Josh Briscoe Blog

Belief

2011-09-27T23:36:00.001-04:00

"A belief, no matter how sincere, if not reflected in reality isn't a belief; it's a delusion. " quote from the book Not a Fan. This book is exactly what I needed to read. Only about 10 years ago. This book is turning my life upside down. I believe God can take care of me (so I say) but do I follow what he asks me to do when it doesn't make sense to me. No, I have not. I think it's time for some change!

How do you take notes

2011-08-28T11:14:00.001-04:00

How do you take notes in church? My wife is using her tip wallet from work. It includes beer stickers on it. So right now beer logos are getting covered with the word. That is so awesome!

Get the Booger out of the way.

2009-09-21T16:38:00.008-04:00

Dylan walks up to me this morning and holds out his pointing finger then says. "This is why I couldn't breathe. I had to get this out of the way." I turn to look and there is a huge booger on the end of his finger. He was proud to show me this big obsticle he had removed from his air passage. Being the proud father that I am, I replied "Wow, that's a big one. I'm glad you got it out ok."
Lately at my house we have been working hard at removing a nasty obsticle from our lives. We spent the beginning of our marriage building up and collecting debt. Now we are working hard to remove it. We want to be free to give and have a financial part in God's work at Garr Church. I'm not talking about tithe. I married a woman that will not even let me think about not giving regular tithe. We are talking about having the freedom to do anything God asks us to. We have been working on removing this obsticle for some time now and I have noticed something during this time. I am very ashamed to tell people about it. It's kinda like picking a booger in the car. You feel like no one can see you because no one is in the car with you, however, there are usually plenty of observers watching what you do. How hard you work at it, how deep you dig. Unlike when I pick a booger in my car, you better believe that I will hold out my finger, point it toward God, and tell all that will celebrate with me that I have removed the obsticle that was keeping me from living freely.

Something to smile about

2009-09-03T10:04:00.002-04:00

I know it's been a long time since this blog has seen the light of day. But here is something that I saw that made me smile. Hope it does the same for you.

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Do I entertain you?

2009-03-09T10:44:00.004-04:00

She's captivating, entertaining, and talented. Couldn't ask for anything more.

Nail Biting

2009-02-09T09:55:00.004-05:00

A while back I served Jury duty. It was quite the experience. I noticed something that really stood out to me while I was there. There were about 150 people there with me just waiting. Now don't get me wrong, they make the wait pretty nice. The new court house in Charlotte has all of the amenities you could want while you are waiting for 8 hours to see if you are going to serve on a jury. They had big screens with movies playing, popcorn, computers with Internet (although it didn't always work), Ipods you could listen to, a reading lounge, pool table, arcade games, and a snack bar. It was a very comfortable place to spend 8 hours waiting. During the day I noticed two kinds of people. There were three times in the day that they called everyone together and called out the names of the people that were called in to serve on a jury. The first type of person I will call the nail bitters. When the names began to be called they held their breath, bit their nails, and their heart pounded in anticipation of their name being picked. They were comfortable where they were. During the wait times they complained about not being able to get stuff at work or home done, but they didn't want to go to the next level and actually serve on a jury.
The other type of person I saw was antsy. Sitting in this luxurious waiting area was driving them nuts. If they were going to be gone from work and home for 8 hours they wanted to at least be doing something with this time that they are there. When the names were being called out they were hanging on each one hoping they get picked to go into action. If there name did get called they were giving out high fives and whooo-hoo's. They were excited to be doing something with the time that they have there.
One group lived in fear of being called to go on the other side of the door. The others lived in anticipation of what is next behind the door.
Hosea 13:3
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,
like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
like smoke escaping through a window.
We only have a set time. Are you biting your nails anticipating being called to action? Or are you the Whoo-hoo-er, and only in anticipation for what you can do?

1st thought envoking question of the year

2009-01-05T14:21:00.004-05:00

This Intellectual thought invoking question comes from my son Dylan. How'd he get so smart?
So we are re-modeling our upstairs bathroom right now. This has entailed removing the tile flooring and wallpaper from the walls. I of course took the toilet off the floor and it is temporarily in the bath tub. So Dylan comes in and wants to help me. We began to rip the wallpaper off of the wall! Side note, this is a lot of fun to do with a 4 year old! So anyway, Dylan notices the hole in the floor where a toilet used to be. As his questions pursue I explain to him that the hole is where his poop goes when he flushes the toilet. Of course that is not enough info so I then have to explain that the pipe carries the poop underground to place with a big tank that gets all the poop and pee and keeps it there. (before you start going off on me in your head about how they process the poop and everything remember I am talking to a 4 year old). That seems to be enough info and he is quiet for a while. Then he turns to me and asks "Where does God's poop go?" I could only answer with, "That's a good question. I don't really know. Maybe rain is God peeing on us!"
So that is the Thought Invoking question of the year. "Wear does God poop?" I hope some scholar reads this and leaves an answer to this question in the comments.

