we make the road by walking.

"winning" on the road

2012-02-06T19:33:00.002-05:00

maybe you watched the super bowl last night. in the world's eyes there was one winner and one loser. only one team can win... right?

i find it funny to hear all these kids on sports teams now not keeping score. they are being taught that all are winners. and no matter how they play they win. but the kids no which team is better. they knew who really won.

i remember my first year in little league we won 2 games out of 15 games. that by any standard is not good, but i found out what defeat felt like. but i learned that year that did not need to be upset about losing. the other team was obviously better. i learned to be a good loser.

but just because you stink doesnt mean you cant develop, grow and train to become better. the next two years we improved and by the time our team was together 4 years we were winning every game, not just winning but absolutely destroying the other teams, usually by the mercy rule. one thing though, we knew what defeat felt like so we did not rub it in on the other team, we went through the line and said good game. we learned to be good grace filled winners.

this past year has been a rough one for jenny and i, with the loss of my job. it was pretty rough. we struggled and at times still struggle with what happened. today marks 7 months since it happened.

i found a job pretty quickly working with people who have mental illness with a big percentage who struggle with substance abuse. the large majority have been homeless and without our organization and the funding of taxpayers would not have housing now. our goal is to help them transition into living a successful life.

the people come from all walks of life. some were very successful had great lives and had a bad stretch in which they are still trying to rebound from. they have spent a good portion of their life winning and now are on the losing side.

others have had history of abuse, going from foster home to group home to being kicked out of the system at 18. in many ways they have spent their life losing. i have learned a lot from each and every one of them.

winning for some of them comes one day at a time. we have celebrated a couple people being sober for 18 months. while others we have been ecstatic when they are able to go a week. for others we are ecstatic when someone cleans their apartment without being prompted. while other we are excited that they get out of bed for more than 4 hours that day. each person is in their own place in learning to be successful. last week someone road to bus for the first time in 2 years. it was an exciting day for me.

a couple weeks ago i went to a seminar that discussed strength based growth. you grow by focusing on what you are good at. when you win at this, it builds up your confidence. it shows you are able to grow and be successful at one thing or the other. when you master one thing then you start building another.

so last night when i, a big fan of the Patriots saw them lose a heart breaking, gut wrenching game and my friends saw that i was pretty calm and not upset, they asked me. "i thought you were a big fan. why arent you more upset." i paused and smiled its only a game... and unless you are a true sincere Giants fan, my team did a lot better than your team. :)

Superbowl thoughts and predictions

2012-02-03T18:03:00.002-05:00

The Patriots are in there fifth Superbowl in eleven years and I am excited. Even more excited then the previous four games. Maybe it is because we have cable for the first time in these five games and I am able to take in more of the interviews and different stories that are on. I love hearing the stories of the individual athletes and where they have come from to overcome adversity.

A few years ago they announced the Superbowl was going to be hosted by Indy. We were living there at the time. Everybody knew that Indy and New England is always one of the funnest games of the year because of the competitive nature between the two teams and the two best quarterbacks in the league. (Brady/Pats have won 9 of the 14 games) and one of the Pats losses was when Brady tore his ACL with Matt Cassel playing QB. But even back then I thought it would be awesome for the Pats to win the Superbowl in Indy, and that hope has a chance to come to fruition this Sunday.

I have heard that Las Vegas favors New England by three points, and that Las Vegas is usually correct, the house always wins. All the commentators are picking the Giants. They say the matchups favor the Giants. The two factors that the Patriots have are Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. They have won more than any other quarterback/ coach combo than any in history. The Patriots game plays change from game to game and I would like to add from quarter to quarter. They react better than any other team out there.

Commentators talk a lot about the week 9 loss to the Giants, but what they do not mention is that was the last loss the Patriots experienced this season.

Commentators talk a lot about the Patriots being 31st in yards allowed on defense but they forget to mention that they only allow 21.4 pts a game which puts them 15th on the team list. Does not make them seem near as bad a defense does it. The Patriots have an excellent red zone defense that makes teams settle for field goals.

The Patriots have come a long way as a team. They have come through most of their injuries the offensive line is finally healthy for the first time since half way through the regular season. Benjarvus is a stud who has never fumbled (knock on wood). The secondary has made some amazing plays including the game winning swipe from a receiver in the end zone in the closing minute of the AFC championship. They have been building their confidence. Gronk will play and have an amazing game. Their will be surprises like the Patriots always have.

This will be a close game, and people from our small group will probably see a new side of me as I yell at the tv and pig out on wings and pigs in a blanket. We will laugh at some commercials and question what is that advertising with others. The food will be good, the company will be fun and The Patriots will win this game 24-21.

making assumptions along the road

2011-12-08T18:41:00.002-05:00

it is possible that you may have heard what "assume"ing something can do. it has been something that i have heard throughout the years. but i do not want to assume that you have heard of it, so let me explain. if you assume something it might make an ass of u and me. i am not sure when i first heard this quote but it has always been a reoccurring statement that i hear on a regular basis.

assuming can be put in many categories, but the one i think of most is judging. by looking at someone and basing your first opinion on them just by how they look could be considered assuming. i remember that youtube video of the homeless guy that had a deep baritone speaking voice. by looking at him you would have never assumed that he had that voice. maybe you saw it. the video received national recognition, but maybe you didn't. i dont want to assume that you did.

the past few weeks i have been in a few different churches, i also listen to sermons on my ipod while working out. i have heard at least 4 different pastors say during the sermon usually while turning to a specific scripture, "i am sure you have all heard this story before" or this is "you all know this."

so i sit there and wonder
a. the pastors must know their people very, very well. all of them have been attending this church for a long time. no one new is sitting in the pew.
b. do pastor's think everyone who attends church has all of scripture memorized? or
c. how many people in the church right now are totally missing something because the pastor is assuming that everyone knows this scripture and does not want to do a little historical context or background on the scripture. are there people sitting in the dark on what could be a very enlightening message but instead feel lost and do not really understand what the pastor is saying.

just a thought. what do you think. i really am curious. i am sure there is no intentional thought by the pastor when they say this. i have sermons posted on this blog and i probably have said it myself. so i am not trying to point fingers at one pastor. i really just want peoples lives to be open to Word of God.

needtobreathe, able

2011-09-27T11:36:00.001-04:00

If you have not purchased the new album from needtobreathe the reckoning, you should. this is my favorite song from the album.

There's a host of hurts we come across
None of which alike
From the air inside the birthing room
To the darkness where we die
Though I feel I'm just as strong as any man I know
I'm not able on my own
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/n/needtobreathe/able.html ]
Carry round the secrets
Only heaven knows
Crawl into our darkened rooms where only victims go
Though I feel I'm strong enough to carry all this load
I'm not able on my own

All my actions, false or true
Selfish motives I will use
We were born with knives in hand
Trained to kill our fellow man
If we're not better than the rest
How will children do their best
Find your patience, find your truth
Love is all we have to lose

I'm not able on my own

Jesus found in transition.

2011-09-26T10:52:00.002-04:00

I never thought I would be on this road, but when I was fired on July 6th I really did not have a choice. I had to find a job. I applied to places in Cedar Rapids to fulfill the short time need of finances, as well as churches for longer term planning. I ended up taking a position with a company who works with people with mental illness. They are given housing (which many were on the street before), most of them live off of $200 of food stamps and $70, most of the $70 is spent on tobacco. Many of the residents have schizophrenia, bi-polar, or depression as well as battling with drug or alcohol addiction...

AND JESUS IS PRESENT. Do not get me wrong, this is not a "Christian organization." In fact many times I find myself questioning the motivation of the organization. This is why I am leaving the name of the organization of this blog.

My job in many ways feels like what I was doing when I was on duty as an RA. I go on rounds talking to the residents and encouraging them to clean up their apartment, or even themselves. We work goals, some of them might be as simple as to stay on their medication, or to attend AA, I remind them of the doctor's appointments or meetings that they might have and help them with the bus route (this is actually the hardest since I have never rode the bus myself.)

But among the goals of one of the residents is to be more Christ like, she wants to read the Bible on a regular basis. And of course it is my job to encourage her to reach this goal. Of course I am willing to help. In our conversations you can really see her heart of having, wanting, and continuing a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So I ask her about her journey, her travels along the road with mental illness. She talks about her depression and no matter how bad it becomes that she focuses on Christ. She is not expecting deliverance from this illness but she sees Christ working through it despite what she is going through.

This past Saturday I arrive at work and I notice her and a few other residents sitting on a blanket. I see a few others setting up chairs and another person with his walker going in the direction of the blanket. I ask what is going on as there are now 5-6 people there. She replies that they are going to have Bible study and asks if I would be able to attend and help lead the discussion since she knows I am a pastor. I said I would love to.

I come back to the group after checking into work and making sure everything is taken care of. The bible study is taken from the Daily Bread, the devotional that is used all over the world and one that is very simple devotion. The topic of the day was, When bad becomes worse...

AND JESUS IS PRESENT, during this Bible study. People are sharing things that they have gone through. The passage shared was from Exodus when the Israelites find themselves as slaves to the Egyptians. They make bricks with the provided straw, then the Egyptians decide they do not want to provide the straw any more and force the Israelites to make the same amount of bricks and have to gather the straw on their own.

For many of the residents they know what being a slave is like. Many have hit rock bottom. They could not imagine life getting any worse. But they know there is something to this guy named Jesus.

And even though I am on this road that I never expected to find myself on, even though I have taken a dramatic cut in pay I am finding Jesus in transition. I still do not understand where this road is leading I know God will take care of us, because even though the last couple months have been new for us, God's love has been abundant in his followers. Many of you have been praying for us or even sending us some help financially. They are both greatly appreciated and we are so thankful for the friends we have. God bless you all.

dallas willard's view on porn.

2011-08-12T11:49:00.003-04:00

i really never planned to have two posts in a row focusing on porn. but i came across this article on facebook so i thought i would share it with you here as well.

porn... an epidemic

2011-08-10T16:08:00.002-04:00

ed stetzer recently wrote an article on porn check out the facts.

on the road

2011-08-09T15:35:00.005-04:00

no one ever said life is easy. or at best no one who has actually lived life has said life is easy. along the road we meet up with different obstacles. we could have never predicted these obstacles because we cannot and would not want to know about all the good and bad things that will happen. sure it would be nice to know what will happen around each of life's turns but it would take away the surprise. the surprise is what makes life worth living, even if it was not a good surprise.

throughout scripture many things have happened while on the road, and in the coming weeks i will be writing about them here. the first road is very familiar to a lot of us. the damascus road (acts 9) was a life changing moment in the life of paul. Christ revealed himself to paul in a life altering way. along the road for paul the traveling was not easy, in fact paul was blinded by his experience for three days. but paul was never the same again. he now knew the Christ. and when we meet Christ he will change us into the people that he needs us to be.

like i said, the journey on the road might be tough. it might have bumps, pot holes, we could break down or get in a wreck. but those possibilities of obstacles along the way are all worth it. the obstacles should not keep us away from the road. but only make us more aware of what could happen along the road, and keep us fighting to stay on the road.

before paul had this experience on the road to damascus, he was a pharisee. he knew the Word of God but did not let it change his heart. paul was a murderer of christians. a person full of hate and malice because people did not believe the same way he did. after this on the road experience his life was changed, he became a follower of Christ and he became if not the most, one of the most prolific christian leader/ missionary/ evangelist who ever lived. all because of the experience Christ gave him on the road.

June 26, 2011 - Whats Wrong

2011-07-20T18:55:00.001-04:00

June 19, 2011 - Become

2011-07-20T18:54:00.001-04:00

june 5, 2011

2011-07-16T19:16:00.001-04:00

April 3, 2011

2011-04-19T14:14:00.002-04:00

Feb 7, 2010 - The Ministry of Healing

2011-01-22T19:09:00.002-05:00

Feb 14, 2010 - The Servant 500

2011-01-22T19:08:00.002-05:00

Feb 28, The Ministry of Testimony

2011-01-22T19:07:00.002-05:00

March 14, 2010 - The Ministry of Holy Conflict

2011-01-22T19:05:00.001-05:00

June 6, 2010

2011-01-22T19:03:00.002-05:00

Sept 5, 2010 Yield

2011-01-22T19:02:00.002-05:00

Oct 24, 2010-I have a good reason

2011-01-22T19:00:00.002-05:00

Nov 21, 2010 - Wreckless

2011-01-22T18:57:00.002-05:00

Dec. 26 2010- The Gift

2011-01-22T17:13:00.003-05:00

thoughts on revival

2010-06-04T14:44:00.001-04:00

a few months ago i signed up for a class on route to finish my masters. the class was titled "american history of revivals." it was a one week intensive class in marion, indiana taught by dr. black. leading up to the class we read books, prepared an oral report.

a week or two before i left for the class, the senior pastor from fumc marion, iowa challenged the staff to start praying for revival. i thought it was interesting right before i leave for indiana that pastor mike would make this challenge. so the whole week i am in class i was trying to figure out how i could apply it to the church back home.

the week after i got back the staff, during a meeting which we meet the 1st and 3rd mondays of the month decided that the mondays we were not in staff meeting we would get together and pray for the church and the community. that week was also the national day of prayer and from that spun a prayer meeting every thursday.

today we decided to have three special prayer meetings during the summer months. we are still unsure of the outcome, but we are expecting God to move in a big way here in marion, ia and in the life of fumc marion. if you are reading this please pray a quick prayer for the life of our church and community.

holy week

2010-04-03T16:16:00.002-04:00

in the last few months i have had a taste of what it is like to be a united methodist pastor. there are many similarities to the wesleyan church but it was not until this week that i noticed how seriously the united methodist church takes the holy week. it is possible that it is just fumc marion that does this but what goes on during holy week has allowed me to dwell in the love, the life and the death of Christ. tomorrow i hope it will allow me the same experience of the resurrection. here is my schedule this past week.

