This past Friday, April 2nd, Valeria and I celebrated our 5th year of marriage.

We were married in 2005, and It is hard to believe that it has already been that long.  While we were out that evening celebrating, we came up with our Top 10 moments since we have been married.

Here they are (in no particular order):
Top 10 Moments in our First 5 Years:

1)     the birth of our first son Joshua Carl Greene Jr.  (we were in the hospital from Dec. 31, 2007 until Jan. 3, 2008. He was born Jan. 2 It was awesome!)

2)     the birth of our second son Eli Lucio Greene (he was born April 30, 2009)

3)     Jeremiah came to live with us  (the last 2 years of his high school career Jeremiah lived with us. he is still like our son and so much a part of our family)

4)     we went horse back riding together in the mountains on our honeymoon

5)     we went on our first mission trip together (st. thomas, we both had been on trips before, just never together)

6)     we had the amazing opportunity and experience to introduce our sons to the ocean. (one of the greatest moments of my entire life)

7)     we saw God really move in our church youth group (in 2006, we took 22 people to Myrtle Beach, SC for a week. 7 people on the trip saw the ocean for the very first time. several others got saved. it was such an awesome memorable week)

8)      we spent our first anniversary out at the farm owned by Russel & Linda McDaniel (it has no running water. I got terribly sick. We took a nap in the pasture and woke up surrounded by cows…scared.)

9)     JJ taking his first steps (he was 1 year and 4 days old when he walked for the first time. With all honesty, his first time walking was with basketball in hand, all the way across the room, to the fisher price goal to dunk it…i was thrilled)

10)     the both of us graduated from Southern Seminary with our Masters degrees (if this had not happened, we would not be in the great position we are now of pastoring our wonderful church, FBC Fairdale)

We know there are many other great moments, but these 10 really stand out to us.  With all this said, we echo Paul’s words that “we are what we are by the grace of God.” We do not deserve any of this goodness. We are humbled to be so blessed.

Drugs are destroying Fairdale.

Homes, streets, neighborhoods, schools, families, people, moms, dads, boys, girls, etc. are being ruined by drugs in the Fairdale community. Its bad… really bad.

In October while at the funeral home, I had a local sheriff tell me that drugs are so bad around here that I could throw a rock in any direction and it would undoubtedly hit a house with drugs in it.
The following month (2 days before Thanksgiving) while I was preparing to preach at the Fairdale Community-wide service the cops flooded my street to bust a Meth lab.  That is when I really began to see how bad drugs are around here.

Since then I have been involved with 4 different funerals involving young people who were dying in some connection to drug use or addiction. A 17 year old who died partying. A 32 year old who died suddenly from drug use. A 37 year old addict who died tragically. A 29 year old who died tragically. There is so much more. That is only what I have been involved with from recent weeks. I am connected to so many teens in this town who have been led down a miserable hopeless path. It breaks my heart.

Who is going to do something about it? Is there anyone?

We sit in prayer meeting week after week hearing heart-breaking stories of teens who are suicidal and moms & dads who cannot take care of their children because of drugs. What can be done? What will be done?

The schools aren’t making much impact. Boy Scouts, Rec. leagues, and clubs are making minimal impact around here in the area of difference-making.

First Baptist Fairdale can be the difference. God is working. He has a plan. As more and more people get involved and get the conviction and passion to make a difference for the name of Jesus it will come.  We have said it before “Greater things have yet to come. Greater things are still to be done in this city.”

The key though is not a big church, or even an active church. The key is Jesus. Only Jesus truly brings change and improvement. Jesus is the redeemer. We are praying for a redeemed community.

Several years ago I worked at a furniture company. Every week the same truck driver would come and deliver furniture to us. He was in his 60s. Week after week our relationship developed. I found out he was now a follower of Jesus but has had some troubles in his past. (like all followers of Jesus) He always, literally always, told me how bad drugs were. No matter what we were talking about, whether it be work, weather, sports, North Carolina, money, etc. he would say “Josh, remember Satan is using the drug dealer.”