If only I had...

2008-12-08T13:57:00.005-05:00

This time of year is always a time when finances are at the top of everyone's list. If your house is like mine you are having lots of conversations with your wife about the things you wish you had. A bigger house to have a Christmas party in. More money to buy those extravagant gifts for your kids. But all you end up doing is getting depressed about what you do not have. Don't read this and think that I am above this in any way. This is something that I am facing now. In both my house and it seems we are facing it at our church. "We don't have the finances to do that!" is what we hear or say in our creative meetings. Then something (God) comes along and rocks your world!
While we were rehearsing and preparing for service yesterday a gentleman walks in the door. He obviously was homeless. He asked for some help and we asked if he would stay for the service. He did. His name is John. John was traveling (walking) from Pennsylvania to Georgia. I invited him to lunch with my family and at first John declined. I had to convince him to come with me. I got to spend about 2 hours with John and realized quickly that John did not decline my lunch offer because he wanted to go get drunk or anything like that. We asked John if there was anything we could get him for his trip, coffee thermos, sleeping bag, etc. John declined all of it, he said he has everything he needs in his bag and anything else he would just have to carry with him on his walk. John was completely content with what he had. He had an old sleeping bag, a little food, and the clothes on his back. That is all he needed for his journey.
I am so blessed. I have a beautiful wife, and 4 awesome kids. My God has given me everything I need for my journey. Any extra stuff would just weigh me down and I would have to carry it on my journey. It would then be baggage that slows me down.
Are you gathering baggage this Christmas? Or are you concerned about your journey?

Thanksgiving in Charleston S.C.

2008-12-01T17:19:00.002-05:00

7 kids plus 7 adults (if you actually count me as an adult) equals a bountiful time! We had a great family time in Charleston S.C. A special thanks goes out to the family that let us use their house to gather in. I have so much to be thankful for.

Girls are smarter

2008-09-23T14:37:00.005-04:00

So I am back from my blog sabbatical, and you would think that after a hiatus like that I would come out swinging with some powerful post. To the contrary I have to share a funny story that happened yesterday. I will procrastinate on powerful for now.

Yesterday morning I am driving my girls along with two boys of friends of ours to school. The boys are close in age to each of my girls (6 & 10). Somehow, I am sure I started it, the conversation got into... "Girls drool and boys rule!" "No Boys drool and Girls rule!". My daughter Starr, who must always win a debate, chimes in with these statements.

Starr "Girls are smarter than boys because they don't have to think about sports and stuff"
Sam (boy, age 9) "Yeah, but boys get to rule the house cause the man is the head of the house"
I so wanted to give him a pound and say amen. I didn't because his argument was with my daughter and that would probably look like I was taking his side.
Starr "Yeah but I'm smarter because I'm smart enough not to have babies. Cause you know babies don't come out of the mom's belly. They come out of their butt!"
Sam "That's gross!"
Starr "I'm smart. And I don't want to get stitches in my butt, so I am not going to have any babies. But I love my baby Riley though"
Sam "That's gross! Starr"
Me "Let's talk about something else Starr"

At this point it is all I can do to keep from pulling the car over, getting out and laughing hysterically. However, once again, that would look bad because this young boy just had some of his innocence scared for life. So, I waited till they were out of the car and I was back on the road before laughing out loud and calling my wife to share the story.

Jaden's Prayer

2008-08-26T16:17:00.004-04:00

This is Monday night's prayer by Jaden. (this is also a typical prayer for her)

Dear Lord,
Thank you that I had a good day. I hope that I have a good day tomorrow. I hope that everybody in the hospitals have a good day and that they will get better. Even the ones that are sick. And, I hope that the baby isle has a good day. And, I hope that everybody has a good day! Help that I don't dream about the Leprechaun tonight. And, Amen

Her prayer is always about others. Never just about herself, her family, or even friends. She always prays for people in the hospital and the sick. Of course, Little Momma (Jaden's nick name) always has to throw in a shout out to babies in some way. I have so much to learn about prayer from my kids.

Disappearing Ink

2008-08-15T09:31:00.004-04:00

"Here try my pen. This thing is awesome. Squirt!"
One of the best gags out there. When I was 10 there was nothing more entertaining than getting someone with a white shirt and squirting some disappearing ink on them. You would watch them get freaked out then realize that it was gone. And most of the time they would jump right in to help prank the next victim.

