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!)

Spiritual Zits

FYI: I hope the new layout is not too confusing for you, but I wanted to keep it fresh!

I know that I am not old. There are people who laugh when folks of my age begin to talk of “getting old.” It’s at this point that I would like to quote a very wise song-writer name Jon Bon Jovi: “Like your favorite pair of torn blue jeans, this skin I’m in’s alright with me. I’m not old--just older.” I’ve gotten used to who I am, and I’m cool with the whole idea that I’m not going to be “young” forever. I also ascribe to the whole “you’re as young as you feel” mentality, and hope I can hang on to my “young mindset” for many years to come. I also hope that my “appreciation” for quotation marks remains.

So, this part about getting older. First, my hair started falling out. Then, I noticed arthritis creeping into my shoulder. I hoped it was an injury that could be treated, but two doctors, several x-rays, and one cortisone injection later, it’s just arthritis, that is threatening to become painful again. I am pretty sure I have it in my left pinky as well. I have recurring tendonitis in my wrists--yeah, both of them. When my mid-section started to grow a bit faster (my fingers just had a freudian slip and typed “fatster”), I really had to come to grips with my age.

Is there such a product?

With all of these things pointing towards the fact that I am “not old--just older,” why is it that I am not too old to get a pimple? When do I outgrow those things? It seems only fair that if one is going bald, they shouldn’t have to deal with zits anymore. The other day, I had an itch on my nose, and as I reached up to scratch the underside, It hurt! As luck would have it, brewing beneath the surface of my skin was one of those pimples that starts deep within the skin and hurts for days until it finally comes to the surface. All in all, it’s a very pleasant experience. Yeah, right. Just call me Eeyore.

Most people just put Clearasil on it and move on. However, I have to think about it. Here’s how all of this craziness came together in my mind. As we grow as Christians, things about us will change. Both Peter and Paul said that we can’t stay on spiritual milk for long--we must grow up in the faith and move to solid food. (1 Peter 2:2, 1 Corinthians  3:2) Since we will live forever in eternity,I suppose age really doesn’t matter, so I guess we don’t get old--just older. However, no matter how mature in the faith we get, while we still live in this limited body on earth, we can never escape that blemish that lies beneath the surface. We are all still very prone to sin.

We can do all the exercise we want to maintain our strength and our health for our bodies, and even spiritually as we pray and read God’s Word on a daily basis. However, it only takes one little temptation or unguarded thought to begin the painful process of bringing sin to the surface.  Often times, the Holy Spirit brings conviction long before anyone can see outward manifestation of the sin in our hearts, and I believe it’s safe to say that most conviction of sin is painful. Sometimes others can’t see evidence of the “spiritual zit,” (that phrase is currently being trademarked) but we certainly feel the pain under our skin. Whether we have to swallow our pride and admit short-comings, or agonize over a confession we must make to a loved-one, we feel the sting and the hurt of these blemishes.

I kept looking in the mirror over the last few days, waiting for the inevitable, but the pimple never surfaced. In fact, it seems to have healed up and gone away. If we learn to deal appropriately with our sin at the first pain of the Spirit’s conviction, the grace of God may protect us from the embarrassing, and sometimes explosive (yeah, I went there) public showing of the “spiritual zit.” If that happens, thank God from the bottom of your heart, because it is most certainly NOT what you, or any of us deserve. Then, learn from the experience and do what you can to keep your spirit clean from that point on.

We will spend time and money on products and treatments to keep these blemishes from appearing on our skin, but how many of us really put in the same amount of effort to keep these blemishes from appearing in our spirit? There are no guarantees that face wash will work, but it never hurts to try. Getting into God’s Word daily, and spending time with Him in prayer can only benefit each of us as we grow in our faith. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” If we fill our hearts and minds with the things of God, we have a better chance at defeating the temptations and thoughts that can become full-fledged sin in our lives. Chances are, you’ll scrub your face today. What will you do to clean your spirit?

Lights Out!

As we were leaving church in two cars a couple of weeks ago, my wife called me from her vehicle to let me know that my driver-side headlight was out. I hadn't noticed it, so there's no telling how long it had been out, but sure enough, as I pulled up behind her vehicle at the next red light, I could see in the reflection that only one light was working. I told her I'd look into it.

The next day, I got into the car, and after starting it, got out and walked around to the front to see if it was completely out, partially out, or what. (By the way--I'm not exactly a car expert, so I didn't really know what I needed to see, or why I needed to see it again from the front anyway.) To my surprise, both lights were working. I watched all day, and there didn't seem to be any trouble.

Unfortunately, a few nights later, we noticed that the same light was out again. Maybe it's a loose wire or something, and possibly a blown bulb. I guess we'll have to figure that out. Truth be told, I've never changed a headlight bulb. I've changed a tail light, and my sincere hope is that it is at least relatively close in procedure, as I managed to do that one in under 10 minutes.

With my luck, I'll get the bulb, pop the hood to the car, attempt to make a simple change, and somehow do something that causes the car muffler to fall off the back of the car. It seems a bit dramatic, but that's how these things go for me. Truthfully, I'll do some research and find some pretty good directions before I attempt anything. I'm not like the average dude that is convinced I can fix it the first time without any help. I know my limitations, and figure it's cheaper in the long run to swallow my pride, and just look at the directions, take it slow, and then HOPEFULLY get it right.

Life isn't like those headlights--it doesn't come with an instruction manual to tell us how to do everything. In fact, many times we can feel like we are expected to go it alone without any instructions, and to get it right the first time. As a believer in Christ, I know that's not the case. When I first began my relationship with Him, the Holy Spirit came to live in my heart. Jesus promised He would always be with us, and through the Spirit, He is.

The other thing is that even though day-to-day living has its difficulties and trials, I do have a manual that can help me. God's Word is there to give me encouragement and guidance. Okay, let me pause right here: I am well aware that this has just taken a seemingly very cliche approach to the Bible being the "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth." But stay with me a second, and maybe I can still make a positive application for you.

The truth is, the Bible is the Living Word of God, given for instruction, teaching, and correction. (2 Timothy 3:16) But, as far as specifics go, it won't spell out the answer for how a dad should handle a son's refusal to quit overreacting to the slightest attempt to settle him down. There is no book in the Bible dedicated to helping a husband specifically handle the feelings of inadequacy that comes from not being able to relieve his pregnant wife's back pain. I haven't found the passage of scripture that tells me exactly what time of month is best to pay certain bills so that the paychecks last longer through the month.

BUT, I do know that there are passages that deal with disciplining children and allowing the Spirit to help us maintain patience. I also know that Scripture encourages husbands to love their wives enough to be willing to sacrifice in order to meet their needs. Beyond that, I also know that there are plenty of passages that deal with trusting God to meet our needs and making wise decisions.

So, while there may not be specific answers to some of the issues we face, with the Bible we do have a great resource available that points us in the right direction. At that point, the Holy Spirit within us can step in and guide us to make the best choice based on our current circumstances. There's still some room for human error here, and just because we are led towards a certain path doesn't mean we'll take it. But it's good to know that we aren't left hanging out to dry, just waiting for the next problem to take us further into dispair.

Like my wife, I'm anxious to see if I can fix this headlight problem on my own, or if I'll need to call in someone with more experience to bail me out. But, at least I've got Google--I can find those instructions somewhere, and eventually, and hopefully painlessly, there will be two working headlights once again.