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Today was Graduation Sunday at Faith Family Worship Center. Here are a few pics. Anneaka Jones - Graduate from Kindergarten Sabrina Jarrett - Graduate to High School Samantha Taylor - Graduate from High School

I think writing this on Saturday is a perfect time. Tomorrow is Sunday and new opportunities to make new connections are going to be made available to us. Probably out of all the connections that we have to make, personal ones are the hardest. However, they are the most rewarding. Now before you start writing that email accusing me of insulting God, hear me out. One of the ways that God connects to us is through each other. Look at 1 Cor 12 for example. The Holy Spirit reigns within our bodies and uses us to minister the love and power of God into other peoples lives. Our relationship with other fellow believers is a extension of God's love to us. So how do we connect to each other? It's more than verbal or social skills. It's about: 1. Value. Add value to another persons life by investing yours into them. 2. Care. Compassion has a powerful effect on someone. When you show them genuine compassion, you will make a friend for life. 3. Love. Our culture really d

First of all, a word about connections. Making connections with people is easy, right? Wrong. But we have texting, cell phones, email and smoke signals!?! These things only make connections possible, not easier. In a day and time when we want it faster, easier, quicker, safer and nicer - connections have never and will never be that way. That is why they are so important! So how do we connect with God? Here is rule #1 in making all connections. You will only make a connection when you do it they way the connectee wants it done. If you are going to plug your telephone in, you don't get an extension cord. If you want to talk to a Russian native, you don't speak Spanish. The success of making connections is discovering how to make a connection with someone (in this case God). So how do we connect with God. #1 - The Bible. In the Bible God tells us how we can connect with Him. He put all the answers to all of your questions in there. #2 - Prayer. Talk to God as if yo

How do you make connections? Before you dismiss this a boring read a little further. Without connections you have no future. Nothing, Zip, Zero. If we don't make connections with other people in business, we go broke. If we don't make connections with peers, we become lonely. Well I think you get the picture. So how do you make connections? Connections with God? Connections with wisdom? Connections with your world? How we make connections determines our quality of life, how we worship God, how we learn and most definitely how we hope. So how do you make connections? Remember that telephone jack you have in the wall that something is plugged into that makes phones ring? When that is working properly, the line is clear and much can be done. But when the jack become compromised in some way life is full of static and problematic. So my next few blog entries are going to address this very subject. Connecting to God Connecting to people Connecting to wisdom Connecting

Why not? Some people dread tomorrow like it was their last day to be alive. Then there are those who live today like it is their last day to be alive. That's one of the great things about being a Christian. I don't have to worry about the "last day". We don't have one. Sure we die. The Bible says that it is appointed unto man to die. But it also says that to be absent from our bodies means that we are with God. Nice! So even if I am not here, I'm there. Living everyday! So why am I excited? - Anneka, graduates Kindergarten. I know this isn't high school, but still it's pretty cool. - We are trying to buy a house! That would be great. Did you know that during our whole marriage we have never lived in a house, not even a rented one? - I'm looking forward to next months Sunday series. The End! I haven't preached about the Rapture or Revelation in a long time. - Some projects are finally starting to come together. I know some of y

News reports are telling us that his 4 year old daughter somehow strangled herself on a cord from a treadmill. She is in extreme critical condition and on life support. While in prison years ago Mike converted to Islam. Pray that his daughter will recover and that he would place his faith in Christ.

Remember, there are no instruments.

