A Holy Mess

NEW SITE

2010-01-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hello blogspot friends. This message is to let you know that I have transferred all my information over to www.matthewcostner.com. I hope that each of you will follow what I am doing over there. I will still post on this site occasionally, however the bulk of what I do will be there from now on. Love you all!

Matthew

MLK Day

2010-01-17T16:51:00.000-08:00

January 18 is Martin Luther King day. I'm excited about it. I love to hear MLK's sermons. When I was at Vanderbilt University I took several classes related to him. It was so great to hear about his story, the cause that he believed in, the cause that he died for.

MLK acted in ways that were unpopular. He went against the status quo. He believed that justice would prevail even if he never saw it. He trusted in Jesus, even when times seemed hopeless.

I read a blog earlier today by my friend Matthew Paul Turner. You can read it here. He re-wrote MLK's "I have a Dream" speech. His blog really got me thinking, how am I acting? Not, acting as is my attitude great (although I need to be mindful of that), but are my actions speaking just as loudly as my words?

We all have dreams, but are we actively working to make those dreams come true? Even, are we dreaming selfishly, or for people and justice and God's will to be done? My own dreams seem to fluctuate, and yet at my core I dream for the redemption of East Nashville, and even greater, the World.

As I listen to MLK's last speech below, I am reminded of life. We all have difficult days ahead. Life is not easy. But the test is, are we going to continue pursuing the dream? As MLK said, "let's not let dogs and water hoses turn us around..." Like the Israelites, let's not let Giants keep us from the blessing that is promised us. We can overcome hard times. Our heart aches can be restored. Our transgressions can be redeemed. To God be the Glory.

2days 2 goals

2010-01-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot recently about my relationship with God. The truth is, it hasn't been what I've wanted it to be. I read my Scriptures and I pray, but life has been so busy lately. I've been pulled in so many different directions. I've heard so many people speaking into my life. I've watched a lot of television. I've listened to a lot of music. I could go on and on. But the one thing I haven't done is heard from God.

And so today in a way that I haven't done in a long time, I'm going to do nothing but pray and read. I need to hear from God. I need to rest in my Savior's arms like I haven't done in quite a while. I need to be reminded that I am a child of God, that I am His son, that I am loved. So, I've taken the day off. I've got my Bible in hand. I'm ready to read and listen.

My 2010 Resolutions

2010-01-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

For 2010 I have come up with 7 resolutions, or goals, that I hope I can keep. The ALL CAPS is the category, and the rest is how I plan to improve in that area. Let me know what you think, and please offer any encouragement to keep them! :)

1) HEALTH - drink water at restaurants.

2) HEALTH - run a 1/2 marathon (Country Music Marathon with Powered By Hope!).

3) CHURCH - read three books on pastoral leadership (any suggestions?)

4) CHURCH - have 1 Sunday lunch per quarter with the senior adults.

5) MARRIAGE - one date a week (already planned them all)

6) MARRIAGE - pray together at least 5x per week

7) FRIENDSHIP - encourage one random friend through text message every day.

Resolution

2009-12-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

Are you planning on making any new resolutions this upcoming year? If you're like me, you don't always keep the ones you made the previous year anyway. However, did you now that 40 to 45% of American adults make one or more resolutions each year? Some of the most popular resolutions deal with exercise, weight loss, money management, and stopping smoking or drinking.

Out of the studies that have been made regarding following through with resolutions, researchers have concluded that 75% keep them past the first week, 71% keep them past two weeks, 64% after one month, and 46% after six months.

While a lot of people who make new years resolutions break them, research shows that making resolutions is useful. People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions.

So my question is what are your New Years Resolutions if you decide to make some this year? Outside of your regular ones, I challenge you to make one that deals with your church. Here are a few you may want to pick from:

(1) Bring 4 new people to church this year.

(2) Attend a Bible study.

(3) Volunteer for VBS or other youth/children events.

(4) Tithe regularly

(5) Pray weekly for your pastor and the church leadership

I'll try and come up with about five resolutions for myself to work on and publish soon. Hopefully your resolutions can help me articulate my own more clearly! Anyway, Happy upcoming New Year!

Caroling through Christmas

2009-12-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

I'm excited about Christmas! Not because of Santa, Christmas Trees, or even the possibility of a White Christmas. I'm excited because I'm ready to revisit the Christmas story. I'm excited because at Valley View this Christmas we are going to look back at the old Christmas Carols and make them new by learning their meaning and history.

It seems to me that most of us don't know or have forgotten why we sing what we sing or why we do what we do at Christmas in the first place. I know it's easy to get caught up in the all the glitz and glamour of materialism, for it's fun and exciting. Instead of buying into all the cool gadgets that break or get boring over time, let's focus on the reason for the season - Jesus.

Watch the video below... And get excited about Christmas! Our Savior has been born! Our God is with us! Are you excited?

#2 is better than #1

2009-11-29T19:47:00.000-08:00

“It’s not about me anymore.” A friend of mine said that recently. It’s had me thinking about life ever since.

The reality for so many of us is that we haven’t figured out that life isn’t truly about us. We want it to be about us. We dream it is. We hope it is. We wish it was. But it’s not.

My dad and I were talking about life and church lately, and he said something that I thought was pretty profound. He said, “it’s not what we want, it’s what they need.” “They,” meaning the people that are around us. And yet that’s seemingly such a hard concept for people to adopt as their own philosophy for life.

And for the life of me, I don’t know why it is. I mean I know sin and evil exist. I know that selfishness and narcissism are present and at the core of every person. But why is it so easy for people to get to the point where it’s hard to see the forest for the trees?

This isn’t an issue that’s come up recently in society. It’s been an issue for thousands and thousands of years. King Herod wanted it to be about him, so he sought to kill Jesus (see Matthew 2). During Jesus ministry, Martha (Jesus’ friend) showed a moment of selfishness when she confronted Jesus about why He didn’t come as soon as she called for Him so Lazarus, her brother, wouldn’t die (see John 11:21). King Herod’s grandson, Herod the Great, wanted it to be about him, so he had James killed, and Peter put into prison (see Acts 12). And I could go on and on.

The truth of the matter for all of us, is that Jesus always makes things right. His plan always comes through. We can stand in the way, and God will remove us, or we can be instruments to take Christ and His grace, mercy, love, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, etc. into the world.

Let’s choose the latter. Let’s choose to let Jesus take control of not only our lives but the lives of our churches. Let’s choose to trust Jesus and even just one His many promises. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” We don’t have to fear the future! Jesus is for us, and not against us! All we have to do is decrease, so He can increase.

This means we have to become #2.

King Jesus, help us make it all about you and not about us. In Your Name, Amen.

when all else fails...

2009-11-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

Nothing has gone right recently. Things have been super tough. Emotions have been high. Have you ever had a week like that?

The reality for me is that when times get hard, it’s difficult for me to stay focused on what I need to be focused on. When trouble comes, my natural response is to try and fix everything and make it right. In my “fix-it” mode I can work myself into a mild depression and away from the God I love and preach about.

Recently, I have had an epiphany of sorts. I’ve been reading a lot in the Psalms, and I have realized that David’s response to hard times was praise and worship. Every time troubles came up he moved to worship, and out of his worship he became confident of his future.

This past week, I have tried to do the same thing. When the tough moments have shown up, I’ve gotten out my guitar or played some music on itunes and just worshipped. I don’t fully understand it, I can’t fully explain it, but my confidence has truly increased in the Lord as I have begun to live a life filled with worship.

I guess the reason for it, is that when we worship we place what’s being worshipped as the #1 priority in our life. As I have made sure my relationship with Christ is in order, Him being #1, everything has began to fall back into place. Don’t get me wrong, my life isn’t perfect, and I’m definitely not perfect, but I think I know why David was a worshipper – he knew he needed God first.

The fact of the matter is we too need God to be first in our lives. If He’s not, my suggestion is to start with worship. It has worked for me. Praise Jesus it has worked for me.

Christmas Carol

2009-11-17T06:12:00.000-08:00

The other night I went out to watch the movie A Christmas Carol at the IMAX theater here in Nashville. Once I found out it was 3d, i was a little worried that it would be cheesy. However, I eventually got lost in the whole story as it developed, and by the end of it I have to say I was pretty impressed.

As I left the theater I seriously wanted to go more out of my way to treat people nicer (Isn't it crazy that movies can have that kind of affect on you?). The movie reminded me that much of our own happiness comes from helping make others happy. It's crazy how that works, but I guess it's the same idea that things don't really mean anything until you give them away. For instance, to learn the true value of love, you must give it.

Have you watched any movies lately that reminded you of some great truths for us to live by? If so, which one and what?

anonymous

2009-11-03T15:31:00.000-08:00

Recently I have received several comments on my blog under the name “anonymous.” Because I don’t know you, I looked you up in my dictionary to understand you better. According to the dictionary on my Mac dashboard you are someone who, “has no outstanding, individual, or unusual features; unremarkable or impersonal.” Because I don’t want to believe this about you, I have written this note specifically for you:

Dear anonymous commenter,

Why do you choose to be anonymous? Are you scared of revealing yourself to the Internet world? Do you know how to fill your name into the box that says “name”? Are you in too big of a hurry to get to the next website you read? Are you trying to be funny? Or perhaps rude?

Whatever your answers to any of these questions are, anonymous, I want you to know I love you, and better than that Jesus loves you. Often times I do think you are funny and chuckle at some of the words you use, like Pee Wee used to do when someone said the infamous word of the day. However, because of my love for the other individuals that read my blog I can’t always allow your comments to be known.

I do want us to be friends, anonymous, but you’re making it quite difficult. Let’s bury the hatchet. I’ll go first. Hello. My name is Matthew Costner. So good to meet you…

Worship Star

2009-10-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Dear pastors and congregations,

Please watch this video. It can help you understand your worship leader, or pray it isn't your worship leader...

Your friend, Matthew

Heaven & Earth

2009-10-27T07:40:00.001-07:00

I have the wonderful privilege of letting you all in on an awesome CD that is coming out November 17, 2009. Phil Wickham's Heaven & Earth (H&E) is seriously taking worship to another level. From the first moment I put H&E into the CD player, I found myself banging my head and tapping my feet as my wife told me to focus on driving. I couldn't help myself though. I was captivated at the enhancing sounds of what I picture to symbolize the future while listening to sweet melodies drawing me closer to my Savior.

I don't know if H&E is better than Wickham's previous album Cannons, but it definitely gives it a run for its money. Personally, I have been searching for a new song to sing to the Lord, and I have been struggling finding the right song that said the right thing. As I listened to H&E I realized quickly that Mr. Wickham could quite possibly be someone who could pen the lyrics my heart has been trying to articulate. When I got to Cielo I couldn't fight the emotion this CD had welled up inside of me. I still find myself singing the lyric, "I can't bow low enough at the vision of you my God. I can't reach high enough when I'm reaching for you." How powerful. How awe inspiring. How worshipful. You want this CD. You need this CD. What a great way to continue our journey, listening to great music, by a great muscian. Thank you INO Records and thank you Mr. Wickham.

Jesus curses?

2009-10-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

It seems like many people who call themselves Christian, fake abiding and trusting in Jesus. Am I the only one who thinks this? Churches seem to be packed with people who act like they have their junk together, when in reality they don't. In the bible those people were referred to as the religious people. It’s the people that Jesus warned us about, and it’s the very people that worked the hardest to kill Him during His ministry. Does it not blow your mind that the people that tried to kill Jesus were the ones that knew Scripture the best and had been so religious for so long they felt some sort of entitlement to their religion?

It was in this context that we find the crazy story of Jesus and the fig tree. Do you remember it? Mark 11: 12-21.

The disappointment of Jesus with the fig tree is an extremely significant event we Christians need to understand. At first glance, one might think Jesus is upset with an actual tree that failed to feed Him when He was hungry, but the fig tree and its fruit play a much larger role.

When Jesus cursed the fig tree, He symbolically placed a curse on Israel. The fig tree (Israel) failed to bear fruit even though its leaves indicated it was in season (the appointed time for the coming of the Messiah). Due to its lack of fruit, the fig tree was cursed to wither. Likewise, Israel placing her trust in her religion rather than her Messiah led to her eventual destruction at the hands of the Romans in A.D. 70.

Now, let’s deal with what seems like the hard question here. Why did Jesus curse the fig tree if it was not the right season for figs?

I don't know a lot, but being from the country, I know that the fruit of the fig tree generally appears before the leaves and because the fruit is green it sort of blends in with the leaves right up until it's almost ripe. When Jesus approached the fig tree, the text indicates that the tree had plenty of leaves! Researching this idea, I found that R.K. Harrison, writing in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, explains that various kinds of figs grew in Palestine during the first century. One very important aspect of fig growth has to do with the relationship between the leaf and the fruit. Harrison notes that the tiny figs, known to the Arabs as taksh, “appear simultaneously in the leaf axils.” This taksh is edible and “is often gathered for sale in the markets.” Furthermore, he notes: “When the young leaves are appearing in spring, every fertile fig tree will have some taksh on it.... But if a tree with leaves has no fruit, it will be barren for the entire season.”

When Jesus approached the leafy fig tree, He had every reason to believe that something edible would be on it. However, after checking it out, Mark records that “He found nothing but leaves.” No taksh were budding, as they should have been if the tree was going to produce edible figs that year. The tree appeared to be fruitful, but it only had outward signs of bearing fruit (leaves) and in truth offered nothing of value to weary travelers.

Therefore, when Jesus and His disciples saw from a distance that the tree had leaves, they would have expected it to also have fruit on it even though it was earlier in the season than what would be normal for a fig tree to be bearing fruit. Because of the climate there, sometimes fig trees produced two to three crops of figs each season. There would be an early crop in the spring followed by one or two later crops. In some parts of the area, depending on climate and conditions, it was also possible that a tree might produce fruit ten out of twelve months! This also explains why Jesus and His disciples would be looking for fruit on the fig tree even if it weren't in the main growing season. The fact that the tree already had leaves on it even though it was at a higher elevation around Jerusalem would have seemed to be a good indication that there would also be fruit on it!

When we look at this story in its context, the barren fig tree seems to apply to the pretentious religion of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Following Jesus’ curse on the fig tree, the text says that Jesus went to Jerusalem and began to drive the moneychangers out of the temple (Mark 11:15-19). In essence, the activities in the temple that once had been fruitful and wholesome had become empty of value and useless. What was intended to be good had become bad because they (the religious people) began placing their trust in the activities, programs, and traditions rather than what all that was originally pointing to.

I guess here's the point of all this: if we are finding our identity in anything other than Jesus, we need to repent and turn from our ways! The religious people in Jesus day had began placing their trust in their religion rather than who their religion was pointing to, Jesus. As a people we need to make sure we aren’t following in those same footsteps. Let’s make it a point to seek to abide in Christ and pursue Him, the author and perfector of our faith.

What do you think about Work?

2009-10-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

Do you work? What do you think about it, working? Even if we don’t have a regular job to go to we end up finding ourselves working. There is always something that needs to be done, if not in a regular job, then around the house, or at a neighbor’s house, or at church.

The bottom line is that the Bible establishes the goodness of work early on in the book of Genesis. We can sum up that the very first thing that ever happened was “WORK!” Then by Genesis 2:1 we read this:

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

And what do we know about all this work? God said that it was… “good!"

As I was reading in Genesis it was amazing to me that from the very beginning God had a positive attitude. He had been working, and then He stepped back and said, “man that’s good!” Can you picture it? He was proud of what He had made, and his attitude reflected it! Coach Lou Holtz once said, "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."

Paul wrote in Colossians 3: 23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Work is inevitable. We are always going to work. There's no way around it. It is such a big part of our life people write songs about working. There's songs that talk about loving work and there's songs that talk about hating work. Our attitude towards that work is dependent upon our relationship with Christ. It is truly impossible to bear the fruit (attitudes) of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26) when we don't abide in Christ. John 15: 5 says, "I (Jesus) am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." This includes having the kind of attitude we need and dare I say want to have.

Just for kicks, what's your favorite song about working? Mine is "It's 5 o'clock somewhere" by Alan Jackson.

3 SIMPLE RULES FOR BUILDING AN ONLINE COMMUNITY

2009-09-28T13:47:00.001-07:00

1) Actually Care – Are you Friends on facebook and other social sites? Let’s face it, anybody can add numbers to their Twitter followers, but building an online community goes beyond that to caring holistically about the person. This involves doing what you can to get to know the person better. Not stalking them, but seeking to get to know them better. This won’t happen if you don’t care to begin with.

2) Respond/Comment – There’s no way you can get to know someone if you aren’t in communication with them. Communication is the key to establishing any relationship even if it is online. Ask questions; answer questions; encourage; support. Once you get to know someone then you can joke, but be careful joking at first. It's hard to hear the tone in someone's voice when you are only reading.

3) Move On – If someone isn’t in to you, then move on to someone that is. There are millions of people on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, and if only a fraction of those are interested in being your online buddy then that is still more than you need to actually be a friend. The beauty of social sites is that people who care can get connected and grow. Also, if they don't care, then you no longer have to follow.

So, how serious are you at building community online? Do you do it to feed an ego or to meet and get to know people?

My Prayer 4 You.

2009-09-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today as I was having my quiet time, I came across this Scripture. I've read it before, but it has never hit me the way it did today. When I had finished, I couldn't stop reading back over it. As the afternoon progressed, just as Paul was using it as a prayer for the Philippian church, I began to pray it for my church, friends, and family. I thought that I would share it with you...

"God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:8-11).

I wish I would have been able to write this myself, but it truly is my heart. I love you all, and am so thankful to serve Jesus along side each of you .

NO MORE BREAKFAST?

2009-09-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Absolutely hilarious. Enjoy...

Some of this sounds good, but some of it is scary. I've never had sugar and grits, but I would have a hard time not having eggs, biscuits, and bacon. Please Lord, let there be bacon and eggs in Heaven...

ready to die?

2009-09-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

Recently at Valley View we've been looking at Spiritual Fruit and the idea that to produce Spiritual Fruit or have the right attitudes (that's what the fruit are), we must abide in Christ. I got this from the John text that says, Jesus is the vine, we are the branch, and God is the Gardener (John 15:1-17). I feel like most of us understand the vine and branch metaphor that Scripture uses to portray our relationship with Christ, but there's always difficulty in applying it. I think this is mainly because it's so easy to say we are attached to Christ, but in order for us to abide in Christ something crazy has to happen – we must get over ourselves. Paul says it a little more radically, in that we must die to ourselves (1 Corinthians 15:31).

