Jesus and Java

I’ve started reading a book this week called “Crazy Love,” I know, you read the title and your like what? Just hear me out a minute. It is a book by pastor/speaker Francis Chan, who many of you in our church have likely never heard of, but I would encourage you to pick up this book and give it a read. I am on the first chapter and desire to share with you something Chan wrote in the preface.

“This book is written for those who want more Jesus. It is for those who are bored with what American Christianity offers. It is for those who don’t want to plateau, those who would rather die before their convictions do.”

I stand amazed when I read this and have to admit that I am VERY bored with “American Christianity” and what it offers as Chan has said. I believe when we step back and look at our Christianity, that is our personal belief in Christ and what the word “disciple” means, many of us would have to admit we have reached a plateau having found the comfort it offers good. I would also add our desire to continue the journey to the summit has waned considerably and I fear for many it may not exist at all.

In my own life, I have this desire of wanting more Jesus of wanting to follow Him no matter the cost but am I willing to do what it takes? Are you willing too? Are we as a church willing? I am excited as I read the pages and scared too because the words are challenging my soul. Later in the preface Chan goes on to say,

“We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God. You’ve probably heard the expression “I believe in God, just not organized religion.” I don’t think people would say that if the church truly lived like we are called to live. The expression would change to “I can’t deny what the church does, but I don’t believe in their God.” At least then they’d address their rejection of God rather than use the church as a scapegoat.”

Wow. He is right you know, I’ve know many people who say this and I have to agree we give people the excuses. Christians stand before the world and are looked upon by our actions, our lives, and our churches. Sad but true, the actions of a few speak for the majority. I’m not sure the direction this book is heading, but the title “Crazy Love” and Francis Chan’s desire to pursue God, “to lead a church of comfortable people into lives of risk and adventure” sounds like a great vision to me. I’ll leave you with the closing words of the preface and hope you pick up a copy of this book.

“Come with me on this journey. I don’t promise it will be painless. Change, as we all know, is uncomfortable. It’s up to you to respond to what you read. But you will have a choice: to adjust how you live daily or to stay the same.”

This next week is going to be busy.

Monday: appointment for Lauren with peds neurosurgery, OT appointment for Lauren, work at the church in the afternoon, meeting with Copeland to get speakers back, drop drum set off to Justin Teseniar, and work on service for refuge Wednesday.

Tuesday: Work on service for refuge & setup the worship area. Be home by 3PM so the nurse can leave. Stay with Lauren until the nurse comes at 11PM while attempting to work from home. Watch lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition drops. Cook Dinner.

Wednesday: Up early for nurse to leave, finish service details/setup for refuge, pickup the outlaws I mean in-laws from the airport (I might have lunch with them if I am lucky), nurse leaves at 4 when my sweet wife gets home (she will be happy to see her parents). refuge at 6PM, freak out because I don’t have someone to lead music, then remember that my computer can handle it.

Thursday: Lauren’s surgery. We love visitors but Duke is not allowing ANYONE to visit other then immediate family members and no one under 18. Clergy are an exception, which covers just about all the people I know! However please call my cell before coming to see us. Lauren will spend at least the first day/night in the PICU of her 5 day stay and no one but us can be in there with her.

Friday: Stay with Lauren in hospital, hopefully on step down, pending how she recovers. Work on service stuff for Sunday. Push lauren around Duke in her stroller for 12 hours (pending how she’s doing). You laugh but last time we walked around Duke that much with her. We saw the fish tank (her favorite thing at Duke) every few minutes.

Saturday: Stay with Lauren in hospital.

Sunday: Morning service & movie night at church, stay with Lauren in hospital.

This is from a blog friend Brian Vinson aka “The Thief” and I just felt like someone needed to read this today so I’m reposting it on Jesus and Java

“Now that’s a mouthful if ever I’ve written one. What does that even mean: discerning a call to ministry?

I don’t have any idea.

I think it’s a nice way to say that I figured out that I *can’t* do anything else; I *must* be in full-time ministry.

When I was getting ready to go to seminary, my friend Roby told me, “If you can do anything else, then do it.”

