AM I DOING ENOUGH?

God has always been the one that has has a plan.  We are living proof that his plan is in motion.  As an employee in a church I think we focus on what other churches or groups are doing that we don't focus on what might work for us.  It is so easy to steal ideas and piggy back on the backs of others but it takes a special group of people to get together and find ideas that have not been used that might work better.  

I struggle every sunday by asking myself did I do enough this week or did I put a good enough message together and the answer is no.  I am never satisfied with what I do.  In a way, I think this is a good quality but at the same time I think this is a very bad quality.  I am learning everyday to become better at what I do but I think that the relationship that I have built with them will propel me into a new level.  I won't more for my kids and the kids in our area.  

I am challenging myself to be a better person, a better christian, and a better kids pastor.  

I am going to put the effort in it that will make it better than anything I have ever seen.  I want GOD to move in these kids lives like no other.

I think the movement in a church starts with the kids and pours over to the youth, and then into the college and adults.  Big things have to start small.  

I want to be apart of something that honors GOD in every aspect.  Whether it be our nursery, to our first impression group.  

So my challenge is that everyone look in themselves and ask this question.  

AM I DOING ENOUGH?

GOD IS LOVE

Justin Abercrombie

Childrens pastor

Carpenters church

Go TIgers

Now that spring practice is over.  The most boring time in sports in upon us.  The highlights of the next couple of months leading up to college football will be  the NBA playoff, MLB, the college World series and things like that.  I enjoy ever sport to some degree but nothing compares to the emotion and thrill I get from Clemson football.  

I remember those day when my father would take me to a game.  I knew what I wanted.  I wanted a drink, some nachos, and a rubber football.  I had to beg my dad for the football because he knew I was going to lose it as soon as we got home but right there in that moment it meant the world to me.  I associate family and friends and the time we can get together to just relax, with college football.  

My future wife Jordan told me one day she didn't like football but she liked going to the games.  I guess I can see where she is coming from now.  If I could be any place in my off time I would love to be in the middle of 85,000 screaming fans.  In the middle of all that chaos it seems so calm.  I have passed the contagious bug on the my friend Michael.  He loves going to the games and cheering as loud as he can and I hope to one day I will be able to take my little boy or girl to their first game and share in the excitement.

The only beef I have is, and don't get me wrong I am the first one on the chopping block for this one.  How can we let it all hang out in front of total strangers, in a public place, lifting our hands up high and screaming almost in worship of a school.  Then when it comes to church on Sunday morning some can't get out of bed and others walk into church all tired and do nothing but sit on their hands, in front of the one who created them.  I find this to be common in every city all over the country.  Let get with the program folks!

GOD is LOVE!

Justin Abercrombie

Children's Paster

Carpenters Church

Time?

This has been an aspect of all of our lives, since we were born.  As a newborn, your eating depended on what time it was and how long since the last time you had eaten.  Then as your got older you had to be at school on time, and soccer practice, and even church.  There is a time set for everything.  It seems like the day we are born a stopwatch starts and we are in a race.  Now, don't get me wrong time also benefits us in so many was.  It is how our world stays on course, or on schedule.  It is how we know to go to work and to leave work and go home.  

 

In 2001, after 9/11 I went into the military with no idea what I was getting me self into.  I went from just graduating and sleeping on my moms couch until noon every morning, to getting screamed at all day long.  I was forced to put this whole time thing into motion.  Not only did I have to be on time for school, but we had to wake up at a certain time, we could only go to the bathroom at a certain time, and we could only call home we were told it was time.  We have been forced into a race to see who can get the most done in the time alloted to them.  

It almost takes sitting down and letting things slow down to realize the little things that we miss on a daily basis.  We miss the small of things, the way certain foods taste, I think we even forget the things that we love to do.  Free time is nomore.  It is something we have to make time for.  I have taken on a lot lately, more than the usual a lot, I have noticed that there is not much time for anything.  So not procrastinating should be my focus.  Although I am aware of this goal I still fail.  I fail to get things done ahead of time and then I have cut into the already busy schedule to make less time for something else.  

There is enough time it is just learning how to mange the time you have not have and not let the time manage you.  I have let time manage me for so long that it seems natural.  Today I am writing this to mainly remind myself what is feels like to be over welmed and that have myself to blame.  I have a final, a paper, a powerpoint, and some labs due in a class today.  Of course I have not finished them all but I will work my brains out to get them finished and once again tell myself that this will never happen again.

Manage time, don't let it manage you.

GOD is LOVE

Justin Abercrombie

Carpenters Church 

Children's pastor

What are we waiting for? (Courage)

What are we waiting for?

Are we waiting on Jesus to come back?  Are we waiting on someone else to tell that family member about Gods love?  

I have been thinking a lot lately about why it is so hard to share christ with others.  I think their are several reasons we hold back when it comes to our religion.  

1.  Its not the cool thing to do. ( No matter what our age is we still worry about what someone else thinks about us.)

2.  Most people think that telling someone about Jesus is hard. ( The hard part is going to a funeral and you know you passed up that chance.)

3.  We talk to our friends and family on a daily basis about our local sports team or about the news but we are silent at the thoughts of talking to them about God and how he has changed our lives. 

I have been trying to get children to be different.  Different in a way that talking about God and Jesus is a normal act for them.  I have a few kids in children's church that love to pray.  They might not know what to say when they get up there but they know that they are talking to God.

Sometimes it takes the courage of a child to accomplish a job.    They seem to attack the task and think about it later.  

I challenge people to have some courage, affect someones life forever.  Plant a seed and continue to water it.  

God is love!

Justin Abercrombie

Children's pastor

Carpenters Church

Hello everyone!   This my first blog and I just wanted to let people know what my intentions for having this blog were.  I am going to let people in on the thoughts I have about everything.  Anything from sports to our everyday lives, to our personal relationships with God.  

Marriage:

Since this is my first blog, I will start slow.  I am getting married in less that three weeks.  Now, to most guys this would be a time when the cold feet might start creeping in and they might start second guess themselves.  I have been praying for and about this day for a long time and God has blessed me with the most wonderful person to share my life with.  

I take marriage very seriously mainly because I come from a broken home in which my mother and father deciding that they where not meant for each other.  I know what it's like to suffer through something like that and not know what is going on.  You toy with the idea that maybe you did something wrong that might have caused this final decision.  

As the day approaches I have been thinking about vows.  They are words that bind one another together forever.  They have meaning behind them in which both individuals can relate to and cherish for ever.  I declare this:  I will only be married one time to one person.  I love Jordan more than anything on this earth and I think so many people take marriage as a joke.  Our states make it so easy to get out of.  We as a culture have tarnished what marriage really means.  The meaning of two people coming together to form one has somehow gotten twisted into a joke of some sorts.  Jesus showed us on the cross that it only takes one person to take a stand and make a difference so on April 26, 2008.  Jordan and I will take a stand not only for ourselves and our families but for all those out their that believe that TRUE LOVE WAITS!!!!!!!

Thats is it for today.  God is love!!!!

Justin Abercrombie

Carpenters Church Children's pastor