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Do you have a sacred schedule?

If there is one thing that I have learned about my schedule is that if I am not willing to control it, someone would be glad to control it for me! The problem is that the people who are willing to schedule your time for you are rarely FOR YOU! So I developed an idea that I call my sacred schedule: the idea is that there are times of my day, week, month and year that are SACRED to me and my family. So SACRED that other needs, emergencies and pleasures never rank above these moments and I try to keep them as consistent as possible!

what is sacred for you? Your weekly church experience? Daily Devotion with Kids, Coffee with Spouse, Dinner with a friend, Prayer Time, Vacation time, etc…

Develop a sacred schedule and keep it SACRED!  Schedule moments in every day, week, month and year that are non-negotiable. Don’t over plan or plan unrealistically, it will only lead to frustration. Start simple and work it!

bye for now,

tim

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I am the “Luckiest man on the face of the earth” and why you need to say THAT!

“Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Pride of the Yankees (1942), Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech.

Henry Louis “Lou“ Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941) was an American baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s. Popularly called “The Iron Horse” for his durability, Gehrig set several major league records.

What constitutes someone being able to say  I am the “Luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Is it 2000 consecutive games played? Is it ultra-success in a professional sport, piles of money, pats on the back; OR IS IT THE ABILITY TO GET UP EVERY MORNING AND DO WHAT YOU LOVE?

My proposition to you is that the luckiest people on the planet consistently put themselves in a position to DO WHAT THEY LOVE! and for that I can say, “I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth!” Can you do the same? If not, let’s get to work becoming the luckiest people on the planet!

Amazing Film by the way, you can watch through netflix!

by for now

tim

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are “better days” coming?

As a passionate lover of the Gulf Coast I can certainly say that there are millions of people just like me looking forward to better days. With financial crisis, BP oil spill, real estate turmoil, most of the people I know are looking forward to something better. As a matter of fact, most of the people I know in general are looking forward to something better. There is only one MONUMENTAL PROBLEM? WHAT IS BETTER? Is better more money? bigger house? different wife? Is better something you can touch or is it a state of mind? attitude? a feeling? Think about this: Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no vision, the people perish”

Maybe, in order to have a better life, BETTER must be defined. You see, everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose! What does better mean to you? For some better is more, for some it’s less, for some better is an emotional state, a thought, a different place. What is better? If you have no idea what better looks like, you will never know when you arrive there! And if you have no idea your there, YOUR NOT THERE!

Join us this weekend at one of three services as we launch a new series at Celebration Church called BETTER DAYS, THE JOURNEY FROM HERE TO THERE.

Saturday 5:30pm, Sunday 9:30am, 11am

by for now

tim

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saturday night service option 5:30pm, spread the word!

If we are going to reach people who have never been reached, we have to do things that have never been done! Craig Groeschel

Our passion at Celebration Church is to reach every person on the Gulf Coast and in order to fulfill the mission of Jesus we discovered we would have to do some things differently. The TRUTH is, we don’t need MORE churches! We need DIFFERENT churches. Now I passionately believe in church planting but sometimes more is not better, sometimes different is better! I am so excited to announce a new worship option for those who live on the Eastern Shore or Mobile Area. Celebration Church, beginning August 21, 5:30pm, will be adding a third worship option to our weekend. That means we will now have worship services on Saturdays 5:30pm, Sundays 9:00am &11:00am.

Here are some thoughts that helped us navigate to our decision:

1) More options, more families, more Jesus. We believe that more options simply means more people connected to Christ which brings Him glory!

2) Space limitations. With a small sanctuary (our new worship facilities is getting ready to break ground) you have to be creative. We can only fit 175-200 people in one experience. We filled both services over a year ago and it’s time to add another.

3) Unreached people. There are people in our community who are not following Christ. Another option means another opportunity for them to be invited, reached, loved, served, and saved! REMEMBER, that’s why the church exist!

4) Scheduling conflicts. Busy schedules! The Saturday service option is not a convenient service. It is another passionate, wide open Spirit-filled, Christ centered service. But now if you work on Sundays (restaurant, tourist business, charter fishing, etc…) you can worship on Saturday Evening.

bottom line: we want Christ to be completely honored in every decision we make as a church, for Him to be glorified, praised, and worshipped! Can’t wait for the 21st!

by for now,

tim

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whatever it takes!

4 what ifs……….

inscribed on the side of my 1993 State Championship Baseball Ring has a phrase that too many of us (myself included) forget in life. It says “whatever it takes!” (1) What if we approached our  spiritual lives, marriages, businesses, parenting etc. with the mentality of whatever it takes is what I  am willing to give. Maybe things would be different! (2) What if our relationship with Christ is a direct  byproduct of this very idea.

(3) What if we could actually have as much of Jesus, His  power, His mind, His ways as we wanted. (4) What if we  decided that we would be willing to give  whatever it  takes to follow Him! I believe things would change  dramatically!

“Whatever it takes” sayings from Jesus:

*Matthew 5:6 -”Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they will be filled.”

*Matthew 15:24 – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

*Matthew 15:25 – For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

by for now

tim

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“be where you are” live in this moment

Rolf Potts, author of vagabonding gave a lecture at http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/speakers-2009/rolf-potts regarding travel, but there was a section of his lecture that intrigued me, he encouraged his listeners to “be where you are”.

Do you live in the moment, savor the day, enjoy who you are with now? Or are you always somewhere other that where you are! One of the greatest challenges that face us in an era where technology rules is the fact that in many ways technology allows us to escape the now, it allows us to become impersonal, unattached, to exist in a moment, but not be “in THE moment!”

Questions:

1) Do you engage conversation with your family at home, or are you always using technology to escape, disengage, allow distractions?

2) Can you have a meaningful conversation with an individual for more than five minutes,without looking at your Iphone or answering a text?

3) Do you struggle enjoying the moment because of the fixations of what’s next?

BE WHERE YOU ARE!  Could it be that where you are in this moment has divine implications. Maybe the moment you are in is for a reason.Acts 17: 26- From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

by for now

tim

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successful people have great partnerships

Indian Cricket Players

Great partnerships make life easier! For 17 weeks at 4:30am I have rounded the corner of the high school parking lot, gone around the back side of the cafeteria and found a very familiar sight; the place where I work-out. No, I don’t like 4:30am, 5am, or 6am, but I love the fact that every morning when I pull in to the same parking spot, my work out partner is always there, ready to go. I wish that I could say that every morning I have wanted to be there, or even some mornings I have wanted to be there, but the TRUTH is: I get up, get ready and go, because my partner is counting on me, and I AM COUNTING ON HIM! And to be successful in the difficult areas of our lives, we need great partnerships!

some questions to think about:

1. who is counting on you to make right decisions?
2. who needs you to be faithful to your words?
3. where do you need to show up, so others can find strength?
4. do you have a trusted partner to walk through life with?
5. are you the kind of partner others need? or don’t need?

I am thankful that someone who had walked through an area of their life was willing to show up early six days a week to help me walk through it. GREAT PARTNERSHIPS ARE KEY TO LIVING A SUCCESSFUL LIFE!

by for now,
tim

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