The glue, if you will, that allows us to abide in or be grafted into the vine (Jesus), is dying to ourselves. The obvious problem with being living sacrifices is that because we are alive and kicking, we must be intentional not to crawl off the altar table. For example it will take some work for me if I am going to allow myself to die each morning. I mean, that's not a natural thing for us to be okay with! But the bottom line, is that for us to be grafted into and receive the abundant life that Jesus offers we must abide in Him - die to ourselves so we can be made alive in Him.

One of my favorite Scripture is John 12:23-25 which virtually says the same thing,

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."  

There’s so much good stuff here for us to talk about, but Jesus is basically telling His disciples that to live they need to die. I know this isn’t the most comfortable teaching because most of us aren’t in a big hurry to die. We may say we want to see Jesus, but when it all comes down to it, dying doesn’t seem like much fun. As odd as it is, some of my favorite OLD hymns have to do with dying. How many of you know the hymns "When the roll is called up yonder," or "When we all get to heaven?" I love those songs! They're fun to sing! But when the time comes to cross the great divide, even the most spiritual tend not to be too homesick. We’ve grown accustomed to this world! We’ve trained ourselves to defend our lives, our loved ones, and our possessions. In essence we’ve trained ourselves to survive.

And yet, Jesus tells us our very usefulness - our fruitfulness for God - is tied to our willingness to surrender our lives and die for Him. So here's my question, are you willing to die to yourself? What's holding you back? To be honest, I always want to, I just forget to. I guess I need to make it a greater priority... Do you?

sad yet hopeful

2009-08-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Today’s been a hard day. I woke up early to get to my first meeting at 8:00, and then spent the next several hours casting vision and sharing dreams about Valley View (the church I pastor) to the folks I was meeting with. I left to rush home to have 2 more phone meetings, and then the last phone call that I was going to make was to my dad to get him to pray for the things that I have felt heavily called to participate in and hopefully get my church to participate in. Enter here the conversation that no one wants to hear… My dad informed me that a dear friend to him and our family committed suicide.

Now to be blunt with you, he wasn’t my best friend. I can count the times on both hands that I’ve talked with him, but he was good to my dad – real good. My dad has undergone brain and open-heart surgery, and in both of those major times in his life, our family friend was there to support and encourage him. When my dad needed a friend, he was there.

And I guess that’s why I’m as sad as I am over his sudden and tragic death. A good man that helped others, at the time he possibly needed it most, had no one around to help him. I don’t blame anyone that this happened – our friend suffered from major depression. He was even getting help! BUT help wasn’t there when he needed it. Or possibly in my attempt to stretch to understand his thought process, help was there - just not in a way that anyone with normal thoughts and feelings would be thinking of.

But this angers me and truthfully makes me want to vomit! What possibly could go through someone’s mind where they truly believe that the only way things could be better is to end it all? What has to happen for death to truly seem better than life? And even more complex than that, how can our brains actually convince us that death is a solution to any problem? And… why do we make it a solution?

Anyway, this afternoon I posted on Twitter and Facebook to remember my family and all those affected by this morning’s bad news. Strangely, I was met with tons of individuals that could relate to knowing someone who has ended their own life. Literally, as I read the stories that were similar and even heard stories of others within the past several days that have lost loved ones, my heart grew increasingly heavy and my eyes filled with tears. Before I knew it I was lost and overwhelmed with the realization that we truly live in a broken and hurting world.

In that moment of agonizing reality, it was clear that everyone has a story. And if we’re honest about that story, there is a lot of pain had, a lot of tears shed, and our hearts have been broken. You know, I can’t begin to imagine some of the painful experiences that some of you have had. And for what it’s worth, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry you have experienced loss and have felt the pain of losing friends, families, and even dreams.

And as much as I want to wrestle with the question, “why do bad things happen to good people?” I think that’s the wrong question for me to be asking at this time. Possibly at any time. I think the question I should ask is “when bad things, happen how am I going to respond?” Maybe that’s the question we all need to ask ourselves. For me, I’m going to forgive the world for not being perfect, I’m going to seek greater ways to reach out to the people around me, and I’m going to keep living a hopeful life.

This doesn’t mean I’m not going to mourn. I am, and I will. To not mourn essentially means to not deal with something. However, what it does mean and what my prayer for my life is, is that I’ll place my hope in Christ, His blood and righteousness, that “I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name. When darkness seems to hide His face, I’ll rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay. When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found. Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand.”

Heavenly Father, be merciful to Your children. When the world is calling our names, may our spirit shriek at anything that isn’t of You. Keep us safe Lord Jesus. Be our strength when we are weak, and may we never forget the promise that in this world we will see and experience hard times, but that we don’t have to fear, for You have overcome the world. You have defeated death, and made a way where we can live life abundantly and fully not just after we die, but now – in this very moment. And for that, thank you Jesus. Thank you, that by Your blood, we are healed. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

For more information regarding depression and suicide please click HERE.

Jesus IS...

2009-08-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

JESUS is Everlasting Hope, Mighty Warrior, the Prince of Peace, the Beginning and the End, Gracious, Redeemer, Merciful, Friend, King of kings, Creator, Chief Cornerstone, the Christ, Eternal Life, Life, Lord of lords, Master, Great High Priest, the Bright and Morning Star, Only Begotten Son of God, Holy, Immanuel, Righteous, Truth, and Mediator.

His hope does not disappoint; His peace can calm the wildest sea; He has gone before us and His Word will be the last; He forgives sin; He makes all things new; He truly is with us at all times; every king will bow down to Him; He created the Heavens and the Earth; the foundation of God’s Kingdom is anchored and based on Him; through Him we can live forever; through Him we can live life in this very moment to the fullest; He is over everything; He is the best preacher of all times; His light can brighten the darkest of nights; He is God’s only Son; He is excellent; He delivers the things He promises; He is morally right; His word does not come back void; and He sits at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf.

The JESUS I’m talking about loves you more than you can ever begin to understand. No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, nothing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can make Him love you any more or any less. He loves you! He always has and He always will. And because of that we can say He’s not fair, but He IS holy and gracious and merciful.

And based off my own experience with this great Lord, Friend, and King, I am compelled to cry “Abba” Father, here am I! Use me as You want! I trust You! You are the greatest of all greats and more awesome than any other awesome. You not only “had me at hello,” You had me when You never gave up on me. Because of You I can face tomorrow. Because of You all fear is gone. Because I know You hold the future, I will live my life for You until I die.

Jesus, help me to never forget all of this. In Christ’s Name alone, Amen!

God vs. Darwin

2009-07-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I didn't really know there was such a thing as evolution. And when I first heard about it, I was completely shocked that anyone actually believed that God didn't create the Heaven's, Earth, and everything in it. Other beliefs were just absurd to me, and although I don't remember talking with my parents about evolution, I'm sure if we had a discussion on it, it would have went something like the cartoon.

As I've gotten older and talked with people from all over the world about it, I've realized that more and more people actually believe in evolution. Truthfully, I haven't spent a whole lot of time on the subject, although I've read a few books on it, but it hasn't been something that I'm too interested in studying. Especially since I believe that God created...period.

Well, this afternoon, Alyson and I watched the movie, Expelled. Below is the trailer for the movie - so interesting. If you have never watched it, I would totally recommend watching it. If nothing else, to begin dialogue.

What was interesting to me, is that Ben Stein's movie seemed to be a fair discussion between the two debates, and either shocking or not, Mr. Stein concludes that he believes in Intelligent Design. Actually what I got out of the movie is that he believes that God created, and that things have had minor changes over time. The coolest part is that Mr. Stein interviewed tons of scientist, and not just Christian ones for this documentary to come up with his conclusion.

Anyway, what do you believe? I know I'm biased, but I find it easier to believe that something way BIGGER than me (God) created everything than believe in a once in a never chance of something being created out of nothing.

your church can't save you!

2009-07-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

I recently found myself around a couple people who seem to hold denominations a little too high for their own good. Unfortunately, this is a problem that I have seen for years in many local churches. My reaction to these kind of people are always the same - shock and hurt.

Over the years a question that continues to come up in my mind is, “why do so many people hold denominations in such high regard?” Please know up front I pastor a Baptist church. However, I still like to wrestle and study up on questions and thought processes that I hear people around me discussing.

Denomination’s, as I understand them, main differences have nothing to do with fundamental truths of Scripture but about particular points that make no one any more or less Christian to begin with. For instance, to be a Christian, we must admit we are sinners, believe Christ is the Son of God, confess we need/want Christ in our life, and then pursue Christ daily at all costs. Current denominations exist for the “pursuit” process, but it seems as though many denomination’s congregants seem to pursue the denomination more than Christ. And here really lies the problem for me. Why is that?

As I have pursued Christ and researched the Scriptures, everything seems to point to “one” church or “one” body (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 1: 22; 4:4). And on top of that, Jesus seemed to speak wherever the people would listen, and Paul would travel around preaching in every church (1 Corinthians 4:17). If there were denominations in the First Century, Paul and Jesus didn’t seem to think much of them. I mean Christ kept praying for unity (John 17: 20-26), and Paul preached that we would agree with one another so there wouldn’t be any division (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). Yet people continue to persist that their denomination is most correct and that to lose a denominational name would be to lose one’s identity.

I'm not saying here that denominations shouldn't exist. I'll probably always go to and pastor a Baptist church unless God calls me elsewhere. However none of us should allow our denomination or church define us and give us our identity. My prayer is that my family, friends, and church find our identity and hope in Christ and not a denomination. In the end, in the very end, a denomination will send you to hell, whereas Jesus Saves (Acts 4:12)!

What do you think?

txt 10 commandments

2009-06-21T16:46:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine sent me this not too long ago. I have been seeing it on several other blogs so I thought I would post it too. Pretty clever - wish I would have thought of this first! Below is a list of the 10 Commandments and how we would have gotten them if God had texted them to Moses. Can you figure them out? I guess I'm not up with the current text lingo. I didn't know some of these...

GOD TEXTS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

1. no1 b4 me. srsly.

2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omg's
4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)
5. pos ok - ur m&d r cool
6. dnt kill ppl
7. :-X only w/ m8
8. dnt steal
9. dnt lie re: bf
10. dnt ogle ur bf's m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.

M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl.

ttyl, JHWH.

ps. wwjd?

(HT: McSweeny)

Ninja! hiiii-ya!

2009-06-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious! Just thought you may want a little something something to keep you smiling today. If you watched this video in its entirety and now consider yourself a ninja, you are responsible for your own actions. So please, "don't go ninjing nobody that don't need ninjing!"

Cussing Pastor

2009-06-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't felt the best today. I think my allergies are starting to act up a little. But as I have been lying around here, apart from going out for a late lunch, I've been reading tons of blogs. Somedays, I need to get revitalized and this is one of the ways I do it - reading blogs and catching up on random people's lives (as I look back over that sentence, it sounds kind of crazy. oh well, it's true).

Anyway today I came across a blog and it had this excerpt from Ed Young, Jr. He is talking about pastors who use what he calls "cool" words or words that people think are cool. Does your pastor use these words? What do you think about what he is saying? Would love to hear from you!

Miracle Maker

2009-06-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

This weeks been an awesome week for me. I left Sunday after church to go to Student Life camp with our youth, came back on Wednesday to preach a sermon, preached another on Thursday, been in meetings most of today, and now putting together a sermon for Sunday. I love being busy, and I love having the opportunity and pleasure of sharing the Gospel "Great News" message of Jesus!

I know I have mentioned something like this before, but I seriously can't hear the redemptive message of Jesus without being overwhelmed with awe and tears. This week at youth camp, I had the amazing opportunity to see Jesus work in 14 of the youth at our church, and hundreds of youth from all across the south (I think that's where most of the people were from). I found myself being overwhelmed with the awesomeness of Jesus each night and wishing you all could be with me and watch the miracles Jesus was continuing to act in the lives of these youth.

Literally, Jesus has proven to me over and over and over just how much of a miracle worker He is. Thank you Jesus for working miracles in my life. Thank you Jesus for providing hope for the FUTURE and hope for TODAY. Thank you Jesus for entrusting me to bear Your Name. Thank you that your mercies renewed this morning, and they will tomorrow morning and all the mornings after that. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to speak your name, the name that brings freedom and the name that one day ever knee will bow and tongue will profess that is Lord. Thank you for reminding me this week that You aren't through with us yet!

Jesus is truly the miracle maker! Has Jesus worked a miracle in your life or someone you know? Please let me know... Let's encourage one another!

Below is one of my favorite songs by "Delirious?".

Who is Jesus?

2009-05-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

For the most part it seems that most people, Christians included, do not fully understand who Jesus is. Many Churches and Christians portray Jesus as some weak and unloving individual. I am truly convinced that if we could understand just how much Jesus loves us we would act and live differently. Not that we would live more "holier" but we would live in freedom and excitement that Jesus is the God who loves unconditionally; we would worship out of pure joy and love for our Creator and not fear.

One church in particular did a spoof on how they picture the world sees Jesus. Here it is...

How do you see Jesus? Is this video an accurate portrayal of the God you serve? If so, then I'm afraid you don't know the Jesus I know and am getting to know better.

honest confessions/ramblings of a preacher.

2009-05-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

It's May 22, and I'm sitting in Starbucks pondering the church I work at and serve Jesus in. For you that don't know, I work in a small church (around 100 average worship attendance). I know that shocks some of you, or maybe not, but to some extent I like that we're small. However I don't believe for one minute that we're going to stay that size, and I hope we don't.

My heart is abnormally heavy for my East Nashville community this morning. Maybe it's because I actually believe there's a hell and people will die and go there; maybe it's because I'm selfish and wish I had a larger church; maybe it's because I feel that to not consistently have a heavy heart means that I'm not a "good" pastor or Christian; maybe it's because in my heart I really love people despite being hurt over and over by them; or maybe it's because I enjoy and long to see smiles and hear laughter.

As a pastor, the questions that I have to constantly ask myself are: Do I trust Jesus enough to speak truth when it's not popular? Am I willing to sacrifice myself in the pulpit for causes I may not deem important, but Jesus does? Am I acting as a servant leader or an egotistical leader? If love wins, am I loving? Can I get over myself for the good of the church? How can I lovingly tell people to get over themselves for the good of the church?

My prayer this morning: Jesus, please fill all the churches in my community with people not agendas. May the truth of your Gospel be spoken, so those people are filled with hopes and dreams, in a time when that's seemingly nonexistent. May we fall at Your feet and worship You in ways that don't make sense at the heartfelt knowledge that You alone will never leave us, nor forsake us, and that in the end You have the last word and are victorious. Great is Your love that's poured out for us; Servant King you've rescued us, and You've bought us at a price that no one or thing could outbid. Thank you for seeing us as someone worth Your life. May we seek to serve You and make You famous, because You lived Your life to transform us and give us hope to face the day. In Christ Name I ask these things, Amen.

nine ways God speaks

2009-05-09T14:09:00.001-07:00

I'm supposed to be studying my sermon for tomorrow's Mother's Day service, but I can't put down the book Nine Ways God Always Speaks, by my friend Jennifer Schuchmann and her friend Mark Herringshaw. Seriously, this book is a must read! I can't seem to get off my couch and stop reading this book. Although I'm not ready to write my review on it yet, I can tell you that this book is tackling the questions and thought processes that I have always asked and wondered about God in how He converses with us.

I mean, at the heart of our faith we all want to understand God more fully, or at least understand how we can discern God's voice, right? The problem seems to be for so many of us that we feel awkward because we don't know if we've actually heard from God or what it would even sound like if God did speak to us, so we choose to keep all possible conversations with God on the hush hush! However, Scripture says that God's children WILL KNOW His voice when they hear it. As a Christian I believe what the Scriptures tell me, but is it possible to hear from God in the meantime through friends, signs, nature, etc. while we wait on the more obvious audible word from God?

If you've been wanting to hear from God for the first, second, third, or hundredth time, this book is ridiculously entertaining and life altering as it points the reader to various directions for him/her to explore hearing from God. I can't wait to finish the book and let you know my thoughts on the finished product. In the meantime, I want to hear from you... Does God speak to you? If so, then what does He say or has He said? If not do you want to hear from God?

Wednesday of next week (after church) I'll randomly pick a winner from your responses and send you a free copy of the book! Make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch... Can't wait to hear your God stories!!!

Football vs. Jesus

2009-04-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

So John Piper is pretty much one of my favorite pastors in the world. I watched something on him this morning and felt the urge to watch several more YouTubes of him! I found the one below and watched it several times trying to figure out what I think. Interesting enough, a little bit of what he is saying is what I am preaching in my message Sunday morning on "Celebration." However John seems to say it in a little more powerful way.

Would love to hear your comments on this video. Is John Piper right or has he gone too far?

"umbrella" (Jesus style)

2009-04-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

This morning in my quiet time, for whatever reason I started searching on youtube for a video for something to watch that could jump start my morning. I found what I was needing, and I thought I would share it with you all.

This is a remix of Rihanna's song "umbrella." Listen to the words and let me know what you think...

The Son burst forth today!

2009-04-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

What a day. This morning was possibly the earliest I have gotten up in a long time - I got up around 5:20! The reason being is that I needed to get to the Easter Sunrise Service at my church. My wife (Alyson) typically gets up around 5:00 every morning, so it wasn’t anything new to her.

But this morning on our way to church, I was struck by the beauty of the sunrise. I wish I had a picture of it, however I forgot my phone at home (that’s what happens when a non-early riser is forced to get up early – they hurry around and forget things!). Yet I can tell you that as I was driving to church I was moved to tears. It has literally been a while since I have seen a sunrise.

As Alyson and I were driving we listened to a CD with a medley compilation that my good friend Rick White gave me that he and his church put together. Just as the morning sun began blinding me as I drove, the song hit it’s climax with “There in the Ground his body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain, THEN BURSTING FORTH IN GLORIOUS DAY, UP FROM THE GRAVE HE ROSE AGAIN (In Christ Alone).” Tears streamed down my face, as I realized that today was truly going to be a day to remember.