Jesus said that Satan comes “to steal, kill, and destroy us”. He sure does. Every single person living in our town sees that Satan is doing a fine job stealing, killing, and destroying. I now realize more than ever that my truck driver buddy was so accurate. Satan is using the drug dealer.

It needs to stop. It needs to change. What is going to be done about it? Who is going to do it? Who cares enough?

Jesus does. FBC Fairdale will soon… By grace and through prayer.

“Jesus is able to save to the uttermost.” –Hebrews 7:25

We just returned from spending a few days in Florida for a wedding.  Monday was one of the best days of my life. Valeria and I took our two boys and introduced to them to one of God’s greatest pieces of creation…the ocean.

The boys absolutely loved it. It thrilled my soul so incredibly much to see them enjoying it so much. Eli loved the sand and the shells. JJ loved the water and the waves.  They could not get enough of it.

JJ walked out into the water.  A wave would hit him and he would fall over crying. I would pick him up and he would say “mas daddy, mas”. Then we would both be laughing so hard while JJ said “cold water, cold water”. It was very cold. So cold Eli wanted nothing to do with it.

It blessed me so much to see JJ so jubilant, so happy, so excited. Literally the world could not contain the overflow of joy and delight that was flowing out of him. I cannot explain what that moment meant to me as a father.

I was glad to teach JJ that we do not worship the creation. We only enjoy the creation that God has made. We truly worship the Creator!

While out of town for a wedding and a few days of vacation, I have had a wonderful time bonding with my two sons.  JJ and Eli are so much fun and these days have been a blast. JJ loves the characters from the movie ‘Toy Story’.  The movie begins with this great song ‘You’ve got a friend in me.’  JJ sings this song to his brother Eli.  Here are the lyrics. We need more Christians with a commitment and devotion to friendship as this song describes.

You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got troubles, well I’ve got ’em too
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me

Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you the way I do
It’s me and you
And as the years go by
Boys, our friendship will never die
You’re gonna see
It’s our destiny
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me

At FBCF, we are placing great emphasis on simply being followers of Jesus. As Jesus goes, so do we… we hope.   One of the ways we do this is by remembering a simple illustration that there are 2 sides to every coin.  There may be two different images on each side of the coin but it is still the same coin.  And people are able to identify the coin regardless of what side they see.

In our following Jesus, we want to be the same way. The 2 sides of our faith are: loving Jesus & hating sin. 

To hate sin means to focus and plan and structure your entire life around hating sin. To hate sin with a passion is one facet of loving and following Jesus.

I know a young girl who recently died from partying. She was a good girl and the events at the party went wrong and she died tragically. It is awful. Her friends now are working very hard to see that things change and kids do not live like this anymore. They hate the partying and they hate what happened as a result of the partying.
In the same way, Jesus died for our sins. He died because of our sins. If you love Jesus, you will hate sin. If you love Jesus, you will hate the sin and what happened & happens as a result of the sin.

My desire is for there to be a people who love Jesus and that is known partly because of their hatred for sin.  It is one thing to say you love Jesus. And it is another to focus & plan & structure your life around hating sin because of the impact that Jesus’ death for sin has had in your life.  These two sides of the same coin are seen throughout all of Scripture. Here is one verse that emphasizes it. Die to sin & live righteousness!

1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”

Contemplating heaven and the exclusivity of Christ!

“We will be surprised when we get to heaven when we see who is there and who is not there. But please, I beg you, do not be surprised by this– everyone in heaven will only be there by faith in the death & resurrection of Jesus.”

My oldest boy, JJ, has recently fallen in love with his transformer toy.  He recieved it as a gift a while ago, but it was honestly too complicated for me to figure out.  Well, last night a friend of ours “transformed” it for him from a car into a flying-robot-warrior-type-a-thing. Now JJ absolutely loves it. He flies it around like its Buzz Lightyear. He even folded the transformer’s hands into praying position during our family worship time. And then even slept with the transformer.

I am glad to see my son enjoying the gifts of life.

