1. Myspace: Thing of the past?
The way it looks in my world: Myspace is out, Facebook is in. What about blogging? Is this out or in? Twitter seems to be the cool new thing for sure. I don't think I care if blogging does go out. I get so much wisdom, counsel and advice from Pastors I don't even know personally because they blog. I also love to blog. I enjoy taking down my thoughts. I enjoy sharing something, something that will hopefully bless, challenge or enrich someone. Myspace is gone for me. I guess I need to figure Twitter out.

2. Are you working for His presence or from His presence?
I was challenged with this from a book I have been reading. Think about it. I am still throwing it around in my mind. I will probably blog about it soon.

3. I miss my wife!
I worked out of the house this morning. Now, I am working from the house and she is working outside. I miss her. When I walked her down my in-laws drive way and waved her good bye, I felt like a jr. high boy leaving his crush after summer camp. I love my wife! Can't wait to see you baby!

4. I think I am addicted to diet coke.
It taste so good. I know, all you non diet drinkers out there are thinking about the after taste or whatever. That isn't the point. I really like this drink. I have tried to quit drinking diet coke several times. I have gone cold turkey. I have tried a step down program. I just can't do it. Yes, I said "can't". Simply said: I won't. I like diet coke! It makes me feel good. It is relaxing, cool and refreshing. Diet coke is really good! Donations are accepted. =)

5. More time with God will change us.
There are different things in my life- strongholds if you will- that slow me down. I don't want to let go of certain behaviors, attitudes or even desires. Matter of fact, I think my desires are my problem. I want certain things that don't make sense for me. My desires are the problem. More time with God will change our desires to His. Why would we do that if we like our desires? Obedience and the life abundance God has for us.

6. My daughters are absolutely beautiful!
If you haven't seen my girls lately, you need to. Sure, I am biased but who cares. I will post a picture of them soon. They are so beautiful!

7. Superbowl.
The Cardinals are taking on the Steelers this Sunday. Wow! I don't think I really care who wins. But, for the sake of the Cardinals- since they've never been to a Superbowl before, I will cheer for them, even though I do favor the Steelers.
I've heard that Budweiser is going to have 1 second commercials this year...that will be interesting. Superbowl commercials make the game worth it for people who are not into football. For the people who are into football-like me- the commercials just make it that much better.

8. The icy trees.
The ice weighed the tops of the trees down so much that some of the limbs broke, but most just bent over. When the limbs were bent down to the ground, it was like they were bowing in submission to God. Interestingly enough, some of the trees couldn't handle it and they broke. What are you doing?

We've been out of power for...well, I don't have a concept of time anymore; we've been out a long time. Since our power went out we have grilled steaks and potato's on Bryan's wood burning fireplace (in his house)-Macguyver style.
We drove to Fayetteville and picked Mindy's sister up...scary...the drive!
We drove all the way to Avoca- which is in the far north east corner of Rogers. This is where Mindy's parents live. They have opened their home to us...they have power! Hallelujah!
We rocked out on rock band.
We have eaten a LOT of food...Thanks Arlene! (Mom in law).
We have played a lot of games.

Even though I love winter weather, I am ready to be home. Christina (Mindy's sister) said it best. "I feel like we are refugees." So true.

Hanging here at my in laws home is nice, but it is not my home. I will go to my home one day...hopefully soon! Do you see the familiarity? If you follow Christ, you are not at home.

I am excited to return home (my house), the same way I am excited for that, I... we should be excited about our permenant home (eternity). We should live as if we are only refugees, or visitors. If we lived like visitors, like Heaven is our home, we may be more excited about it. If we were more excited about home-Heaven, we may do more to help others have the same home.

Point: Get excited about home. Share Christ with others so they can have the same home...something to be excited about!

As for now, if you have a massive generator and want to power my house, give me a call! :)

I need help! I have had this stuck in my head: "Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down,. the medicine go down..." You get the idea. This has been stuck in my head all week!

Where did it come from? How do I get rid of it? WHY ME?!?!

This crazy song from the movie "Mary Poppins" is absolutely annoying me! If you could only be in my mind now...it is terrible!

Interestingly enough. Through this song in my head I have had a revelation. Sometimes we don't want to swallow the medicine, maybe it taste bad or we just have a negative feeling about it because it is medicine. That is why Mary said a spoon full of sugar would help. Most people love sugar, why not!

