Sync/Swim

Good Morning Everyone,

When I was a child we had a swimming pool in the house we lived in. I loved to go out in the water with my family but I had not quite figured out swimming yet. One night I was playing on the step of the pool when I ventured too far out and began to drown. My sister Melissa pulled me out of the water and made sure I was alright.

I think back on that story every time I hear of a child drowning and I wonder why people who have swimming pools do not teach their children how to swim. I also reflect on that story every time I see a parent that does not attempt to understand their child. It is sad when a parent feels so out of touch with their child's' generation that they just give up but it happens all the time.

As a youth minister I feel that one of my responsibilities is equipping parents to relate to their teen. Thankfully there are a wealth of resources on which to draw from. Unfortunately many of these good resources are not faith based and you have to do quite a bit of editing before you can present it.

Our good friends at the Institute For Church and Family located at Harding University have been working on the problem. The solution is a two day conference entitled Sync/Swim. What is even better is that the Westside Church in Alvin has arranged to host the Sync/Swim conference at their building October 3-4 2008. For the low price of $5.00 a person you can gain some peace of mind and a foothold against Satan in the life of your teenager. If you would be interested in attending this wonderful conference send me an e-mail at pmcartwright82@gmail.com . I hope you are blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul Cartwright

Are you Thirsty?

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Matthew 10:24-NIV
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

I'm not sure if you have ever given much thought to these words spoken by Jesus. One thing I have had to readjust to living in South Texas is the heat and humidity. Today was a good example of the heat that everyone talks about down here. Today was also a good day to put the words of Christ into practice.

The Pearland Youth Group had our first lunch bunch today. Lunch bunch consists of coming together and eating lunch at some fast food location and participating in some activity afterwards. Today myself, Ryan Parsons and four of our teenagers drove around Pearland looking for people laboring in the heat. When we found those people the teens got out of the van and gave these people a bottle of cold water.

The look on the faces of the people were indescribable. The opportunity to tell people about the love of Christ was also there. People would ask who we were and where we came from. We even had a few say that they wanted to worship at a church that would give cold water to people in need. It doesn't take much to make a difference in someones life. The hardest part is getting our and doing it. Today four teenagers made a difference in the life of a handful of people in Pearland. What can you do today to make a difference where you are?

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul

God Called Him Home

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Pictured above is a man that I love and think a whole lot of and whom I will never see this side of Heave again. Albert Ray Cartwright is his name but I called him Pop. Pop was my Grandfather on my Dad's side of the family and he passed away today. I have been trying to help with as many details as I can for the funeral and other things. One thing that has become apparent is that I will more than likely be preaching the funeral. I have preached funerals before and I feel confident I am ready to do this. I would covet your prayers in the coming days for my family. Along with the sorrow of loss we will all be traveling in some form or another be it by automobile or plane. I would also ask prayers of strength for me in preaching this funeral. Today I want to leave you with some words about Pop. Pop was a blessing the lives of so many I hope that you bless someone today.

Pop was one of the most interesting people I have ever known. When you think about someone who has done it all that was Pop. He was a milkman, he ran a gas station, he drove big trucks and still made time to teach his family and others to love the game of baseball. Pop has the distinction of being one of the few men in the Old Timers Baseball hall of fame for baseball and softball. Pop was a man who dealt in absolutes. In his life things were either right or they were wrong. It was this since of right and wrong that he instilled in my Dad Wayne and my Aunt Nancy.

Pop had one of the best senses of humor that I have ever encountered. One time several years ago he had gone to play golf and as he was backing his car up he hit a Coke-a-Cola truck. When I asked him about it weeks later he said “yeah buddy I bought a little stock in the Coke-a-Cola company that day.” That was the essence of the man I called Pop. While he dealt in absolutes he also could laugh at himself.

Pop was a man who understood the importance of community involvement. He was Colonel in the Civitan organization and participated in numerous other activities within the city of Nashville. Pop was always known for being a referee of basketball and football. One time I asked my Dad if he liked it when Pop would ref his games for him when he was a boy. My Dad told me that the only time Pop reffed a game for him was the time when he was fouled the most and never once did he give Dad an inch of slack. Some might say that what Pop did was mean but not me. By doing that Pop taught Dad a valuable lesson in life. He taught Dad to never trade on anyone else’s name and to never expect to get something for nothing.

I was always proud to tell my friends that my Pop was one of the men that held the chains at the Vanderbilt games. As a boy we would watch on ESPN every time Vanderbilt played in hopes of seeing Pop on TV. The problem was that when we would see Pop it usually meant that some linemen was running into him. It was my freshman year at Harding when Pop did notget out of the way quick enough and he broke his leg effectively ending his career holding the chains.

Pop loved to tell stories. This past year I lived in California for a time and before I moved my wife and I came to Nashville to visit Pop and Gan. Pop was thrilled for us to come because my wife, April, had never heard any of his stories and he had someone new to tell them all to. Really I say that jokingly. Pop loved April for the same reason he loved everyone and that is because he cared about people. Once when we were living in Nashville one summer our car broke down. My Mom called Pop to come help and when he got to the house we were renting he slipped a 50 dollar bill into her hand and told her “don’t worry about a thing sugar, I’ve got more where this came from.”

