Mission Arlington Day One...Let It Rain...

Day one of our Mission Arlington mission trip with our students saw us get off to a great start. We begin each morning as one big group and they placed us in a smaller apartment complex. This can sometimes be a recipe for chaos because you have all 20 something of our students and only a few little kids for them to minister to. Also, we have a lot of students who are here for the first time and really didn't know what to expect so it could have been crazy...But our students did a fantastic job and jumped right in loving students...After lunch we had a worship service with the other groups here...One of our students and my wife got to lead worship and they did an INCREDIBLE job! It was really, really good stuff...After that we headed out to two different apartment complexes, dividing our group in half...And both complexes we went to were bigger than the morning one...So we had more apartment doors to knock on, more kids to love, and less of us to do it because we were divided in two...And as we started off the afternoon it came a downpour, hence the "let it rain" title...it looked like we were literally driving in a river insted of a street...But we prayed about the weather and God gave us sunshine and no rain for an hour and a half...just long enough to do an hour and a half rainbow express...Coincidence? I doubt it...The afternoon was great as well and now we are resting at the hotel...Hopefully I will be able to blog and post a couple pics each night...Stay tuned for the rest of the week...

I've Been in Rehab All Week...

Sorry for the blog silence...I've been in Rehab since last Sunday. Seriously. But it may not be the kind of rehab that you're thinking at the moment. I got the great opportunity to spend the past week as a part of POJO Community Rehab in Springtown, TX. Basically, this is a week of mission work led by the students and adults of Hilltop Family Church in Springtown. It is a part of their youth ministry but so many of their adults help out as well. Basically, the take on projects where they rehabiltate houses for people in need. These students roofed houses, built decks, painted homes, and loved on children all week long...and because of their service to the King and the Kingdom, Springtown is a better place, more filled with the love and grace of Jesus. My part in the weekend was as the speaker for the week. I got to share the Word of God with these students and adults each night in their worship services. It was a great week and I had a blast being a part of it. We got to see God move in the community and we got to see him move in the lives of the people of Springtown and the participants of POJO Rehab...All in all, God showed up and it was good...Like it could be anything different when God shows up, right? I got home this morning, am washing clothes right now, will preach at my home church in the morning, and head out at lunch on another mission trip with the students of my own church...Gotta' love the life of student ministry in the summers...But it is absolutely great to be home spending time with my wife...Luckily, she gets to go with me for part of this next week...Life and ministry is just better when we're together so I am totally stoked about that...Hopefully, I'll be able to post some pics and posts over the next week from our hotel...Until then...

One of those "Wow" Videos...

I know that two posts in one day is really out of the ordinary here lately, especially this late at night, but I just came across this video and had to post it...A great sattirical look at how spoiled so many teenagers and adults are and how great our lives are...This is filmed from an Austalian teen perspective, but it can easily be applied to American teens and Americans in general...The next time you think you have it bad, actually consider what else is going on in the world...Then be thankful for what you have...And then use what you have to actually do something about what is going on in the world around you...Anyway, here is the video...Check it out...

Some Venting and A Prayer Request...

So allow me to vent if you will...And even if you won't I guess I am going to anyway because I am the only one sitting at this laptop typing right now...So here we go. Today Jaron and I went to Austin to run some errands for the church. While we were there we went into the Family Christian Store and looked around for some things. As we were looking we begin to talk about how grossly materialized our Christian faith has become. We have our own little subculture of Christianity. As we looked around the store we saw "Christian" (and I use that term tongue in cheek here) candy, kaliediscopes, caps, wristbands, t-shirts, action figures (including Jesus and the empty tomb and Moses and the burning bush), cartoons, movies, music, ties, wallets, breathmints, bumber stickers, key chains, frames, stuffed animals, coffe mugs, headbands, and more toys than one could ever imagine...In fact, we even saw these two...I think the "Run The Race - Victory In Jesus Monster Truck" and the "Praise Ponies" took the award for the most useless Jesus Junk, a.k.a crap, that we saw...




For some reason I do not think that this is what Jesus had in mind when he called us to be in the world and not of it. I don't think that this is what God had in mind when he called us to follow him. I don't think this is what the early church had in mind when they begin to call themselves "Christians", meaning "little Christ." And I certainly don't think that this is what Christ had in mind when he hung on the cross and shed his blood to redeem a lost and dying world. Surely he wasn't thinking, "I lay down my life so that they might have their own Jesus ties and Jesus toys." In fact, I think that this sickens the heart of God. I think that as I sat in that bookstore today and looked around that I felt the sickness that God feels when he looks down on people who claim to follow him and have somehow bought into all this crap. First of all, just imagine how much money believers spend on this junk that could be used to show love, mercy, grace, and compassion to people in need. Instead of helping people with AIDS, feeding hungry children, giving to church ministries, and sending missionaries into unreached lands, we spend our money on overpriced monster trucks, action figures, and corny t-shirts...And God weeps. Second of all, when did God get into the t-shirt and toy making business. I thought we were called to live out our faith while living among our culture, not to create our own little culture that no one understands...Didn't Jesus do it by living among the people, in their culture? And finally, most of the junk that the so-called "Christian" marketers are selling is non-creative, copied crap. If I see one more t-shirt or cap that has simply stolen a concept of the world and tried to spin the logo or the phrase to make a "Jesus t-shirt" I am going to vomit! If you are going to create your own little sub-culture at least be creative with the abilities and gifts and creativeness of God that he has placed in you. Don't just copy other people's ideas and put a Jesus spin on them! Not only does it make us (Christians) look a little shady in the integrity department, it also portrays that we serve a God who is not creative and imaginative, which could not be further from the truth...I have had my limit and I almost had a "turn over the money changers tables in the temple" moment today...And I think I would be in good company...In fact, I think I read somewhere that that was exactly how my Jesus reacted when he was faced with a similar problem...

On a completely different note, I am leaving this weekend to preach a youth missions camp in Springtown, TX. Pray for me as I will be speaking A LOT this week. Pray that God would speak through me and would work in students lives in spite of my insufficiencies and weaknesses. Pray for my wife as we will be away from each other for the week. Pray that God might be glorified through this. I'll be blogging about the week if I have internet access...not sure how that will go, so I'll keep ya' posted...

Home Sweet Home...

So we got back from the beach late yesterday afternoon. We had a great week of camp. Other than a few sunburns, the week went off without a hitch. I think that our students were challenged and a few of them really opened up to what God wants to do in their lives. It looks like we will even baptize a student as a result of the week. Scott Venable was the camp speaker and he did a great job teaching the word of God to our students. Lindsey Kane was our camp worship leader. I have talked a little about LK before but the more I have the privilege to be around her in ministry the more impressed I am. She is an incredibly gifted and talented singer and songwriter that is definitely using her talents and abilities to bring glory to Christ and make him known. Both Scott and Lindsey are the real deal and I consider them both friends. It was awesome for me to be able to give our students a chance to be around them and their leadership this past week...The beach at South Padre was great. We had tons of fun and the condos we stayed at were pretty cool too. We even spent a good part of one day at Schlitterbahn Beach Park, which was pretty cool. Overall it was a really good week. Our students had a great time at the beach and can't wait to go back next year, but more importantly I feel that a good number of them really experienced more than the sun and the sand and the sea...I think some of them really experienced God and that makes it all worth it.

As a side note, we got back from camp exhausted and were looking forward to a good nights sleep on Friday, but that was not to be...Johanna got sunburned pretty bad while we were gone and her legs/feet/ankles started to swell late Friday night, so we ended up at the emergency room just to be on the safe side until 4:30 AM on Saturday morning. It was nothing big, just a side effect of the sunburn so we are super thankful for that...We had a wedding today and the now we are just resting at home...The dr. wanted Johanna to stay off her feet for a couple days to let the fluid drain...We were planning to head to a concert in Austin tonight with the guys, but after being on her feet at the wedding helping with makeup and programs, we decided it probably was the wise thing to just rest...

I've got a busy week this week, which includes a trip to Schlitterbahn with our Junior High group and getting everything ready for our mission trip which is the first week in July. The week after next (right before our mission trip) I'll be speaking at a missions camp near Ft. Worth, so we have some busy days ahead...Gotta' love the summers in student ministry...

