Stop at the Sign of the Lemon!

March 22, 2012

For those who were not raised in Rhode Island, this logo may be unfamiliar with you.  It is the face of Del’s Frozen Lemonade, a Rhode Island staple that I have missed now that Michelle and I have been out of New England for almost ten years.

Rhode Island is the home of some pretty unique novelties, such as coffee milk, the official state drink.  (What’s coffee milk? Well, its awesome, and I’ll leave it at that.)  Perhaps I am just having a wave of nostalgia, but I miss some of the eats I was accustomed to growing up with.  Rhode Island is known to have some of the best seafood in the country, and some of the best traditional Italian food known to mankind.  Yes, I admit, I became spoiled living there.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve come to really enjoy grits, and I’ll have the occasional biscuit or sip of sweet tea, but I must say, it’d sure be nice to taste some of the eats I once enjoyed.

So, Del’s frozen lemonade.  This is a pretty common image in the Rhode Island area.  This sign brings to mind Del’s slogan, “Stop at the Sign of the Lemon.” And boy did I!  I can remember driving through North Providence on a hot summer day as a teenager, and stopping to grab a cup of “Del’s.”  But, this isn’t your ice-cream-stand frozen lemonade, mixing up in that machine.  It is made fresh everyday, and is stored in a sort-of ice chest, ready to be scooped into a cup.  This stuff is made from real lemons, with a method and ingredients designed for 100% consistency in every batch. Perhaps the most unique feature of the lemonade is the signature little bits of real lemon inside the tasty slush, which you can only get if you visit one of Del’s stands or stores. Sure, this is being sold around the world, but it began at a little stand in Cranston, RI in 1948 by Angelo DeLucia (Get it? DeL’s), the great-grandson of Del’s inventor, “Great Grandfather DeLucia.” He invented the frozen, lemony goodness in 1840 in Naples, Italy.  You can read the full story here.

Well, anyway, we’ve been able to get our hands on this stuff from their website.  It comes in mix packets which, if made according to directions, tastes pretty darn close to the real thing, minus the lemon bits.  However, I’ve thought of cutting some up and adding them myself :)

The kids love it, and you can try it for yourself! Get some here.

Anyway, next time you happen to be in New England, look for that bright yellow sign, and be sure to “Stop at the Sign of the Lemon!”

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Posted by Joshua

Follow-up to Higher Ground’s Veggie Tales Event on February 17!

March 8, 2012

Our Friday, February 17 showing of Veggie Tales latest movie Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men, went, well, merrily!  Like any event with children, it was over before it began.  I think it is safe to say that everyone had a blast!

A BIG THANK YOU to Jennifer Houck, without whom this event would never have been possible.  We had a good time planning the event, and I believe we make a great team.  (Never mind the list stuff we will do next time that we left out!  You live and learn right? Stay tuned for next time on that one.) Visit Jenn’s blog at One Mom’s World.  She often has great product reviews and even giveaways of cool products that you could win!  Not to mention a beautiful family that I and my own are super fond of! I keep telling her she is kinda famous, and I feel my VIP status go up a bit when we hang out, but she won’t listen to me on that!

The kids loved getting prizes! Here's a little one drawing a name out for Josh.

Me working it out to a lively Larry version of the Hokey Pokey. Well done if I do say so myself!

Here are the sweet kids dancing!

Here is a picture of some of my dear friends from Charlotte – Erin and Vanessa. They are the sweetest and most selfless people, who also by the way, cleaned the whole kitchen and did not let me help!  In all the craziness, I don’t think I ever said thank you! Thank You wonderful ladies! You are so dear to me!!!!!

Oh yeah…in case you were wondering, here is the skinny on the movie:

VeggieTales movies are never one to disappoint and Robin Good and his Not So Merry Men is no different.  Instead of traditional Robin Hood like movies where they steal from the rich and give to the poor, Robin Good actually fundraises from the rich and gives to the poor.  That was enough to make me smile.  In the end, when the Prince of the land starts taking the townspeople’s hams (lol, hams), Robin Good’s not-so-merry men decide to give stealing a try.  Robin Good sticks to his convictions and casts his cares upon the Lord, trusting him to take care of the not-so-good situation.  This movie is sure to make you and your children smile, not to mention teach a lesson about the power of casting our cares upon God.

