Happy Anniverary to my Lovely Wife of 5 years!

June 24th
Love your wife as Christ loves the Church.
Ephesians 5:22-28
English Standard Version (ESV)
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
As I write this I am less than two weeks from my fifth wedding anniversary with my wife Diana. Diana and I have been through a lot in five years. We, like everyone else have been on a roller coaster of a marriage within the last five years. One thing that has remained during our marriage is our immense love of Jesus Christ. I will be completely honest right here and now and say that if it wasn’t for that constant love of Jesus in our marriage it wouldn’t have lasted six months. Thank God, He had a different plan for us.
In March 2011 Diana and I had been having a rough couple of months. We had been bickering over some very dumb things, saying hurtful things to one another, and were just generally in a bad place in our marriage. A lot of what we were going through was the lack of a home Church to attend. We had been searching for many, many months, and had all but given up on our search. Then the signs came, ok I am not being funny! The signs really came! There were all these signs popping up all over town about a new Church coming to our home town, Elevation Community Church. We wrote down the website, went home and did some research. Our next step was to talk to the pastor, so we contacted Pastor Craig Knisley and got the 411 on all of the upcoming events. Grand Opening was less than two weeks away at this point. We had not been this excited in a long time. They had a carnival night set up two Saturdays before the Grand Opening, so I decided I was going to take my daughter to this event. We had a wonderful time. Diana and my son Austin were unable to attend this event so it was just me and Julie. The next morning Julie and I decided we wanted to check out the church service as well, and we loved it. I met Diana later that day, and told her instantly that we had found our home. I was that confident that she would absolutely fall in love with this church and never want to leave.
Flash forward a month or so later: Now we are at April 2011. We are getting really involved at Elevation, and still loving every minute. One problem, we were still kind of at each other’s throats. Then we found out that Elevation was having a marriage seminar. I had wanted to do this for quite some time, but Diana was not on board as much as I was. We had discussed it several times, but we never did make it. This time was different, we felt like we were comfortable enough to attend this one and share whatever we needed to with whomever we needed to. This seminar turned out to be a HUGE turning point in our marriage.
They spoke repeatedly on the verse that I have posted for today’s devotional and we had heard it hundreds of times, but it never sank in quite the way that it did this time. We actually took the time to learn what it meant this time.
Men I will share with you what I have learned from this and I hope you can heed these words carefully and guard them close to your heart as I have. This verse clearly states that we are to love our wives as Jesus loved the church. Let’s think of the ways that Jesus loved the church.
He loved the disciples so much that He taught them through parables on a daily basis.
He loved Mary Magdalene a known prostitute as much as He loved His own Mother.
He loved Lazarus like a brother and went to his dead corpse days after it had begun to smell and resurrected him back to life.
He loved people He didn’t even know the blind, the lame, the deaf, and the dead. The Bible says that “Jesus is God in human flesh” and the Bible says “God is love”. If you have Jesus in your heart that means that love is in your heart not only for your family, but also for the Church. This verse tells us to “Love you wife as Christ loved the Church”.
Ask yourself a question, but be honest when you answer yourself. Have I loved my wife that way? Have I led her as Christ led the disciples? Have I been willing so far in my marriage to lay down my life for her, and to protect her from sin?
Gentlemen, I can honestly say that before that seminar if I would have answered “yes” to any one of those questions I would have been lying through my teeth. BUT, I can proudly say now that the answer to those questions is emphatically “YES”.
Ok Ladies, now it is your turn. Men, don’t lean back in your chair and think I am done with you either! I have much more to say to you.
This verse clearly depicts that “wives are to submit to their husbands”. Let’s take a deeper look at what the word “submit” means in this context.
The definition of submit in the context used in the Bible is the voluntary attitude of giving in, of cooperating, of sharing a burden. In other words, when the word “submit” is used in the Bible, it refers not only to a yielding and obedient attitude of the heart, but also, and equally importantly, to an attitude of cooperation and support.
Ladies, are you yielding and obedient to your husband’s guidance? Do you cooperate with him instead of butting heads with him about every little detail? Do you support him in everything he decides to do, or the paths he as leader of your home chooses to go?
Gentleman let’s get back to you for a moment. Are you leading your wife in the way that makes it easier for her to submit to you?
My wife will outright tell you that when I am leading her Spiritually on a daily basis that this is when it is the easiest for her to submit to me and to follow me. I really like the term “a voluntary attitude of cooperation and support”. My wife gets an A+ at this, she has always been very supportive, and now she is being cooperative as well.
Being submissive is not about being a slave or a doormat; it is about being the helper that God gave Adam in Eve in the Garden of Eden.
It sure does make life a whole lot easier when husbands and wives are doing as God has called them to do in their respective marriages.
Today’s Challenge:
Read this verse together with your spouse.
Men: Ask your wives what you can do to love her better, and/or what you can do to lead her better.
Women: Respect your husband’s God given authority over your marriage, and let him know how much you support him in your marriage.