Busy...

The old saying goes "If the devil can't make ya' bad, he'll make ya' busy." Well, not that he has any problem making me bad, but he sure has piled on the busy lately too...Actually, most of the busy has been piled on by the joys of summer in youth ministry. This week has been our VBS for the children of our community...Lots of little kids with lots of energy running around the church for most of the day. It's also been a week filled with getting ready for youth camp. We leave on Monday for South Padre Island for our High School Youth Camp...It's gonna be a week of fun, friends, and faith...Our students have signed up for a week at the beach and hopefully, they'll get more than just a sunburn...Hopefully their lives will intersect with the incredible life-changing, plan-altering, crazy, inconceivable, uncomparable love of a Savior who gave himself for them...That's our prayer. That is why we put so much work and planning and effort into a week like the one that is coming up...So pray for us. Pray for our students. Pray that students who are after a good time at the beach might get more than they ever imagined. Until next time...

All I Need...

In light of recent experiences Johanna and I have had, we have been evaluating, struggling, journeying, learning, and growing in our understanding of what we really need in life. We have been challenged by messages we have heard from godly speakers who are seeking to live simply in order that others may simply live. We have been challenged by sharing life with people who live on so much less than we do and are so grateful and blessed to do so. That has got us, and me individually, looking at what I really need in life versus what I want - and only really think I need. There is a big difference in what we want and what we need, but so many of us in America, specifically in the American church, have confused the too. God never promised to give us what we want but rather to provide for all our needs. There is a difference. But so many times when we can't get what we want - that new car like the neighbors got, the new house that we really wanted, that new pair of shoes or that summer vacation, then we act like the spoiled little brat in the aisle of the toy store who has just been told by his parents that he cannot have the toy he wants. And he responds by screaming, "But I need it! I have to have it!" So many times that is how we approach life. We, even sadly so and especially so in the church, have become consumers. We have confused the promise from God to supply all our needs to be a guarantee by God to be our Giant Santa Clause in the Sky and give us all that we want and ask for...And then we get mad or upset or jealous of others when we don't get that thing that we want, but don't really need...We even bring that attitude to church...Our country is filled with churches full of people who are nothing more than church shoppers...They go from church to church looking for what they can get. What can you do for my children? What can you do for my teenagers? What can you do to give me that warm fuzzy feeling on Sunday mornings? What can you do for me? And we become nothing more than consumers of a spiritual experience, instead of worshippers of God and missionaries for the gospel of Christ. Unfortunately, God does not seek consumers. He seeks true worshippers. And God is not impressed by us seeking the perfect worship experience that makes us feel all good inside, but instead desires for us to seek the souls of men and women who do not know the love, grace, and truth of Jesus.

We all need to examine our needs and our wants. We need to closely examine how we spend our money. Is it bringing glory to God and good to others? Is it benefiting his kingdom or our comfort? We need to closely examine how we spend our time. Is it bringing comfort to us and our own desires or are we using it to comfort those who are hurting and serve those who are in need? We need to closely examine how we are using our talents. Are we seeking to find a place that suits us and fulfills all of our wants or are we spending of ourselves so that others might see the glory of God, finding places to use our talents and gifts to serve the kingdom? Just something to think about over the weekend...What do we want and what do we need?

Here's a cool song by Shawn McDonald called All I Need that examines this topic in a similar light:

A Redneck?!? Really?!?!...

Does this kid honestly need to be wearing a shirt that says "Good Ole Boy" or is it not just understood at this point? Either way, kinda cool tricks...Especially when he shoots the golf ball off the end of the shotgun. Check it out if ya' wanna' kill a couple minutes...

Memorial Day @ Wrigley Field...

This past Memorial Day weekend I got to go on an incredible trip. Last week one of the students in our youth group turned 16 and for his birthday he got to plan a trip for him, his dad, and me to go to Wrigley Field to watch a Cubs game...It was such a blessing to be able to go and be a part of an incredible trip and I am still pumped about the whole weekend.

On Sunday after church, we flew from Austin to DFW and then on to Chicago O'Hare Airport. We arrived in Chi-Town late Sunday night and went straight to the hotel (The Fairmont in dowtown Chicago - INCREDIBLE!) to hit the sack and get ready for our big day on Monday. Monday morning we got up early, grabbed some Mickey D's for breakfast, and headed out to Wrigley Field. After a brief scenic tour, we finally found out where we were going and arrived at the ballpark at about 10:30. Walking up to that site of sports history was almost breathtaking. Let me just say this for those of you who don't know - I am a Sports Fanatic. I love sports and I love the history and richness found in so many of our great sporting pasttimes, so being at Wrigley Field, which was built in 1914, was an incredible moment for me...The gates didn't open until 11:20, 2 hours before gametime, so we got to walk around the outside of the stadium for a while and take it all in. When the gates opened, we were some of the first ones into the park and took in all the sights, sounds, and experiences of batting practice. Mark and I took tons of pictures while Mike tried to catch foul balls from batting practice...He even got his hand on one, but didn't have a glove on, so he couldn't pull it in...Once it got close to game time we grabbed some hot dogs, drinks, and peanuts and headed to our seats. We were in the top section of the lower level right along third base so they were great seats. We watched the game and cheered on the Cubbies, even though they ended up falling short in the end to the Marlins. In the final inning and a half people were leaving so we got to move really close to the field right behind the Cubs dugout and the last inning was the most exciting because the Cubs almost made a comeback.

After the game was over we took some more pics and then headed to see some other sporting venues in Chicago. Mike drove us all around Chicago just so Mark and I could get pics of all the different sports venues. It was awesome. We went to the United Center, where the Chicago Bulls of the NBA play and the Chicago Blackhawks play hockey. From there, we headed to U.S. Cellular Field, home of the 2005 World Series Chicago White Sox. Then from there, we headed to take some pictures of the monstrosity that is Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears. Soldier Field was actually right down the street a little ways from our hotel. From there we heaed to ESPNZone for supper and to watch the Spurs and Jazz on a gigantic TV screen.

Tuesday we lounged around in the morning and hit up Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. From there we made a lighting fast trip up to the top of Sears Tower (we were litterally only up there for 5 minutes!) so that we could take some more pictures and then headed to Chicago O'Hare Airport to catch our 5:00 flight home...And as far as we're concerned, we made it there in plenty of time, right guys!?!?

Anyway, overall it was an incredible trip and I am so blessed to get to be a part of it...The weekend was full of tons of sports experiences and memories and Monday was definitely a dream day, watching the Cubs game at Wrigley field, seeing all the sports venues, and hanging out at the ESPNZone. The trip was also full of great fellowship...We all had a great time and I am so glad not only to get to go on the trip but to get to go with who I got to go with...Chicago...The Windy City...Chi-Town...Great time, great trip, great company, great memories...Memorial Day at Wrigley Field...Nothing beats it.

Watoto...

Me, Jaron, Andy, & Curry with Auntie Daisy & The Girls

Our new friends from Uganda - Auntie Daisy, Allen, Lovinsa, & Fiona

The girls taught the boys some of their choir dances, so the boys returned the favor and taught the girls some "dances." Here they are learning the dance from the movie "Hitch."

Tuesday night our church had the great privilege of having the Watoto Children's Choir perform. It was incredible! Watoto is a ministry in Uganda that places orphaned children in caring, loving homes and communities where they provide a mother for eight children, a school, a home for each family group, and a church. Each of the children in Watoto have lost one or both parents to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Being on staff, I got to spend a little extra time with this group of kids and the young adults who travel with them and they were just an oustanding group of people. Johanna and I (and the college boys living with us now) were fortunate enough to have three of the girls and on the the sponsors spend the night in our home. It was just a great, life-changing, life-altering experience for us...



The children sang songs of hope and peace and the love of God found in Jesus. One of the most moving moments of the night for me was to hear and see these orphaned children dance and sing the song, "I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, God knows my name!" I sat in the pew and begin to cry for a couple of reasons: First of all, I too am not forgotten because God does know my name...How incredible is that. But, secondly, here is a group of orphaned children who, by the worlds standards have every reason to be down and out, depressed and crushed. They've been orphaned and left behind to fend for themselves as children - 6, 7, 8, 10 year old children. But the came Christ, through the ministry of Watoto and told them, while the world may have forgotten you I have not! Here are these children singing songs of HOPE with all of their soul and heart and might and with the biggest smiles that you've ever seen...That is only a HOPE that comes from Jesus.



