As we experience, “The most wonderful time of the year,” I want to talk to you today about seizing the moments. Each season of your life contains many moments. These moments are rare, and that is why we must seize the moments when they come our way.

The present moment we must always seize. The present moment is all you are promised, nothing else. Many of us tend to live so much in the past or so much towards the future, we miss the present moment God has given to us. This satanic ploy in our lives leads us to a non-productive life “at the present time.” We must seize the present moment.

There are many moments within the present moment. These moments vary in appearance and look, but each of them are special, created by God Himself. I do hope that you will slow down long enough to realize many of these moments. They may be moments for your family, for your career or something else, but slow down and realize them.

The future moment God gives us must become experienced in the fullest. Don’t live in the past, but live in the present, always leaning strongly to the future. The future moments God gives us may provide us opportunities, challenges, and yes, even suffering. No, we certainly do not like talking about suffering, but it is a reality. Whatever the style of moment or its possible substance, see that you handle all these moments not just experientially, but wisely. God wants you to see them like He sees them.

Whatever your moment is right now today . . . seize it!

As I told you last week, one of my dearest friends, Keith Thomas, a pastor in Alabama, has been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. Initial testing was hopeful last week, but will be confirmed this week in Houston.

This morning at 6:00 a.m. Keith entered the M. D. Anderson Cancer Hospital for testing, and tomorrow he will discover with doctors his condition and prognosis. Interestingly, both Keith and Karen are from the Houston region.

My concern is great for him, so join me in intercession for him. Please undergird both Keith and Karen in prayer. We need a God-sized miracle. This can occur miraculously and instantaneously or through the process of surgery and treatment.

Be prayerful today.

The defending state champions, the Shiloh Saints, lost Saturday night in an overtime game. As we entered into overtime, our opponents won the toss, requesting to put us on the offensive side first so they would know what they needed to do to win. We would have done the same if the toss had been won by us. In overtime, we scored first and kicked the extra point. . . they scored next, determining to put the entire game on the line going for two points. They called a play with a couple of options, executed it well, a catch was made in the end zone, and Shiloh lost the game, yes, in overtime.

There are many reasons this game went into overtime. Overall, we just did not play well at all in the biggest game of the year. Sadly, we lost our most dominant defensive player to an ankle injury in the first quarter, which hurt our defense in morale and execution. This was the beginning of miscues on both sides of the ball, resulting in turnovers inside our opponents 20 yard line. This opened the door for them to play with us. The bottom line is: we just got beat on this given night. Yes, I do believe that we would win 9 out of 10 games against this team playing at the level we have played this year, in fact, perhaps 10 out of 10. However, we only played them once and we lost….we were not “on” this night! It does not make sense since our only common opponent destroyed them, a team we had defeated profoundly last week in the playoffs. Football is a strange game, not only on the college level, but even the high school level.

Losing is never easy, especially when a big game is lost. We have to work hard to keep matters in perspective. Perspective is – it is a game. It is not life. We did not lose a friend, a family member, or school mate to death. We lost a game. This does not soothe over the real hurt of the loss, but places it in perspective. In the big picture of life a memory has been made, just not one you like to recall and discuss. Yet in many ways, it is a memory worthy of recall.

This young football team (at one time last night, we had 5 freshman on the field) played for a State Championship against a team that started 10 seniors on both sides of the ball. We only had six seniors on our entire team and one was hurt all year. They have led greatly and this team has been a lot of fun to watch. They have grown in the game of football each week and now they have to cope with the growth that comes through losing a big game. It will make them a better team next year and it will make both players and coaches better men.

If you lose in life in anything, always ask yourself, “What do I need to learn from this experience?” As well, “What is God trying to teach me?” Take the time to go to God’s school anytime you lose.

For the Shiloh Saints, this one was just not meant to be for us. We move on. We grow. We mature. We cherish the great moments, even getting to play in such a great State Championship game that will be discussed for years. We remember the great unselfish members of this team which was a refreshing breeze to watch and experience. It was a fun year that we will not forget!

Congratulations to coaches, players, and fans of Shiloh! You are champions!

I have several things I want to share with those of you who read this blog periodically. This will bring you along on some matters concerning new information or updated information.

1. I told you last week about my dear friend, Dr. Keith Thomas, who has been diagnosed with cancer. We have prayed for the wisdom of God on where he needs to go for surgery, treatment, and further evaluation. God opened the door for him to go to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on December 12. He is not sure where that will take him, but it is a step toward determining those matters. Please pray for God’s wisdom to be clear to Keith and his family.

2. The Christmas Dinner Theatre at our Pinnacle Hills campus was a real blessing to those who attended. I was impressed with the spirit of those who attended and out of the three nights I was there, last night was the best! Congratulations and thank God for your ministry to His people.

3. Our Springdale Campus will perform and minister through their dynamic worship musical this Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m., as well as 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. I appeal to you to support them greatly. Kim Noblitt and the Worship Ministry have worked hard to get to this point, so let’s get behind them and be on time on Sunday morning. Additionally, there is a 3:00 p.m. performance that can be attended by anyone as well. What a great time to be a part of something special! It is a non-ticketed event. Yes, Connection groups will occur on Sunday morning.