A Small Taste of my book!

So a few months ago I was driving and God gave me this idea for a book! I didn't have much inspiration for it at first, until I realized that I am living it every day.

So for all of my faithful Blog readers..... I know I only have 4 followers at this point, but many others read it on my Facebook page! Here is a little taste of what my book is going to be like!

I encourage you to envision this on a much larger scale because the ideas regarding this project are so much bigger than you or I could ever even fathom! God has been bombarding me with all kinds of ideas for this project and I cannot wait to reveal them to you as the year unfolds.

I hope you enjoy!

January 8th

Who Dares to Stand Against Me?

Romans 8:31 English Standard Version (ESV)
God’s Everlasting Love
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Wow! What powerful words are these that Paul speaks of in the letters to the Roman’s? If God is for us than who can be against us?

I remember one season in my life that I was going through some difficult times in dealings with my ex-wife in relationship to child support for my oldest son. She was at a point where she was doing every single thing she could to get me thrown into jail. I was beside myself trying to keep up with everything that was going on and I had all but given up.

Then I read Romans 8. It is my favorite book and chapter in the entire Bible. There are so many outstanding messages in just this one little chapter. I am positive you will be ready more from this chapter later in this book.

Seriously though, If God is for us than who can be against us? Our God created EVERYTHING, He raises people from the dead, He heals people of cancer, He makes the sun rise and fall each day, He breathes life into every single living thing so if He is for you….. Think of it like this. Who dares to defy your God? He is in your corner!!! Sure some days it may not seem like it, but He is there!

Today’s Challenge:
Write this verse on several 3”X 5” index cards and place them throughout your house for you, your spouse, and your children (if you have any) to see every day! Memorize this verse!!!

Teaching Sunday School

Today Diana and I taught Sunday School together for the first time ever. I'll admit I was very apprehensive about it because I typically do not do well with 1st and 2nd graders, and usually do better around the older kids around the ages of 10+.

Our lesson plan was on Jesus' last days. About everything that led up to the Crucifixion.

We particularly read on how Jesus at the Last Supper washed the Disciple's feet in order to show them that even Jesus could bow before others to serve them and that is what we were called to do!

Diana (I totally cannot take credit for this part) thought it would be a good idea to wash our feet, and see if the kids would want to participate by washing each others feet. I was blown away by this response! Me first!!!!! lol

I took a little video in class of the kids washing each others feet and this was truly amazing to see how just about every single one of the kids jumped up to get in line quickly pairing up with a friend they were comfortable with to serve them and wash their feet! It was awesome!!!! I was truly blessed!

The other thing that was cool is their Bible verse was Romans 8:38-39 which is my favorite Bible verse! We did a little experiment that I modified using a paper clip, a clear glass filled half way with water and with some black tape around the bottom, and a magnet.