This event, like several in the past, has really got me considering my own life. It has me examining what I am doing with my life and what impact I am making. It has me examining my own choices of how I spend my money and my treasures. It has me doing some evaluation of what it is that God desires from me for my days, my bank account, my choices, my LIFE. For me, this was one of those type of experiences.



Words cannot express what God has taught me and is teaching me through seeing once abandoned and orphaned children sing of HOPE and LOVE and GRACE and PEACE. And sing it with such conviction and joy that they really do know that they are not forgotten and that God does know their names. If you get a chance and they are in your neck of the woods, I don't care what you have scheduled...Drop it and go hear the Watoto choir perform. This group is only in the states for a couple more months and then they head back to Uganda. Check it out at www.watoto.com.



Also, this has got me again thinking about my/our role in the AIDS epidemic in Africa and I am planning on sharing some sights that can help you make a difference in showing people in this fight the love of Christ. Please check back in the next day or two for that post. Until then...

The Weekend Update...

It was a busy weekend for us again...Seems like as the summer gets closer and my really busy time of the year is approaching, it is only getting more and more crazy. Johanna spent the weekend in D.C. with her family. She flew out on Friday to watch her brother graduate from the Naval Academy with his MD on Saturday. Me and the guys headed to my hometown for the weekend to see my grandparents and parents. It had been a while since I had been home, so it was great to be at home and to spend the weekend with family, especially since it was my grandfathers birthday.

Sunday was "Senior Sunday" at our church. We honored our seniors and presented them with gifts and a luncheon in their honor...I preached at both of our morning services and talked about leaving a legacy that lasts. I challenged our students to not just live for success, but for significance and to leave a legacy that lasts beyond their lifetimes by living for the glory of God and the good of others. It was a busy weekend, but a good one.

Lindsey Kane Live...

Tonight at the Attic we were blessed to have an incredible singer, song-writer, lead worshipper Lindsey Kane perform a concert for our students. Lindsey has led worship for us at an event before and will be leading worship at our high school camp this summer. She is an incredibly gifted artist, but the most impressive thing in my opinion is her genuine-ness and authenticity. She is always willing to work with our budget so that even if we're not a "big bucks" church our students receive "big bucks" experiences and such a great quality of ministry. Basically, she does what she does to serve and bring glory to the Father and unfortunately, that is rare in so many worship leaders and Christian artists these days. Our students and our ministry has been blessed by Lindsey and I know if you check out her music you will be too. Check it out at www.lindseykane.com.

A New Kind of Missionary...

A couple years ago I read the book The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball. Kimball is the pastor at Graceland in Santa Cruz and is a leading voice among those seeking to reach the emerging and postmodern generations that the church seems to be missing in today's society. I was looking back over it today when I came across this section that I highlighted:

"Our (the United States) unchurched population is the largest mission field in the English-speaking world and the fifth largest globally...As we approach ministry to the emerging culture - a post-Christian mission field - we need to use the same approach we would employ entering a foreign culture. We cannot go on seeing ourselves simply as pastors and teachers; we need to see ourselves as a new kind of missionary. And we must train people in our churches to do the same. We must dream missionary dreams. We must bleed missionary blood. We must pray missionary prayers."

That makes me think of the words of Jesus:
The harvest is PLENTIFUL but the workers are FEW. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. - Matthew 9:37-38

A Great Thought...

"If Jesus is the Son of God, we should be terrified of what He will do when He gets his hands on our lives; if the Bible is the Word of God, we should be quaking every time we read its soulpiercing words; if the church is the body of Christ, our culture should be threatened by our intimidating presence. But our culture is not threatened by our presence, it's not terrified of the Jesus in our lives, and it's not quaking at the Word of God. Why? Because we have familiarized the gospel, sanitized it, flattened it, taken the sting and terror out of it. We've been intimidated by those who claim to be familiar with Jesus...At first glance these people seem to know God extremely well. They know the "Key To God's Will" or "How To Live A Happy Life" or "Six Steps to Maturity." These people have reduced the gospel to a set of principles, Bible verses, moral absolutes, and theorems - as though God were some kind of mathematical problem that needed to be solved. What is implied (but never said) is that once we understand the formula, once we have determined "God's principles," then we can be comfortable because we know how God works. Which makes great sense...unless they are wrong."
- Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli

What Are You Doing With Your Tuna Fish...

Last night in our guys small group I led a discussion on John 6, specifically the first 15 verses where Jesus feeds several thousand people. As we talked and discussed and as I read the passage, a few thoughts occured to me. When Jesus confronts Phillip he doesn't ask whether or not they will be able to feed the crowd. He doesn't ask if it is possible or if they can afford it or if they are capable. He just asks how. It's not a matter of capability with Jesus. Immediately, though, that is Phillip's concern. He replies that eight months wages wouldn't even give everyone in the crowd one tiny nibble of food...Then as the disciples begin to brainstorm and problem-solve (or more likely talk about how Jesus once again could possibly be going insane), a little boy comes up and offers his five pieces of bread and two fish. I can see him trying to leave home with the crowd earlier in the day, eager to see what was going on and to watch what Jesus would do next, and his mother yelling at him as he ran out the door, "Don't forget your sack lunch!" Luckily, he didn't and here he offers all he has, albeit nto a whole lot...He hears the disciples discussing the perceived problem and Andrew sees him walk by and the boy offers up his two tuna-fish sandwiches...It wasn't much and sure wouldn't feed the crowd in his hands, but it was all he had.
The disciples then go to Jesus, almost ashamed of the little that they are able to come up with and offer. They even say, "Well, here's what we found Jesus, but it's not gonna' help." But they forgot something. They forgot that the tuna-fish sandwiches were no longer in the boys hands. They were no longer in the disciples hands. They were in Jesus' hands. And in Jesus' hands two tuna-fish sandwiches can feed THOUSANDS. And so Jesus blesses the food and they eat - They ALL eat - and the Bible says they eat until they are all so full that they cannot eat another bite! Wow! This story amazes me at what Jesus can do when we put what we have in his hands!
And then at the end of the story he instructs the disciples to go and gather the leftovers...And you know what? There were exactly 12 baskets of food left. Twelve "take home" boxes and twelve disciples. Coincidence? I don't think so. I think Jesus told them to pick up the leftovers becuase he knew exactly how much was left. He knew that each disciple would have enough left to take with them and eat on for a few days to come...And he knew that when they looked at that basket and ate of those leftovers that they would realize and remember the power of the One they were following. Each time they took a bite they would remember that when they saw the situation as impossible and they thought that they were not capable or couldn't do it, that Jesus just asked them how, not if. Jesus never asks if they can feed the hungry crowd, only how. He had the power to do it, he was just seeing if his disciples had come to the realization that with Jesus it is not a matter of if but how.
So what about you and I? What are our "tuna-fish sandwiches?" A little boy saw a huge dilemna and didn't say, "Well, this is all I've got...Too bad it won't help." No, he saw a need and he gave of what he had. And that is all God asks of us...He has gifted us with talents and abilties, and personalities, and possessions, and he says to us, "Will you put it back in my hands to be used to feed thousands?" We may look at our talent and see it as insignificant. We may look at our possessions and wealth and see it as small. We may look at what we can contribute with our hands and see it as too little to make a difference...But when we place those things in his hands, a couple tuna-fish sandwiches can feed the world. So what are you doing with your tuna-fish? In whose hands is it in?

The Weekend Update...