And it was.

(Alyson took this picture the other day while also listening to the same song while driving to work!)

2009 definition of Easter

2009-04-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

As much as I love the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, etc. I always have a hard time around the holidays. It’s almost like I want to celebrate and enjoy the silliness of Easter baskets, fun toys, and my personal favorite – envelopes with money – but at the same time I am left wondering do these fun things distract away from more than add to the real reason for the holiday.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast growing up in North Carolina painting Easter Eggs at my Aunt Karen’s house, and I still understood the true meaning of Easter – my parents made sure of that! But as I continue to get older, the more it seems that either parents aren’t emphasizing the true meaning of holidays anymore and/or our Christian culture has de-emphasized the meanings.

When I was a kid, in 1979, the definition of Easter seemed to be – the holiday celebrating Jesus’ victory over death symbolized by the Easter bunny’s victory over my parents by allowing me to receive and eat as much chocolate as I wanted.

However, now, in 2009, I feel like the definition of Easter is - the Easter bunny died three days ago, but came back to give us Cadbury eggs to celebrate while we wear pastel colors and eat ham (or whatever meat or vegetable you want to place here).

Whether we love wearing pastel colors, eating chocolate, or both, I feel like we need to be careful in what we teach our kids or communicate to those around us the meaning of Easter is. It just seems to me that on many occasions, we can find ourselves having so much fun with things that aren't that important we leave out the things that are. Trust me, I love having fun! I just want us to have fun while keeping focused...

Am I totally off base here? What do you think? Does the Easter bunny take away from or add to the true story of Easter? Has Christian culture allowed for the secular views of each holiday to completely take over? Is that ok? Is it bad? Should we be made to give our candy back this year? Would love to hear what you all think!

10 Things You Need To Know About Money

2009-04-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

1) It’s not yours – it’s Gods. We are temporary stewards (Genesis 1). God claims the right to all property (Psalm 24:1).

2) It can become a god. We cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24).

3) Money cannot buy happiness. More doesn’t mean better (Luke 12:15).

4) There IS enough money to make this world a better place. If Christians tithed they could meet global need. (2 Cor. 8: 13-15).

5) It’s the hardest thing to give up. Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24). The Bible talks about money three times more than it talks about love, seven times more than it talks about prayer, and eight times more than it talks about belief.

6) Tithe is the starting point of a Christian’s obedience. Tithing is a test of our obedience and faith – a test we can’t fake or cheat on (Malachi 3:6-12).

7) Don’t give your money to every ministry. Give to the ministries you will commit to pray for and believe in!

8) Debt is bad. You will become servant to the lender instead of God (Proverbs 22:7).

9) The stock market is not God. Capitalism might be the best economic system our government can put in place, it shouldn't be the guiding force for those of us in the church (2 Cor. 9: 8-11).

10) Giving is an act of worship. Give generously and cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:7).

bringing simple back

2009-04-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my wife and I babysat Elias Turner. Some of you may read his parent's (Matthew or Jessica) blogs or follow Elias on twitter. When my wife told me Elias was coming over to play, I immediately began worrying about what in the heck we were going to do. We don’t have any fun toys to play with. I mean, the last time he came over, I had to let him play with the remote control. But this time, we lucked out. Matthew brought over a puppet.

As we all played with this dog puppet, Elias couldn’t stop laughing and giggling. As I've thought about our fun 15 minutes of play time together I was reminded of two things: (1) I'm not as funny as a dog puppet, and (2) so many of us have forgotten about the simple things in life. As I get older, the simple things I once used to enjoy as a kid has turned into much more complex things (blackberry phones and iphones, wii, etc.). But you know what? It's okay to love and play with simple things, and I intend on bringing them back into my life. That simple and inexpensive dog puppet brought so much joy to Elias. When I was younger, the simple things brought me tons of joy too.

So my question to you all is this, what is or was, the simplest thing that brings joy into your life? For me, it’s chopsticks! I love rockin’ out at the dinner table with my chopsticks when we are in some Asian restaurant (that is until Alyson takes them away from me). Whatever that simple thing is, enjoy it, and be a kid again. You deserve it.

NACHO LIBRE

2009-03-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

I have to say, my favorite movie of all time has to be Nacho Libre. I don't know why really other than it is absolutely hilarious. Anyway, I thought I would post a clip of it below. If you haven't seen this movie, you totally need to. I seriously watch it at least once a week. Enjoy, and thanks Jack Black for being so stinkin' funny!

Is school out?

2009-03-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

The older I get the more I believe that most Christians seem to go to Church right before they get saved, and right after they get saved but very quickly, it seems like they get to the point where they believe they have learned all they need to know. And like the kids in the movie Dazed and Confused who just graduated high school, their theme song seems to be Alice Cooper’s song, “school’s out for summer, school’s out for ever.” Just like these kids in the movie who believe that their studying days are over, I believe some Christians feel like they’ve graduated and no longer need to study the Scriptures.

No more do they study the Scriptures like they should – if anything they study sports to get ready for things like the NCAA tournament bracket pick (I’m currently beating my wife this season, just sayin’). No more does a fire burn within their heart to passionately seek Christ – if anything they seek things of the world to make themselves feel good for all the junk in their life. No more are they excited about things of church – if anything they are excited about the football game or race that is coming on right after church. No more do they seek the Scriptures to grow in wisdom - if anything they watch Oprah and Dr. Phil to find life’s answers.

And then Christians seem to wonder why the World is the way it is. We wonder why we continue to mess up and life continues to get harder and harder. We wonder why in the heat of battle we don’t feel God’s presence. We wonder why we are finding it harder and harder to be joyful. You know I have found that if Christ is not the center of our lives, if His word is not the starting and ending point to where we find our source of strength, encouragement, and hope, then we will NEVER find ourselves where we want to be.

As I have studied the spiritual discipline of “study” I have found a lot about why many of us aren’t living the lives we so want to live – we aren’t studying! The purpose of the spiritual disciplines is to bring about a total transformation in our lives. They aim at replacing old destructive habits of thought with new life-giving thoughts.

The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 12:2 that we are transformed by the renewal of the mind. To be blunt with you the mind is only renewed by applying it to the things that will transform it. So what does that mean, it means we have to study the things that can transform us. No wonder Paul writes in Philippians 4:8, “Finally brethren, what is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is holy, whatever is gracious, if there is excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, THINK about these things.” The Discipline of Study is the way we think about those things.

We can learn a lot here about Bible Study from the Bereans (Acts 17:11). God called these people “noble” which means “excellent.” In other words, God gave them a star, a smiley face, an A+ for their Bible Study. They dedicated their lives to studying the Scripture, and God called them excellent! How can we get to the point where God calls us excellent? Or better, yet what was the key item that made the Bereans more excellent than the Thessalonians? STUDY. Please don’t think for one minute that the Thessalonians were horrible people. Paul writes to them and prays for them saying ”we (Timothy and he) thank God without ceasing, because, when you (Thessalonians) received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works in you that believe” (1 Thess. 2:13). The difference is that the Bereans received the word of God, but they also went home and studied it.

In the Old Testament days, the Scripture instructed the Israelites to write the Laws and Scriptures on gates and doorposts and bind them to their wrist so they would constantly see them (Deuteronomy 11:18). The purpose of that was to get the mind to look repeatedly and regularly toward certain modes of thought about God and human relationships. However, in the New Testament it replaces the laws and Scriptures written on doorposts to laws written on the heart and leads us to Jesus.

One thing that is clear to me, at least from my own study and the Scripture is that our thoughts that are formed will conform to the things being studied. What we study therefore determines the kind of habits we form, which is why Paul urges us to focus on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious.

So my question is, what are you studying? I like Alice Cooper's song, but I can honestly say this, School ain't out. It won't ever be.

Is your pastor a prisoner?

2009-03-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Recently I’ve had a hard time blogging (as if you can’t tell from it being over 2 weeks since my last post). I don’t know why really except to say that I’ve been spending tons of time with my wife and trying to focus on what matters most in life, my relationship with God. But during this time of an unannounced, unplanned sabbatical, I have watched and read blogs about people who have written about how they have let their blogs feed their ego and control their self-worth.

I have prayed that the same wouldn’t happen to me. So far, I can say it hasn’t. But what I can say is that my Twitter account has controlled a lot of my self-esteem. And even now as I type this, a part of me hopes that some of you who don’t have a Twitter account will go get one and add me to your friend lists. I don’t have many Twitter friends (compared to some others) but I have enough that when I post this blog on my Twitter account several hundred will read it. In a weird way that kind of makes me want to vomit and it also makes me happy.

As I have thought about Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace (my primary social networking sites) I have come to the conclusion that what makes me love these three tools so much is that I love community. I can’t get enough of it! In reality though, normal people want to be in community and that’s why so many people spend so much time on these social sites! Like the cartoon indicates, many people (pastors being a large portion of those) find engaging the people in their church a huge obstacle and so they use the internet to find their community.

But truth be told, it’s hard as a pastor to be in community with the people at your church. Alyson and I are intentionally having to make some big decisions (move closer to the church, etc.) to help create the kind of community we long for. Yet most of the time the people around us don’t seem to want us at their parties, cookouts, etc. For some reason, I truly believe that many people think pastors actually care about what they serve or talk about at their house. Pastors are normal people (we aren’t perfect by any means) and if yours has made you feel like he isn’t normal, then I would suggest finding another church! I mean I would be lying if I said I always sat around my house and thought of holy things!

I realize people in my congregation are going to read this and think I’m talking about them. And for the most part, I’m not. The people at my church are great. We have our issues and problems for sure, but they actually invite me and want me to come to stuff – sometimes too often. But this isn’t just about me it’s about your pastor too.

Any pastor worth their grain of salt wants to be a part of your life in some fashion. If they don’t, then they aren’t pastors! Why would you want to let someone speak into your life, if they don’t really care about your life? You wouldn’t! But don’t be offended if they can’t spend four hours with you on Sunday afternoon, or any other time. Pastors have families that they need to take care of, but they also need community – and this goes beyond their “blood” family. No one can live in isolation and survive, and that includes your pastor. If you don’t believe me, ask any prisoner!

The problem with pastor’s and isolation is that, unlike prisoners, most pastors didn’t make horrible choices to put them in the position of being isolated. Instead, they courageously responded to the call of the Lord and now the devil is using some good meaning, church loving individuals to make them pay for it. Don’t let the devil use you as an accomplice in his handiwork. Make the decision today, to do your part in keeping your pastor in community and away from isolation.

Think Fast!

2009-03-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

Part Three of the "Livin' the Dream" series was on fasting. Below is a recap:

I know that most of you ARE NOT LIVING THE DREAM. Things may be going good, and there may not be any major “wants” in your life, but you aren’t living the “dream.” You know as well as I know that things could be better.

Truly “Livin’ the Dream” doesn’t include big houses, fancy cars, and designer clothes. It’s not a life only for professional athletes, movie stars, and corporate executives. It’s a life for all of us who are followers of Christ. I’ve mentioned it before but John 10:10 states that, “The thief (enemy) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they (you) may have life, and have it to the full.” We CAN live the dream.

But that means we must pursue Christ. We must make Christ a part of which we are, part of the very fabric of who we are. The spiritual disciplines aid us in this process. “Fasting” is one of those disciplines. Jesus talked about “fasting,” and the Gospel of Matthew has what He said. Matthew 6: 16-18 states, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

If we look at that Scripture in its context, it seems to indicate that fasting is as much a part of the Christian life as giving and praying (Right before our text Jesus talks about prayer, right after tithing). But interesting enough Jesus says, “when you fast,” not “if.” Is He then commanding us to fast? I really don’t think so. Jesus was teaching a group of people who commonly practiced fasting. For instance, most of the Jews fasted twice a week. So, although Jesus didn’t say, “you must” fast, he did say, “when you fast.” What does this mean to us? It seems obvious to me that Jesus assumed that his followers would make fasting a part of their life if they wanted to remain spiritually healthy. He wouldn’t have to say you must fast if fasting was understood. Right? I mean I don’t have to say you must brush your teeth to be healthy. But I can say when you brush your teeth because it is obvious that to live life healthily you will brush your teeth. The same would have been true with fasting in Jesus day – it was understood that fasting was what people did.

Most of us here share a deep desire to be more intimate, more devoted to God. But something gets in the way of that devotion doesn’t it? I mean, truth be told, the desire we all have to give our hearts to God is shared with our desire for other things – our spouses, our children, sports and entertainment, going to the movies, going out to eat, people watching, etc. One of my favorite pastor’s, John Piper, states, “the weakness of our hunger for God is not because He is unsavory but because we keep ourselves stuffed with other things.” In other words, we are so full on food & entertainment that we have no appetite left for God.

For example, I can spend all day long cleaning the house, washing the dishes, and washing and folding clothes for Alyson, that if I’m not too careful I can be so tired of doing things for her, that I am too tired to spend time with her.
Fasting is that discipline which tries to recapture our hunger for God. It says to God, I am willing to forgo anything in order to be in your presence. It provides an atmosphere where we are prepared to face up to the dulling effects of food and all those things that we continually nibble on. It says that although we love all the wonderful gifts in our lives, we love the Giver so much more.

As we “fast” we get to know the Giver. As we “fast” we understand what it means that Jesus is the bread of life and the spring of living water – without Him we truly can’t survive.

Have you ever fasted? What was your experience like?

livin' on a prayer

2009-03-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

Part Two of the sermon series on "Livin' the Dream" was on prayer. Below is a recap:

There is always something we can learn about prayer. I truly have been reminded of that lately; I have heard tons of stories about how prayer changes lives. But that shouldn’t shock me. If it weren’t so, there wouldn’t be so many references to prayer in the Scripture.

As I read this Scripture over and over this week, it became ever so clear to me that it truly is God's will that we pray to him. Literally Colossians 4:2 says, "Devote yourselves to prayer." In case you are wondering what this really is meaning and saying, it says “YOU MUST PRAY!” It’s not a suggestion; it’s a command that God places on our lives. If we are going to live life in abundance; if we are going to live life fully; if we are going to live the dream (meaning be in God’s will), we must devote ourselves to prayer.

But you know what’s so great about God? It’s that He loves for us to come to Him and ask Him for things. God knows we are dependent upon Him and so He wants nothing other than to always be that source of dependence. And, so He desires for us to ask for whatever we need. Scripture says, he delights in our prayers! Proverbs 15:8 literally says, “the prayer of the upright is His delight.”

Interesting enough, not only does our prayers make God happy, but He’s also excited at answering our prayers. Isaiah 65:24 declares that God is so eager to hear and answer our prayers that, “before they (us) call, I (God) will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” Out of all the people in the world (there is approximately 7 billion), God is so excited to hear our prayers that He hears the whole prayer while we are praying and begins to answer our request before we have even finished our asking.

Pastor John Piper says it best, “The Creator of the Universe, who holds our life in his hands and rules the world, is the kind of God who loves us to the point that he wants us to ask him for things.” Revelation 5:8 even states that God loves our prayers so much that they are like incense to Him. If God loves prayer that much, I think we should pray as often as possible don’t you?

But that becomes a problem for a lot of us. Some of us have prayed prayers and because we didn’t feel like they were answered we felt defeated and started thinking that maybe prayer doesn’t work. And so our prayer time with God began to dwindle to something we do out of habit only right before we eat – if even then. For some of us our prayers have even been deduced to quick one-liners, all because we doubt if prayer is effective. However, it seems to me that most of the people who say that prayer isn’t effective are the very ones who don’t pursue Christ. I mean, part of truly pursuing Christ means we are to the point where we truly accept the answer He gives rather than not listening till we hear the answer we want.

Some of the most devout followers of God have written things like: “Early will I seek Thee” (David, Psalm 63:1); In Acts 6:4 the apostles vowed that they would give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word; “I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer” (Martin Luther); “God does nothing but in answer to prayer” (John Wesley); and I Could go on and on…

But you see, real prayer is something we learn. The disciples asked Jesus in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray.” They had prayed all their lives, and yet as they watched Jesus pray, the realized they hadn’t figured it all out yet. Richard Foster, says, “It was liberating to me to understand that prayer involved a learning process. I was set free to question, to experiment, even to fail, for I knew I was learning.”

So my question is this, are you still learning to pray, or have you given up on it?

Be a kid again!

2009-02-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

Saw this list, and it made me smile. I hope it does you too. I didn't come up with the list, although reading it, I think I could have. I was reminded of when I was a kid. My favorite thing in the summer was to ride on my dad's lap while he mowed the grass on our "snapper" lawnmower. In the winter, I loved making snowmen and snow animals with my mom. Here is a picture of my parents and me with a snow bear we made! WHAT MEMORIES!

Below is a list of things you can do to be a kid again. Any of these bring back memories? What's your favorite?

Do a cartwheel.
Sing into your hairbrush.
Walk barefoot in wet grass.
Play a song you like really loud, over and over.
Dot all your “i”’s with smiley faces.
Read the funnies. Throw the rest of the paper away.
Dunk your cookies.
Play a game where you make up the rules as you go along.
Step carefully over sidewalk cracks.
Change into some play clothes.
Try to get someone to trade you a better sandwich.
Eat ice cream for breakfast.
Kiss a frog, just in case.
Blow the wrapper off a straw.
Have someone read you a story.
Find some pretty stones and save them.
Wear your favorite shirt with you favorite pants even if they don’t match.
Take a running jump over a big puddle.
Get someone to buy you something you really don’t need.
Hide your vegetables under your napkin.
Stay up past your bedtime.
Eat dessert first.
Fuss a little, then take a nap.
Wear red gym shoes.
Put way too much sugar on your cereal.
Make cool screeching noises every time you turn a corner.
Giggle a lot for no reason.
Give yourself a gold star for everything you do today.

Jesus Doesn't Have Laryngitis!

2009-02-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

Part One of the sermon series on “Livin’ the Dream” was on meditation. Below is a recap:

Despite all the fame and cool stuff the Beatles had, they realized that material success was not enough to fill the void in their lives. So they went to India to meet with Maharashi Mahesh Yogi – the developer of Transcendental Meditation – to hope to find a way to fill this void. As a result of the Beatles popularity and their interest in meditation other movie stars, musicians, and millionaires sought out this guy. In the process, meditation became popular. And so when we think of meditation, we usually think of the Eastern forms of meditation, where people try to empty their minds and detach themselves from the world.

