Count Your Blessings

In the last couple of weeks, my wife and I have gone to see The Revenant, with Leonardo DiCaprio, and rented The Martian, with Matt Damon.   DiCaprio's character is trying to survive in the pioneer days of America after a vicious bear attack.  Damon's character (much less realistically) is stranded on Mars after his crew mistakes him for being dead and has to evacuate the planet they are researching in an emergency.  After watching those movies I came to a stark realization:  I have never had a bad day in my life.

No, really.  I have truly only dealt with emotional pain.  Now, that kind of pain hurts.  Losing a loved one, getting a broken heart, having your spirit crushed, getting stabbed in the back, becoming 'a number' in a big system, or dealing with a disappointment or disagreement.  Those are real pain.  But, Good Lord, I went to sleep in my bed and got up the next day and had a bowl of cereal and life went on.

I have never woken up and thought, "My only job today is to survive."  I have never had to sleep outside or on another planet.  I don't anticipate either of those happening, and the latter seems very unlikely, as I don't think any human has done that yet.

The reality was clear:  I have many blessings to count.  Yes, there have been hard days (and there will be more to come).  Some have endured battles with disease and tragic loss.  Those days it feels like all you're trying to do is survive.

But for most of us, we have never or rarely experienced a hard day.  So, we find other things to complain about:

• The weather
• Slow internet
• The A/C going out for a day
• Traffic
• Long meetings
• Paperwork
• Politics
• Food
• There's nothing on TV
• Car not starting
• Someone else's Facebook post

These are truly first world problems, and when we focus on them, we lose sight of the blessing we should be counting.  It'll do you a world of good if you'll heed the words of the old hymn:  "Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your blessings see what God has done."  He has done so much for me, and for that I am thankful.  Forgive me, Lord, when I complain and lose sight of gratitude.

Mark Richt & the Conundrum of the Christian Bulldog Fan

145-51.  That's Mark Richt's wins and losses, and I was there for all 51 of those losses.  In the stadium, making the death march to the truck afterward.  From the inexplicable red zone misses against South Carolina in '01 to the walk down Duval St. in Jacksonville this past Halloween night.  And the last one felt different.  I've missed 9 games that Mark Richt coached my beloved Bulldogs, but I was there for every loss (maybe it's my fault -- we always won when I missed!).  What a ride it was these last 15 years.  The Hobnail Boot in '01 and the run to an SEC title that followed a year later, finally clinching the division with the miracle on the Plains.  Finally defeating Florida in '04 and DJ's title in '05.  The miracle finish in the arm of a young Stafford in '06 and the Celebration in '07 in Jacksonville that lit the team on fire for the rest of the season.  Running this state in '09 and winning 10 striaght in '11.  The magical season in '12 including winning the toughest game I've ever seen us win at the Cocktail Party vs. the #2 Gators.  The '13 victory over LSU with Sanford as electric as I've ever seen it and the emergence of this kid from Cedartown in '14.

I saw brutal losses, too.  I don't care to mention them.  I'm trying to forget!  I always believed, though, that we'd be alright.  I gotta admit -- Halloween felt different.

Maybe I see this differently because I'm an old dawg.  I saw Herschel play his last game in Athens in '82, and I remember hearing that Coach Dooley had retired.  I was glued to the TV watching him coach us for the final time in the Gator Bowl.  I remember hearing on ESPN that Goff had been fired in '95 (even though I worked for the team then).  I remember learning that Donnan was out in 2000.  I remember the feeling walking out of Everbank Field in Jacksonville and thinking that this felt different than the previous 50 losses.  I thought I might have just witnessed the end.  I was born into Red and Black and I'll be buried in it.  And it won't much matter who the coach is -- I'll be cheering for him to win.

I want to say something to the Bulldog Nation:  take a deep breath.  I love Mark Richt.  If you don't love who he is and what he's done, well, you don't know much about people, life or football.  We won way more in the last 15 years than we lost, and way more than we had won in the previous 15.  But, Georgia Football is bigger than Mark Richt.  It's been around since 1892, and I've got pictures of Trippi and Sinkwich in my basement from the 1940s.  It'll be around after he's gone.

Mark Richt presents the Christian Bulldog fan with a conundrum.  He's a man of deep faith who truly lives it, which makes him all the more rootable.  We believe him when he says he loves a kid.  He shows it.  Any Christ Follower that is a Dawg fan wants to see him win.  Even opposing fans have to admit he's a great guy.  They even want to see him succeed when he's not playing their team.  He's molding young men, graduating players, running a clean program and impacting players even beyond graduation.  He has integrity and class.  It's about than football for him.  And it makes the Christian UGA fan proud because OUR program is about more than football.  No one wants to see a guy like that get fired.  I wanted to see him get one more year with a stellar recruiting class and a healthy Nick Chubb.  I thought he could win big next year.  But others thought otherwise, and a change was made.