The weekend started a little early on Thursday with a dinner party for Johanna's work. She works for a CPA office and they were having a dinner to celebrate the end of tax season. Great food and good times on Thursday evening. I got up early Friday morning, which is my day off, and headed to Lake Bastrop. I was planning on spending the morning and early afternoon fishing...After about three hours at two different park locations and not even getting a nibble from a small perch, I decided to give it up and head to the house. Friday evening Johanna and I met up with some friends for a birthday celebration. It was Daniel's 20th birthday so we met him, his parents, and friends Jaron and Jenna at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. After the dinner, we hung out with Jenna, Jaron, and Foster at Dominican Joe's and shared old stories and lots of laughs. Saturday was a relaxing day around the house which happened to include some seafood and crawfish boil in the afternoon...Tasty stuff. Sunday involved church in the morning and evening and in the meantime, hanging out with Jaron and Jenna in the afternoon. Jaron and Foster are both former students of mine and Jenna and Jaron are now dating. Johanna and I both knew Jenna before this weekend but had never really gotten to spend a whole lot of time really getting to know her. As Andy had already told me "She's definitely out of Jaron's league. She's a lot cooler than he is."...So this weekend was great for spending time with old friends and making new ones...Until next time.

A Few Pics...

Us on The Kohootz Boat on the Dolphin Encounter Cruise

Us @ The Rockport Beach

A Dolphin Jumping In The Wake of A Ship - We saw tons of them on the dolphin cruise.

The view out our door at the Inn @ Fulton Harbor

My Sand Artwork on St. Jo Island

2nd Anniversary Trip...

Last weekend Johanna and I were fortunate enough to get to take a great trip to the coast for our 2nd anniversary. We were married two years on April 30th. So to celebrate, we thought a little trip was in order. We headed down to the Rockport-Fulton and Port Aransas area and spent Thursday evening through Monday afternoon just relaxing and taking in life at the beach. Here's a brief rundown of the trip, with some pics coming soon.

Thursday - We left Lockhart around 4 and headed down to The Inn @ Fulton Harbor. Johanna found this place on the internet and it looked really nice so we decided to give it a shot, even though we had never seen it in person. What a great choice! I highly recommend this place if you are ever staying in the Rockport-Fulton, Port Aransas area. The place is only a couple years old and it is incredible. It is small and family owned and they have done a great job maintaining the place and providing a great place for people to get away and relax....And it's right across from the Fulton Harbor and Marina, so the scenery is great! Once we got checked in we hit the restaurant across the street, Charlotte Plummers, for some tasty seafood.

Friday - Friday we headed to Port A to mess around and head out to St. Jo Island. St Jo is a privately owned island and is only accessible through one ferry. We had heard about it from friends and decided to check it out. Because it is privately owned no one is responsible for picking up trash and maintaining the island. That means that lots of trash washes up on shore from the gulf and that there are absolutely no facilities, electricity, shelters, or anything of the sort on the island. While we wished things were a little cleaner, we found a nice spot and spent most of the day playing in the waves and on the beach. There were several people on the island fishing but we were the only ones taking advantage of swimming in the waves...I think they thought we were crazy! We ended the day by hittin' up Snoopy's seafood restaurant, which we had been to before and loved...It was delicious.

Saturday - About 7 or 8 PM on Friday night we realized that Saturday would be a day to do not much at all...That was because we had waited to apply our "spray on" sunscreen until we got out to the island on Friday and due to the crazy wind, we cooked in spots so we were both dealing with major sunburn, but only in spots and blotches...However, we had already decided to have a more down, relaxing day so it was perfect. We took a tour of Fulton Mansion, a really old home in Fulton, during the morning and just swam at the hotel pool and hit the Rockport beach the rest of the day...We tried kite flying in the early evening at the Rockport beach and while the wind was strong, it did not cooperate by blowing with any sort of consistency so we had no luck with the kites...We finished the night with a GREAT meal of cajun seafood at The Boiling Pot.

Sunday - Sunday included another trip back to Port A. We rented an electric cart (Bevo was its name - UT orange with Longhorns painted all over it!) and took it all over the beach and all over town in Port A...It was a lot of fun and a great way to tour the place...After that, we had scheduled an afternoon Dolphin Encounter cruise. We went out on a boat and saw tons of Dolphins and got a tour of the sites from the water. After heading back to Rockport we hit the beach for a swim (and almost got attacked by some jumping fish!) and then hit a little Italian restaraunt that Johanna had saw and wanted to try out.

Monday - Monday morning we took advantage of sleeping in...Then it was time to pack up, load up, and hit the seafood markets to stock the ice-chest before we left...Overall, we had a fantastic weekend and are so blessed to be able to do something like that. What a great way to celebrate 2 years of an incredible marriage!

Unfortunately this rings to close to home...

Headin' To The Beach...

Tonight at our midweek youth worship gathering we had another great night in our new, temporary meeting place. It is kinda' crazy because while we are going through a lot of changes ministry wise with workers and volunteers, God continues to send us new students. And I thought I was busy before all this craziness started! Anyway, God is faithful and he will provide workers and resources because He loves and cares for the students of Lockhart, TX more than anyone...And it's so good to see students beginning to understand that love.

On a completely different note, Johanna and I are headin' to Port A tomorrow! On Monday, the 30th, we will celebrate 2 years of marriage. Wow! It goes by so fast. I love my wife immensely and am blessed to be serving with a woman who is called to ministry. I have seen so many friends and acquaintances whose spouse hinders them in ministry. It is such a blessing to have a true help-mate. So we are celebrating our anniversary by going to the beach for the weekend. We are actually staying in Fulton and we are so excited! I probably won't blog until we get back on Monday evening, but be expecting pictures of the beach...It is gonna' be awesome just to get away for a while...Until then, hope your weekend is great!

Educated Beyond Our Obedience...

I got to preach at both of our morning worship services yesterday. Teaching is nothing new to me as I get to teach our students every week, but it is always great to have the opportunity to teach the entire congregation. Our Senior Pastor was gone all week, so the teaching duties for the Sunday services fell to me. It's something I love to do and something that I feel God's passion in me when I am doing, so I was thrilled about the opportunity. As I studied up for my sermon, "Examining Our Spiritual Fatness," I ran across two quotes. I preached from 1 John 2:3-6 and talked about how John challenges us not just to know the faith, but to DO what Christ commands, which is to walk as He did, loving others and bearing witness to him. Here are the two quotes I came across, both from authors whose books I have read and thouroughly enjoyed:

"We (Christians and the church) are educated beyond our obedience." - Neil Cole

"Most of us (referring to believers) are educated way beyond our level of obedience. We don't need more information. We need more transformation." - Mark Batterson

Christianity has never had the level of education and resources than we do in America today. Our churches have never been so equipped with resources and classes and studies to educate us about our faith. We have never had access to so many schools and seminaries for theological training. But at the time when we have all this educational opportunity for growing in what it means to follow Jesus and live like Him, we see a huge void of genuine, authentic Christ followers. Many of the members of our churches look no different than the world. In the workplace and at schools, people who claim to follow Jesus live just like those who don't claim to be believers. In our business dealings, its sometimes hard to tell whether the person you are dealing with is a believer or not. On the weekends and in our social lives, so many people who claim to be Christ-followers live no different than anyone else. We have all the education, but we have no transformation. Our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends, our families, and our communities don't need us to be better educated in the faith. They need us to live out the faith that we already know. They need us to model and show and live out the love and grace of Jesus. They need us to really believe what we say we know about Jesus, so that we are people who are transformed into Christ-followers who love our neighbors and our world like Jesus did.

Opening Night At The Attic...

Last night was an incredible night. One of the reasons I have been a little quiet in blogger land lately is because of the amount of work and the long hours I have been putting in at our new youth space for our student ministry. Now, when I say new, understand that it is a very old building and we are renting the upstairs portion...but it is new to us. Tonight was the "Grand Opening" even though we are having a big kick-off event in about a month. It was incredible to see what just a little money and a lot of hard work can do. We spent a little less than $300 and got a ton of stuff donated. I have dreamed of a youth space for student ministry for a long time, going back several years and even at another church. And while we are hoping and praying that this space is just temporary and that are church moves forward with purchasing a much bigger youth space in the next few weeks we are here for at least a few months and it is great.
Our space has a lot of stuff. It is over 3000 square feet and it has gaming systems, tvs, pool tables, air hockey, dart boards, and foosball. There are couches and bean bags to lounge around on and their is even a snack bar/cafe that we have set up for food and drinks. But the coolest thing that our new space has is smiles...One of our youth workers said to me tonight, "There is a smile on every face in here!" And it was true. Not because of any pool tables or games or even pizza, but because our students have a place that is theirs. And its because a few individuals in our church who love students and want to see God work in their lives have chosen to give generously to make this happen.
I am totally stoked about the tool that this building and even our future building are going to be. When people feel like they have a place where they are comfortable and that is their's they are more likely to want their friends there with them. We already saw that tonight as we had several students bring friends that have never been to our midweek worship service at the church before. God has taught me some cool lessons from this whole thing. He has taught me about his faithfulness in providing, he has taught me patience, and he has taught me not to give up on visions that HE GIVES...even if they take years and moves to happen. Tonight was incredible and the biggest lesson of all was probably a reminder about the smiles of students. Those smiles communicate that our students feel cared for, they feel loved, they feel safe, and most of all, through their joy they are seeing people who by their time, giving, ministry, and lives are saying to students that God loves them and has an incredible plan for their lives. The Attic, and any building like it is just a tool, but what a "Wow Tool" it is!

