Revival

On Saturday, I had the extreme privilege of spending the day with my amazing sister and brother in-law at Pismo beach in southern California. Sense living in Texas for 3 years I hope to take any excuse to spend any time at the beach or any large body of water for that matter. It was quite refreshing to “get away” and spend time with my wife just having fun. I have been here in Simi Valley for 2 months now and it feels like I have been here a lifetime. I absolutely love the mission work here, it is challenging, it is important and it is rewarding. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.

Somewhere between frustration and joy there is Coldplay

Youth work is interactive. What I mean is that if you wanted to you could quite easily disconnect from the actual problems these people are suffering with and just stick to the class prep and activities, and none would be the wiser. To rephrase it better, youth work must be interactive. I am finding more and more teens surprised that someone spiritual would actually want to know what is happening in their life and then apply Christ in an healing way. I must admit I believed that I would be most frustrated with the people’s lack of faith or lack of understanding; however, what frustrates me the most is people’s infectious apathy for everything. Life no longer contains real viable joy; it now only contains momentary happy events that sustain you from one smiling picture to the next. As I am sitting in Starbucks I want to scream at the top of my lungs, IS THIS ALL YOU WANT? IS THIS WHAT LIFE IS TO YOU? I wish I had the ability to fix people like the song by Coldplay. I see so many families, people, friends, children, sons, and daughters hoping that someone will give them a magic serum that would fix all their problems. And it breaks my heart that the one thing that could is the one thing they will not accept.

ministry pains (literal)

Today I have burned through day light laying in bad recovering from a sprained ankle. As horrible as that is I am thankful that I put myself in the position so that was possible. One of the hardest parts of full time ministry is making yourself open. You don’t want to open yourself to be used as a tool but you do want to make yourself approachable and useable. Finding the balance is hard but necessary. Another aspect of this is that the more you make yourself open the more likely you will be hurt for fear of inadequacy or keeping the pain of ministry inside. I wish I could give some insightful scripture or a smart encouraging note, but I can’t. Ministry is worth the pain and worth the time. Keeping yourself open and keeping yourself available to the opportunities that God opens up is essential to ministry. I pray that you find the harvest field and I pray that you always stay alert to the needs of the people around you.

God, as always, shows me on a weekly basis just how much he is capable of doing through the smallest of means. On Sunday nights, Natalie and I are attempting to start a college group because in the past this has been a hard spot for the church to keep consistent. So we have advertized and personally approached people for the last three weeks in order to gather a following and to encourage excitement once again for a college program. From the start we have had 3 come one night, 4 will decide to attend another night. Last night only one came; now it's easy to be dissuaded and turned off to the whole thing because only one person decided to come. However, last night was one of the most powerful studies I have ever been a part of. If more people would have come I doubt that the truthfulness we shared and the life that we discussed could have happened. God is good because he challenged me to decide if something was worth doing if he only brings one person. I want the red sea to be parted and the dead to be raised in front of my eyes, but when the real miracles of lives changing and lies are revealed, I wonder if God is working. To God, he is used to splitting seas and healing the sick and stopping the sun, but I underestimate God’s love and dedication to the one who is in need of reassurance and desires the support of a brother and sister.

Truth

ALBERT EINSTEIN:

-The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. . . . The ordinary objects of human endeavour -- property, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

-Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

What is truth that we should cling to it so desperately? Wouldn’t it be better for us if truth was like clay and each person could mold what they wanted to see and believe? Imagine, if you will, the very truth you created become living and breathing and made its own decisions. What if that truth denied your existence or worse denied your authority. Jesus, in the book of John, makes a crazy statement that if you abide (live) in him then you will know truth and truth will set you free. I have often wondered what truth will set me free from. Can it set me free from sin, guilt, hate, angry? Will truth help me become a better husband, father, son, minister? To really understand this statement you must read it in the context of what Jesus was saying. In John 8:24 Jesus is trying his best to convince the Jews that he is the One in whom they must believe in order to be saved. These Jews were living in a lie perpetuated by their belief that it is because of their connection to Abraham that is going to save them and not because of the Messiah’s redemptive work. Now remember, Jesus is in the minority telling the majority that they are wrong and that he is the truth. On Sunday mornings we have been going through the Old Testament account of Noah and his family. In that story we see the same dilemma, Noah is preaching the truth (minority) and no one (majority) is accepting anything he has to say. So again I ask what about truth set Noah free or set you and I free? The answer is everything. Truth sets you free from absolutely everything, because truth is not something that you can create, manipulate or destroy. In John 14:6 Jesus shows how it sets us free, it is because he IS truth. As difficult as truth can be to except it still is truth. The reason we cling to Christ as the standard of truth so desperately is because without it we are lost. Truth, The Truth gives us purpose, direction, and a foundation to base our life, morals, and consequences on. If you are tired of the lies that the world is telling you, I pray that you find and search for Truth. I pray that we as the Body of Christ never cease to show and teach Truth through our lives, our families and our message.