It’s been a crazy and amazing 3 1/2 years. It really has been a gift just to be a part of it!

God is good. Don’t forget it.

So, that’s how the hip is doing. I will be back preaching Sunday morning at West Rome. I can not wait to get back up there and see what God has planned. Chris Lodge has done a terrific job the last two weeks and God has done some great things. I’m just FIRED UP to be back!

Kris Pyle will be speaking at XL Sunday night. That is not something you want to miss.

Have a great week. See ya Sunday.

Jarrod

However, I want to encourage you to be there tomorrow morning at West Rome and tomorrow night at XL. I believe with all my heart that our great God is going to do amazing things in both places tomorrow and you do not want to miss it. Chris Lodge is bringing the message at West Rome and Craig Bagwell will be speaking at XL. Both of them are bringing messages that are totally from God and it is going to be awesome! I really believe things will happen tomorrow that will be impossible to explain, so if you miss it, you’ll just miss it. I say, for both events, go early, go ready, and see God do some amazing things. And, if you don’t make it, you can come to my house on Monday and we’ll listen to the podcast. But, you’ll know that we still missed it.

Have a great day tomorrow and enjoy meeting face to face with your Savior.

God was good today at West Rome and XL. It is such a privelege to work with these two ministries. God is SO good to me.

Hip-Time!

Day 6: Going some place? (Read I Chron. 22-28; Luke 14:28-30) How many projects have you started and not finished? Honestly. Are you better at creativity, but poor at follow-through? Does your weakness of not planning cause problems with family, work, or friends? Is God interested in helping you in this area? What would He have to do to get your attention? David had it in his heart to build the Lord’s temple, but God said differently, “. . . you shall not build a house to My name . . . your son shall build a house for My name.” David prepared much: 100,000 talents of gold; 1,000,000 talents of silver; bronze and iron beyond weight; timber and stone; and said to Solomon, “you may add to them.” It took 7 years to construct the Temple and Solomon hired: 30,000 men for labor; 70,000 men to bear burdens; 80,000 to quarry stone in the mountains; and 3,600 to oversee them, (I Kings 5:13; II Chron. 2:2).
But it was two pieces of advice that mattered: (1) “Know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever,” I Chron. 28:9. (2) “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished,” I Chron. 28:20).
In so many words, David said to Solomon, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ Some practical steps on planning: (1) start with the plan (idea); (2) give it time (have everything ready); (3) remain faithful, or someone else may finish it; (4) write your plan down, 28:11-12,19; (5) have the right frame of mind, 28:9; and (6) follow through with it, 28:10-20. How do you plan; has it been working?

1. He began to forget where all the blessings came from.
I think this is where the “slow fade” toward pride began in Solomon’s life. He began to think that some of the great things that God had done for him were actually his fault. We must be very careful to remember the blessings of God.

2. He decided he could handle things on his own.
When he started marrying the daughters of the Kings of rival nations, he was going directly against the command of God. At first, it’s a slow fade. Then, we are going directly against God’s direction for our lives. Be careful!!!

3. He surrounded himself with people that did not support his love for his God.
God specifically told him that, if he married these foreign women, they would turn Solomon’s heart against God. And, that’s exactly what they did. Learn from this. You cannot surround yourself with people that do not support you, and expect to grow toward Christ. They WILL have an affect on you.

4. He actually began to worship other Gods.
Anytime we allow the slow fade toward pride in our lives, if not stopped, it ALWAYS ends up with us worshiping something other than our God.

I was challenged this week that the story of Solomon reminds me of a lot of men in our churches today. We begin to think the good things we have accomplished in our lives have something to do with us. We move from there to trying to handle our lives on our own, and in our own way. Then, we find ourselves spending most of our time with people that WILL influence us against God. And, then, finally, we end up worshiping things (cars, houses, jobs, money) other than God.

Where are you on this scale? Are you fading slowly? Stop it now. Are you already worshiping things other than God? Repent today, and get back on track. You don’t want to end up like Solomon, looking back on a life that ended up meaningless. REMEMBER, it’s not how you start, but how you finish!

Have a great week.

Everything else was great. The volunteers did a great job! The band rocked! One challenge for you: If you’re coming to XL next week, bring somebody with you. I don’t care where you find them, or what you have to pay them to come, just bring ‘em. I believe God will change their lives.

Now, for an update from West Rome this morning. It was crazy. God showed off this morning and changed some lives. We had one young lady give her life to Jesus today. We had another guy join the church, and all kinds of people dealing with God on all kinds of different things. It was really a great day!!!

The message this morning we called “The Challenge of Faithfulness”. We talked about Hezekiah and the challenges that he faced eventhough he was faithful to His God. One thing we have to understand is that, even when we are faithful to the Lord, we will still face challenges in our lives. Some of those challenges will have nothing to do with an action of our own. Some of them will actually be the result of wrong decisions that we’ve made. And, some challenges come when the enemy decides he wants to attack us. And, trust me, if you’re trying to live for God everyday, the enemy WILL attack you. When the enemy does attack a group of people, like our church for example, he is going to attack three different things. First, he will attack the leadership. If he can convince you that your leader is out of his mind, he can stop your whole group from moving forward. Second, he will attack the spirit of the group. He will try to tell you that there is no way you, or your group, can do what you are attempting for the Lord. There is no better way to stop a people than to break their spirit. The enemy doesn’t want you to believe you can accomplish what God has called you to do. Then, the third thing the enemy will do is switch the attacks to your God. And, once He does that, YOU WIN!! You know why… because your God can always beat up their god!!!

Your enemy is going to tell you that your leader doesn’t know where he’s going. He’s going to tell you that you can’t accomplish anything for God. And, then, he’s going to tell you that your God is not as big as He says He is. He will use this same method of attack in many different ways. However, if we prepare for him, and seek the Lord as Hezekiah did, the enemy can be defeated!!! I encourage you to recognize the challenges in your life. Prepare the best you can. Encourage those around you to stand strong in the Lord. And, then, pray like crazy. Scripture has proven time and time again that GOD WILL COME THROUGH.

Have a great week!