We had a great weekend at DL.  Thanks to David Daniel and everyone who comprised the Outreach/Evangelism Team on Saturday!  We passed out tons of hand sanitizer and gift cards at the Flea Market…I know lives were touched!  We also had a great couple of Worship Experiences yesterday.  Who would have thought Sean and Lisa would have got engaged???  How cool is that—I’m thankful we don’t attend a church where people are so spiritual they can’t have a little fun at church.

The summer is officially over.  We had well over 300 people yesterday.  Let’s continue to invest in and invite our friends and family to our Big Day on September 13th.  Thanks to all of our Ministry Teams that make everything possible at our Weekend Experiences…we have an awesome team!

Imagine a jail cell, full of stench and overwhelming odor.  A place rid of comfort and pleasure, chains binding your hands and feet…

Welcome to Paul’s writer’s den where he would compose (under the direction of the Holy Spirit) some of the most powerful and life changing scriptures.  Philippians 1 takes us to the front row of Paul’s reality.  He was imprisoned for nothing other than being a Christian.  He found himself in chains for the sake of the gospel.  Because of his boldness to preach truth and carry the message of hope and salvation, he was being punished and mistreated!  Surely the Apostle was frustrated and hateful towards others in the prison because of their actions to delay his preaching.  No, in fact he made a pulpit out of his problems!  Paul recognized that they could imprison his body, but no one could imprison his message!  Why?  Because Paul was speaking God’s Word and His Word will accomplish whatever it says.

Philippians 1:12-14 in the Message Bible says, “I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.”

Paul was so sincere and adamant about sharing the message of Christ that he realized the devil may put him in a situation in which he would be forced to change his method, but never to change his message!  And because of Paul’s obedience and courage, even in the midst of being held captive, the Gospel still went forward and advanced!

 Paul did two things outside and inside the prison.  He shared salvation with the lost and encouraged the Body of Christ!  That’s our job right here in Brevard County.

 We have a Big Day coming up on September 13^th.  What are you doing to advance the gospel to bring people into Discover Life Church on that day?  Paul could have complained, made excuses or even opted out…but he didn’t!  Let’s reach this community for Christ and invite as many as we can to our Big Day.

 P.S. Don’t forget to send your friends and family an invite from our website.

These guys are so stinking cute!!!  So I may be a little biased but I just wanted to share two reasons why I love God!  He has blessed Britt and I with two incredibly amazing gifts.  Ky and Dray keep us busy, but they continally remind us of how good God has been to us both!

I miss them so much.  They have been with my brother and sister in law over in Clermont for the weekend.  Britt and I needed some time together before our third son arrives.  He will be here in 4 days!!!  Pray for us.  We can do this!

“No yeave me daddy.”  I should translate for my twins Ky and Dray, “Daddy, don’t leave me!”

This is a common phrase I hear from my two sons as Brittany and I get them out of the car to go inside the house or if we are at an unfamiliar place they do not feel comfortable being alone.  You can probably imagine how incredibly amazing it makes me feel as a dad to hear my boys say this.  It immediately drives me to say with compassion and confidence, ”Oh baby, daddy would never leave you.  Daddy loves you”…

Every time these words come out of my mouth, I am immediately focused on Hebrews 13:5 where the Word tells us that God will never leave us nor forsake us!  No matter what comes our way, no matter what we are dealing with, no matter where we find ourselves, GOD WILL NOT LEAVE US!  We can continually feel His presence and be comforted by His love!

Wednesday evening Brittany and I rushed our son Drayden to the hospital due to a serious allergic reaction which caused his eyes to swell and really freak us out!!!  When we got there, Brittany got out at the door with Dray and I went to park the car.  About 5 seconds later (give or take a few) I ran inside to grab my boy.

In the midst of his discomfort, pain and aggravation, as long as I was holding him, he remained calm!  At the risk of sounding spiritual and preachy, let me say it with confidence:

No matter what you’re going through right now in life, you can remain calm and full of faith because God IS LITERALLY HOLDING YOU TOGETHER!

Colossians 1:17 tells me, “¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

My prayer to God the Father tonight is simple: “Don’t leave me daddy”.

Brittany and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary today!  We took our twins over to stay with my brother in Clermont, FL for a couple of days.  With the arrival of third son in a few days, we decided to spend some quality time together over the weekend. 

When Britt and I met at age 14, I never dreamed 10 years later her and I would be married (well maybe I thought about it once or twice) with three children (definitely didn’t see that one coming).  The truth is “time flies when you’re having fun”!  I know it’s said often, but it feels like just yesterday that met for the first time.

I thank God for a loving wife and great mother to my children.  A woman who is full of faith, hope and love—who follows God together with me!  I look forward to a lifetime of continued happiness and success!

Love you Britt!!!

Don’t blink—life will pass you by!

Who are you pointing to Christ?  So maybe this wasn’t the question you wanted to be asked today, but nonetheless I’m asking…

 John 1:29-39 reads this way in the New International Version:

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”³⁵The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

I believe John’s disciples followed Jesus immediately because of the truth he had imparted to his disciples about who Jesus was before they saw him in person.  The reality is this—we all have people following us.  We all have people who we influence (those who know God and those who do not).  Are we living our lives in such a way that it causes people to draw closer to Christ?  Do the words we speak cause people to gain curiosity about the Gospel?  Do our actions provoke people to go and find Jesus? 