I got to thinking about transformers. And quickly the Scriptures flooded my mind. Us, followers of Jesus, are to be transformers ourselves. We are to be “transformed by the renewal of our minds.” (Rom. 12:1-2)

Transformed from darkness to light; from death to life; from mourning to dancing; from not a people to God’s people; from children of wrath to rich in mercy; from haters of God to loved by God; from enemies of the cross to followers of Jesus.

I pray for the day when JJ would not only be excited about a toy that transforms from a car into a robot, but for the day when JJ will love and worship and serve King Jesus because of the transforming work that God has done in His life.

The best three weeks of the year have arrived!

The 64 team tournament is set, and nearly everyone I know cannot wait for the games to begin at Noon on Thursday.

While it is called March Madness, I think it would be good for us followers of Christ to remember a few things as the most exciting time comes upon us.

1.     The last fruit listed in that great listing of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 is self-control.  This is important to remember during March Madness. On Thursday there will be 16 basketball games on TV. On Friday there will be 16 basketball games on TV. That is a minumum of 12 hours of live basketball on TV each day.  On Saturday and Sunday, there will be 8 games on each day and that too will be a minimum of 12 hours of live bball. Now, be careful with this. Use some self-control. If you watch, that much basketball over the course of those 4 days there is a good chance you will be neglecting something else…  Perhaps your job, your wife, your kids, the dishes, the mail, your church, etc. Please be careful to enjoy all the bball you want while remaining controlled by the Spirit.

2.     The second fruit listed is joy. I know so many people (myself included) whose personality rises and falls on whether or not Roy Williams calls a timeout to stop a run or whether the Big East referees are blowing the game. This should not be the case. Our joy is from the Lord. Please in these coming days do not allow the bball to effect you and your joy. Whether your team gets upset early or makes the Final Four (or in my case sneaks into the NIT), stay joyful. In fact, if your joy is dependent upon your team or if your team can cause you to be mean, hateful, angry, or sinful then you seriously have a bigger problem. Think about that.

3.     Reading the Bible is a must for Christians. As Jesus quoted, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Let me repeat. Man does not live by bread alone… or basketball alone.  You live by God’s Word. Please, please, please do not let Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to pass without getting in your Bible. You must. If you go four days without the Word, you are going to be weak and hungry and more prone to act wrongly in response to the tourney. This may mean you have to read the Word in the mornings because each day ball begins at noon and goes well into the night.  But I have warned you, so make the steps now to be sure that Bball doesn’t become your god over the next four days.

4.     1 Corinthians 10:31 says “whatever you do, do it all the glory of God.” As you enjoy March Madness, love Jesus through it all. Don’t let these 3 weeks pass and then regret how into it you were. Keep your priorities straight from the first tip on Thursdayall the way until the Final Four in early April. And let God be glorified because you enjoy the gift of March Madness that he has given us.

Go Tarheels! (in the NIT).

Thanks to our great worship pastor, Drew Krutza, I have a new favorite hymn. God often uses creation to cause me to love Him more. Speaking of God’s world, the Bible says:
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” Psalm 19:1-3

Its #43 in our hymnal. It is “This Is My Father’s World.”

This is my Father’s world, And to my listening ears,
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world, I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, The birds their carols raise;
The morning light, the lily white
Declare their makers praise.
This is my Father’s world, He shines in all thats fair;
In the rustling grass, I hear him pass
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world, O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world, The battle is not done
Jesus who died shall be satisfied
And earth and heaven be one.

It was written by Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901).

I did some research and found that there are more original verses to the song than what we have in our hymnal. Here they are 

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.

This is my Father’s world, dreaming, I see His face.
I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise cry, “The Lord is in this place.”
This is my Father’s world, from the shining courts above,
The Beloved One, His Only Son,
Came—a pledge of deathless love.

This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad?
The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad.
This is my Father’s world. Now closer to Heaven bound,
For dear to God is the earth Christ trod.
No place but is holy ground.

This is my Father’s world. I walk a desert lone.
In a bush ablaze to my wondering gaze God makes His glory known.
This is my Father’s world, a wanderer I may roam
Whate’er my lot, it matters not,
My heart is still at home.