Nostalgia: Not A Bad Thing

This morning, my wife found and broke out some old photos from our childhood, high school, and few years before we were married. Of course when we began looking at them a rush of memories flowed. We remembered old boyfriends/girlfriends, friends, and events in our lives that shaped us. Now there was a potential to get in emotional trouble. If we began comparing where we are with where we were and longing for those times again it could lead to discontent and dissatisfaction. It could lead to a spiral of wishing that we were somewhere else entirely. This then could lead to our questioning of God and His plans for us.

In Deuteronomy, it opens with Moses giving a speech. In this speech, he begins to give an account of what the children of Israel have been through while in the dessert. He does so in a way, that he points to God and how He has led them on their journey. He reminds the Israelites of when they were down how the Lord had delivered them. He reminds them of when they were disobedient how God corrected them. Most importantly he reminds them of where they were going. To the Promised Land.

So if you are currently in a place of nostalgia, be careful. It is okay to remember where you've been. Its not okay to dwell there and not move forward. You are where you are at for a reason and a purpose. Just remember that God has a plan for you. Ask Him and He will reveal it to you.

Hillsong, Flogging Molly, NOFX, and You

I am currently on a fast from secular music. Not because when I listen to it, does it make me do bad things. I take complete responsibility for my actions. I am doing this rather as a way to maintain my focus on God and not on the things of this world. While I said that listening to secular music does not "make" me do bad things, it does lend itself to unwholesome thoughts and a distraction from God. We are a very distracted society. Everything from music to television to billboards on the highway create daily distractions with the hope of tricking us in to buying whatever they are "selling". We are to stay focused on the Lord at all times, not just on Sundays or in our quiet time. In your conversations with friends, to driving to the store, always fix your eyes on Jesus.

The reason that I titled my blog the way I did, was for a few reasons. One, while running this morning, I listened to Hillsong. One song in particular, Tear Down the Walls. It is one of my favorite Hillsong songs. It evokes emotion every time I listen to it and breaks my spirit for the Lord. While running I was reminded of my children lifting up their voices while singing the lyrics and it just made me overjoyed that they could connect even at such a young age.

The second thing is that of Flogging Molly and NOFX. Great bands in their own right, but while listening to them, I was distracted with thoughts of the past and that of just plain nothing. The songs that I listened to didn't have explicit lyrics, but it was just the emotion and thoughts that accompanied them. Not God focused.

Now I am not saying that you shouldn't listen to these bands or other secular ones, or that I am never going to listen to them again. Rather that each individual is responsible for your relationship with God, no matter how strong or even existent it is. Don't let something as petty as music distract you from what God has for you. Don't let anything distract you from God. You will miss out on the best thing that you could ever have.

Break the Law: Pursue Christ

Is the Word of God a book by which you live your life, or something that points you towards Christ? Is it something that becomes like a law to you, or acts as a compass that leads you to a relationship with our Lord and Savior? For many of us we are like the early church in where we look more to Scripture as a "how to" rather than a "where to". What I mean by this is that we take the Word that God gave us and live by it alone. But we are missing a very simple part of the equation, JESUS!! The word of God is meant to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Our "walk", pardon the pun, doesn't stop with the Bible, but rather it begins there.
In Timothy, Paul wrote to this young leader because there was false teaching going on among the leaders of the Church in Ephesus. They were teaching that the only way you could be saved was through the law. They only got it half right. The law was/is something that is given to man from God but then written, interpreted, and enforced by man. MAN!! Not God. Whenever God is not part of the equation we will fall short 100% of the time. In chapter one of 1 Timothy Paul says, "We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers–and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine" (vs. 8-10). It acts as a beacon to the lost. It is revealing and open. It opens our eyes to our sin and shows us who can restore us.

Paul says in vs. 5 that only through love with a pure heart, clear conscience, and a sincere faith can we know God. Then in vs. 14 he speaks to the fact that the grace that saves us was poured out "abundantly" with the faith and love that is in Christ. So there is the Word of God pointing to Christ. It commands us to do something and reveals to us what we should do, but it goes further and shows Christ who lives how we ought to.

