In Dry Places

I feel really close to God when everything is neatly put together in my life.  What I have learned is things are rarely neat and put together.  I believe that 85% of life doesn’t work out the way we plan and maybe 15% does work out the way we plan.  The story of Joseph the son of Israel in the book of Genesis in Hebrew scriptures is the story of a young man who God gave a dream (a vision) to and his entire family thought he was a lunatic when he said that they would one day bow down to him.  Instead of killing him the scriptures say:

and they took him and threw him into the cistern - Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

This is Life.  God has given us a vision and purpose and we are pushing hard towards it and then we are thrown — not gently lowered or caressed — into a dry, empty place where we feel alone and abandoned. 

I am reminded that while in the dry cistern that the LORD will fulfill his purposes, for me and His LOVE endures FOREVER! Ps. 138:8

Hold fast to the vision that God has given you.  Even if others think you are a lunatic.  
Expect and anticipate the dry cisterns and joy in the cisterns that hold the water in the dry places of your life.

To Spark a Bonfire

 

One Saturday about 2 years ago my dad asked me to help clear out some trees that had fallen and wood from the acre lot that sits beside my parents house.  I had no idea what was ahead of me.  At first glance I did not see to many trees in the woods, and so I went ahead and made plans for a late lunch with some friends (this was 10:00am).  So I put my gloves on and ventured into the woods for what i thought would be a couple of hours.  After all, I was helping my family!  Little did I know that what lay ahead of me was a two day meeting with fallen trees, briars, poison ivy, bark flying in my eyes, and just plain hard hard hard work! 

I missed my lunch appointment.

The question that came to mind as I began removing the trees from the woods was where do I put these?  What do I do with them?  Do I throw them into the woods across the street from the house just to take a mess from one place and make another mess in the other?  What I decided to do (with the help of my, then,14 year old brother) was to make a massive pile of wood in the middle of the lot beside the house to one day have a massive bon fire.  So that is what we did, we piled wood up until a day in the future where the wood would meet its end.

The wood sat there piled 10 ft high and a circumference of at least 20 ft for about 2 years.  This wood pile was MASSIVE!!  So we decided to have the bonfire.  Jenna and I worked extremely hard to dig a trench around the wood pile and filled it with water, got a fire permit, and drug a water hose to the bonfire area (just in case).  It was time to light it.  As i sat there looking at the pile of wood and the flame on the end of my lighter i asked myself “how can such a small flame ignite such a big pile of wood?” I kept saying over and over again “There is no way this little flame can light such a big pile of wood”.

However, a simple spark started this bonfire.

There is a spark inside of each one of that is capable of producing a bonfire.  The spark could be your ability to communicate passionately about something that you believe in, your artistic and creative ability, your ability to be a good mother or father, and this spark could start a bonfire around you that could bring about massive change.  

I am coming to realization that I have to let God have all of me —  to let Him ignite a spark that could start a bonfire.  The bonfire that we started that night was so massive and out of control that I began to freak out think that we were going to catch the woods on fire.  It was much bigger than I expected.  Let God do the unexpected and do something much bigger than you could ever dream of

Paralyzed for Creativity

I can go through a lot of days and not feel very creative or inventive. When I do feel creative good things happen. However, after watching the opening celebration of the Olympics I felt like anything that I have ever done creatively — especially with production– was put to shame. My interest was immediately sparked on who this guy was that could create such an amazing show. So this is the guy.

However, the past few days have unveiled somethings about the opening celebration that sorta made me mad.  The little girl who sang was lip-syncing and all because the girl who was originally supposed to sing had crooked teeth and so they went with the “cuter” little girl.  Then today a story leaked about the girl who fell during rehearsal and is now paralyzed for life!  

There are a couple things that have haunted me about this.
1) People will go to great lengths to pull-off their ideas and to push their ideas.  Even if it means bringing a bad name or even paralyzing someone.

2) There is a natural drive inside people to be a part of something much bigger than themselves. I guess that’s why over 15,000 people were involved in the opening celebrations. No person was a repeat that was a part of the opening celebration.

3) As humans we have  a way of always trying to make ourselves look better than we really are.  Even the fireworks were enhanced for television

A Turn to the Wise

My ability to analyze situations haunts me sometimes.  It seems that analyzing situations are good, but sometimes the danger comes when a situation is over-analyzed to the point of where it is never spoken of out loud.  There are very few people in my life who I let speak into my life, very few people who I listen to for direction and guidance, and very people who I think are ‘wise’.  So when I am faced with a problem or situation that I need to solve I have a habit of resorting to my own analytical ability to solve it.  This process involves some sleepless nights, quiet hours, and usually a loss of appetite (not a fast).  Sometimes I am victorious and other times…well…not so victorious.

Last week I hit a point in my life where I knew that my own analytical capability would not suffice.  After a day — that’s all i could make it — I needed a gear change.  I was listening to a message by Andy Stanley and while listening to him I knew what it was that I needed to do.

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase learning and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.

