unanswered prayer???

In one of Garth Brook’s well known songs, he says that “some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” Although this is a great song, it is just not true. For a prayer to remain unanswered would mean that God either does not hear us or is ignoring us, both of which would go against the character and promises of God.
Every prayer is answered with one of three responses; “yes”, “no”, and “not now”. As many of you know, my car has been in the shop for 11 months (yes eleven). And I have been praying for this to come to an end. But for some reason that I cannot understand, God answered with a “not yet”. Well this week God has changed His answer from a “Not now” to a “Yes”.
There is a saying, “God is not always on time, but He is never late.” God tells us in scripture, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
No matter how sincere a prayer might be, God knows what is best for us, but most importantly He knows what is best for Him.
If God doesn’t answer your prayer the way you wanted Him to, is that ok with you? Are you satisfied with just having God? Or must God answer your prayers the way you want, in order to be on your good list?
God is so good. “Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are His riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be His counselor? And who could ever give Him so much that He would have to pay it back? For everything comes from Him; everything exists by His power and is intended for His glory. To Him be glory evermore. Amen.”

why i love vacation

this is what i did las week and why you have not heard from me in a week. last week i was at the beach with almost all of my family... 16 of them to be exact.

i am back and will let you know whats going on in our life. but for now, here are a couple pics from the week.

SC needs more...

There are close to 4.5 million people in the state of South Carolina, which seems to be a lot until I tell you that we have more deer in the state of SC than we have people. Out of the 4.5 million people in SC, about 35% of those people attend church and only 25% are followers of Christ. I don’t know how that makes you feel, but it overwhelms me. As I think about it I feel like my chest has someone sitting on it.
Church planters say that in order to reach the remaining 75% of the people in SC, we would need just over 3,000 churches and would need to spend nearly $74 billion. Yes that is what a “B”. The former number is doable and should be a goal for us. But the latter number of $74 billion needed to plant the churches is all but impossible.
Besides making my chest pound and hurt, what does this mean for us? And what does it mean for the church?
It means that we must take a hard look at what the biblical church really is. Church is not necessarily a multi-million dollar building, or a pastor with a 6 figure income, it does not mean Easter and Christmas musicals, or youth group ski trips, senior adult ministries, or anything else that the church has gotten caught up with in the past 60 years.
The church should go back to the biblical roots of the early church and should return to scripture as its authority. This means it might forsake the building, get rid of the seminary trained pastor, meet in someone’s house, and be under 20 people in attendance. But although the church would look radically different from the outside, at its core it should be very similar. Jesus would be its core.
In essence we need more churches, but don’t have the $74 billion that it would take. We must press forward to plant more, we must put the leadership into the hands of people who are faithful, whether they are qualified or not, then move on and restart the process.
What do you think about this?

happy easter!!!

This is God's story from the book of Luke 24:1-7, 38-40, 44, & 46-48 (NASB-U)

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. [2] And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, [3] but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. [4] While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; [5] and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? [6] "He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, [7] saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."
Days later, Jesus said to the disciples, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? [39] "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." [40] And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." And He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, [47] and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

This is the greatest story ever told... are you a part of it? You can be.

what if it was all gone

The picture you just looked at reminds me of this passage. These Children have nothing, but are smiling.
I was reading the other day in the book of Joshua after Israel came into the Promised Land; Joshua began dividing up the land between the 12 tribes the way that Moses had planned. When Joshua got to the Levites, he did not give them an inheritance. It says in 13:33, “But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give and inheritance, the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had promised to them.”
I was blown away by this idea. The people of Israel were waiting to get to this great land so that they could obtain a share of it. But upon arrival the tribe of Levi did not get any land. They watched their brothers and families and friends win the land lottery, as they simply stood and watched. Then I continued to read waiting for a complaint, and not one came.
What they received was greater than a land flowing with milk and honey; they received God Himself. God was their inheritance. The Levites were satisfied with God alone. God was enough for them, and they did not need all the stuff to go along with God.
Imagine that today. What if God was all you had; no house, no TV, no car, no money, no food, no clothes, no computer, cell phone, or anything else you can think of? Would you be content? I forgot my phone the other day and felt naked and lost.
Thank God for what you have. But never take for granted that it is all God’s and He can remove it at any time. Job said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
God fulfills our every need if we simply let Him. "God teach me that you are all I need before you are all I have."

great news

So here goes! We went to Louisiana this weekend and had a great time. Drove entirely too far, ate entirely too much, played too many car games to pass the time, and did not get enough sleep. We spent some time in New Orleans, and then drove to Shreveport for Liz’s interview. It went very well, so well that they offered her a job on the spot and they gave her until today to respond.
So, for the next year or so of our lives we will be living in Shreveport, LA. I have never got up in the morning and said to myself, “I need to move to Louisiana.” But I am so excited to be somewhere different for a season of our lives. I feel as though I am in a rut, and in need of a change of perspective. Liz is so excited about the outcome, and I am so excited for her.
Just a side note... I am so proud of how she has handled the events and situations of the past few months of our lives. Liz has been optimistic, upbeat, and has simply trusted that when God is ready, He will reveal His plans to us. Liz has been someone that I can truly say that I am proud to be associated with. She has taught me many things about life and following Christ and I am thankful for her.
In the next few months, we will be taking some short trips to Shreveport to try to find a house or a place to live, a job for me, and to get more acquainted with the city. Hopefully we will be flying rather than spending almost to 12 hours in a car (each way). So pray for us, we need it. Liz and I have never done this before and we need all the help we can get. We will keep you more informed as we know more, but for now, here are a few pictures.

here we come!!!!

This weekend is absolutely crazy!!! Friday night we leave Columbia, drive to New Orleans, stay for a day... drive to Shreveport, LA... stay for a day or so... then drive back on Tuesday. Not to mention that Liz is flying to Philadelphia on Thursday and coming back on Friday afternoon.

Let’s total the miles here;
· From Columbia, SC to Philadelphia, PA and back- 1254 miles
· From Columbia, SC to New Orleans, LA- 677 miles
· From New Orleans to Shreveport, LA- 343 miles
· From Shreveport, LA to Columbia, SC- 811 miles

Coming to the grand total of 3,085 miles and driving more than 28 hours in the car.
You might say we are nuts, you are RIGHT! I am not sure what will come of this other than 4 people getting entirely too close for entirely too long. But strangely enough I can’t wait!’
We are built for this. Not for the extremely long and tedious car ride, but the relationships with other people, the conversations, sharing in this adventure called life. In the simplest sense, “God saw that it was not good for man to be alone.”

I will have some great pictures and some good memories to share with you when we get back, and after I wake up.
See you soon.