I am gonna try and be brief this morning - 

This has been an awesome week, and I can't believe that it is time to go and worship with my family at South Bay this morning!  Katie and I spent all day yesterday painting and setting up an empty room we had up at South Bay, we wanted to create a space where prayer would be cultivated.  It was funny, as I was painting, I kept praying that God would fill this room - that the people who would spend time on their faces, would meet and know God in a deeper way.  It was exciting to think about all the people who will use this room to cry out to Jesus.  There is nothing significant about the room, or about the paint on the walls, but to know that people will be in their petitioning and praising Jesus - was exciting.

There are a lot of cool things going on right now, I would ask that you pray for our family.  I am getting ready to go to China in 1 month.  Not just China, but Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam as well!  Also, my wife is helping with women's ministry stuff at South Bay, I am helping in the Small Group dept. (I guess I'm kinda running it),  my wife is starting a Bible Study here soon, and we are talking about starting another small group.  That's a lot of awesome Kingdom size things going on that Satan is gonna want to attack hard!  So please, keep us covered.  Our God is an awesome God, and He reigns from Heaven above - so the obstacles here below seem small and manageable for Him, even when they are to big for me!

Later

Catching y'all up

Well, 

Much has happened in my life since the last time I blogged.  

A few weeks ago we had a friend of mine come to share with the people at South Bay what God is doing around the world.  He is a missionary that travels all over, and while he was speaking, I felt a pinprick in my spirit that was very real, but very unfamiliar as well.

I felt like God was telling me to go on a trip!  Please don't miss the power in that statement, I am totally the guy who would have said that missions is great, but there are people who need love and Jesus here locally, why on earth would I waste money and time to go somewhere else?

Obviously, God had not yet stretched me to the point of understanding who He is and what He means when He says that we are to go to the uttermost ends of the earth!

So, I went up and talked with David, and he shared with me one of the trips coming up, was to China, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.  It was going to be a pastor's training conference and a vision casting trip - and that I was welcome to come if I would like.

I spent a couple of days thinking about it, praying about it, and I attended one of the trips meetings, and all I can say is that God showed up in a powerful way.  He sent confirmation that this was what I was suppose to do, and that I needed to continue pursuing this trip.  

The next day, I woke up, went to the clerk of the courts office to try and get a passport, and didn't realize you are suppose to make appointments for those kinda things!!  But, the lady showed me favor, and blessed me with ignoring my lack of planning and rushed my passport paperwork, took my pictures (gave me extra pictures that I needed for FREE) and got me out of the office in less than 45 minutes! 

I sent out some support letters, and more will be going out soon - the trip is going to cost about $4000, which I don't really have right now (or ever), so I am believing and proclaiming that God is going to provide!  I am already praising Him and asking that He bless those who are faithful to respond to His prompting to give.

Katie and Micah and I then went on vacation for a week in the mountains of North Georgia (may blog on that later), but there was no internet, no cell phone service, just me and the family for 6 days!  Let me just say, that should be how it is all the time.  It was awesome.  And I will continue to ask the question "What are any of us doing living in Florida???"  It is so pretty in other parts of the country and we live in the freaking swamp?  Makes no sense to me.

But, it was a great time to get away, spend time in the Word, pray, be in His Creation, pray, praise, be alone, meditate, pray, worship, pray.  It was good.  As I was praying, God gave me some direction and ideas for some opportunities and different things He has placed before me, so I was excited about that.

We got back late Saturday night, to find my passport already delivered to the house (it only took 4 days to get here!!!) and all the paperwork I need to fill out my visa's for the countries we will be in, was ready to be filled out and mailed away.  

We woke up and went to worship on Sunday with our family at South Bay -and God rocked the house apart, it was great!  We then had small group on Sunday night and all I will say about that is, if you missed it - you missed out!