I knew that for me to have understanding I need to seek out wise counsel.  Throughout scripture God uses people to proclaim His word.  Even in the Old Testament where God sometimes spoke audibly to His people He used prophets, psalmist, Moses, and Noah to proclaim His message and speak to His people.  While I believe that God speaks to us and speaks to us when we meet Him in a quiet place, I also believe that He uses other people to speak into our lives.

So my pursuit for wise counsel began and here are a few things that you need to keep in mind as you seek counsel.

-Identify the problem/situation you need counsel on
-Ask clear, concise, and well thought through questions (examples:  ”I want to be where you are, tell me how to get there?”, “What would you do if you were me?”…)
-listen more than you talk

Pick the Wise 
-someone who is where you want to be – you don’t want to pick someone who is not as far along as you are.  It is important to pick someone who has been through what you are going through.

-someone who is older than you – this may be hard to swallow.  I believe God speaks through your friends as well, but if you want wisdom you must pick someone who is older than you.  Friends are good at being friends

-a few select people –  don’t go to everyone and their mom about your issue.  I have found the more people you let speak into your life the more clouded your mind can get.

-someone Christ-like – nothing is more amazing than to have someone speak into your life who is chasing hard after the heart of God and you can see it in their business or their ministry.

This process is not for the prideful.  It’s not for people who think they have it figured out.  It is very humbling to admit to someone, either in business or in ministry, that you are struggling and at a loss of direction.  At the same time God gives grace to the humble and opposes the prideful.

I am so grateful to have people in my life who I consider to be wise.  Men who are changing their communities and changing the world.

A Life Change

 One of the most amazing things that I have experienced in my life is seeing students experience Christ in a real and authentic way, and after the experience they take it to the next step (whatever that may be).  Cody Helms and Ian Richardson experienced Christ in a real and authentic way last week at BigStuf, and want to take their relationship with God to the next step.

So last week we met at Kristin Taylor’s house, gathered together, and rejoiced over Cody and Ian’s decision to make Christ the author and savior of their life and outwardly show that through Baptism.

This is a huge next step and with dozens of their friends and family gathered around them it made for a truly special moment in their life. This too is a symbol that the people surrounding them that will walk with them, encourage them, and support and love them.

It was truly an honor and privilege to play such a special role in their life.  They are wonderful young men who will do great things for the name of Jesus.

everything must change by: Brian D. McLaren

 I really am liking this book so far.  I picked this book up as a recommendation from Justin Thrasher.  This is the first book that I have read by McLaren.  The book revolves around two central questions:

1)  What are the world’s biggest problems today?
2)  What did/does Jesus have to say about them?

A Beautiful Day

On June 28,2008 I married my best friend and the most beautiful person in the world.  From September 7,2007 when I proposed to her to June 28, 2008 when we were married was an amazing time.  What was amazing was to see Jenna work really really hard to plan our special day.  To see it all come together was amazing!

It is hard to believe that we have been married six weeks already and it has been the best six weeks of my life.  I recommend marriage to anyone!!  

(i am going to try and do better about blogging)

The “C” Word

Mother’s always have a way of making everything better.  Everyone in the home could be sick, even mom, but she is always the one taking care of everyone else and somehow mom would never give any notion that she was sick.  As a kid when i puking my guts out my mom was the one to stay up with me all night and feeding me crackers and lime gatorade (which I cannot drink to this day). 

A month ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and with the mention of the “C” word our family and close friends were dealt a big thrust.  Everyone knows someone that has been affected by some sort of cancer, but never do you think that it will impact someone really close to you. Immediately when we found out the news our family was swarmed with unbelievable support and there is n doubt in my mind that the thousands of prayers that have been prayed the past few weeks have given my mom and our family so much peace and confidence for what was about to happen next.

Surgery
Yesterday (4/21) my mom entered into one of the biggest undertakings of her life (probably even more so than childbirth).  With all of our family by her side we watched as they wheeled her away to have a mastectomy.  It was an emotional time as we waited for two hours to hear the report on the surgery.  For two hours we paced from our seats to the 100″ flat-screen that displayed her surgical progress (a very sweet thing).  About two hours later the surgeon came down with the report.

The report was awesome!  When we heard that the surgery went well and that she was ‘ok’ I felt a huge weight lift off!

Support:
One of the biggest things that Kinetic says our church stands for is caring about people and that church isn’t about the place or building but about the people.  All throughout the bible I see Jesus as a man, I see him as the divine, but a lot of the times i see him as a man who is so compassionate.  I cannot comprehend the amount of support that our family has received the past few weeks.  The phone calls, the cards, the food, the visits, the hugs and cries, the laughs, and even the silence.  The day of the surgery my mom had a huge physical team that is in tune with the spiritual surrounding her all day.

I just want to say a special thanks to all of my friends, Cindi Wood, Pat Silver, Jenna, Jeff Johnson (Zach), Chip Sloan, Reg and Deco Alexander, and the many more of you who showed up to the hospital, who is providing food, who called, and who prayed. 

In Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth he calls on them to 1. Praise the God of compassion and comfort, and 2. to remember that he comforted them in their times of trouble not for their on gain, but so they could in return care, comfort, and show compassion towards other people.  This is a muti-faceted two verses packed with so much.

I am so thankful to be surrounded by people who embody everything and more that these verses are about and I speak on behalf of my mom that she is also thankful for that and morphine!

Thursday
We have to wait until Thursday what the next step is.  There are still a lot of unknowns and still lots of need for prayer.  I will keep everyone updated.

May we lift our hearts to the God of compassion and comfort.

 

Stats
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 186,772 women were diagnosed in 2004 with Breast Cancer 

 

The Call (Part 1)

There are only a few times in our life where we will be expected to rise up, take a stand, and be the only ones around to lead in a HUGE way.  Everyone leads in some form or another; whether you lead your household as a husband, you are in charge of the checkbook, you pick the place to eat after church on Sunday, or you could lead an entire company.

The question I need to ask myself and the question you need to ask yourself when that rare time comes when all eyes are on you to rise to the occasion and lead is: “Will I do it?”

At the end of the book of Deuteronomy Moses dies, one the greatest leaders or call time.  God promised Moses that the Israelites would reach a place of rest, the promised land, but due to some prideful issues Moses did not get to go into the promised land

The Situation:
601,730 men (not counting women and children, so probably about 2 mill.) are looking for a leader and looking for someone to lead them to the place that God had promised them.  Moses is dead.  The Israelites only knew Moses as the leader, and so whoever is to fill his shoes would have to be a strong leader.  The task is huge! [this was the count about 6mos. prior to the change in leadership]

Each of us has a unique situation and great situation that God has placed us in.  

The Call
Joshua 1:2 “…now then,  you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land that I am about to give them–the Israelites” 

Joshua, one of Moses’ right hand guys, the second string quarterback, the back-up singer is about to come rock out.  God tells Joshua very clearly what is about to happen and where he is going.  The call is clear.

Joshua walked with Yahweh, and so it is not a surprise that Yahweh promised to walk with him.

Many of us are facing a great challenge and have been give a call to lead.  So I leave you with the promise that God gave to Joshua…”Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them”

There is no maybe you will lead them, but you will lead them.  The task is great, but so is the call.  Joshua isn’t the lone  leader, but he has put himself under the leadership of someone far greater than he is.  So should we.

Rise to the occasion, Stand up, Be Confident.
~Justin 

 

 

Stepping onto the Stage

So much of my life has been in pursuit of having the stage as my main platform.  As a kid I loved and longed for the feeling of being in front of people.  I wonder has it changed today?Why the stage? What I have noticed is that so much goes into stepping onto the stage.

Stageworthiness:
To be stageworthy we have to have a talent or gift that takes us from the spectator to the performer and from the audience to the stage.  This is a gray area for a lot of people.  What i may consider stageworthy may be different than yours.

Preparation:
I am a huge American Idol fan and I often stop to wonder how long the contestants spend in rehearsal time for a 1 min 30 sec. song. In seminary they tell us that for every minute you preach it should take an hour of preparation. Run the math. It’s in practice and preparation time that we find out who we are. We have to remain diligent, work hard, and persevere. Preparation time is KEY!

Guts:
Every artist, musician, or speaker goes through different types of emotion in the days and moments leading up to stepping on the stage, but everyone will tell you it takes guts. It takes extreme guts to open yourself up for attack, to be critiqued by the way you look, or how big your sweat rings are under your arms, how long you speak. The vulnerability takes guts

A Stage:
You have to have a stage…duh!! To step onto a stage there has to be a stage to step onto. The past few months the Warehouse @ our church offices has been slowly converting into a mini-concert venue where we have large group for the student ministry and various other meetings. One thing that was lacking was a stage. Every other week guys would throw the stage from the church on the production truck and we would set it up for the Gathering. After the first time I realized that a stage was important, but the set-up was killer. I also noticed the stage we had was too high.

All of this headache just for a stage?

A couple of weeks ago 4 guys came together to build a stage. I just wanted to take some time to say how awesome these guys are.

Jeff Himes: Jeff came to me and said that he had enough wood from scraps on his jobs to build the stage and he would bring it by the office. Literally two days later we had enough wood to build the stage.

Tim O’Brien: I met Tim only about a month ago and I heard that he had his hands in some construction through the construction ministry at Hickory Grove. Tim came on board, put the church differences aside, and helped build the stage.

Craig M.: Craig is awesome!!  Craig has a great talent, plus doing construction is his job.  Craig has served a lot with the student ministry, but he is the man at building stuff!

Todd Watson: Todd has enough tools to re-build the World Trade Center Towers.  I randomly called him up and pitched the job to him and the next day he came over to look at the space and helped build the stage.

Without these guys there would be no stage, there would be no stepping onto a stage.  Sure a stage isn’t everything, i understand that, but these guys are amazing!!  I am blessed to know such great guys!

Thanks guys!