Rainy Days & Fridays

I was just sitting here feeling sorry for myself (I do that occasionally). I think it's the combination of a few things - a rainy day, some troubling news from old friends of ours, and I'm feeling a little hungry. It is so easy to focus on the junk of life (especially as a pastor) and forget that there are a million things to be thankful for. As I sat here God put David into my mind. Talk about mood swings. Read the Psalms and you find the heights of exhilaration and the depths of depression. "Why so downcast?" was the verse I remembered. Read Psalm chapters 42 and 43 and you will see what I mean. David had so many troubles (some self-induced) and yet he was able to look beyond the junk and see God.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. Psalm 43:5 (NIV)

Put your hope in God. Stop dwelling on the problems. Lift your eyes and you will see God and His incredible love for you. So, yes, I needed a little shot in the arm and God has done it again. I am thanking God for His love and grace. He has blessed me with a great wife and two sons. My church family means so much to me. Thanks to God for His blessings. Don't forget - be careful where you focus - on the issues at hand or on the One who can handle every issue you throw at Him. Oh, by the way. It is still raining and I am going to find some lunch.

A "Hell" of a Day

What a great day we had Sunday. It was good to see many people who we had not seen for a while. Several new faces, too. I presented a lesson that was a little deviation from our "normal" style (whatever normal is). I talked about the realities of Hell. Hell is a real place (as real as Heaven) and I challenged every person to be sure where they are headed. The "so what" of the day is that we cannot rest on the fact that we get Heaven when we accept Jesus. We also carry a responsibility to know what is going on in the lives of the people in our circles of influence. Every one of us have at least one person we need to be praying for and talking with. God wants to use us to keep our friends out of Hell.

Worship was also very powerful (nice job, Corbett). I know the day was powerful because I cannot stop thinking about how horrible Hell is, how fantastic Heaven is and how many people will go to Hell if I don't speak up. What a tremendous and awesome responsibility we have as followers of Jesus.

The Cool Parts of Ministry

I love baptisms. I just watched a video from another church that does outdoor baptisms in the bay at Washington, D.C. It was so cool and very moving. I love that part of my work here in the church - to see someone commit their life to Jesus (a private, personal decision) and then to see them go public with that belief in a major way by being baptized. There is nothing cooler than that! Seeing the change that occurs in the lives of people. I love being part of what God is doing. How about you? Are there things that just really "turn your crank" about ministry? Let me know. And thanks to many of you who gave me your impressions of Hell. Those will be very helpful. You still have time to send those to me.

Here are the pictures we took of Smokey the Bear. This was off of our deck and he just hung around for a while and let us take his picture. We were glad for the 25 feet that separated us from him. It was dark, so the pictures are a little hard to see, but you get the idea. Our dog, Sadie, was uninterested in the bear. God sure made some incredible creatures. Another night I saw a large coyote in the same spot.

Welcome To My Scary Place: Where Do They Get This Stuff

Welcome To My Scary Place: Where Do They Get This Stuff

I need your help. We are talking about Hell in a couple of weeks and I want to hear your impression of what Hell may be like. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. Doesn't have to be biblically based, just give me your thoughts and impressions. I promise I won't make fun of you. Just post to the blog or you can email me at revkevmorris@yahoo.com. Thanks for your help.

Hello everyone. Just back from two weeks of vacation in the eastern Tennessee mountains. We had a home on top of a mountain and it was so very nice. There was a pool within a few steps of our front door and a hot tub on our deck and I did a lot of sitting in the sun and reading. We also did some tourist things (Gatlinburg Aquarium, Dollywood and Dixie Stampede). This was a great time to relax and enjoy ourselves. Now I am back at work and I can't get myself started yet. I think it is the "car lag" from the 12 hours on the road home.

We saw a black bear from our deck one evening. My sister-in-law has pictures to prove it. I will post when I get a hold of them. Speaking of pictures, when you go to a place like Gatlinburg they are constantly taking your picture and asking you to buy the photos. On every roller coaster, at the dinner shows, riding the aerial tram, entering the men's room (just kidding). But they have figured out that no one takes their own photos anymore. We even posed with a person in a black bear suit at one of these. I think that is why Gatlinburg is known as a tourist trap. They have imagined all kinds of new ways to get your money. But, like I said, we stayed at our mountain home a lot and really enjoyed our time. Thanks to everyone at the office who kept things together while we were gone.

Kevin