As a matter of fact, if you stop the average person on the street and ask them about meditation, more than likely they’ll talk about sitting cross-legged, reciting a mantra, and attempting to enter a state of "nothingness." Unfortunately it seems that many Christians are convinced that meditation is bad because they identify it with New Age practices such as Yoga, the occult, eastern religions, and smoking pot.

Interesting enough, even though the Maharashi started Transcendental Meditation, he wasn’t the first to meditate. Matter of fact it’s a biblical idea. The word "meditate" or "meditation" appears about 58 times in the Bible. In Christian meditation, rather than emptying our minds like some of the Eastern Religions teach, we fill our minds with God ALONE and focus on Him. Really, meditation is simply a deeper form of prayer. For instance, most people define prayer as talking to God. Meditation can be defined as listening to God.

As early in the Scriptures as Genesis 24:63 we're told that Isaac “went out to the field to meditate.” And then the Psalm that introduces the entire Psalter (book of Psalms), calls everybody to copy and mimic the “blessed person” who meditates on the Scriptures day and night!

Is this something we do? I mean, as I read the Scriptures, it seems as though all the great saints of the Bible meditated! They not only talked to God (prayed), but they listened to God (meditated) and waited for God to speak. Eli, the priest, knew enough about listening to God that He advised Samuel to quit waking him up in the middle of the night and just listen to God. Other prophets learned to discern the voice of God – Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and tons more, all listened for God. But please hear this, God didn’t speak to these prophets because they had special abilities. God spoke to these people because they were willing to listen.

I know we are all busy! Even Jesus, while involved in an incredibly busy ministry, often withdrew to a quiet and lonely place to meditate! And so the beauty of Meditation is that in the chaotic society that we live in, where we are constantly moving on to the next thing, the discipline of meditation is an invitation for us to slow down and hear what God is saying. Jesus doesn’t have laryngitis! He is alive and among us as our Priest to forgive us, our Prophet to teach us, our King to rule us, and our Shepherd to guide us. But here’s the thing, we won’t know any of this stuff if we won’t be quiet for just one minute and listen!

FEAR NOT!

2009-02-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

My friend, Matthew Paul Turner, read an essay about "fear" (that he wrote) at his church this past Sunday. He's a hilarious Christian humorist that not only speaks from his experiences, he shines hope on life's often unhopeful circumstances. If you don't have a copy of his latest book, "Churched," you should definitely pick one up. You will be glad you did. My family sure was.

Below is the essay he read Sunday. Enjoy.

a picture of love

2009-02-13T06:01:00.001-08:00

I'm 29. I'm not old, but I'm old enough to have experienced some hurt. I've met people who for whatever reason seemed to want to intentionally hurt my family's, or my, feelings. This past year was no exception - things happened and things were said at one point that I couldn't understand at all. I remember thinking, "How can some of the 'Christians' I know be acting and saying some of the things they're saying? Doesn't love live in them!"

As badly as my feelings were hurt that some people would lie and be complete jerks, I had to remember we are all human. Just as they aren't perfect, I'm not perfect. I'm capable of causing just as much hurt and pain. And not to "toot my own horn" I intentionally chose to take the higher road (that's not to say I always do that). It was hard because I wanted to be just as mean in return, but deep down I knew that it wouldn't truly make things better.

It's interesting to me that as Valentines Day approaches this is what's on my mind. If life has taught me anything, I'm sure I will experience something similar (liars and mean people) again in the future. The fact of the matter, is that there's a lot of jerks in the world.

As I think of the jerks I know, I can't help but wonder how many jerks God knows. And as I really think about that this morning, I'm awed that even though God can see the fullness of time (see the past, the present, and the future all at one time, AND SEE EVERY MEAN JERK IN THE WORLD), He chose to make a promise of love to us. Despite all the hatred, rudeness, and meanness toward Him, He still chooses love. And to prove it, he gave us a sign - the rainbow.

Genesis 9:12-16 says:

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

This Valentines Day, if you see a rainbow, remember God's love for you. And the great thing about God, is that He didn't stop at the rainbow. He sent and gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16), so we can spend eternity with Him. What a loving God! Hallelujah! Amen.

Livin' the Dream

2009-02-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

It seems as though the world has gotten to the point where dreams can die quickly - especially when the reality of today’s circumstances comes to mind. Newsweek ran a story recently with expert after expert predicting that it will be harder for this young generation to reach the American Dream than any one before it.

Living the American Dream. Isn’t that what we all want to do? A big house with a little white picket fence, fast cars, a boat, that Harley Davidson motorcycle you’ve had your eye set on for quite sometime. Sadly, it seems that when it comes down to it, most of us do the things we do and associate with the people we associate with, all in hopes that it will propel us to live the dream we’ve dreamed up for ourselves.

If you’ve read my blog for much time at all, you’ll realize that several years ago I was an accountant. I wanted to have a job that would pay the most money in as little time as possible so I could live my dream. You know, my dreams have sure changed over the years. I’ve realized that God’s dream for me is so much sweeter than what money can buy. God’s dream for me is the kind of dream where only someone who sees the greater picture of time can dream up. It’s the dream that can be tailored to fit everything about me that I don’t even understand or know yet.

Do you want to live the dream? To truly live the dream, is to live what you were created to do, and be. To live the dream we must find ourselves in the will of God, glorifying God in all things. The best way I have found to be and stay in the will of God is through practicing the spiritual disciplines. It’s so interesting that as I have sought to grow closer to God, all of my selfish desires have faded. (Well, not all of them, but at least I realize they are selfish).

Interestingly C.S. Lewis writes in his book Mere Christianity, “The Christian life is different: harder and easier. Christ says, ‘Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires that you think are innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself; My own will shall become yours’.”

Have you given your whole self to Christ? Do you know how to? At Valley View we are in a series called “Livin’ the Dream.” We have gotten to the point that we want to live the life Jesus promised - fully and in abundance (John 10:10). We want to proudly sing and mean every word that we’d “rather have Jesus than silver or gold; we’d rather be His than have riches untold; we’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands; we’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.”

If you are looking to Live the Dream, come check us out. If for some reason you can't come, then send me your email, and I’ll send you each sermon. See you at church!

Tithe Rap

2009-01-31T15:27:00.001-08:00

What a great day it has been. I worked out with Alyson, had lunch with some new friends, came home and was absolutely blown away by this youtube clip a friend sent me. Before you watch it, please make sure you fall in one of the three categories below. Enjoy!

This is for:

1) pastors who are looking for a new way to get their people to learn to tithe.

2) people who want to know how much they should tithe.

3) people who like the Beastie Boys and Run DMC.

Wednesday Morning Pastors Group

2009-01-28T09:34:00.000-08:00

This morning I met with several pastors in Nashville at the local coffee brewery (STARBUCKS). Like always, it was so good to sit down with them and hear what God is doing in each of their and their church's lives. There is absolutely nothing more encouraging than seeing God still at work in lives today!

I wish each of you could see our group! We are SO different from each another. For instance, we are all at different points in life and we are apart of different denominations. I love our individuality and differences though. They keep me laughing and "on my toes," for sure. Yet despite our differences we all desperately seek to passionately serve God better. We are different, but Christ brings us together.

It truly is an honor to be able to meet with them each Wednesday. I don't deserve to be with this group of great men, but for some reason God has placed me in their life. They build me up, they encourage me, they speak truth into my life, they hold my hands up when I don't feel like I can anymore, they support me, respect me, and most importantly they pray for me (at least they tell me they do). :)

And so this post is a post praising God for individuality, and for men that truly walk in boldness and grace. We are different and to us that's okay. I think our individuality is what makes this group such a joy to be a part of. So, thank you Jesus for letting us be different so we can laugh at each other and hear fun and different stories each Wednesday morning!

I love you guys! The youtube clip below (that you all told me about) makes me think of us. I hope we can always laugh with each other and build each other up. My prayer for everyone else is that you can find a group similar to ours to live, thrive, and be encouraged in. Do you have a group like that already?

My Heart.

2009-01-24T11:56:00.000-08:00

A church member, Bill Pope, sent this clip to me yesterday. I have to admit I didn't watch it because at first glance I saw it was a YouTube clip. But as I got bored last night I ended up reading everything I skimmed over earlier. I have to admit, I think the clip is a little cheesy, but there is a part of me that likes it too.

[Watch the clip or this next part won't make sense!]

I'm glad people can't walk up and put a stethoscope on my heart and listen to it's theme song for the moment. I know it's hard for you all to believe :) but my heart doesn't always sing the chorus to the "Hallelujah Chorus." But, I don't think our hearts have to. Everyone in the Bible went through different phases of their walk with God. David would get angry; Moses would get frustrated; Anna would get anxious; Hannah would get sad on occasion that she gave her son away to the local priest (at least if she is like any other mom, she would get sad!).

So although these giants of our faith made it to the "good book (BIBLE)," and even seem more righteous than I or we will ever be, their emotions and feelings were like any other human beings that changed on occasion. The key is that they pursued the Lord and His righteousness so much so that they wouldn't let their emotions and feelings dictate their relationship with Him. My prayer for me, and for all you who will read this, is that we won't let our emotions and feelings ever stop us from ultimate claiming, "HALLELUJAH!"

Finding Favor

2009-01-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

This Sunday my sermon is going to be on favor. As I started to research favor, I realized that it is similar to grace in that it comes from the same root word, or Greek root word (Charis). And so to see what the Twitter world thought of the two words, I simply asked.

I have to admit I was surprised that everyone was right on. To sum it all up they mainly said that the difference is that grace is gifted and favor is earned. To elaborate on that a bit, Grace is the gift that God has given us to make us acceptable to be in His presence. It’s the agent that cleans us from our sin, so it can be defined as the gift that gets us to God.

Favor is the agent we earn that propels us to be better than just graced enough to get to God. So therefore, walking in favor is different than walking in grace. We walk in grace when we confess our sins and seek God. We walk in favor when God releases an influence on us, so that others are inclined to cooperate with us.

But favor doesn’t come just by knowing God! There’s more to it! I’m reminded of Jacob. You remember that story right? In a nutshell, the story goes that Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord (some say it was God Himself and other’s have said it was Jesus) and Jacob said that he wasn’t going to let the angel go until it blessed him. Hosea has something interesting to say about this wrestling match. In Chapter 12:4, Hosea says, “Yes, he (Jacob) struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel.” To put it bluntly, Jacob wrestled with God! God would have known who He was wrestling with don’t you think? I would at least!

Now, I don’t know what you all think of favor, but I have to admit it’s something that I’m searching for in my life. Proverbs 19:12 says, "The king’s anger is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like welcome rain."
For me that means it takes a dry and empty walk with the Lord and makes it refreshing (sounds good to me!). But this doesn’t come from just knowing God; it comes from embracing God’s mission, embodying God’s name, and Obeying God’s Word.

So my question is, and you don’t have to answer this on here if you don’t want, do we do as little as it takes to still be Christian, or do we do what it takes to find favor? For me, I want to find favor!

Book Review #2

2009-01-10T19:52:00.000-08:00

Check out this review that I wrote as a Thomas Nelson book reviewer for Max Lucado's book For the Tough Time: Reaching Toward Heaven For Hope. It was posted here.

If your life is like mine, the question is never will times get hard, it’s when will times get hard. Life has a crazy way of throwing curve balls at me when I least expect it – mainly when things are going great. And when the tough times come, I want to know how to react and respond.

As a pastor, I would love to tell you that I respond and react as Godly as possible. The reality for me is that when tough times come, I have to struggle hard to remember the promises of God and lean on Him rather than my own understanding. But you know, it has been when I turn to Christ that I regain the pep in my step and the courage, strength, and confidence to face the days ahead.

This is precisely what Lucado’s book did for me - it gave me a fresh outlook on living life with a renewed hope. I didn’t read this book when I was in a “valley” of sorts trying to find my way back to the “mountain top.” I read this book when everything was going normal as can be. And yet it took me to the “mountain top” – the place where courage and confidence reigns supreme.

Whether you are in the valley or on top of the mountain, read Max Lucado’s book, For The Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope. I promise you won’t regret it.

You can purchase the book HERE.

REALITY

2009-01-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

What a crazy past couple of weeks! I was in Miami two days hanging out with some good friends, the Bahamas for three days, Tulsa for three days, and now I am trying to catch up with email, twitter, blogs, etc. Alyson and I had such a great time away. The cruise wasn't the best cruise in the world, but hanging out with Alyson and having absolutely nothing to do but play scrabble and a few other games WAS the best.

However, like any vacation, it had to come to an end. So now we are having to "get down to the nitty gritty" (as Nacho Libre would say) and get back to reality. Reality is one of those words to me that stir up a lot of different emotions. For the most part, I don't like it. I live in a dream world, so reality is a natural accountability partner that is always letting me know what I can do now. In other words, it keeps me grounded so that I can concentrate on the present.

Yesterday as I talked to a person in my community, he kept saying, "I've been a Christian for years, yet something seems to be missing in my life." As I've had time to reflect on the conversation, I wonder why? For so many of us, why do we feel like something is missing? And this morning, as I've thought and prayed over this very thought, I've come to the realization that it's because many of us look so far in the future we don't see God standing right beside of us right now. We miss God because we aren't looking for God right here and now.

As I was on the cruise with Alyson, I was able to dream a lot about our future. You know, where we may be in five and ten years; if or how many kids we will have; even who will be our best friends at the time. But to be blunt, who cares. I'm so excited that God is in control of all that. I've learned that I can sit here and make all kind of plans for the future and some or none of it may come true. For me, God has had a funny way of allowing me to do stupid things to ruin my future plans yet get me in line so I can join His master plan.

But His master plan always is in the present and the future. It is both one and the other. Sure, God's team wins, but we as individuals can lose if we don't make sure we are currently playing in the same game on the same team. And this has to do with present reality.

We can still dream about the future and make plans of what we wish to happen. The reality is we have to plan! BUT the reality of life is that it's not always what we want it to be, but it is always where we find ourselves. Right now, I find myself in a coffee shop in East Nashville. That means it's here and now my influence begins. It's here, the land beneath my feet, where God has me to do His work. For me to do anything else but bring God glory and honor in what I'm doing here is to miss out on the reality that God is present, alive, and with me. The cool thing about God is he's in your reality too.

Where are you now and what can you be doing in the present to glorify and honor God in what you're doing?

Marriage so far.

2008-12-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is going to be a long yet exciting day. For starters, I am leading my first Baptism service at the church (so pumped and excited about that). Then, right after church, Alyson and I will be leaving to go to Miami, Florida. We are staying with some friends Sunday night, and then Monday they are taking us to the port so we can board the cruise ship and embark on our long awaited Bahamas cruise honeymoon. YAY for cruises!

Well, it hasn’t been that long, but we got married November 25, 2008, so it has been like a month. However, we have needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of life to enjoy each other and relax since we tied the knot that morning in front of our families. What was meant to be a relaxing week at home afterwards ended up being a somewhat chaotic week of trying to get all her stuff moved in from where she was living, putting her stuff up, re-arranging how I had some stuff laid out, etc. (my cool little bachelor pad met it’s maker with Alyson!).

Anyway, we just finished our first month of marriage - one I will never want to forget. It was wonderful, amazing, insightful, growing, maturing, and dreamy. I’ve learned a lot about myself, and I’ve learned a lot about marriage (I’m sure I will keep learning).

So in the spirit of learning new things, I want to share three things I have learned with you.

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF – I’m selfish.
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT MARRIAGE – It doesn’t work well when someone is being selfish.
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT ALYSON – she’s nowhere near as selfish as me.

Blogger friends, please keep us in your prayers as we go on our cruise. Specifically you can pray that: (1) this will be a time where we can grow together as one, (2) we can give each other the attention we deserve (all of it), and (3) we can keep God first by praying daily together for our life, ministry, and future together.

See you all when we get back! Can’t wait to show you all some pictures (the picture shown is a picture of Alyson doing what she does best: helping straighten me out)!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

2008-12-24T18:19:00.000-08:00

I just got back from having Christmas dinner with the Costner family (I sure do love my family). As we all began standing around the Christmas tree to get the “kids” picture made, I realized how much things have changed. Some of the things were the same, but a lot about this year’s Christmas was different.

This year, and for the last couple years, we have met at my aunt’s house. It was fun and I like it, but I miss having Christmas at my grandparents. I miss my grandfather who died in 2002. I miss my grandmother (she has Alzheimer’s). She isn’t dead by any means, but I had to re-introduce my wife to her. It was kind of funny at first, but now that I think about it, Alyson will never get to know the grandmother that I knew growing up. I’m proud that she has at least gotten to know her on some level because she will never get to know my grandfather Costner.

He would have loved her. I can picture him kidding around with her and flirting with her. I can still taste that wonderful cornbread that only He could make. I can see all those flannel shirts he used to get every year for Christmas. I can hear him yell my name and ask me what I got for Christmas. If he were alive, he would be knocking on the door about the same time I get up Christmas day morning to see what I got.

I miss my grandfather so much. This year we lit a candle for him and some of the extended family that have died, and then we read the Christmas story. When we got through hearing about the birth of Jesus I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that one day I will see my grandfather again.

And that’s pretty much where the Christmas story begins – God so loved the world that He provided a way for us to experience hope, joy, peace, and eternity together with Him forever through His son Jesus.

I love you grandpa, and I’m glad that one day we will be together again for eternity.

Max Lucado

2008-12-20T19:58:00.001-08:00

I got a new book this week from Thomas Nelson. It's by Max Lucado, entitled, For The Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope. It's a short book with only like 96 pages, so I am pretty excited about reading it (hopefully in one day over Christmas break). Not only am I loving that the book isn't long, but I'm a fan of Max Lucado.

My favorite of his books is He Chose The Nails. What's your favorite book of his? Or better yet, do you even like his books?

Charlie Brown

2008-12-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

I was at my buddy Matthew Paul Turner's house the other day and we started talking about Charlie Brown. As we were watching, I couldn't help but think of how much it seems that most of the shows on television during this time of year talks more about Santa Claus than Christ. Sure a good ethical or moral lesson may be taught in the Christmas special of whatever show we like best, but how many shows actually talk about Christ being the real reason for Christmas?