What he meant was that even though I was feeling a pull to seminary and to enter some kind of full-time ministry career, if there was any other way I could live, then maybe the ministry wasn’t for me.

I didn’t really get it then, but after a lot of soul-searching, I think I do. Here’s the thing: I wouldn’t be fulfilled in any other line of work. The fact is, I *must* be about the LORD’s work.

I first started to realize that God was calling me to do something for Him after I went to Russia on a mission trip. There’s something about being a full-time missionary (even for only 6 1/2 weeks) that makes one evaluate what’s true and what’s worthwhile.

I realized that some things I valued weren’t of much value to God and some things I badly wanted weren’t things that God wanted and some things I feared weren’t of any consequence to God.

And God spoke through me while I was there, obedient to Him.

Talking about this experience with a trusted small group of friends helped me to understand that this was God’s plan for my life. Very encouraging, but kind of scary, too.

Seminary was a great time of growth for me; besides a whole bunch of fantastic book knowledge, I gained a deeper intimacy with God and a more healthy understanding of pastors, potential pastors, and seminary professors as regular humans (for good or not).

I love being in ministry, because for all of my life, God has been preparing me for it. If you are in the midst of wondering “Is God calling me to ministry” here is a page with some further stories from other young clergy about their call to ministry. And if you’re in the 18-24 range, you’ll want to check out this event.”

I know some people who read this are diehard one denomination or another but that’s not what this is about. It’s about God’s calling on someone’s life. Maybe it’s yours.

We give in and let our brokenness consume us every minute of every day and in our hearts and minds there is this spiritual war going on and it never ends. We may rest but God keeps fighting, we may sin but God keeps swinging the sword. I was watching this scene from “The Last Samurai” and Tom Cruise’s character is beaten down, stabbed numerous times, and yet he keeps getting up and taking more. This is the perfect picture of the heartfelt fight. It’s the war raging inside of us this very moment. You might not feel it but it’s there I promise.

I don’t think we can ever get past it nor do I think many of us have a true desire too. We stand and watch the battle unfold and instead of taking up a sword and fighting how we should we fight to keep hold of that which has a hold on us. We find freedom in Christ but are slaves to our broken nature. We are standing in the middle of the heartfelt fight, between the beauty and the chaos (thanks Aaron). How can we live this way? Both slave and free? If God put down His sword could we defend ourselves in the heartfelt fight alone? For how long?

it would seem counterproductive to me, if we all gathered in a room and experienced the most hype “worship experience” with hands raised, voices belted, free/outward expressions of our love for God WITHOUT translating that into stepping into the world and acting on the things we sing about…

I think Aaron Ivey has something here. Jump over to aaronivey.com and read the post. So many times we do this in church and in life. We get this gun loaded with hype and shoot it off missing the target of action on so many levels. I’m blown away and challenged by his words and I think you will be too. It’s worth the read no matter what you do as a “leader.”

Aaron also has a new album out that you should go to iTunes and purchase in it’s entirety. I’m going to have a review of it coming soon. If your seeking something new in your ears or on your “hi-fi”, then you can’t go wrong with this.

Driving to SC to play music at a wedding tomorrow

My Mom is up from FL and going with me to said wedding

Lauren has an eye appointment tomorrow at Duke, we are betting we will be doing patching again

Lauren is really on my mind tonight, I’m trying to put my head around everything and it’s kinda rough (she’s fine, It’s personal and just not an easy night for me)

Father’s Day, my Birthday, and our 6 year wedding anniversary in a matter of weeks.

VBS at church coming up

Student Life @ Daytona Beach for our student ministry in July, looking to meeting up with a blog friend

World Changers starts Sunday

Need to carve out family time

Need to pay bills with money that does not exist

Trying to remember to bring David back his CD’s tomorrow

Did I pack deodorant?

Why would you die for me? Why would you give your life over for me so long ago, long before I walked this earth, long before my parents or their parents walked this earth? I have done nothing do deserve this type of love. Why would you do this for me? I cannot grasp your idea of love and your idea of forgiveness. Yet, you pour it out onto me.

