Halloween is not looking so good...

My friend Mike sent me this comic strip. I thought it was hysterical. Enjoy!
God Bless.

Halloween just may suck this year...

TODAY...

This weekend was an absolute whirl wind of emotions. On Saturday morning I did a funeral for a 39 year old woman; faithful wife and mother of three. I received a call from her a couple of weeks ago asking me to speak at her funeral. She was very exact on what she wanted. She wanted me to clearly articulate the hope she had because of Jesus Christ and her deepest desire that her loved ones who had not come to know Christ would not wait another hour. She wanted every person who would attend her funeral to hear the Gospel and have a chance to respond to it.

It was incredible to me that this woman who knew her hour was fast approaching because of the brutal attack on her body due to pancreatic cancer, was concerned about her loved ones. She knew her future had been decided and she knew first hand that as the Apostle Paul stated to “live is Christ and to die is gain.” All that being said it was still tough to stand up at that pulpit and to see her youngest child just sitting on her daddy’s lap and weeping profusely and at the same time wipe the tears away from her dad’s eyes. It was a scene that just struck my heart profoundly. My heart and prayers go out to this family. May God’s grace that is sufficient for every circumstance comfort and strengthen this family during this time.


Four hours later I was marrying our pre-school director, Katie. Katie is not just a co-worker; she has truly become a part of our family. My wife has spent the last year and a half mentoring and pouring into Katie’s life. Katie has become like a big sister to our kids. It was a pleasure to marry Katie. We are so thrilled for Katie and Rob and I know God will do great things in and through their marriage.

Truly a whirl wind of a day. These two occasions got me thinking about how quick our time here on this earth can go. The Bible does state that tomorrow is not promised, that our lives are like vapor, but for some reason that doesn’t seem to take root, for some reason we live our lives as though tomorrow will be there and I will be around for years. I’m not saying this to scare us, but to wake us up. Today is important.

Today I must make sure that my wife knows that I love her more today than the day we stood in our home church exchanging vows. Today is the day that I make sure that I maximize every hug, every playful moment, every push on the swing with my kids. Today is the day that my family knows how blessed I feel to be a part of our their lives and how blessed I feel that they are a part of mine. Today is the day that my friends know that it is a privilege to share life with them. Today is the day to get on with what God has called me to. Today is the day to not miss the opportunities that GOD WILL present to me to be His extension and tangible expression of hope, grace and love.

What’s your today look like? I challenge you not to miss TODAY. I would not want to take this moment for granted by not telling you this, the greatest thing you can do with your today, is settle the issue of eternity. God loved us enough to send Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and be our sacrifice. If TODAY, you haven’t settled that issue, TODAY is the day of salvation. Grab Jesus today and let Him fill all of your TODAYS!

In first 1 Samuel chapter 20 it states this “Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between us and death."

Take a step TODAY toward Christ!

Red-Neckin' It

I love my Fridays because it is usually the day that I just get to hang out with my wife and kids. Even though at times my kids can get crazy and loud and even annoying I love that Fridays we just get to hang out as a family. Today while my wife and daughter were shopping, my son, Max, and I went over to the wonderful outdoor world that is Bass Pro Shops. He absolutely loved it. He had a blast looking at all the fish in their giant fish tank. He went bonkers each time one of the fish just stopped right in front of him. It was awesome to see my son's face light up at the sight of these freakishly looking creatures. If that wasn't enough we ventured up to the second floor and played around in their tents. I was just waiting for it to collapse on us. Yup there we were ruffin' it. There is nothing like enjoying the great outdoors in the comfort of some nice cool AC. As we are laying in the cots in the tent a thought did pop into my mind; what if when Max gets older he actually likes this outdoor stuff then what? I am a city kid, I know nothing about fishing, hunting or camping, nor do I have an interest. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it, for now Bass Pro Shops is our place for some great outdoor adventure...Next week we're gonna see if they will let us test drive one of their four wheelers through the store and grill some dogs!

Calling ALL Prayer Warriors...

The below announcement and challenge will be shared this weekend at Summit. As a Leadership Team we felt that God was calling our people to a time of prayer and fasting. I hope that you will consider joining us in this time of personal renewal and corporate pursuit of God. Blessings to you!

Calling ALL Prayer Warriors…
We are in the midst of one of the most crucial times in our nation’s recent history. We are seeing all around us the effects of the stock market, job market, real estate market, and an overall down turn in our national economy that has not been seen since the days of the great depression. With one of the most important elections of our life time quickly drawing close it is so crucial that we as a body of believers seek our God in prayer on behalf of our nation.

Regardless of your political views or stance, we all can agree that what we need is for God to send His grace and mercy to heal our land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 states this “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” That is exactly what we are seeking, healing for our nation and spiritual revival to sweep across our country for sake of the Gospel and for the glory of God.

Therefore, the Staff of Summit Church would like to encourage you to participate in our 10-4 FAST…

Beginning on Saturday, October 25, 10 days before the election and concluding Monday, November 3rd, the day before the election on the 4th we are hoping to have at least 10 people fasting and praying each day during this time. If you are physically able we would love for you to consider signing up and committing to fast and pray on one of these days.

Please stop by the Connection Center today sign up and pick up your prayer guide. We will gather at the University Campus in the main auditorium as a corporate body on Tuesday, November 4th from 7am to 8am to pray as a church. We serve a God of prayer!

The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

This morning I was reading through chapter 8 of Nehemiah and a verse jumped of the page and jolted my heart. I knew God wanted me to share it with my lovely wife and I did, but I began to meditate more on the verse as the day went on and what God showed me was incredible. "The joy of the Lord is your strength."