There is also a short story before the movie about Junior Asparagus. He learns a lesson about the ever-forgotten leap year.

My personal favorite on the dvd is the “silly song.”  I think it is Larry the Cucumber’s five o’clock shadow that does me in here.  Ill let you see that for yourself!

Ian Von Fange closing the event with prayer

 You can purchase the dvd here, on the VeggieTales website.

What a great time this was!  Perhaps the most interesting thing to happen was the leftover pizza I found yesterday in the church oven.  It was 3 weeks old.  It was surprisingly not moldy.   Preservatives anyone?

We should be having more of these pre-release events in the future, so stay tuned.  Josh and I also plan on renting out the Bob and Larry costumes for the next one, so If that doesn’t grab you….

For more information about events and happenings at Higher Ground Church, visit our website.

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Posted by Michelle

It’s a Girl, I Know…

February 12, 2012

Well, it is officially a new year, so Michelle and I thought it would be the perfect time to dust off the old blog site. Instead of this being strictly a ministry blog, we’ve decided to make it a blog about our family and also ministry here in the High Country. Being so removed from most of our friends (in Charlotte and elsewhere), this will be a great way for us to keep everyone “up” on things here with us. We hope you enjoy!

I knew it was a girl.  I was sure of it.

I shook my head with a yes, eyes squinted with all seriousness, as I looked at the ultrasound tech and said, “It’s a girl, I know.”  At that point she looked at me and laughed, chin up in the air and everything.  My face must have certainly expressed confusion, as she said, “There’s too many parts to be a girl – it’s a boy!”  At that point, Joshua (who was tending to the two other kids in the brood with his back turned), heard the “it’s a boy” part as if he had been standing right by my side.  He walked over and said, “Wait, what?” And I, humbled and extremely surprised, had tears of joy and excitement in my eyes as she showed me what she called a “pretty scrotum.”

Needless to say – we are so excited for a boy! Connor will have a little brother to be home with when Kaelyn starts school this August, and Kaelyn will love anyone she can take care of, so we feel abundantly blessed.  Its funny, however, I am a little saddened that he is a he and not a she.  I set myself up for us to have another little girl, for Kaelyn to have a little sister, and for Josh to have one more little girl.  I only thought of girl names (although I would never admit any of this prior) and I was excited to pull out all of Kaelyn’s baby stuff that I haven’t looked at in five years.  Not to sound super extreme or hormonal, I’m almost mourning someone I never met.  Perhaps, the weirdest thing for me is that my SURE ‘gut’ feeling was wrong.  Either way, as I retrain myself to think blue and not pink, I feel like this is one more lesson I can learn.  One more thing to let me know how not in control I am and how God usually doesn’t work how I expect or think He will.

Most of you know, Feb 6, 2011 we moved to the mountains of N.C.  It was the hardest thing I have had to do since I have been walking with the Lord.  It was a true surrender to His will, in a decision where my will was anything but His.  Fast forward 370 days later, and some days I can’t even remember why it was so hard to move in the first place.  We sometimes spend so much time and energy looking for BIG meaning in things that happen to us in life.  I hoped at one time we would get up here and our church would grow immediately and I would make friends immediately and we would be so busy doing ministry immediately.  It did not happen like that in the least.  I even felt like we were back-peddling at times.   Now, we are seeing some of these things are starting to come – yay for friends and growth, ALL glory to God!  I see God’s perfect timing and I am thankful.  The past year he has made our little family so tight-knit, that I feel if this was the only purpose of us moving up here, it was more than worth it.  There is so much more to this, but I feel like since I am such a work in progress, I’ll stop there.

