~Following Him!!!~

I was watching the Cornerstone Church podcast from September 13th, 2009 and Francis Chan quoted a verse that has been haunting me ever since. It was Romans 9:1-4 and I have read it many times before, but never really paid attention to what it said. This is what it says….

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

Paul is saying that we need to have so much love for our neighbors that we wouldn’t care if we were eternally separated from Christ, which is exactly what hell is, as long as they were able to connect with God and have a relationship with Him. Sure we can say that we are trying to love God and love others, but are we willing to take that “loving others” to that kind of an extreme? Do we even ask God to give us the kind of sorrow and unceasing anguish that Paul talks about here?

I love my family very much and I would do anything for them. However, I have to be honest that I don’t know if I would go to the point of saying that I would rather be cut off from Christ for their sake if it was necessary. That is pretty hard core. That is one of those things, as Francis said in his message, that I am not sure if I could ever attain. That is the kind of love that Jesus pretty much had for us. That is intense.

Every time I read that passage lately or even think about it I am pretty much brought to tears. It is such an overwhelming thought and quite honestly it is a place that I would like to find myself moving towards. I think that if the church would grasp that kind of a love for others then we would really see revival happen in this country. However, I can’t worry about what other people are doing. I can only worry about my response to this.

I have had the same goals for the past three years and so I will re-post them again.

1) Do something about my job situation, whether that means a new job and forget ministry all together, or do something to get into ministry.

2) Do more to care for our planet (i.e. recycling, conserving energy, etc.)

3) To live my life in light of these deep and profound words…

Little did I know when I posted this list last year that part of my first goal would be answered for me when I was laid off from the company that I had worked at for almost 15 years. Not too mention the fact that the owner of the company is my dad. That is how bad the economy is in Michigan.

After that happened my wife and I literally saw it as an answer to prayer. So we decided that my full-time job would be to find a job in the ministry as a youth pastor. Not long after that happened we were flown down to College Station, TX to interview with a church down there. That didn’t pan out for us but we had asked God all along during this almost 5 year process to close the doors we were not supposed to walk through and open the one we were. Almost 7 months after getting laid off we finally walked through that door and move down here to Liberty Township, OH so that I can take the job as youth pastor at The River Church.

I am so happy to take that one off of my list of goals.

My wife and I continue to recycle and we are hoping that we can encourage our church to do the same thing. It feels so good knowing that we are not being as wasteful and that we are doing our part to care for the planet that God has given us to care for.

Not only do I feel that this is something that I continually grow in, but I also am spreading that same message to the teenagers that God has given me the opportunity to pastor. I believe that if Christ-followers can grasp a hold of that concept that we will be able to have a greater impact in our country and world.

I had set three fitness last year as well….

1) To run a 10K.

2) To continue working towards competing in a mini-triathlon.

3) I plan on running in several more 5K’s again this year.

I ran in my first 10K when I ran in the Nike Human Race 10K, which was run by myself and then I uploaded my run to my Nike+ account. I then ran in my first 10K with a group of people on Thanksgiving Day when I participated in the 100th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race here in Cincinnati. My goal was to finish it under one hour and I did. I was very happy.

With the move down here I was not able to participate in the mini-triathlon like I had hoped to, but perhaps I will see about doing one this summer. The only problem will be trying to find a place to work on the swimming.

I did run in a couple of more 5K’s and hope to continue doing that. I am also hoping to help one of my youth pastor friends run in his first ever 5K.

Did you make resolutions or goals? If so, share some with me.

Or are we hiding our light? Check out this passage in Matthew 5:14-16 (TNIV) – “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

As Christ-followers we are called to be a light to our world. The question we should always be asking ourselves is that if what we are doing is being a light to those around us? Or in essence, “am I doing what I can to let people see Christ in me and through me?” Or are we putting our light under a bowl?

One of the things that bugs me as a Christ-follower is that we have to have a “Christian” alternative for everything. Just do a simple Google search for “Christian MySpace” or “Christian Facebook” and you will find that there are a half dozen or more of these alternatives to Facebook and MySpace (do people still even use MySpace?). There was also an alternative to YouTube called GodTube, which is now Tangle.

Today, I just found out that someone created a so called Christian alternative to Twitter. It is called Christian Chirp and it even labels itself as “The Christian Alternative to Twitter”. Maybe they should have just gone ahead and labeled itself “The Place Where Christians Can Put Their Light Under a Bowl”.