1. lenten moments- monday-friday at 7am started each day with a couple hymns and a devotional led by a layperson. it was followed with fellowship at a breakfast. friday was by far my favorite as one of the youth gave the devotional. she feels a calling into ministry. it is great to see her heart.

2. maundy thursday- we had a communion service. i am not sure if any of you have ever seen it done this way before but i had not. we laid multiple loaves of bread on a table and laid a white sheet on it. the frame of the sheet around the bread made it seem like there was a body underneath the sheet. it brings new revelation to the "body of Christ" for me.

3. good friday- this was a service that i was in charge of putting together. we had a combined tenebrae and way of the cross service written by robert e. webber. it was a dramatized narration of the stations of the cross, focusing on the last few hours of Christ's life.

4. friday and saturday- we had a 24 hour prayer vigil.

many times in the past, holy week would come and go. i would worship, but there was something about this week that brought a whole new light to my Savior. i am thankful for the cross. and the week is not even over yet. the best day of holy week is still yet to come. i hope and pray that you do not allow holy week to pass by like i have done so many times.

fumc marion- first perceptions

2009-12-01T22:50:00.003-05:00

when i came in here i had a lot planned on how to get settled and get to work. what i never really planned on was the learning curve for this job. i have quite an extensive job description and while it will eventually be manageable i have a lot to learn about the church, the community, and leading.

when i went to back to indiana wesleyan to get a masters in ministerial leadership it was because i wanted to learn how to lead and manage people. i was already good at loving God's people. for me that came easy. but to lead, delegate and cast vision was something i needed to grow in.

here at fumc marion we have met a few times as staff to learn how to mobilize leadership within our ministries. it will change the culture of the church. for some ministries it will be easier to raise up leadership then others. but this idea of equipping laity will free us up to allow us to dream, cast vision and pour ourselves into the leadership.

i never dreamed i would end up in iowa. i was hoping to head back to the northeast. i would have never picked this place. but i believe this is the right place and we made the right decision. this is definitely a place that God opened up the doors for us to be. when pastor mike told me that over a hundred people applied for the position, i was in awe that it was me they wanted.

as the pastor of youth and missions i am able to do things in ministry i have always been drawn to. disciple, develop leadership, serve the community.

this is a church where i can be free to be me, i can thrive, mess up, follow my passions, i can lead and be humbled. i can learn, i can experiment. i can put up boundaries, i can fail, but i dont expect to because God has equipped me for this.

The first few days...

2009-11-06T09:50:00.002-05:00

This past week has been pretty crazy for the two of us. Last week we were surrounded by boxes hoping people would show up to help us pack the U-Haul. When people showed up we were pretty ecstatic. I am not sure if the people really wanted to help us or if they just wanted the pizza and coffee we had to offer them. But either way we accomplished our goal of packing.

November 2 we rolled out of Indianapolis heading for yet another adventure. We pulled into our townhouse at roughly 4 pm and were quickly welcomed by about ten young adults who enthusiastically unpacked our truck in approximately an hour. We enjoyed the conversation, becoming acquainted with our friends.

The week moved and was highlighted by meeting all the teens on Wednesday night. I am not sure how many were there. But the youth room was packed with teens and sponsors sitting on the floor in the few open spaces left. (The youth time is usually split up with Jr and Sr High.) They were all there for the passing of the torch. The celebration of what Pastor Melissa had done for the last seven years and anticipation of meeting their new leader (me) and wife (Jenny).

Wednesday night made it sink in that we are here. This is where we were meant to be and cannot imagine what God has in store for this community. We are looking forward to partnering in ministry here, in Marion for the many years to come.

anew

2009-10-07T16:34:00.005-04:00

if there is anything constant about our life is that there is constant change. coming here two years ago was a big change. i am almost done with grad school and a masters in ministerial leadership. i thought it was time to start looking for what the next chapter might bring.

when all is said and done it will bring us to a new city and state (marion, iowa or north east cedar rapids) and a different denomination (united methodist). it was never planned to leave the wesleyan church, but feel that this is part of God's plan.

i accepted the position of youth and missions pastor at first united methodist church of marion on monday. in just a few short weeks we will back up the trailer and head 6.5 hours further into the midwest.

small church vs big church debate

2009-09-01T20:44:00.002-04:00

check out the info at churchrelevance.com it is an interesting article that looks at the basic beliefs of christianity within different size churches.

answers vs truth

2009-08-26T17:08:00.002-04:00

i have been listening to the song through smoke by needtobreathe lately and there is a line that has hit me

"i was born in a house in a town just like your own, i was raised to believe in the power of the unknown, and when the answers and the truth take different sides, will you still see me, will you still find me through smoke?"

everyone today is searching for something. they are searching for truth but they are settling for answers. someone's answers do not have to be truth, and i am wondering how many are settling for the answers they are receiving? the truth is powerful. how will we lead people to the truth?

on this blog i have always been about asking the questions to find truth. i wonder how often though i have settled for a simple answer instead of digging deeper to find the truth. i do not think that i have allowed the answers to be separate from the truth. but maybe i have not kept looking at the whole picture of the truth.

the biggest part of this song is that they are wanting to see the truth through this smoke. a clearer picture of truth will help us know God and hopefully love God more. so i guess my challenge is to continue to search for truth and not to stop with a partial answer but to continue until i see the big picture.

oh and if you do not already own the album "the outsiders" by needtobreathe, you should go and purchase it. it is an amazing collection of music.

atheist on evangelism

2009-07-08T12:37:00.002-04:00

this video has been out a while but i thought i would still share it today. i have heard this video used in a couple sermons. the second video is a follow up from penn. it shares his thoughts on the reception of this video. just for your knowledge the second video is rated r.

service

2009-06-30T19:00:00.003-04:00

the first church visited was saddleback. after hearing the sermon casper's reaction to it was something like this. "well it is good to hear about what i should do. but i would rather hear stories about how they are doing it."

stories of helping in the world will receive a better reaction then hearing directions on how to achieve it. i tend to agree that it is not hard to go find someone or some organization to help. i can think of a few places right of the top of my head with out referencing the yellow pages.

actions will always speak louder then words.

it is interesting however that later in the book that casper himself does not go out to his community and serve. he does expect the church to but the standard is different for himself. casper is an atheist, who says he does not have any beliefs. but believing in no God is a belief in and of itself. but not having a belief system entitles him to not have to help out others.

later in the book he says he might go serve in some capacity. but if he never does, we the church still have the responsibility to serve.

i ask myself on a somewhat regular basis, how can i bring people to Christ. as i am learning more and more it is not about bringing people to Christ but bringing Christ to the people. isnt that what Christ did by coming down to earth. he brought himself to the people.

i am reading another book now named "organic church" it is all about bringing the church to the people. starting churches in homes, coffee shops, bars, and any possible place where there are people who need Jesus. we need to become invested in the lives of the people.

i will finish this short blog with a quote from organic church. "every christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church is a training center." every thing about our lives need to transcend the love of God. how are we at living this out?

insights from jim and casper go to church

2009-06-26T22:00:00.002-04:00

jim and casper go to church
by jim henderson and matt casper

a book about two people, a christian and an atheist going to churches all over the united states. they write their observations about the church and their unlikely relationship.

i really suggest every pastor, christian, and atheist to read this book. anyone interested in the church would have a lot to take away from it.

casper, the atheist, has some great insights about relationships, service, transparency. it will only help the church if you take the time to read this book. i will try later to write a post on some quotes from the book.

for fans of saved by the bell

2009-06-09T14:05:00.001-04:00

thanks heath for this hilarious video

2009-06-03T18:37:00.003-04:00

churches and the economy

2009-06-03T13:52:00.002-04:00

the last few weeks i have heard some stories about some churches helping out different people during the rough times. i wanted to share what some of them are doing.

newspring church, pastor perry noble-- for mothers day gave away two paid off houses to two single mothers. the church purchased the two homes and fixed them up with volunteers from the church to bless the two families. this is something they do every mothers dsy.

12stone church, pastor kevin myers-- also for mothers day gave $50 to every single mom in the congregation and if anyone know a single mom they could take the gift for them as well.

mars hill church, pastor rob bell-- the church had an offering above regular giving to come up front and put money in the basket. if you needed money you could come up and take money out of the basket.

first of all, i want to applaud the churches because of their heart for helping out others. some of the gifts stand out to me because they seem to have put more effort into it. so it leads me to this, what has your church done? have you heard of any other churches that have helped out people during the economic downturn?

following Christ

2009-04-28T17:18:00.003-04:00

assimilation is a term used by most churches to help bring people into the church body. assimilation can be defined as becoming like whatever you are being brought into. what is difficult here is are we trying to help people become like us or Christ?

i read an interesting illustration by one of my former professors dr. jim lo in his book intentional diversity.

there were missionaries to native americans and the told them “If you want to be good Christians, you need to… 1. cut your hair because good christians have short hair, 2. get rid of robes and wear pants, 3.get rid of sandals and wear shoes, because good christians do not show their toes in public and 4. build a church building, because good christians have a public meeting place. however when they had the grand opening of the church building they saw a picture of Jesus in long hair, wearing a robe and sandals and worshiping outside. this obviously confused the native americans, because everything they had been taught was to be more like Jesus but when they see Jesus, it looked more like their appearance before they changed.

how are we as the church leading? are we helping others to be like Christ or do we have our own perception of what a christian should look like? of course this is not just about mere appearance but also of the mind and heart. do you have any stories similar to that of the native americans to share?

100 people

2009-03-02T22:31:00.001-05:00

F THE WORLD ONLY HAD 100 PEOPLE

Let us not be stopped by that which divides us but look for that which unites us

If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

60 Asians 12 Europeans 5 US Americans and Canadians 8 Latin Americans 14 Africans

49 would be female 51 would be male

82 would be non-white 18 white

89 heterosexual 11 homosexual

33 would be Christian 67 would be non-Christian

a.. 5 would control 32% of the entire world's wealth, and all of them would be US citizens

a.. 80 would live in substandard housing

a.. 24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76% that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)

a.. 67 would be unable to read

a.. 1 (only one) would have a college education.

a.. 50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation

a.. 33 would be without access to a safe water supply

a.. 1 would have HIV

a.. 1 near death

a.. 2 would be near birth

a.. 7 people would have access to the Internet

some more culture

2009-03-01T17:43:00.003-05:00

I am not sure if one can “act American.” What I mean is that there is no clear definition of what is American. We have been called the melting pot of the world with great reason. In our metropolitan areas you can experience almost any culture from any of the four corners of the world. We are caucasian, asian, african, indian, hispanic. Our family might have moved here 200 years ago or just have migrated here 2 months ago. We live in rural, suburban and urban areas. We attend churches, mosques, temples or none at all.

