All In

Hey there it's been about a week so I figured I would get back to this blogging thing. It's about 10 o'clock and I'm the only one still stirring around the house which allows me the opportunity to talk to God. Last week at my church we started a Bible study and the title of the study is called "All In". I've been thinking about this all week, and asking myself am I "all in". The answer to that is no. I think of times when I'm at work, or hanging out with my family when the actions that I'm portraying is not some one who is "all in". I regularly come across the verse in the Bible that says to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. I saw a illustration used this week referring to that verse that blew me away. It was a three legged table and it could not stand up without all three legs. As Christ followers we can not afford to have 2 out 3(I guess Meatloaf was wrong). It is impossible to love God with just our heart and our soul and not give Him our mind. If we want God to great things in us and in the people around us we have to totally surrender everything to Him. I was reading another blog this evening and he mentioned Isaiah 43:18-19 which says:

18 Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

I believe we are in the midst of God raising up new generation to lead people and there are greater things to come. It will take Christ followers loving God with everything they have and being "All In" to go places we would normally not voluntarily go. God is making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. I pray that I'm ready when God moves I'm right there with Him and led by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Thanks for reading
Mickey

P.S. Anyone who will be in the Albany, GA area, I will be leading worship this Sunday May 4 @ Plantation Parkway Church hope to see you there. Service starts at 10:45

Saturday

Wow what can I say Saturday my friend and I Mark took towels and socks to the Passion ATL conference at the Gwinnett Center. I have to be honest this was my first time to go to the Gwinnett Center so I did not know really how to get there except for you get off on Sugarloaf Pkwy and turn right and it's somewhere down there. I drove right past it and did a U-turn and went up and parked near the front door. I walked up and the guy at the front looked at me and asked sorry if you don't have a wristband you can't come in. I told him I was not there for the conference just there to drop off towels and socks I had collected. He told me to bring them up and just drop them off, but to pull my truck up to the front door. So we did and started bringing in the towels and socks. After we unloaded all of them one of the lead registration people came to me and asked if we would like to stay and hang out for a little while. My immediate response was "Really" and "Yes, absolutely".
The day started with an incredibly challenging talk by Francis Chan about the "Holy Spirit". Also music in the morning was led by Charlie Hall which watch out for his new stuff he played a couple of new songs and they blew me away. After that we broke for lunch and went over to the mall and I got to eat with an old buddy from my high school who is a youth and college pastor in Valdosta, GA. and was attending the passion conference with some students. We made our way back over to the Gwinnett Center and got ready for the afternoon session. It started out with the David Crowder Band rockin' the house. Louie Giglio the founder of the passion movement then spoke about how God makes great thing happen out of bad situation. Which I will post a blog about that later. Then we broke for dinner and Mark told me he needed to get back home. So I drove him back home to his truck. On the way home I called my wife and asked her if she would be willing to come back down to Gwinnett with me to see the final session of the conference. In great wife fashion she said yes. We loaded up our 5 week old daughter and brought her to her 1st concert(if you want to call it that). I couldn't think of a better 1st concert to go to than to see Charlie Hall on a mini acoustic set and then Chris Tomlin. I must say kudos to all the college students there because that was the loudest I have ever heard a congregation in my life. I call it a congregation because they were not yelling for the band on stage they were getting after it for the Lord. Then we proceeded to just pray for our campus' and cities. I got to pray with total strangers and they prayed for their college kids and their church ministries. It was an awesome experience(of yeah my wife was taking care of our daughter out in the hallway because it was too loud in there for her). We had to leave a little bit early because Maddox(that's my daughter) was getting restless and was ready to get home. I was able to watch the final song on You Tube. So thank God for You Tube.
I say all this because the only reason I got to experience this was because of the awesome people of Fellowship Church. Fellowship Church was challenged to bring towels and socks to church and only had 4 days to do it. Well let me just say I am very proud to be able to be a part of such a great church and a group of people willing to help in a minutes notice. The people of Fellowship Church donated 42 bath towels and 161 pairs of socks in just 4 days that is amazing. Thank You to all who took part in this mission. If you happen to read Craig Lee's blog he said:

"Our Mission is just beginning, one day God will use Fellowship Church to make a big difference and I for one am glad to be part of it"

Hold on guys "We've only just begun"

Mickey

Guarding my Heart

This morning on the way to work I had a real God moment. I was listening to a sermon by Andy Stanley entitled "Guarding your Heart". He was mentioning a verse Proverbs 4:23. Well I decided I needed to mark that verse in my Bible. So I grabbed my Bible and started looking for that verse. I keep a pen in my Bible so I can write things in it when I need to, needless to say I went to get my pen out of my Bible and it was on the page with that verse. I immediately wondered if the Lord was trying to tell me something (other than not to look up verses while driving). I started praying and asking God to reveal to me what I needed to change about my heart. Another verse he used was Matthew 15:18-19. Basically summed up what's on the inside will come out. As Christ followers we can not just tame our behavior, we must change our heart so what comes out of our mouth is nothing but purity. Through out my life people have always told me "so many people are watching you that you don't even know". I find that statement just as true today as it was when I was an athlete. Not because I am a worship leader, but because I call myself a Christ follower. People are watching. In just a short period this morning while driving to work the Lord taught me if I clean up my heart my behavior will follow. Just like the Proverbs says that the heart is the wellspring of life. We need to guard what we put in our hearts because that is what will come out.

Mickey

Living a New Life

This week has been a rather tough week so far. We have had 2 deaths with in our church family. One was expected and one unexpected. I was able to attend the funeral of one and heard a very honest and sincere son say bye to his father and challenge everyone there to live there life for the Heavenly Father. It was very tear jerking to hear him recollect his child hood memories of his father. I couldn't help but think of my child hood and everything my father has done for me. The best was he invited everyone there to a personal relationship with Christ. Not missing the point of what this life is about, to honor and glorify the Name of Jesus. After the funeral I told him that was a very inspiring eulogy. He told that was the hardest thing he has ever done. I applaud him for being able to do that I don't know if I could.
I challenged a group of guys I'm very close to, to read and study Colossians 3:1-17. If you have the time you should read that now and really meditate on it.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Col%203&version=31

These verses challenge Christians to the way we should be living. When we accept Christ to be our Savior we put on new clothing throwing the old ones away. Unfortunately we bag up our dirty clothes carry them with us and put them back on from time to time. The Bible say we are to be imitators of Christ. Many Christians including myself live in the flesh and are not guided by the spirit. These verses urge us to put away our worldly desires and to clothe ourselves with the things of God. Salvation is for here and now. Christ did not come and die for our sins so we could go to heaven one day. If that were the case the moment we accept Christ we would go to heaven immediately. He died so we could abide in Him, and live our lives through Him. I hope everything I say and do has a huge arrow that points to the one who paid the price for my life. I'm finding out that one of the hardest things to do is find the words to express to someone who is walking down the wrong path. I want to slap them and tell them to get there act together and quit being stupid. But that's not how the Bible tells us to do it. I'm learning that if one of my brothers in Christ is messing up I have to come along side them in love and help them correct there sin. I need the same from my brothers and I'm thankful for the people in my life I can go to and they hold me accountable to Christ and my fellow Christ followers. God is good.

Mickey