I've seen comments today that of being "ashamed of my alma mater" or "we thought it was about more than football" and "looks like winning is all that matters."  Of course it's about more than football, but IT IS about football, mostly, right?  I mean, listen, I adore Mark Richt, but let's don't pretend he's the only coach impacting lives and molding young men.  Dabo Swinney is doing it.  Mark Dantonio is doing it.  David Shaw is doing it.  And they're winning big while doing it.  And there are plenty of other guys out there who can do it.  Listen, I don't think UGA will be hiring Bobby Petrino anytime soon.  That's not the Georgia Way.  I don't think this is about winning at all cost, but it is about winning more.  I'm all for winning more.  Now, that's a tall task, and we might just win less....but maybe not.  It's a gamble, a risk.  That's sports.

But you don't have to pick a side here.  Love Mark Richt.  Appreciate him, thank him.  He has loved UGA, and we have loved him.  Then love the next guy and cheer like crazy for him.  You're not changing the Athletic Department's mind because you're mad or disagree.  And you're not really making any friends by taking pleasure in the dismissal of such a fine man.  But I can tell you this:  I hope we go 15-0 next year. I hope we become the first team to have a coach win the national championship in his first year.  And if you bleed Red and Black, don't you hope the same?  Nick Chubb will be out there along with Terry Godwin, Dominick Sanders, Isaiah McKenzie and Sony Michel.  Lorenzo Carter and Trenton Thompson will be out there along with Jeb Blazevich. I think I'll cheer for them, no matter who their coach is -- because they chose to attend the school that I did, and I love them for it.

And when we shock the world, I hope Richt gets a little credit for helping build it.  Should he coach somewhere else, I'll be cheering hard for him because he's a great man who did so much while in Athens.  But there won't be a question who I'm pulling for if he ever plays us.  UGA made me a Mark Richt fan, not the other way around.

And can I close to say something?  We don't know what the next guy will do until we see him do it or not do it, so can we give him a chance to do it?  Kirby Smart might be the next Will Muschamp, but he might be the next Bob Stoops, who was also a DC who got his first head coaching job at Oklahoma.  Tom Herman might be the next Urban Meyer, but he might be the next Tommy Bowden.  We just don't know.  He might even be the next Mark Richt, and you could be called a lot worse.  None of us are happy about this.  A fine man lost his job.  Can we be sad and hopeful at the same time?  Yes.  You don't have to pick sides, Christian Dawg fans.  You can love Jesus, love Mark Richt, love UGA and cheer your guts out for the next guy, too.

Thanksgiving thankfulness

I hope you are gearing for a great Thanksgiving with friends and family.  I hope you'll be able to make it back for worship on Sunday as we'll continue "Pointing to a Promise" by talking about David.  We have a lot to learn about character from him.  You might even hear some Christmas songs!

Thought for the Week
"I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."  Psalm 69:30

I've made it a custom the last few years to make a list each Thanksgiving for the things for which I'm most thankful.  I'll surely leave a host of blessings out, but here's the ones that come to mind this day.

I'm thankful for...

• The blood of Jesus that covers over my multitude of sins.
• The grace of God that sustains me each and every day.
• My sweet wife, Emily.
• My four wild boys, Morgan, Tanner, Walker and Brooks.
• To still have my parents with me, because I know so many that don't.
• Parents and in-laws that support us so much
• Our brothers, sister-in-laws, nephews and niece.
• My church family.  What a gift to serve a risk-taking and outreach-focused community of faith.
• For not having Christmas Eve services in high school in a month.
• For new friends at Harmony Grove that we didn't know a 18-months ago.
• For the faithful who have bled and cried with me for any part of the last 10 years in planting a church.
• For safety.  In this day and age, every day is a gift.
• to Disney for bringing back Star Wars and giving me and my boys the chance to see one in the theater together.
• For Southern winters that don't really start until about mid-December and end quickly.
• For the sunshine...for a while there I thought it had disappeared.
• To the mentors that have poured their cups into mine.
• For the light at the end of the tunnel in my school work.
• For pastor friends to laugh, cry and celebrate with.
• For Jeremy Pruitt, Jake Ganus and Sony Michel.  It would have been a long fall without those three.
• For Mello Yello Zero and Coke Zero.  
• For Pop Tarts -- I love those things.
• For my health, notwithstanding the pop tarts.
• For the opportunity to talk College Football each week on WJBB 107.1 in Barrow County.  It's been a blast.
• For coffee.
• For sleeping in.
• For warm socks.  I'm really starting to appreciate good socks in my old age.
• For the chance to do life every day.
• And I'm thankful for you.  It's people that make this world great and people that have so blessed my life.

