Truth

Truth. It is something we all want people to tell us, it is something we all want to tell, and it is a cornerstone of being a Christ-follower. Here is something I understand better this morning about truth: it is an actual power within us. Let me explain.

In Luke 14 we find Jesus going to a Pharisee’s house for dinner. Does this strike you as strange? They are trying to trap and kill Him, yet He has plans for dinner with them. They also have a crippled man there, in my opinion a plant by the Pharisees to trap Him, yet His heart position towards the hurting is not phased. He heals the man without blinking an eye. How can a man sit with people who are trying to kill Him, perform a task that was going to get Him some heat, and then turn the tables by teaching about why He did it to the point they could not even speak? The truth in His heart drove Him.

Truth is truth, and it is not just about facts. It is about a way of life that will not change due to circumstances. We are to live truth. Jesus said HE is truth. Therefore our lives of living truth, are fueled by the power of Jesus. We must love the unlovable, try to reach the unbeliever, develop the believers God has placed around us, and live more like Christ each day. That is the essence of truth.

I Am Not Depressed!

Okay, some people have read my blog about it not getting any better and think I am depressed. Let me clarify a few things…I am not depressed. Seriously, I am okay. Yes things are hard and maybe insane most of the time, but that’s life. I was simply giving you some insight into how I think. Many people have this crazy notion that Pastor’s are happy all the time, never have bad days, know all the answers, and even have God on speed dial in an emergency. I was just showing that is not how it is. We pastors think about things in a reality based way. If I only talked about the brighter side of life, I would lose touch with those who suffer on a daily basis. I have an amazing life, andwould not trade it for the world. Today I have been doing some more thinking, let me share…

 

·      I am a little under the weather today. What does that statement mean? Under the weather, I would rather be under a blanket on the couch.

·      Couch. Now there’s a funny word…wonder where it came from…

·      I was planning on spending all day at west today hanging the new signage, but the weather man said it was going to rain all day. Not a drop yet. He’s a liar!

·      I am reading a new book called “Change the Way You See Yourself. It is about asset based thinking. Pretty good so far. I’ll keep you updated.

·      The 11^th and 12^th chapter of Luke was my morning reading. Jesus is amazing in the simplicity of His teaching. Why do we make it so hard?

·      I must do a better job of getting alone with God. Since school started my 8 AM time with Him is not working very well. I need to adjust it.

·      A multi-site church is the craziest thing I have ever done…at least since I have been saved…(you wish you knew what I was thinking about right now, don’t you?)

·       My wife is still breath taking to me. Yes I still get all weird in my stomach, and find myself watching her when she sleeps. She’s beautiful. I am starting to sound like a stalker…

·      Phil Harris is a stud finder, sorta. You will have to ask him about putting about 20 holes in the wall looking for a stud to hang the TV from. It’s pretty funny!

 

Okay so now do you see I am not depressed? I will continue to share my thoughts and teachings with you, and sometimes they may be a little deeper than usual. I am like a rubix cube. I have a lot of sides and I look different every time I turn. 

Sunday Rewound

WOW was it raining on Sunday! We are getting close to our preview event, and the people are still coming. Here is another edition of Sunday Rewound:

·      Place looked like a tornado went though it. Branches everywhere and all the banners were on the ground. But no worry, Piney Deveas treaded out into the nastiness and rehung all the banners before the experience. Amazing servant’s heart he has.

·      The number of people serving is amazing. I looked around at all the greeters, kids workers, guest services workers, ushers, and parking attendants and thought how God is using a diverse group of people to reach a community.

·      Speaking of parking attendants…they were in the rain with umbrellas walking people in from their cars. That is going the extra mile as they sat through the experience wet.

·      No video glitches!

·      Band rocked again, and they are really starting to come together. Building a band is tough, but they are finding their groove. Ryan was killer on the bass, Flint had some cool lead parts on guitar, Arron was his naturally smooth self, and Ashley rocked a hat kicked sideways and the drums. We have a girl drummer and that is just cool!

·      Had visitors which is cool, but when they signed up to be part of the launch team, that was over the top exciting.

·      The media team had plans for lunch and then a time of team building. Glad to see teams forming and doing life together.

·      Only two weeks until our preview, invite everyone that you know!!!!

Does It Ever Get Better?

Having a conversation today about life in general with a good friend led to a discussion about how hard it is to truly serve God. I asked the question, “Does it ever get better?” Now naturally, we always want to say yes. We say things like there is a valley before a peak, things can’t get worse, and a host of other things that make us feel better. Do we really believe that? Honestly, do we?