Another Great Yac Quote...

We're attempting to convince the world how good Jesus is by how great we are. This is precisely how Madison Avenue sells toothpaste, automobiles, and underwear. People don't need any more images of success, wealth, and power; they're surrounded already. What they need are their sins forgiven. What they need is healing. What they need is love. - Mike Yaconelli

The Ocean...

I spent the first couple days this week on the road. Myself and a few guys from FBC Pflugerville left Monday to head down to South Padre Island for a youth camp preview trip. We are doing camp together at a condo on the beach this summer and we went down to scope it out. One interesting thing that we found out (because we let Stan drive!) is that when you get to Corpus Christi, and you take the exit that says Padre Island, you go to Padre Island and Port Aransas. And there is nothing that connects Padre Island and South Padre Island. Contrary to geographical logic, South Padre Island is not just the "south" end of Padre Island. It is a whole nother island...three hours away! Anyway, after our detour we made it safe and sound, had some great seafood, and got to check out the place for camp. I took a couple pics, as you can tell, and they're not really the ocean, but the Gulf of Mexico, but the principle is the same. I couldn't help but look out at the vastness of the water and watch the waves come crashing in on Tuesday morning and not think of Chris Tomlin's song "Indescribable." If you've never heard it, it is a song that declares the greatness and bigness of God. And while we try to use words to wrap our minds around who God is and how powerful and great and awesome (and whatever other word we throw in here...) He is, in the end God is indescribable and any of our earthly attempts to do so simply fall short. Tomlin puts it this way:

from the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
creation's revealing your majesty
from the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
every creature unique in the song that it sings
all exclaiming

indescribable, uncontainable,
you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name.
you are amazing god
all powerful, untameable,
awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
you are amazing god

who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
none can fathom

indescribable, uncontainable,
you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name
you are amazing god
all powerful, untameable,
awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
you are amazing god
you are amazing god

Irresistible Revolution...

Thursday night myself, Johanna, and a few friends went to hear Shane Claiborne speak at Texas State at the Price Lectures. I was really excited to hear what Shane would say because I have heard a lot about him in ministry and missions circles. He lives in a faith community that has done amazing things in Philly. He also spoke at the National Youth Workers Convention in Anaheim last year and cashed his entire honorarium for the event into one dollar bills and then gave them away to all the youth ministers at the convention to go and use to make a difference in someone's life...Needless to say, this guy is the real deal. He has studied theology and sociology and Eastern where Tony Campolo teaches. He knows his stuff, but is so humble and real. He talked about how so many times we as Christians live like we really don't believe that Jesus meant what he said because if we really believed he meant the things he said, we would look and live different. We would be involved in life with the poor, we would work for peace, we would give our money to the needy, we would value each and every person regardless of what the did or didn't have because that is what Jesus would do.

A couple quotes to share from his lecture last night:

Talking about how Jesus was homeless, he said "We worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday."

He also shared a conversation that he had with an Iraqi Christian pastor in Baghdad when he went over to Iraq during the Shock & Awe campaign. Shane was telling the pastor how surprised he was to see so many Christians in Iraq and the pastor replied, "You didn't invent Christianity in America. You just domesticated it."

"It's very fashionable for us as Christians to talk about the poor, but not too the poor. If we really care about poor people, we know the names of poor people."

Needless to say, it was very challenging to hear what Shane had to say. I am extremely blessed. And it really challenged me to examine how I live my life and how I spend the resources that God has blessed me with. I am still digesting and milling over so much of what he said.

Check out Shane's book "Irresistible Revolution" or his website, www.simpleway.org.

As You Go...

Last night at our mid-week youth worship service we talked about the big "E" word - Evangelism. One of the things that I have tried to do since graduating from seminary is to rid myself of church language and and keep from speaking "Christianese" - You know, the language that only church people understand. One important part of communication is that unless the people whom your talking to understand you, then communication hasn't taken place. You may have talked about something and even thought you commuincated something, but unless you are understood by a recipient of the message communication hasn't occurred...That's another tangent altogether though...

Whenever I talk about evangelism, or telling people who don't personally know Jesus that he loves them and wants to have a relationship with them, it usually ends in a time where I get frustrated with the biblical text that we have. Not that the text is wrong or inadequate...It's just that it is in English. You see, I had the opportunity to take about 24 hours of biblical Greek language in college and so many times what the writers say in Greek just doesn't translate well into English. The words fit, but the meaning is lost...I think that that's the case in one of our "most cherished" passages on sharing our faith. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus gives us the Great Commission. Most translations of the Bible begin this text with the words "Therefore, go and make disciples..." or "Go and make disciples..." However, there is a lost meaning from the original text that I think Jesus was communicating to us and we ought not to lose. If you literally translate the Greek tense of the word it would read something like this: "As you go, make disciples..." or "As you are going, make disciples..."

All that to say that I think Jesus meant for evangelism to be something that we do "as we go." It breaks my heart that churches have to have evangelism weekends, evangelistic revivals, outreach weekends, and other "special calendared times" where we do evangelism. It's a shame that the vast majority of evangelical churches in the United States have an outreach, visitation, or evangelism "night" each week or month. Not that these things are bad at all, but shouldn't we be sharing our faith in Jesus and his love for people every single day, in the places he's planted us, around the people he has given us influence with...as we go. Sharing the love and truth of Jesus and his desire to have a relationship with every individual is not something that should be contained to visitation night or our evangelistic revival week each spring. Sharing our faith should come out of a fruitful life. Telling people who don't yet know it that Jesus loves them, wants to have a relationship with them, and wants to give them purpose in life should be a part of who we are and what we are about "as we go." Evangelism is not something only done by professionals. It is the call of every person who follows Christ. It is the mandate of every believer. Maybe the reason that churches all across our country are dying left and right is because somewhere along the way we forgot that simple principle...Maybe the reason most churches don't see significant growth is because they are full of people who leave sharing the faith up to the "paid professionals"...What a shame that we have taken the last commandment of Christ and simplified it into a "visitation night" on the second Thursday of each month...Somehow, I think we are missing the mark.

So, for you and I, let's share "as we go." Let's use the influence that God has given us by placing people in our paths - at work, school, and in the community - to build authentic relationships that share and model the love of Jesus. Let's be people who live out and speak out the love of Christ "as we go" in life. Then, maybe, just maybe, our church won't have to schedule that "special" spring evangelistic roundup next year.

Mike Yaconelli...

In honor of my friend Brett, who posted a comment about a Mike Yaconelli quote I am going to post a few quotes from Yac from time to time. If you don't know who he is, Mike Yaconelli was pretty much the father of modern youth ministry. I cannot begin to describe who he was in such a short time or what his impact on the church and youth ministry was. I will just put it this way: He died just a couple years ago and when I heard the news I wept. And to be honest, that doesn't happen very often. There was probably never a greater champion and supported of youth workers and youth ministry tha Yac...So, thanks Brett for the link to some of his greatest quotes...Here is one I really like:

When people look at the Church and see only impostors, they conclude that Jesus is an impostor. But when they see followers of Jesus who are real, they see a Jesus who is real. - Mike Yaconelli

The Weekend Update...