 I want my life to be so purposed that I can speak the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 with confidence, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”

 Instead of pointing at people with our fingers, how about we point them to Jesus with our life?!

I just finished up a small project my wife handed me a week or two ago.  With the arrival of our new baby boy (2 months away) coming, we decided to make the most of our three bedroom house.  We made our third bedroom a full-time playroom.  We decided to go with a theme like a shack or a little tiki hut type theme…with a stage for the boys drums, guitars, and other stuff…with a slanted roof over top!  It turned out pretty good!  (I’m hoping my boys go professional in something…Dad needs a good retirement!)  I will definitely post pictures soon…once Brittany is finished decorating.

Anyways, I say all that to say, THANK YOU DAD!  My father is always faithful to help me in the many times that I need him.  He helped me sketch it out and then of course complete the construction portion of the project.  My dad has helped me so many times and I just wanted to stop and capture the moment of gratitude, love and respect that I have for my him (mom too—she was here to help Brittany with the twins!  Love you mom!)

Question– Who are you thankful for today?  Don’t let a day go by that you fail to tell those closest to you how thankful you are to have them in your life!  Life is but a vapor…(James 4:14)

In my continual journey of faith and trust in God, here are a few thoughts the Lord is putting on my mind:

I believe the Lord is dealing with me and my faith.  It seems as though we pray prayers that lack faith, when in all reality faith is what moves God, not our problems.  It seems as though many people spend more time explaining their problems to God than they do thanking (notice, not asking) Him for what has already been done for them.  I like the illustration the Holy Spirit gave me the other day.

We all have something in common in this world and that is, we all have or have had an earthly father.  The Lord led me to think about my relationship with my dad.  I envisioned a dinner setting in which I was with my family as a kid with my father at the head of the table.  As a kid, I never even thought about asking my dad if I could eat that which was already sitting on the table.  I just dug in!  Of course I thanked him for what he and my mother had provided, but I never asked “Can I have some of what you have set before me?”  Why?  Quite frankly that would have been a stupid question to ask for something that was already prepared on my behalf.

Why then do we continue to beg God for promises that have already been made to us as his children?  Why do say, “Lord will you heal me?” when we read the scripture that healing has already been applied on our behalf?  I believe the Lord spoke this word to me:

True faith causes you to think in past tense!

Scripture tells us in I Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”  This scripture causes us to think in the past tense.  When we pray, we need not say, “Will you…” but “Thank you…”.

Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

This scripture speaks of an event in history (when Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb of God was put on the cross) which has already taken place!  We are healed based on something that has already happened!  I truly believe operating in the Gift of Faith is a radical mindset that causes us to believe for the impossible in spite of what is going on around us.

I believe the Lord also spoke these words into my heart: There’s no “What if?” in faith!

The Word speaks often about how even what we think to be a “small” amount of faith is able to move mountains in our way.  I believe that what God is trying to say is that we need to isolate our faith in an effort to rid our minds of anything that would be able to hinder our thought process of faith.  I don’t believe you can operate by faith and be asking questions like, “What if God doesn’t make it happen?”, “What if something or someone gets in the way of my blessing?”, “What if everything doesn’t pan out as the Word has promised?”  Many people dare not to question God’s ability, but often question his willingness to “freely give us all things” (Rom. 8:32).  I believe whether or not you or I believe God is able to do something has any affect on his ability to do what He said He could do.  Whether or not you believe God can do something does not change the fact that He still can!

You see, it’s when you and I start to believe He can do it and He has done it that we start to experience the supernatural things of God!

The next time you pray (which should be soon) about a miracle you are in need of try thanking God for it instead of asking Him for something you have already been given!

Hello all.  Just thought I would Cher (share) some news with you all that you might find a little comical and also sad at the same time.  Last Sunday night, our Worship Team travelled over to Clermont, FL to Second Chance Fellowship for a night of worship and on our way back home, one of our tires on the trailer blew out!  About two minutes before I was travelling behind the van and trailer with my family in my SUV, and for some reason I decided to move ahead of them.  Little did I know, that would turn out to be inspired by the Holy Spirit!  When the tire exploded, it knocked the metal fender off as well, sending it flying into the air and then into the road (would have been my SUV, had I not decided to go ahead of them). 

Anyways, when we pulled over, we got out to check things out and our pastor’s wife, Cher Hitte (also our Worship Arts Pastor) fell into a hole.  Of course it was on the side of the road on Hwy 528 and everything was dark.  Cher stepped out of the van, began to walk and landed in this whole:

My first concern of course was to check and see if she was alright.  However, shortly after I saw that she was ok, I was overwhelmed with laughter (sorry Cher)!  So yesterday (Monday) Jeff, Bro. Gant and myself went to change the tire because we didn’t have a spare and had to leave the trailer on the side of the road until morning.  So while we were there, Jeff and I decided to do a reenactment on behalf of Pastor Cher:

Thank God she was alright and we all made it safely home!  For some reason, there never seems to be a dull moment on a church trip!

Just wanted to spread the news.  Jim Davis is coming out with a new CD.  I know it will be a blessing to many people.  Thanks Elder Davis for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  You are a valuable asset to the people at Discover Life Church.  Keep doing what you do man!

For more information on this artist, log onto http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/music.php.