If you don't know, Congress doesn't like the Bible. Well at least most of Congress. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) has introduced a bill that would make the year 2009 “the Year of the Bible.” Very few congressmen want to touch it. No surprise to me, but what bothered me was the following quote. “Right now, we’re seeing atheism on such a rise,” said David Silverman, vice president and national spokesman of American Atheists, a group dedicated to fighting for the civil rights of atheists. “We are seeing Christianity on such a dramatic decline that we’re not particularly worried about it. We’re thinking that this kind of old-style George W. Bush Republicanism is about to go away,” Silverman said, referring to the latest Pew Forum survey of American religious life, which showed nonreligious Americans as the fastest-growing group. First of all, nonreligious doesn't mean atheists. The author of this article needs to understand what she is writing about a little better. Atheism m

Our bid was accepted yesterday. Don't know why it took so long, but who cares - right? There is something to be said about patience and it's value to us. As long as we don't have what we want, we get irritable. As soon as we get what we want - POOF! Our disposition changes! It's like a woman years ago who at a church dinner went to get a another piece of chocolate cake and came back with the whole thing. When the rest of us protested all she said was, "Step away from the cake and nobody will get hurt." We believed her! (I banned chocolate cakes from church for a while after that.) The opposite of patience is impatience. The problem that we run into isn't that we are impatient, it's just that we have a bad attitude about patience. If we are impatient, then we would be doing something hurry the process of whatever is bugging us along. When we are being patient during the process, we wait for what is going to happen - but do we complain, grip

Tempted to hit a browser button weren't you? Well patience isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. We all have our limits, there is no doubt about that. But this house hunting thing is really pushing mine to it's limits. Now I am the person who held off going to the hospital for 12 hours with a kidney stone. I am the same person who waited 20 years for his first (and only) daughter to arrive. Yet waiting for someone to tell you if they have accepted or rejected your offer is brutal. Don't misunderstand me, the waiting for "the call" isn't the problem. Dealing with my wife who can't wait for "the call" is driving me crazy. How do you have patience with someone who is being impatience? I love my wife and I'm sure that we are going to live through this (well pretty sure.) But she is driving me crazy!! And today's lesson? The real test of our patience isn't what we do, but why we do it? I found my patience and got c

I was recently reading a book that asked me this question. It isn't a spiritual book or a book about Jesus. It is a business book. I was to answer the question, "How much am I worth an hour?" Then once you answered that question, start working like it. Now bear with me a few moments, I am going somewhere with this. If you say that your worth $10 an hour, then go get a job that pays that. There are plenty of those out there. If you say that your worth $50 an hour, then go for it. The reason for the question is this. Do you work like it? I don't get paid $100 an hour - but that's what I'm worth. So I work like it. You may not get $50 an hour, but do you work like it? My profession may be the exception to this rule, but if you work like $50 someday your going to get paid $50. So how much are you worth? It has been said that we are worth the life's blood of Jesus, the Son of Man, Son of God, King of kings and Lord of lords. The question reall

I haven't blogged in the last few days, and I know that for some of you that has just shook your world. (Yes, that was suppose to be a joke.) So let me bring you up to speed. I have been taking time the last couple of weeks to look at how I do things. No this isn't a mid life crisis. But a honest self evaluation of my goals and how I plan on accomplishing them. To be honest with you, some of the answers to my questions have been pretty ugly. So with that said, please bear with me as I "ponder" my next decision. I do believe that God is up to something BIG! But God works through people! The nation of Israel was blessed by the presence of Moses (whether they liked him or not). The church was blessed by the presence of Paul. We are blessed by the presence of Christ in our lives everyday! But are the people around me blessed by my presence? Again this isn't a mid life crisis thing so not I am not going to go out and buy a Corvette ( I would like to drive

I telling you that I am doing everything else I am suppose to be doing, but it seems that all I do is look at houses! Tall ones, fat ones, short ones, nice ones and some that are absolutely ugly to the bone. Some of them I don't know how they did it, but they never vacuumed the carpet (no I am not joking). I am convinced that everyone who goes to the paint store has to take a eye test for color blindness. I almost fell though a rotten deck that was attached to an above ground pool that had holes in it. There is one spiritual lesson that I have learned through all of this. Patience. If you are going to own a home, you had better be patient. Live on concrete and save your money for the good flooring (have it professionally installed if you can't do it yourself). Pay for the good paint and don't get in a hurry to finish. Pay for the better cabinets! Believe me, I can see the difference. If it is broken, fix it right the first time! Save your money if you have to,

It seems that the only thing going on in my universe is looking for a house. I have to tell you that's how it feels. But in reality there are a number of other things going on. One of which is this Sunday service with Joe McCutchen. I am really excited about getting to see and hear him. He has some new material and may have his new album ready for us too. He is funny and reaches across many generations. He will touch your heart in some way. So bring a friend and enjoy a great day with us this Sunday!!