This weekend, while pretty normal and uneventful, did have a couple exciting moments. I spent most of Friday just doing stuff around the house with Curry. We cleaned out the garage and did some other stuff that has needed to be done for far too long. Then on Friday night, Johanna and I went out on a date to dinner and a movie in San Marcos. This was by far the highlight of the weekend for a number of reasons. First of all, we had a blast just spending the evening together. It is such a joy to be married to your best friend and someone who you really, truly love experiencing life with. Secondly, the movie we saw, "Reign Over Me," was great. I highly recommend it but go in knowing that the language is strong and their is one recurring theme that is a little on the touchy side. Johanna thought it was pretty good, but she said it had a couple slow moments, but I thought it was a great flick...You be the judge. Finally, to cap off the night of excitement, we were leaving the movie theater and as we are pulling out down one of the side roads that lead to the theater we notice about 20 hispanic kids running across the street in front of us. As we pass, we look back to see them beating the tar out of one kid. They were kicking him and beating him up pretty good. I bust a u-turn to go back, not really sure what I was going to do now that I think about it, but as we pull up so does another car with a couple of guys who are probably early 20s. About six of the kids that were doing the beat down jump in the car with them and they bust out across the street to the Lowe's parking lot. The rest of the kids run over to Lowe's as well and the kid who was getting beat up runs off. Well, we decided to follow this "gang" of kids over to Lowe's and I call 911 to report all this. I guess the car sees that we are trying to follow him and they take off. So I am booking it through the Lowe's parking lot and then through the side streets in San Marcos while I am on the phone with the 911 dispatcher giving her a play by play, turn by turn breakdown of where we are, so that she can realy it to the cops. I will take a brief pause from the story here to let all of you know that one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME is COPS. I love it and still today will watch re-run after re-run. So as I am chasing after this guy I am sure I heard the cops theme song in the background..."Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna' do? Watcha' gonna' do when they come for you?"...Also, as I am talking to the dispatcher it was like a scene straight out of the show. I am saying stuff like "we are pursuing the car eastbound on Wonderworld Drive. We just took a left and are now heading northbound on Lean St." The lady probably is looking to recruit me for the SMPD I did such a good job. However, the car eventually went down a street in front of traffic and I could not make the turn and he lost me in the midst of a bunch of apartment complexes. As we turned around, the cops past and we gave them the update and the sped off to continue the chase...I wonder if you can call and get an update on the outcome of your 911 calls?

Saturday was not near as exciting as we mostly just did stuff around the house. I painted some mirrors for Johanna and we watched some Final Four basketball in the evening. Yesterday consisted of the typical Sunday. Church in the morning and small groups in the evening. Got a busy week ahead but I have been pondering some stuff for a few days now that I am going to try and post about...Stay tuned.

Raining...

It is raining outside today and I am supposed to be at two track meets. I have Junior High students competing today and one of my high school guys running at another meet about 30 miles away. It's bad enough to try to be in two places at once, but it is worse when it is raining...Which makes me think to my self, "Self, Where is my poncho?"

C.S. Lewis & Walter Hooper...

Last night myself and a few others from our Tuesday Night Bible Study group at Texas State attended a lecture that one of the professors had set up entitled "The Legacy of C.S. Lewis: A Master Communicator." The lecture was by Walter Hooper, a brilliant man who spent time as Lewis' personal secretary near the end of his time hear on earth. At first I'll have to admit that I was reluctant to go because I thought it might not be that entertaining. I could not have been further from the truth. Dr. Hooper was fascinating and hilarious. However, the one thing that impressed me the most was that his entire lecture circled around Lewis' faith as a Christian. He talked about his apologetics, his theology, and his evangelism. Hooper said that Lewis was always a great technical writer, even before he was a believer. But few of his pre-Christian works are of any fame or legacy. Hooper stated it was because Lewis had nothing to say then. After becoming a believer, he was an instrument for the Lord and carried a message that was worth saying...This was a pretty cool thing to be happening at Texas State, one of the most secular universities in the state. I highly recommend picking up some of Hooper's work on Lewis if you are a reader and have read any C.S. Lewis at all...I'll leave you with a couple quotes/stories shared by Hooper about Lewis:

Hooper met Bob Jones, the conservative president of Bob Jones University before he met Lewis. Knowing that Jones knew Lewis, Hooper asked about him. Jones replied in a stern manner, "That man smokes the pipe...and he does drink a little...but I believe he is a Christian."

On his first meeting with Lewis, Hooper said Lewis spoke these words to him after Hooper complemented Lewis's work and its influence on him: "I am glad I was used as an instrument of the Lord in your life. In his hands any instrument will do...Otherwise, none."

A final story he shared was of the two men walking home in Oxford one evening and being approached by a beggar. Lewis gave the man some money and Hooper asked him as they walked away, "Aren't you afraid he'll use it on drink?" Lewis quickly replied, "Well, if I had kept it, that's what I'd have used it on."

Hooper also told how Lewis never took any money from his writings. Up until the time he married he had 100% of his money off his writings given to a charity for widows and orphans. After marrying, he still gave 2/3 of his money to the charity and 1/3 to his wife and step-children. I knew going into last night that C.S. Lewis was a man of faith. I left with an understanding of how much he really lived that out. C.S. Lewis was a great example of John the Baptist's exclamation: "He must become greater, I must become less!"

Shannon's Story (or The Emptiness of Things)...

So here is the great story I promised from last night. Let me begin by saying that over the past 10 years of student ministry I have had the amazing opportunity of ministering to and with some of the best students on the face of the earth. It is always great to have students that are not only a joy to minister to and work with, but who are also just great people who are a joy to be around and who are trying their best to follow Christ and model his love. Shannon is one of those people.
Last night at our DEEPER Bible Study, Johanna led a discussion about materialism. Her concept was to try and get the girls to see how much they really are blessed and how much others sometimes go without. They talked about materialism and how in the end, "things" leave us empty. Toward the end of the Bible study, Shannon, a senior in our group, told the other girls that she was going home to clean out her closet and put what she had learned into action. About an hour later when some of us were hanging out at the home where the girls Bible study meets, Shannon walks in the door with an enormous garbage bag and says, "Here, Nic. I've got a present for ya!" Up until this point, I had no idea what she was doing or had done, but she told Johanna that she wanted to bring the stuff up to me because I wouldn't think she would do it. To be honest, she was probably right because we had a similar conversation this summer and I am always giving her a hard time about all the shoes she has. She proceded to get a couple of the guys to help her carry in all the rest and when all was said and done she had given me two garbage bags full of shoes and clothes and another three boxes of shoes, all of which she wants donated to a charity that will be able to use these possessions to clothe people in need and share the love of Jesus in a practical way.
Understand this: This was a big deal. Shannon is a shoe-a-holic and I'm sure her collection of shoes and clothes rivals any. But last night, Jesus spoke to her and she responded. In a real and practical way she said yes to the call of Christ. She chose to use her possessions in a way that would honor Jesus and she gave back to him and others out of the over-abundance that she had acquired. She was blessed and she is turning it into a blessing. She chose to give an offering. And in the process she is providing to me and others an example of what it means to being to understand that our meaning is not found in things. When all is said and done in life, it doesn't matter how many new cars you have had, how many houses you own, or how big your bank account is. That is all rubbish, dirt, nothing, in the kingdom of God. When life is done, it doesn't matter how many pairs of stylish shoes you own or how many clothes filled your closet. What matters is how many lives you've impacted with your's for the kingdom of God. What matters is what we have offered to God. Last night, in a very practical way, Shannon chose to impact the kingdom and she gave of what she had as an offering to God. That's what it is all about.

The Weekend Update...

What a great weekend! I guess the weekend "unofficially" started for us on Thursday night when Johanna and I met up with Jeremy and Kari in Austin for a double date. We hit up some Z Tejas on 6th street, which was very good, even if Jeremy and Kari were a little under the weather the next day...I don't think it had anything to do with the food...Maybe it was ebola or the bird flu. ..Anyway, after having a quite ecclectic meal at Z Tejas, we hit up Starbucks and then headed home. Friday involved driving most of the day to pick up Curry, who moved in with us this weekend. Then late Friday night about midnight Andy and Jaron, two former students of mine who are going to live with us this summer and help us in the youth ministry, came in for the weekend.
Saturday we spent most of the day just messing around and hanging out together. By far, the highlight of the day involved our kite flying...great times. We went into Wal-Mart to get something (I can't even remember now what it was...) and we all came out with some of those cheap plastic kites. We went to the park that is in our subdivision and flew kites for a while. Then we came to the conclusion that we definitely need more kite string and headed back to Wal-Mart. We all got a couple hundred more feet, except for Andy, who bought 400 yards of thick thread and flew his kite over 1200 feet in the air before tying it to a tree and leaving it that high. I'll have to say that I really had forgot how fun and relaxing flying a kite really is.
Today consisted of Sunday School, Church, a big lunch and great fellowship with lots of friends (13 of us) at our house after church, and our student small groups this evening. We talked about where we find our meaning and about materialism. One of the girls in Johanna's group had an amazing practical application of what she learned following the Bible study. I'll blog about it tomorrow because I want to include a picture. Until then, hope your weekend was filled with things are relaxing as flying a kite and people as incredible as the friends I shared mine with.

