Conformed or Transformed?

Isaiah 40:29-31 says "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Psalm 16:11 says "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." I am so thankful that my emotions are not truth. Only God's Word is truth and doesn't change. When I am weary, God has all the strength I need to make it. When I am confused, God has the map and is there to gui...

Today I told my daughter she could go to the neighbor's house for an hour to play. I said "You need to come home at 5:15, ok?" She replied "Please can I stay until 5:16?" I said "of course, that would be fine!" I laughed as she went away completely pleased with herself, in changing my mind. Amazing what one minute can do for a little girl!

Mark Batterson shares 10 gut checks for growing churches. These are very good and helpful both indivually and corporately. Check them out here.

"O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire you with our whole heart, that so desiring, we may seek to find you; and so finding you, we may love you; and loving you, we may hate those sins from which you have redeemed us, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen."

Last night we held our first leadership meeting for our youth. I held the meeting at our home and called the 8 teens who have committed to leadership to higher accountability, as well as spiritual leadership and participation. I am very proud of them, as they are eager to take this next step of commitment. They are hungry for this and have vision for the future and willing to get involved and make a difference in their youth group. I am excited to see how God is going to use these young leaders!

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. - a fortune cookie from my Chinese food yesterday

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26 (NIV) I have a few situations in my life that are "impossible" in my eyes. But.... they are only impossible for me....and not my God. My job is to trust completely and not worry. Worry is not faith. Worry says "This is impossible!" Trust says "I can't do this, but so what?!....God can!" What looks impossible that I am trusting God for today? Am I walking by faith or only by sight?

I am one who loves coffee. It's a big joke at my church that I should own stock in Starbucks. For my birthday last year, one friend did just that and bought me one share of Starbucks stock. There is nothing like a good cup of coffee while you watch the morning news or sit with a friend or check your email. It goes with with everything. Well...NOT EVERYTHING. This week I found out how much my laptop does not like coffee. It spit that cup of coffee out the sides and then turned green....literally. It made him very sick.....maybe even took his life......jury is still out on that one. It's a sad day in the Ziegler home.

I have been working with our teens on getting more serious with God and owning their faith. Today I had planned to talk to them about what they would want to be remembered for when they died. Just before I walked into the youth group, I got a phone call from another Pastor friend of ours to tell me that one of their relatives had committed suicide at age 21 and that they would be headed down to do the funeral. This call brought such reality to the message today. My heart broke to think of this young man who, for whatever reason, didn't think life was worth living anymore. I have another friend who has a very close cousin and friend who is dying of brain cancer. In my hometown this last week, there was a young man whose girlfriend broke up with him and he was so upset that he went to her school and as she was walking into the school, he shot her 3 times and then killed himself. She survived, praise God, but that day could have been her last. These are just the people in MY life THIS...

My daughter and I love smoothies for breakfast and this morning was no exception. Olivia and I put the strawberries, pineapple, banana, yogurt and cranberry juice in and the big moment came (for a 7 year old that is).....the time to push the button and blend it up. She pushed the button and we were saying "woohoo it's almost smoothie time!" when out from the bottom of the carafe started oozing out smoothie. I turned the machine off and lifted up the carafe (dumb, dumb, dumb) and the whole bottom came off the carafe and smoothie ran like a waterfall all over the countertop, down the front of the cupboards and onto the floor. Olivia said, "MOM, QUICK, 10 SECOND RULE!!!" (for those of you who don't know what that means.....it means....quick pick it up within 10 seconds and the dirt won't stick to it and we can still eat it!) I wanted to be mad. I was disgusted and frustrated and immediately remembered my devotional from the previous day. I am reading Joyce ...