I am really tired of people in the church finding new ways to hide from or take themselves out of the the world, because they are afraid of being influenced negatively by the world. But that is not what the Bible tells us to do. Check out John 17:15 (TNIV) – “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

I am thinking that as Christ-followers we should have the same prayer as Jesus and instead of trying to constantly finding ways to remove ourselves from the world, that we would find ways that we can be that light to the world. We need to pray and ask God to protect ourselves from the evil one and trust that He will do His part while we go and do our part to be that light in the world that we are supposed to be a part of.

I believe that all of these Christian alternatives that we create are showing our complete lack of faith in God. And I believe that in some small ways that we are even setting ourselves up to be bigger then Him by doing this. If we don’t believe that He can keep us safe then we are really taking over the reins of our life and kicking God out of the driver seat. I am not saying that this gives us the right to make foolish decisions, but I am saying that we don’t need to wrap ourselves up in bubble wrap, because we are so fearful of the big, bad world. God will honor the prayer of the faithful asking Him to protect them.

I am choosing to not be a part of those things because I don’t want to hide my light under a bowl and I would rather set my light up as high as possible for everyone to see. I hope that through my life other people will see the love, mercy, grace and forgiveness of God. I want God’s kindness to show through me, so that others will be led to repentance.

I saw this video recently and thought it was pretty cool. I don’t know if it is true or not, but I like it anyway.

I just recently found out that someone that I love and care for very deeply will be losing her battle with cancer soon. Her name is Loretta and she is the wife of the man who was my youth pastor growing up. These two people have meant the world to me and have invested so much into my life. I feel in many ways that I am losing a parent. Dan & Loretta have loved me and cared for me in so many ways. Words just can’t describe the feeling that I have for them.

What can you really say or do for someone who has meant so much to you and done so much for you? The words “thank you” just seem so trite and meaningless. These two people invited me into their home when my parent’s were gone away on vacation, so that I wouldn’t have to alone and get myself into trouble. They invited me into their lives so that I could see how to live as a godly person. They invited me into their marriage so that I could learn how to be a good husband for my wife. They invited me into their ministry so that I could learn how to be a good pastor when I became one. They invited me into their hearts so that I could learn that I would always be loved no matter who I was or what I became.

I know that I am not the only person that they have touched and I know that I won’t be the last. However, how do you honor a person who has done so much and meant so much to you, like Loretta has? I think that the best way that you can do that is to live your life to the fullest. To live your life in such a way that you give your everything for the glory of God and to live your life passionately for Him. I think that is the best way that one can honor a person who has meant so much to you.

That is what I intend to do. Not only that but I know that Dan and Loretta’s legacy will live on, because every life that God has given me the honor of touching will have been touched by Dan and Loretta as well. That is the beauty and legacy of every Christ-follower. It is not having a plaque on the back of a pew or the carpeting that is purchased from the generous donation left to the church in your will. It is the joy of leaving behind lives who have been touched, because you cared enough to love and invest in their lives. The question for you is what are you going to do to honor the lives of the people who have touched your life? What kind of mark will you leave behind? Will be a stupid brass plaque or will it be lives touched?

Wow! I can’t believe that it has been almost a month since we moved down here to Cincy. We came down here to a house full of new friends ready to help us unpack. We quickly got everything unloaded from the truck and then was able to enjoy some delicious food made by a family at our new church. Even the next day we had another meal that a family from our church provided for us. It really helped us to feel very welcomed into our new community and home.

The week that we moved down here our new church was doing vacation Bible school. That gave us a great opportunity to meet some people at the church and to see people in action. It was neat to see people helping one another out and serving.

The church found me a great place to have for my office. I found a nice desk at Ikea as well. And despite the fact that we have gone there quite a bit since we moved down I insist that I am not addicted. However, I must admit that I was thrilled when I saw that there was an Ikea only 15 minutes from our new house.

Speaking of our new house, I am still in awe of how amazing it is that we have found such a great home in a very nice neighborhood. We are only 5 minutes from the church’s building and close to the kid’s schools. My daughter has a friend in her grade that also goes to our church only 2 doors down from us. My son has slowly began to make friends, which is a good thing because he really misses all of his buddies from our old neighborhood. It is nice to have a house where people can come visit and we can also have a group of about 20 parents come over. Our landlord is very nice as well.

I have already started making friends with some of the local youth pastors and they are a greta group of guys. They had organized the Unight Event before I came down, which was an amazing time for the teens to sing songs to God, listen to an amazing speaker named E.J. Swanson and then walk around Lakota East High School so that they could pray for their school and friends. How cool is that? I look forward to getting to know these guys better and seeing the amazing things that God can do.

