It's Steve

So what would I say if I could take over Pastor Bobby's Blog for one day. Uhhhhhhh, absolutely nothing.

This is Steve your humble church soundman, at least that is the role most of you see me play on any given Sunday. Those of you who know me know I am quite comfortable in the background. I usually only get attention when I screw up, so I try to avoid that. I'm not sure why Pastor Bobby thinks you care about what I have to say. I mean if you want to talk about politics or audio stuff I am your man. But to talk about myself?

People ask me what I do at Harvest, I still don't have a short answer for that. I am the soundman, roadie, truck driver, cameraman, lighting guy, drum-keyboard-guitar amp-blownspeaker repair guy (lots of that lately), garbage man, purchasing dept, setup-teardown, recording engineer, plumber thewaittilleverybodygoeshomesoIcanlockupthebuilding guy, the completely clueless IT guy, amateur electrician, I move a lot of chairs and tables around, and apparently I am also expected to be a talented writer.

I've been married for 8 years to a beautiful girl named Sherry and we have a cute little three year old girl, Abigail. Sherry is an RN at Sacred heart ER, I am very proud of what she does and how hard she works. Abigail is quite proficient at doing flips, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and has every word of Cinderella memorized. Also, we have a chihuahua/jack russell puppy dog named Bentley. By the way, the picture up there is of us at Disney. Please be praying for Sherry's Disney addiction.

So I guess on these blog things you are supposed to say something really deep and stuff. I hope you will forgive me if I can't live up to the profundity(that will be $10 please) of the rest of the staff.

So here it is, are you ready???

You should live a balanced life

OK, so before you think I going all Yen and Yang on you here, calm down. I think Fung Shui is stupid. The idea here is that when you find your self unbalanced to one extreme in some area of your life, there is often an idol involved. It could possibly even be American Idol (har har). The balanced life idea does not work for everything. I mean you can't seek God to much or be too sinless or whatever but hear me out.

Some (rather blatant)examples:

One man has a $700 car payment, the other never changes his oil

One man is a workaholic, the other lives on handouts

One woman must marry a doctor, the other marries a drunk

One man eats out every meal, the other won't take his wife on a date

One woman vomits to be skinny, the other lets herself go (ouch)

One church ignores open sin in leadership, the other hasn't had a visitor in 3 years

One Soundman runs way too loud, and the other.......Can't blog very well

Do you see what I'm getting at here, well ok so most of you do not deal with issues quite that blatant but I wanted to make the point. I think its wise to step back on occasion and take the helicopter tour of your life and make sure your priorities aren't out of whack or worse, that you have allowed a habitual sin to replace God in your heart. Wow this is getting kind of heavy, maybe I should have talked about how fun it is to work for Pastor Bobby and what a privilege it is to write on his blog.

The Bible does not really speak directly to living a “balanced” life but it does give us “contradictions” to work with. Consider Mary and Martha in Luke 10. Martha is all freaking out about making dinner and getting the house ready, and Mary is just hangin' with Jesus, and Martha tells Jesus to tell Mary to help her, and Jesus is like, “its cool Martha, let her chill with me” (slightly paraphrased).

But then look at Matthew 24:42. Jesus is telling us to be vigilant and to prepare for his return and the end times and all that stuff. So do we not ever prepare and just trust in Jesus? or do we always make sure we obsess about every possible scenario that could come our way? Well there is a balance there. Don't allow yourself to be filled with worry, but seek God about how to be prudent and prepare.

Or remember all those Proverbs about how bad drinking is and how it leads to death and all, and then Jesus goes and turns water into some really tasty wine at a wedding where everyone is already drunk. So where is the balance there? Well its quite simple, if you want to know just ask Pastor Bobby.

Please don't look my way if you want to see a perfectly balanced Christian. I chose to write about this because I must deal with it daily like everyone else. My list of deficiencies is probably almost as long as yours. But lacking as I am, I would like to ask you to take some time to think and pray about areas in your life that may seem harmless or even righteous, but may in fact be idols getting in the way of Gods best for you.

By the way there is this little competition going to see who gets the most responses on the blog so please respond with how great or stupid you think my post is so I can beat the rest of the staff and especially Pastor Bobby.