"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath."
Psalm 39:4-5 NLT

I only have a short time on earth to leave a mark on people. When I die that mark will fade away quickly. I do not want my kids to leave the same mark on lives as I am. I want them to leave their own mark. What I want to teach them is how to leave a mark.
My pastor is a man that I think has learned this lesson and is living it. For years now He has been giving many young people opportunities to get up on the pulpit and preach, or lead in youth, or in children's ministry. I always thought that he just wanted less work and it was a nice chance to get a break for him. I am sure that it is a nice break, but in reality I think he is trying to teach and give younger people a chance to leave their mark. He is not spending his time trying to make his mark permanent. He is helping others in leaving their mark. Now that's a legacy that I want to leave in my family.

"Lord help me to train my family how to pull off a disappearing ink prank well!"

If your like me and this blog-off re-ignited a desire to get someone with disappearing ink then click here and let's go soil some shirts.

Fireproof

2008-08-13T11:45:00.002-04:00

You are going to see more about this, but I wanted to put this up so that more people than me can get excited about it. At Garr you will definitely see some support of this movie. If I had not already done so, I would write something about marriage. Instead after you watch the trailer go read it here. 7 year itch

Big Head Josh with a needle close by.

2008-08-11T12:33:00.005-04:00

I delivered the sermon "The Heart of a Champion" yesterday at Garr Church. I have to admit I struggled a lot on this sermon. I had my topic, and scripture reference ready a week ahead, but I did not start writing the sermon out till Saturday (the day before) Side note: I do not recommend this, procrastination never makes perfect. I started Saturday at 10am and finished writing at 3am Sunday morning. I then went to sleep and got up at 7:30am and started to revise some. I walked on the stage feeling like this is not going to go well. I do not have a great sermon in my hands and this is going to bomb.
I have to admit that during the sermon I was unusually comfortable. The sermon seemed to flow decently. And it was 30min long! Every time I went through it at home at best it was 20min. After the sermon I had tons of people come up to me and tell me how good the sermon was. My family came to me and said that it was the best they have heard me deliver so far! I began to swell! Oh, I kept up the "christian" facade and always replied with a statement like: "It had to be God because it was not great when I was preparing it" Which is true, but inside my head was having a hard time getting through a doorway.
This morning I was doing my usual blog reading and I re-read an awesome blog by my dad. The Cutting Edge. POP! I realize that the power was not, and never will be, in my ability, but in my willingness to be available. That sermon was not great because of my ability to write great sermons. The power came because I made myself available to deliver God's powerful sermon.
I will hopefully be delivering more great sermons, but not because I am only getting better at it. But because I am going to make myself available to be used.

A realization at midnight

2008-08-07T13:39:00.003-04:00

I was preparing for my sermon this Sunday and I realized something. My sermon is on the Heart of a Champion. Your physical heart pulls blood in, processes it, then pumps it out. If any of those three things are not happening then there is a big problem and you could be dead! Your spiritual heart should be doing the same three things or else you are spiritually dead! Pull in God, Process and apply to your life, then pump it out!
You'll be hearing this statement on Sunday also, but I needed to get that analogy out cause I thought is was good.

Comfortable Socks

2008-07-25T17:11:00.002-04:00

Last night I am sitting on the couch in my comfortable socks watching the tely ,America's best dance crew. [that show rocks!] My wife calls me into the bedroom and says hurry. I run in there and she tells me that she just got a call and a friend of her family (friend of mine also) who is a missionary was in the Conga and his plane along with all traveling with him were captured and they were being held for a ransom. As of late last night the ransom was paid, but we are still waiting word on their release. Please pray for Mark and his family!
This got me to thinking. What am I willing to sacrafice for the call? You know the one that says "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel" This man is willing to sacrafice his freedom, and maybe life, to reach people in the Conga. Here I am sitting in my comfortable socks watching T.V. Am I even willing to sacrafice my free time? As a society (I am definatly included in this) we think we have to work more to pay of the debt we have accured buying things to make us comfortable. So here is my prayer.

Lord make me uncomfortable! Take away the things, and even the desire for things, that make me comfortable so that I can be poised to move at any moment. Help me to shed these comfortable socks and put my self in uncomfortable situations where I am relying on you and sharing about you at the same time.
Amen.

Pretty Fly for a White Guy!

