. I want to start the week off with a powerful video. Since we are such visual learners it makes videos, such as this, a great teaching tool. Watch, think [...]

For the past two weeks the media has only focused on the fact that, for the first time ever, the two Super Bowl coaches are both black. The following is another story that I found about the similarities between the two coaches that you probably won’t see in the paper. I thought it was extremely [...]

Many people are uncomfortable with the words change and church being in the same sentence. Some people are comfortable with the way things are, and don’t want anyone changing things up. Many Christians want things only done one way. Because of this many people have often come to blows over change in the church. Some [...]

(Push Play & Laugh: only 41 seconds long)

I love a good quote. I have a lot of favorite quotes … here are four of my most favorite: “Preach always, if necessary use words.” ~ Saint Francis The biggest difference between you and God is that God doesn’t think He’s you.” ~ Anne Lamott “Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with [...]

I heard it again this week. Someone was speaking negatively about the church. Seems lately it’s the “in” thing to beat up on “church.” For example, recently a lady told me, “I love God. I love Jesus, but I don’t see any need for the church. Besides, the church is nothing but a bunch of [...]

Kassidy, my friend… Here’s Sunday’s sermon you asked for. You’ll be proud, I’ve finally learned to post them myself. Thanks for all you’ve done to help. You’re the best!PS – Make sure you have a pillow close by while listening to it … it’ll make you sleepy

Well, it happened. I’ve been tagged by a couple of new “blogger” friends. Actually, I wasn’t sure what that meant at first, but from what I’ve now been told, that means I’ve got to reveal 5 things about myself that others in the “blogger world” might not know about me. So I guess I’ll play [...]

I’d like you to meet Jax (or “Jaxion” if you ask his mom). Jax , is the 11 month old, only son, of our youth minister Nate and his wife, Kristin. Jax likes to talk. In fact Jax likes to talk a lot. He doesn’t really use any words, but he can babble with the [...]

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.” ~Psalm 103:3 Today 68 million people will use Yahoo, Google and other search engines to search for “free porn.” Unfortunately a very small number of people will search for something that will help [...]

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (sermon link) Sunday I talked about how the early church was a “devoted” church. One of my points is that “church” to them was not a fad, it was a committment. Fads have come [...]

“Well It Finally Happened” That’s the way it’s been feeling around here. After a week of freezing temperatures and a huge ice storm that shut everything down, the weather men are now calling for a massive snow storm to hit this area Friday night and Saturday. Six to ten inches of snow is predicted. Don’t [...]

Wouldn’t it would be a lot easier to enjoy your life if there weren’t so many things trying to kill you every day? The problems start even before you’re fully awake. There’s the fall out of bed that kills 600 Americans each year. There’s the early-morning heart attack, which is 40% more common than those [...]

Growing up, I remember my brother and I laying in the floor watching the Atlanta Braves play baseball on TBS. It was the only baseball that was on television at the time. We watched every game we could. I also remember whenever the Atlanta Braves played the Chicago Cubs it was always a day game. [...]

Wow, did we ever get hit with a major ice storm this weekend. Our usually busy town of Childress has been shut down for the weekend. School has already been cancelled for Monday. Church services were cancelled about an hour before they were supposed to start. Man, I had a great sermon prepared for this [...]

The following is another video about “Team Hoyt.” An interview with both Dick and Rick. My favorite part is about 5 minutes into the video when they asked Rick, “what’s the first thing you’d do if you weren’t handicapped?” You know what he says? Sorry, you’ll have to watch it yourself. It’s much more powerful [...]

If you’ve never heard of Dick Hoyt and his son Rick, you’ll be absolutely amazed at this father’s love. I was moved to tears the first time I saw it, and again last night getting this ready. It’s too good not to share with you. Together, Dick and Rick Hoyt (Team Hoyt) have run in [...]