Fathers have an incredible chance to impact the future of their children. I have said this over and over ... Your children will do what you do. If you are asking your children to do something, yet you choose not to do that same thing, then you can never expect them to act differently. We have such an incredible opportunity to help shape our children and set them up to soar as adults and the opposite is true too. Take an inventory of your life as a Father and ask yourself this question, "where I am asking my kids to act in a certain way, yet I am doing the complete opposite." Do you want them to be respectful? Do you want them to live with integrity? Do you want them to chase after Jesus? Do you want them to work hard? Every thing we do leaves a mark on their decision making process. I recently had a conversation with my son, Isaiah and his answer impacted me deeply. We were talking about the danger of alcohol in people's lives and how many are one drink away f...

This summer, my wife and I completed 20 years of ministry at Grace Community Church... It was DadFest Sunday here at Grace Community Church. We go all out on Father's Day to reach our men in our community. And we combine all three services into one, on the grassy land, on our property.  Tons of work goes into to this event, and it is one that I feel very passionate about. Get the man, you get the family, you get the community, and you get the world for Jesus.  We kicked it off with an hour motorcycle ride  It was a sunny day and God just blew us away as almost 100 people made decisions to trust in Jesus Tons of people were baptized and God was on the move in powerful way! As I began to wrap things up, and to be quite frank, I was exhausted, but a good-exhausted, I asked Pastor Jon to close out the service. I was making my way off the stage, and ready to work my way to my office to grab my things, and enjoy Father's Day with my kids, but then ...

In case you didn't know we have 3 children and one of our children is our beautiful, talented, compassionate, gifted, Jesus-loving daughter, Hannah. She is the middle child and carries many of the characteristics of a middle child. As a Father one of my many desires has been a desire to set Hannah up to win in the next stages of life. My role as a Dad carries a heavy responsibility and here are just a few... * Her view of God is directly related to her view of me... Wow, the way she will think about God is impacted by the way I have been a father to her and by the way I trust in my God. * Her security or lack of security in how she views herself is shaped by the way I care for her. * Her confidence and courage is directly related to my confidence in her. * Her identity and the need to find it in God is impacted by the way I love her. Needless to say, we Fathers have a huge responsibility in the shaping of our daughters. What an incredible opportunity God has ...

It is the news every senior in High School  doesn't want to hear from a doctor. .. Let me back up about 3 months ago. I received a text from my sister in a meeting, while interviewing Pastor Jordan as a potential candidate for the youth pastor position, that my dad wasn't doing well. It was actually 4 texts. First one ... Pray for dad he is not doing well. So I prayed as we asked Jordan questions. Second one. .. We are calling 911... pray for dad he is having trouble breathing. I continued to pray and begin to check out mentally, while trying to stay focused on the meeting. Third one ... Pray Jimmy they are doing CPR on him, its not good. I stepped out of the meeting, and stood on the track of our gym, and pleaded to Jesus for my dad's life. Fourth text ... Dad is dead... I leaned my head back in the room, grabbed my supplies, and let the guys know I had to go. As I retreated to my office all kinds of emotion flooded my heart, I sat in my office an...

The Bible reminds us of this truth in Job 14:5... A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he can not exceed. As I watch this season nearing the end for my parents, and the passing of my dad, it has had a great impact on my life.  These are some of the ways it is shaping my heart and life . * I am eternally grateful for each day I have shared with them...  * I realize that the most important things in life are relationships... * I am grateful that my parents have always said "I love you" whenever we parted ways. * I am more able to be empathetic and sympathetic to those that have lost loved ones. * I am reaping the benefits of "honoring my parents" through the years. * I find comfort in the promises of heaven in a renewed way. * I treat each visit with them as if it could be our last. * I am more patient and willing to listen better when things are repeated in conversation. * I am reminded of ...

It's amazing the things you can learn after God gives you 55 years on earth. Here are a few of things I have learned along the way in no certain order.  These values have shaped my life and ministry. * God's grace runs to our sin not from it... There is never any sin that Jesus doesn't forgive. * There are some lessons that can only be learned on the other side of yes... Step out in faith and experience some amazing thing that most never do. * Believe the Best in others... Give people the benefit of the doubt and listen to both sides of the story. * Take the high road when people criticize and gossip about you... Never join in and fire back at them just love them. * Treat everyone with the same respect and value... Never leverage people for your own benefit.  * Lead by example... Be the first one in and always get your hands dirty with the ones you lead and work harder than everyone else. * Entitlement is a sin... Jesus humbled himself,...

I love this time of year because it is a chance to begin something new and to redeem what we may have lost.  If you are like most people, you have already been thinking about making New Year Resolutions. You are probably on day 3 of a new diet and exercise plan. You might even be on chapter 3 of a new book. You might even be on day 3 of a budget crunching spend plan. And you might even have read 6 chapters in the Bible in the attempt to read it cover-to-cover this year.  While all of these and many other Resolutions might be good and wise, they probably lack one very essential element. They probably have been improperly implemented into your "new" routine, because you believe this is what you "should be doing." Let me explain... Instead of setting Resolutions in the same fashion you have over the 30 years, begin by asking this question "what is the thing, action, activity, plan, or resolution that will help me become the person, that God has ma...