I was excited to see that the Charlie Brown Christmas special is still keeping it real with the true meaning of Christmas. What are some shows you have watched that its "Christmas Special" actually kept the true meaning of Christmas in tact?

If you've forgotten what the true meaning is, let Charlie Brown remind you...

BOOK REVIEW

2008-12-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Below is a book re-view of Lynne Spear's book, Through the Storm, that I wrote and posted at Borders.com. Have any of you read this book? If so, what did you think of it?

Skeptical, hesitant, worried, concerned, a joke, and marketing effort were several words and phrases that crossed my mind when a copy of Lynne Spears book, Through the Storm came across my desk. Now that I have read the book, I have to admit, I was wrong. My initial thoughts couldn’t have been further from the truth.

I had allowed myself to be sucked into the media’s frenzy and carried down its path of lies and deceit. I, like many, had been led astray, brainwashed, and manipulated to believe that anything the media said was truth concerning her family. By chapter two my eyes were opened to a world I never would have known without Mrs. Spears vulnerability in disclosing what life is like for her family behind the huge gates and fancy walls that stardom paid for.

Throughout the book, I found myself reminiscing on the similarities we share in the relationships to our grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, extended family, and hometown friends. On occasion I would wipe away a few tears, as I would get caught up in the whirlwind of drama and frustrations of her life’s story. Despite the storms that came her way, her faith in God and the close friends that God placed in her life proved to be the grounding anchors that kept the wind from carrying her off.

At one point in the book she admits, “I would not have been able to survive the hurricane of fame without God’s abiding strength and comfort.” The truth is, that’s how we all survive. Through an unspoken common thread throughout the book I was reminded that friends, family, and God are all key and necessary ingredients to finding happiness and contentment.

Thank you Mrs. Spears for sharing your story – one full of redemption, hope, and lots of love.

Here is a little widget where you can read the first couple chapters. Let me know what you think!


Buy		Read

Christmas Gift

2008-12-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so a friend of mine had this on his blog, so I thought I would share it with you all.

The commercial is a great reminder for all of us men out there to get our wives something heart felt and loving this year for Christmas. If our wives truly are our "better half" and I believe they are (at least mine is :)) then we should make sure the gifts we get them this year say that.

With that being said, Ladies, what are some good gifts to get you all this year? Anything specific that could help us men out?

Enjoy the video!

Don't Waste Your Pulpit

2008-12-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

Tonight I've been sitting on the couch working on this December's sermon series and I came across a video by John Piper. I have to say I was in tears by the end of it (I think it has been one of those days where stuff is making me emotional). Anyone can watch it really, but it is mainly for pastors. On second thought, it would be cool to hear what everybody thinks about this.

While watching this video, I couldn't help but think about the sermons I'm writing now and the ones that I have preached in the past. It's so easy to preach from emotion and bias. Of course we preachers are said to preach out of the overflow of our studies, but can that truly be done without messing it up somewhere? I don't think so. Everything we do has to have flaw, right?

However, that can't be the justification for any of us to preach and say whatever we want. We must strive, not just from the pulpit, but in every day life to preach and share Jesus. I truly want the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth to be that of Jesus. I don't want to be anything less than what God is calling me to be.

Anything less than God's best should never be good enough for us. And that's precisely why we should preach and live Jesus. Jesus is the best God has to offer for Jesus is God. May we all strive to live and love like Jesus. May we all be so bold and confident to speak truth, to speak Scripture, into everything.

What are your thoughts on this? Had you rather hear Scripture or a person's opinion? Do you go to church to hear the word of God or to hear your pastor's opinion and/or see friends and hang out?

Jesus is Lord

2008-12-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

Last week was such a great week in my life. Besides my salvation experience, it was the best thing that has ever happened to me - I married the woman of my dreams. As confident as she was in marrying me, we had tons of conversations about what being a pastor’s life is and would be like. I've never been a pastor's wife, but I had seen what life was like for my mom at times and had heard many other horrible stories from friends.

Of course, I didn’t want to scare her away, but I was honest with her. I remember saying, “being a pastor’s wife is going to be hard. People will expect a lot out of ridiculous things out of you; talk bad about you; lie about you; not be their true self around you… but all I want you to do is be there for me and support me. You don’t have to do anything in the church you don’t want to do.”

This morning I have shed a lot of tears over that very conversation, but not because of how the church I serve God in treats Alyson. The people at Valley View love and treat Alyson great. They haven’t expected too much of her that I can tell and even went above and beyond giving us a wedding shower after we had only be there 2 months.

But the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of “frenemies” (friends yet enemies) out there – or maybe I should say haters. It blows my mind that some people (mainly Christians) argue, fight, and backbite over the Lord working in other’s Christian’s lives. It almost seems that many Christians don’t want any other Christian to experience joy. How soon we seem to forget that we Christians are all in this together.

But jealousy and coveting is alive in many people’s lives. I have to admit that I have been jealous and coveted other Christians in the past too because of their successful ministries. I’m sure I have even said less than appropriate things about what those individuals had done and were doing. But how silly and immature of me, and how silly and immature it is for anyone else who does that. When we backstab and talk about other Christians, we in effect are saying "God is not Lord so I must take all matters of life in my own hands."

I also have to admit that the reason I have even thought of any of this is because I read Anne Jackson's blog this morning. I don't know her but she seems to be someone truly anointed by God and who trusts God enough to walk in humility and meekness. She reminded me how the enemy can use many awesome and amazingly talented people of God to cause dissention among the body of Christ. I knew this though. Earlier this year, I was the recipient of such a horrible escapade. The enemy used someone in my life to cause me much hardship and heartache.

But God was, is, and will be in the future, faithful. I sit here in awe and amazement at how God walked with me during that time and brought people in my life to encourage me to continue leaning in on God's promises. What I walked away with, was the knowledge and understanding that when things are great, Jesus is Lord. When things are bad, Jesus is Lord. When we are broke, Jesus is Lord. When we don’t understand what is going on, Jesus is Lord. With us or without us, Jesus is Lord.

I’m so glad that Jesus is Lord. It turns my worrying into rejoicing. It frees me to deal with the things God has called me to, and not worry about the things others may be saying, doing, or not doing. Therefore, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord” because His word is the last word.

Matthew Paul Turner

2008-11-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my parents and grandparents came into town for the big wedding. Okay, it wasn’t big, but it was a big deal – I guess any wedding is a big deal! Anyway, like most people who try to entertain parents and grandparents, I didn’t really have a clue what to do. It’s easy to figure out what to do with my parents, but to come up with something they, my grandparents, and I all end up thinking is fun is extremely hard, dare I say almost impossible.

We usually end up just sitting around on the couch watching television and talking. Yet this past weekend we did something far better than watching any television show; we sat on the couch and read Matthew Paul Turner’s book Churched. I have to admit that I received the book forever ago before it was even released, but I hadn’t read it. I guess I was waiting for the right time, which was this past weekend. ☺

I had heard a lot of the book already. I heard Matthew read from it on three different occasions, so when I began telling my grandparents about some of the stories, they wanted to hear them for themselves. So me, my parents and grandparents literally sat on the couches and each took turns reading the book aloud. Now this may not sound fun to some of you, but our bellies hurt we laughed so hard.

To be blunt, I didn’t know what my dad or my grandfather would think about the book. Sometimes Matthew pokes fun at some of the traditions and language that Baptist people hold dear. But I believe that’s what made the book so funny to my family. As much as we love being Baptist, Matthew said and talked about some of the things we have long wanted to bring up and make fun of but didn’t and don’t feel free enough to (I’ll let you guess at which things I’m talking about).

From a pastor’s perspective, the book taught me a lot. I learned that what I say and how I say it (whatever “it” is) does matter. It made me think about traditions that my denomination upholds. It made me see that through it all “love” truly wins.

How refreshing it was to read something that not only made me laugh and cry, but it brought my family closer together. I will forever be thankful for Mr. Turner. He is a good man, a great friend, and an even better father and husband. That man loves his family and talks about them more than anyone I know. Thank you Matthew for being the David Sedaris of the Christian world, inviting us all to join in on your story, and becoming my grandfather’s favorite author (the pic is of me, MPT, and my grandpa).

If you are trying to find something for your parents and/or grandparents this year, you won’t go wrong with Churched. You can buy a copy here. I promise you and your family will be more than happy you did.

me and my new wife!

2008-11-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

To My Bride...

2008-11-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Dear Alyson,

Can you believe that we’re married?! I have been praying for you and this moment for a long time now. To think that God would place such a beautiful, amazing woman in my life (that’s you babe!) blows my mind. I by far don’t deserve to be with someone as great as you, so I am praising our Lord and Savior this morning that He has blessed me by having you love me despite all my faults.

God is gracious and merciful though. As I sit here and think about it, He has always seemed to over exceed my imagination and expectations. I haven’t always understood why certain things have happened, but looking back on it God has been true to His character: faithful. Praise God He is faithful!

Alyson, you are so much better than anything my prayers asked for. You are living proof that God not only answers prayer, but gives us more than we asked for. I never thought that I would find a woman that with her very presence would make me feel as though everything is ok. I never thought that I would find a woman who would support me during crazy hard times, and we have definitely already faced some of those! I never thought that I would find a woman who passionately loves God and His people. I never thought that I would find a partner in ministry who was truly excited about impacting the community for God. I never thought I would meet someone whose smile meant more than any encouraging word.

And then I met you, and my world, as I knew it, changed. We talked like every day for five months before you moved to Nashville. Remember how we used to be on the phone for hours at a time? One time we talked for like eight hours! I still have a hard time believing that we did that, but at the same time I still love sitting around hearing your voice. I think it’s safe to say that I’m crazyboutya! ☺

I meant every word I said to you yesterday. I know it was a crazy day, so if you forgot, here’s a recap: “I Matthew, take thee, Alyson, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, and to cherish till death do us part; and to you I pledge my faithfulness.”

I’m so happy and excited that you are my wife. I’m so honored to be your husband. You are truly the best friend I have ever had. I look forward to making much of Jesus with you. I look forward to growing old with you. I look forward to sitting on the porch, just sitting. I love you Alyson. You will always be my beautiful bride.

Love,
Matthew

Advent Conspiracy

2008-11-20T13:48:00.001-08:00

I thought I would post this youtube to get you all to continue thinking about Christmas. One of my friends sent it to me the other day after I posted about Santa. I thought it was interesting to say the least. So... what do you all think?

steeplechase

2008-11-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

Wanted to let you all see a scene by my house...

Name Your Price!

2008-11-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

I don't know how often you get stuff in the mail, but the only stuff I get these days seems to be bills. However, soon I will be getting a cool magazine called Paste. Ever heard of it? Didn't think so. It's still an under the radar kind of magazine, but not for long!

Here is what the website says about itself:

PASTE is one of the fastest-growing independently published music magazines in the country. We pride ourselves in being the premier music magazine for people who still enjoy discovering new music, prize substance and songcraft over fads and manufactured attitude, and appreciate quality music across a broad stylistic spectrum--indie rock, Triple-A, Americana, folk, blues, jazz, etc.

We strive to bring readers thoughtful analysis on the best in music, film, books and other aspects of popular (and alternative) culture. Plus, every issue of PASTE contains a FREE sampler CD (packed with 20+ songs). The Paste Sampler CD is an invitation-only CD we treat as a glorified office mix-tape, not something to listen to once and rip the two or three good songs. What more could you want?

Anyway, several cool things to me about this magazine is that 1) it was started by a couple Christian guys in Atlanta that wanted to meet the needs of people whose genre and subculture of art were going unnoticed, 2) each magazine comes with a CD, and 3) for a limited time you can name your own price for what you think the magazine is worth. For as little as $1 to as much as you want to give, you can receive this magazine for an entire year. I paid $5 for my subscription!

Go get your subscription HERE!

Happy Birthday Santa?

2008-11-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you that I'm not all about buying nor receiving a ton of gifts on my birthday or any other holiday. However, I love spending time with all the people I love. I guess that's why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It seems like Thanksgiving is the only holiday where we actually celebrate it how we're supposed to. We get together, hang out, eat, and give thanks. Unfortunately, I feel kind of bad that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday over Christmas and Easter, especially since I'm a Christian.

Thinking about it now, if I had grown up celebrating Easter and Christmas how they were supposed to be celebrated and experienced, maybe I would have a greater respect and love for them. Don't get me wrong, I love what Christmas and Easter stand for, but there always seems to be something missing during these holidays.

As a kid my parents made me do and go to everything my church had to offer related to these holidays. But what my churches did never appealed to me as a kid. Everything seemed to be boring. And even now as a pastor, I still feel like some of the stuff done in churches is boring and seemingly unauthentic in its attempt to make these holidays fun and accurately celebrated.

For instance, it seems like there is a lot of hype and tons of parties leading up to December 25th that don't have that much to do with what Jesus stood for at all. Then on that big day, everybody wakes up, looks at their presents, and spends the rest of their day playing with them and calling everyone they know about the presents they received. When that wears off, we end up laying around trying to rest up from the previous weeks parties.

Maybe I've missed something along the way, but didn't Christ come to set the example on how to live? If so, then maybe we should spend our time over Christmas working to give back to the community (especially if we are going to wear WWJD bracelets!). I can't recall Jesus saying or acting on overindulging ourselves in consumerism, although He did go to parties! If anything, and I admit I'm not a Bible scholar, I can't find where Jesus played secret Santa with the disciples or showed up for Christmas dinner (I guess that actually would have been His birthday dinner) with his family.

For kicks and giggles, let's just say that Jesus did have birthday parties. As typical for birthday parties, we give gifts to the birthday boy or girl out of respect. We don't typically show up at the party with gifts for everyone. Even at Jesus' birth people brought Him and Him alone gifts. As much as I love that Santa brings gifts to everyone, I just can't find him or his reindeer in Scripture anywhere, and trust me, I want to!

So if we are to give out of respect for the birthday person, then are we respecting Christ when we act and do what He didn't and, I would argue, wouldn't do? By all means, let's celebrate Santa's birthday too if we want, but let's not mix up who we are celebrating. Please hear me out, I'm not against Santa and all the cute little reindeer, or the Christmas music that I have already began singing. I guess I'm just saying, lets make Christmas a time where we are respecting Christ, where we are getting together to celebrate Him, and not celebrate how much money we made over the year by blowing it on gifts for all the people who made it on Santa's "good" list.

Thoughts?

Through the Storm

2008-11-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

Thomas Nelson sent me a copy of Lynne Spear's book, Through The Storm, to write a review and to blog about. I have to say I'm a little skeptical so far, yet am excited to dig into it a little more. Here is a couple paragraphs written about it to get me and you (the other hopeful readers) excited about checking it out.

We all want our children to succeed. What happens when they do?

Britney Spears wanted to sing ever since she was a little girl. But the years of sacrifices, auditions, performances, albums, fame, and paparazzi left the little Louisiana family swept up and spun around, and nothing turned out the way anyone ever imagined or wanted. Now Lynne shares the inside story of the Spears family as only a mother can.

Through the Storm takes readers outside the narrow orbit of the Hollywood glitterati. Lynne shares how fame forever changed their family; her regrets letting managers, agents, and record companies direct the lives of her children; the challenges that shaped Lynne and Jamie's failed marriage and how they affected Bryan, Britney, and Jamie Lynn; the startling events that led to Britney's breakdown; the aftermath of Jamie Lynn's pregnancy; and how the family has tried pulling together to recapture a sense of hope and purpose.

Through the Storm, says Lynne, is "the story of one simple Southern woman whose family got caught in a tornado called fame, and who is still trying to sort through the debris scattered all over her life in the aftermath. It's who I am, warts and all, with some true confessions that took a long time to get up the nerve to discuss."

So, whose read this book? Would you want to read it? Are you going to read it? If you want to purchase this book, you can do so HERE.

NBA and Church

2008-11-11T21:41:00.000-08:00

I can't stop laughing at this, and thinking how creative it is. It's interesting and pretty cool that some churches have the budgets and the talent to produce such cool and interesting videos.

While watching, think about these questions: How do churches with not such big budgets create fun things like this for their members to watch and enjoy, or should they? Do churches need to be able to create these kinds of videos to be effective and relevant?

Enjoy!

javalujah!

2008-11-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Is this your church?

starbucks anyone?

2008-11-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

I realize I haven't been blogging the typical blog for me lately, but oh well. Today, I'm at starbucks with my good friend Matthew Paul Turner. I came over to get out of the house for a bit and to put some finishing touches on my sermon for tomorrow. I think it will be a good one! It's on Matthew 5:14. The whole "light of the world, city on a hill" part.

But today what I want to let everyone know is that the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate drink at Starbucks is great! I have to say, I was a little cautious to try it at first because it seems like it might have a little too much going on with it. However, it is a tasty little treat that will keep you wondering why in the world you didn't try it sooner. It comes with whip (cream that is) but for all of you trying to watch your weight, I guess you could get it without it.

The taste is definitely unparalleled to any hot chocolate drink I have had thus far. With this delicious cup of goodness coming in this festive red cup, it has totally got me in the mood for jolly saint nick this season. I'm even listening to Christmas music as I type this! Anyway, Bon Appetit! (I hope my sermon is as good as this hot chocolate.)

hmmm...

2008-11-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

i don't know how i feel about this. should i laugh? cry? you tell me what you think...

sinus problemos

2008-11-07T20:13:00.001-08:00

oh my gosh, i can't get this sinus headache to go away. any suggestions?

election is OVER!

2008-11-07T20:00:00.001-08:00

The election is what we call O to the V to the E to the R, OVER! I'm so glad it is. I love the whole election process, but I get so sick of the bickering and lying from both political sides. I wish their was one truly correct statistic sheet where we could see the actual facts about everything. Maybe their is, but everything else would prove it wrong somehow and so I probably wouldn't trust it. Oh well.

However, whoever we voted for, I hope we all can rally behind our new President, and yes he is all our President for the upcoming four years. He is going to make mistakes; he is human. He is going to do things we don't agree with; none of us can please everyone. There is skeletons in his closet; there are skeletons in all our closets.