I Never Want To Drive Again...

I have been in the car for over eight hours today...driving my wife's little Nissan Sentra. A friend and I headed down to south east Texas today (and I mean WAY SOUTH and WAY EAST) to pick up a former student of mine. He has been having a lot of family problems that have basically ended up with him moving in with Johanna and I. Yeah, its crazy I know, but it will be different for us. We will have adjustments to make and we will have to be flexible and learning again with someone else living with us. The guy is one of my former students from another church I served and is an older high school student. He was really having a bad time with his family and after praying about it Johanna and I feel that the most-like-Jesus thing we can do is to allow him to move in with us, to teach him some things, offer him love and support, and try to give him a chance to get on his feet in life...Sometimes all people need to succeed is for others to believe in them, model a good lifestyle for them, and then just give them a chance.

While we are at Mission Arlington one of the MA leaders talked about how when you are growing in following Christ, there are times when God calls you to take deeper steps of trust to show you really and truly rely on him and are following him no matter what. Basically, he is seeing how far we are willing to go to follow and trust him. This is one of those times for us. We know it will take extra money and patience and time and we're not sure where a lot of that is coming from, but we know that Christ has called us to do this, even if some people think we're nuts...Heck, I even think we're nuts sometimes, but when He says Go, you go.

One of the coolest things in all this is how great Johanna has been in it all. It is incredible to serve and share my life and ministry with a godly woman who really wants to embody Christ and doesn't see ministry as "MY job," but rather OUR CALLING. Knowing, even if only partially, that this will require some major adjustments and sacrifices for us, she has jumped in with both feet...And I think that has probably impacted this young man with the love of Christ more than anything, because she is so willing to accept him into our home.

All this to say pray for us. Lift us and our new family member up. We will certainly need it as we adjust and follow him together.

Finally, Someone Who Get's My Messiness...

Click on the above title to check out this article...I read this article at lunch about a new book and study coming out that shows how people who have messy desks and offices can actually be more productive and cost efficient employees for their company...Finally the truth is revealed! I would print a copy of this article and keep it but it would just end up in the three foot pile of junk on my desk...And to think, I had actually started to clean up my office this morning...Man, was I wasting time!

Who Sits At Your Table of Influence?...

Tonight (Wednesday) at our midweek youth gathering we started a new series called MySpace: MyLife. For the next six weeks we'll be exploring things like relationships, evangelism, media choices, and the like through the lenses of the lessons we can learn from the online world and community of MySpace. We started off tonight talking about My Top 8. For those who aren't "myspace" friendly, each person has their own homepage and can choose their top 8, 16, 20 or 24 friends to display who also have a myspace page. We used that whole idea to talk about relationships and how to build healthy friendships in life.

We all want friends. None of us like to be alone. None of us like to be the one who is left out. We are all created in the image of God, whether we acknowledge it or not, and part of being created in that image means being created relationally. We need relationships with other people.

So as I prepared and prayed about this series and what I would share tonight I felt led to talk about who sits at our table of influence? Who are you friends and how do they influence you or you influence them? Who do you go through life with? Who sits at your table of influence? The dictionary defines influence as "the act or power of producing an effect (on someone or something) without the use of force or command." In our relationships we all have some sort of influence. Either we are being influenced or we are influencing others, and sometimes this can happen in the same relationship.

As we all look at the friendships and relationships we have I think we need to look for a two kinds of people. First, we all need people who influence us to be more like Jesus. We all need mentors - people who challenge us to grow and mature in the faith - people who will hold us accountable, inspire us to follow Christ more closely, and who will influence us for the good of the kingdom. But we also need a second kind of relationship: We need friendships where we are influencing others with the love of Jesus. Jesus was called a "friend of sinners." If you were to eat a meal with Him and the people he ate with you would probably share a table with prostitutes, social outcasts, uneducated and poor people, and a lot of other people considered "riff-raff" by their society and even the religious leaders of the day. But Jesus knew the need to live out truth, grace, and love in the lives of those who did not know it. And we are called to do the same. We are called to have friends who no nothing of the love and truth of Jesus so that we can model it, teach it, and live it toward them and for them.

So, who sits at your table of influence? Are there both types of people? I know that for me, personally, the challenge is to be sure that I am making authentic, real relationships with people who can influence me to follow Jesus in a deeper way, as well as friendships that are intentional and authentic in showing the love of Jesus to those who don't yet claim it as theirs.

Think About This...

Read a great quote on a friend's blog recently. It was taken from the book Organic Church by Neil Cole. In the summer of 2005 I took eight students on a mission trip to Koln, Germany and the model for what the missionaries were doing there was taken from this book. Here's the quote...Hopefully it'll make you think, wrestle, and maybe even cross the street to places you wouldn't normally go.

"If you're going to reach the world for Christ, you're going to have to sit in the smoking section." - Neil Cole

My Week In Review...

I got the great opportunity last week to spend the week with a group of students serving on a mission trip to Mission Arlington. This was my 16th or 17th trip to serve at Mission Arlington, either on a Spring Break or Summer mission trip with students...After 10 or so I guess you start to lose count...Anyway, it was a fantastic week. I took a group of students from our church who had never been before and we met up with three of my former students that had done this whole thing before. Two college guys and a junior high guy who were willing to give up their spring break to come and help us serve and teach so Mission Arlington newbies the ropes. It was a fantastic week with several highlights. It was great to see our students serving outside of their comfort zones. We stayed in places they normally would not stay. We went to places they normally would not go. We interacted with people that they normally would not interact with...And in all of that, they were able to see how big and wide and deep the love of God is. Not only for them, but for a lost and hurting world that surrounds them. And they were also able to see that they can make a difference. Their life can count for something big. I think that one of the biggest problems in most churches, schools, and other institutions that deal with teenagers is that they don't challenge students to excellence. They don't challenge students to comeplety exhaust their lives for the kingdom of God, convince them that they are capable of doing it, and then give them the opportunity to do so in small ways. I believe that good student ministry is founded on missions and this was a great week to allow students to catch a small glimpse of what God can use them to do.

Another highlight of the week was in seeing how God used one of our students named Alberto. Alberto moved across the street from Johanna and I about four months ago. He started coming to our youth stuff with some friends and has been super involved ever since. He moved here from Monterrey, Mexico. Alberto wasn't planning on going on the trip until the week before we left. He got some info about it from me on Wednesday night and then his mom called us on Friday to sign him up, just two days before we left. During the afternoons at Mission Arlington we were at an apartment complex called Roger's Landing doing Rainbow Express, which is like VBS or Backyard Bible clubs. It just so happened that the vast majority of the complex was Hispanic and about half of the kids that came to the Rainbow Express only spoke Spanish! Alberto was able to translate the Bible stories without any problem and proved to be out source of communication for many of the children. That is a total God thing and it was evident to our group that God has a purpose in even the sign up list of a mission trip.

