My Grandma and Papa are both with the Lord Jesus now. But when I was a kid, if you walked into their house you could bet the farm that they’d be watching TNN (The Nashville Network). I mean ALL THE TIME. Well, in 1980 somethin’, I think it was the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade, my mom and the fam took Grandma and Papa to Nashville to witness firsthand all they’d watched 24/7 on TV for so long. The trip was an epic adventure to say the least. I remember visiting Graceland on the way there (I still love Elvis btw), eating breakfast at a bunch of Shoney’s restaurants, Grandma mispronouncing LaQuinta (LaKwinta), attending the Grand Ole Opry, going to Opryland amusement park and riding a roller coaster called “The Screaming Demon” with both Grandma and Papa…AND, I remember sitting outside at this big open area at Opryland with maybe a few hundred ppl. There was a cover band playing country music. They were good! I only remember one song that they performed though, “Proud To Be An American” and when they got to the part that says “I’ll gladly stand up…” EVERYONE stood up—all the adults, all the kids, and Grandma and Papa. We all stood up and sang together. I can’t tell you how big of an impression that made on me! Out of the hundreds of ppl there, I only knew my family, but we all sang loudly that we were “proud to be an American,” Y’all can think I’m a dork if you want, but I still remember that feeling, and the chills I got that day. It was one of my earliest understandings of what I now know to be patriotism. I still love my country, and Grandma and Papa. And still proud to be an American. Happy 4th of July, friends 🙂

‪Seems we spend a lot of time villainizing the actions of others in our minds, rather than dealing with the issues in our own dark hearts. Truth is, ppl probably aren’t nearly as bad as we make them out to be, and we aren’t nearly as pleasant as we think we are and present ourselves to be. #realtalk ‬

We wrapped up Mega Sports Camp at Grace Bible!!! We had an unbelievable squad of leaders, a ton of great kids, and an AMAZING Lord and Savior who is worth everything we can give and so much more! #JesusIsWorthIt #Gospel #relationships #fun #LivingWater

Check out this sermon from pastor Tom Nelson on why we should attend church:

Below is a link to a video from our recent mission trip to the Navajo Reservation. This was truly an unbelievable trip, only explainable by the work of God. We had several from our group make professions of faith in Christ, as well as several kids that we ministered on the Reservation during VBS. Our goal was to share the Gospel — that God is holy, man is sinful, Christ made the necessary Sacrifice for us to have a relationship with God, and we are to respond in faith. We sought to reach kids and students in a way that is Gospel-centered, relational, fun, and to have as many “gospel conversations” as we could. As became fond of saying on the trip, it was FABULOUS.

Check it out:

https://vimeo.com/276759434

Sunday night we enjoyed an especially sweet time of Bible study in our home with some people we love. This pic looks like we are praying, and we did do some praying, but in this pic, we are actually singing. No instruments, just voices of people from varying ages, seasons of life, and backgrounds, singing Amazing Grace to our King, together. That may seem weird, but if you know Jesus, I don’t think it should.

God Our RESCUER! Thank you to our church family for the prayers over this group as we spent 4 days last week, learning about God’s Rescue plan for us. Our theme verse was Romans 5:8 “But God shows his own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

Big thanks to our amazing, faithful Children’s Director, Alicia Gage. As well as to all our volunteer workers, Price Ferrell, John Clark, Jeremy Devore, Bethany Devore, Lauren Schafer, and Sidney Rowell, God used you mightily!!

Jason Witten formally announced his retirement from the Dallas Cowboys last week. When I first heard that he might be bringing his playing career to a close, I posted on social media that I was running out of reasons to watch the Cowboys. That was my way of paying a high compliment to Witten. He’s the kind of player that can make people cheer for a team all by himself. I admire Witten’s ability, his toughness, and his willingness to stick with a group of people and ride for them and with them through thick and thin. Mostly, I admire his character. It’s probably no surprise to most of you that Witten is a follower of Jesus Christ. He has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but it’s not personal in a way that keeps him from sharing the gospel whenever he can. I wanted to share his ‘I Am Second’ video. I saw it years ago, but really enjoyed putting fresh eyes on it in view of all that Witten has accomplished. Check it out at the link below:

https://youtu.be/MNbNByIKsIk

Shared this good reminder for husbands and dads with a few of my brothers yesterday and got some good feedback. Ladies, you might consider sharing with men in your life if you feel led. One of things I’ve found so interesting is that many women can’t even fathom the man’s response in the post, but most of us men, including myself, relate to this man’s initial response at some level. In 2011 I lost my mentor and a best friend to a heart attack. It made me reevaluate a lot, and one thing I did was get a sizable life insurance policy. I’m healthy so it was inexpensive. It felt/feels so good to think about my wife and kids being ok if/when something happens to me. But reading this post reminded me that they actually need me, more than my providing. (Still keeping my policy tho 😅😎) Check it out:

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/your-family-needs-more-than-money

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. – Romans 15:7

This verse gives a METHOD and MOTIVATION for extending life-giving welcoming hospitality to others.

Method: “as Christ has welcomed you”. Jesus meets us right where we are, with grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness. He doesn’t welcome us based on our stellar performance, but rather he receives us in spite of our many shortcomings. He welcomes us, warts and all. Jesus isn’t insecure about associating with broken people. In his time on earth he extended love to everyone, but especially to the down and outers that many wouldn’t want to be seen with. I’m still in awe that, as perfect as he is, and as messed up as I am, Jesus is not embarrassed of me. And He’s not embarrassed of you either! He doesn’t have those hang ups and insecurities. And God’s calling us to find our identity and acceptance in the fact that we are accepted by Him, lose our insecurities and fears of what people might think, and welcome others and Christ has welcomed us.

Motivation: “for the glory of God”. When we welcome one another we get to “glorify” or image forth God to others. As God’s image bearers we have a great capacity to not only know God, but also to make Him known. The word glory has the idea of weight. To glorify someone is to have the weight of emphasis placed on them. Welcoming others is a way for us to put the weight of emphasis in our actions, on God, to show what God means to us. For a person saved by grace through faith in Christ in a relationship with God, there’s no greater privilege than glorifying God!!!