The bottom line for our country, in my opinion of course, is that sure our President leads our country, but our hope comes from the Lord. Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." Let's trust the Lord for our country and stop getting our panties in a wad over the presidency. Sure we always need to vote our convictions, but in the end we must know that even the person we voted for (win or lose) is in the hands of the Lord.

Let's join together and pray for president elect Obama. Let's pray for our country and place our trust in the Lord.

Halloween?

2008-10-31T06:27:00.000-07:00

As a kid I went trick or treating like most other kids in America. I didn't really like candy, but halloween was a time when I could dress up like my favorite superhero. I didn't wear make-up, that was too hard to put on and it took too long. However, I loved to wear a cool mask or cape. When my cape was securely fastened, I would run around the room with my arms out like I was flying so my cape could flap in the wind.

When I was in middle school, my family decided that Halloween was of the devil and so we wouldn't participate anymore. We didn't pass out candy to all the local kids, we ate spaghetti and watched a movie (it was a tradition). I didn't mind our not participating in any of the festivities, and I'm not that big on Halloween now.

But, what I was wondering is, how does everybody else feel about Halloween? Do you participate? Do you allow your kids to participate? I guess the reason I ask, is that I'm still trying to figure out what I believe about Halloween - the day of harvesting candy!

I'm over the election...

2008-10-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

However, this morning, I found an interesting article about voting. Read here what John Piper says about voting. It's a long blog, but I think it is worthwhile. What do you all think bout it?

Prayer

2008-10-01T10:01:00.001-07:00

Here is a prayer that a monk gave me a week ago while I was visiting a monastery in Ohio. I was blown away by it's authenticity and vulnerability. I have been praying it daily, and it is amazing how much this prayer seems to enliven hope and peace in my life. It is written by Thomas Merton...

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, through I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

DEBATE!

2008-09-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

I’m watching the debate tonight with my parents and Alyson. We got started late on our watching since we decided to go to dinner at such a late time. One of the reasons I’m most excited to watch tonight is because I’m not fully dedicated to either side right now. Frankly, I’m pretty sick of watching both sides bad-mouth and put down each other. For crying out loud, what ever happened where people really wanted and hoped for the best for each other?

It seems like most of us have lost the ability to be diplomatic and loving about treating each other with the love and kindness that Christ taught us to live by. The problem is that it’s not just non-Christians. A majority of the rudeness, trash talking, lies and sneaky behavior is coming from people who call themselves leaders in the church. The biggest problem of all this, is that it is said to all be done in “good intentions” or “for the people.” In reality, it is Christians practicing their gift of gossip.

At least with the election debate, each candidate is facing each other face to face. Isn’t that how we are to talk about each other though, face to face? If I’m not mistaken, the Scriptures say that if two people have trouble with each other they are to go to one another personally (see Matthew 18). Anything other than that is sinful and wrong!

Whether we are for or against either candidate, I personally think this should be the only time individuals should be allowed to talk about each other’s flaws. The fact of the matter is we ALL have flaws. To act as though we don’t is flat out silly. To talk about other’s flaws behind their backs is childish and immature.

I do hope that whatever the final outcome of the race is, that individuals can be tactful about the winner. Nothing is worse than sore losers, and nothing looks sillier than people protesting things they can’t change for another four years. That’s why we all need to research whose running and vote! Let’s get the right person in there… and the right person will be the one who wins the election. ☺ Praise God He is sovereign!

COMING SOON!

2008-09-17T14:33:00.001-07:00

Hey all! So sorry it has been forever since my last blog. I've been so busy lately!! However, I want you all to be the first to know that I will be getting a new blog and website soon. On top of that, in October I will become the Senior Pastor of a church in East Nashville, so please keep me and the church in your prayers. I have to say I am super excited about this opportunity. Ok, I'm in Jasper, Indiana tonight and Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday. Tomorrow is a day off though, so I'll try to post my normal... I know it has been awhile.

Love and praying for you all. Respond to this email and let me know how I can best pray for you... I promise I won't post it.

Matt

sneak peak

2008-08-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

Read:
“Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep His mandate and His statues, ordinances, and commands” (Deuteronomy 11:1)

Study:
Being led by Moses, the Israelites left Egypt. God had brought them out of slavery and was going to take them to the “promised land” – the place where “milk and honey” was to flow (Exodus 3:8). In other words, God was taking His children, the Israelites, to a beautiful land with opportunity.

But there was a problem. No one knew where this land was. There wasn’t even a treasure map with a big “X” on the spot of promise. They had to listen to God. And this meant they had to obey Him. Moses explained it to the people this way: if they were going to enjoy the land of promise, obedience would have to pave the way. If they were going to partake in the blessings of kingdom living, faithfulness to God and His laws would have to come first.

Jesus basically said the same thing when He said, “My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

This obedience to God’s voice that Moses and Jesus both described is clear evidence of covenant (one-sided agreement) relationship. God said He would save us (one sided), so we just need to follow Him to salvation. We follow when we obey, so to thrive in God’s kingdom, we must obey His every word.

Pray:
God, let my ears only hear You and let my eyes stay focused on road you have paved for me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Live:
Find and get an accountability partner. This is someone who will encourage and help you, and you them, to remain obedient to God and His Word.

Mark 6:11

2008-08-18T21:54:00.001-07:00

I try to keep my house clean. When people come over that seem dirty, I even try to point them in the direction of the chair I don’t care so much about. That way the couches don’t get messed up. Maybe you can say I’m a clean freak, but I value my stuff. I’ve worked hard for it, and I probably won’t be getting anything newer for quite some time. So to keep things nice, I make sure the dirt stays outside.

Sometimes after working out I come in and am sweaty, so I sit on the floor. I know what you’re thinking, “a house is meant to live in.” Well, I live in mine, but I like my house to always be visitor ready (Oh gosh, I think I turned into my mom). That’s why if a visitor is dirty, I may ask that person to kick the dust off their feet before walking in my house!

I’ve been in houses before though that seemed like outside the house was cleaner than inside the house. These are typically old men’s homes. A fishing buddy of mine who lives in North Carolina has an extremely dirty house. It kind of grosses me out really. I literally have walked outside his house and cleaned my shoes.

When Jesus sent the disciples out to teach about Him, He told them to shake the dust off their feet if people didn’t accept them (Mark 6:11). Basically, this was to be a vivid sign that they wished to remain separate from people who rejected the message of Jesus they were proclaiming. So, to show that they wanted to be different from the people they met with, they were to kick the dust off their feet.

I love my old fishing buddy back home, but when I leave his house I don’t want to smell like an old dirty home. I want to smell, in the words of Outkast, “so fresh and so clean.”

But all this makes me think about what people walk away with when they have hung out with me. I don’t smoke so I know they can’t smell like cigarettes and I don’t keep a dirty house so I know they can’t smell like dirty laundry, etc., but do they walk away and think that they want to separate themselves from me? Do I act in such a way that they no longer want to communicate with me? Do I give in too quickly for them to believe I don’t stand for what I say I stand on?

This truly makes living the Christian life a little harder than many of us like to let on. Especially when we are called to stand on our faith yet love everyone. I’ve heard it said this way before too - “ to love the sinner, yet hate the sin.”

I wonder if the disciples ever walked away from people at times and as they brushed the dust off their feet say, “I sure loved those people.” I wonder if some of the towns and communities the disciples went to were church communities like some of ours who didn’t want to hear the truth about what it means to follow Jesus. I wonder if some of the homes the disciples went into had the Torah (their Bible at the time) on the table by their bed and talked like a Christ follower, yet rejected the truth proclaimed. I wonder if we have become the very people the disciples kicked the dust off their feet to.

Mark 6:8-9

2008-08-08T07:24:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about life. It seems like everywhere I go or whoever I see all I think about is if they are happy or not, what they may do, if they noticed me watching them, etc. Sounds kind of silly I know, but I am one of those people who can literally sit at a mall for hours and watch people walk by. Don’t get me wrong, I like to shop, but when I am shopping in the stores, I find myself watching the people around me just as much. Like right now, I’m Books-A-Million (aka BAM) and I’m trying to figure out if I know the guy near me, if he just has a familiar face, and what is it he’s typing on his computer.

Meanwhile, I need to be working on a Bible Study I am writing for Auxano Press (When I get it done, I will let you all know and will send you a free copy of it if you want…) Anyway, I just don’t feel equipped today to do what it is I am supposed to be doing. To be completely blunt, sometimes I feel like I am ready to face the writing world and other days I’m not. Today, I feel defeated.

Since I am killing time, I flipped over to Mark to see where I left off from yesterday. The very next verses got my attention pretty quickly. They don’t make all that much sense at first. I was a little confused so I flipped over to Matthew and Luke to read the same story there, and to my surprise it was different. Basically Matthew and Luke have Jesus telling the disciples to not take anything with them along the journey they are about to make, and Mark has Jesus telling the disciples to take a staff. I think what we can take away from that is that they weren’t to take much; they weren’t to prepare, they weren’t to pack a bag for comfort, and they weren’t to take an extra tunic (outfit). They were to just go.

I guess if the disciples had taken a ton of extra stuff they would have thought that their success was about their preparation and what they had done. At least that is what I do. I prepare a ton, and then whether I do great or horrible I relate it to my own preparation.

This isn’t what the Lord needed His disciples to fall back on. He needed them to be confident in the day, and the best way to do that was to eliminate their pressure. I’m sure the disciples placed too much pressure on themselves, so if they couldn’t do that, then the pressure would be gone. They were to face the day with what they have on their back. They no longer could trust and rely on themselves (which would have been a disaster) they were to rely on God (the provider of all things).

You know, I bet the disciples felt inadequate a lot. I bet they thought who are we to do all this for Jesus. Or better yet, when they were to cast out demons I bet they were like, “What the heck?” But to make a long story short, they did it. They showed up, and did what they were called to do and let God worry about the rest. Today, tomorrow, next week, and the week after that, etc, we all are to do the same thing.

Just show up for the day and the Lord WILL take care of all the rest.

Mark 6:7

2008-08-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Forever ago, I was in Boy Scouts. Some of you are thinking how great that is, and I’m thinking how horrible it was. My Boy Scout troop wasn’t the cool troop by any means. Sure there was a couple of guys in the group that I would have loved to be and looked up to, but they didn’t have anything to do with me. I was stuck with all the guys that I thought were the nerds of the pack.

Of course the guys I liked were much older than me, they had a higher rank, and never had to practice tying knots like us younger boys. They got to go explore and find stuff in the woods to bring it back to the hut for the rest of us to gloat over.

One lucky night, my name was called to get to go explore the great wide yonder (looking back on it, it was only about 3 acres) with all the older boys. I was so excited. I couldn’t believe that out of all the rest of the tenderfoots I was the chosen one.

When my name was called, I ran up to the den leader, only for him to let me know I was paired up with Jason (of course that isn’t his real name). Despite my excitement of getting to play with the big boys, the guy I was to buddy (remember the buddy system?) with was the older guy that the rest of the older guys made fun of. I was terrified to say the least because my dream of becoming popular seemed shattered. No one can become popular tied to the person nobody likes, right?

I wonder what the disciples were thinking when Jesus paired them up to go into the world. The disciples were normal people from different families and backgrounds. Jesus selected them randomly; they got on each other’s nerves. In Matthew 18, they even get in an argument over who’s the greatest!

This makes me think that they had to have been wishful thinking about who they would be paired with when Jesus was making teams. Jesus wasn’t a Boy Scout, but He undoubtedly knew how hard it would be to go into the World and preach the good news. This may seem like a stretch to some, but if it wasn’t going to be hard, then I don’t believe Jesus would have equipped them with the ability to cast out evil spirits!

But I think this is the point we can get from this: we can’t go into the World alone. As believers in Christ, we have the power of the Holy Spirit, just like the disciples, but that wasn’t and isn’t good enough. If so, then Jesus would have sent them out one by one. To be blunt, we have to have one other on our journey.

I’m not a big fan of wikipedia, but I like its definition of buddy system. It says, “The buddy system is a procedure in which two people, the buddies, operate together as a single unit so that they are able to monitor and help each other. In adventurous or dangerous activities, where the buddies are often equals, the main benefit of the system is improved safety: each may be able to prevent the other becoming a casualty or rescue the other in a crisis. When this system is used as part of training or the induction of newcomers to an organization, the less experienced buddy learns more quickly from close and frequent contact with the experienced buddy than when operating alone.”

As the night progressed and Jason and I got further away from the hut, I realized that I was glad that I had someone with me. We had ventured a good ways away, and trying to find a hut in the dark wasn’t easy or fun. I was ready to cry, but Jason was ready to help me get back to where I needed to be. At that point, I didn’t care that Jason wasn’t the most popular. I was just glad I wasn’t out in the scary woods alone.

As Christians, we need each other to help us find our ways back home each time we get lost or scared. Let’s be the kind of buddy that is always ready to help! Let’s get over trying to be the coolest and most popular, and work towards always finding our way back to where we need to be.

Mark 6:6

2008-08-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Last week, a guy from Lowes came to install my new counter top in the kitchen. I’m pretty excited about it. The old counter top was super old and had paint on it, but the new one looks great! I kind of feel like I have a new kitchen. Well, sort of new.

My parents came into town, to help finish putting up some lights and get a few ins and outs done while the kitchen was being updated. I've been swamped with work the last several weeks and was not able to finish everything that needed to be updated or fixed. My parents wanted to be here when the counter tops were put in, so they decided to help me get everything else done. Don’t worry, I’m not spoiled!

I love fixing up my little condo. The problem is that everything I want to do cost money. And, not just a little money, but a lot!

Luckily I had saved up enough money to help with everything. It’s a good thing too because I am no longer on staff at the church I was working for. I have mixed emotions about it all, but none of anger or regret that I’m not there because I chose to leave.

What I do have mixed emotions about is the relationships that I had while there. Some of them were amazing, some cordial, some tolerant, and some weren’t great. To be completely blunt, I thought more were good than maybe are. Not that many of the relationships weren’t good, but one not being great is one to many to me.

This morning though as I think about my time there, I wonder what all God wanted me to see and what maybe God wanted them to see while I was there. I have to believe that in everything we do, whether it’s good or bad that in some shape or another God has a plan. Not just a normal plan that we could have thought of ourselves, but plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (taken from Jeremiah 29:11).

In Mark 6:6 Jesus was wrapping up a visit with his hometown people and was frustrated with them. Literally, Jesus said, “He was amazed at their lack of faith.” Specifically Jesus is talking about the people who wouldn’t listen to His teaching and believe in Him. But nonetheless, Jesus was frustrated. I have to wonder what it was that Jesus was preaching.

I bet Jesus talked about the future. For me, that’s hard to talk about. The future is the unknown. We can plan for it, but we never know how it’s going to pan out (If your life is like mine then what and where you are in life isn't where you thought you would be at all).

I can picture Jesus' hometown crowd wondering how in the world Jesus was making all these claims about Him being God's son. It had to be difficult for them to place their future in the hands of the local boy. No wonder Jesus got frustrated. He knew what they needed, and yet they didn’t respond.

Lately my faith hasn’t been where I need it to be. I haven’t struggled putting my future in the hands of the local boy. I’ve struggled putting my future in the hands of God All Mighty, the one the future belongs too. Isn't that strange?

I mean, I love the Lord, but I don’t always trust Him like I should. In the last few days Jesus has probably been amazed at my lack of faith too. My bills are piling up, the enemy is attacking in a lot of directions, and I’m stressed about my future. But Jesus knows what we need, just like He knew what his hometown needed. Best of all, He won’t leave us in the meantime. All we need to do is seek Him and He’ll give us our needs while protecting us along the way.

Check out Matt Redman's song "You Never Let Go." It is a great reminder that wherever we are God is always there.

Mark 6:4

2008-07-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

One of the great parts about going home on holidays is getting to see familiar faces. On the morning of July 4th I walked up to the grocery store (Ingles) to try and find a small box of strawberries for my mom. Although the store had obviously ran out of strawberries, it was full of faces that I grew up with.

I didn’t have long elaborate conversations with anybody this time, but I did say hey to a few people. Most of them know that I am a minister now, so they don’t need to ask me every time I come into town what it is I am doing. I remember though how difficult and somewhat embarrassing it was when I first began telling people I was called to the ministry and was in Divinity school. Not that it was a huge shock to everybody but let’s face it, it isn’t normal or typical for young guys to end up being called to preach.

Not too long after I confessed my calling, my preacher told me to prove it. “Prove you are called to be at the pulpit and preach on Sunday morning,” he said. Without experience, confidence, or charisma I showed up the next Sunday with my sermon. The only thing I had going for me was my faith, so that was what I preached on.

The bottom line is that the sermon was horrible. I messed up more than I could count and a few people said I did a good job. That’s it. No big conversions, only big smiles as the people left their pews as quickly as possible to go home and get lunch (luckily their reactions were much different the last time I preached there).

I did well enough for me to not get too discouraged with what happened, but I definitely didn’t move everyone into repentance of all their sins like Billy Graham can. Yet even Billy Graham, as amazing of a man as he is, can’t make people listen to what it is the Lord may be saying through a sermon. Even Jesus, arguably the greatest preacher of all time (or at least He should be), couldn’t change how the people responded to His sermon. In effect, He says about Himself that even He is without honor in His own house and among relatives (Mark 6:4).

How can this be? Jesus was God and human! Well, living in Nashville I know and have met a lot of the people that the World seems to look up and worship like a god: Christian, Country, and Pop stars. As I have lived life with some of them, I have realized one thing that I’m sure Jesus’ friends and neighbors knew of him; they’re normal. People who make millions and/or are the “movers and shakers” in society are all normal. They go to the bathroom like everybody else does.

This doesn’t mean that we just give up on what we have going on in our lives and from talking about God with our friends back home. It means that we have to hold on to the one thing that got me through my first sermon: faith. That may not seem like much, but it’s the one thing that pleases the Lord (Hebrews 11:6), and it’s what the righteous live by (Romans 1:17). The next time we get discourage, the situation may not change, but we can always keep faith.

Matt Wertz wrote a song entitled Keep faith, in which the chorus goes like this, “Even when your hope is gone, even when you’re barely holding on – if there’s anything that I’m sure of, I know that we were made for love. So if you start to break, Keep Faith.” Buy his new CD entitled “Under Summer Sun.” It comes out in September.