So we went out and looked at 1,000 houses yesterday. Ok, only 20 or so, but I feel like it. Why is it I can't remember any of them? 3 - 4 made the cut so we are going to try to look at them today or tomorrow to see if they are worth consideration. Just to let you know, I did see a house that was $38,000. It needed new siding, that's all. Wow that was cheap and pending by the time I got to it. Gotta move quick on the great deals!!

Well District Council is over and we are home again, well for a little while anyway. So we begin anew. Except this time we know what we are looking for. I have to say that this is the weirdest house market I have ever seen. It isn't all that bad, but weird. For example: - If you really want the house, offer more than they are asking. - If the people still live there, you have to asses their character too! Will they tear the house up on the way out? - Taxes are like weather, unpredictable. You don't know what they are going to be until you close. So away we go and hopefully this time we find one!

Tomorrow is Mothers Day. I always enjoy this Sunday because is always speaks to who we are. Love, Patience, Hope, Family, Sacrifice and much more. Nothing against Dad's, but you get your day next month. We are going to honor our moms tomorrow and we are also going to give away some great gifts! A OBAGI® Skin Care System from Watersedge Dermatology clinic. Gift certificates for Southern Living At Home merchandise and a free manicure. So bring mom out for her special day and let her know that we appreciate all that she does for us!

What a ride that was!! I really did enjoy this years DC. (And yes there are a few I would like to forget, especially the one where I got sick at.) I've attended quite a few of these and I think that this was the first time that we had 2 in a row in the same place. Orlando was a great town to have it in and of course we will be back there in August for General Council. I am excited about our new Assistant Sup. Ed Russo. Congrats Ed! (No I am not trying get on his good side.) I do believe that he will bring a new dimension to the district that will be complimentary and valuable. But remember. These things take time. So allow him luxury to "learn the ropes" before you loose patience. This years speakers, to quote the great motivational speaker Tony the Tiger, were GGGGGGGRRRRREEEEAAAAT! Our General Superintendent George Wood really did speak to the heart of the Assemblies of God and Pentecost in general. If you didn't get to see it I would suggest calling Ca

Thank you for attending the Wisdom Conference today. Click Here to download a copy of my notes from today. If you have any questions please feel free to email me. Russ Jones

Anyone who has been married any amount of time will tell you that the first few years can be rough. It really is an adventure, but as all adventures go they have their ups and downs. Well we had been married 3 years and to be quite honest, we were at the lowest point we could go. Life was not good at any level and by all indications, it was about to get worse. Now some people today have seen Betty and I fight. We are not one of these couples who keep it all behind closed doors. We know we make people uncomfortable when we do fight - but we not going to let people look at us and say that we have a "perfect" marriage and all is going well. Hey, sometimes all doesn't go well and something is going to get done about it. If you are one of those people who have saw us fight, let me be blunt. That's nothing compared to our third year of marriage. If we had lived anywhere else, I do believe that we would have had the cops called on us - but they were afraid of the n

Today is the 25th anniversary of my marriage to Betty Lynn (Engstrom) Jones. Now the fact that we have made is 25 years is an accomplishment. There was a lot of money exchanging hands the day of our first anniversary. Her dad was convinced that she was going to either leave or run me off. Others were convinced that I had to marry her because she was pregnant. Well we all know that one wasn't true. That first one though almost happened. It wasn't a few weeks into the marriage that I had walked into the kitchen and asked if we were going to have dinner or something. She launched into a tirade that was quite epic. She told me under no uncertain terms that she didn't want to be married anymore. She didn't like it. It wasn't what she expected and she wanted out. Now I am not advocating what I did to be repeated in any marriage anywhere, but on that day - this worked for me. I picked her up by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall so that she was about