I took the the paper clip and said "This paper clip is you, the water is your life, the glass is your body/soul, and the black tape is sin, and the magnet is God and His love for you! I took the magnet and put it up to the glass, and sure enough it attracted the paper clip through the tape/glass/water, and made it rise up to the clear/pure water". I then said "this is what Jesus can do for you, and this is exactly what your Bible verse for today means. Nothing can separate us from the love of God!"

These kids got it! Who knew 1st and 2nd graders would grasp that so well. I had an amazing time. I missed Craig's sermon this morning, but got just as much out of seeing these kids and how they react to ours too!

Revealing the Sons of God

Today I was asked by one of my best friends a very pondering question..... Some food for thought if you will. I have decided that this in going to be implemented into my book I am working on. This is no coincidence that Dave asked me this question, whereas I had asked him to assist me (and he volunteered) in a few dealings with my book. He is proofreading it for me, and I had asked him to write the foreword for it as well. I cannot think of any one man I admire more than Dave Hinman that presently walks this Earth, and the only person I know of that I hold equal admiration for is Allen Willoughby. These guys are two of the greatest servants I know.

The question Dave posed to me was... What do I think the phrase "Revealing the Sons of God" means in this context.

This is how I responded to him:

Dave,

You asked me what I thought of the phrase “Revealing the Sons of God” and what it meant in this context.

I think that it means that as Christians we are all Sons of God because we hold Jesus in our hearts and that makes us the portrait of Christ in God’s eyes, or at least that is what we are/should (be) striving for as Christians. Men and Women are created equal in God’s eyes and even Jesus I would say considered Himself to be more equal with us that God according to Philippians 2. Jesus never considered equality with God something to be grasped! So that would mean He viewed Himself more as a man, than as a Supernatural phenomenon!

With all of that said, back to the “Revealing” part of all this. I believe this means that Christians are to reveal daily in every aspect of their lives the very essence of who Jesus is in their lives, and who is through God’s eyes! This means revealing Him at work, kids sporting events, etc. etc. and letting the Holy Spirit just ooze out of our pores EVERYWHERE we go and in EVERYTHING that we do!

I hope this helps with your pondering! Not that my insight could be any greater than that of your own!

Love ya man!

Give the girls BIIIIIIIIIIG SCOTT HUGS for me!!

Love,

Scott Smith

Please feel free to weigh in and let me know what you think of this phrase as well and what it means in this context! I feel as though I have an excellent grasp on what it means, but would love to have others input as well!

The Testimony!

Looking back over quite a few different blogs on my old blog, I came across this post of my testimony. I have decided to take some time and update it a little to make it even more accurate to the current Month, Day and Year!

Growing up in Wilmington, I was always in the church, I always had a heart for praising and worshiping God, I home schooled for several years, and which I am so thankful for now because it gave me several good years of spending quality time with both my Father and my Mother. My mom would let me work very hard the first couple days of the week so that I could get all of my weekly work done then so that I could get to go to the gym with my Dad or go see my Grandmother, or Great Grandmother, and some times we would even go do a little bit of shopping for one of my Dad's friends (Rollie Zink) who owned a Meat Market, my Dad had a wholesale card before it was the cool thing to do.

Moving on to High School, like most Christian kids in High School I was the minority, and even though I believed in God, and worshiped Him daily, I didn't ever really let it shine through. I was for a lack of better terms, "hiding my light under a bushel!" I had a couple of Christian buddies (one of them is a pastor in northern Michigan now), but even then neither of us really did much with our faith and rarely even discussed it. I really was just going through the motions, and then it got worse for me. My Father had a massive heart attack December 7th, 1991, right smack in the middle of my Senior year. I was devastated to say the least. I closed up tighter than Fort Knox. To make matters worse than that, the people that I relied on to be there for me, just weren't. I had a female friend from my old youth group who I had a falling out with who tried to reach out to me, but I felt her and my relationship with her (as friends) was beyond repair, and quite honestly Satan was working on me in several ways making me feel as though nobody was there for me. I must say some of the relationships I had with some people from my old church may never be the same, and up until about 4 years ago, I was still attending the same church even though these feelings and their actions had not changed much.