What characteristics would be given to an American? If you were to go overseas we might be known as obnoxious, loud and rude. The media might portray us as obtrusive and ill tolerant. Others might look at us and say we work too hard. Some might say we spend too much money on entertainment. We could add any description that we want but Americans characteristics are as diverse as the nations we are from.

culture

2009-02-24T15:59:00.002-05:00

people are different for example i was born in maine, went to college in indiana, have traveled to a different multiple countries; mexico, mozambique, brazil, england and france. since college i have lived in south carolina, new york and am now back in indiana. i have lived in a small town, a suburb and urban areas. i have worked with and ministered to homeless people and millionaires. i have seen the the best of what humanity has to offer and unfortunately have also seen the worst. all of these things have added to and help change my world view.

a quote from last nights class made me think. the professor said "the church has been effected more by the culture then the culture has been effected by the church." i am wondering, if anyone still reads this blog, what you might think about this statement?

charging for church

2009-01-05T15:52:00.002-05:00

i know this might be a weird concept. i never really considered it before until yesterday at church. john asked the question, "would you still come to church if you were charged ticket prices?" i know multiple people who spend money on season tickets to the colts, red sox, butler and i dont want to focus on them spending money on those tickets. if i lived in the boston area and could afford it i would try to have tickets to the patriots. but there is an anticipation that comes when you buy a ticket to go to a sporting event or a musical performance. we expect to go and experience a time of cheering on our team, yelling out specific things to players like we know them and they will hear everything we say. we hope to go an enjoy the contest with our team coming out the victor. but how do we approach going to church?

most of us, wake up on sunday morning and pile into the car to drive to church. we walk in the door and greeted by a friendly smile. we go grab a cup of coffee to help wake us up as we walk into the sanctuary as the first song has already started. we look around for friends and if we see them hope their is a few seats beside them, if not you know they will be there soon so you try to find a few seats on the end so they can join you when they come. instead of starting to sing you glance through the bulletin to see what is going on during the next week. the worship pastor greets you, reads scripture or opens in prayer and starts off into the second song. it is a new song, you have never heard it before so you listen to the words and try to figure out the tune. but it is kind of repetitious so you start wondering what you might have for lunch...

i am not sure if you have ever had a sunday like this. i have definitely had more then a few. it seems at times as soon as i walk into the sanctuary i have a.d.d. and i can not concentrate. however every time i go to a sporting event or concert i try to take in every moment. enjoy it, try to experience each part because a. i know this could be the only chance i have to attend something like this for a while and b. i enjoy this event enough to shell out hard earned money that i worked for.

i understand that we tithe but that is not seen as the same as buying a ticket. outreach for a church would be difficult because if you invite a friend to church you have to tell him to buy a ticket. so obviously charging for church is not a great idea. but it seems that we can take church for granted. it becomes an every week event and we become content where we are lacking a sense of passion.

a few questions. where is our passion? is it in the right place? being used for right motives? church will continue to go on but how can we make it a place that is not stale? is it the churches fault we have lost our passion? or can we blame it on ourselves for having a lack of heart and come to church with the anticipation of meeting with our heavenly Father who created us and loved us enough to send His Son to die and now He wants to meet with us, so He can know us and we can know Him.

as always just a few thoughts to get your juices flowing.

nfl thoughts

2008-12-31T15:50:00.003-05:00

1. the patriots had an amazing season this year. i listen to dan patricks radio show and they had a pole on the most disappointing nfl team this year. the jets were voted most disappointing with new england as second. i was never disappointed with the end result of the season. 11-5 is a good record any year, especially with a bunch of injuries specifically but not limited to brady, maroney and harrison. after the injury week 1 to brady i thought our season was over, after the 16 games cassel proved that he can play.

2. cassel had an amazing season in which he had some amazing accomplishments including back to back games where he passed for over 400 yards. this does not happen often. he will be a free agent and will receive a big pay day wherever he goes. i am still not sure if it was cassel playing well or if it was the patriots system and team that helped him pull out an amazing season. but i guess we will find out next season when he will probably suit up for another team. unless...

3. the news of brady healing slowly are true. it is possible the patriots will keep him around to ensure they have a proven qb for next season. i think brady will be back next year and be the comeback player of the year. but i guess we will have to wait a while to see if that is true.

4. living in indianapolis is pretty good, unless you are a patriots fan. some give me a hard time but it is pretty easy to brush off. i have lived in new york as a red sox fan and never received the same treatment as i do here. colts fans feel threatened by us, thats okay they have right to feel threatened.

5. i hate to admit this but it looks like peyton manning will be the mvp this year. he individually led his team to finish with 9 straight wins. coach of they year will either go to smith (atlanta) or pirano (miami). they took both their teams from the basement to the playoffs. my hat is off to both of them even if miami squeezed in just in front of new england to be the afc east division winner.

6. it should prove to be a fun playoff year. with the drama of philly squeezing in with a win over dallas and multiple losses from other teams it would really be something to see the eagles and phillies win the championship in the same year. atlanta and baltimore are great stories getting in with rookie qb's. i love that dallas didnt get in. in brings me the same joy when i see the yankees spend as much money as they do and miss the playoffs. giants, cardinals, and tennesee are teams that could do something in the playoffs but i really do not think they are up to it. in past weeks they are all spiraling downward.

7. super bowl predictions this year are tough. there are no clear cut teams that stand out. from the nfc i think carolina is the front runner. they have played solidly all year long and their running game is unstoppable. as for the afc i believe it will be pittsburgh if big ben is able to recover from his concussion last week. i think carolina will win the super bowl.

what do you think?

light

2008-12-14T15:00:00.002-05:00

it seemed so long that i was in the cave. still dark, still damp. my eyes started to adjust to the dark but it was still dark in the cave. i started trying to make my way out of the cave by feeling the sides. but i had been searching the cave so long that i forgot how long it might take to see the light. it seemed like forever since i had the comfort of the flashlight.my eyes were starting to make out the rocks and the form of the caves. i knew i was becoming ever closer to the freedom i once enjoyed. eventually, with a little luck and a lot despair i saw a little ray of sunshine. it brought comfort and hope. i had almost forgotten how gratifying the light could be. i started moving faster.

israel had been stuck in darkness approximately 700 years without hope. they prophet isaiah saw past the despair and in chapter 61:1 said

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners."

i remember when i was in high school my family went somewhere and this funny little kid was running around. he would close his eyes and say "i am blind" seconds later he would open his eyes and say, "i can see, it is a miracle." we would laugh with him and he would say it again and again. it was quite entertaining. but for someone who is blind and all they have is darkness it has to be frustrating.

israel had a lot of time without the presence of God in their lives and i can not imagine the despair they felt. the search of trying to fill the emptiness but never being able to fulfill it in their lives must of made them feel hopeless.

john 1:1-9 captures for me the essence of the christmas story. i always enjoy the reading of luke 2 but i love how john captures the incarnation.

"In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist,
to tell about the light so that
everyone might believe because of his testimony.
John himself was not the light;
he was simply a witness to tell about the light.
The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone,
was coming into the world."

like the child said. it is truly a miracle to be able to see. i love the advent season. it gives us expectation and restores us with hope. we know the light and as each week we become closer to christmas we light the candle of hope, and peace, and joy and love. it only builds to the incarnation.

darkness

2008-11-25T17:17:00.005-05:00

i stumbled across the cave while not even trying to find it. i had been in the cave before but it had been a while and before today i always had someone else with me. i had my handy little flashlight with me so i thought it might be fun to explore. as i walked in i received a chill from the cool, crisp air. as i walked further into the cave the darkness started to get darker then the bright light of the sun.

i remembered how comforting the light was. it provided warmth and i could see where i was headed. i knew what to expect.

as i looked back, i could hardly see day light anymore. i had gone so far in the darkness that the light was being overtaken by the darkness. my eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness. it is amazing the ability the eye seems to have.

as i began to go deeper into the cave i heard a noise and pointed the flashlight in that direction. there were bats lining the ceiling of the cave. although i was scared i still had the light which made me feel safe. as i went further the cave became narrower, damper and colder.

i started to become scared, the light of day was now gone and the only light i had was artificial and cheap. curiosity and adventure made me want to go deeper. i wanted to experience something i had never done before. so i kept going forward. even though i thought it was a mistake, i felt intrigued by the mystery of not knowing what to expect. it gave me a thrill and i didnt even feel cold anymore. my body had adjusted to the temperature.

and then the battery died.

Pete Ward quote

2008-11-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

“The reason why people were beating down the door to get into the church was because the culture of early Christianity was seen as being civilizing and superior to the bankruptcy of paganism and philosophy. Yet I am not all sure we can make the same claim for what goes on in our churches today. Are we self-evidently superior culturally? Are people turning to us because we offer solutions for social and political ills? I don’t think so. In these circumstances what we offer may just turn out to be the equivalent to nailing our doors shut as we huddle together in the sanctuary.”

i stand by the door by samuel shumaker

2008-11-05T22:04:00.000-05:00

I stand by the door
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world-
It is the door through which people walk when they find God.
There's no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind people,
With outstretched, groping hands.
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it ...
So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for people to find that door--the door to God.
The most important thing any person can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch--the latch that only clicks
And opens to the person's own touch.
People die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter—
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it--live because they have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him ...
So I stand by the door.

Go in, great saints, go all the way in--
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics--
It is a vast roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms.
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture in a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening ...
So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia,
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry,
And the people way inside only terrify, them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much:
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving--preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them, too,
I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not, yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God,
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from people as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door--
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But--more important for me--
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper ..."
So I stand by the door.

Sam Shoemaker, founder of Faith At Work at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City, in 1926, was also one of the spiritual leaders who helped draft the 12 Steps of A.A.

kingdom politics

2008-10-27T22:34:00.002-04:00

i have been thinking way to much about politics lately and have even veered my purpose of this blog way to much. while i have still been non partisan i feel i have become a little side tracked. my goal has always been to ask questions that will lead people towards God.

the last couple weeks even though i have been blogging on politics my mind has been frustrated in what i was doing. i have been reading a lot lately in 1 samuel 8-14. this is the story of how saul became the first king of israel. the israelites wanted a king like all the other nations. God told samuel to give them what they asked for. it was not samuel they were rejecting, but God. they voted to put a human in the throne over God

God brought saul to samuel as a guy who was just trying to find his donkeys. in this meeting samuel told saul that he was the hope of all israel. here saul responds why me, i am the smallest of the lowest of all of israel, there is no reason you should choose me.

saul reigned as king for 42 years. but during his reign while off to war he decided to make a sacrifice to God that samuel was supposed to do but he was late. of course this was not his place and he disobeyed the Lord by doing this. saul's punishment for this act was that his family would not continue on the throne.

so many times we try to set up our own kingdoms and do things on our own. we want things just like others have them. we choose the temporary over the eternal.

where are the things that we set up and do on our own? do we know what the consequences would be? and would we still choose the same thing if we did? why did the israelites want a king? why did God appoint saul king when he knew he would mess up? or is this the reason that he chose him?

last weekend laughter in politics

2008-10-25T20:08:00.002-04:00

last weekend was the funniest part of the campaign on both sides. palin was on snl and obama and mccain were at the alfred smith fundraiser. check these videos out. it is nice they can laugh at themselves

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a little of this

2008-10-23T19:51:00.002-04:00

1. last weekend i went to a renaissance fair. people dressed in time period clothing. it was a good experience i was glad to share with my friends.

2. i heard shane claiborne spoke at iwu last week. i wish i had known.

3. the red sox were eliminated by the rays. they made a great run and played tough, so thank you sox for another good year. i also heard that derek lowe wants to return to boston. that would be awesome.

4. the patriots are 4-2 with a backup quarterback.

5. i have been reading a lot of stanley grenz and robert webber the past couple weeks for my cultural trends in theology class.

6. i listen to a lot of podcasts. my new find is steven furtick. he is 28 and planted elevation church it runs 3500.

7. i am working on a sermon on the kingdom of God. i am preaching it next week at the wesleyan church in logansport.

partisan mccain

2008-10-11T09:30:00.002-04:00

yesterday when at a town hall meeting a lady said she was not able to trust obama. mccain then took the microphone from her and stated, "there is no reason not to trust obama, while he and obama disagreed with each other on fundamental issues their is no reason to fear barack obama as president.

has mccain with this statement just thrown in the towel? does he believe it is over?

observation

2008-10-09T18:33:00.001-04:00

as i was walking today i saw a few construction workers sitting out front on the lawn during their lunch break. it looked like they were having a pretty good time. laughing and hanging out as most would during a break. then i heard a beep. next thing i know one of them turns, opens up the microwave and pulls out his warm lunch.

on my mind

2008-10-03T18:15:00.002-04:00

1. our lease runs out in less then a month. we are currently looking for a new home.

2. our senior pastor just resigned. his last sunday is oct 12th. he has no plans at this point and our church is searching for a new pastor, any body out there want the position?

3. we watched baby mama a little while ago. it was the funniest movie i have seen in a long time.

4. i am throwing out a few resumes here and there. if there are any bites i would finish my masters online. if anyone knows of anything let me know.

5. patriots are 2-1 with a quarterback who hasnt started since high school. imagine what they could be doing this year with tom brady.

6. in the playoffs the red sox won game 1 with game two tonight.

7. manny had an infield hit in their first game against the cubs. i miss him.

8. jenny's birthday is three weeks away. #27

9. it has been in the 40's the last two mornings. i love sweatshirts. fall is here to stay. except it is supposed to be almost 90 on sunday.