Thanks,

Steve

Comments

[jennifer kearsey]

I am fairly new at harvest, It's amazing to see all of you work so hard.god bless you. I love this church.
sincerely, jennifer kearsey

[Beau Brown]

Steve I read these blogs on occasion. Usually when my Mom tells me to. Things like that never change. But here is the point....there has never been one that has made me think as much as this one. Thank you for putting it into words that could be understood without having to think too hard. Thanks and have a blessed day.

[Bob Holmes]

Thanks Steve! And You quietly work behind the scenes. Thanks Again!

[Lonnie Ferguson]

I have a new respect for the "gotoitforeverythingyouneedguy" (I knew I should'a right clicked to copy your title.) I appreciate the hard work and technical expertiese you display each week and now I find you so eloguently divide the Word of Truth.( with humour too, I actually laughed out loud once....) WOW... Keep it up....

[Eddie Gray]

By the way, I think I just won the "Longest Comment on Steve's Blog" Award. Just sayin'.

[Eddie Gray]

Huh...I didn't know you could write words! That's pretty cool. You know, not many people even know you can talk. And I occasionally have someone who has been at Harvest for years tell me in astonishment that they didn't know you and my wife Shelley are brother and sister, nor that you are my brother-in-law. (Chris Farley Quote: "Brothers don't shake hands...brothers gotta HUG!!!")

In all seriousness, I've known you for more than probably anyone at Harvest except for Shelley, and I had no idea you could write such illuminating words. Interesting...I kind of feel like that guy in the John Cusack movie "Better Off Dead" who just found out the French foreign exchange student staying across the street actually can speak English, and therefore could understand everything he's been saying.

Balance is very important, Steve-o. And I have found Harvest to be a great home for those who are seeking that balanced life. In essence, Harvest is a balanced church. For every straight-laced accountant-type, we have a guy like Uncle Clyde that randomly shows up for family events, who collects Ironing boards, Pac-Man memorabilia, and participates in the annual mullet-tossing competition--and practices for it all year long. It takes all kinds, right? Anyway, your blog was well-put, on several levels. I can just hear Pastor Bobby now..."yeah, but let's see him write stuff like that every day!" :-)

But honestly, the praise in these pages are well-earned. Kudos to you, brother. I LOVE YOU!!! (In a brotherly way, not in a proposed-constitutional-amendment-controversy-kind-of-way).

Okay, I'll stop. And in true Eddie Gray fashion, just one step after I should have. :-)

But perhaps nerds like me are just part of the Cosmic Balance. Eh? EH???

[Dennis Nelson]

Steve,
Good job. Truly, still waters run deep.

[Sheryl Braun]

Steve, you picked a great topic, and it was very humorously put. Now we need to have a talk about procrastination and Disney pictures.......

[James]

Ha! I just realized that the comments on this post now take up TWO pages!! That's crazy...

[Shelley]

You've gone and done it now, little brother. Your job description is going to keep on growing. Now about installing that car stereo...

[Rachel]

Between you and Sherry, you have four comments on here-that's sounds like a conspiracy to get your comment number higher. Of course, maybe my comment about your post padding is post padding.

[Jack O'Brien]

I am impressed by your penetrating insight and psychological approach. Obviously, the next step for you is behind the pulpit on Sunday night - where you can be free to wax eloquent.

[James]

If we spread the word, maybe everyone at Harvest and affiliated places will comment on your post, Steve. Then, you would be crowned "blogger for life."

[Rachel Thurmond]

So this should be comment number 30! Great job Steve. You had John and I laughing. Glad to know Pastor Bobby has all the answeres to all the deep questions...whew..

[Cory]

Steve, thanks for making us all sound like better musicians than we really are. And thank you for the challenge.

Keep it LOUD!

[tony]

nice one steve. i think that it is only fair that i try to help you out on here since you help me out with so much more. thanks for all you do at Harvest.

[adam]

Way to go steve!! Very well done. I vote for steve in the staff competition!! and i definitely think he should preach sunday.

[Cheryl Nelson]

Steve,what a great blog. You truly can
communicate! I did not realize you were
"The man of the hour". I vote for you to
have a turn in the pulpit.

Blessings,
Cheryl

[Greg (PG)]

Great job Steve. Thanks for sharing and doing all you do with excellence.

[Jim Mather]

might as well take the next Sunday service and preach... great message!