Isn't that how we are with Scripture and God's commands some times? We know we need it. We know that just like the medicine, God's Word is good for us. However, we get hung up on how much time it takes and other excuses for the Word.

Today, add a spoon full of sugar to your Spiritual life. See, when taking the medicine the sugar really doesn't do anything, it just gives you a sweet beginning. Prepare yourself for God's Word. Get excited about it. Look forward to meeting with Him. Anticipate Him talking to you. Imagine what it would be like to have a one on one with God..."just a spoon full of sugar."

Soap is pretty nice. I mean, you can go work in the yard, get dirty, then wash off. If you use soap you get a new level of clean than if you just use water. Soap is nice. Think about after your shower or bath. Ah, fresh and clean; it feels good to be clean!

Pretty much, the only time we ever need soap is when we are dirty. Soap is nearly always available. That is pretty nice. We don't use soap if we aren't dirty.(Unless you are OCD) Basically, we are users...soap users.

What about spiritually? Are you using God? Do you go to Him only after you have gotten dirty spiritually? Maybe it has been a while and you have a thick build up of sin and grime. He is there, He will wash you clean.

God is always there for us. However, He desires more from us. He desires a deep intimate relationship with us!

Next time you use soap, think about God. Maybe next time you use soap you could talk to Him. God loves you. Your relationship with God shouldn't be the same as it is with soap. Get to know Him!

Have you ever planted a garden? Maybe you grew some tomatos, herbs, corn and or green beans? There are all kinds of veggies and fruits that you can grow right in your own back yard.

I grew up with a HUGE garden in the back yard. This thing was a bit bigger than a full size basketball court; it was big! We had corn, green beans, tomatos, potatos, radishes; all kinds of stuff.

From my experience in gardening (helping my dad) I can say that it is a LOT of work! You have to cultivate the land. Put fertilizer down. Plant, water, fertilize, and water some more! Then there are things you don't have control over, such as: Sun light and weeds. Wow! I almost felt like I was cussing when I said "weeds." I hate weeds! They come in and take over everything! They have no respect for what you are trying to do or grow. They are arrogant and selfish. They will grow anywhere no matter the health of the soil. Then, they kill off the good stuff. I hate weeds!

Sin is like weeds in the garden. It takes over everything. It has no respect for people and Spiritual growth, it is arrogant and selfish. Sin will grow in anyone, no matter the health of the person. Sin kills off spiritual advancement. Sin is consuming!

There is good news! To be a successful gardener, you have to constantly pull weeds and clean the ground. When you do this daily and sometimes multiple times a day, you can grow good healthy food.

Genesis 4:7 says "...sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you, but you must rule over it."

Isn't this great to know?! Just like the aggressive, disgusting weeds, sin wants us. Sin wants to kill out the good stuff and take us over. However, just like the garden, we "MUST RULE OVER IT"!

Today, we have choices. Do we let the weeds of sin eat us up spiritually, or, do we take control and with God's help we de-weed and grow healthy?

What do you choose?

Do you have a mobile phone? Yes. Stupid question! Everybody has a mobile phone these days! I've seen 5 year old kids with them. To me, that is nuts. Don't be offended if your kid has one... Maybe they need one. Yeah.

Anyway, unless you have a mobile phone that they made in Hollywood. The battery will not last forever. Not to mention it probably won't even last more than a day or two with out a charge.

I guess that is a good thing about mobile phones - we can charge them!

Our spiritual lives are similar to a mobile phone. Just like the phone, even more so, we can do amazing things! However, if we don't have a good charge and plenty of juice we will run out, or die.

I plug my phone in every night and allow it to suck power in all night long. When I wake in the morning it is fully charged and ready for whatever I have it do.

Jesus understood this principle before the mobile phone was ever created. Scripture tells us many times that He would go out "early in the morning", most of the time before the sun rose, to charge... or, talk to God.

What happens when our phone doesn't get a good charge? It does not perform at it's best, or it dies prematurely.

What happens when we don't have a good charge? We don't perform at our best, i.e. we have a bad attitude, we complain and grumble more, we aren't as happy if we are happy at all. We don't exemplify Christ. We die prematurely.

Every time you pull your mobile phone off of it's charger remember this. Go get a charge for yourself. It may only take a few minutes. Spend some time with Jesus. Get a charge, you don't want to run out. You especially don't want to die prematurely!