10. i think i might write in someone else for president.

savior on capitol hill

2008-09-28T22:23:00.001-04:00

song by derek webb
thought this might strike a chord with all you political junkies

I’m so tired of these mortal men
with their hands on their wallets and their hearts full of sin
scared of their enemies, scared of their friends
and always running for re-election
so come to DC if it be thy will
because we’ve never had a savior on Capitol Hill

you can always trust the devil or a politician
to be the devil or a politician
but beyond that friends you’d best beware
‘cause at the Pentagon bar they’re an inseparable pair
and as long as the lobbyists are paying their bills
we’ll never have a savior on Capitol Hill

all of our problems gonna disappear
when we can whisper right in that President’s ear
he could walk right across the reflection pool
in his combat boots and ten thousand dollar suit

you can render unto Caesar everything that’s his
you can trust in his power to come to your defense
it’s the way of the world, the way of the gun
it’s the trading of an evil for a lesser one
so don’t hold your breath or your vote until
you think you’ve finally found a savior up on Capitol Hill

friends website

2008-08-14T16:03:00.003-04:00

a few months ago i had a friend put this website together. i think he did a good job and created a community that should spur us all on to be the church we should be. so i think you should join, take a look around and enjoy the communication with like minded followers of Christ.

today i saw a question on the site posed by joanne lyon "Why it is important for individuals and churches to get involved in their community” read the article check it out.

this is how i responded to the article.

i believe we should ask the question how could a church not be involved in the community? obviously it has been done before, and continues to go on. but if a church wants to survive they have to be involved in the community.

i am learning more and more that a church should have a 50/50 focus. let me explain. 50% of its focus needs to be on the community. this involves outreach, service and evangelism. so much of churches "growth" today is what i call "trading sheep," christians going from one church to another because the other church is not meeting their needs. a true church will grow from reaching out to the community in love.

the other 50% of focus needs to be focused on the people within. this involves discipleship, worship, fellowship and serving within the church. growth can not be measured just in numbers but also in maturity, unity and favor. in order to be fully devoted followers and to create an environment within the church, we need to be healthy, living vibrant lives of loving God and neighbor. so how could a church not be involved in the community and not do this?

check this out

2008-07-25T17:36:00.004-04:00

you have to see this post a friend of mine put up. these are some of the most fascinating pictures of a lion in wild i have ever seen.

new look

2008-06-19T20:29:00.001-04:00

not that any of you might care but for the first time in more then the three years that i have been blogging i have added pics to the blog. a pic of my wife and i and a skyline of where i currently live, indianapolis.

#17

2008-06-18T16:55:00.002-04:00

the celtics last night just won the 17th championship. i have really enjoyed watching the celtics over my lifetime yet in the last few years have rarely been excited about how the team was doing. last summer when the danny ainge shook up the team i was excited. it has been since 1986 that we won a championship.

however in the last few years i can not complain about new england sports as we have won many championships.

red sox 2004, 2008
patriots 2002, 2004, 2005
and now
celtics 2008

it has been good to be a new england fan

for a good article on the celtics championship read http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080618

learning from fast food

2008-06-11T17:00:00.002-04:00

have you noticed the last few years that specific fast food joints are combining to allow easy access at one place. taco bell, kfc (formerly known as kentucky fried chicken), pizza hit and a&w interchange to allow choices for their customers. have you ever been with a group of people and want something to eat but you cannot agree on which drive thru to enter? going to a restaurant that serves both chicken and mexican food can allow for more choices to satisfy all the needs of hunger.

some churches have also caught onto this. venue churches have caught on because it allows more options at the same time. granted you might have to watch the sermon from a screen but it does allow you to choose the worship service style. you could enjoy liturgy while someone down the hall is watching a drama in the "emergent" service.

here are some bonuses of having a venue style church.

1. people have more choices- this allows them to choose the style and time. at a church that has a traditional and contemporary service, the traditional service is probably going to be the earlier time slot. therefore if you like traditional you have to wake up a bit earlier on your day of rest.

2. the pastor can preach less- if any of you have ever preached more then once on a sunday you understand it can be very tiring physically and emotionally. this can allow the pastor not to have to preach to more often and still reach more people.

3. cost effective- why build every time your church out grows a sanctuary? this allows more services within the same building without the high cost of building.

are there any more positives about having a venue style church? what about negatives?

idiot pastors

2008-05-13T17:57:00.001-04:00

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x55yaw_church-sign_news

gas prices

2008-05-12T14:27:00.003-04:00

this is not a blog complaining about gas prices. i am concerned in the turn that it has taken the last 5 years. when i was in college gas ran around $1.30. i could fill up between $12-15. that would last me almost a month in college. i did not have to drive that much in college. i chose when it was important to drive. i had friends that would drive from one side of the campus to the other because they thought it was easier. i chose to walk. iwu is not that big of a campus and i try not to be that lazy.

today i drive 8.5 each way back and forth to work. i also drive anywhere between 20-100 miles during the work day in which i am reimbursed $.45/mile. we live about 11 miles from our church and about the same from our closest friends in the area. jenny drives about 4 miles to work at the most. overall we drive about 300 miles a week. the overwhelming majority for work/church.

a lot of people are complaining about gas prices. the ones i see complaining most are driving big trucks and suv's. gas is all about choosing what is important and what you can live with or without. america is starting to see there entertainment funds go down.

i remember going over to canada every now and then over the years and noticing that gas always cost quite a bit more. i always wondered about this and today i looked up gas prices around the world. after reading this i was quite thankful for the $3.81/gallon that i paid for this morning.

Belgium $8.84
Canada 4.73
Italy 7.20
Israel 7.30
Turkey 10.13
UK 8.18

but there were also countries that paid hardly anything

venezuela $.17
saudi arabia .45
kuwait .78
iran .33

what is the difference? these countries produce quite a bit of oil. i believe the united states needs to start using our gasoline.

for more gas prices around the world check out these sites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_usage_and_pricing
http://fabulously40.com/article/2171/Price-of-gas-from-around-the-world/

a bit political

2008-05-09T15:44:00.003-04:00

obama is very optimistic. he thinks that if he is voted in as president he will be able to change how politics are done. he says it all with a smile, good mannerisms and an upbeat positive attitude.

i just cant help to think that i heard these same things as i was a student at indiana wesleyan. i enjoyed my time there. the profs we very upbeat and optimistic. they were challenging us to be world changers. and we as students believed we could.

we did not know however what we were getting into. i am now four and a half years removed from iwu. i have done some amazing things in ministry and enjoyed the time. but i cant help to feel a bit disappointed at times.

i almost begin to wonder if we vote in obama if we will end up feeling the same way. he has told us that he can bring change to washington. but what if he doesnt. in four years will we feel a bit disappointed.

every candidate for president has promised something while running but there has been many broken promises. the one that sticks out in my mind is bush, sr with his line "no new taxes." we all know how that worked out for us.

i wonder what would happen if candidates just came out and told us the truth.

"i cannot promise change, but this is what i will do to try to see it happen."
"i will work on trying to pass this bill, but it will probably be turned down in congress."
"life for you will change only when you act to bring about change."

but he or she probably wouldnt be voted in.

the rock (stars) cries out

2008-04-26T18:47:00.002-04:00

i am not sure how many of you saw the idol gives back, i did not. however i did here about it. many people have commented how nice it was to here them sing a worship song. others have commented on the changing of the name Jesus to Shepherd. other then it sounding pretty nice with the quality sounding solos by my two favorites on the show. yes i have favorites. with the writers strike and not much to choose i have actually watched american idol for the first time in however many seasons.

the inquiry that i have to ask about was that song worship?

i cannot speak of the hearts of the people on american idol. some of them might be very solid believers of Christ and have a great relationship with Him. if that is the case then it could be considered worship.

and for the christians who might have been watching them sing it could have been a worship experience.

what i am wondering is did the unbelievers singing or watching this performance actually worship?

can there be worship with unbelief? what is worship in spirit and truth?

defending the weak

2008-03-01T16:13:00.002-05:00

today as i was working i was listening to erwin mcmanus. he was discussing how early on in the marriage that he fought with his wife on the topic of pacifism vs war. he was a new christian at the time and would always come to the same conclusion that Jesus would not where a sword. his wife however grew up with a world war ii veteran for a father.

one night when mcmanus and some friends were going out for the evening he witness this lady being dragged by a guy with her hair. he was being very forceful. in this highly populated area with everyone watching and no one doing a thing he decided he would. so using force he stopped the guy from hurting the woman.

he went home that night to tell his wife he was no longer a pacifist. he realized that there was a time for using force. there are many people today that cannot stand up for themselves. they are taken advantage of in everyway imaginable. some of these wars can be fought without weapons. but we are supposed to stand up for the weak and unprotected.

my friend brandon wrote in his blog this weak this quote by mlk jr. "you not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him." you can read the rest here www.runningcautiously.blogspot.com

when war is fueled by hate is a topic for another blog. but a war fueled by the protection of innocent lives is another story for me. you will not see me carrying a weapon. but hopefully in all the "wars of life" that i fight it is not done through hate or despite but for defending those who cannot defend themselves.

keeping the innovators

2008-02-25T22:40:00.001-05:00

Innovation today is at a high; tomorrow innovation will be a new high. In other words change is happening quickly. In the last few years we have gone from the simple iPod to the iPod Video and today we have the iPhone. This has brought a major change to Apple, Inc. The iPod brought about iTunes, which has brought a new industry to the company. Apple has been able to do something that a lot of churches have not been able to do, incorporate new ideas to move the company forward.
There are many innovative leaders today. Jason is 28 and is serving at his fourth church. He has done some amazing things at each of his churches. I also think of Ben who is 27 and is one of the most talented young pastors I know. He has put a lot of time and energy into the ministry. He comes home exhausted and worn out and does it again the next day. Churches can learn a lot from these Pastors, but what can churches do to help them?
A young assistant pastor went to his Senior Pastor and told him he felt like he had to resign. He felt led to make movies that would lead people to Christ. The Senior Pastor asked, Why not do that within our church? This was the start of the movie Facing the Giants. What would happen if more churches would receive pastors ideas like this?
Churches need to 1. Encourage people in their efforts. The church board voted to bring them on staff and now needs to help develop them. 2. Volunteer to be involved in a ministry position. Pastors are overworked because they are filling roles that can and should be filled by others in the congregation. 3. Understand that “New ideas are usually germinated from a sincere desire to see a church increase or improve its ministry” 4. Give them time to be creative and implement them. You cannot change them from being an innovative leader. You have a choice of letting them create or snuffing the passion because they no longer have the time. When this happens, you will more often say goodbye. 5. Send them to conferences to spark their creativity even more. This will give them opportunities to spark their creativity.
If you do these things I will not guarantee success. Every church is not meant to make movies. But when a church focuses on innovation you might end up with the churches version of the iPod, something that might change your church for future generations to come.

cant wait

2008-02-14T13:16:00.001-05:00

taboos in the church #2

2008-02-07T20:31:00.001-05:00

i am also still a little dumbfounded by another taboo in the church. taking sides on the football grid iron has become quite an interesting situation. i am from maine and i love the new england patriots. a few months ago the pastor invited us to wear our football jerseys to church to support our favorite team. so i did, thinking nothing of it. of course the favorite team he was talking about were the colts.

i was also very new to the church, so when i show up to church with my jersey on not really thinking too much of it, i received borderline harassment. i became that patriots guy. at the beginning of the service my good friend john welcomed the crowd by asking if there were any colts fans in the house today and asked them to stand, the crowd erupted. then he suggested that his friend was wearing a patriots jersey. he asked me to stand and turn. we had a good laugh out of it.

but what pursued in the next months made me realize that today sports can be a big taboo. even though i know it was in good fun i really just got sick always being referred to as the patriots fan. most conversations were started out that way, it became very old. i never realized that colts fans were so bitter against the patriots.

i just moved here from new york which is the middle of yankee country. of course i am a red sox fan. but in my two years in new york i never received near the trouble that i did in the last couple of months living in indy. does that mean yankees fans actually have more class?

what other taboos have you seen with the church?

taboos in the church

2008-02-07T19:52:00.000-05:00

when i grew up there were certain things you just did not discuss within the church. when i was young i remember my mother telling me how people viewed things differently. even though someone votes for one person over another does not mean they are any less christian then the other. but of course there was the underlying idea that she would vote republican no matter what.

when i was in college profs emphasized in classes that pulpits were not the place to endorse a candidate over another. it came out which professors were democrat and which were republican. i am not sure what year it happened, if i was still at iwu or shortly after i left.

this year it seems like everyone has taken sides. i have friends that have definately supported huckabee from the very beginning. others who supported romney, well atleast til today. i have some friends who are all about the obama sensation. while i usually just sit in the background and listen to the conversation or read their blog.

about 6 weeks ago a friend asked me who i was looking to vote for. this was back before no candidates had dropped out yet. and i knew that indiana's primary still would not take place until may. i told them "at this time, i have it narrowed down to five candidates. they laughed and chastised me for not knowing this very critical decision. i figured i had plenty of time to figure it out. i knew by the time that i had a chance to place my vote in may most of the candidates would be out anyway. i definately knew i would be ready to voice who i would vote for in november.