In Christ,

Carter

Trust builds relationships

We live in a world where there is an incredible lack of trust.  We don't trust anyone to do anything.  We don't trust that others won't sue us, so we have waivers for nearly every activity under the sun.  We don't trust our community, so we have video surveillance.  We don't trust our kids, or even ourselves, so we have have firewalls on our computers.  Yet, trust is THE currency for relationships, and it builds and strengthens relationships like nothing else.  We just rarely see it anymore.

That's why I was shocked on Monday when I went to eat lunch at a local restaurant.  They don't take cards, only cash, and the server/cashier said, "Don't worry if you don't have any cash, you can just pay us next time you come in."  But I had never been before.  And how did she know I was coming back?  What if I was from out of town?  I had cash, so I paid my bill, but it was still staggering.  But you know what?  It made me want to come back.  The burger I was about to order was now going to taste better because she trusted me.  She believed in me.  She thought there was good in me.  Often, we find what we're looking for.

Trust is believing there is something good in others.  Now, people will disappoint us and hurt us, but we don't do each other, society, and our families any good when we don't trust each other.  Instead, when we trust others, we can often bring out the best in them because, deep down, we humans don't really want to let each other down.

If you want deep relationships, you have to trust.  This is what is so profound about our relationship with God.  He trusts us with so much.  He trusts us with our freedom, the earth, our families.  He trusts us with His Church and His message.  He trusts us with His heart.  And when we don't trust Him, our relationship with God suffers.  Trust is THE currency of relationships.  When we withhold trust from God, we are saying that we aren't sure if there is good in Him.  We are unsure of Him.  We are thinking He might let us down.  He won't.  Think about all He has trusted you with.  It's because He loves you and believes in you.  That ought to inspire us to trust Him.

I certainly wanted to trust Casey's in downtown Winder with my business again because they trusted me.  BTW, the Bacon Pimento Cheese Burger with Sweet Potato Fries is spot on.

When Disaster Strikes

Canaan United Methodist Church in Ridgeville, SC

I am a native South Carolinian.  I was born in Rock Hill, south of Charlotte, and raised in a small town called Williamston on the banks of the Saluda River.   My folks live in the Upstate, and my brother, sister-in-law and two nephews live in the Midlands.  I have cousins and aunts and uncles there.  For nearly 18 years of my life, it was home.  This past week, Mother Nature ravaged the Palmetto State.  The death count continues to rise, the damage is inexplicable, schools are still closed and it raised questions that we all struggle with when disaster strikes.

• Why would God allow such a thing to happen?
• If God controls the weather, why didn't he stop it?
• Where is God in natural disasters?

God allows a lot.  Contrary to popular belief, I don't believe the message of the Bible is one of a puppet-master God in the sky who controls every moment in history.  Being in control and controlling are two different things.  God is in control, but God doesn't control everything.  

Sin knocked the cosmos off its axis.  In the Garden of Eden, sin caused childbirth to be painful and the ground to become difficult in agriculture.  We take these things as normal.  They are not normal.  God did not intend them to be this way.  Sin brought death to humanity.  Sin broke the world, and we're still living in the brokenness.  A crazed gunman at a college campus, a flood in South Carolina, and cancer in a loved one.  They are reminders of our brokenness.

Is there good news?  The message of Jesus is that he is redeeming all this -- he is making all things new.  And one day, when there is a New Heaven and New Earth, this will all be fixed.  Murder is not normal.  Natural Disasters aren't normal.  Cancer isn't normal.  God is fixing this back to the way it should be.  And He can fix it through us.

When we reach out in love across the picket line, when we volunteer and donate to disaster relief, when we care for a friend with cancer, when we pray for the family of the murdered, when we choose love over hate, when we choose selflessness over selfishness, we begin to bring more of that redemption into this world.  God is with us.  The question is how will we allow Him to revealed in us?  

God didn't do this.  Stop saying that.  God's not into flooding things anymore.  Trust me.  I read about it one time.  It's a broken world.  It's messed up.  We're messed up.  Our weather is messed up.  Our systems are messed up.  How are allowing Him to fix a corner of this messed up world through you?  How is He redeeming you, making you new, restoring you?  