2008-07-22T10:32:00.004-04:00

2 Kings Chapter 2

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

Anytime I read this story I think about all of the sermons that I have heard about how Elisha stuck with Elijah. However, Elijah is the man in this story. Elijah never under estimated God and always expected God to step in. Just a couple of versus before this one Elijah is walking to the Jordan and instead of walking over to where a bridge is, or even a ferry, he just walks straight up to the Jordan river. Now keep in mind that over 50 prophets are watching him at this point. Whatever your profession is, imagine 50 experts in your profession observing you. I am willing to bet that most of us would play it safe. But not Elijah he walks up to the river smacks it with his coat and watches the water split so he and Elisha can walk across. Elijah was constantly putting himself in situations where either God did something miraculous or it was going to be complete failure. This proved to be so even when it was time for him to die. When I read this chapter I see where the other prophets keep telling Elisha that "your master is going to be taken away from you". That makes me think that Elijah was bragging about going home to be with Jesus. I can imagine Elijah saying "Dude, God told me my time was up, so I told him there was only one thing I wanted to do before I go home." Fellow prophet replies "What's that?" Elijah "I want to fly! Then God said" "I think I got just the thing for you. Go to the Jordan" "Dude, this white boy is going to fly! Get the gang together we gotta go to the Jordan. Make sure Ishmael brings the camera you are going to want to put this on YouTube!"
Elijah had done everything on his bucket list and was ready to go home. He had seen God step in and do miraculous things numerous times. So when it came time to go. He knew it was going to be big, because God had always gone Big every time before!

P.S. This post is part of a contest with some fellow (family) bloggers. Be sure to check out their posts also. Blog roll is on the right of my blog page.

Taylor's Prayer for the unsaved Doll

2008-07-08T14:26:00.003-04:00

So the other day Starr Taylor, my oldest daughter, was saying her prayer before bed, and she said something that blew me away. Here is basically how the prayer went.

Dear Lord,
Thank you for a good day. Thank you that I got to go swimming today. And thank you for my doll Felicity. And dear Jesus, please come into Felicity's heart. Cause you know Jesus that she can't pray, so I'm praying for her and just go into her heart so that she is saved. And Thank you for going into Felicity's heart cause she is my favorite doll. And, Um, tomorrow help that daddy let's me stay up and watch T.V. Amen.

It hit me. Am I praying for my unsaved dolls, I mean friends, because they don't know how to pray for salvation themselves? Or are my prayers just for things that I want? Unfortunately I think they are normally for things that I want. How about you? What is the focus of your prayers?

The 7 year itch!

2008-06-12T14:20:00.004-04:00

The 7 year itch is defined as: You hit the seven year mark and get an "itch" to be with another person other than your spouse. I had not even heard of this till I was already married. And it never crossed my mind. This October 21 will be my seventh anniversary of marriage to the most beautiful woman in the world! Unfortunately, no matter how Godly the participants, or how committed, we live in a sin infested world and I have seen more than a few marriages fail due to infidelity. So here is what I am doing as I approach my seven year anniversary.
1. putting my family first. This is harder than it seems sometimes. When the choice is whether to work late or eat dinner with my family, it will be to be with my family. When the choice is to lead the youth ministry or spend evenings with my family, it will be to be with my family.
2. Pursue my wife harder than I did when we were dating. The wedding ring is not my comfort it is my drive.
3. Spend more time away from my kids with just my wife and I. My kids so badly need an example of how a boy should treat a girl. That way they don't have a "7 year itch" when they get married.
4. My relationship with God must be overflowing enough to cover my family.

If you have been married seven years or more leave comments as to how you are, or have avoided the "7 year itch".

So you wish you could dance?

2008-06-12T14:04:00.003-04:00

Anyone who has been around me for a while knows that I love to dance. Not that I am very good at it, but I do love it. I always wanted to learn how to break dance. This set of videos has re-ignited my fire to break dance. King David Christian Conservatory if you by some slim chance read this then you must find a B-Boy and call me in for lessons.

Dylan's Prayer

2008-05-13T11:06:00.000-04:00

Dylan's Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you God that I had a good day.
and thank you that I have a good day tomorrow.
and thank you God for the things on my windows.
and thank you God for my Spiderman pajamas, and that River did not take them.
and Thank you God for the holes in our bellies.
and for the holes in our eyes, and for the hole in the other eye.
and for the hole in our mouth, and for the hole in our bottom.
and thank you for my pinky finger, and for this finger, and this finger, and this finger, and this finger. (one eye opens and in a whisper "is that all of them?")
and Amen.

"Was that a long prayer Daddy?"

"Yes it was, but it was good, I liked it!"