today 4 candidates are left are left. i have now narrowed it down to three candidates. even though i still am reserved about all three of them. i do have a front runner. but personally i am still involved in the church and do not feel like taking sides. i still believe that this is a taboo within the church and there are other battles that i am concerned with more then duking it on on who will be a better president.

today though people are a little more open minded then they were when i was growin up. as long as you back up why you are planning on voting for this person it wont necessarily mean that you will be chastised from the church. but i am still not going to tell you who i am voting for.

stay tuned next week for social taboo #2

pursuit of perfection

2008-02-05T20:09:00.000-05:00

if it is possible it is very tough to be perfect. perfection as a wesleyan is something that we are supposed to shoot for. but i am wondering if it is possible. when i was a sophomore in high school my jv basketball team went 15-0 and then we played our last game of the season and lost. we were so close to the possibility of perfection.

this season the new england patriots had the same shot. they won all 16 games of the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs. unfortuntely in the superbowl they fell short. i however want to concentrate on the first 16 games. they were undefeated. which the record portrays perfection. but in reality was it perfection?

in the first 16 games tom brady who was voted mvp of the nfl set an record in most touchdowns (50), had 69% completion in passes with 4,806 yards. as good as tom brady was though. he threw a total of 8 interceptions. sure that is amazing but it is not perfect. he was also sacked a total of 21 times. still not bad by any means but definately not flawless.

randy moss caught 98 passes with 23 of them being for touchdowns which is also an nfl record for td receptions. and i know this is hard to bellieve but did actually drop a few passes.

in the end though during the regular season the patriots were perfect as a team. their record is now in the history books. the perfection was a team effort, individually they would have fallen short.

in the church you will experience the same thing. imperfect people messing up striving to be perfect because that is what we are called to achieve. what would happen in the church if we picked on everyones faults. left them to achieve it on their own. in football teammates pick each other up when they are down. they also defend each other in the media. you have to in order for your team to be strong. the same thing needs to happen within the church, if we are ever to be perfect we have to fight as a team, protect each other from the enemy. build an encourage other believers.

it will only happen as a team if we are going to change the direction of the church. people will never change their opinion on the church, unless we try to work together.

updates/ thoughts

2008-02-04T09:57:00.000-05:00

1. the movie juno is a must see. very well written.

2. grad school is going well. but takes up a lot of my free time. my first class was an A. non profit management has started well and has sparked the business side of me already after just one week.

3. a lot of changes are taking place at church. i pray they are the right decisions. starting march 2 we are cancelling the poorly attended traditional service and moving to one unity service for a time. possibly up to six months.

4. the patriots season was amazing. if only they could have finished well (future blog coming on this)

5. i am speaking on the pros and cons of the internet to a group of 5-6 graders on wednesday.

6. i think one day i would like to plant a church in portland, me

7. i cant wait for the writers strike to be over. i need the office back in my life (by the way john krasinski is a patriots fan

heart

2008-01-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

does the heart of a person really matter? in my four years of ministry i have seen some people with great big hearts. it really is an amazing thing to come to the realization that when someone cares one can change change the world, maybe not the whole world, but atleast the whole world for somebody. the same can be said when hearts are cold. it can bruise an wound other hearts around it.

in my first ministry, the song leader would lead the congregation in worship but would refuse to pray out loud. whether it was nerves or lack of confidence i am not sure. it did not matter if it was in front of the congregation or in a board meeting the man refused to pray. was it his heart?

during the last few years there has been a war of sorts. traditional vs modern worship. hymns vs choruses. hymnals vs projectors. unfortunately for the most part young vs old. i have attended churches with both styles. when i was in college i was in a traditional setting. with all the chapels during this time being more modern. in my first ministry position the pastor was trying to take the congregation to more of a contempory/early 90's setting. in pulaski we were relatively modern. at fall creek we have a service for each. at any time while attending these churches i have never really considered changing the style of music. but in so many other churches people are arguing about style. i question why this actually happens. is the argument about the style of music or an issue with the heart?

i have visited mega-churches that are very traditional but yet are thriving and tiny churches with a very modern feel. not to say that the size of the church reflects the heart, but to show that the style of music does not reflect being relevant.

in greenville one sunday right before the service was about to start a teen came to me and told me that an adult blew her off when she had handed her a flyer for our fundraiser coming up by laying it down 2 seconds after it was given to her only to walk away. this situation not only reflected the heart of this lady but also crushed the heart of the teen. how is it that the heart can be affected this much?

when will this end? not that all churches have all sorts of trouble. i bet the percentages are less then one thinks. but i think it is the the smaller percentage making a bigger splash. all of these are issues of the heart. when i go into a church and music plays it doesnt matter how it is played or what is playing it. but the squabbles of the few are affecting those outside the church. they are starting to take notice.

in a recent article on thechristianpost.com titled how do unchurched americans view christianity, "A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church ‘is full of hypocrites,’" said LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer. "At the same time, however, 71 percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus ‘makes a positive difference in a person’s life’ and 78 percent said they would ‘be willing to listen’ to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity."

unfortunately what the world sees is not the truth. while the church does have some hypocrites, i truly believe with all my heart that it is full of loving and faithful people who occassionally mess up. i believe the church has a good heart. while sometimes misrepresented or misguided at times i believe their is a lot of loving God and loving neighbor being done. what my hope and prayer is that the world starts to see it.

change

2008-01-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

everyone is discussing change. it seems that 2008 might be the year for change. from politics to the church to the environment everything is changing. technology has never stopped changing and as much that has changed in the past year more things will change this year.

1. president- by the end of 2008, the united states will have a new president. this has already been decided. obama is running on the campaing of changing washington. if he or hilary are elected it will be a quite the change as well. them being the first multi-racial or woman in the oval office. either way we will have a change.

2. technology- with the iphone and the wii, technology is becoming more interactive. people are choosing the interaction of the wii over ps3 and xbox360 even though the graphics might be better with the latter two. with sites like facebook people are becoming less interactive. the need to call your friend who lives 500 miles away is no longer needed but we can check in on him and be updated on their life.

3. environment-people are becoming more green. this process has taken a lot longer then it should have. but people are being more aware of global warming. as i type this it is 65 degrees outside. and while this might not be directly effected from the warming of the globe, one still has to wonder. smaller cars are going to become increasingly popular. not just because of the new standards by the government but it is the more trendy vehicle to own. gone are the days of the bigger suv and gladly welcome the hybrids, smart cars and vehicles with 40mpg or more.

4. church- agreeing with books like unchristian and revolution, you will see more community. people are now wanting to be closer to a few then friends with a lot. this community will happen more outside the walls of the church building in homes, restaurants and coffee shops. you will continue to see more home church plants. the church will become smaller and bigger. there will be less church buildings with a lot more closing their doors. the bigger churches will absorb the people from these other churches.there will also be more mega-ministries. places like lifechurch.tv will grow more. other megachurches are planning on going multi-site life newspring church in south carolina.

nothing that i have written here is new info. but what are we supposed to do with the info on this. we know everything is changing. but how are we as pastors adapt to change our ministries to cope with all this change. if all this change is happening then what do we do in order not to fall behind. church has essentially been done the same way for hundreds of years with a few adaptations here and there. will we allow all these changes to happen but not change our ministries. it doesnt mean adding a projector to the sanctuary, and it doesnt mean singing the newest worship songs with a rock band. but it definately means the times they are a changin.

new years

2007-12-30T18:32:00.000-05:00

i am not sure how you feel about making resolutions. i remember back in high school giving up soda for a year. i was pretty proud of myself for keeping the resolution. it was the only time i ever made one. so if you ask me that is a pretty good record for new years resolutions. i have found i do not really have a need for resolutions. today the biggest three resolutions are about getting in shape, quitting smoking, and not swearing. all of which are very admirable.

as you know i am a huge red sox fan. the other day while reading an interview with jacoby ellsbury, their center fielder. they asked him if he had made any new years resolution. he responded by saying. "Normally, I'm a person that will make goals all year round." so i guess he has an idea of how to get to where he feels he needs to be. it is not about making resolutions but setting goals, continually re-examining those goals and figuring out if you are reaching those goals.

i think the goal of setting a resolution is transformation. while i do not set resolutions i am all about setting goals to see life transforming change.

so for those of you that might be setting resolutions good luck. have a fun year

santa?

2007-12-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake

You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming
Santa Claus is coming
Santa Claus is coming to town

from the lyrics of this song santa could be a deity or a stalker. either way i am scared of what he has become.
all we have to do is sit on his lap and he will make our wishes come true. all we have to do is believe in him.

the sound of silence

2007-12-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

the last two weeks i have driven around in silence. you have to understand, i love music. i have never understood those who like to drive without a cd playing in the background. i also like talk radio and podcasts. but for two weeks i have not listened to a thing other then the revving of the engine and the blowing of the warm air.

you see two weeks ago my car was broken into. i noticed it on a tuesday morning as i was about to leave for work. my door was open a little as i approached and i thought, thats weird. as i walked closer i realized glass was on the ground. when i looked into the vehicle i notice the cd player had been yanked out, at about the sametime i realized why i could not find my ipod. it had also been in the car. so literally there has been no sound in my life as i have been driving or working out.

i thought that silence would be tougher. but it hasnt. in some ways i have very much enjoyed it. i have been praying a little more. i have been processing my life a lot more and when jenny rides with me a lot more conversation happens then normal. the other day i drove our second vehicle and after a couple second after turning on the car i realized there was music. it was almost a shock.

the insurance covered the cost of the cd player. but i havent been in too much of a hurry to go out and pick one up. i know if we had a long road trip coming up i would definately rush to have one installed. but for now i kind of like the silence. i am not sure if it is related to my day job. you see at the moment i work at a ymca before and after school program where there is absolutely no silence. my mornings and afternoons are filled with screaming, crying, laughter, whining. for now a silent drive is actually invited.

how big small can be

2007-12-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

i frequently look for new music on myspace or purevolume. today i found a band that is absolutely amazing. you might have heard of them. they are starting to get quite a name for themselves. check them out at www.myspace.com/1000generations. they are very refreshing christians/ musicians with original lyrics. this is one of the songs.

My hands cannot hold the world,
But they can help someone in need,
And my cash could never end hunger,
But it will help someone to eat.

It may seem insignificant but lately,
I think sometimes we forget…

Just how big small can be,
it doesn’t have to be, all or nothing.
How big does small have to be,
for us to do something?
And find how big small can be

A fire starts with a single flame,
It’s not hard to see its attribution.
A storm starts with just a drop of rain,
And it only takes one, one man to start a revolution!

So if it seems insignificant then maybe,
It’s just that we are prone to forget…

What if one person changes one person,
Is that worth the time?
What if one difference makes all the difference
And we start to find…

a christian

2007-12-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

i have been thinking about the definition of a christian the last few days. i had a conversation with andrew who i met when i was his youth pastor in new york. he is now studying youth ministry and business at iwu. he mentioned how a girl spoke at chapel the other day and seemed pretty mad about the direction of the church. she claimed no one took the name of christian anymore, how we are all ashamed to be associated with the church. sure i was not there and did not hear her speak on this topic, but here are some of my thoughts.

is there anything wrong with with using the term "follower of Christ," what could be so wrong about this? personally i do not think it matters what you call yourself but how you represent what you believe.

christian is defined as a "little Christ." in essence this is a great word. everybody should aim to be a little Christ. Christ is so much bigger then we are. he is the Son of God. he has no beginning and end. he is human and God. perfection at its peak. so we really do not have a shot at being "all Christ." so we settle for being a little like Him.

follower of Christ can be defined as a sheep to a shepherd. we follow him because he is our protector. but i also think it could be imitator of Christ. similar to the game follow the leader. we do things because we have seen him do it. like being a child, we see how our parents act and we learn from their example.

but in reality there is no difference. on facebook under religion i am listed as a follower of Christ but i did not do it to say i am not a christian. i never considered the possibility it might upset somebody. i gues i have more things to be worried about in my life then the semantics of who i am. i have a hard enough time living it out.

transparency and the church

2007-11-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

i have never been great at being transparent. i do wear my emotions at all times so people know how i am feeling but for me it is hard to admit to others that i sin. sure i am open that i do sin and will even be open about some of those sins. sure i sin but it is the small sins of coveting my neigbors mustang, anger while driving. nothing that actually affects someone else. so it is ok.

i guess you could call it pride. i have been in the ministry now for 7+ years and because of this i am supposed to be good or at least better then those that i minister too. it is a hard standard to meet when you hold yourself to this kind of pressure. yesterday jenny and i visited a church where our friend is the pastor. it was a great time of worship but there were a couple things that stood out to me during the service that i would like to see more often at churches.

the first was right before we took communion. the pastor asked each one to look into his own life and confess the sin in their lives. this is something we have to do more often as christians. the second was two girls came forward probably both in the young twenties and you could see that both of them were pregnant. however there was no ring on either of their finger. they both came in front of the church to apologize for their sin. not only that they admitted that they did not feel comfortable in the church, that they felt judged.

so often when there is a single parent pregnancy it is looked down upon to the point where it is not talked about. this only causes more controversy in the end in what could have been settled easily. the transparency between these two girls should be commended. and how the church received tem is even better. they showed them nothing but love.

acts 1

2007-11-12T12:59:00.000-05:00

our sunday school class started to study acts a couple weeks ago so i wanted to discuss a few of the things from acts that stood out to me or some others during that class.

acts is a great book. it starts out with Christ promising the disciples the coming of the Holy Spirit. it is hard to understand for the disciples because what could possibly replace Christ? he tells them that this is not the time to free israel. i think if i were one of the disciples i would start to question if Jesus was ever going to restore or if it were just talk, however Jesus did just rise from the dead so he atleast does have that on his resume. Christ tells them to spread the word about him which is really one of the few times he asks the dishowciple to tell people about him. up until now he didnt want to draw attention on himself.

