No More Parties…

We had our Crossway Kids Christmas Party tonight…it was a lot of fun for the kids…they partied at the church for awhile and then we took them to see a local bank that goes all out with lights and a train that they got to ride…just seeing them all excited about the little train ride was worth the whole night…I think that we have about two more parties and then they are all over until the New Years’ stuff…staying focused during this time of the year takes a lot of discipline…”No More Parties Please!!!”

It is amazing how some people get so worked up around this time of the year…I have to wonder how our Heavenly Father thinks about the “American Christmas”…I am not sure, but I know that His heart would be that we stay focused on Him and His agenda and not get distracted…we just need to remember that Jesus stayed focused on people no matter what was going on…that is our mandate as well…in the midst of all of the parties and other events…people still matter to God…what we do…what we say…how we act…we are the only Jesus that some people will ever see…I know the Lord has really been on me about this…stay focused and allow the Lord to use you as you press through the crowds and finish up your last minute shopping…

Until all have heard,

Rodney

Weekend Update…

Here are the highlights from the weekend…

• Friday night my family and I attended the state championship high school football game for one of our teams in our home town…the Ware County Gators…the Gators played a great game against their opponents but did not come out on top…they lost in the last quarter 20-14…Good job Gators we are proud of all of you…
• Our Sunday morning service was wonderful…I always love it when we kick-off a new series…”Responsibility with a Charge”…thanks for the turnout Sunday morning…Crossway Church all of you are awesome…Renee and I love being your pastors…
• We had our Crossway Christmas Party last night…lots of food, fun and fellowship…wow did we laugh…Bubba Clause came as promised…you just never know what you are going to get with that character…not only did he deliver the presents but he brought us lots of laughs…I do not think that the “Twelve Days of Christmas”  song will ever be the same…some of you  really need  to be in show-biz…

Blessings til tomorrow…

Rodney

A Few More CHRISTMAS Thoughts…

The last 2 days have been very busy for me…Christmas always brings with it dinners, parties and banquets…Renee and I made a trip to Valdosta today and then made it back to Waycross just in time for a City Wide Ministerial Christmas Banquet…It was really awesome to be with the ministers and their spouses that God is using to help transform this city for the Kingdom…Tomorrow night my family and I will be going to the Ware County State championship game here in the swamp…GO GATORS!!! WARE COUNTY GATORS!!! Just needed to clarify or all of you Florida fans…Sunday Night we will have our Adult Church Christmas party…It is always a blast…I got a call from the North Pole and heard that BUBBA CLAUS might pay us a visit so come expecting…

Crossway Family please remember that we are starting our Christmas Series this Sunday…Come expecting God to do some awesome stuff…bring the lost there will be an opportunity every week during this series for people to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ…It will be one of the most interesting Christmas Series that we have ever done!!!

Final thoughts…I pulled this from Pastor Steven Furtick’s (Elevation Church) BLOG but it was to good not to share…I figured since I used (Matthew 6:33) on Tuesday that this might stir us to get Jesus back where He belongs in our life…I have shared and expounded on this a couple of times lately as I preached…I hope that you enjoy…

“Don’t Put Jesus First…The worst thing you can do as a Christian is to try and put Jesus first in your life. I know it sounds good, and Lord knows, I’ve said it plenty…Put Jesus first, your family second, your job third…But it’s a flawed paradigm. Jesus doesn’t want to be first on your list. He doesn’t need your shout out…He’s not content to be first in your life…He insists on being the center of your life…Putting Jesus first in my life means I kind of segregate Him from my other priorities…Making Him the center of my life means I integrate Him into every priority…It’s not Jesus, then my family, then my job…It’s Jesus: in my family, in my job…It’s not Jesus, then anything…It’s Jesus in everything!” Pastor Steven Furtick…Until tomorrow night..

Rodney

Christmas…

If you read my wife’s blog you will find out that Christmas around our house has been a bit different this year… reneethrift.wordpress.com …I will spare you the details but read her stuff and you will see what I mean…In short for some reason we have been trying to figure out…what is this thing called the “Christmas Spirit”?…I do not know if we are trying to figure it out or if we are trying to get into it but it kind of is not happening…if you know what I mean!!!

By no means are we being the SCROOGE or the GRINCH…but we have just been so focused on some other things that Christmas has kind of had to take a back burner…I am not talking about Jesus taking a back burner…I am talking about the GOOD OL’ American Christmas taking a back seat…I believe God may be rearranging some things so that He can continue to be the center of our lives…even in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas…I hope that you know what I mean…If you read Renee’s blog you know that we finally got our tree up and hopefully by the end of the week we will have some lights on the outside of the house…

My thought during this season for anyone is to be obedient to Matthew 6:33…(NLT) “Seek first the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything that you need.”…as far as the “Christmas Spirit” goes…I am sure we will get into it, but…right now I just want to be full of the Holy Spirit and be obedient to my Heavenly Father…until tomorrow…

Consumed by the Cause,

Rodney

I have no excuse…

It is great to post again…I will not lie, I have no excuse as to why I have not blogged over the last six days!!! Yes I have been very busy with my family, work and the normal Christmas hustle and bustle but these are not good excuses for not posting…anyway I am back and trying to get things in order…

Friday night will mark a milestone for our Ware County Gator High School football team…the 1st time in 61 years since they have played for a State Championship…that is BIG STUFF in South GA…They played an awesome game last Friday night to put them in this Championship!!! GO GATORS…

Talk about awesome…our children showed out Sunday morning with their Christmas program…Go Crossway Kids and all of our wonderful leaders for putting this together and being disciplined enough to pull it off…you guys are the greatest!!! If for some reason you missed their program on one of the 2 showings they will do it again at El Bethel Church on Wednesday Night…It is worth seeing!!!

Back to no excuse…I not only have not posted but I have not been on line much over the last six days either…only to check my e-mail…I have some blogs to catch up on and some other reading to do so I will talk to you tomorrow…

Blessings,

Rodney

4 Days have passed…

I think that it has been about 4 days since my last post…I am really finding out that the fair thought for my schedule is about 3 days of blogging…if I get more…wonderful!!! We will just have to see!!! Anyway…these are the happenings with me and my family over the last 4 days…

Last Friday night one of the local football teams won again so now they are 2 games away from the state championship game in 4A GHSA…Go Gators!!! I was there it was an awesome and impressive win 30-0…

Saturday had to have been one of the most crazy days ever for college football…especially for the BCS standings…I personally believe the GA Bulldogs got shafted but I do not call the shots…I am certain that we will take care of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl!!! That’ s all I am going to say about that…

Church was awesome on Sunday…I really appreciate everyone coming and being a part of the experience with us…remember we will have 2 services this Sunday…It is our Children’s Christmas Musical…our showings will be @ 9:30am and 11:15am…please do not forget the times and let everyone know…It will be an extraordinary presentation of the GOOD NEWS!!!

Hopefully you have all of your shopping done by now…if not you still have 21 shopping days left!!! Do not procrastinate I am the only one who can do that…ha!ha!ha!…I think that is all for now…have a nice afternoon!!!

Until all have heard,

Rodney