MORE THAN ONE CAN HANDLE

There is one thing I’ve come to count on from God, and that is that He will always give us more than we can handle. Recently I’ve found myself thinking back on the two years I spent in Arizona pastoring a church. I remember going down there and how eager, and confident I was that my wife and I could go down there and instantly turn around a small struggling church. I lived on the idea, for a while anyway, that God will never give us more than I can handle (which was really just another way of me being able to say “I can handle it“). Two years later, after an overwhelming schedule, a church culture I couldn’t change, and failure staring me in the face, the one thing I came to discover is that I can’t always handle it….and that there is a God who often gives us more than we can handle. Now while in one breath this reality of God is often frustrating to me, recently God’s been showing me, little by little, that when embraced it can come to be the most freeing reality for our lives. As my time in Arizona fades into memories, I’m still amazed to think of how God took a smalI congregation and through one obstacle after another made a way for us to merge them with a healthy congregation in the area. I’m amazed to think of how blessed my wife and I are to be able to now serve alongside, week in and week out, such an incredible group of ministers, artists, and friends. See God gives us more than we can handle so that we would get to that place of surrender…that place of dependence…that place of faith not in our might, but in the Almighty. What seems to be overwhelming you? Could it be that God has allowed it into this season of your life, not to crush you, but rather to chase you into His grip, His grace, His strength. What thing in your life do you need to let go of, and let God do a work that only He can do?

Seth

"FIVE PEOPLE WHO WON'T BE THERE, BUT YOU WISH THEY WERE"

As many of you know, Albertsons workers are preparing to put in countless late hours to prepare, season, and fry the 300 pieces of chicken we will soon need -- for the annual tradition we refer to simply as the "Fishers Landing Potluck." Yes, it is an event like none other, an event that you surely will not want to miss...this Sunday, at high noon, at the Firstenburg Activity Center (Sorry for the shameless event plug). Which along with some inspiration from a recent T-mobile campaign - got me asking this question..."Who are 5 people you know who won't be at the potluck, but you wish they were?"

For me it would be...

Sylvester Stallone: Come on, one of the great modern actors of our generation. Tell me how does he not get an Oscar when I think of the emotion and tears he brought out in all of us as we watched him take down Ivan Drago in Rocky 4...and the speech that I believe led to fall of Communism "If I(z) can change, and you(z) can change...we all(z) can change (something like that)." Which by the way I have to give my wife props, let's just say you know you married well, when your wife is willing to go and watch Rocky 6 with you...even when your the only two people in the theater..."Yo Holli."

Leonard Sweet: While I can comprehend only about a sixth of all that he writes (if you've ever read Sweets books you know what I mean), the fraction I do understand is really amazing. Leonard Sweet has always been a guy who seems to beable to see years in advance when it comes to the condition and trends of the church and culture itself.

The President: Wherever your at politically...we're still talking about the President of the United States, who doesn't want to beable to say they just hung out with him at the potluck.

Shawn McDonald: By far one of my favorite Christian artists. Talk about great potluck entertainment. Just a side note, I like to point out that in a weird way I'm connected to Shawn... as I am a friend, to a friend, to a friend of Shawns...needless to say Shawn and I go way back.

My Grandmother: She passed away about a year ago in Austin, and it was a privilege to beable to perform the funeral service for her. That said, I just miss her, and would love to beable to talk to her some more, to hear if even one more time the stories of my Dad growing up in Ghoulson, Texas. She's an amazing lady, who I look forward to seeing again someday!

So whose "your five?"