Youth Small Group!

Heavenly Father,  Thank you so much for a husband who wants to raise up a generation to glorify YOU!


Tell Rick Thank you again for teaching my kids! I got a note from one of Andrew's teachers. He did a report for English and his teachers were so impressed and pleased with how he stood up for his faith and how he wasn't afraid to let others know what he believed. Thought Rick would be proud of him.     Becky Pitts.

Part to Whole Whole to Part

Reckless Faith by Beth Guckenberger...... A must READ!

There are two kinds of learners

[1] Part to Whole [2]Whole to Part

Question: How many have no desire to volunteer for a committee or group project until you have established the purpose and final outcome?

Part-to-Whole's

Solve math problem meticulously leaving nothing undone & never reads the last page of a book first.

Whole-to-Part's

Wonder will I ever use this math in real life & will not read the book w/o strong recommendations and a sneak look at the last page.

Imagine a Whole-to-Part learner with these fact:

• Having 'vision' means listening to the LORD and taking the next step in faith.
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• Vision is not knowing the end of the game ahead of time.
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• Having 'vision' means experiencing growth. In several years we will look back and think, "if I only knew then, what I know now".
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• Vision is listening to God and stepping out in faith on a path whose end I cannot see.
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• Vision is primarily seeing events and people from Christ's perspective. God sees people for who they are not what they are.
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• Vision is believing there is someone on the other side of the ceiling when we look up at night.
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• Vision is trusting that the call had a supernatural origin and not a logical explanation.
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• Vision is believing in the relationship we have with our Creator.

My life experiences are building within me principles that I need for God's next call.

Important Lesson:

I have learned ministry is not just your day job or mission trips. Sharing life with these guys has taught me that all my moments can be ministry; eating, cooking, washing, cleaning, and sharing every moment God provides us together.

Crazy Love!

As I traveled to South Beach Miami two weeks ago - I took this book by Francis Chan with me to finish on the flight. On my return flight, I was on close to the end and a young individual [twenties] sat down beside me. What are you reading? Crazy Love. Is that a love story? Not between two people but a love story about loving God like crazy. The individual looked away. By the accent, I assumed I was sitting by someone from another country. ME: Where are you from? Guatemala. Oh Wow! I love love Guatemala and have traveled there 8 times to love on the Mayan Indians and orphans around Lake Attilan. This began our conversation about home, life, love, religion and who we worship. We talked the entire flight [I did not read the last chapter]. As our plane landed and was taxiing to the gate, I handed Crazy Love to this individual and told them to please please read this on your next flight to Connecticut.

Lord, Please use Crazy Love to bring glory to Yourself and draw this person close to You. I love You.

Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts — it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same.


Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

Praying the 6 D’s

Whatever it takes, Lord, give me...

Delight in you as the greatest treasure of my heart.
Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Desire to know you, be with you, and seek your kingdom above all else.
Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Discernment that comes from a renewed mind that I might know your will.
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Desperation because when I stop feeling my need for you I tend to wander.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

Discipline to plan for what I discern as your will.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Diligence to do your will with all my heart.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Billy Goat Ears

In Alabama [the South], we have so many southernisms and we say them without even thinking. With two students from Sudan living in the house - they are so confused by these silly sayings. Several weeks ago, I had left them in the car while I ran into the store. When I returned to the car, I said "She talked the ears off a billy goat"! Bullen laughed and laughed at the saying. So several days later I went to pick them up from school and Bullen got into the car and stated, "that teacher has billy goat ears". I love it!

"He could talk the ears off a billy goat"

"Tighter than Dick's hatband"

"Fish or cut bait"

"Poop or get off the pot"

"Pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of"

"Beggars can't be choosy"

"He's about as useful as a tit on a boar hog"

"Took off like a scalded dog"

"Wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills up faster"

"I've known him since he was knee-high to a coke bottle"

"Nervous as a whore in church"

"Colder than a welddiggers ---"

"Could break a steel ball with a rubber hammer"

"Queer as a three dollar bill"

Dumb as a box of rocks

"She is ugly as Homeade Sin"

"He's not the sharpest tool in the shed"

"Mad as a hornet"

"As cool as a cucumber"

"If you can't take the heat - get out of the kitchen"

Orphans

What is happening to orphans right now as I write?

They are hungry.

They are eating trash.

They are chased away from the trash.

They are naked.

They are exhausted from running scared all the time.

They are tied up.

They live without shelter.

They live in fear of being abducted.

They live in fear of being eaten by wild animals.

They are raped.

They are prostituted.

They are beaten---in unimaginable ways.

They witness their friends being sold.

They live in fear being sold themselves.

They are forced to lie.

They steal out of necessity.

They are burned.

They are bruised.

Sometimes they wish they were never born.

They feel invisible.

They wonder why God doesn't like them.

They are crying out to the Lord because of their oppressor. Isaiah 19:20

Cannot Recover

4 Things You Cannot Recover

Take a minute to think about these four things that are not recoverable. Live each minute like it is your last and live it as if Christ was physically right beside you.

1. The stone………..after the throw.
2. The word………after it’s said.
3. The occasion……..after it’s missed.
4. The time……….after it’s gone.