A little over a year after my Dad's death, I took a job offered to me by one of the elders in our church who had been very, very good friends with my Dad. I was working at a feed mill lifting very heavy bags of feed all day long. To say the least it was a very physically demanding job. Now I had been having some serious allergy issues which I guess according to my allergist (I am not sure how true this really is) can be dramatically affected by emotional distress. Well I got a little too much dust down into my lungs in the middle of summer, I ended up getting pneumonia from it and missed some work because of it. This gentleman was genuinely concerned for me and he had a business to run, but I was really at a stage where no one could replace my Father and I felt like he was trying when he and I "had a talk". So me being me I let him know it! Many years later I apologized to him for my action, but things have never been the same since then and to say the least he acted as though it was no big deal when I know for a fact it was and is because he still treats me different to this day because of that. At this point I had totally turned my back to God, and wanted no part of Him in my life! Because of that my Mom and I had not been getting along as well. She saw too much of my Dad in me and the more I rebelled from God, the more it reminded her of him from before they were Christians or even when they were "baby Christians".

Moving forward. Over the next 10 years I spent my life looking for love not through God, but through lust! I was sleeping around more than my fair share, met Austin's Bio-Mother, and she got pregnant less than 2 weeks after we started seeing each other, and I was by no means mentally ready to be a Father. Her and I were married less than 2 years. God tried to restore our marriage several times, but I was still not ready to listen to Him. Michele and I had gone to church a little while we were together but then more than ever I was just there!

After her and I had split apart, within 2 months I was with someone else. it was typical of me to have a woman by my side at this point to cure the loneliness and even though I say that I now realize that I was more alone then than ever! A few months after that I met another young lady who would watch Austin for me from time to time, and we ended up sleeping together only a couple of times, and she ended up pregnant. Although I never really did find out for sure that he was my son until the first time I saw him at age 3. This is my son Jarred, I hope that soon there will be some restoration to our relationship. I have not seen him in quite a few years. Mostly because of some issues with his Mother getting him taken from her and they put him with his dying Great Grandmother instead of his Father. Right after this young lady got pregnant (and I did not know until months later) I met another lady with whom I was very physically attracted to. Her and I had an on again off again relationship for several years and in 1998 she got pregnant. We actually planned this pregnancy. I wanted to make things work with her no matter what and I really thought (kind of like how women sometimes do) that us having a child together would create an unbreakable bond. During the pregnancy her and I had some disagreements regarding finances, and some other things and we ended up splitting up yet again. After my 3rd son Jacob was born, a few months went by and we thought we would give it another shot. I wanted to more for Jacob than anything and her and I got a new place together and things had been going pretty well until we found out that I had fathered Jarred, even though it was before her and I had met she had some issues with it, and gave an ultimatum that was just unacceptable and I was forced with a very difficult decision and yet again for the last time, her and I were finished.

I then spent the majority of the next year just focusing on work and achieving things that I wanted to. I stayed single and better yet spent a whole year without the urge to have sex. That was a long year! Almost exactly one year later, I ran into an old flame from High School. Her and I had went to prom together and dated a couple of more months over the summer between my Junior and Senior years, and we had always wondered.....what if? So we wasted no time finding out.... One problem ....she was married! Well to say the least that didn't last long, and now I thank God that it did not destroy her marriage, but it lead me into one of the worst relationships I have ever had. One of her friends and I had gotten very close, and out of convenience we moved in together and this lasted about 20 months......I will cut this story short for the most part. Her and I were together for all the wrong reasons, and neither of us really wanted a future together. Her mother intervened into our relationship one too many times and it became a final straw type of thing, but....