I take all this space up in the world of blogging just to say (even if just to me): stop trying to figure it all out.  If you are walking with God, then He is in control and not you.  Before I fill in the rest of this space with a bunch of cliche sayings like ‘let go and let God’ or ‘grow where you are planted’, I’ll leave you with this:

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Posted by Michelle

“Bring Wood and Build…”

June 2, 2011

So, we’re “mountain folks” now.

It was a phone call back in mid-November 2010 that started us on a journey we never expected.  I was working as an optician then, and the call was from the secretary of the administrative bishop of the Western North Carolina Church of God.  Margaret, the secretary, called on a Thursday and told me there was a little church up in Pineola that had no pastor, and needed someone to preach that weekend.  She said, “I know it’s only two days away, but can you do it?” I remember saying, “Let me call my wife and I’ll call you back.”  I knew I was going to, I just had to tell Michelle because I was so excited.  You see, for the last few years, I had felt a strong call to pastoral ministry.  The Lord had me in different teaching positions at our home church in Charlotte, and I knew He was grooming me for something.

That weekend, I preached a message entitled, “Consider Your Ways!” The text for the message was Haggai 1:7-8, which reads,

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,’ says the Lord.”  

The text addresses the Jewish people who had returned from exile in Babylon who began the work of the temple of God, but ceased construction due to threats by the enemies of Judah (Ezra 4).  The message went well and I think the people here liked me.  But for me, the text shouted from the rooftops of heaven: “Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.”

God was speaking to the people here that day, but He was also speaking to me.  I wasn’t sure if this is where God wanted us that day. So God began to speak to me through His holy Word before I even began to seek Him on the move.  God was saying, “I want you to move up to the mountains.  Bring what you need, and build that little church up so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.”

After much prayer, tears, and excitement, we moved up here in early February 2011.  It is now the beginning of June; God has been slowly adding people in the fold here, and my desire is that God would be pleased and receive glory for what goes on here.  It’s a tough job folks.  Anyone who is a pastor knows what it’s like to balance your life between your home family and your church family.  I’m always looking for ways to build the church, help the people, and feed the flock, and it can be cumbersome.  But, that’s right about the time God reminds me to slow down and cease from working like Martha did (Luke 10:38ff), and just sit at Jesus’ feet and listen for His wisdom like Mary did.  God is showing me that even though He tells us what to do and what to bring, ultimately He is the One who will complete the job.  He just requires that we be willing to do what ever he asks. 

God is building this church. He is the Pastor of this church. All I need to do is bring the wood – He’ll build it up.

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Posted by Joshua

Ramping up (again..)

March 8, 2011

Hey folks!

Ok, so we took a little break.  Well.. how about about a 9 month break.  But, we’re going to be starting back up again soon.  I (Josh) am getting settled into a new role in my life, and this blog will be quite useful soon.

So, the point is, Pressing OnWord is coming back to life, and will be used as both a combination ministry blog and personal blog.  I am excited about it, so, stay tuned!

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Posted by Joshua

“He Does Our Praying for Us.” Romans 8:26

May 31, 2010

I was reading back in my journal the other day and I found that on August 3, 2009 I wrote this at the end of my entry for the day:

“…Lord I pray this never happens, but if one of my children or loved ones died suddenly, I hope I would be found to praise, honor, and glory of Jesus Christ.  That is where I want my faith to be.”

That was it for my entry that day.  I don’t really know why I wrote that statement.  Looking back on it, it was a bold statement to make.  We had a tough July that year, nothing earth shattering, just a physically and mentally draining month.  Connor was very sick all month with various things, and Kaelyn was stricken with a fever every two weeks, with no medical explanation.  Josh and I got the flu.  Josh’s grandmother passed away, and we drove twenty one hours in three days with a nine month old with double ear infections.  I got a total of nine hours of sleep on that sixty hour trip.  I think I worked six days of our twelve day summer fun preschool program, because the kids were sick so much.  The month was hard, and I don’t mean to be so “woe is me,” but I just want to paint that picture for you.  I guess the bottom line is: I didn’t understand why I would write such a statement in that moment.