God desires that we experience His strength as we delight in His joy. That sounds so simple and yet so many times I lose sight of that. I fall victim to the business, the stress or just the general noise of life that chokes out or suffocates the joy that God desires that I delight in which would give me the strength to endure and win over these very things that seem to press in on me. The joy of the Lord gives us strength again it sounds so easy, but what is about us that does not believe this or does not live in this truth daily? I am not sure what it is for you, but for me it at times can be the trap that I am too busy doing for God that I miss just being with Him. No amount of doing will ever compare to just being, truly just being still and KNOWING that He is God.

Psalm 16:11 states this "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." God wants to lead us to the place of joy which is His presence and give us eternal pleasures that are at His right hand. That is awesome stuff and great truth that we as followers of Christ need to hold on to and baste in daily. Again, I know I am being redundant here, the joy of the Lord is your strength. As I meditated on that today here is one thing God said to me about delighting in His joy and therefore experiencing His strength...here it is. Don't miss the God moments!


I know that may not seem profound, but it encouraged me. I run almost every morning and as I head back home I see the effects of the sun rising in the east...that is a God moment...joy...strength. The same God who created that sunrise and causes that to happen daily, holds my life. This weekend my son, Max, initiated play with his sister all weekend long for the first time...God moment...joy...strength. A reminder that God is at work in my son bringing healing to his body and no diagnosis is going to trump God or rob my son of God's glory being seen in His life.

I'm telling you the list goes on and on and I know it does for you too. So here it is, yes once more, "the joy of the Lord is your strength." Did you catch that? It is your strength, not could be or it should be or even hope to be; no it is, but the fact is we must each experience this joy that leads to strength for ourselves. So my prayer for you is that today you would not miss those God moments. Just another rambling. God Bless!

Things that are on my mind...

I have been truly slacking on my blogging as of late. My schedule the last couple of weeks has been insane. I thought I would blog about some of the things that have been on my mind these days. These are in no particular order...

#1. The Presidential race. To be extremely honest I am not really excited about either candidate. There is just something about each of these gentlemen that rubs me the wrong way and that leads me to believe that what we see is not really the whole truth...that's just my opinion. In any regard I will take full advantage of my right and privilege as an American and cast my vote. I hope you will too.

#2. The ever increasing down turn in our economy. I have seen so many families in our church lose their jobs and homes as a result of our dying economy. I have been praying that God would use this time to bring about spiritual revival. It is usually in times like this that people begin to discover their desperate need for God.

#3. My kids...every day it seems like my children are changing more and more and growing up faster and faster. I can't help but to think about their future and about God's plan for their lives. I can't help but to think about my role and responsibility as their father. I desperately want to be a consistent model of God's heart and character to my kids.


#4. The Dolphins...that's right we're 2 and 2...because we're the Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins #1...we're in the air, we're on the ground, we're always in control and when we say MIAMI we're talking SUPER BOWL!!!

#5. Vacation...my family and I are scheduled to get out of town to enjoy a few days at Disney and attend the candle light vigil at Epcot. I also want to get away for a couple of days with my beautiful wife without our kids...oh, that would be nice right about now.
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#6. The future of Summit Church and my own role in the mission and vision of this ministry. God has done some amazing things in our short five year history and He continues to work in these recent days. I believe that the best and most effective days of our ministry are ahead of us and I believe that God is calling us to a greater commitment and greater dependency upon Him. It is going to be crucial in the next couple of months to get more of our people fully involved and engaged in the mission. It is really important to get more of our folks from being just spectators to being devoted players in this journey. I praise God and thank Him for all He has done, but there is still so much to do for the Kingdom and for God's glory.

#7. My personal walk with Christ...the last few months God has really been dealing with my heart and expanding my mind. I feel as though God is truly molding me in this season and preparing me for the next leg of the journey.

15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King." 16 This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43

Praise God...

Yesterday, while I was out of town, I received an email that was just one of those shots in the arm that can only come from God. It was a powerful reminder that God is alive and at work in the hearts of His people. It is things like this that give me such a great joy and remind me what a privilege it truly is to serve at Summit. There is still much to be done for cause of Christ and for the sake of every man, woman and child, but we would be remiss if we did not at times stop and celebrate and thank God for what He has done and is doing!


I don’t know what you all are doing at your church, but whatever it is, it’s working! You should be extremely proud of the members of Summit Church. We had 30 people show up, in the pouring rain, for the orientation class last night! 19 families signed up for MAPP class! And I don’t think that is going to be the final number. I just got off the phone with a member who said that they were not in a position to foster, but wanted to buy clothes and shoes for foster kids when it was needed! (I have chills and tears in my eyes as I type this.) Last week as we prayed for the weekend we prayed Ephesians 3:20 – that our God would do exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we could even ask or think of. He did! I’ve been around churches all my life – my dad was a pastor, I served as a youth pastor for 10 years - & let me tell you something pastor, churches like Summit Church are few and far between. It is obvious that the membership understands the concept that “church” is so much more effective when it moves beyond the physical walls of the building. I’ve done church work long enough to know that the membership mirrors its leadership. If you have ever doubted the effectiveness of what you and your staff are doing, this response and outpouring should put that to rest. I truly believe we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. You should be very proud and very humbled by how your church has responded. Please share this with your staff. We look forward to a long & blessed partnership with Summit Church! To God be the glory!!

Chris Green
Director of Regional Ministries
Florida Baptist Children's Homes

Way to go Summit and way to go God!!! I pray that our people would continue to be faithful and obedient to the cause of Christ and to the mission that He has given us.