Busy Busy!

Sorry I haven't been posting much... things have been very busy. We had camp last week and I get to serve in many different roles so I never even got on a computer except to print my notes for talks and track a book that was coming in the mail... which leads me to another thing that kept me busy... I GOT ENGAGED! I am engaged to my beautiful best friend Ashley! It is so exciting because Ash is pretty much all the good stuff that I am not. She brings a richness and depth to my life. Basically I think we are going to make a melody for Jesus with our lives. Her nickname is Riblet from Genesis 2... where God takes the Rib of Adam and makes Eve and this is what Matthew Henry says of this phenomenon;

"...woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."

So I published a book of prayers. These are prayers that I have journaled about her over the past two years as a gift that I gave her before proposing. And, she said "yes!" So, I have been very busy and I hope you will forgive me for not posting very much.. I will try to get back into the swing of things now.

Anxiously Awaiting Heaven

I am ready for Jesus to deliver the final blow to sin and death. I praise God that we fight a vanquished foe. I praise God that we are in a battle with a beaten adversary. But, as we each know sin still has some power. It still creeps out and wages war in us (Romans 7). So, I eagerly await my Savior. This is how my heart is worshipping... these are the lyrics of Hillsong United's new track from Across the Earth:

On the day when I see
All that You have for me
When I see You face to face
There surrounded by Your grace

All my fears swept away
In the light of Your embrace
Where Your love is all I need
and forever I am free

Where the streets are made of gold
In Your presence healed and whole
Let the songs of heaven rise to You alone

No weeping
No hurt or pain
No suffering
You hold me now, You hold me now
No darkness
No sick or lame
No hiding
You hold me now, You hold me now

In this life I would stand
through my joy and my pain
Knowing there’s a greater day
There's a hope that never fades

Where Your name is lifted high
and forever praises rise
For the glory of Your name
I'm believing for the day

Where the wars and violence cease
All creation lives in peace
Let the songs of heaven rise to You alone

For eternity
All my heart will give
All the glory to Your Name

Currently Working On...

Right now I am gearing up for a few things. My study is broad so I will just key you in on the majors.

For youth group I am working on a series on prayer that will carry us through the summer. I am very excited about this topic because it will force me to pray more diligently. One of the many pitfalls of working at a church is that I fall into a professional type of Christianity that de-values prayer, not in profession but in practise. I have periodically fallen into the habit of only praying in public or during preparation and have neglected a healthy communication with God apart from my responsibilities as a pastor.

At first, this was going to be a series called Praying with Paul, where I would walk them through the prayers of the Apostle Paul. But, I am looking into maybe some Old Testament prayers because I have been Paul heavy lately.

For Camp: The theme for the year is extreme and with the help of some of the Outdoor Outreach staff we landed on Extreme Acts! This means I am working on 5 talks from the book of Acts. Extreme Change (Acts 9), Extreme Calling and Preparation (Acts 13), Extreme Worship (Acts 16), Extreme Community (Acts 16-18), and Extreme Task. This is getting me pretty excited. We chose an illustrated bible and just got it in the mail. It is awesome!

Lastly, I am working on a talk for "big Church" this August. The assignment for those of us that are preaching while David is on break is to tackle the questions that came from our recent Habakkuk Series. These questions are really tough! It will be a student led weekend so I want to tie it all together. Therefore, I am leaning toward doing a talk entitled, Teaching Students to Suffer Well. Problems are coming. Soon these students will be adults asking the same difficult questions our congregation is asking. So, do they have enough bible to keep them afloat when Satan pounds on them? Can they with stand the life that is going to happen to them? Are we giving our students enough of a foundation to help them navigate the storms or are we just having pizza parties? I can answer those questions confidently that we are giving them what they need... a healthy diet of rock solid biblical truth straight from the Word of God!

What The World Needs

I found this awesome quote today:

"The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men." -E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer, Chapter 1

What we need is more men that are in tune with God. I completely agree with that statement. What the Church and consequently the world needs is men that are on fire for Jesus. Then anything they put their hands to the Lord will bless.

I'm Not a Fan of Cabin Writers

Just had a thought today: I am not entirely interested in books spun from the hands of gentle men sitting in their rockers by a lake somewhere. I want something with substance. I want books where words are carefully weighed not with the question, "how can I say this so it will sell books," but instead, "how can I say this so the weightiness of eternity and the importance of the gospel is displayed and obeyed?"

Here is how Albert Mohler Jr. puts it in his chapter in Feed My Sheep:

Do you not imagine that your preaching priorities would become clear under persecution?After all, if you are forced to meet with your congregation in a catacomb,and if you know that you might be arrested at any time, you are going to weigh every word. There is not going to be any time for pulpit frivolity. There is not going to be any time to promote the next youth program. You are going to be concerned with getting down to the reality of the eternal Word of God.

Mohler is addressing preaching but I think the same should be applied to books. I want to hear from men that are thinking through the importance of what they are saying and how it presses the gospel into the hearts of the readers.

Books that come to mind are the epistles that Paul wrote from prison, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison. Those would be the two most obvious places my mind goes when I think about wanting to hear important words. But also there are authors that think through eternal implications and write as men commissioned of God, not to sell books, but instead as a means of building up the church.

Guess What? I'm a Pharisee

The most dangerous pitfalls of spiritual leadership are that I judge others and I also tend to think progress in the faith is based on my effort. Isn't it a shame that I can take the gift of grace, that was freely given to me, and then condemn others?! Or in the second case I abandon grace to progress by my fleshly attempts and religion!? Those are my specialties! I sin wickedly then cry out for mercy and God grants it. From that point I take the grace of God and apply it to myself, and after receiving grace upon grace I pick up my religion stick and beat the crap out of anyone who dares to sin against God.

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed."This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." (Matthew 18:23-35)

For those of us that feel like 'we've got it,' I am with you in the struggle. It is difficult to guard yourself from self-righteousness. It is difficult to guard against arrogance that thinks that we know best. I pray that God would deliver us from the error of taking what was freely given to us and slamming the door of heaven in peoples faces (Matthew 23:13).

Maranatha

Come Lord Jesus. I am eager to be with you. Promote me to glory.

"My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better" (Philippians 1:23).

I cannot wait to be with my King. 

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" (Psalm 42:1-2).