At this time I was driving a Semi to and from California 3 times a month. On my way to Vegas I had taken a route that I was very unfamiliar with and I ended up have to go down this mountain that was literally 12 miles long with a 6% grade, which if you do not know much about mountains, this is one of the 5 worst mountains in the country. Needless to say, I was about half way down this mountain and MY BRAKES WERE GONE. I had nowhere to go but into one of those runaway truck ramps! I hit the 200 yard gravel pit at over 75 MPH and I have never been more terrified in my life! After the smoke from the brakes cleared and the dust from the gravel settled, I got out of the truck grabbed my phone on the way out, and called my cousin Brent who also drove for the same guy I did. He called Joe (the guy I worked for) for me and explained what was going on and I called 911 and went and found me a place to sit down and try to gather myself. I remember saying to God, that if He gave me some peace and helped me through this that I would no longer doubt Him or turn from Him and I literally heard Him tell me that He had His angels with me, and that He still believed in me (and I believed Him). The State Trooper that came out told me that at the speed I was going I should have flown clear out the other side of that truck ramp and died. Little did he know my God had other plans!

So less than 3 months later my relationship with that girl I was staying with came to an abrupt end!

I went to stay with a friend of mine and would occasionally go stay with my cousin Brent and his wife. One evening when I was staying there a young lady came in to drop her daughter off for my cousin Wanda to watch her daughter Julie while she went to school and she was absolutely stunning. I was immediately attracted to her physically, but didn't say anything or even act upon anything. Oh the most important thing...her name was Diana! A few weeks went by, and her and I started talking a little bit and after about 2 months her and I had started hanging out, then dating. We started off very good, by going to church together. She had never been to a church like Dove before but she instantly fell in love with the music and the style of the church. 3 years later we were married by one of my best friends and an elder from Dove.

We had formally announced membership at Dove the first year we were together in 2004. It wasn't until 2008 that we had felt God drawing us elsewhere, and calling us for MORE! In April of 2008 I had not been to church in 6 months mostly because I was not satisfied with the direction of Dove. Diana at that time came to me and said that she too had some issues and asked me if I would go try a couple of new churches with her. The first choice was a church that Diana's friends Dan and Sarah Simpson had been attending. So we decided to go. Diana was absolutely sold....day 1. I on the other hand had some doubts mostly because I had put so much time into Dove and had been there myself since I was 15 more or less (mostly less since age 18) and I was very very VERY skeptical. Ok so she got me to go back, I mean I liked the sermon, the preacher was a little odd, and the worship wasn't quite what I was used to, but man there was something drawing me closer to being there! After just 3 short weeks, Diana and I had made a decision to meet with Ray and Melissa about the church and maybe get some questions that we had answered. Ray and Melissa were very comforting and made our decision that much easier, we found a new home! God put us at Center Pointe to be more involved, He put us there to love members of the church unconditionally, He put us there to help minister to the people there and to people that would be coming in the future, He put us there to see His Kingdom come full circle and to assist this wonderful group of people in furthering His will for the surrounding communities. God did an awesome thing to and for Diana and I.

Diana and I learned so much in our experience at Center Pointe/Axiom Church. We encountered numerous things. We led a Small Group which was a lot of fun. We dealt with some hurt, and overcame it too. We made some friendships that will never die, and others that have already faded. Seriously though, looking back I wouldn't trade a single day of it for anything in the whole world. I have since learned that "God will not protect you from, what He can perfect you through!" Had I known this 2 years ago it would've helped me understand what God was doing a whole lot more (unfortunately I just learned this last month).

I am going to skip a whole bunch of stuff that simple doesn't matter anymore, and get to the good stuff.

In December 2009, Diana and I had all but left Axiom in search of a new church home. Then we went to Florida on "church-cation" (I'll explain, lol). I use that term because we went to refresh ourselves on a beach somewhere, and actually got refreshed in my Mother's church called The Life. We spent nearly the whole week, just absorbing all that God was doing in that awesome place. We got to see Beckah Shae (If you haven't heard of her, download some of her stuff she is AWESOME). We got to witness a New Years Eve baptism which was simply amazing! All in all, we came away seriously refreshed and renewed in the Holy Spirit!