I could go on and on about Pop’s life. I could share with you all the stories I heard growing up but instead I will share with you what meant the most to Pop. When I was 16 I came to visit Pop and Dan and we went to a dinner for all the retired Dupont employees. The people there asked Pop to get up and say a few words about life. He stood up and told people the most important thing in life was to never give up. He then asked me to stand and told everyone I was his grandson and he was proud of me because I didn’t ever give up.

What was most important to Pop was never giving up. Whether it be in sports, your business or your faith he never wanted to see anyone give up. The wonderful thing is that even in death Pop has not given up. Pop has won the prize that we read about in scripture. Pop has gone home to be with his father in heaven. I would like to share with you a passage from 2 Timothy 4

2 Timothy 4
1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Pop fought the good fight and ran his race with endurance and now he has claimed his crown of righteousness. Today I encourage you to celebrate the life of Albert Ray Cartwright. Don’t leave this blog with a frown on your face because I know Pop is happy where he is now and he would want you to leave here sad on his account.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul

A lot on my mind

Hello Everyone,

As my title suggest I have got a whole lot on my mind. We had a great Brazos Valley Camp for our 3rd-6th graders. April and I have been settling into our new home and we have been blessed to have April's brother Justin helping us paint the last two weeks. I have spent the last week registering our two cars and I literally just finished the last little bit of paperwork associated with that. To top all of it off our secretary, preacher and my co-worker are all on the beautiful Island of Dominica the next two weeks being the hands and feet of Jesus. This leaves me all alone in the office for the next couple of weeks.

This last little bit of information brings me to the reason for this blog entry. I have been blessed with the opportunity to fill the pulpit for the next two Sundays during both services. I have this week worked out (I think) but I have yet to figure out what to do next week. I am not worried though because I have loyal readers who will always come through in the clutch.

My request of all of you is to think about what you would like to hear from the pulpit. Put yourself in my shoes of having two opportunities to preach God's word and think about what you would say or would like to hear. I can't promise that what you suggest is what I will preacher but I will give anything anyone has to say a lot of thought. Thank you all for always being willing to help me. I hope you are as blessed by me as I am by you.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Going The Extra Mile

Good Morning Everyone,

As I sit here this morning I am reminded of a thought I had last night during Vacation Bible School. I watched as the faces of the children lit up at just the mention of the puppets coming out to see them. I listened in my Bible class as the children sang with their whole hearts all of the songs. I watched how determined they were to enjoy every second of playing outside and all of it got me to thinking about going the extra mile.

Children have no trouble going the extra mile because they are not hindered by so much of the baggage we adults carry around with us. They have no bills to pay, no cars to get fixed and don't have to buy groceries. Children amaze me in this way but it I am sad to say that we all have to grow up some time. But as is often the case being around our children at VBS this week has helped me to have some insight into my own life.

Jesus said in the book of Matthew "If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." As a child I never understood how anyone or anything could force me to go anyplace I didn't want to go. As an adult all I have to do is sit down to pay my bills and I understand this principle all to well.

So I have made a decision. No longer will I be satisfied with going just one mile I want to go on to the second mile. I will do my best to put my whole self into everything and not lose that child-like wonder and amazement at what God has blessed me with. I hope as you read this post this morning that you will make a decision to go the extra mile in life. I hope you are blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Things that go bump in the day

Good Afternoon Everyone,

It is good to be in Pearland. April and I have bought a home and we are loving being homeowners. Monday night we hosted an area wide devotional at the Pearland Church and everything went great. Sunday begins our annual Vacation Bible School at Pearland.

Yesterday my partner in crime Ryan Parsons and myself got the building early to turn the auditorium into a scene from the book of Exodus. Upon arriving at the building we were greeted by a new friend.

That's right friends there was a raccoon waiting for us. This female raccoon had decided to make her home in the indoor/outdoor foyer of our building. After several attempts involving a bullhorn, beating on the wall and using an umbrella on this little lady Ryan finally took matters into his own hands. We have several long lengths of PVC pipe lying around so Ryan did battle with our new friend and came away victorious. Ryan literally scared the poop out of this animal and I have proof.

All of that being said I want to invite anyone in the Pearland area to come to our raccoon free VBS June 22nd-25th from 6-8PM. For more information give us a call at 281-485-2436. I hope you have been blessed today from this little slice of my life.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul

Off To Camp We Go

Hello Everyone,

It is had to believe that a month ago I was in California and now I am here in Pearland working with one of the best churches in the state of Texas. So much has happened since I last blogged. We have bought a home and are set to close on the 16th of this month. I have already taught a Bible class and given a devotional and pretty soon we will be heading off to do one of my favorite things and that is go to Camp Bandina.

Going to camp is like a homecoming for me. From the time I was a young child I attended camp and I have been blessed to be there as a counselor on two prior occasions. This year marks what I hope to be the first of many that I will be going as the youth and family minister at the Pearland Church of Christ. I am blessed to be teaching with one of my greatest mentors and friends Ralph Bryant. Ralph has been going to camp for nearly 30 years and has been teaching the 10th grade class for a majority of that time.

For any of you reading this who will be going to camp with us there are a few things you need to know. You need to be at the Pearland building at 7AM to load the van and worship so that we can be on the road no later than 8:00AM. You need to bring a sack lunch we will provide water to drink. There are other details we will share with you at church tonight.

I hope if you are a teenager and are reading this that you are going to camp someplace this summer. Camp is a place where you can remove yourself from the world for a few days and allow God to work in your life. Camp is a place where you will make lifelong friends and friends for eternity. I hope you are blessed by camp and by reading this today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul