Everyday Journey

So life as I know it has changed drastically in the past few weeks--well, months, really. It started with a morning in which I was very sleepy. I had been working to discipline myself to get up early and start each day in the Word and Quiet Time with God. Some days are more successful than others. On November 30, 2011, I was not having much luck, as I was sleepy and couldn't stay awake while trying to read the Bible.

I put on a jacket and went outside to pray. I figured the cold morning air would do wonders to keep me awake. As I prayed, I felt like God was prompting me to just clear my mind and focus on hearing Him. So I did. I got still and did all I could to quit the storm in my head. I tried not to hear the birds chirping and the crickets...whatever you would call their sounds. My eyes were drawn to a couple of squirrels chasing each other through the trees, and I couldn't help but enjoy watching. I was afraid if I closed my eyes, I would fall asleep, so with these few distractions, I did my best to listen for a Word from God.

Funny how God's promptings can open your heart to multiple lessons. The first that I learned is that all the things I was trying to NOT see was part of what God wanted me to see. I was in the presence of HIS creation, and was blessed to witness some of the things I usually ignore or take for granted, and don't experience. It was in that moment of realization that I heard God speak to my heart as clearly as I ever have. "I want you to start a new church."

What? Did I just have an aneurism? What did I just "hear?" Surely this wasn't right. I was a youth minister who never had any aspirations to become a Pastor, much less a church planter. I was pretty convinced I'd fallen asleep anyway. However, I began to pray for confirmation and telling God that if He was really calling me to this new journey, I would be willing to follow. But I had my hesitations!

First, I put out my "fleece," sort of half-heartedly asking God to have someone mention the same thing to me that did not already know I was praying about it. He did that through a good friend. Then, I got "practical" about needing experience first and put out resumes to try and get a new job as a Pastor, and God closed those doors. The more I prayed and tried to reason out of this, God made it more clear that He wanted obedience, and nothing less would settle.

So now, here we are. I have finished my tenure, and even career as a Youth Pastor, which is kind of surreal. I am technically the Pastor and Church Planter for "Everyday Church," as we have named it. (More on that in a moment.) Finally, and the most "in your face" part of this whole thing is that we are pressing on with a drastic change on the income scale. If ever there was a time when my family's faith in God was put to the test, this is it. We are totally out of our comfort zone, totally dependent on God to provide, and completely sure that somehow, some way, God will provide for all of our needs, and for the needs of Everyday Church.

You see, the vision of Everyday Church is to lead people to become faithful, everyday followers of Christ. That simply means that for believers in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord,  in every aspect of our lives, we represent Christ. Being a true believer does not mean we give God an hour or two on Sunday, and maybe an hour on Wednesday night, but every hour of every day. You may be a veteranarian. If you are a believer, you wake up each day as a follower of Christ, who cares for His creation by treating animals. If you are a banker who is also a Christian, you wake up each day as a follower of Christ who works hard to be a good example of steward of other people's trust and their earnings. No matter what your job is, if you are a born-again, Holy Spirit-lives-in-your-heart, trusting, committed, believer of Jesus Christ, you are always His, even when life changes.

I believe that if we can reclaim this everyday surrender to Christ in the lives of His followers, and then make more disciples that learn to do the same (pretty sure Jesus said something about that at least once), then we will begin to see a more obvious change in the culture and communities in which we live.

So here I am, committed to this vision, this calling, this dream, this roller-coaster ride of planting a new church, and it is what I lovingly call a "bi-polar experience." I jump back and forth between apparent opposites: I am scared. But, I'm also excited. I have some big ideas, and I'm totally overwhelmed. I am looking for a job, even though I technically have a job. I trust God, but worry about my abilities. But regardless of all these things,  I am committed to this journey every single day, even on days when I fail. On what Journey has God placed you? Are you a faithful follower of His each day? Do you begin the day as a believer in Christ and THEN whatever else? As brothers and sisters in Christ, let us commit to living everyday to the honor and glory of God the father, and shine the light of Jesus to the world around us.

(Ever since God laid this vision on my heart, this particular song keeps coming to mind. Enjoy!)

Mystery Ride

While on our trip to Tennessee during Spring Break, my family and I visited Dollywood with my wife’s family. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s basically exactly what it sounds like. It is a theme park that Dolly Parton started to help support the commerce in the area where she grew up. Once you get used to the twangy music that pipes through the whole place, you see that it is really quite fun. Not only that, but since it’s built on some of the Smoky mountains there, it’s beautiful.

Of course, I always enjoy the rides the best. I’ve even written about it here in my blog before! Now that my own sons like to ride some of the same rides, It simply doubles the fun for me! (That was a joke--for those that don’t know me, I have twin sons. Get it--double the fun?) There is something special about climbing that first hill in the coaster, and reaching over to reassure my kids, and just knowing I can be there for them. In fact, last summer, when he was on his first roller-coaster, one of my boys said, “I know I’ll be okay since you’ll be with me, daddy.” There’s a lot of theology in that statement, but that’s a blog for another day.

One of my boys is less thrilled about roller-coasters than the other, but for some reason, he got it into his head that the “Mystery Mine Train” would be one he would like and could handle. For the most part, it was an indoor ride made to look like an old mine that was abandoned. There were even some cool pyrotechnics that added to the fun. However, about two seconds into the ride, my son changed his mind. Immediately the ride dipped and dropped and hit some hard, fast turns. If it hadn’t been my own kid, I would have found it funny as he shouted, “I hate this ride, I hate this ride!” and screamed in fear. (Okay, I’m a terrible dad, because now that the incident is past, I do find it funny.)

Then we came to a stop and noticed something odd. The track was directly in front of us. The ride took a ninety-degree turn upward, putting all the riders flat on their backs. As it turns out, what goes up on a roller-coaster, must come down at a much faster rate. It dropped us turned us, twisted us, and flipped us upside down before coming to another abrupt stop. This time it was pitch black. After just a moment, strobe lights from above us barely illuminated the track, revealing yet another straight up climb, only this one was much higher, and as it tipped us forward to drop us, the aforementioned pyrotechnics blasted just over our head, leaving us feeling the heat as we plummeted once again. As a final nail in the coffin that once was my son’s adventurous spirit, and further sealing the fact that he will probably never get on a ride again, the ride went through a corkscrew, but left us upside down for about 25 feet of track. I’ve been upside down quite a few times, but being left to ride that was was new for me.

Finally, the ride ended, and everyone survived. All I could do was apologize to my son, even though he was the one who was convinced that he should ride the “Mystery Mine Train.” I just felt responsible, because he had these expectations built up in his head, and I could do nothing to warn him of the truth and let him know what horrible thing really lay ahead.

Fortunately, many of us DO know things for which we feel the need to warn people. We gladly tell people which dishes not to order at a particular restaurant, which movie not to see in the theaters, which cell phones don’t work, which mechanics to avoid, and which roads not to travel in order to avoid traffic. We are really good at warning people not to do some things.

Why is it that we are quick to warn people of the things that won’t last forever, like a bad burrito, or a boring movie, but when it comes to eternal things, such as the condition of a sinful soul without Jesus, we keep our mouths shut? Why are we so quick to point out the negatives in life, but simply refuse to share the joy of God’s love with others? I am just as guilty of this as anyone. I can’t count on two hands the number of times in the past couple of weeks that I have had an opportunity to just talk with someone and see if it opened a door, and didn’t even say hello to them. Scripture tells us in more than one place that when this life is over, Jesus waits to greet us, and will separate those He knows through a personal relationship, and those He tells to depart from Him. Those that He sends away are going to a place that will be so much worse than we can imagine. It’s not just a scary ride that we want to warn them about, it’s about eternal separation from God, in a place of torment and agony. “Oh no, don’t order the Kung Pow chicken from that place, it will kill you. But Jesus, well, I’m afraid I’ll temporarily offend you so I won’t warn you about what happens to those that don’t know Him.” We care more about other people’s digestion problems than we do about their very real, and very lost soul.

Ouch. I’m looking at my own reflection off of this computer monitor, and right about now, it’s as guilty as anyone else that might feel the sting. If you are a follower of Christ, like me, then we have NO excuses for not telling others about the saving grace and relentless pursuit of a loving God through Jesus Christ. What can we do to make clear what they can expect about life after this earth? Jesus’ command was pretty clear when He said, “Go and make disciples.” We are living in disobedience when we won’t share Him with others, and that leaves us responsible for the mystery that will drop them into a dark, horrifying place.