With that said, we called the Pastor of Axiom, and proclaimed that we wanted to mend the broken relationships in our lives and at that church. We came home a week later and quickly begun calling members of the church that we had broken relationships with to have dinner with them and try and patch things up, but none of them were interested. Later that same week, we had been invited to a gathering at one of the leader's houses by a different leader and his wife, only to be told that we weren't welcome. This DEVASTATED my lovely wife to the brink of tears most of the night, which in turn made me angry, because someone had cause her to cry!

With $7 in our checking account (because we had not gotten paid since coming back from church-cation) we went to McDonald's to have a night out before we went insane. This is quickly turned into one of the best nights of our lives. We went in, sat down with the kids, ate our food, and left. As we were getting into our car a lady came over from out of nowhere and asked us if she could pray for us. We were like "heck ya!!! WE NEED IT TONIGHT" After she prayed the perfect prayer for us (I'm THOROUGHLY convinced she was an angel of God) she looked at us both, and said "God has a plan for you both, (then pointed her finger at me) and He is going to use you in Ministry". Since that night I have held those words so near and dear to my heart and try to remember them every day!

Finally, after quite some time Diana and I ended up going back to Axiom long enough to see some of our friends preach over the course of a few weeks and witness the Pastor's last Sunday, then stayed on for a few more months and the closing of the church. Which was honestly kind of bitter sweet for us, because we felt that God was leading us away from there and we just couldn't let go!

We both are very grateful for God leading us to Axiom and through all that we endured while we were there, because "God will not protect you from, what He will perfect you through!"

That was the Fall of 2010.

After visiting many different church's over the course of the nect 6 months we had almost given up on finding a new church.

Then we found Elevation!!!! Although our journey with this church is just beginning stages, God has been blessing us tremendously! We are already building relationships that I know without a doubt will never be broken. We are truly enjoying being a part of this particular body of Christ and we are both looking forward to what God has in store for us in the growth of Elevation.

We have been so blessed and I have been so blessed by everyone of my Christian friends and my family that never gave up praying for me that God would grab my attention and not let go, but I do have news for you, all of you He never once let go of me. Even when I denied Him, even when I screamed to heaven telling Him that I hated Him, He always had His hand on my heart and guided me to where I am today. Our God is good and he as the songs by Matt Redman and David Crowder Band say "He Never Let's Go". I hope you enjoyed my long version of my testimony and I hope this blesses you in some way! God Bless.

15 Random Things about me!

At Small Group we were encourage to write down 2 facts and one ficticious detail about our lives, so this led to me revealing 15 Random Things about myself!

1. For about ten years I turned my back on God and it took me almost dying for me to turn my eyes back to Him, but believe me when I say He has my attention now and I know He is real because He showed me on that mountain side!

2. My mom is one-legged lol. Sorry something silly to put here, she lost her right leg in a corn picker accident 58 years ago! Wow but she can still kick it OLD SCHOOL!

3. I actually have 3 sons and 1 daughter but due to some regretful decisions when I was not walking in Christ I only have Austin and Julie in my life now! Jarrod and Jacob are my other two angels!

4. My father died when I was 17 and in the middle of my Senior year of High School (1992) Yikes that was awhile ago, I took it really bad and blamed God ....see no. 1

5. I currently work for a parts delivery company, but my real love is Sales. I used to work for an Insurance company and I loved it. Wish I could do something similar with a salary!

6. I am a huge Star Wars freak...ok I don't get crazy enough to get all dressed up like a wookie (although having the hair would be nice, you know a little nookie with a wookie!) but I still love Star Wars.

7. My absolute favorite thing to do with my kids is to go swimming.

8. I am a huge BUCKNUT! I love the Buckeyes almost as much as God....ALMOST!! I can't get mad at Him because He wouldn't lose to the stupid SEC! Oh yea I almost forgot to include the wife in this equation too!