We had our first preseason softball scrimmage last night, and thanks to errors - I HIT AN INSIDE THE PARK HOMERUN!  Our team may have lost the game, but I consider it a moral victory (not sure why, but I do)

I woke up this morning, went for a run, came home, and I was checking my email really for the first time since we have been back and a friend of mine shared a really encouraging story of how something God blessed me with, blessed him!  It was awesome!

Jesus is awesome, He is powerful, He is mighty to save, He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Sustainer, the author and perfector of our faith - and I love being his bondslave!

Shadow of Your Wings...

This morning has been awesome!  

One thing I am a big fan of doing (and I would recommend everyone trying it) is praying through Scripture.  Our early Christian  parents practiced this discipline and had a name for it - calling it "lectio divina".  There is a great article about this practice at the following link 

http://prayerfoundation.org/lectio_divina.htm 

Anyway - while I believe it is possible to pray through any section of Scripture, I have found that the richest section of Scripture to practice this discipline is through the Wisdom Literature.  So, every morning, I open up to a random Psalm or Proverb and spend time praying through that section.  This morning I opened to Ps. 17 - and as I was praying God revealed some awesome truths to me that I wanted to share.

1.  We are the apple of God's eye!  Verse 8 was powerful as I prayed and I asked God to keep me as the apple of His eye, I realized that too often, I don't live or think of myself as the apple of His Eye!  God blessed me this morning by showing me that He truly does cherish me.  He came, lived, suffered and died, simply for love.  I can do, and have done nothing to earn His love.  He offers it out of the kindness, graciousness and genuine love He has for His Creation.  I am the apple of His eye, because I am.  What a blessing it was to hear that this morning.  

2.  As I prayed the next line in this verse, God went to work in me.  I prayed that God would hide me in the shadow of His wings... and the Rhema began!!!

- In His shadow - I am hidden from the things that seek to destroy my life

- In His shadow - I am ensuring that He is bigger than myself  I cannot be in His shadow if I have exalted myself above God

- In His Shadow - I am trusting Him to look out for me, protect me and keep me safe

- In His Shadow - I am close to Him

- In His Shadow - I am not able to follow my own shadow, or go my own way

- In His Shadow - I am able to rest and find comfort

I am so quick in life to do things my way, to rely on my understanding and to follow my ow shadow, but what if - I rested in the shadow of His Wings?  What if I let God be as big as He wants to be?  So big that I am consumed and unable to discern where I would go by myself because His shadow is everywhere I turn.  That's where I want to be, that's how I want to rest and that's how I want to run this race, in the shadow of His wings!

God also blew my mind in Numbers - but that would be a whole different post and maybe that will come later, but for now, I am content to rest in the Shadow of His Wings!

Are you???

Twice in One Day

So, lately I have been trying to blog once a day - and at least 3x's a week.  I have no idea if anyone is really reading this or not, but it helps me process what God is teaching me, if I put it down on "paper".

This morning, I had to go to Seffner to see a dr. that my family has been going to, and on the way there,  I wanted to listen to some music (not normal, I had to live six months without a radio and now prefer silence in the car) - so I busted out some old school Carmen music that I hadn't listened to in years!  I found the CD buried in a stack in our prayer room.

Well, let me just say that for some reason, God consumed my car, and in the middle of a commute to see a chiropractor - the Spirit fell.  I feel a little wussy saying this, but I spent most of the way to the appointment with a lump in my throat and tears falling down my face as the Spirit of God just ministered to me.  I wasn't sure if this was an experience I was suppose to share or not, but as I have been reflecting over it, I think God's point in this morning was simply that at any moment, I need to be ready for His presence.  Moses (whose life has been super meaningful to me lately) was wandering in the wilderness taking care of sheep - and God busted in.  David likewise, taking care of his day to day tasks when God intervenes and changes his life forever.  A young woman was eagerly awaiting marriage, and essentially the beginning of her life, when God shows up, interrupts her day and changes the course of history by asking her to carry His child!

