I don’t know how many of you guys reading this are old enough to drive yet but, if you are, and you do, then you don't need me to give you the "car is not a toy" speech. If you have good parents then I am sure you have already heard that one. But there is some responsibility to owning a car. Or, in my case, a big red truck. For example, every 3,000 miles or so I am supposed to get the oil changed. I’m a little bit over that right now. Okay I’m a lot over that but that's not my point. The point is if I want my truck to keep going then I need to do what it takes. Oil, brakes, tires, all the good stuff.

Now here we are driving 110 miles per hour into 2008 but if we want to stay running then we are going to have to do what it takes. We as believers and ministers (yes you are a minister, too) need to stop every "3,000 miles" or so and look under the hood. Is everything in good condition or are you worn out and worn down? If you are, its time to get built back up. One of the best ways I know to do this is to just STOP. Give the brakes a good test. How are they working? Yes, life is busy and Christmas time can be the busiest but we have to have the ability to slow down or stop when we need to.

Here's one you know: Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God. This verse says a couple of things to me. First of all, it’s going to be difficult to spend that much needed time with the Father if we have the pedal slammed to the floor all day every day. But you already know that. And since we are not talking too deep here, let me give you another simple revelation from this scripture. Be still and know that I am God. He is God. Not you. Not me. Him. If we don’t ever stop and let Him fill us back up then we are essentially saying, "I can run this thing on my own. I don’t need check ups. I don’t need tune ups. I am behind the wheel and doing just fine." Of course none of us would EVER say that to God but often times our attitude and actions say it for us. Let me encourage you this Christmas and New Year season to take some time to stop running on empty. Get into the Word of God. Get into the presence of God. Get built up and get filled up. You need it. I need it. We all need it. And I will get my oil changed this weekend. Promise.

Sunday, November 18, 2007. A day to remember. A lot of you guys in FUEL know exactly what I am about to say. 

It started off like any other Sunday:

Wake up early for church.

Go to church.

Go to lunch after church.

Come home after lunch after church. 

Then, one of the best parts of any Sunday (besides church), the "after lunch, Sunday nap." Well, sometimes its a nap. Other times its more like being knocked unconscious for a few hours.

After nap time I went to meet up with all the boys men from FUEL at Willow Creek Park in Saginaw. But this was not just another Sunday afternoon walk in the park. This was a flag-football Sunday afternoon in the park. Nice. Now, I’m normally not too competitive when it comes to sports but something came over me. I found myself sprinting down field trying to catch up with the long bomb thrown by Pharisee our QB. Well, I didn’t catch it. Sorry to disappoint you. But later I did play some pretty sweet defense and grabbed a nice interception. It was thrown by Danny Cooper who normally would not have thrown such a bad pass but if you look at the replay you will see that he wasn’t wearing his back pack during the game so I think that might have messed him up.

So what’s the point in telling you all of this? The point is... I need to work out. I was so sore for the next two days. My feet, my legs, my back, all of me! Sarah was laughing at me while I limped around the house Monday and Tuesday. She’s so sweet.

But it was totally worth it to hang out with these awesome men of God from our youth ministry. You guys love to have fun and you are truly passionate about God and His plan for your life. "God AND fun?! Those go together?" Uh, yeah. Anyway, I love spending time with the FUEL Fellas and look forward to getting together again soon.

Love you guys,

Jeremy