God was preparing me for what was to come.  On January 9, 2010 my grandmother came to visit me for the weekend.  She had a stroke in the middle of the night, and ten days later she went home to be with the Lord.  During those ten days, Josh and I had a strength that was from on High that I can’t begin to describe.  We had five extra people staying in our little home for ten days.  You can imagine what a toll that would be for our family in such a small living space, but honestly, everything was so blessed by God.  We were able to share our faith and the love of Christ with people that didn’t know otherwise.

There is so much more to that story than I could ever adequately express on a blog posting, but that is not really what this is about. The point is that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) He interceded on my behalf beforehand while I was writing in my journal, and prepared my heart so I could walk in His work and in His ways.  I know for an absolute fact that if it wasn’t for Jesus, then I would have lost my mind somewhere in those ten days.   Praise be to God that we were able to comfort my family and uphold them out of the overflow of comfort we ourselves were getting from God! (2 Corinthians 1:4)

My point is, our prayers aren’t in vain, people!  Let us rejoice in the Lord, pray without ceasing and remember, even if we don’t know it, the Spirit himself makes intercession for us! (Romans 8:26)  “We” don’t really do anything. We are HIS workmanship.  Is that as mind boggling for you as it is for me?

I went back to that journal page and marked that on 01/19/19 my gram went Home.  That’s all I wrote.  It seemed sufficient to me.

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Posted by Michelle

Skillet on Ransom.tv

May 8, 2010

This ties in with Episode #3:  Why act like you’re living for Jesus if you’re not? Get your hands dirty.. Live your life with a purpose.  You don’t have to wait until “you’re old” to make a difference for Christ!

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Posted by Joshua

The Holy Spirit is Not an ‘It’

May 1, 2010

Many of us often forget that the Holy Spirit is God Himself dwelling within us, and not just a feeling, emotion, or experience.  Thus, when we don’t “feel spiritual,” we think that the power of the Holy Spirit or anointing is no longer within us.  The fact is, when we are Born Again, He places His anointing upon us to empower us to do His will (1 John 2:20) and we become the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 16:9).  This means that He lives within us!  No matter how “unspiritual” we may feel, He is still at work within us, and is the source of all our righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17).

If you have some confusion about the role of the Holy Spirit in the Believer’s life, following is great article by J. Lee Grady describing pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit):

“We charismatics celebrate the Holy Spirit, yet our theology of the Spirit is often off balance.

Two popular charismatic speakers stood on a stage two years ago and decided they should demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit. One guy pretended to throw an imaginary “fireball” at his friend, who promptly fell over as if he had been zapped by the divine power. Then, feeling equally playful, the guy on the floor stood to his feet and threw the “fireball” back at his friend—who fell after the “blob” of God hit him.

Everybody laughed and had a hilarious time at this outrageous party. There was just one problem. The Holy Spirit is not a blob, a fireball or any other form of divine energy that can be thrown, manipulated, maneuvered or controlled.

This scenario happened in a charismatic church—a place where the ministry of the Holy Spirit is presumably honored and understood. It’s incredibly sad that many of us who wear the charismatic label have forgotten what the Scriptures teach about the third person of the Trinity. At the risk of sounding way too elementary, I’d like to offer this basic layman’s guide to pneumatology—the study of the Holy Spirit and how He works:

1. He is the Spirit of the Lord. He is not a force (as in Star Wars), a magical power or an “it.” The Holy Spirit is God, and we should revere Him as God. The concept of the Trinity doesn’t make sense to the human mind. Yet Scripture reveals God as a triune being. As theologian Norman Geisler writes: “God is one what (nature) with three whos (persons). This is a mystery but not a contradiction.”

2. He is our Regenerator. Jesus told Nicodemus that we are born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). True conversion is the most supernatural thing we will ever experience! When a person puts his faith in Christ for salvation, it is the Spirit who opens the heart and quickens divine life. He then indwells us. While this is an invisible process, it is no less miraculous. When we are converted our hearts cry out, “Abba! Father” because the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15); He gives us confidence that we are now children of God.