Jesus does go to heaven and then the disciples walked back home to what is considered the upper room. there are 120 present and in verse 14 said they were in this for the good or until the end. they were completely together or united in which is a miracle because having 120 people united on something can be a hard task. specifically at this time unity is very important as it is up to them to carry on the gospel as Jesus had commanded to the very ends of the earth. what is also nice about verse 14 is that it says women were included.

what took place next was deciding whom would replace Judas as a disciple. we were kind of wondering what the purpose of this might be. suggestions included Jesus had chosen 12 so they wanted to keep it at 12. another was said Judas was the treasure which is a position that should be filled. yet another was that the disciples traveled by 2.

how they chose the next disciple to replace Judas is interesting. they concluded through prayer that the person must be someone who had been there since the baptism up until the ascension including witnessing the resurrection. so obviously there was some criteria that this person had to meet. they decided on two candidates and after prayer cast lots. we all kind of chuckled because we knew this would never happen today. lets draw straws to see who our pastor might be. but then this lady at our table rose her hand and said she had been a part of a church growing up that deciding things buy placing the names in a hat and drawing them out, after much prayer of course.

i am defianely looking forward to the rest of this book. i understand that i didnt touch on all aspects of acts 1 but that should give you enough to chew on for now.

lost in suburbia

2007-11-09T18:57:00.000-05:00

the other day i left work to go to church. there was a heavy amount of traffic so i took an alternative route. i eventually came to a T in the road and decided to turn left to get back on the original road thinking that traffic might not be near as bad this far west. i passed house aftter house, subdivision after another subdivision. and then i hit a dead end. i was lost in suburbia. i eventually got out and found the road i needed.

as you might know we recently moved to north indianapolis, just a stones throw away from the very nice suburb of fishers. fishers is laden with 300-500,000 dollar homes that are no older then ten years old. without saying more it is a very nice community. i work in fishers so i come into contact with a lot of the children growing up with their parents driving land rovers, mercedes and bmws. the kids are dressed in tommy and abercrombie and are always styled very nicely.

we attend church in fishers and have enjoyed getting to meet and know several people within the church. we have been to a few of the homes which are on the higher end of the scale.

this is something i am not very used to. i grew up in a town where the average household income was 18,000. went to college in marion, indiana and also for a short while i lived on the other side of the tracks in greenville, sc. so upon moving to fishers i am a little overwhelmed to the lifestyle. the other day i drove by what i later found out was reggie millers house, probably the nicest house i have ever seen.

i am wondering though how this lifestyle effects those in it. some i have met seem very well grounded and use this position for good, helping out others. i have also signed up for the newsletter which is sent out every week and how we are consistently under budget. something tells me that we are somehow off in our stewardship. it is not like we have an exhorbiant budget but somehow we are not reaching our goals.

are we spending to much so we do not have any left over to tithe to God's kingdom or do we just not care about the work of the kingdom. are we too complacent in our nice homes and beautiful care to realize and understand what is going on in the world around us? are we just trapped or lost in suburbia? used to the designer clothing and somethat apathetic in our existence? how will we get out? how will we not allow this to become part of our lifestyle. how do we not become trapped by what seems so inviting?

connect

2007-10-30T12:59:00.000-04:00

not that U2 has all the answers but as i thought about the disconnect between the church and the world but as this song played "randomly" on my ipod last week i thought atleast they have one. grace was first given to us as something we do not and will never deserve. how we are horrible sinful and fallen and do not deserve anything. but for some reason we were given grace. there is a way out of all the shame, guilt and horrible things that we have done. but yet as much as we, the church, have been forgiven we forget to to give grace ourselves. instead we look at others and condemn them because of the past and maybe even present.

i went home on vacation a while ago and one of my friends played a special music on his guitar at church. he introduced it as as a song that whenever he got down on himself, felt guilty about all the things he had done he goes back to this song. it is titled "what can wash my sins away?" i always go back to that moment when i saw him and remember that song. all these people who feel lost and all they need is Jeses to wash their sins away. it is not something they could do or they would have done it already.

i think this is why it is important for us to have relationships with a variety of people. whether religion or race, sex or age, poor or rich, it helps us to understand others. to see where everybody is coming from. and having these relationships without a hiiden agenda of, i am going to win these people to the Lord. but rather approaching it out of love for everybody. anyways the song i listened to was grace by U2. here are those lyrics.

"Grace" by U2

Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name
Grace, it's the name for a girl
It's also a thought that could change the world
And when she walks on the street you can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

Grace, she's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk
She travels outside of karma, karma
She travels outside of karma
When she goes to work you can hear the strings
Grace finds beauty in everything

Grace, she carries a world on her hips
No champagne flue for her lips
No twirls or skips between her fingertips
She carries a pearl in perfect condition
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark no longer stings
Because Grace makes beauty out of ugly things
Grace finds beauty in everything
Grace finds goodness in everything

disconnect

2007-10-22T19:33:00.000-04:00

yesterday in sunday school our teacher posed a question, "is it okay for those outside of the church to judge those within the church?" quite an interesting question. one that i have thought about a few different times but really havent blogged on. so here are my thoughts. and i hope to have the 2 people that might actually read this to answer the question as well.

the question was posed with a couple scenarios. the first being about a woman who was reading her bible during a break at work. she is an unbeliever and was taking a business class at iwu that required a bible study. so she was doing the class work and enter in three people who she knew went to church and were believers of Christ. this was their response. "what are you doing reading the bible? you are too unholy to be reading that."

we as christians judge the world. we look at them and say they should not be doing that. or we might even tell ourselves that we will witness to this person because they would make a good christian. i am not sure how we have gotten to this place but i know it is not a place where the church should be. why would someone come to the church when they feel judged, or they will never measure up because they have messed up so much. why would they want to follow Christ when there only representation of Christ do not even measure up themselve.

we as christians also judge other christians. we look at them and say we are better then them. we do not struggle with the same sins as they do. they also do not know near as much scripture as i do, it must because they never read the bible in their spare time. or how could they struggle with their faith. isnt faith easy. this is also a place we shouldnt be. this is why so many people have left the church. they feel judged, and if they struggle in their faith then maybe they really do not belong there.

the world might look in on all of this and say it is not for them. they like this guy named Jesus. but have never seen Jesus represented well. they look inside the church and see all the stuggle and hypocrisy. i do not want to be like them.

the church is portrayed by the church as a safe place for those outside of the church. in fact the church is one of the few places that exists for those outside of the church. but i think we forget that. we have all these things for us to grow as christians and we call it discipleship. we have all these programs that bring people together to praise God and we call it worship. during the week we small groups and bible studies and we can call it fellowhip. we do these things because we love God and want to become closer to Him

i think the answer of changing the stereotypes that people have on the church is to be more involved outside of the church. which we call outreach or service. we do this because we love our neighbors and we want to be closer to them, which we call community.

so back to the question. is it okay for the unchurched to judge the church? no one wants to be judged because it shows where we lack, how we need to grow. it is never fun to be judged but we also need to stop judging those outside the church.

programmed or learned

2007-10-08T19:51:00.000-04:00

i have always enjoyed charles stanley and this weekend was watching him while flipping through channels but i was dissappointed. he was talking about how parents need to "program their children." let me explain he said that teens are graduating from high school asking lots of questions and they are going off to college and having them answered the professors who are atheist and very liberal. he said that they were being programmed by these professors and said that it was the parents job to program them first.

first of all i am not a parent. so i am not sure how it works. but i do believe that programming isnt the best way of going about it. a child is not a piece of technology that has different software that can be downloaded or deleted any time one wants. i do believe that children are very ingrained to trust what the parent tells them. most of what a child sees in their parents behavior is learned and will be repeated. i know a very special girl who is five. she is one of the most caring individual who is able to care for her friends and is concerned about their feelings. was this something that she was born knowing what to do or was she able to learn this from spending lots of valuable time with her mother?

what is the difference of being programmed or learning these behaviors.i see the need to correct, train, rebuke and teach but i do not want my future children to believe just because i believe. i want them to own it, personalize their faith. i want to see them grow and be doctrinally grounded but i want them to search and question. i dont want to see them programmed but i want to see them believe.

accidentally

2007-10-06T19:43:00.000-04:00

wednesday morning i was minding my own business as i was on my way to fall creek to prepare for the core 56 (5+6th grade) program. i was driving the speed limit as i went through a very green light at an intersection as i saw the purple dodge intrepid decide to turn right into me. sometimes vehicles turn to try to hurry infront of someone but she broadsided me in the passenger side door. i am not quite sure what she was thinking but i pulled over to the side and went over to the vehicle to see if she was okay. she was shooken up but physically okay.

she was a high schooler and her parents were there within minutes. the paremedics drove the 50 feet from the fire dept to there parking lot to where she was pulled over to check her out. we were both okay the vehicles damaged a bit but we werent moving very fast so there wasnt a lot of damage done. we talked to the cops and went on our way.

i left to go to wal mart because there was some glass inbetween the tire and the rim. the tire turned out to be okay and was back on the road $10 and an hour later.

today however i came back home and opened up my mail. there were two different letters from lawyers saying they heard that i was in accident and it wasnt my fault. they were asking if i knew my rights and if i was hurt that i could take them to court. in a way i feel more violated by the lawyers then by the teen who hit me. has anybody else ever gone through this. it seems a little odd to me.

faith in the elementary school

2007-09-28T18:47:00.000-04:00

as some of you that regularly read this blog i just started a job at a before and after school program at the ymca. it is more a of pay the bills position while in grad school rather than an i love this job and going going to make it my vocation. but it can still be a ministry. in fact i have to see it as a ministry or it wont last that long. i have also started helping out at fall creek wesleyan church in launching there brand new 5-6th grade ministry on wednesday night.

when i came to indianapolis i wasnt necessarily looking to work with elementary school ages but it kind of fell in my lap. there was a need so i filled it. but the kids have been interesting in both places. in small group the other night a kid named conner kept on bring up wrestling, i guess you could say it is his golden calf. while others are just the pastor kid/ grown up in church my whole life and Jesus is the answer to every question type of kids even though we were studying elijah and the prophets of asherah and baal. do each of them have faith, sure. just a little wild at heart.

on the school side of things this morning somehow the topic of veggietales came up and i asked them what they thought of it. these are k-4th graders. but not one mentioned liking it. the biggest reason was that they were talking vegetables and that could never happen. they said that they dont walk but bounce. i was saddened, not because they didnt like veggietales. but more because they didnt have the sense of imagination to think that vegetables could actually talk.

mike yaconelli mentioned in his book dangerous wonder that "when a person loses there imagination it loses a huge piece of his soul." he needs to be able to believe in the unreached and the impossible. because isnt faith in a way imagination, believing in things that seem impossible and unreal. miracles and faith are a part of christianity and we need to have a believe that God can and will do things.

i am not saying that the second graders faith is in trouble but it does still seem depressing that he can not be and do what should come easy to him. a world that was captured in both narnia and a bridge to terabithia. a world full of wonder.

amazing lyrics

2007-09-24T12:57:00.000-04:00

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I knoww that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

we sang this song in church yesterday. I have heard the song a lot but it has been a while. i was really taken back by the words. they are so powerful and ring with truth.

calling

2007-09-16T12:47:00.001-04:00

i grew up going to camps and youth conferences that would express the need for people to be called into the ministry. every year no matter who the speaker was it seemed that he would give an alter call for all those who had felt a call into the ministry. at the time i really didnt understand the concept of being called into the ministry. were some people more important that God wanted them. was i less of a christian because i didnt feel that call. i had friends go up. i was happy for them, but in a way was glad it wasnt me who God was calling.