In my shame and brokenness, I crawl before your feet. My tears, they stain your skin with my filth yet in your holiness they are continually washed away. You are far from condemning, but gently lay your hands on my head and speak to the very depths of my soul. To places that only you and I know exist. You speak to my soul; and you speak for my soul. If you did not speak for it, it would be banished for it as I said is full of shame and brokenness. Some of which is of it’s own accord and some of which was brought about by the very nature which you created in me and in the others who have gone before me, even to the first of your creation.

I do not blame you for this nature but thank you for it. For in this nature you have given others and myself knowledge and the idea of choice from the moment time began and it is through this nature and the idea of choice that I must live and in doing so die to self and to the breath I take. Your hand still lay gently on my head, you intercede for me today and every day, speaking on my behalf to the one I cannot see. Do I desire it? Yes. Do I deserve it? No, but I thank you for it. Without you I would be nothing.

I’m posting this now cuz I can. I had this great pic for Photography Friday and ya know I forgot to post it. So next week you can see it.

We had our Rock-a-thon this past Friday night, it took a far amount of setup but we pulled it off. Thank you to all those who helped and the students who participated. If you don’t know what a rock-a-thon is try sitting in a rocking chair for 12 hours and rock the whole time. Really can make your rear sore.

Beck has been doing continuing education classes this weekend at a conference out of town, well in Burlington about 45 minutes away. We will see how it plays out tomorrow when I’m alone with Lauren at church. It will be a new experience.

Tomorrow I’m doing a photo shoot for the Justin Teseniar Band in the evening and I’m really looking forward to the challenge of it. We are also shooting video throughout the week for their new album Holding on to Hope. We have rented a Prosumer HD Camcorder from LensRentals.com and if your looking for a place to rent glass or video equipment I would highly recommend this company which came on a recommendation from Steven Bush. I have been very impressed.

Started a series this past week with Refuge called “Stories” and the drive behind it is how our stories intertwine with those of the people around us and how each of those stories are part of this bigger story God is writing. We talked about the stories of “serving others” Wednesday night since we will have an opportunity to serve students coming to our town for World Changers in a few weeks. This coming week we are going to look at the stories of some students who took a challenge to live homeless to see and experience life on the other side of the tracks.

This coming week is going to be busy, but I’m looking forward to what God is going to do.

***I also edited my blog roll, if you have not updated in forever, or have deleted your blog sorry***

“As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”

Paul wrote these words in his final letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:6-7 NLT). A letter that would reach its destination long after Paul was dragged from his prison cell, past the outer wall of the city of Rome, and beheaded for his faith.

I can’t imagine what Paul went through in his life. When we first meet up with him, men are handing him their cloaks as they stone Steven to death. When he writes this final letter to Timothy, he has trekked some 10,000 miles sharing Jesus and lived through more persecution then any person should in a lifetime (see 2 Corinthians 11:22-30) and yet here he is. When God said to Ananias in Acts 9:16 (NIV), “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” God was far from joking. Paul suffered, but he also persevered. His letters to the various churches do not contain the complaints about food or the guards beating him, they contain the very fabric of our faith, he writes with great conviction and burden as God comforts him and guides his pen.

When I am at the end of my life, wherever and whenever that may be, I want to be able to look back and say the words of Paul found in 2nd Timothy with the deepest conviction. To seek God as Paul did is not for the faint hearted, it’s not the health and wealth Gospel you find many places today, but a Gospel of persecution and brokenness shrouded in the loving blood and grace of Jesus and redemption. I don’t know if I have what it takes but I pray that God would look at me when I stand before him, take my hand, and say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

“The best example of leadership is prioritizing family before ministry.”

::Lee Baker

I know he probably didn’t say it first but hey said it to me and I agree so there ya go. Lee has always been a close friend who will tell you like it is and call you down when you need to be called down as well as lift you up when you need that too. Even though we live 12 plus hours apart and have not seen each other face to face in almost two years I know I can call him day or night when I need encouragement and direction. That is doing life together, that is friendship. Check out his blog Vintage Thought.