Love God. Love People.

Paradoxical circumstances

2010-03-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

When I think about planting a church in Boston it starts with excitement followed by fear. What if no money comes in? I don't know wealthy people. I don't know what I'll do for work. What if we have a baby? I continually have to remind myself who called me. Who has the money? Who has the cattle on a thousand hills? Who has given me everything I have? Who do I believe is God? The joy in knowing such a fearful and comfortable paradoxical circumstance is knowing God. God is the giver of life and all things "good". The only way Bek and I will succeed in this venture is through the trust in God and provision of God.

I think I'll go to Boston

2010-02-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

Well, life is crazy thing. You never know where you will end up or how you will get there. Over the past 2-3 months my wife and I have been in the process of searching. We've been searching for a student ministry job. Through an extended search for the next career move, we couldn't find a good fit, or for that matter peace. We did all we knew to do before discovering it doesn't really matter what we choose. I know some will buck at this notion, but I fully believe that whatever we choose, if we are obedient to God's Word, we can't go wrong. My faith has truly been challenged through transition.Through much prayer and supplication before God, and through seeking the council of people we trust, we could not find clarity. Truth is, we don't need clarity. Mother Teresa once said, "I've never had clarity, what I have always had is trust. So, I pray that you trust God." Though the path has not been clear for us, we have found a sense of joy and peace in the midst of our search. We had narrowed our choices to two locations. Both are seemingly great places where God seems to be moving. I was speaking with my parents one evening, during the week we were going to make our decision, and my dad mentioned that maybe it was neither. I didn't like this idea, because we had already been searching for a month. I was ready to make my decision and work through the transition. The very next morning I ran into a friend who asked what I was doing now. I told him, and then he asked me to come to Boston."When?", I asked. He said, "today". I told him there was no way, but I will talk to Bek (my wife). When Bek got home, I told her about the opportunity and waited for her to response. Her response surprised me. She said I should go! So by that evening I was in Boston with some great friends. To make a long story short, we are going to Boston in a year or so, depending on our funding abilities. We will be planting a church there to love some of the most influential people in one of the most influential places. All this being said, I had no clue where we would end up. I had no writing on the wall, and certainly no clarity. What I hope to gain through it all is trust. We are excited about the adventure ahead, and I pray that regardless of how we feel, we continue to grow and learn in our relationship with Christ. I think I'll go to Boston.
Check out the youtube video...
I think I'll Go To Boston

RELEVANT Magazine - The Not-So-Secret Fight of Porn

2010-01-13T14:04:00.001-08:00

RELEVANT Magazine - The Not-So-Secret Fight of Porn

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patience

2010-01-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

Patience is something easily conversed, but rarely practiced. I speak with conviction through my lack thereof. I want stuff, wisdom, understanding, clarity, and I want it ASAP. Today I write with a lack of all these things. I try to read scripture and understand its truth. I wait for an amazing truth to come slap me in the face. Or do I? I didn't really wait at all. I read it, thought I got something out of it, and then tried to make it something it wasn't. I read the same passage again and realized that's not what it says at all. So why don't I wait? Why don't we wait? God's word is an amazing life giving source, yet so many times we read it with the idea that it was written for me individually. (i.e. How does this passage relate to ME?) It's not about you, it's not about me. It's about truth and finding the deep truth. How patient are we really? Are we willing to read, wait, reread, wait, search translations, seek council? Or do we want to have a cool saying to make people think we are spiritual giants? We're not that big. How deep are we really? We're not that deep. We're not that patient. So how does this change? In my humble inexperienced opinion, discipline. We must walk with God daily. Setting time out, like we do for work to learn and grow. We are promised as we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. At the same time, there is great excitement in the spontaneous random unplanned time with our Creator. Think about it. How cool is our Creator. He's giving you the very air you're breathing now. He's given you the ability and capacity to read words and make sense of them (I hope). So today I pray you take a breath. I pray you slow yourself. Patience is a beautiful thing. Find the deep truth of God's story.

Love God. Love People.

blogging?

2010-01-06T08:27:00.000-08:00

Today marks the first day of my blog career. Today is a day that will live in infamy. (just looked up the definition to infamy, don't think its means what I wanted it to). Those of you who know me know that I'm having a great year in sports. This was the first year I played fantasy football. I finished second in my league so I'm pretty stoked about that. I think I deserve rookie of the year. The Colts are having a great year. I've been a little disappointed the Colts didn't try to finish a perfect year. I understand the logic of sitting your starters, but for the legacy of the organization I thought it would be better to finish undefeated. Kentucky Wildcats are off to one of their best starts ever. Stoked for our new coach, and for the exciting play from our players. I hope we can keep Wall and Cousins for another year, but I think its probably unlikely. If I could just have everyone pray he stays for another year, that would be great. jk jk. My wife Buckeyes finished well this year, and hopefully got that monkey off their back. My wife and I are currently searching where God might be taking us next. We are open to wherever God leads and pray that we have the patience and wisdom to listen to His voice. Well that's all for now.

Love God. Love People.