9. My biggest secret is that I desire to do somthing like "Dancing With The Stars" Well I want to learn how to dance like that anyways! Shhhh Big secret!

10. I kissed my first girl when I was the ripe ole age of 5. LOL. She and I are still friends and I named my youngest son after her youngest brother! He is like my little brother he is pretty awesome.

11. I have another secret. I love Classical music. You know....Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and Tchaiovsky.....Love em to death. I used to listen to it all the time when I was a teenager!

12. I called off mine and Diana's wedding two weeks before the first time it was supposed to happen. She was a little upset, but I knew the timing was off, after about two months of her being very upset with me she realized we had made the right decision and in June 2006 she blew me away in that awesome dress she had!

13. About 95% of the time I am listening to Klove/Air 1/Star 93.3 on the radio and if you are a christian I believe you should be too. I once heard someone say that you might as well practice praising God everyday now because when you get to heaven that's all you are going to be doing!

14. The BEN-GALS Stink!!! I am a Buccaneers fan! HA HA We have a Super Bowl Ring and one of those is better than two Runner Up Rings! Long Story as to how I became a Bucs fan.

15. My biggest pet peeve is having my feet being touched! I accidently, because of my reflexes kicked Austin in the face when he was about 3. Sorry Bub!

Good Soil

Another week, and yet another amazing week with our Elevation family!





All I am going to say is, if you are not in a Small Group. You are truly missing out! This next Tuesday (tomorrow as a matter of fact) is our last Small Group for Summer which saddens me and my wife deeply! We experience so much joy out of going to our Group, hanging out with everyone, and doing our devotionals together that Phil has been so kindly handing out every week! It has blessed us immensely!





Craig when you read this, I have a suggestion that I already took the liberty of mentioning to our gracious host Joel King. One of the old Small Groups that my wife and I were a part of met once a month all summer long for a cookout or dinner or whatever. Just to keep those relationships intact over the summer! I know we have A LOT of other exciting and new events coming this summer, but please consider this! Lol, we are going to miss it too much!!!!





If you missed the sermon Sunday, sorry about your luck! Seriously though you need to go ask for a copy of this message on CD and listen to it. Phil did an outstanding job. I was blown away by how easily he taught the "Parable of the Sower". I had never heard that sermon taught that way. Phil, I am responding to your message, by dwelling in the word more, and by praying and worshipping with my guitar more at home by myself this week. I was truly blessed by the obedient words that you spoke.





I loved the fact that you addressed the topics that can cause division in our church, and that you and Craig both say that our body will not stand for it. I really do commend the honesty of those words, and am grateful that our leadership feels that way.





A BIG shout out to my new buddy Steve Nelson also. Steve was representing on the drums, and looked right at home and as if he didn't miss a beat (pun intended). Diana and I were also blessed to help Steve lead the Youth Group while the Beck's (lucky dogs) were in Florida this week. Steve did an amazing job teaching the youth about the Apostles and the fact that nearly all of the died a martyr's death, and it was amazing to hear him share a little bit of his testimony.

I am not sure that Steve or the Youth Group even realize how closely the 2 messages for Sunday can interact with one another, but I put this together out of both messages I heard.....

Follow me on this. Phil's message talked about us sowing our lives into God's word and that going deeper into God's word was the only way to have a FIRM foundation. Steve's message talked of having a faith in Jesus, a faith up to and even in the face of certain death. I find that it had to have been easier for the Apostles to have that kind of faith in Jesus because that actually witnessed Him performing miracles every single day and they got to love Him first hand "face to face". Whereas we as Christians now have to have a stronger more "blind faith" because we don't see Him everyday on a daily basis. Now, that takes me back to what Phil was saying, IF only IF we are in our Bible everyday, praying everyday, asking God to intercede in us through the Holy Spirit everyday, then we too can also have that same "Day to Day", "Face to Face" relationship the Apostles did. Try it, you will see such amazing results. I am on a daily basis, and trust me if you apply what they are teaching then you will too.

With Brotherly Love, Scott