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I was pumped up this year for my favorite team, the Oregon Ducks, to be traveling near us to play Ohio State. I really wanted to go to the game, so I looked into tickets and thought about going - that is until I saw the price. Goodness! That kind of money is not worth dropping on a game, I have a family to think of first. I would do anything for them, but not football. Well...how much do we value Jesus? Is cost not a factor when it comes to following him, or are we only willing to sacrifice and work when it's for something we want? May we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus no matter the cost. 

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Earlier this week, a horrible rumor was going around town in Stanford, KY that one of our elders wives had passed away. After just a few minutes of digging and phone calls, I discovered that was most certainly not true. It's crazy how these kinds of rumors get started through gossip. Well...gossip is warned about repeatedly in Scripture. Just because something is true does not give us the right to share it, but especially when something isn't true. More often than not, we enable deceit to continue because we do no due diligence to find out the truth of a matter, we just share it and cause problems. Be careful what you say and share. 

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This morning our daughter looked at Kylie and myself and said, "Maybe one day when I grow up I will die too." It was the first time Ava has asked about death, so I took the opportunity to talk about where death came from and what happens when we die. The fact of the matter is we're all gonna die. Well...some will even die again, something that Scripture refers to as the second death. The question you must ask is this: when you die, will you live again? If you know Jesus, the answer to that question is yes. If you don't know him, I beg you to please listen to this important warning. 

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It looks like I am finally on the mend, and in no small part due to the effort of my loving wife who cared for me all weekend. As hard as being so sick this weekend was on me, I know it was hard on her because it tripled her responsibilities. But she did it without complaining, because it was a labor of love. Caretakers due the same for those who cannot care for themselves, they pour themselves out to serve others out of love. Well...God is our caretaker. We think about how difficult it is for us to deal with life on this earth, but how hard is God's job to "solve all the world's problems"? Next time you pray, don't just stop and ask God for more ways he can help you or serve you...thank him for his labor of love. 

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Guess who has strep again? Goodness, this cycle of someone in our house not being sick just seems to be unending. Ever have that happen? Where no matter what you do, some past injury or some sickness just keeps coming up out of nowhere and you can't figure out why? Well...that happens to all of us spiritually too with sin. We all have that one thing you can't seem to kick, and keeps popping back up as you struggle to kill it. Why? Well, I think sometimes it's because we don't set ourselves up to succeed, but rather we set ourselves up to fail. You can't play with fire and not get burned. 

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My daughter got this new coloring set for her birthday that is unique. The coloring surface (a large play mat) activates when it comes into contact with water, which is what the pens hold. One of hers ran out, so I tried to fill it up. However, the caps screw on the wrong way - it's not righty tighty, lefty loosey. It's all backwards. Well...the problem is that so many things are backwards in our world right now because of sin. We call that which is evil good and good evil, and God will bring judgment as a result. But what about our own lives as Christians? Do we do the same thing and not even realize it? 

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There was a musty, terrible smell coming from our pantry. We at first thought it was an onion that had sprouted, but it turns out it was a rotten potato. It was hidden among the good potatoes, and we finally located the source when it started secreting liquid. When we went to remove it, it exploded and destroyed everything around it. Yeah, nasty and gross. Well...church discipline is even more messy if not handled appropriately. A rotten heart that is engaged in open sin, when tolerated, will destroy a church. We must remove that which is evil from among us, though with love, grace, and gentleness. And of course, always pray for restoration. But we cannot ignore sin in the camp, we must take action.  

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In the past 12 hours I have become aware of over 30 different people and circumstances that were in need of prayer. I spent the majority of the day in prayer, and ended up in a long conversation with my friend Dr. Kenny Embry of the "Balancing the Christian Life" podcast about prayer also. He asked me a hard question: "Does prayer change us, or God?" Well...what do you think? I loved his answer, and I am convinced that what Scripture teaches us about prayer shows us that when God says no, it's not he that needs to change, it's us. We must pray according to his will, but that's just it, his will is what is truly best for us. 

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One of my shepherds sent me a picture today with an incredible message plastered on the back of the tailgate of a dump truck. After some research, I discovered this very successful company started out as a mule train hauling goods overt he mountains of West Virginia, but has grown into a 7 company multimillion dollar corporation. What was the message? This company is owned and operated by the grace of God - give thanks to God. Well...what about us? Do we recognize that all glory must always go to God, who gives us the ability to succeed and accomplish the things we do? All of us are products of God's grace. None of us accomplish anything by our own abilities alone. 

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A very happy birthday to beautiful daughter Ava, who turns three today! It's hard to believe how much she has changed even just over the past year. We are so proud of her and she brings us so much joy. While we would love to keep her little forever, she needs to grow up. Growth is a natural part of life, and when it doesn't happen we should be concerned. Well...are we growing spiritually as we are in other areas of our life? Do I have a healthy diet in God's word? Do I consider all of it? Am I stuck in the same place as I was 5 or 10 years ago? We cannot stay in the same place in Christ, it's time for all of us to grow up. 

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