Offline Life

So, a couple of weeks ago, I cracked my screen on my iPhone -- for the second time in about two months.  There is much to this story.  I loathe cases on my phones.  I like it to be as slim and slick as possible to fit in my pocket.  That works well when it stays in your pocket.  Not so much when it doesn't.  Concrete and pavement do not get along with uncased iPhones.  This is fact.  So, this time, I cracked it good on a Friday afternoon.  The earliest I could get an appointment at an Apple Store was the next Tuesday night, so I went four days without a phone.  I learned two important lessons.

1. There is nothing 'out there' more important than 'right here.'  Our constant connectivity to the outside world has made us think that there is something more important going on 'out there.'  Will we miss something in our Facebook and Twitter feeds?  Is there something new going on at the websites I like?  Did I miss a blog post?  Oh no, I don't have a camera so I can share what is happening right here out there?  Not being constantly connected kind of forced me to focus on the here and what I was doing at that moment, whether it be hanging out with my kids and wife or focusing on something that deserved 100% of my attention.  Connection to the world is a gift, but there's nothing going on 'out there' that's more important than your 'right here.'
2. Listen to the people that love you.  My wife, children and mother all told me repeatedly to get a case.  I was stubborn.  It wasn't what I wanted, but it wasn't an unreasonable thing they were suggesting.  They were just trying to protect me.  There are a very few times in life when you may see a bigger picture than others in your life can't yet see, but MOST of the time, if the people that love you are telling you something, listen.  A phone is a silly thing, but this isn't silly for most folks.  When your child ask you to stop smoking, when a parent tells you to get your degree, when a spouse asked you to stop working so late, when a friend says that's enough drinks, when a loved one tells you they're worried about you...listen.  They love you.  Critics are sometimes right and sometimes wrong.  It's about 50/50 because they don't really know you.  People that love you are almost always right.  Listen to them

I got my phone fixed and a shiny new case.  But just so you know, the slam dunk I did in our driveway game of H-O-R-S-E on our 8-foot basketball goal that caused my phone to fall out of my pocket was EPIC!

Sunday Preview & Thought for the Week (9.17.15)

I hope you are having an awesome week.  I am super excited about this Sunday.  It's a Baptism Sunday, and we're going to baptisms at a few of our experiences.  I'm also pumped about this message.  God has been speaking to my heart and challenging me as I prepare.  We'll continue to be in the story of Abraham this week as part of our series "The People of God."  Understanding his story and character is so crucial to understanding God's vision for His people.  We're going to talk about a critical decision Abraham and his nephew, Lot, made and the character trait behind our decisions.  I hope to see you there!

Big Important News!
TAILGATE SUNDAY IS OCTOBER 4TH!
We will have 1 Worship Experience for ALL CAMPUSES at Harmony Grove Church of the Way @ 11:00.
No 9:45 or 5:30 service that day.
Outdoor Worship Experience.  We'll have chairs but you're welcome to bring your own.
Wear your favorite team gear!  Award for best outfit!
Bring some side dishes and desserts to share!  We'll eat while we worship!  Awards for best dishes!
Tell a friend now and invite them to this special day!

Thought for the Week
"He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26

You know, you don't have to keep beating yourself up.  You don't .  You don't have to keep re-hashing that mistake, that sin, that royal mess you made.  It's forgiven.  Jesus died once for it long ago, so why do you keep reliving it?  Why do you keep blaming yourself over and over?  Jesus forgot about it on the cross, so why won't you?  When you call on Jesus, your sin is done away with.  It's washed away in His amazing grace.  There's no tidying up you need to do.  It's over.  Finished.  Forgiven.  His sacrifice was enough, so stop re-living it.  Stop letting it own a part of you.  Live into today.  Live into forgiveness.  Live into His mercy.  Live into new life.  I know too many people who cannot get past their past.  They cannot see that things could be different for them -- that they ARE different for them because of Jesus.  They think there must be something else they must do.  They must clean up themselves.  Instead, what they end up doing is holding their lives prisoner to their past.  And we mustn't do this.  Jesus died once and for all.  It's over and done with.  So be the new you.  If you don't know about this forgiveness, you can have it for free.  If you have, use it.  Use it to propel your life into a new life, cleansed by the Holy Spirit.  If you've grown accustomed to it, don't ever, ever, ever forget how costly it was, how crucial it is, and how much we need it every single day.  This forgiveness -- your life -- was so important that Jesus thought it was worth dying for.  So why not live for Him.

Because of Jesus,
Carter