fast forward a few years. i had just finished my first year of classes full of general education courses that all students must take at a private christian college. one of those classes was called world changers, a brand new class where we as freshmen in the fall of 1999 were the introductory class to this positive, uplifting class that we can and eventually will change the world.

i didnt understand at that time what God would be callling me too, but as a freshman studying business i thought it might be as a layperson and would be able to support missionaries and other ministries because of all the money that i would make. that would definately change a lot of people, maybe not the whole world but atleast the community that i lived in.

that summer i took a position as a lifeguard at the iwu pool and was also asked to be a sponsor at a local youth group. i said sure and really enjoyed the time on wednesdays. it started to become a passion of mine, something i would look forward to and would start to schedule things around what the youth were doing.

i found myself at camp again that summer like i had many times as a high schooler only now i was the adult with the teens but yet i felt drawn to the message like dr. lo was speaking directly to me. it didnt matter if there were 500 or so others there but at that moment in time i felt that i was the only one he was speaking to. and then it happened the inevitable if you feel like you are called to the ministry "come on down you are the next contestant on the pastor for life." before i knew it i was at the alter knowing that i wanted to give my life to the direction of Christ. i had felt the call. i had finally understood what all my other friends had felt like when they received the call years before. i finally felt that God wanted me.

it has now been 7 years and i have worked in youth ministry ever since. 3 years as a youth sponsor at the same church and then the last four as a youth pastor in two local church settings. but now as i reflect on that time 7 years ago i stil ask and question myself if it really was the call to ministry that God was looking for. i am sure that God is excited every time a person realizes their "call" but i really believe that God is looking more for the surrender of that person then the realizing of a persons vocation. it was that willingness that God wanted from me so many times. he wanted me to be obedient. he wants me more to be a fully devoted follower of Him. He wants me sold out and to live my life as a sacrifice.

i think this is so much more important then the emphasis that so many people put on the call to ministry. i think we as a church are more excited when someone feels their call to the ministry but not as excited as when someone is called to work with the mentally handicapped or as a business man. that same person could be more humble, loving and willing to serve, and he or she might actually do more to change the world.

what happens when someone who feels the call but really isnt fitted for the position. everyone thanks God at the time but what is set in place for him to actually confirm that. what if this person goes to a bible college because he feels the call but the professors are not really sure about that same call. many people that i went to school are no longer serving in churches or might not even still be following Christ. were those people called to ministry or did they not make the cut because they should not have been there in the first place. was it satan attacking telling them that they were not good enough or was it churches just not hiring them because they really were not good enough.

i am not sure but i have been dwelling on this quite a bit. i have even been questioning to some point my call. but i believe that God is still calling me to follow Him in ministry. for now that means grad school and a volunteer ministry position. later it could be back in the church, maybe a college setting or an inner city ministry but i do know that he will always be calling me to follow Him.

indy

2007-09-15T00:34:00.000-04:00

we are now finally settled in our indianapolis one bedroom apartment. we moved in a week ago today and fell like it is almost home. i definately think it will take some time getting used to the new surroundings. i am not necessarily a person who loves the city but there are some things that are starting to grow on me. we are close to jenny's family which is nice. her brother, sister in law and two kids are only about 7-10 miles away. we are going to have some good friends living close by as well.

life is anew and fresh and i am looking forward to what life brings. i started working for the ymca as an assistant site director at a before and after school program. i think it will be a good job to go along with grad school. i will be starting on-site at the iwu keystone building in the ministerial leadership. i look forward to the program and should be the type of masters that i really will enjoy.

we started attending fall creek wesleyan church and i have been asked to help lead a 5th and 6th grade program there. we are lauching it on wednesday. it should work out pretty well. steve bray has assembled a really good team to lead it. on it is a 5th and 6th grade school counselor, a childrens book author, the head of the childrens deparment in the wesleyan church, a youth pastor (me) and a couple of young kids fresh out of high school. i think it has a real opportunity to reach a group that other then young adults are the most unreached age group in the church. a little old for kids club but still not old enough for youth.

so life is moving on going forward. it will be different then what i am used to. God is changing me alot through the process of the last few months. he is opening my world up to "ministry" and "service" which i will be addressing in future blogs. as for me it is almost 1am and i woke up at 6 so i am quite tired. so i am out for the night.

prisoner

2007-08-23T12:52:00.000-04:00

I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— Philemon vs 9

we have been told many times that we are to be servants, to be humble. we have been told that we need to relinquish our rights and hand them over to Christ. i really have been thinking about this passage since i read it yesterday morning.

so many times as christians we have plans to have a certain job, go on a certain vacation and choose what we will do or will not do. we think we have the right for love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. but i have been wondering what are my rights. God did say that if He provided food for the sparrows then of course he would supply our needs. but is that our right. are we deserving of anything that we have been blessed with.

i then think about being a prisoner. limited to a small confines and is only able to leave when he is told he is able. he is fed at a certain time, not when he is hungry or he is not given a choice of what he would like to eat. a prisoner doesnt have any rights of his own.

but what does that look like in the area of God's kingdom. does God care about our rights or would he rather see His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. paul i think can best say that he was a prisoner, since he was one literally, but figuratively as well. his body was worn and went without food many times, was shipwrecked and imprisoned. i do not think he chose these things, but when he chose to follow God he chose the possibility of being persecuted for his faith.

it is this choice that makes us prisoners. God wasnt the one who decided to imprison you. it is and will be our choice to be a prisoner of God.

just a though

i would drive 4000 miles...

2007-08-15T19:04:00.000-04:00

and i would drive 4000 thousand more. it really was worth it all. to see everything that we did within a two week period. it was filled with some of the coolest sites (bear tooth pass, old faithful, the grand tetons and more). the time was filled by driving 4000 miles with stories of college as we went with two good friends justin and lindsay gentry as well as catching up, deep theological discussions as well as rants about life. it truely was an amazing experience.

our time in estes park was awesome. we tented in a valley and had the amazing rockies surrounding us 360 degrees. we were able to catch up with six others from iwu there and had a great time playing board games, hiking, checking out estes park, swimming, playing horshoes and we even rented jet skis for a while.

but now it is back to the real world where jenny and i have to find a place to live, work and worship in community. we went looking for apartments in indy today and found a couple possible places. tomorrow i will concentrate closer on looking for jobs. we have a couple churches we are looking at, we will let you know where we end up.

go west young man

2007-08-08T11:42:00.000-04:00

10 days ago we packed up the van and headed for chicago. we spent the day at navy pier, had a tour down chicago river and celebrated our anniversary. on july 30th we met up with our good friends in naperville and headed west. the destinations would be plentiful and have actually grown since our trip began. for the first two days all we did was drive. we stopped somewhere in eastern south dakota and woke up morning to do it all over again.

we saw a sign for wall drug starting 400 miles away. despite jenny telling us it wasnt much we had to see the purpose of having about 100 signs advertise it. we thought we could stop for five minutes and be okay but we wer wrong. by stopping at this tourist trap justin and i missed out on deadwood, sd which has gunfights daily.

we drove on to billings, montana where jenny's aunt and uncle live. we stayed there a few days and took in little big horn. (custar's last stand) and then it was off to yellowstone.

we had alot of fun there. we saw elk, buffalo, and proghorn within 2o feet of us. the drive alone let us see mountains and other amazing scenery. old faithful was amazing spewing between 4-8000 gallons of water. we went on hikes, went swimming at a firehole and enjoyed low 40s at night while we shivered inside our tent.

we drove through the tetons which were definately grand and lake jenny was beautiful as well.
we are now in colorado springs and yesterday went to the garden of the gods. today we will be going to meet james dobson at focus on the family.

community

2007-07-28T20:46:00.000-04:00

i am learning more about what community is and what it should look like. two weeks ago i was able to be a counselor at rainbow christian camp. (where jenny attended as a teen and worked during summers.) it was an amazing camp where we and another pastor led a small group throughout the week where we would meet and debrief over the days events. we became a pretty tight nit group and were able to be quite transparent with each other. it seemed like each one of us were in a period of searching. the other pastor had resigned his job the day camp started. and the teens were either all going into their senior year or had just graduated from high school. that week we had community.

this past week i read the book "the irresistable revolution" by shane claiborne. it was the most inspirational and what i hope to be transforming book i have ever read. (yeah yeah of course other then the bible, but i hope you realized that already but just in case i felt i should add this.) he took chances for the kingdom, for community and for love of his neighbor. i am not sure how exactly this book will change me but if i can learn to love my neighbor like shane does then it will be worth it. this is a guy who has been persecuted for his faith. he has been in jail. he was in a car accident caused by a u.s. missile in iraq. he has slept in the cold, gone without food, boycotted taco bell because of unfair wages to migrant workers. this book showed me more about community.

tomorrow we leave for chicago. jenny and i will celebrate 3 years of marriage. . so for about 24 hours we will celebrate that as we spend the day on lakeshore dr, walk navy pier, maybe go into a museum, enjoy dinner together. but she more then anyone has taught me about community.
then on monday morning we will wake up in our best western hotel (thanks to the kindness of bob keisinger) in naperville, il (a suburb of chicago) eat our free continental breakfast and pick up our friends justin and lindsay for a short 20 hr drive to montana. we will stay in billings with jenny's aunt take in the sites at bighorn for a couple days and then head to yellowstone and the grand tetons. we will be tenting at grant village for three nights right on yellowstone lake. i am really excited about vacationing with such good friends as justin and lindsay. we are both in the same place in life as we are looking for jobs in the indy area. justin and i will both be starting grad school in nov at iwu. after we leave yellowstone we will be going to rocky mountain national park and meet up with more college friends. i am looking forward to the community.

i miss the community we had back in college. able to hang out all the time either playing cards or eating every meal together. we all became pretty close. something i havent really had for the last four years. sure i had some good friends but i think college sets you up in how you view community. i hope for that community again.

christianity: a paradox?

2007-07-21T12:21:00.000-04:00

as defined by dictionary.com a paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

it seems a bit weird but i have found that i am living a paradox. christianity with all its truth is surrounded by the absurd or contradictory things. let me explain. in the beatitudes we have the statement that says "blessed are the poor." by the worlds standards being poor is not a blessing at all. in fact some see it as a curse.

in matthew it also discusses the first shall be the last and the last shall be first. which is quite complex as well. if i am last how on earth can i be first?

romans 12 says i am to be a living sacrafice. it is a lot to rap your mind around. very contradictory but like the definition of a paradox expresses a possible truth. but this might be a reason why people are so confused with christianity. it expresses views that sometimes are hard to understand.

i hopefully will have some more time to expound on these ideas in other blogs. these are just a few of the paradoxes. do you have any that you have been chewing on? as for now i will let you go.

unemployment

2007-07-14T23:13:00.000-04:00

it has already been more then a month since we first rolled out of pulaski. a month with no responsiblitiies and no schedule. it seems kind of weird. i am used to rolling out of bed early and getting ready to go to work. but since june 11th i have not set an alarm. i am still wondering about this new found freedom i have that is not bound by meetings, appointments, hospital visits and the youth. to tell you the truth i miss it. i miss the structure and feeling like i am doing something important.

as to date we have traveled over 3000 miles and been in the car 65 hrs. alot of driving. everything that we need is packed in a 2001 dodge caravan and everything we thought we could live with throughout the summer is in storage back in pulaski.

we heard back from bethel college. they decided to hire some graduates of the school instead. jenny was pretty uneasy about the position anyway so it is probably for the better. so because of that we are able to go out west. hopefully we will be able to fit in yellowstone, the grand tetons, las vegas and the grand canyon before we end up in colorado to visit with college friends.

i realized i forgot my bible at my parents house and tomorrow we head to jenny's church camp that she grew up at. i think i might go buy one tomorrow so i dont show up to camp without a bible. i would be a great example for all the high schoolers.

so it looks like we will probably be moving to the marion or indianapolis area. not quite sure. grad classes at iwu start on sept 25 so we have a while to work on housing, jobs and all that stuff. we will be arriving back from the west mid to late august so plenty of time. so if you live in those areas and know of some available housing or jobs let us know. see you later.

i said hey _____________________?