My point is this, God is big enough to intervene at any moment, at any time, and I want to be ready to receive from Him all that He is willing to pour out on me.  Even if that means that I look like a red in the face, blubbering moron when I get to the Dr.'s office!  

Super Stoked about what Jesus is doing!

Normally, I like to try and let my blogs be a reflection of what God is teaching me through His Word.

Today, is gonna be a little bit different...

As I was running this morning something occurred to me.  At night, after my son goes to bed, a lot of times my wife and I turn on TV, she plays some computer game, or talks on Facebook with friends, and I watch West Wing, Studio 60, or Sports Night until I fall asleep.  This is pretty much our routine for our nights.  I sleep on the couch, until she wakes me up to go to bed!

This morning, God laid on my heart that my wife and I need to get out of this routine.  We need to challenge each other, we need to play with each other, I desperately need to beat her at cards!  There is so much more to life and being married than simply coexisiting.  Don't hear me say that we are having troubles, or anything.  I love my wife and I am crazy about her, and it is from that desire that this idea is birthed.  I want to experience more of her.  I am not content to simply be in the room with her, I want to talk with her, know her, play and have fun with her.  I want her to challenge my thoughts, I want her to hear what God is teaching me, I want to bounce crazy ideas off of her.  I want a relationship that goes deeper!  That involves effort and time.  That involves me doing something.  Getting involved. That means that effort on my part needs to be made to ask questions, listen to her answers, or simply be willing to do things that I wouldn't necessarily want to do late at night.

I believe that my marriage (which is already awesome and one for the record books!) is about to get a whole lot more awesomer (just made that word up).  I am excited for what God is going to do in my marriage.  God took me to Song of Solomon this morning, and it was cool to see a picture of a man and woman madly in love and desperate for each other, physically, mentally, and spiritually!  That is my desire - that God would take my wife and I deeper, in every aspect of our relationship.  It's gonna be fun :)  

Chosen for/by Love

For the past couple of days, I have really been having a hard time.  I don't know if it is being back in the workplace, and not being able to surround myself with praise music and the Word all day?  I don't know if it is simply God stretching me and teaching me?  I don't know if I am in sin and God is working on my spirit slowly?  All I know is that I have been a little more depressed the last couple of days.

Have you ever felt like putting on a muzzle?  For the past week, it has felt like regardless of what I say or write, I get punched in the mouth!  I don't know why, and I am unsure how some of the things I am saying can get people offended or riled up, but no matter what I am talking about, it seems I end up in a conversation with people who want to take the opposite side of the topic of discussion.  For instance, right now, I believe I could go outside, look up in the sky and say - "It's blue" and someone walking by would say that it wasn't blue, it was the light reflecting off the surface of the earth and thereby reflecting the blue from the water that covers the earth, and making it seem blue when in all reality, that is an incorrect statement, for the sky has no color.

This has been my life for the past week!  It is a frustrating place to be, but God is teaching me a lot through this.  He is teaching me patience, and showing me how to love.  My prayer and desire for about a month now, has been that God would take me into His presence and speak with me face to face.  This morning, I was asking God to do that again, and He showed me that Jesus came, lived, suffered and died, while I was still His enemy.  All for love's sake.

Jesus was willing to look past every offense, every time I was going to point a finger at Him and say "You're Wrong" and try to do it my way, or approach life with my line of thinking.  He didn't hold any of it against me, but for love's sake, became poor!

Man, what a refreshing thought that was for me.  If Jesus choose to look past all of my sinful, terrible, horrible thoughts and actions.  If Jesus, who has the right to condemn and sentence and judge, laid that responsibility down - and loved unconditionally; shouldn't I be able to look past some disagreements and arguments and love?  My hope and prayer is that God will do that in me.  That I will die to my flesh that feels the need to be right and has the desire to argue and fight and prove my point, and simply love.