As a pastor, I want the church to always grow. I know that as long as there are people in the world that are not in a life transforming relationship with Christ, I will be trying to bring people to our church. But as a smaller church, there are problems, when we get to a medium size we will have problems, when we are large we will have problems. So again I ask, does it ever get better? Is there ever a time when things are just easy and simple and without heartache? We came to the answer that we didn’t know if it did.

That answer has rang in my mind all day. We serve an amazing God that could make it easy. Instantly, many of you have gone to the thought that if He made it easy, we would not appreciate it. Apparently some of you have not been in prolonged states of down days. What if it never gets better? What if every day was a struggle to get up and keep going? What if every day was a battle of health, emotional strain, or a host of other things that keep us from saying that it is “better.”

Okay, so all day I have thought about it. Does it get any better? Maybe not, but maybe that is not the point of life. Maybe life is about living a life completely dependent on God, regardless of the situations we are in. Maybe life is about “sharing in the sufferings of Christ.” Think about Christ. Did it ever get any better for Him? Look at the end of His life. In the end of His suffering, WE GOT TO FIND LIFE!

I believe that life is a journey of faith we are on. No I do not believe that it is going to be perfect all the time, and maybe our perception of “better” is out of whack due to our spoiled nature. I believe that bad times serve a purpose, even when we can’t see it. I believe that if knowing I have served Christ with reckless obedience is all I have, then it has to be enough.

Does it get better, I still do not know, but I do know that I will not give up. I will keep serving, I will keep loving people, I will keep searching for more of God in my life…maybe THAT is better. 

We’ve Been Stuck In The House Too Long!

This is what happens when we are stuck in a house for too long…

Happy Birthday Mack!

Today is my Mack’s 8th birthday. She is my first born and still is all “daddy’s” girl. From the time she was 2 and up until last night, and probably tonight, she ends every day by climbing in my lap for  few minutes befores she goes to bed. She calls it snuggle time, and I love it as much as she does. I love you Mack, Happy Birthday.

Unexpected Moments

Have you ever had one of those “everything changes in the blink of an eye” moments? When your life is going one way, and then without notice something happens, that changes everything. Maybe you go to work, and when you arrive you are told that you have been fired. You go to pick up your kid from school only to be told they have a severe learning disability. You come home and find out that your spouse has been unfaithful. These are the moments I am talking about.

No I have not had one today, but I know people that have, or will. How do you handle these moments when nothing makes sense? Why did God allow this to happen? What next?

1.      Realize this did not take God by surprise. He knew this was coming, and everything to this point has been preparing you to handle it. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “God will never give you more than you can handle.” He WILL give you more than you can handle, but not more than you can handle as you rely on Him.

2.      Take a moment to survey your situation. Emotions make the situation blurred. Take a moment to catch your breath, assess what is going on, and then get trusted people around you.

3.      Listen to what that group of people say. They might see it differently, and can help you make some decisions. Determine your next step.

4.      Take the next step. It does no good to identify a plan without actually initiating it.

5.      Let God work in the moment. Do not get so wrapped up in the situation that you do not leave room for God to work. He will. Just be patient and willing for whatever He decides. Just be ready for the fact that He might not have the same plan as you think you want.

 

May you be covered in wisdom today. May the moments of seeming chaos be nothing more than a place for God to grow your dependence on Him. In the words of Rob Bell, “May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi.”

First Day of School

Today is a very bittersweet day for Brenda and I. The kids went back to school. Part of me is excited because Brenda will get a much needed break from having three kids at home all summer, but the other side is sad because my baby girl Cadence has started kindergarten. Last night was full of excitement as they prepared their backpacks, school supplies, and laid out their clothes. (Which really isn’t that hard considering they wear school uniforms.) They could not get to sleep, and finally ended up in bed with Brenda and me. This morning they bounced around and asked a million questions, but it was cute. We took some pictures, loaded them in the car, and the Daddy Express rolled out to school. In my mind I was trying to figure what to say to Cadence when she realized I was going to leave. How was I going to deal with the tears? Jesus will be with her, it’s only for the day, and a host of other ways to make the break easier. We got to the cafeteria where I am supposed to drop them off. Mackenzie was obviously nervous but fine as we walked through the door, and then I looked down at Cadence. She simply looked up at me and said, “Bye Daddy!” WHAT!?! That was it. She looked at me and said bye, no tears, no I will miss you, nothing. She actually shooed me out the door saying she could handle it and I could go now. WHAT!?! Seriously! Really? She is supposed to miss me, cry for me, need me, but nope a simple bye which sounded a whole lot like more of a “Get out of here DAD!” That is supposed to be in high school, not Kindergarten. Maybe the day is tougher on me than her?

