It’s easy to lose focus sometimes. I don’t mean lose focus on your job, your church or your goals. But I mean it’s easy to lose focus sometimes on the things that are most important in life. I spend a lot of my time thinking, planning, praying and worrying about my church. “Did I make the right decision here?” “Did I do the right thing?” “Did I preach the right sermon?” “Do I lead the right way?” The questions are endless.

But things happen in life sometimes that bring everything else into focus. I know that the Church is God’s agent to reach the world for Christ. There’s no doubting or questioning that. I also know that God says He will build His church! That’s a relief to me…I’m not the one doing the building here. So, I have to tell myself; “don’t worry,” “stay faithful,” “pursue God,” and “keep at it.” This is the goal. But do I always have this perspective?

Stephanie and I have just walked through the most tragic event of our lives. We found out just recently that we lost a baby. She was very early in her pregnancy but it was still a pretty traumatic event for her and me. No, I don’t know “why” and I haven’t asked. God is not obligated to give me answers. I know that sometimes God uses these things to teach us, to train us, to mold us and make us into what He wants us to be. Someone once said, “We are no more like Christ then when we suffer.” And I would not even pretend to act like I’ve suffered to the level of Christ…or even Paul for that matter! But I do know, that it’s things like this in life that help bring perspective. For now, I can see life a little more clearly. What’s important and what’s not…what’s significant and what’s not…what’s eternal and what’s not. I hope I can keep this perspective.

Happy New Year! I know…it’s a few days late but that’s par for the course for me. So, what’s your New Year’s resolution for 2006?

Of course the most popular losing weight, quitting smoking or something like that. Well, I could stand to lose a pound or two but I quit smoking before I started.

So, my resolution for 2006? No resolutions! Yep, that’s my New Year’s resolution for 2006. I’m not going to make any resolutions this year. I’m thinking that will be one resolution that I will keep.

How about you? Do you usually commit to New Year’s resolutions? If so, what do you have down for this year?

I’m new at this whole “pastor” thing. I love it; I definitely enjoy what I do and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. But being a pastor brings a lot of challenges. You’ve got to be really good at a lot of different stuff. A “jack of all trades” if you will. But you know what they say about the “jack of all trades” don’t you? He’s the master of none!

So, I try to be good at counseling, speaking, leading, visiting and reaching people. But this is a chalenging prospect for me. I’ve spent lots of hours in school trying to learn what it means to do all these things and honestly it doesn’t seem to help. The only way to learn is to do it. Of course, I read, study, pray, plan and try to do everything to grow in every area I can, but I’ve found that the most challenging area for me is leadership.

Now the leadership issues stretch into multiple aspects of ministry. It’s leading a staff, casting vision for the congregation, establishing effective systems, administrating and strategizing. This has proven to be the toughest part of ministry to me.

How about you? What have you found to be the most challenging in your ministry?

We took a group from our church to see Chronicles of Narnia this past Sunday. What a great movie! I never read the books when I was a kid. I hated reading then…and still do sometimes now. So, it was a brand new experience for me and I think it was just incredible. What a powerful message that also serves as an awesome children’s story. I had no idea how powerful the imagery would be…not to mention the incredible special effects, graphics, computer generation, etc. I told Steph that we would be seeing all the ones they decided to make and we’d be buying this one as soon as it came out on DVD. Good stuff!

I have recently determined my favorite time of the year. I know what you might be thinking; “Everyone’s favorite time of the year is Christmas.” Well, it’s not mine. Don’t get me wrong, I love the “why” of Christmas: God coming to earth in the form of a human being…Jesus Christ being born in Bethlehem. That’s awesome! But lately I’ve not been a big fan of the “what” of Christmas. It’s been so commercialized and contorted over the years that it doesn’t even resemble what it’s supposed to be about. And these days you can’t even say “Christmas” anymore. It has to be “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” or anything that doesn’t include the name of Christ.

So, Thanksgiving is now officially my favorite time of the year. For one thing, you can still call it “Thanksgiving” on network television and in department stores. For another thing, you still get to see your family and friends and eat all kinds of good food and you don’t have to worry if you bought Uncle Rufus the perfect present (especially since you haven’t seen him since last Christmas).

This year at North Cross we did a series the entire month of November on being thankful. It was called “Hey, Thanks: a thankful life that others are thankful for…” We talked about “taking God for granted,” “being thankful for what you have” and that Thanksgiving is “more than a holiday,” it’s a lifestyle. This was one of the most meaningful series in my personal life as well as in the life of our church. It caused me to take a step back and really appreciate how good God really is.

So, it’s official. I love the Thanksgiving season. It’s my favorite! The weather is turning colder, the leaves are turning colors and we get to spend quality time with familiy where we can eat until our heart’s content. And for all you Christmas lovers out there…Happy Holidays! I mean, Merry Christmas!