We are also blessed to have an amazing group of elders at our church who are helping steer the ship while our church looks for a new senior pastor. Yes, you read that right. Our senior pastor resigned last week. I have been assured that my job is safe and that the elders believe that I am the man for the job. So during this time of transition the elders are going to be sharing the load and making sure that the church keeps moving forward. It is so peaceful to us knowing that God has entrusted this church with these five very competent men. The ship may be rocking in this storm, but knowing that Jesus is there in the boat is bringing us peace.

I am also in shock over how good the Michigan Wolverines did this past Saturday. They played a very good Western Michigan University football team and beat them soundly. I am looking forward to seeing what they can do when the Irish come to visit on Saturday. It is always a good rivalry game.

Last year, Michigan lost to all 3 of their biggest rivals for the first time ever and I don’t see that happening again this year. It was nice to see them win their opening game for the first time in 2 years and I hope that this year we can maybe also win our last game of the season for the first time in a long time. My prediction is that they will go 8-4 this season. GO BLUE!!!

About this time we are pulling away from what was our home in Michigan for almost 8 years. My wife and I have lived in Michigan our whole lives, and both of our parents still live in Michigan, so moving away is a hard thing for us to do. What would make us move away from our hometown? It isn’t because we don’t love the great state of Michigan or really even the horrible economic downturn it is experiencing. We are moving away because God called me to be a youth pastor when I was a young boy and I am finally being able to see the fulfillment of that calling now.

We are moving down to Ohio because I have accepted the role as youth pastor at The River Church in Liberty Township, OH (near Cincinnati). I have been a youth pastor before, but this is the first time when this will be my full-time occupation. It has been over 15 years since I graduated from Elim Bible Institute, so it has been a long journey. However, every step of the way has been worth it.

The hardest part about this move is leaving all of our friends and family back here in Michigan. We love everyone so much and are so very grateful for all of your love. I do not believe that this will be a goodbye, but more of a “see you later”. We are not moving that far away and will be back to visit. Plus, we are not too far away for people to come visit and we live really close to Kings Island and you are welcome to come visit. Or if you are heading south on I-75 make sure you let us know, because we live right off of it and would love to have you stop by for a visit.

There are so many people that I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to for all that you have invested in my life, but I know I will forget someone so I won’t go into it. There are some who have invested in my life and never even realized it.

I am very grateful for the opportunities I have had to invest in the lives of teens while here in Michigan and look forward to being able to do the same thing in Ohio. So to all of you who have been in a youth group that I had the privilege of working with I do want to thank you for letting me invest in your life and for you investing in my life. I probably have learned as much or more from you then you have from me.

My wife and I are now following God where He is calling us. I want to share this video from the Muppets with you as we go.

I am feeling so overwhelmed by God’s love for me. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family who love us dearly. A few weeks ago we were singing the song “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” by Stuart Townend and I was blown away by these words that I have sung several times.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

I know with my whole heart not only that God is very real, but I also know that He sent His Son to the earth to pay the ransom for my sins. As I sang those words I was fighting back tears just thinking about how awesome God is.

My life has not always been easy and I would even daresay that since I became a Christ follower that my life has been even more difficult than before. However, I would not want to change a single thing. I am so much better off for it. I love the fact that God has given me freedom, because it is so much better than the “happiness” that the world was offering me.

This week is going to be kind of crazy for Kimmy and myself. We are having a going away party with some of the people from our church on Thursday, then a going away party with some of the people from the church where I was a youth pastor on Friday, and then a birthday/going away party for our kid’s friends on Saturday. So it will be three straight days of “goodbyes”, but we will still have two weeks left until we actually leave for Cincinnati and our new home on August 10th. We are going to miss everyone and have been so blessed by having all of these friends in our lives.

I am also overwhelmed with how much we have been embraced by the church that we are heading to. I had an idea of the church that we would end up at, but never really thought it would be like this. I know that my family is going to be so blessed and well taken care of by our new church family. I have no fears or worries about me moving my family almost 300 miles south. We have such a peace about this move.

I have also been fortunate because the wonders of social networking websites like Facebook, because it has allowed us to connect with some of our new friends at The River. It is so nice to already begin developing friendships with them before we even move down there.

It really is amazing that when you put your all into God’s hands and trust His guidance for your life that things work out so wonderfully. It may not be the smoothest or easiest path, but it is definitely the best way. Besides who likes to take the easy way anyway? It is so boring and smooth. I prefer the bumps and curves. Just call me a glutton for punishment.

You can listen to the song “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” below.