There was another highlight of the last week for me personally. I have now been involved in student ministry for just over 10 years. In those 10 years I have grown and learned a lot and continue to learn, but one of the things that I have felt most convinced and convicted of is the need to have missions as a core value of any student ministry I led. And as I have served and led over the years we have tried to make our missions emphasis not just on mission trips, but on what we are doing where God has placed us on a daily basis. Becuase of some of the missions stuff I have done in the two towns where I have lived, the guy who runs the Mission Arlington Rainbow Express things asked me to speak to all the groups that were there about how we have taken the concepts of what Mission Arlington does and have applied them to our home mission fields. I told the students, adults, and youth ministers who were there that far too many times we make missions in our youth ministries about a trip that we take somewhere. We are so willing to drive across the state or country and even fly across the world. And that is great and brings glory and honor to God. But that is not all he has called us to do. We ought to be just as willing to walk across the street, sit across the cafeteria, and drive acroos the tracks to a different part of town in our cities. God has placed us in the places we live so that we might serve him there. I got to share my heart about how we are called to live as missionaries wherever we are and not just take mission trips. After I got done a couple students and a couple adults came up and talked with me a little while about what I had shared and some of the things we had done. It was pretty cool to know that God used me and the experiences he has led us through to impact others.

Overall, it was a busy week, a tiring week, a stressful week, a crazy week, but a good week in which glory and honor and fame was brought to God. Because we went and served and sang and colored and played and knocked on doors and loved, there are people in Arlington who know God loves them in a real and practical way.

Blog Silence...

I have been on a mission trip all week with a small group of our students at an amazing place called Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex (www.missionarlington.org). This has been my 16th or so trip to serve at Mission Arlington and each trip has its highlights and lessons...I will post some this weekend, as its after midnight right now and we just got back to the hotel and have to head home in the morning, but I'll give you this teaser of a quote from Matt, who leads the Mission Arlington Rainbow Express outreach...

"You can prepare for a movement of God, but you cannot plan for it."

Hope your week has been as good as mine up to this point...Tons of lessons learned that I'll try to share from a coffee shop corner this weekend.

The Weekend Update (or Lessons Learned While Looking For A Fake Coach Purse)...

This weekend was busy and full as usual. We had trackmeets and Thursday and Saturday and in between that I got to spend some time with two close friends. Two of my buddies, who are also Youth Pastors, were in Austin this weekend for the girls state basketball tournament. On Friday we got together in Lockhart for some early morning (9:30 AM) golf and some famous Kruetz Bar-B-Q for lunch. After that we headed off to Austin to watch the UT baseball game, get some Longhorn gear from the Co-Op, and hang out in the ATX that evening. Saturday, after doing some work stuff and errands in the morning, Johanna and I headed to Austin to spend some time together in the afternoon and evening.

One thing that Johanna wanted to do was to find a fake Coach purse. One of her co-worker's daughters had gotten her one for Christmas and Johanna really like it. So we called to find out where they got it but couldn't get ahold of anyone. All Johanna knew was that they found it at a flea market in Austin. In case you're not familiar with the Austin area, that really doesn't narrow it down too much. We stopped at a gas station once we got to Austin and borrowed their phone book to look up some numbers for some flea markets. After looking them over we decided to call one that we thought sounded like a pretty big one. When we asked where they were located we found out that they were in north central Austin...about 30 minutes away. But since I knew she really wanted to find one of these purses we headed off in that direction. We exited off of I-35 and began to follow the directions the lady had given us over the phone. And I began to notice that the further away from the interstate we got, the more the signs and billboards and stores began to change. We were getting into a different neighborhood and most of the signs were in Spanish. Needless to say, once we arrived at the flea market, we were in an area we were not really familiar with at all. We noticed that most of the people outside the flea market were very different than us. Especially when it came to ethnicity. Once we entered the building where the flea market was we quickly realized that we had walked into another world. The flea market was almost 100% Mexican-American, with the exception being a couple Asian-American run booths, an African-American woman shopping, and myself and my wife. As we walked the aisles and scanned the collection of goods that were being sold, we could have easily been in another country. Much of the signs and descriptions of the goods, as well as the background music, were in another language than what I speak. And a lot of the products, such as video games, movies, books, and magazines were in Spanish and not English. The goods that were for sale in this place appealed to a certain people group, one of which I do not exist. We walked around inside for several minutes and received several strange looks. We got stares and puzzled looks from people, most of whom were probably trying to figure out why we were there. I even caught a couple of glances that seemed angry toward us, but that could simply be my perception in the given situation. However, after making our way up and down a couple aisles, we decided to head to another place, with no fake Coach purse in hand.

As I have pondered that experience over the past few days, God has really used it to speak to me. Every Sunday, and on some other days of the week at certain places, all across our country this experience occurs. And other people experience the same thing I experienced in that flea market on Saturday. Yet the experience for them doesn't happen in a flea market, or on a quest to purchase goods, or even across ethnic lines. Every Sunday this experience happens to the unchurched who gather up the courage to walk through the typical church doors of their local congregations in our country. And as I have pondered my experience in another culture, I wonder if their's is much different. Most churches and Christians have, in my opinion unfortunately, adopted their own culture. We have Christan music, Christian clothing, a certain order of Sunday morning worship, Christian songs and Christian singers, Christian books, and even our own Christian language. Think about it for a second: How many times do you use words like justifaction, redeemed, sanctified, and thou in every day conversations? It just doesn't happen...except for at some Christian churches on Sunday mornings. And when unchurched people, who may not know anything of the gospel or the love of Christ, walk through our doors they are thrown into a culture in which they have no experience, no connection, and is completely foreign to them. They don't understand the music or the language or the "goods" and yet we are shocked and puzzled at why they do not return. In many cases, they stand out and look different, just like I did at the flea market, and because of that they receive the same treatment and hurtful stares that I received in my experience. And still we wonder why our churches for the most part aren't growing and reaching unchurched people. The church sits around in meetings wondering why people outside our doors aren't being drawn into a life-changing relationship with the living Savior. Maybe it's because the culture that we've created is something so foreign to them that we've actually gotten in the way of the message of Jesus. Maybe people don't come back because they are so confused by the language and the culture that they really don't see the need for what we offer. It's my fear that in creating this Christian sub-culture here in America that is exactly what we've done. So how do we fix it? Well, I think there are some big, major, institutional changes that need to take place in the church. And those changes would affect some of our practices and the more practical aspects of what occurs at our gatherings and in our ministries, but those are big things that take time to unpackage and explain and can easily get a guy in trouble. There are definitely some BIG things we need to change to begin to more effectively share the love and grace of Jesus with those who are yet to understand and accept it. But there are also some smaller things that each of us can do in our own communities of faith and in the places in which we live that can make a difference. While this list is in no way comprehensive or exhaustive, it's a small start.

#1 - Realize that what we have done in many churches is create a culture that many unchurched people do not understand. Be conscious of ways in which you can break down those cultural barriers, explaining your faith and your churches practices to someone in a way that makes sense to them.

#2 - Quit judging the unchurched without knowing them. Every Sunday in churches across our land people are on the receiving end of stares, whispers, and looks that let them know they are different and for whatever reason don't fit the mold. We need to THROW OUT THE MOLD and began to treat people as Jesus would, welcoming them into our community of faith, regardless of their ethnicity, dress, soci-economic background or any thing else that might cause them to be a little different than we are. It is not our place to decide who is in and who is out. Jesus already made that decision on the cross. Our arms ought to be as welcoming as His.

#3 - Don't talk in a foreign language. Be real and authentic in your communication of the love of God to others and encourage your church, your church leaders, and your church structure to do the same thing. So many times we feel that we are communicating something when we are simply just talking. If people are not understanding and receiving our message then we are not communicating. Let's not let the incredible message of the gospel get lost in translation from some Christianese language that we have made up in the church. Make sure people around you understand the love of Christ in their language.

#4 - Live authentically. Regardless of what form of worship your church has chosen, whether it appeals to the unchurched or is steeped in traditon that someone outside the walls wouldn't understand, it is not the church service itself that draws people into following Christ in this society. Relationships are everything. It is our relationships with the unchurched and lost that will prove to be the main factor in their acceptance of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. If we do not take the initiative and show others the love of Christ, and then authentically live it out in real and practical ways in our daily lives, then it doesn't matter what else we do. It is in the authenticity of our faith, our love for God and others, that people will see Christ and His love for them. That can overcome a lot of barriers that the institution of the church has built up over time.

As I look back on my experience at the flea market, I know there are several more lessons to be learned. And hopefully as I continue to process those lessons and God continues to teach me through this experience, I'll be able to share more of what I've learned. It is sometimes good to be the outsider and see how others feel from the outside looking in. I'm thankful for the experience and the lessons learned...and by the way, we still haven't found that purse!

This...Is...Awesome...