Our little baby’s growing up! Few things are more precious, and more heart-breaking, than your six-year-old little girl with a backpack on, marching off to school. We’re happy for her, excited about her future, and prayerful that she’ll be used of God in mighty ways! But we also don’t want her to age another day.

She did great on her first day. She was brave. When I said goodbye to her, she sat at her desk with her pencil in hand as though to say, “It’s okay Dad, I can handle this!” She made a friend on the playground but strangely never got her name, and it was a good day!

For me, as I sit writing this, I’m thinking of all the time we’ve spent behind the chair in our living room. It’s an open area and we’ve tossed balloons, rolled around in imaginary mud, wrestled and played “Simon says.” We’ve chased each other through the house, she’s bounced around on a big bouncy ball, and we’ve played many hands of Crazy 8’s and Old Maid. And I don’t want that to end!

After school we took her for ice cream and I looked across the table at her and was overwhelmed with joy. Most of the time, something good has to happen for us to smile, but with Ella, all I have to do is look at her and I’m pleased. I’m proud. I’m thankful. When all the stresses of life weigh on my heart, I can retreat into a moment of Ella-gazing. I hope she knows always just how much I love her and how proud of her I am.

For Ella, it was a pretty big day. For Angie, it was much bigger. Neither of them, however, will ever realize how big today is for me. Another grade begun and so few to go. Let’s slow it down, okay?

What is it to be a Christian? Is it that we’ve had a one-time experience of salvation? Or is it that we experience growth in Christ daily, some evidence of change? I know the argument is endless, but I wanted to share this quote from Clyde Crandford’s book Because We Love Him.

Repentance that is not ongoing is not genuine; faith that does not involve surrender is not adequate; a life in which holiness does not develop is not Christian.

You may or may not agree, but I think if nothing else, this statement should serve as a wake-up call for believers. We argue about this issue because we haven’t lived consistently. A life in which we are ever being changed into Christ’s image should be the norm, not the rare exception. How are you changing today?Technorati Tags: discipleship, salvation, repentance, holiness, clyde cranford, growth

Tomorrow we kick off our Men’s early morning Bible study at 6:15 a.m. I invite you to come if you have the time and can get out of the bed. It’s a challenging time together, in spite of the donuts and coffee.

This semester, we’re going to be studying from the book Because We Love Him by Clyde Cranford. It’s all about “embracing a life of holiness.” Frankly, it’s one of the single best books I’ve ever read on what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Cranford was a personal disciple-maker and spent untold hours pouring his living beliefs into young Christians.

He died prematurely, but not before making a mark on many believers and leaving behind this great work. I’d encourage you to get a copy (click the photo) and dive in. It’s life-changing.

Today we handed out a survey at church asking people to indicate which service they would attend if we did decide to offer a second service as an overflow solution. The answers were all over the board. It’s going to prove difficult to chart because so many made multiple choices - which is actually a good thing. The question the survey answered was, if we offer a second service, will anyone actually show up? I think they will.

Now comes an even more intense time of praying and weighing this difficult issue out. It’s not an easy decision. Going to multiple services will cost us, but the big question is, will it help us reach more people for the Kingdom. If so, then that pro outweighs all the cons on the board. Would you mind saying a quick prayer for us?

Just a note. I googled (amazing how that word became a verb) for “pastoral blog” and I was #6. For “pastor blog” I was #30 and for “pastors blog” I came in at #27. Most people who read this may not understand or care about the significance, but to me, it’s pretty cool to come up in the top 30 Google results for those search terms. Just thought I’d share.