4. The Shiloh Saints football team play for the State Championship on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium. Their competition is fierce and wants a championship as well. While it will be a later night than usual to return to Northwest Arkansas and being in church on Sunday, if you can support them in this manner, please come to Little Rock. Our competition lives probably within 45 minutes of the stadium, so they will be close to home and come in force. Pray for our coaches and young men as they glorify God through the game of football to have the privilege of using this platform for God.

5. Nick has finished attending classes for his Master of Divinity degree and now the only thing before him is FINALS next week. Please pray for him. He has taken 94 hours of masters work, worked full-time at Prestonwood, and done family life in these two and one-half years. We are so proud of him getting to this point. If all matters go well and as expected, he will graduate on Friday, December 14 in Fort Worth. Wow and praise God. He needs your prayers. He, Meredith, and Reese will be at the game with one eye on football and one eye on his academic finals.

6. I will see you at the game on Saturday night and in church on Sunday morning at both campuses. Let’s make it a great weekend at whatever level of our participation.

By the way: you can watch and listen to the State Championship game at www.shilohsaints.org and you can listen as well on 89.3 FM. Join us by Internet or radio if you cannot join us in Little Rock. We need prayers and support to win this championship game.

Be blessed this weekend.

I had the privilege yesterday of being with a group of men outside of Northwest Arkansas that conduct various consulting and building ministries with churches. As they presented to us their unique ministry to local churches, I was thrilled to hear and see what God is doing in some places in our nation. As we looked at various pictures and heard various stories, my heart was encouraged.

Yes, God is working through various churches in our nation. So many times we talk about and hear from others as well, “what the church is not doing or should be doing.” At times, that is more than justified. However, in all of that, we need to remind ourselves that some great movements of our God are happening in various settings in our nation.

God is the One who creates these stories in churches. At times, our church’s own story has been an example of what God can do with His people. At times, sad to say, it has not been due to various matters.

I do remember years ago when the church exploded in dynamic growth, the theme many times resonated, “The Miracle Continues.” You know, we have seen in our past and I know we are now seeing some miracles that come only from God. We want our church to be God’s story of how He continues this miracle through this local body of believers. Please Lord, today, this season, and in our generation . . .

Let the Miracle Continue.

Our Shiloh Saints football team will be playing for the State Championship on Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Yes, this will get us home late, but we will be getting back in masses and prayerfully be in church Sunday morning on time. Our opposition is strong or they would not be where they are. Each team could win or lose. Obviously, only one will win and one will lose.

In the state of Arkansas private schools play in the public school league, which is the way it should be. It does not happen in a few states, but it does here and that is the way we like it and want it forever. Along the way, private schools like ours get accused falsely of recruiting players. Shiloh has not and will not ever recruit. We operate with integrity all the way in our athletic program. Most of the young men on this team have been in Shiloh since they started kindergarten. Obviously, in a place like Shiloh, a culture is built to build champions through our athletic program. We are fortunate along the way for our young men to grow up in this tradition, and now we have the privilege of playing for our fifth state championship since our beginning in 1989.

The Shiloh Saints won last year’s championship game, and this year we have been blessed to possibly win another one. I love this year’s team because they are really a team, a family. They have gotten better and better. How I would love to see what would happen now if we could start this year all over again at their present level. It has been a very fun and enjoyable year.

Last year’s team ended up not only #1 in our classification, but #1 among all classifications by Prepnation.com and #4 among all classifications by the Associated Press. I am not sure where this year’s team will end up in those rankings and perhaps among all classifications, not ranked at all. However, I can assure you, whether they win or lose Saturday night, they deserve to be ranked in the state’s Top 10 among all classifications. Their growth and maturity has been incredible.

Our #1 Goal is to win the State Championship game on Saturday. Rankings are up to others. Championships are what we play for to the glory of God.

May God grant you His Favor this week, all of you Shiloh Saints football team members, coaches, parents, and fans. We are pulling for you. Congratulations on a great year.

Win another one to God’s glory!

The completion of the regular season in college football serves as an illustration that you never know what will happen on any given day. This is so true for individual and team sports, and illustrations will now be added to the history books.

You know, life is the same way . . . you never know what will happen. A disease, an accident, a setback, a surprise, and so many other things can interrupt our lives severely. It is amazing when those kinds of things happen how much our lives are put on on “pause,” yet in the heat of the normal life pattern, “pause” seems to occur rarely.

I pray this week for all of us to not have to experience any of these types of moments. However, reality is, there were people all over our congregation who told me yesterday of trouble, sickness, surgery, and loss. Yes, people are hurting and many people are in the battle of a setback right now.

Just remember to not be trite or cute, “Many times a set-back to us is a set-up for God to do something powerful in our lives.” No, they are not easy to experience. None of us want to experience them at all.

The message in our hearts can be peace and hope. Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God. Hope is in Christ and in His Word alone.

May His peace and hope fill your life today.