When I woke up this morning, I felt blah, and really wanted to stay in bed and sleep this day away, but now - I feel a new charge.  A new sense of responsibility, and a new hope.  Today, I have the opportunity to love God's people, in the way that Jesus loved them.  To lay my life down, die to my flesh, and serve with an attitude of love.  What an amazing opportunity and awesome responsibility that I have, because Jesus chose love.

Thank you Jesus, you are wonderful!  Thank you for your love, and though I don't deserve it, and never can earn it, I strive to love as you loved, and live as you lived, in hope's of pleasing You.  

1 Timothy 1:5

Princes Bride theology...

So, I went for a walk again this morning (still stupid) - but my legs are sore from standing for 8 hours yesterday at work.  I have apparently fallen out of the rhythm of working on my feet all day - it hurt!  But, I was grateful for the chance to make a little money, see some old friends, and help out my old employer when they needed me.

As I was walking and spending time with God, I was thinking about all kinds of stuff...  

1.  Why is it acceptable to point out only the faults in the Church?

2.  Why are no solutions being offered to improve the Church?

3.  Do I really understand the love Jesus has for me?

4.  Do I share that same love for Him?

5.  Why am I so consumed with what I can DO for God?

6.  Am I struggling with a spirit of religion? Pride?

7.  Why do people always talk about going back to the Church like in the New Testament?

8.  What did I do yesterday to show Jesus' love?

9.  Do I believe God is who He says He is?

10.  Why do I feel a need to be right all the time?

11.  Why do I live my life like God needs me?

12.  Do I really believe in the power of the Word?

13.  Why do I fear opposition to God and His Word?

14.  Why in the world is it so HOT, the sun isn't even up yet!

 - Okay, so the last one was less insightful, but seriously, it was insane how hot it was, and still dark outside!

  I have been trying to describe to my wife what happens in the mornings when I go out for a run, walk, or whatever, and it is hard to put into words.  It is kinda like meditating, but I am working out, running, or whatever.  I find that when I am outside, and moving, no iPod, no TV, no computer, no people outside, it feels like just me and God.  I am able to clear my mind, remove the distractions and I hear His voice.  The questions that are raised and come to my mind, feel like things that God wants me to look at, either in the Bride, or more frequently - in my life.  

  So, this morning, as all these questions were rolling around in my brain, I thought of the Princess Bride!  Easily one of the greatest movies ever, right.  Well, in it, Wesley is tortured and the Machine that robs you of life, gets jacked all the way up to 50 (honestly, who just saw the guy yell "NOT TO 50!!" in their heads???)  Wesley is then not dead, only "mostly dead".  I realized this morning that I have been spending much of my spiritual life, not dead, but mostly dead!  I do not operate as God would have me operate.  I have not fully embraced the power of the Spirit.  I have bought into the schemes of Satan that lie to me and say things like doctrine and philosophical theology are important.  What a load of garbage!  

I want to know God - I want to understand Him more, but I don't think He is honored when we argue over "open, close, or closed communion"!  Who cares, let's spend time with Jesus, let's care for the sick, let's care for the widows, let's teach and disciple believers, and let's focus on loving our neighbor.  I love to learn, but if it is just for the sake of proving my position is right, it is vanity, pride and gives no glory to Jesus.  

It is time for me to take Mad Max's miracle pill, that brought Wesley back to life and allowed him to rescue his love, and defeat Prince Humperdink (sp.???).  I need God to raise me from my state of "mostly dead"  I need the Holy Spirit to break the chains and ties in my life, I need to fight for His Love, I need to battle His Enemy, with His Sword, I need to stop being content with a state of "mostly dead" in my life.

I have no idea what this is going to look like, but I can say that I know I need to look different.  As I read Leviticus, one common theme seems to be emerging - God's people need to look, act, and BE different than the culture, because we ARE different.  If we look, act and operate the same, how will they know the transforming power of God's grace?  It is time for me to stop being like my culture, and become that shining light, and salty city on a hill that Jesus spoke of.