So don't let it end with your reading of the Word, but rather dwell on it, meditate on it, and seek to where it is leading. Which is Christ. Once you have your sights focused on God then you will experience what the Word is saying in its fullness.

Just a thought

In I Corinthians 15 Paul is talking to the church about the end and what it all entails. A verse that stood out to me more than all the others was verse 31 where he says "I day every day- I mean that,..." That really hit me. Do I "die" every day for my Jesus? Do I continually press in regardless of my current situation? Whether I am in a season of joy and peace, or whether I am in a season of pain, sorrow, depression, addiction, whatever? This really challenged me in the fact that I cannot live for tomorrow. At least as my main motivation. I must live for today and the opportunities that Christ gives me to grow spiritually and through that growth, the furthering of His Kingdom and not mine.
I am guilty of the fact that I am not proactively pursuing Him every minute of every day. I want to. I want to be able to live like my life doesn't matter except for how I can live it for Him and His will. He is God. I am not. He is my Father, my friend.
Instead of beginning all my prayers with all that He has done for me, I should begin them with how awesome and grand He is. Praying continual reminders that He is my Healer, my Provider, my Comfort, my Salvation, my Everything. Now that might sound like I would be speaking of all that He has done for me, but I disagree. I feel that it is prioritizing Him as the first, as the one and only. He does all of those things. All I do is receive. It is like the dynamic of His grace and righteousness for us. WE CAN DO NOTHING TO EARN IT!!!! It is all through Him and from Him.
So I pray that I may begin to die daily for Him and those He has called me to serve. I don't want to live a life that from a distance looks good but rather closely examined it is a life of fulfillment and completeness.

It's Been a Long Time, I shouldn't have left you.....

"Without a dope beat to step to. Step to. Step to" Sorry. I couldn't resist repping my girl Aliyah. Anyway.....

Well it has been a while since I have written and thought that I would take some time to catch up. Especially all of you who have waited with baited breath. All 2 of you. Ha ha ha. But seriously.

The Lord has been doing a lot in me the past couple months. Some of it welcomed, most of it received reluctantly. Most recently it has been dealing with the multi site or the Norfolk Campus as I am calling it now. I have reserved the fact that the only way it is going to launch "smoothly" is by God and only God. That doesn't mean that I am to sit on my hind quarters and kick up my feet, but rather let God do His thing through me. WHEN we launch and WHEN it is successful, He will receive all of the glory. I will redirect EVERYTHING towards Him. It is not of my own power but rather by His. He is too big and I am too small. The box that I have kept Him in needs to be ripped open, cut up, and thrown into a fiery furnace. I then need to stop ordering those boxes and storing them for the next big thing. Time and time again God has proven Himself faithful.

I am reminded of Elijah and of the time after God had done miraculous things through him. He finds himself being threatened and running from Jezebel. He is in fear for his life and just runs. God takes him to a place where he calms him down and teaches him some powerful things. One is that he needs to rest. The other is that he needs to stop listening to lies and hear the truth. Next is to listen to the whisper of God's voice. I struggle with this one so much because of the chaos I create by "doing the work of God". I cause so much "noise" that I can't hear God's soft soothing voice. SLOW DOWN AND SHUT UP!!! Finally, after all is said and done I need to get back doing what I am called to do.

I think that we can all relate to Elijah. I know that I can. A lot of what happens is alluded to in my blog title. "Its been a long time, I shouldn't have left you." We get so focused, or distracted, that we lose sight of what God wants. Then before we know it, it feels like an eternity has gone by since we have had a real good God time. So we need to routinely recalibrate.

1. REST

2. TRUTH

3. QUIET

4. DO

May God bless you and keep you. Until next time.