3. He is our Empowerer. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we are “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49, NASB). The Spirit who already indwells us fills us to the point of overflowing. Jesus said the Holy Spirit’s power would flow out of us like “rivers of living water” from our innermost being (John 7:38). This overflow releases supernatural boldness (Acts 4:31) as well as the anointing for various gifts of the Spirit including prophecy, speaking in tongues and healing.

4. He is the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit has access to all the wisdom and knowledge of God. When we abide in Him, He leads us continually into truth—causing us to grow and mature spiritually. He wants to fill us with the treasures of heavenly revelation. We can fully trust Him because He never does anything to violate the Word of God. As our teacher (1 John 2:27), He knows the difference between truth and error, and those who depend on Him will walk in discernment and avoid deception, pride and carnality.

5. He is our Counselor. This word is also translated “Advocate,” “Comforter” or “Helper.” The Greek word, parakletos, means “one called alongside to help.” It implies that the Spirit comes to our legal defense when we are accused or troubled; it also means He is a close friend who offers encouragement, consolation and direction when we face any difficulty. He is truly a friend who “sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24).

6. He is our Intercessor. This is probably one of the greatest miracles of grace. The Spirit who lives inside of us “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). Even when we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit prays the perfect will of God. No matter what kind of dark difficulty we face, the Spirit travails for us until we emerge on the other side.

7. He is our Unifier. Like the master conductor of an orchestra, the Holy Spirit pulls together each individual Christian—with all of our diverse gifts—and causes us to flow in synchronization as one body. The Spirit distributes His gifts to individuals (1 Cor. 12:11) and He brings about the “fellowship of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14)—a supernatural, loving harmony among believers that overcomes jealousy, envy, strife and bitterness.

8. He is our Refiner. The Spirit took the form of a dove at Christ’s baptism, but He is often portrayed in Scripture as a fire. He is the “refiner’s fire” (Mal. 3:2-3) who purifies us of selfishness, pride and wrong motives. The Holy Spirit is indeed the fire of blazing holiness, and He can be both grieved (Eph. 4:30) and quenched (1 Thess. 5:19) when we disobey His promptings.

As we prepare to celebrate the day of Pentecost in less than a month (it’s on May 23), let’s meditate on all aspects of the Spirit’s work in our lives—and invite Him to fill us in a fresh way.”

—————————–

J. Lee Grady served as editor of Charisma for 11 years and is now contributing editor for the Church of God Faith News Network.

(Source: Charisma online)

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Posted by Joshua

Our Role in These Evil Days

April 29, 2010

This is a MUST READ for all Christians.  The night is surely coming and it is so important that we work while it is still day!

on airo-cross: Our Role in These Evil Days

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Posted by Joshua

A Slight Change in Format

April 28, 2010

Hey Friends!

We are in preparation to release an all new podcast around the beginning of May, but I just wanted to fill you in on the future of Pressing OnWord, well.. at least the direction that God is leading us at the present.

Beginning with the next podcast, I will be condensing the length of each recording down to (hopefully) a maximum of 15 to 20 minutes, thanks to the suggestions of some of our listeners.  My original goal was to take my time and record lengthy sermons, but I believe this move will be most practical for those who tune in, as most of us don’t have 45 minutes to an hour to dedicate to listen to each sermon.  I know that God is able to use a 15 minute window to touch someone’s heart just as much as He can use an hour.  Therefore, within this shorter time frame for each recording, I will be offering practical, to-the-point messages from God’s Word as He leads.

Also, I am in the process of setting up some very special interviews with people that have a heart to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, so stay tuned to hear what God is doing within the local Body. Michelle and I are also working on something (yes, an audio recording) that we believe will benefit married couples and parents alike.

I am so very excited to see what God is doing in the Body of His Son, and I pray that you will be both blessed and encouraged as we press onWord together!

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Posted by Joshua

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