terrySKILES.com
The Official Blog of Terry V. Skiles

Today Ky and I headed to the Beach.  We’re doing a weekend event in Oceanside/Vista. 

As we sat there by the water watching the waves crash in I couldn’t help but think about God.  How his grace is constantly working & how his love is always reaching for us.  Sometimes seeing something of power will make you realize how powerful God is.

I Had a moment with God on this perfect Beach, had to take a picture so I could remember the beauty of the day. 

The River Church (Pastors Matt and Amy Stoeher) saw to it that we got this day of R&R.  We’re really thankful for their hospitality and friendship!

Mike Slagle wrote a blog about the good old day’s…  I agree with him that it’s good to look back and enjoy memories of the past.  But it got me thinking…  Why do we remember our high school era’s so clearly?  What is it about that time in our lives that makes it stand out so much in our life’s timeline?  I think it may be  a combo of things.  Perhaps it was because we had no real responsibility.  Things for “Most Students” was taken care of.  They didn’t have to worry about the bottom line.  Maybe the time was so special because of the constant relationships that were built from the four years of lockers and sporting events. 

I think we lose ourselves a bit when we hit the real world.  We don’t have that connection through relationships like we had as teenagers.  I think we stress so much in life that it’s hard to sometimes enjoy the life that happening all around us. 

This is why community in the church is SO IMPORTANT.  I think that churches built on judgment, programs and repetition remind people too much of everyday life.  To me, Church should be the place where you have a lasting (Godly) connection with other’s while you worship God Himself (The greatest relationship we’ll ever know).  Also it should be a place where your cares melt away. 

High School is good and all, but I wouldn’t want it to be the only place on my timeline where my life seemed like it made sense.  Shouldn’t the church have a stronger place on our time line?  A place that goes on just beyond 4 years and has the ability to offer us so much more than just fuzzy memories from our teen days…  That’s up to us in a sense.  What have you done to get involved in your Spiritual Community?  What have you done to build relationship’s that are built on God?  I believe that God moments will always outlast the prom, that crush, that big game.

His grace will never be pulled out from under us.

God’s timing is perfect in every way!  I heard a message today on REST.  It challenged me to get back to center.  I love to work and that’s good, but I need to learn to rest, spend quality time with Kylie and not neglect personal priorities.  God hasn’t called me to be spread thin.  So I will still commit to helping out churches, leaders and working for everyone I work for, but I will also commit to recharging the batteries and not biting off more than I can chew at one time.  I’ve often felt like the little kid who’s eyes were too big for his stomach and than sat their looking at a full plate. 

I LOVE TO WORK!  It’s one of my favorite things to do.  I enjoy Leading worship, graphic design, web design, ministering to students and filming videos.  But I need to make sure that I re-group so I can always be at my best for God and others.  Jesus doesn’t want us to be under rested.  He said himself “Come to me, I will give you rest”. 

It’s funny, we all know that rest is a natural part of life but we often book ourselves so tight that rest is an after thought.  I want to be the best version of myself, so I will work hard but also take the time to have fun with my wife, take vacations and REST in God, the place where stress and worry melts away.

I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago about the way some next-gen churches now operate.  It seems that many modern churches don’t have youth groups or youth pastors.  They have children’s groups and then the church.  Is this a throw back to the way it used to be?  Could it be that traditional churches use to be a fit  for all age groups, but didn’t evolve with the youth culture causing a surge of “YOUTH GROUPS”?  Why did youth groups start?  My guess is they wanted something that was more their tempo.  It seems that this new breed of local churches resemble youth groups in many ways, but still have thought provoking messages for for all ages.  The reason for this is many youth pastors from the 80′s and 90′s and early 00′s are now lead pastors.  Is this a culture in which the line drawn between generations is torn down?  No more “BIG CHURCH” and  ”YOUTH GROUP” separation?  Just one local body?  What are your thoughts?

This is a bumper video I made for a sermon I did last weekend called just breathe.   Thought I would share.  Enjoy

Got to hang out with Todd the other day as he taught a camera how to be a pastor.  Actually he was teaching for ILD for IMPACT.  Pretty cool stuff.  Great day to shoot!  He looks all alone in the field huh?

I’ve written a lot of songs in my life.  At one time I was writing one a day.  Most of them are forgettable and never are heard by ANYONE!  But there have been times when God gave me something special in a song.  I haven’t actually written anything in over a year.  In fact the last song I wrote was a song called “Identity”.  I think the biggest reason for not writing anything was just time.  I was involved in different ministries that demanded my attention.   Well the writers block or should I say “time block” was let down yesterday.  I’ve been playing around with a melody style for a couple days but really didn’t think anything about it.  Well, to make a long story not so long, things clicked and a song was born.  I’m not sure how good it’ll do in front of people, but I know I was responsive to it.  My dogs liked it too!  It’s an uptempo song called “No Never”.  The title is in pencil, we’ll see how it goes. 

PS  WAY OLD PICTURE…

For years there has been an argument in baseball over  Instant replay.  I think it’s a good thing to have when used in moderation.  I think each coach should get one opportunity to challange a call per game. 

I got to thinking,  what if in life we could view an instant replay of our life daily.  I’m not sure we’d always be happy with our behavior.  I’m sure there have been times where I wouldn’t be happy with my replay.  I think in living life, we should always be thriving to be our best.  After all people are watching and we only get one shot at the moment.

Last night we took off to Shafter to meet with the Wasco Crew about Snack Shack and SO CAL KIDS CAMP!!!  We got to really visit and get to know this group and we love them all!  Thank you to Mike and Sunny for your hospitality and also to the whole group for your open, creative communication.  THAT’S WHAT I LOVE!!!