Thank You Shilo

2008-05-12T12:13:00.003-04:00

This post must start with a disclaimer. Josh, if you by some, odd, slim chance become the other person that reads this blog I want you to know that I love you man! There are things that you have done that have made an impact in my life. I think about and pray for you often. "Mini-Me, you complete me"
That being said this is a thank you note to Pastor and band from Shilo Church that came all the way to Charlotte from PA to worship with us at our FUEL event. Especially Cisco (I hope that is how you spell it) For one, you rocked the guitar that night. But most importantly your testimony that you were sharing with Josh (who was also in a motorcycle accident) and I, made a huge impact. Josh was not involved in church for years and the accident influenced him to try it again. Since that night Josh has been to several small group meetings, and tried church services out some more. Cisco, thank you, thank you, thank you. For being willing to share your testimony with a stranger. For driving 8.5 hours just for what you thought was playing guitar. And most importantly setting an example on how to Love, Value, and Connect other people to God.
I know I singled out Cisco in this, but thank you to everyone that made the trip (and those who stayed home with the kids) to worship with us. I am eternally grateful.

P.S. Jeff, please make sure this gets passed on to everyone up there in P.A.

Prep your sub-floor!

2008-04-30T14:41:00.004-04:00

I am in the process of laying down laminate flooring. Now you must know something about me. I am a glutton for punishment. I would rather research and take the job on myself than pay someone to do it for me. Many times I say it is to save money, but many times after I buy the tools, supplies, and take off of work, it would have been cheaper to pay somebody.
So in the process of researching and getting price quotes on 520 square feet of press board with a picture of wood glued on top, I continually get asked the same questions. What kind of floor are you putting it on? Are you on a concrete slab or sub-floor? Then as I research on installing this laminate flooring, everything I find says make sure you prepare your surface well before you lay the floor down. Make sure it is clean. Make sure it is level. Make sure there are no nails that are, or will, poke out and damage the floor.
So I get to Friday night and I begin to rip up the carpet in the living room. I start tearing away the stained, and dirty carpet and padding. Come Saturday afternoon I am finally done cleaning and prepping the surface to put my floor on. In a matter of a few hours I have the new flooring down in the living room. It took me all Friday night and half of Saturday to prep. Then only half a day to install.
It got me thinking about what my sub-floor looks like. If my sub-floor is not cleaned of any dirt, nails, staples, and pits then the beautiful covering on the outside will wear out quickly. You will start to see imperfections and when it is put under stress it will begin to crack. Am I spending twice as much time on my sub-floor as I do with everything else that people see? We may look good on the outside, but if our heart is not been cleaned then we will crack quickly.
On the flip side, everything I read said that if you take the time to prep the sub-floor and install it right. Nothing beats the look and durability of laminate flooring. So spend more time on preparing our sub-floors. Then nothing will beat the result and durability of your life with Christ.
Matthew 23:27-28

Dylan's Prayer

2008-04-16T11:43:00.006-04:00

I am trying something today that I think will be a recurring thing. Each night I say prayers with my kids and sometimes those prayers are so simplistic that they are profound. And sometimes they are just out right funny! We will see how this goes, let me know in the comments.

Dylan's prayer.
Deer Lord. Thank you for a good day.
and thank you for my pee pee going all over at Aunt Amber's when I went pee pee at her house.
and thank you for Jaden's cough, and that she feels better.
and thank you that I don't feel good tomorrow and I don't go to school and I get to stay home with mommy.
and Amen.

My Prayer.
Deer Lord. Thank you for my son, he is awesome!
Teach me to walk with you and not crawl. Teach me that my faith is about the movement I make, that action I take, and that person I just passed by.
And thank you that I don't feel good tomorrow, and I don't go to work, and I get to stay home with mommy.
Amen.

Why crawl when you can walk

2008-04-14T11:50:00.004-04:00

I am on my fourth and final attempt at having a child that makes the jump to walking without going through the crawling stage. With each kid at about the 10 month mark I have had my hopes high as they begin to pull themselves up to their feet each time I hold their hands. I then proceed to pull them along forcing them to take steps just to keep their feet underneath them. Then I make a statement like... "she's gonna be walking in a week, I bet" And then it is usually followed with bragging about how advanced my kid is. It's only a matter of a week or so that I come home to see me kid crawling. Now nothing is more cute than seeing my kid crawl, but I still have hopes of them walking soon.
This is Riley. She is almost 10 months old now and she is ready to start walking! I promise this time. This kid is the chosen one, she is like Neo on the matrix, she has a destiny to fulfill.

P.S. She is also standing in first place as the cuttest kid at Garr.