This past weekend I spent the night in a cardboard box and didn’t eat for 30 hours. Why would someone do something like this? I did it because we took the teens at my church through a program called the 30 Hour Famine. On Friday, 8 May 2009, at 10:00a we told all of the teens to stop eating and that on Saturday, 9 May 2009, at 4:00p we would have a feast together, and then we would stay the night at the church by sleeping in cardboard boxes on the front porch. We did this to give all of us a very small taste of what it is like to be homeless.

I had no problems with the 30 hour fast because I have done a 40 day fast twice before several years ago. The hard part for me was the idea of sleeping outside in a cardboard box. Friday night there was a chance of rain and the nighttime temps were expected to dip into the upper 40′s. People who know me, know that I hate cold weather, so this thought did not thrill me. However, I wanted to simulate homelessness the best I could so I refused to bring a sleeping bag or pillow. Instead I came with two jackets and a hoodie. One of the jackets served as my “pillow” and the other one I wore. I also came with an older, ratty tarp that I had in my garage in case it rained. That is my “home” for the night in the picture on the left.

Fortunately it did not rain but it was cold! I woke up a couple times in the night because I was cold and uncomfortable. All night long and the next day I thought about how hard it must be for homeless people to live like they do and I had it easy because it was for only one night and I had a bathroom nearby. Not to mention that I also had somewhat of a shelter and some homeless people don’t.

But what impacted me more than anything was the poverty simulation that we did on Saturday. The church had coordinated to do this program that Saturday with the teens doing the 30 Hour Famine. There was a sign up for two times, yet there wasn’t enough people to sign up for it to fill up one time slot so they had the teens go through it as well. I am glad they did!

It was really eye opening as to what a person who lives below poverty level has to go through just to survive. The entire program last about three hours with the simulation being only about 1 hour of it, which simulated one month in the life of a real person who lives below the poverty level. Yes, you read that right. Each of these people that we portrayed is a real person who lives in Missouri that the Missouri Association for Community Action has helped out.

I was an 85 year old widower, who owned his own home, but lived on Social Security and had to pay for my mortgage, utilities, groceries, medication and travel. The amount that this man gets in Social Security doesn’t even cover these basic needs, so I had to figure out what resources were out there that could help me. It was a lot harder than I thought! You only get one hour, which represents one month and breaks down to 15 minutes for each week, to try and get all of this done in. As the “weeks” rolled on I found myself getting frustrated by the fact that I had to do this all by myself and other people at least had someone to help them out. I made the mistake of not getting a receipt when I paid my utilities and so the person I paid must have pocketed the money and my utilities got shut off as a result. Otherwise, I was able to accomplish everything I needed to do. But when you have no electricity or heat, does it matter?

I would highly recommend every church to do this poverty simulation. It is really eye opening and will help people to understand in a greater way the poverty problem here in our country. But don’t just do the simulation. Get involved in helping people after you are done.

Are you moving? Did you get a job? What will you do if you sell your house and have no where to go?

These are the questions that Kimmy and I have been asked quite a lot since we listed our house for sale last week. The simple answers to the questions are:

“No, we are not moving other than in faith.”
“No, I haven’t gotten a job yet.”
“If I don’t have a job and our house sells we will probably move in with my parents for a while.”

The reality is that we are selling our house that we moved into about 7 and a half years ago because we can’t afford to live here much longer with me only collecting unemployment. Plus, we are really believing that I will end up getting a job soon and that will quite likely involve a move out of state. I do not have anything lined up at this time and it is simply a matter of faith, because we believe God is going to open up a door for me to become a youth pastor at a church. As I mentioned in a previous post my wife and I are at peace about this job loss and we have the same peace about selling our house.

The other reality is that now is the best time for us to try to sell our house since a short sale is the only way we can do it and given the current economic climate it is making this time perfect for us to do it. A short sale is basically when you sell your home for less than you owe and the bank forgives the difference. If this goes through our credit will only take a hit for one year and we will not have to pay taxes on the difference that is considered “income”. We bought our house for $141,000 in August of 2001 and it has pretty much dropped in value every year. We currently have it listed for $75,000 and you can see the listing here. It is sad to think that we have essentially only paid rent on our house, which was supposed to be a great investment.

However, we realize that we had a great place that we raised our family in a great neighborhood in a great school district that had a great elementary that my kids attended. So we are very grateful for our time here. We are also excited to think about the fact that someone is going to get an amazing deal on a great house in a wonderful neighborhood to raise their family. So if you are looking for a house check ours out here.

I recently saw this video from Francis Chan and I thought it was very appropriate for what we are going though at this time. I don’t want to just live a safe life. I won’t to be daring enough to impress my Judge.

After watching that video I saw this on someone’s status update on their Facebook page and it kind of rocked my world. It is one of those deep thoughts.

“When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.”