Archive for September, 2008
I hate pain.
No you don’t understand…I really do! I try to avoid it whenever possible, whether avoiding conflict relationally or getting my off my butt and exercising. I loathe it because it’s so stinking painful! God is teaching me lately that…
Pain is my friend.
Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Six weeks ago, I started owning my own behavior and asked for help with awareness and accountability regarding my life-long weight issues. Since owning the discipline that weight follows behavior, I have lost over 30 lbs! It’s been extremely painful and a heck of a lot of sweat! And no, I don’t have it mastered. I’ll battle it every day for the rest of my life. As a matter of fact, last week was particularly stressful relationally and professionally. So, I thought I deserved some cheesecake and pizza. Old behaviors that help me escape the pain for a moment.
Here is the break thru for me. I felt God telling me, “you’d better own your own behavior and quit the victim mentality crud. Get off your butt, Cremeans, and go do something painful.” So, I stopped blaming everybody else and went and rode my bike for close to 2 hours…and then I ran.
How did I feel afterwards? Horrible! Dreadful! It was the worst 2 hours of my week! I told you, I hate pain! But check this out…in just one week I’m attempting the toughest physical challenge of my life with a sprint triathlon. Pain has made this goal a possibility. My goal is to finish…and when I do…I will reap a harvest of joy that I can’t explain or express. Today, I have a lot of self doubt as I have never done all 3 components…swim, bike, run…back to back, but I know I will make it. I know I will cross that finish line. Why? Pain drives me. There is no way I have gone thru all this pain up to this point to quit.
Pain is my friend. Pain makes things possible
What’s God doing in your life right now?
In part 2 of CC with Lisa, Debbie Cremeans lobs out that probing question.
Lisa’s answer is unexpected and refreshing as she shares how God restored her joy and passion.
Ladies and men, don’t miss Oct 13th at Northway Church as Ed and Lisa Young will be with us for an unprecedented leadership conference in the Northeast.
Space is limited…you can register here.
Cremeans Couch airs every Monday on my blog.
Lisa Young – Part 2 from Cremeans Couch on Vimeo.
- Keep hearing geese fly over my house….headed south. Winter is coming.
- Great weekend in Gods House!
- Love the VIBE!
- Enjoying our PG leadership series.
- Taught on…Until you own your own behavior….nothing will change.
- Love the key verse….its my new favorite
Hebrews 12:11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
- Felt so bad for the young lady who had an epileptic seizure in our 10:00 service.
- So thankful she is ok. That has to be incredibly frightening to go thru that.
- Very proud of our church family and leaders who stayed calm and handled it with grace. First priority is always to make sure….the one in need receives the proper care.
- Thankful for the EMT who help save lives every day….Heroes!
- Couldn’t believe all the people who accepted Christ without hearing half the message .
- I will post the message later this week on my blog….since the 10:00 missed half of it
- Rode my bike 10 miles this morning before I preached….froze my tail off.
- Very nervous about my upcoming triathlon….Besides wondering if I’ll finish…Now I wondering if I will get hypothermia…..just a week away….yikes!
- I believe people crave truth.
- I believe it’s truth that sets us free.
- I believe the delivery of that truth makes all the difference.
- I believe the delivery of truth must be done with grace.
- I believe the delivery of truth must be done with authority.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Matt 7:28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority.
Yesterday, our thirteen year old daughter had her weekly horseback riding lesson. She was thrilled to show Debbie and me how she learned to “trot.” I went to be the supportive dad, and to my surprise, it was quite moving!
Now Lydia, the horse she rides, apparently hadn’t been feeling too well. However, Natalie rode her anyway and began to trot. As Lydia passed by us, she began passing something else. Lydia’s trotting turned to tooting. You know, pooting, cutting the cheese, passing wild oat gas. I had never experienced this before. The sound of this horse’s farts was unbelievable!
It was loud and continuous. With each trot came another toot. It was like a song. I guess you could say it was more like a symphony…with a lot of base drums underscoring to a huge crescendo!
Debbie and I laughed hard. We laughed with every trot and every toot. The Bible says laughter is good medicine, and it’s true. Debbie and I felt a lot better…
I think Lydia did too.
- My heart has a sense of urgency with God’s church.
- I believe Northway’s greatest opportunity is NOW.
- I believe the greatest compliment that God could give us is to trust us with Jesus’ mission.
- I believe our time is short.
- I believe we live in the greatest time in history to make a difference for Jesus Christ.
- I believe we have a lot of unfinished work to do.
- I believe I will give an account to Jesus Christ for wasting time and opportunities.
- I believe the greater the opportunities, the greater the distractions.
- I believe many times I’m distracted with my own junk.
- I believe I need Heaven’s razor sharp discernment to avoid anything that tries to derail the vision that God gave me for Northway Church.
John 17:4 I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do.
I’m certainly not an economist, but what’s the deal with all these government bail outs?
House of Cards?
Your Thoughts?
It’s a scientific fact that an adrenaline drain occurs after you speak. So after Saturday and Sunday speaking, Mondays are typically a “holy hangover” for me. However, since training for this sprint triathlon, I’m starting to feel that change just a little bit.
Last Monday, I swam a half mile for the first time in my life. Once I accomplished that I signed up for the tri. Yesterday, the last thing I felt like doing was exercise. I could feel the hangover blues, but I made a decision and went to the YMCA. I b-balled for an hour then I swam a half mile and shaved 15 minutes off of my time from last week!
I made a half mile swim in 30 minutes!
Phelps here I come!
12 days til I race!
Today CC makes history as you will get to see my better half…Debbie Cremeans! I married way above my head! I think God just hooks Pastors up! In this episode, Debbie sits down with a dear friend, Lisa Young. Lisa and Ed have been mentors to us in the church world and marriage world. Debbie asks some great questions …
• How do you keep things fresh and fun in marriage?
• How do you not get bitter when people attack you and your spouse in ministry
CREMEANS COUCH airs every Monday on my blog.
Rapid Fire.
Ministry can be a lonely business. I am so grateful to call Mac my friend. I just love this dude! I’m looking forward to going to Austin on October 2 for his Spur Leadership Conference.
Let me know if you bloggers will be there…I’d love to meet you.
CREMEANS COUCH airs every Monday on my blog.