Just a Face in the Crowd

This morning I went to Norfolk for my Friday morning coffee in Ghent. It was the first time in a little over a month. If you are not familiar with my visits to Norfolk. It is just to establish a base there for when we launch the Norfolk campus in 2010. So anyway....it has been a while. I have a tab going which to my discovery only had .48 cents left on it. So I paid my $1.95 for my medium coffee, and proceeded to find a territory that I could claim as my own. I would stake my position and set up shop. Maybe listen to a sermon, observe the locals, or just surf the Internet. Well as I was on my way to grab a seat I recognized a familiar face. Now this face wasn't familiar because I have been going to Elliot's Fairgrounds Coffee Shop in Ghent, but rather it was familiar because I had spent time with this person while stationed on the mighty USS Cape St. George the Navy's finest Cruiser. Just to be sure it was him, I asked his name and sure enough it was SK2 James Gould. Now James wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, even though owning a MA in business. Also he was kind of an idiot savant when it came to life. He was the butt of many jokes, and sad to say on the receiving end of some of mine. He was a likable guy though. Well past his prime, but serving the country nonetheless. So long story short, to stumble upon him after 5 years of not seeing him had to be a God thing.

We got to talking about life and where each of us is at. He is in the process of getting out of the Navy and moving back home to be near his mother who has been diagnosed with cancer. Also he suffers with an anxiety disorder, and if you met him you would understand why. I don't say that to disrespect him.

While talking I asked him how he remembered me. This of course was after I revealed to him of me being a Pastor. What I would hear next would sadden me but not surprise me. He went onto say that I was not one that he saw as a troublemaker or knew of as getting into trouble. He saw me as a guy who would go to the bars, have a drink, and then go on with my business while in port. He saw me as just a "face in the crowd". Now this to me was all an accurate statement. The thing that saddened me was that I was known more for what I wouldn't do than what I was about. While in the Navy I claimed to be a Christian, but I didn't live it. I told people that I was going to be a Pastor, but I didn't witness to them. I did everything to be just a "face in the crowd". This challenged me!!! But I know that reconnecting with him was no coincidence.

I have a picture of him and I in a bar in Turkey. I would often look at that picture and wish that I had been nicer to him, or that I would have stood up for him. But how could I have? I was just a face in the crowd. I had at one point wrote off that time of my life. But the kind of God we serve didn't. He kept it tucked hidden away until the moment that I would best be ready for it. Until today.

James and I talked for 2-3 hours about life. About everything from religion, politics, the economy. About each other. I was able to be that person that was able to share my love for the Lord. I was able to look at him and be accepting of him despite his eccentricities. I was able to shower him with love and compassion. I now have that part of my life back. I am more complete because of that encounter today. That is the kind of God we serve. He takes those "face in the crowd" parts of our life and transforms them into God moments. Only He can do that. Only He can restore us to where we want to be.

So if you are living in those "face in the crowd" seasons of life, have faith and know that God can bring everything full circle when He is ready. Just give it to Him and He will do it. Sometimes He needs to do more in us before He can do more through us.

Give Me Faith....

My title is the title of a sermon series from Steven Furtick at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. It is a series that addresses what I feel every Christian struggles with. Is my faith strong enough? Is my faith real? Is my faith something that can withstand the fire? For me lately, I have been in a lull where I am just going day to day and have not really had the umph that I would like in my walk. Of course it is self induced, but more importantly I have chosen to bow to the idols in my life that is brought on by the "music" surrounding me. In Daniel 3:13-30 it is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The king, I'll call him King Neb, has issued a decree that when the music is heard all will bow and worship the 90ft idol that he has constructed. As the story goes on we see that the three men do not bow down and that the consequence of this is to be thrown into a firey furnace. This was a direct result of their "disobedience" to this earthly king, authority, decree, accepted way of life. And because of this their faith was tested. The scripture goes onto say with their response they stated three things: 1. They did not recognize the enemy by name. They did not give respect to the force behind this issue. 2. They did not have to defend their faith. This was not their job to put time and energy into doing so. Thier actions spoke for themselves. 3. They had an attitude about their faith that stated that even if the Lord didn't deliever them they would not bow because they had their convictions of only serving the one true God. I know for me recently that the trials of my faith have been a refining fire. I, unlike the three guys, have a little smoky flavor. But I know that I have not been consumed. This is for me to grow and for my faith to go to the next level. We need to know that EVERY trial is an opportunity for us to be refined. And just as they were delivered from the flames so too will we be, because Christ is with us in those times. "Look!! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth, looks like a son of the gods." God is always with us. We just need to know that the trials in our life aren't meant to burn us but rather refine us.