 

I thought a lot about my kids this morning. Parents, enjoy your kids. Cherish them. Yes there will be moments of frustration, anger, heartache, and times where you will want to kill them. Those moments are part of parenthood, but they can’t be the norm. Your children are a gift that are on loan. Our job as parents is to get them back to God in one piece and understanding who He is in their life. That is the goal. Love them, unconditionally, without restraint but with discipline, without reservation but with guidance, without judgment but with accountability. Love them the way God loves you.

 

Sunday Rewound With A Little Extra

So last week was crazy, but very fulfilling for me. I have basically two worlds, my church world and my personal world. I have learned from some great men of faith that it is okay for these two worlds to be separate. For example, when I come to the office my kids know that daddy is going to “work,” but on Sundays, they know that we go to “church.” Why the distinguishing verbage? Because I work a lot, not complaining about it just a fact, and I do not want my kids to associate church with work. I want them to cherish the church not think it has stolen their daddy. This can be a problem though if I am not careful. For my entire ministry life prior to Tallahassee, Brenda and I served together. Each ministry was a partnership between us.  We work well together, actually we work better together than we do apart and I know most couples aren’t wired like that but we are. But since the move to Tally, Brenda has worked from home, and me from the office which was different for us. Trying to protect her, I tried to do everything, which was dumb I know, but I was trying to do something good: cut me some slack! Last week was a huge break for us. She’s back in the game on a much higher level! She attended staff meeting last week, and the process of her finding her niche has begun. She is the Genesiskids West Coordinator, and while it is not her comfort zone, she is doing amazing. She ministered to 16 kids in her Sunday Experience yesterday. While we need to make sure the ministry does not swallow all our home time, it is wonderful to have my partner back.

 

With that being said, here is another edition of Sunday Rewound:

·      Moving the Experience time to 11:01 has been a big hit for a lot of people, but what will happen when we add the 9:29 experience time in September?

·      Great attendance Sunday! Lots of new faces and people signing up to serve. With a bigger attending crowd exposes some areas we have to work on…immediately. I love it though. If we never had to change anything or face issues we would be stagnate church.

·      The band was back in full force Sunday. For the past two weeks we have missed Ashley and Flint. Glad they are back even though the past two weeks of acoustic worship has been moving. The song “Salvation is Here,” rocked!

·      Pastor Brian Hunter brought a heartfelt message that was raw, honest, and challenging. Exactly what people, including myself, needed to be challenged with.

·      We need to order more chairs. Seriously, like today. Good problem to have though.

·      The volunteers of the West Campus are an amazing group of people that I am honored to lead. There were 32 people on Wednesday night that were signed up to serve on ministry teams. We still need more, where are you serving?

·      Change is part of who we are. Do not be surprised by it. Embrace it.

·      There was an energy yesterday that was great. People were buzzing around and it was evident that something big is happening. Don’t settle, don’t think we have arrived, keep pushing, celebrate the moment but then look for the next great move of God.

 

 

Also tomorrow is a huge day for Brenda and I…THE KIDS GO BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!

Love you guys!

Random Frustrations

I know that I have not been blogging as much as usual, and I have no excuses. I would love to say I have been busy, but every time I say that, someone tells me “you do not know what it is like to be busy…let me tell you how busy I am.” It’s almost like the busier a person is the more important they are. I get sick of hearing it so I do not blame busyness anymore. Lately a lot of things have been getting to me so instead of random thoughts…I bring you random frustrating moments!

 

·      How come most nights I would give anything for a few moments of quiet, and then the moment my family goes out of town, I would give anything to have the noise back?

·      Shark Week 2008 is not as good as last year. In fact most of what they are showing they showed last year. Don’t hype it up and then show re-runs!

·      They voted the wrong person off Big Brother. Should have gotten rid of Jessie when they had the chance.

·      There are no books on the life of a campus pastor. It is a tough calling. You are the pastor of a church, but on staff at the same time. Tough to balance, but I am finding it and Brian Hunter is being patient as I figure it out. I have decided I want to write a book about it. Not sure how, but we will see…

·      My doctorate is kicking my tail!

·      I am a Green Bay Packer fan, but even I am tired of the Brett Favre saga. End it already..somebody!

·      Cell phones…do I really have to explain?

·      People who do not really believe in God. I am not talking about unbelievers, but about believers. They believe in God, but not that He is at work in everyday life. He loves you! He cares about you! Let Him love you!

·      Paper jams in printers. How does something as thin as paper get jammed? Blows my mind.

·      People who are late for our Sunday Experience. We start at 11:01! How can you be late?!?

 

 

Okay that is enough for now. Monday  I will try to write something with a little more depth….unless I am too busy! HAHAHA