I am so blessed to have 2 beautiful daughters! God seems to use them to reveal things to me.

This morning Carmen (5 year old) was running around the house flapping her arms around making funny noises with her mouth, I don't know how to express the action; sorry. Anyway, she was running around, flapping her arms and her tongue, making plenty of noise.

Lily Grace (16 months) stood and stared for about 15 seconds. By that time she was ready to go. She immediately tried to imitate the same noise with her mouth and she too began running around, flapping her arms and making the noise.

It took Lily 15 seconds to copy her sister. How long does it take us to imitate or copy Christ? As Christians we have been instructed to live like Jesus. How long does it take us to live like Him? We've got Scripture to see how He lived. We have the Holy Spirit leading us to live like Him. How long does it take?

Most of you know that my wife and I are starting a new church in Bentonville. This has been a very fun ride so far! We started on New Years Eve with an 80's bash. Why move to the future when you can bring back the past? Right?! We have been meeting on Sunday nights at Kennedy Coffee since then (3 weeks) in a Bible study format. It is going great!

I am doing a community survey that Rick Warren put together years ago when he started Saddleback Church. It is very simple, only 5 questions. I am going door to door in Bentonville with it and having great results! One of the people who took the survey yesterday afternoon even came to church last night!

Even if you don't live in Bentonville I would love it if you would copy and paste the survey below and e-mail it to me. philipbecker@cox.net

1. What do you feel is the greatest need in this area?
2. Do you attend church anywhere?
3. Why do you think most people don't attend church?
4. If you were looking for a church what kind of things would you look for?
5. As a Pastor how can I help you? What kind of advice can you give to a minister who wants to be helpful?

Thanks for taking time to send this to me; this will be very helpful!

What are you eating?

Are you on a new year diet? Maybe you were, but you've quit it already. What is the point of a diet? Most would agree that it is to get healthy, lose weight, gain strength or to just look and feel better.

Why do so we want to be healthy? I can't answer for you, but for me I want to live longer. I want to be happier. I want to feel good and full of energy. Most of us probably don't want to be overweight, tired and sick.

What would happen if we ate junk food all of the time? What would happen if we never, or rarely engaged in physical activity? Well, have you seen the movie "Wall E"? I had mixed emotions about this movie. I had heard good and bad about it. Not really knowing what to expect we tried it out. Have you seen it? If you have; picture the people in the space ship. Do you remember what there bones were like because of their inactivity and weight? Do you remember how large they were? Very unhealthy.

Most of us would probably agree that we would not engage in this style of lifestyle, and if we were getting close, we would change.

What about spiritually? I would guess that a lot of us look like those people in Wall E; unhealthy, over weight...clueless! Many of us are feeding ourselves unhealthy TV and books. We are not being nourished, instead we are having spiritual "junk food".

What do you want? Sure, you want to be close to Christ. You want to be fulfilled spiritually. Why aren't you? You may be clueless! What time is it? It is time to wake up!

See here's the deal. If you pollute your body with unhealthy food and inactivity you are going to live a fat miserable life.

If you pollute you spiritual body with unhealthy TV, media and books and you don't seek nourishment from the Lord. You are gong to live a fat miserable life!

What do you choose today? Fat and miserable or fit and healthy? "Ask and you shall receive!

Isn't it interesting how you probably just thought about sex!?

We live in a society where many different people do many different things. Most of us are very different and unique from each other. Therefore, we have different strengths, talents and abilities. Some people are good at repairing cars. Some may be good at home repairs. While others may be great encourager's. Maybe some are the perfect person to hang out with because they get discounts everywhere.

We are all unique! God made us unique intentionally. No accidents for God!

What friend are you being a friend to because of the benefit they offer you?

If they could no longer offer that benefit, no matter what it is. Would you still pursue their friendship? Throw the auto yes aside and think about this one.

People, including you, don't want to be used. We all want to be loved. Make a list of your friends, list the benefits they offer you, then be intentional and thank them for that benefit and their friendship.

What benefit are you offering your friends?

Read back over the past few chapters of your life. What kind of benefit are you offering your friends? Are you an encourager? Do you have a certain skill you share? Once you determine your benefit. Give it generously and freely! (If it is your livelihood, use discernment).

If you don't want to give your benefit. You should cut yourself off from using your friends.