2007-06-30T20:29:00.000-04:00

whats going on?

our life has been laid back. i am quite sick of riding in the car. in the last two weeks we left ny to go to indiana for an interview and made a surprise visit to jenny's dad for fathers day. i was able to see some really good friends (brooks, steve and michelle, their two kids, michael and manda). we then left indiana to head to maine. since a this past sunday we have traveled to bar harbor for four days, and my father and i went into boston yesterday for the sox game. we bought tickets from my uncle who shares season tickets with some other people. they won 2-1. tonight we are back in houlton. all in all i have been in the car 51 hours give or take. which is about 1/7 of my time.

it has a ll been good times and for the most part very relaxing. we still havent hear from bethel college about the job there. it has been 10 days since the interview and i am wondering what is going on with that. luckily i am a patient guy but i am assuming that they arent going to offer it to us or they would have by now. they did say they had a few more interviews to conduct so maybe that is the case too who knows. i will let you know when i know.

as far as the rest of life all i am considering at this point is what i will do first when we get to the cabin on east grand lake monday; water skiing, kayaking, knee boarding or tubing? decisions... life is rough at this moment.

other thoughts i have had the past week:
where will we end up?
that was the best burger i think i have ever had.
should i go to the outdoor or indoor pool?
where are we eating tonight?
what am i going to order?
i think i might be allergic to cats.
fenway is the greatest ballpark
jenny is hot

as you can see life is good. but i am starting to get restless. as much fun as i had this week. i am realizing i am a long way from retirement. i really need to be involved in something with a purpose and a deeper meaning. i need to have a ministry. there is a ministry position out there whether it is at bethel or somewhere eles waiting to be filled. now i need to find it. in the past i have made comments about the position needing to be a paid position and i feel that comment is limiting something of great potential. i do not want to limit God on wheree we will end up. today my friend jr mentioned something about going over to the nazarene church. all i know is i do not want to limit God.

new blog

2007-06-22T15:15:00.000-04:00

check out the blog of our summer. we will take a minimum of 6 weeks off and we will see from there what else we will do. i will continue to update this blog and jenny will tell everything from her side.

http://www.livinginourvan.blogspot.com/

or check out the link of excellent adventure to the side

leaving

2007-06-08T18:19:00.000-04:00

tomorrow is my last sunday at pulaski wesleyan and to bluntly tell you how i feel about leaving, it sucks. my heart yearns for this place. i was hoping to stay here for years to come. in the last year i have seen teens transformed. to look at them a year ago and to look at their lives now i am so excited to see what God has for them. i have seen the church grow immensely over the past two years and want to see where God will move in the future. the last 6 months we have had a vision committee meeting and talking about what is next in the building process here. i have seen three successful mission trips to new orleans (going on the first). i have seen babies born and start walking and running. it has been an amazing journey while here. and that is why it sucks so much to know God is leading us else where. i dont want to leave, this has been my home and i could have been very comfortable here in my position.

that is possibly the reason i need to leave. i am not sure what God has planned for us in the future. it is pretty scary. but i know if God is asking us to leave a place we love then the place he has for us must be pretty amazing. i see doors starting to open. i see God moving. but not necessary on to many of the details at this moment. that is okay, still scary but okay.

sunday is the annual church picnic and jenny's and mine last sunday here as youth pastors at pulaski wesleyan. we already had our tear jerker of youth service yesterday. they presented us with a scrap book with a different page made by a different teen.

boxes are starting to be filled and moving is starting to be a reality. mat kearney's song "where we gonna go from here?" has been played quite a bit and is also my prayer for now.

interesting morning

2007-05-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

today i woke up unplugged my cell phone and walked out of the bedroom like i do almost everyday. it was 7:30 and almost imediately as i walked out of the room the phone rang in my hand. it was the church number so i answered to a frantic voice. it was wanda asking if i had been to the church that morning. i said "no, i just rolled out of bed." she said "the door is wide open with desk drawers open as well as the church safe." she asked me to come over and wait with her while the cops were on their way. so i brushed my teeth and walked over.

after further inspection we notice that a few doors had been jimmied open and the safe was cracked by someone who had found 3 numbers written on a piece of paper deeply buried in the back of wanda's desk.

this isnt the first time i have heard of a church burglarized and everytime i hear of one happening there are always a few more in town that have been hit. we later find out that the calvary baptist church in town was hit.

i am not sure how desperate you need to be to break into a church. they stole about $120, 3.5 sheets of 20 stamps, and a cordless phone. i feel saddened, not at all mad, by what happened. i feel for the soal that did this. was his family needing food or did he just need some drug money. either way it is sad. please pray for the individual(s) involved. have a nice day. i am off to rehearse for our comedy show on saturday.

what is ahead?

2007-05-22T08:14:00.000-04:00

i have been bombarded by questions the last few weeks on what is ahead for jenny and i and truthfully i do not know. am i worried? i probably should be but i am relying on God in the fact that he doesnt take away without giving you something to replace it. my whole life i have had a schedule whether it has been school, work or life in general. i need to be this place by a certain time so i am not late. or i have to graduate college in 8 semesters because that is the norm. even vacations have somewhat been planned. i need to check in to the hotel by this time or make a certain flight.

starting june 11th i have no plans. jenny and i are talking about visiting our friend in south carolina, probably going up to maine over the 4th of july. maybe after that we will drive out west and visit friends and family in montana, colorado, go see the grand canyon. i only have one resume floating around out there that has some potential but if that falls through i am okay. in God's timing a position of some sort will come up. then i will go back to a schedule. right now i am looking forward to not having plans.

some of the things that people have talked to me about doing:
church planting in greensboro, nc (sounds like fun, esp. with a good friend)
rd at college- this sounds good, mentoring, discipleship in a college atmosphere (this would be a good place to start so i can go toward my goal of being a college chaplain.)
assistant pastor somewhere: sounds nice, but havent seen or heard of to many opportunities to do this.
go back to school: this would be a great option. i need to learn more. is it too late to apply for fall?

this is a great situation to be in. i think i am going to enjoy the journey wherever God takes me to get to where he wants me to be.

no easy way

2007-05-11T10:21:00.000-04:00

i have now been at pulaski wesleyan 2 years. as you have read in my blogs the past two years i have loved every minute of it. i love the church, the pastoral staff, the youth. we made a home here. this has been an amazing experience that i will always look back on and say i saw so many amazing things happen there. in the two years we have gone from 270 and grown alot the last month we have average 400. people are coming to know Jesus every week. in the last 10 weeks we have seen 12 come to follow him and last week we baptized 6 of them. but as you have probably already realized i am speaking in the past tense. last night after church conference i made my resignation official to the newly elected church board.

it is hard to leave something you love. the last couple months i have been agonizing on what my life might look like. if i was really cut out for youth ministry. was it a calling or just something that i enjoyed. last wednesday i met with the staff and it really confirmed what i already knew. youth ministry is just not for me. my personality, gifts and strengths or i guess you could say SHAPE is not really suited for youth ministry.

i am starting to look ahead now. what is in my future? i have no clue. it is kind of interesting and i am not sure how often this happens but over a long distance cell phone conversation with my friend dave, i realized that a few of our friends from college including myself have less of a clue on what they want to do know then 4 years ago when we graduated from college. or maybe i am narrowing my vision by knowing now that youth will not be a part of the equation. i guess it is all about perception.

while this is one of the toughest decisions i have ever made. (i have cried more in the last week then i have in the last 10 years combined.) i am at complete peace. i will miss this place called pulaski. i will miss the church we called home for 2 years. but i am looking forward to the adventurous journey ahead.

when did religion become bad?

2007-05-10T09:05:00.000-04:00

it seems like every where you turn in the church. people are saying i am not very religious, or it is not about religion but it is about a relationship with Jesus. i do not want to be overcome by semantics. i understand that i need to have a relationship with Christ. i understand that he can be our best friend. someone we can rely on when things are rough or someone we can celebrate with when things are great. part of our relationship is spending time with him on a regular basis through bible reading and prayer and any other way that you can connect with him.

but there is something more that Christ wants from us then a relationship. he wants our commitment. he wants us to love him and our neighbors. he wants us to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, visit the imprisoned.
in james 1:26-27 if someone doessnt keep a tight rein on his tongue then his religion is worthless. and religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows.

i think we need some more religious people in the church. it cant be just about relationship but our religion needs to stem from our relationship with Christ. it would be hard for me to follow someone i do not love and believe in there message. so instead of saying i am not religious or religion is for me. i am glad i have found religion. i say thank God for religion.

suffering3--displace me

2007-05-01T08:33:00.000-04:00

this year pulaski high school started a global awareness club. they picked a subject that they wanted to raise money for. they chose to raise money for a high school in northern uganda among the refugee camps. they picked a goal to raise 10,000 dollars. at one of their fundraisers (dinner, movie, auction) they showed the movie "invisible children." a funny and entertaining 45 minute documentary on the displacement camps in uganda. it was at this dinner they also gave information on a trip they would be taking to washington dc a week later for displace me. displace me was a peaceful rally to grow awareness on what is going on in uganda and try to see results from it.

i took a long shot and asked the lady in charge (jill) if it might be possible that i could go. she knew i was a youth pastor and jumped at the chance. so this past saturday i woke up at 5am to meet at the school to be a part of a group of 60 give or take for displace me. i was somewhat excited about the rally but the opportunity for me to meet more teens was a great chance for outreach. (please pray for the seeds i planted, that i will be able to water and see God grow the seeds)

the trip lasted approximately 42 hrs. when we arrived in dc at 4pm we set up our home for the night. we made a village out of cardboard amongst more home of card board. overall there were about 6,000 in attendance who also slept in their makeshift home. during the evening they showed new videos of what was happening in uganda. they had us write letters to senators, call 5 friends to tell them about what was going on. the most interesting thing for me was how one would eat in a refugee camp. the women would get the water and the men would be the hunters. so they gave us this task. for food the whole time we were there was water and saltine crackers. it was the womens job to bring water. they would have to wait in a line for water but could only grab one water at a time and bring it back to the men until everyone had water. the same thing happened for the guys with saltines. it made it a chore, it was part of their custom.

that night we went to bed in our cardboard cabin as the temperature declined and the humidity increased. i didnt sleep to well and ended up awake more time in the night then i was asleep. my body ached because of the cold and i am not sure if i was drifting in and out of sleep or a coma. i ended up walking around for a while til i warmed up and then would go back to bed. it made it for a long night. i was especially estatic to see the sun rise. i am not saying this to complain but to say i was displaced. i was uncomfortable with my surrounding for those 5-6 hours during the night. that little time of suffering made me really reflect on the refugee camps in uganda realizing that something like this wa happening for the last 21 years. some of these kids that this affected most had never known life without war and without a home.

we followed the night up with a tour of the holocaust museum. obviously another tragedy where countless people suffered. this weekend i was displaced. i was taken for a ride through some horrible images and emotions but lucky for me it was only a weekend. i was able to come home to my nice bed and be grateful for what i had. through suffering we can find a hope and a joy. unfortunately for those in uganda there is not much joy.

suffering2

2007-04-23T10:36:00.000-04:00

we talked yesterday about trust. trust is essentially a very easy thing to do when things are going okay. however when things are array how are we at trusting. specifically yesterday we talked about trusting God when things are horrible. when things are at its worst. we ask ourselves, "why did God allow this to happen?" "how can he be a loving God if something like this happens?"

romans 8:28 is almost always brought up in these circumstances. "and we know that in all things God work for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." it brings hope and comfort for those who love God. but what about those who do not have a relationship with him. what if someone decided to become a christian because of this verse knowing that God will work out the good for him, but then tragically loses a child or a spouse, maybe becomes paralyzed or loses their home to a fire.

i ask myself these questions everytime i pray for naomi, a fifteen year old in our community that is a christian who has been in a bed for atleast a year due to leukemia, and now has to go through excruciating physical therapy to gain back use of her legs and arms.

i think of it everytime i think of jason and julie gasorowski. a youth pastor and wife from michigan who lost there baby in a car accident in which the majority of julie's body was burned.

unfortunately there is suffering in this world. suffering for those who are believers and unbelievers alike. sometimes people die before their time. sometimes the greatest person in the world who has devoted his life to helping out the needy in the inner city is beaten. but people still continue to ask God why.

God has obviously given us the gift of free will. this allows us to have personality. to wear the type of clothes that we like and listen to the type of music we enjoy. it is this same free will that allows us to choose to follow or forget Christ. the same free will that allows us to choose to take two handguns and kill 32 people on the virginia tech campus and then take your own life. the same free will that allows you to drive your vehicle to the store to purchase some groceries and that same free will that allows someone else to get in another vehicle while intoxicate. unfortunately horrendous accidents and choices are a part of life.

someone is sexually molested by a pastor or mistreated by a youth sponsor. board members can be there for recognition or to because they like the power. unfortuantely the church is not void of suffering, and this for people inside and out of the church can use this as a reflection of who God is and who He is not.

fortunately these things dont have to be seen as a punishment from God or that God allows these things to happen because he likes to see his people suffer. that is not the God i serve. God wants his people to cohabitate in peace and love his neighbor. he wants us to get along and serve each other. and even if 100% of the people on earth did this there would still be cancer, accidents, depression and injustice.

but in the end, eventually, all things do work together for the good of those who love him. we just need to learn to trust.