Amazed....

So basically I've been reminded that God is all about rocking my world.

Check this out...I meet with a group of pastors on Monday as an accountability group and part of what we do is discuss our sermon preparation. We try and stay a week ahead in our discussion so we might plan save ourselves from falling in the trap of writing a sermon the night before you have to preach.

Yesterday we were talking about Judas, in prepping for March 14/15 and the conversation got crazy as we looked at how "I am Judas" and we all fall into being Judas at some point in our lives.

As our conversation continued it's like the Spirit just rolled all over our room. The story came alive for us in a different way. We read these stories year after year, and many of us think we understand them thoroughly when in fact there is always an opportunity for God to teach us something or bring us to a new understanding of the Word. This is the power of the Word! Dang.

Now I don't know if the sermon will be any good in two weeks, I don't know if any sermon is really good, but I do know if we listen close enough and we are open to what God might be saying we could certainly, and not in a corny way, be amazed.

Speak on it....


Here's a quote from Karl Barth that might make some sense here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth

"If a sermon is biblical, it will not be boring. Holy scripture is in fact so interesting and has so much that is new and exciting to tell us that listeners cannot even think about dropping off to sleep." (Homiletics, Westminster John Knox, 1991, pg 80)

Spring Cleaning Come Early...

So basically Lori just helped me mix it up a bit in the office. We moved the desk, cleaned out some stuff and I've got to tell you...I'm fired up. This is just a little taste of what's happening at the Smith household...stay tuned.

Speak on it!

WOW...I've got to go!

Yo…You have to watch this video from my buddy Gordon Pruitt. He's a pastor in Richmond, and one of my best friends. He's thinking about preaching this for Easter.

I don't know how to put these fancy links out, so hopefully I put this on right. Go to his blog and have a good laugh.

http://biblemoth.blogspot.com/2008/02/ive-got-my-easter-sermon.html


Speak on it! Just stand up I guess.

Baby Clothes...

My wife is getting ready for a consignment sale to be held at the church. She is going through all of our sons clothes he wore from birth-three years old. It's seriously taken me down memory lane. She just pulled out some of the first Nike's I got for him. (I thought he might have been a baller.) As I see this happening I'm brought back to the place of first holding Jackson and remembering his smell and the way he felt, thinking I might break him with the wrong move, and wondering what we were really going to do with this little life that just moved in to our quiet home.

What a gift. What an opportunity. What a scary ride. What an awesome chance to co-create with the creator! WORD!

As I write tonight, my son is upstairs sleeping. When I got home from youth group I walked into his room, kissed him on him his cheek and said a small prayer. I'm so thankful that I got to see Jackson grow up in those baby clothes.

God you ROCK!

Speak on it...

Once Again It's ON!!!!!!

Okay…
It’s long over due! I’ve been very delinquent in my blogging, so I wanted to get back into the swing of things by talking about hanging out with some friends from church and catching a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God looks like…

We had some pizza and played Wii! (I totally smoked Lori!) A bunch of kids running around, laughing and playing and some for real off the chain strawberry short cake is hard to beat. We laughed, got serious and really enjoyed our time and I can’t help but see this through a theological reflection.

Now in his book the Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell (http://www.marshill.org/) talks about the way Jesus mastered the “art of the long meal.” When he would share in a meal with his disciples, they didn’t rush through the meal in order to get something else done. What they were doing was the only thing that mattered and Jesus modeled that for his disciples and he models that for us…

It was there in that time of really sitting with people, sharing with people and enjoying the company of fellow travelers on the journey, that I was reminded of God’s call to community and family. As I continue to grow in my own understanding of who God is and how God calls us to live in the Way of Jesus, I’m more convinced, and I’ve experienced the blessing, of actually being with people in relationships and it is my prayer as we continue in ministry together that we might bring some more friends to the table.

Speak On It…

UNC....

Dude...I'm so sad. Carolina lost to Duke. Can't write.

Trying to brace myself for the pain...

Getting Back On Track...

So...I'm writing tonight with a freshness. Last week I was approved for Ordination as an Elder in the UMC. I think I can get back to a more frequent post pattern and hopefully write something worth reading.

Right now....we are gearing up for the Carolina/Duke game to come on tomorrow night. GO UNC!

Speak On IT!