Macbook Pro

2008-07-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

My computer died. I didn't have a funeral for it. I was so ready for it to go because it had started cutting off almost as soon as I turned it on. I had anticipated it's death for quiet some time now. But since its death, I was able to justify buying a new computer!

So, the other day I went and bought a Macbook Pro. I'm excited about it although I'm not going to get to eat for a few days now that I spent all my money on it. Hopefully I will be able to write better and have cooler graphics now that I am an official Mac user. I doubt it though because I don't really know how to use this thing.

I wrote another blog to post on this, but can't figure out how to copy and paste it, so I thought I would write (I wish that wasn't a true statement, but it is). Anyway, I just thought I would let you all know that I'm still writing, I'm just not that smart with computers! :( Anyway, I'll get something up soon!

Keep me in your prayers!

Mark 6:1

2008-07-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

The other night I watched the movie A Knight’s Tale. One of my favorite parts in the movie is at the end when Roland, William, Geoffrey, and Wat were riding back into England and the song, The Boys Are Back in Town, begins to play. It gets me all excited! I start picturing that music playing as I ride in to North Carolina each trip I go home. I’m at home now and that music didn’t play. (Well, I did hum it a little as I began seeing all the street signs I recognized).

It’s been good to be home so far. I haven’t done much of anything besides go for a walk to the local grocery store and have a short jog around my parent’s community. I slept a little late on July 4th and had a great chicken sandwich for lunch. It doesn’t get any better than this for me. I’m home and so far I haven’t been quite as stressed as I feel when I’m in Nashville.

In Nashville, I constantly have things I need to do. But not home (My parents like to try and give me things to do, but this time I didn’t have it)! Usually, churches from around home like me to preach at their church when I am in town so that they don’t have to pay me for my travel. This time, I came into town unannounced, so I haven’t been asked to speak.

In Mark, Jesus didn’t seemingly have the luxury of going somewhere and not preaching. Either He preached because He wanted to or people naturally figured out He was in town and would find Him to ask Him questions. As soon as Jesus left healing the bleeding woman and raising the little girl from the dead, He and His disciples went home (I like to think that since He knew everything He hummed The Boys are Back in Town song too).

I wonder if He went home because He was tired and wanted to rest. I mean, when the bleeding woman touched His garment He felt power leave Him (Mark 5:30). Can you imagine the power it must have taken out of Him to raise the little girl from death? I’m sure a lot, and since Jesus was said to have understood all we feel, He must have needed to go somewhere that He could rest up. I mean, after a hard days work, I like to go home to rest. Maybe I am different from everyone else, but this is where Jesus went too.

Home is an interesting word to me. It seems to have lots of meanings that people throw around when trying to guilt someone in to going somewhere. For me, it usually comes in the form of this, “You need to come home and see all these people that love you!” But home (and I looked it up in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary) is defined by a bunch of words (ie house, habitat, headquarters, home plate) that one can think of to understand home, but not truly define it. Home then, must be a place that we can go that provides us a place to relax and be loved when we are just being ourselves.

I guess I have a couple of those places, North Carolina is definitely one, but the other is the gym for me. When I’m in the gym the only access people can have to me is by walking up to me on the treadmill. Where are your homes? Where can you be you and still be loved? For all of us, whether we like the churchy answer or not, one of those places is in the arms of Jesus. Psalm 144:2 states that He is our “fortress, my (our) stronghold and my (our) deliverer, my (our) shield, in whom I (we) take refuge, who subdues peoples under me (us).”

Mark 5:35-43

2008-07-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

As I drove home today I felt so overwhelmed. I guess it’s safe to say that I’m at the point in my life where I have to make a ton of decisions about my future. I love what I do for a living, but money is tight, my time is super limited, and the stress of making ends meet is beginning to affect my ministry more than I ever thought it would.

If anything, I have done and am doing my best to be obedient to the Lord, and I am still somewhat in question as to what it is He is doing in my life. One of my mentors challenged me the other day to truly begin thinking and asking myself what God thinks about the situation I’m in. I like that idea.

Here I am worried if I’m going to get everything done in my life that I need to do in the next several weeks and afraid that if I don’t get it done perfectly I will have failed. But that’s just what the world has conditioned me to think. When I was a kid in school, if the class projects weren’t turned in right on time, then my letter grade dropped. As an accountant, if I didn’t get someone’s taxes done on time, they would have lost money and I would have been fired.

In Mark, Jesus was taking His time walking to Jairus’ house to heal his sick daughter. The problem was that Jesus took so long to get there that the girl died. Jairus’ friends and family came to Jesus and basically told Him not to worry because He had taken too long, He didn’t get their on time. Jesus simply said, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.”

Can you imagine what those men felt when Jesus told them that? I mean, they didn’t know the end of the story like we do. All they knew was that the daughter of Jairus was dead and Jesus didn’t help in time. Jairus and his friends were right where some of us are today. They truly thought that Jesus was too late to help them with their situation. Think about it. Some of us are already broke and dependent upon family again; addicted to medicating the problems in our life with porn, drugs, or alcohol; neck deep in lies and deceitfulness that we don’t know how to get out of.

The beauty of the story in Mark is that we know its ending. Jesus still goes to Jairus’ house, touches the girl and raises her from the dead. This story has a profound truth to teach: Nothing is late with Jesus. Our own death can’t keep Him from showing up, working a miracle, and restoring us back to life.

Sometimes the simplest things can be the wisest, and in this case, the anecdote for life seems almost too easy. Yet, if God will provide for the birds and flowers of the earth, how much more will He provide for us (Matthew 6)? So when the pressures and hardness of life get to you, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” Not only will Jesus rescue you, you won’t have to be where you are alone. I will be with you. I hope you will be with me.

Mark 5:21-43

2008-07-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

What would it be like to touch Jesus? I can’t imagine it. I would give anything to see Jesus alive that touching Him is almost an after thought. But touching Jesus brings healing. It’s the kind of healing that stops a woman from bleeding and that raises a little girl from death.

Even now as I sit here at my table, I wonder what it is that I need to be healed from the most. Coveting? Pride? Sometimes a critical Spirit? All those at one time? Is that even possible?

You know, it baffles me that whenever people come in contact with Jesus their life is changed for forever. Forever. Freed for forever. Can you imagine that? I mean seriously, what would it be like to be freed from all your stuff for forever? You know, all the stuff that you wouldn’t admit to anyone at your church for fear of rejection or being shamed. Think of that stuff. To be freed from that for forever… Are you getting the picture here?

As I type this, I can’t help but get teary eyed over all the people I have met in my last several years of ministry that are literally dying to be freed from the chaos in their life. Like Legion that we looked at in the beginning of Mark 5, they are continuing to retreat from the crowd, in this case the church, for fear of being found out. They want to be like Legion and run down the mountain to fall at Jesus’ feet and touch Him and beg for healing, but they don’t know how.

They don’t know how because we haven’t shown them a Jesus they can run to. The bottom line for all of us is that Jesus died and left us in charge of the earth and we are doing a horrible job of being Him. We don’t show mercy, we don’t love, and we don’t care for anybody but ourselves. Most of us truly are so caught up in looking for the forest that we can’t see the trees.

What in the world are we to do? I mean, we can’t go on living like this can we? I think the most interesting part of this whole section in Mark is the word immediately. It’s used several times, and I think it is important for us today. If anything, we are to change immediately. Love immediately. Care immediately. Show mercy immediately. And I truly believe people will then begin to run to Jesus, immediately.

Mark 5: 21-24

2008-07-02T16:52:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have been crazy for me. I bought a condo and have been painting and fixing it up for some time now. It’s not finished, but it’s livable. Truthfully, it’s in far better shape than it would have been if I had worked on it on my own. You see, my mom Patsy, came to help me.

Now my mom is retired, but she works all the time. Not only does she help my dad with his ministry, but she is constantly helping the rest of the family with getting stuff done. She has her own hobbies of course, but she is so quick to drop what she is doing to go help those in need.

Not that my mom is Jesus or even close to being Jesus, but she has a heart for those in need. At times that heart can seem to be too big (she stayed a really long time), but amidst the hard work and little play I can’t question her heart for me. If anything, she loves me and loves me sacrificially.

The first three days were great, but to be completely honest with you, the rest of the time we began getting on each other’s nerves. I wanted to have fun and do everything that I had always done in the afternoon, yet work had to be done.

I wonder if Jesus ever felt like He just wanted to have fun and not work. Sure He seems to have had fun with the disciples, but everywhere He went He continued to meet the needs of the people. In Mark 5:21-24, as soon as Jesus got off the cruise ship, a man came to him just as Jesus got on the shore and asked Him to go home with him and heal his daughter. Jesus’ reply? Well, we don’t know exactly, but He began walking to Jairus’ home to heal the girl.

I don’t like the old cliché “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD), but I have to constantly ask myself of what God’s intention is for me to do. In reality, my first reaction is hardly ever for me to sacrifice my time for another. Ok, never. But the truth is, in some miraculous strange way I feel so much better about myself when I do.

Although I’m glad those last two weeks are over, I have realized a valuable lesson. Sure, I learned that my mom loves me sacrificially, but the most valuable lesson was this: we can’t make it without each other. I don’t know where I would be with everything in my life right now if I would have had to do it all on my own. I would have gotten some things done, but I wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far without the help of my mom.

Many of you wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far as you are now without the help of someone too. Maybe not your mom, but someone took a chance on you whether you like it or not. If you haven’t told them thank you yet, I urge you to do so. I’m not good at saying thanks, but mom, if you read this, thanks for everything. I sure couldn’t have gotten it done without you.

Mark 5:1-20

2008-06-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Every year at Christmas my mom and I put together a puzzle. It’s kind of like our own little tradition. We used to put together pictures of Santa Claus, but in the last several years we have been putting together photomosaic puzzles. It’s basically a picture that is made up of hundreds and thousands of smaller pictures.

Well, our first photomosaic puzzle was a picture of the Earth. It looked so cool on the box and at first was pretty addicting to try and figure out and put together. We figured out the land and got the corners all put together, but the ocean took us for forever. As a matter of fact, it took us so long that we had to stop looking at it for a month so that we could get refocused. No kidding! We even called over my aunt to help us, and with her help, the puzzle took us almost 4 months to put together.

Sometimes it seems like our life is kind of like that puzzle. Like my mom and I putting together the land and edges of the puzzle, I have done some cool things and had some major achievements come pretty quickly in my life. However, like the ocean part of the puzzle, there are things I have had to put down for a while in order to refocus.

My refocusing has come in the form of me having to humble myself. Have you ever had had to humble yourself or drop some of your pride? I feel like that is something I have to do a lot. I constantly have to say to myself, “Matthew get over yourself, life doesn’t revolve around you!”

After Jesus calmed the storm, He and the disciples pulled their little boat up to the shore in the region of the Gerasenes, only to meet a man that had to get over himself. As soon as Jesus got off the boat, a man ran down the hill only to fall on his knees in front of Him. We don’t know a lot about this guy, but he had been chained and left in a tomb. He had broken free from those chains, but he couldn’t seem to get his life in order.

To put it bluntly, this guy was possessed with an evil spirit that had a stronghold on his life that kept him from enjoying freedom. He could have stayed and played in the tombs and mountains for the rest of his life, but he knew he needed help. He was frustrated with life to the point that he cried and cut himself with rocks. I guess we could say that he had gotten the edges and land put together, but he couldn’t quite get the ocean put together. He needed to refocus. He needed Jesus.

What stronghold is keeping you from enjoying freedom? I may be young, but there is a saying I am finding more and more true as I get older, and that is that our secrets keep us sick and that the truth will set us free. In John 8:34-36, Jesus is talking to some people He met along the way who were questioning this freedom He brought, to which Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

Some of us have been staring at our ocean puzzle pieces for far too long, hoping we can finally get this puzzle put together. In reality, the pieces are running together and we need help. The problem is though that we can’t just call in our aunts to help us put our lives together. We have to call on Jesus. The One that sets us free from our strongholds, the One that can help put our puzzled lives together.

Mark 4:35-41

2008-06-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

I’m 29 now. My birthday was last Sunday, May 25th. It’s funny how as the years continue to come and go, my life doesn’t seem to change a whole lot. I’m getting older, yet the things I have always struggled with are still there to some degree. I’m still a broken man, and guess I always will be. I’m still scared about life. I’m still fearful of not being the best I can be. I still hope I’m in God’s Will for my life. I wonder if I was ever truly known by someone, that they would stick around and love me.

Do you ever think about those things? I can’t help but wonder sometimes if this (my life) is really what God planned. I mean is the road that I am to walk on ever going to get easy? Is it supposed to be?

It’s been such a hard week that I was hoping that I could find some encouragement in the Scriptures. I started reading in John, but found what I really needed to hear in the very next section in Mark. Not only did I find encouragement, but I also found a challenge.

The disciples were out in a boat in the middle of the sea. A storm came up and they got scared. They actually thought that they were going to drown, so scared may not be the best word. But they ran to Jesus for help. Jesus calmed the storm and then asked the question that I am sure caught the disciples off guard and slapped me in my face. He asked, “Do you still have no faith?”

Dang! I mean, I’m 29. I work in the church. I preach at other churches. And yet I still struggle with my faith. I can’t begin to tell you how many storms in my own life Jesus has calmed, yet each time a storm brews, my faith seems to get lost. I’ve sat around a lot lately and thought about why this may be. I think the answer is that I often don’t feel worthy to go to God for help because I hear and buy into the world’s description of me more than I hear God’s description of me.

For us to face the day, we have to know who we are. Not how the world describes us, but what God says. Do you know who you are? I have to admit I struggle with that. My friend Matt Wertz and I wrote a song based on God’s promises of who we are so I can sing it each morning to remind me. I thought I would share it with you. Here are the lyrics…

Verse 1.
I am God's Child,
I am Christ's Friend.
I am complete, redeemed, and forgiven in Him

No longer condemned
Known yet still loved
I am established, hidden in Him above

Chorus.
This is who I am
Forever I will be
Looking to The source of Life
To find my identity
This is who I am

Verse 2.
He's chosen me.
Made me an heir.
I am secure, surrendering to His care.

I can't be removed
Been bought with a price
I am justified, significant in His sight

Chorus.

Mark 4:33, 34

2008-05-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Ever bought a house? This week I bought a condo here in Nashville. I’m excited about it, but there is more work in buying a condo/house than I remember or knew. (I bought a house in 2001 in Tallahassee, Florida!) I feel like every time I turn around, I need to go sign papers or send someone money. Unfortunately, the money is about to run out, so I need a loan.

A couple friends of mine gathered me to talk about all of the different kinds of loans I can get to help pay for the condo. I appreciated them wanting to help, but they dropped acronyms left and right thinking that I was up on the loan lingo. Well, I’m not! I had no clue what they were talking about. And I wasn’t going to stop them in mid sentence to ask questions. I wanted them to think I am smart and up on all the latest business stuff just like them.

Well, I wish I would have taken the time to ask my questions because recently I had to sit down with a lender to talk about getting a loan and he started talking to me much like my buddies. I didn’t have a clue about PMI (and still don’t really) or why the interest rate went from 6.0 to 6.375 in just two days. All of my questions were, “what does that mean?” or “why is it like that?” I know that Brendan, the loan guy, had to be getting angry with me because I had so many questions. To make me feel even less intelligent, my questions seemed elementary to him because he never had to think twice about the answer. He knew it and was ready to answer.

I remember walking away from that meeting thinking how smart he was. But the truth is he is only that smart because it was explained to him. Someone or some book took the time to write it all out and explain it to him where he could understand it.

Sometimes I feel like I need someone to explain the Scripture to me. So, I go get a few commentaries to read up on or I ask a couple of friends that are too smart for their own good. For me to really understand it I need it explained and explained in detail.

Jesus did this for the disciples. He knew that they probably didn’t understand everything he was talking about when he talked to the crowds. Truthfully, they probably could have cared less about the topics of discussion Jesus preached on until they heard him preach it. They were all new concepts for them and for the rest of the Gentiles and Jews.

New enough that if Jesus hadn’t explained it all, they wouldn’t have understood how to live or teach and may have even turned back early and not followed Jesus the whole time. They stayed with Jesus because they began to understand, although not much, what He was about. In essence, it seems that the more they began to know, the more they began to believe. And the more they believed, the more they followed.

This has been true in my own life. I don’t read the Scriptures nearly as much as I should, but when I do, I begin to understand a little more about God. Like the disciples, the more Scripture I understand, the more I believe and am willing to follow. I guess the flip side of all this is that the less we understand and believe, the less we follow.

Part of the reason my last couple weeks have been hard is that I didn’t fully understood the loan process and all the intricate aspects of it in order to trust Brendan with my money. However, I’ve researched and even asked a few expert friends of mine for help in understanding all this new jargon. My conclusion is that Brendan knows what he is talking about. Since I believe that, it’s made it easier for me to get my loan with him.

Now, back to trying to understand God…

Mark 4:30-32

2008-05-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen a mustard seed? I saw my first one several years ago, when an old mentor of mine gave me one in a small bottle (he had brought tons of them back from a Holy Land trip he had taken). I couldn’t believe my eyes as to how small it was. It was so small that I was afraid that if I opened the container and it fell out, I would lose it for forever.

I was so proud of that seed. I literally showed it to everyone that came over to my house. Seeing that I played with that little bottle a lot, my mischievous little puppy named Toby got interested in it too. Before I could scream, “NO,” Toby had gnawed the end of my bottle off and had swallowed the seed.

I remember hating my dog for a few seconds, until I realized that he had taught me a valuable lesson. The lesson being this: we can have something so tiny in us that we not know it exist. Toby had no clue that he had eaten the seed because it was so small (about the tip of a small pen), but despite his disappointment with his find, the fact still remained that my mustard seed was in his tummy. I think I would have felt better if I thought he enjoyed the seed, but I’m extremely confident he didn’t feel any different then, than when he took his first big lick inside the plastic container.

It’s interesting to me that the Kingdom of God is said to be started by a seed so small that we, and Toby, wouldn’t be able to tell it’s in us. The very seed (or one like it!) that the eternal reign of God is birthed from was in Toby and he had no clue! He felt no different!

You know, many of us didn’t, and don’t, feel any different when we accepted Christ into our lives. Maybe we felt a few goose bumps and kept a spiritual high for a few months, but the “different” feeling passed. Goose bumps go away and spiritual highs usually only last a little longer. Then we find ourselves asking the question “now what”? Maybe even, “was that experience real”? Or better yet, “is Jesus really in me now”!?

Paul tells us in Colossians 1:27 that as Christians we have “Christ in you (us), the hope of glory.” In other words, when we become Christians, the eternal rule of God in us begins, yet it’s the size of a mustard seed! So as Christians, we have this mustard seed in us, yet we don’t often know it exists. Maybe we do, but we have forgotten because we don’t feel any different.

Once we have had that spiritual high and goose bump experience it is so difficult to think that God is ruling and present in our lives without it. We want to think God is with us so desperately that we try to find ourselves in religious services that will produce the kind of goose bumps and spiritual highs we equate with God. The truth is that God is always present, whether we are on a spiritual high or are covered up with goose bumps.

So what do we do when we find ourselves not feeling different or find that life is so hard that we need to hear the truth that God is ruling in our lives? We read and meditate on Scripture, we pray, we seek Christian community, and have faith that Christ is always there (read Hebrews 7:25). In other words, we water the seed.

Mark 4:26-29

2008-05-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Mother’s Day. I was planning to go home and surprise my mom, but I didn’t get to go. I had so much to do over the weekend to prepare for this weekend at my church that I couldn’t give up the 6 hours each way to drive to North Carolina. I just wouldn’t have gotten it all done.

Despite not spending time with her on Sunday, I thought a lot about her and the time we did have together when I lived at home. I haven’t always gotten along with my mom. As a kid, I guess I could say I was a brat, but I didn’t always see things how my mom saw things. For instance, she would see how to make things safe, while I would see how I could make things dangerous. She would see how to save money, and I would see how I could spend money.

Spending money is something I did and do quite well. Well enough that my parents put me to work riding a lawn mower as a kid so they could justify giving me an allowance. I hated cutting grass because it was dirty, smelly, and I would have to be out in the sun on those hot days! Well, since I didn’t like mowing the lawn, I didn’t always pay attention when I was doing it. One particular time, I ran over this Weeping Cherry Tree in the front yard and cut it completely off at the ground.

I’ll never forget my parents yelling at me for killing their tree! It only looked like a little stick in the ground, but in my carelessness I had killed it. Or so I thought. My parents were going to let me watch it die, but by the time we remembered that it was supposed to be dead, we realized that it had grown larger than it originally was when I chopped it off. When we least expected it, the tree had grown and even had branches.

As I was reading in Mark, I realized that Jesus was saying that the Kingdom of God is exactly like that. We won’t really understand it all, but in the midst of our doing other things, the Kingdom of God is growing. What’s the Kingdom of God? It is the eternal rule of God (Psalm 103:19 and Daniel 4:3).

Jesus doesn’t talk about Weeping Cherry Trees, but He does talk about plants. He says that the Kingdom of God is like seeds thrown on the grown. We go to bed, and when we wake up, it has grown.

I don’t know how you feel about knowing that God’s Kingdom is growing, but it makes me pretty ecstatic! Simply put, when God is ruling, there is nothing to fear. I hate to say I fear stuff, but the reality is I do. I fear not being in God's will, growing old, bad decisions, death of my parents, etc. but, if God is ruling in my life (Scholars call this concept the sovereignty of God) then God is in control of my life. This means I don’t have to worry about anything. When God is in control, He turns the bad into good, my wailing into dancing, my sorrows into praise, and my fears into worship.
When God is in control, He can take a Weeping Cherry Tree that I cut off at the ground, and make it the prettiest tree in the yard.

Mark 4:24, 25

2008-05-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Like Thomas Jefferson, I would like to take certain parts of the Bible out, but they are there for a reason. It would defeat the purpose of the Bible if we removed all the passages that didn’t “sit well” with us. Maybe the reason Jefferson took all of those parts he didn’t like out was because they hit too close to home. For us there may be parts of the Bible that “hit too close to home” that we wish we could take out because it would make life “easier” or at least help us not feel guilty about what we are or aren’t doing.

But what good would it be for me to only read and ponder the Scripture that makes sense. There is something about wrestling with those tough Scriptures that I feel brings me closer to God. I guess, after all, it is only in our wrestle that we can actually get close enough to God to be touched and gain limps (I’m speaking of Jacob here in Genesis 32). And a touch alone will heal. Just ask the bleeding woman (Mark 5:28) and the blind man (Mark 8:22).

It’s sad for me to think that some may not ever get to touch or be touched by Jesus. I think the kicker though is that we have to want to be touched to even get in the predicament of being touched. I mean, the one thing that Jacob, the bleeding woman, and the blind man had in common was their faith and their desire for some sort of confrontation. They had to confront Jesus for Jesus to heal them, either of their selfishness and control issues, blindness, or brokenness and bleeding.

Maybe our Scripture today is all about having a spiritual life that desires faith. I mean, as we heed (listen carefully) to what we hear, we will gain faith, since faith cometh by hearing (Romans 10:17). And the more faith we have, the more spiritually mature we will become. The more mature we are, the more we will be able to understand the truths of Scripture. Thus, the more we hear or listen carefully to God, the more spiritual truth we will be given.

So then I guess verse 25 means that whoever has a spiritual life that desires faith and confrontation with Jesus will learn and grow; but whoever does NOT have a spiritual life that desires faith and confrontation with Jesus will lose the little desire they have. This is kind of like the old saying, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”

However, I honestly don’t know how to take this verse. I don’t want anyone to lose their desire to grow closer to Jesus. In my own life, as broken as I am, I can honestly say that the only reason I have hope is because I have Jesus. The only reason I can face the accusations the world tells me on a daily basis is because I have Jesus telling me He loves me and won’t leave me through any of it. The only reason I feel worth is because I know Jesus bought me at a price.

Even in this post, I don’t have an answer to the questions that verse 25 can bring up. All I can do is continue to wrestle with God in my understandings and continue to believe that through my brokenness and story I will remind people of their desire for faith or of the desire they once had. The same can be said of you. Tell your story. Share your life. Your story may be the only story someone would “hear” that would cause them to have “faith.”

Mark 4:21, 22

2008-05-02T23:23:00.000-07:00

I like to look at houses on the internet. The bigger and nicer the house seems, the more I want to see what’s on its inside. If I can’t see a picture of it's rooms, then I usually pass it off as mediocre. I mean, just because it looks good on the outside doesn’t mean it is on the inside. To truly see a house, it is imperative to see its inside. On the internet if a house’s rooms are nice, the owner or seller post as many pictures of them as possible.

If you’re like me, you fear that when you let people in the rooms of your life it will be obvious they aren’t extravagant and glamorous like the ones in the million dollar homes I look at the most. If anything, I often see the rooms in my life as needing to be painted (which is a lot of work!), or at least have some work done. Because I seem to be a mess, I have a hard time disclosing the real me because I don’t really trust people enough to be that vulnerable with them. Like many of you I have been abandoned before and even fear that my honesty could be thought of as a weakness. So what do I seem to do? I wear masks and build walls that keep people out.

I think it’s safe to say we all do that though. Our masks seem to resemble our most cherished childhood superhero making the nerd underneath indestructible, and our walls seem to be spray painted with the words "keep out" or "beware of dog" cautioning passerbys to not go any further. But it takes both of those to really be hidden doesn’t it? To leave one out may mean we are found out and to make sure we aren’t, we need to cover all the angles.

When we wear our masks and hide behind our walls people can’t see Jesus. Since Jesus is often known as light (see John 1:4, 5), we can’t expect someone to see “the light” if we don’t let them. I mean, no one can see the light in a house when all the doors and curtains are closed and they are standing outside. Jesus says the same thing this way, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or bed? Instead don’t you put it on its stand?” When we don’t disclose, or to continue with my analogy, let people in the house, all we do is hide the light, Jesus.

I have come to the conclusion that to see Jesus is not to see good works and kind heartedness but to be "blinded by the light" of redemption and justice. Even in the dark I can see a nice house that may seem warm and inviting, but this is how the enemy most often presents itself. At first appealing, but when the light is shined, the blemishes can be seen. The truth is we all have blemishes. We all are broken and hurt people in need of makeovers. Makeovers that Jesus has already cleaned, washed, and fixed if we’ve let Him.

Like any home, remodels and cleanings are necessary. They're definitely not fun to do in the meantime, but well worth having it done in the end. Letting Jesus remodel and clean our lives is just as hard. But here’s the thing, Jesus will turn us from old to new, from hurt and wronged to healed and loved, from being ugly and unattractive on the inside to being more beautiful than any castle we can find on the internet or see around the world.

I promise if I had a million dollar home, I would be so excited I would post thousands of pictures for you all to see. Shame on me if I don’t get that excited about what Christ has done in me. Especially, since He paid for the renovations.

Mark 4:9, 23

2008-05-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

As I continue to read in Mark I have been fascinated by the recent repetition of the phrase, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” I mean if anything its like Jesus is yelling to me to slow up and pay attention to what’s being said. I feel like I can hear Jesus saying, “Hey, its right here Matthew! You want to know how to get closer to me and have the life you always wanted? Then pay close attention to this section!”

Already within Mark four, this has been said twice in verses 9 and 23 (Actually verse 24 is a variation of that same phrase). However, it’s interesting to me that this is the only time in the book of Mark that this is said. And for that matter, it’s said right here where He is talking about the condition of our heart.

Right after Jesus gave the first parable speech in Mark’s gospel on the posture or condition of our heart, He said our phrase of the day (Similar to Peewee Herman’s word of the day! Remember that?). Anyway, the disciples weren’t paying attention so they asked Jesus what He was talking about. Well, He repeated the parable, and then went on to explain that basically if we aren’t ready for the Word of God, that it won’t take root and grow. In other words, we won’t understand it to believe it.

It makes me think that when we “hear” Jesus, we can expect to be moved to belief. It seems as though that to truly “hear,” our heart has to be ready for it, or to play on what Jesus said, the soil has to be ready. When the soil is ready and accepts the seed, the seed will grow. In other words, when we accept the Word of God, we believe it to the point we act upon it.

I’m so good at listening and remembering Scripture, but as I have said before, I’m not the best at applying it. I can know who I am in Christ, but I don’t always believe it! If anything, I believe Jesus is trying to tell us here that God isn’t looking for a bunch of walking Bibles; He is looking for active disciples. He doesn’t care if we can quote Scripture; He cares if we live it. He doesn’t care if we know Scripture; He cares about what we do with it.

The truth is we won’t do anything with it if we don’t believe it. Right? I mean, the only reason I would apply something to my life is if I hear it and believe it’s true. The only time I can be free from my past and from its accusations is when I truly believe that Jesus set me free from it. The only way you can be free, is if you believe.

As we continue to read through the Scriptures, my prayer is that we all will hear what God is saying to us. Not just so we can quote the Scripture, but so we can live and believe that God is who He says He is, and we are who He says we are. I hate this old cliché but it’s true. I don’t want us to be Christians who can “talk the talk.” I want us to be the type of Christians who will “walk the walk.” This only comes when we believe; this only comes when we hear. So, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

God, help us hear You.

Mark 4:10-12

2008-04-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today, I got home from Tulsa, Oklahoma; I cried; I smiled; I felt loved; I laughed; I was grossed out; I felt worth; I was scared; I felt defeated; I felt at peace.

It’s amazing how many different feelings I can go through in a day. Several of those feelings I know I had more than once, but you get the point. And the thing is I wasn’t really a basket case either. My feelings just kept changing.

“Feelings” intrigue me. I mean, I know what feelings are, but it is weird to me how we can actually know how to cry, know what pain or love feels like, etc. Maybe I’m the only one that thinks about that kind of stuff, but things I don’t understand and haven’t fully mastered catch my attention. Maybe that’s why I love mystery movies – the thrill of not knowing and having to try and guess the situation or who killed who.

In the New Testament, and particularly in Mark it seems like Jesus was starring in His own mystery movie. In Mark 4:10-11 the disciples were confused because Jesus kept speaking things that didn’t make sense to them (stories in parables). Seeking to find the answer to the mystery, they asked Jesus why He taught the way He did. Jesus responded, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God…” And then Jesus went on to say that all won't be able to understand what is being said.

Isn’t that interesting? I’m baffled at such a comment. Our Jesus, the One who came for ALL, is saying that some of that ALL won’t understand. You know, sometimes I don’t understand Jesus. I want to, but life often brings hard questions. Very regularly I am asked questions like why did I marry so-and-so? Why am I gay? Is it possible to be gay? Why did so-and-so die like that? Why did so-and-so abandon me? Etc.

Then the mystery begins. I begin to ask, what seems right or wrong? What does Scripture say about that? What could God be revealing about His character in this?

I think that’s why Jesus uses this word mystery here in our text to the disciples. He spoke in parables, but only because they were designed for us to understand them when we are spiritually ready. We may understand the parable to mean one thing now, but as we grow in our spiritual maturity and we look back at the parable we will get a whole different and deeper understanding of it.

However, that doesn’t mean we wait till we think we are spiritually ready before we seek answers to life’s hard questions. We must begin, now, looking for answers.

Most of us are at completely different parts of our journey and walk with God. And that’s ok. We all have to start somewhere. We all have to find our way. We all have to seek out answers to our problems and issues. But I truly believe when we stop looking to solve the mysteries, in effect we stop seeking God.

If nothing else, I learned one thing today. Together, as we seek God and the answers to our questions, we shouldn’t rely on our feelings. We should always go back to Scripture. Why? Because feelings change and God’s promises don’t.

Mark 4:1-9

2008-04-20T09:13:00.001-07:00

I don’t know about you, but I really want God to use me in mighty ways, and bless me! To the point that when I see God using other people in ways that I want to be used, I get jealous. Sometimes I get discouraged and more often than that, frustrated.

Tonight, I have to admit that I have been sitting in my room listening to all sorts of Christian music, reading blogs, and even listening to sermons only to fall into feeling jealous and frustrated. I have started thinking things like, “who are they?” and “why is God using that person and not me?”

If you are like me, you have heard phrases like “your times coming, be patient!” I have even found myself telling people and texting friends that “God is for you and not against you.” All those things are true, but in my life there seems to be something missing. It’s like I know all that stuff in my head, but I don’t really know how much of it is truly in my heart. I can encourage other people to believe it, but my belief seems so little.

To overcome this issue of coveting and disbelief in my life I have been reading in Scripture to try to understand and grow. The thing that hit me the most was in Mark 4 which is the very next verses we come to. I was proud Jesus used some farming language to tell this story since I grew up in the country. I guess it helped me understand him a little more than I typically do. Not that I fully understand what He said, but He basically reminded me that the condition of the soil determines the potential for growth.

Ask any farmer and he will tell you that throwing seed down on the ground is not the best method for planting it. The soil has to be good and ready for it. The same is true concerning the Word of God, or as Luke 8:11 calls it, “the seed.” When I allow frustration, jealousy, and discouragement to dwell in my heart, the condition of my soil (heart and spirit) is not good and thus not ready for seed. In other words, the seeds planted in my life through reading Scripture, listening to Christian music, and even sermons do not have the potential to grow and produce fruit.

This means hearing God’s Word isn’t enough in our life. We must allow it to penetrate our heart and minds. When we allow God to really dwell in our hearts and not just our minds I believe we can’t help but be a changed person, and thus feel blessed. James 1:22-25 says this “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law (meaning the love of Christ) that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

The truth in my own life is that I’ve been worried about the wrong thing. I need to concentrate on the condition of my heart and spirit so I can let the truth of God dwell in me verses getting caught up in who God’s using or not using in the world. If I want to be used by God and be blessed I must live in the freedom of Christ, but while living I must allow Christ to dwell in me. The same is true for you. So what do we do then? We prepare the soil.

Mark 3:31-35

2008-04-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love my family. To the point that even though I was in North Carolina a couple weekends ago, I almost went back this weekend to see everybody. Truthfully, when I was home this last time, I told my parents that something was wrong with my truck so they insisted that I take theirs until they got mine fixed. Well, mine is fixed now, and so I need to take theirs back to them. Unfortunately this weekend is slammed with stuff I need to do to just catch up with life.

This is how it tends to go for me. I always seem to be trying to do things to stay caught up with life. Not really to get ahead, just caught up. I mean, I haven’t gotten ahead with my chores in quite a while now, so I am getting used to having to make long to-do lists for the next day and week, and then having to prioritize it so I can make sure I get part of the list accomplished. Well, today I have gotten several things accomplished, so I decided I should write again. It has been awhile I know.

However, if I could have gone home, it probably would have been a little longer for me to write. I love writing though. I just wanted to see my family and friends from back home again. I don’t really get to go home all that much, or at least as much as I would like. And it seems like every time I go home, my parents and family look a little older. I’m an only child, so you can imagine how much that affects me. If you don’t know, it affects me a lot!

The truth is one day I will lose my mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, etc. In other words, they will die. I hate to break the news to you, but so will you, if you haven’t lost many of them already. My grandpa Costner died in 2001, and I cried. Other than him, my dogs are the only other things that I have been really close to that have met Jesus face to face. That is, if you believe ALL dogs go to heaven! FYI - dogs do and cats don’t!

On a serious note, we are to take care, love, and help our families. But can we do this when we are away from them? Or better yet what are we to do when taking care of our families and loving on them comes at the price of neglecting ourselves or our other loved ones? I don’t have the answers, and don’t know a whole lot, but I think this may be why Jesus said what He did in Mark 3:31-35. He just got through talking about community and how we need to be there for one another, and then He starts talking about family.

Sure we will always love our “blood relations” more than anybody else, but our families according to Jesus are those who are on the journey with us; those that are “doing God’s will.” I love my family and friends here in Nashville, Tulsa, and even all the way in Orem. And here’s the thing, if I am who I am supposed to be according to Scripture, then I am to take care of all those individuals as if they were my mom or dad, etc. if they are in this Christian journey. To some degree that is a relief. To some degree it is frightening. You see, I’m not the best son in the world and probably not the best friend, but if we are taking care of each other then I don’t have to be. I don’t have to take all the stress anymore. I don’t have to carry the bulk of the load anymore. And guess what? You don’t have to carry that stress and load anymore either. Why? Because we will do it together, as a family.