Near and Far Faith

If I'm completely open and honest there are times, are they are plenty, that I feel deficient to be a pastor. I'm not a prayer warrior, sometimes I'm cold to people, I get overwhelmed, I don't follow trough with things, I don't always listen, I'm selfish, and I don't always love people.

The thing is... passion. God has placed in my heart a passion for this work. With it comes a desire for greater, bolder prayer, a heart for people that are far from Him, and peace.

Thank you God that I can't do it on my own at all. Thank you for using me in spite of my weaknesses that are so profound.

I have such grandiose visions for ministry, but times like these keep me grounded and aware of my need for wisdom and patience.

Ok so here it is - the graphic for our winter retreat event, Ignition '08 (formerly Winter Blast) as well as the theme for this year. Holyfire will be bringing not only the music this year, but also the messages all weekend long (all together now... ROCK!). This year's theme Rescue the Truth will center around reclaiming the truth of life using skills like Bible memorization, prayer, and journaling. Ignition '08 will be February 16-18.

This is my 80th post! I'm counting down to 100 at which I'll... do something cool. Maybe a guest post from Cherie - my wife. Anyone have any questions for her that she could answer here?

I'd like to get more of our students from Ignite reading and in that spirit within the next week I'm going to be posting our winter retreat hoodie graphic. We're getting a great deal from Uth Stuph, where we usually get our event clothing, and we're going with hoodie's for the first time. So stay posted!

Just wanted to give some props to our band. This morning we launched U2 Christmas and our band rocked it! Dean, our drummer almost didn't make it due to the weather, but chowed up just in time. Vic, our guitarist, nailed Pride (In the Name of Love) - He was The Edge! Donna added some awesome vocals and Jim, our bassist, has been getting better by the week.

We ransomed popular culture for Christ today and it fuels me to spread the gospel.

The past 3 months have been an incredible growing time for me. I've been stretched in ways that, honestly, if God had told me what He was planning, I would've said "No no no - you mean I need growth here. Not there! Listen God - I know me and I'm gonna be too stubborn to let that part grow". So that where He's gone.

One thing I've been learning is how far, or more accurately, what to do with my passionate vision for my job and ministry. It's dangerous in ministry for me to over commit to the vision and take everyone there whether they want to go or not. In my mind this is where God's told me to go and we're going baby! I need to - I must! - follow the vision God's given with Him as the primary director, but discerning when and how is a true test of wisdom.

In the spirit of being transparent, let me give you a very real example: I didn't want to do a Christmas eve service. Our volunteer base is in a rebuilding stage. I wanted to give them time with their family. I wanted to spend that time with mine. And in my mind to walk out the vision I have for my part of the ministry at The Carpenter's, it's "Go big or Go home". I didn't feel like we could pull off something that would rock. However I'm seeing that there's a tremendous amount of power in the simple. Like last Sunday - we did an acoustic set. 4 simple songs - one of them with a hillbilly twang - and we received more encouragement for the simplicity and change of style than we ever have with a full band. Now, this weekend we'll have a full band and I'm pumped for it. I believe part of the vision God's given me for the Carpenter's is to bring worship music and popular culture music together in a cosmic unique explosion.

I guess I'm learning that the vision is about the people. We must walk a fine line between doing what they want us to do, and doing what their heart's truly want so that they are open then to the power of The Gospel.

Granger is a great example. They're launching "Let It Be Christmas", a Beatles themed Christmas series. Watch Rob Wegner, one of their teaching pastors intro it here. It's what the culture wants - the Beatles movie Across the Universe and the Cirque du Soliel show Love prove that. But they use what the culture wants to open their hearts to the Gospel and show that God is in everything - and especially interested in their lives.

This week we launch U2 Christmas with a very similar (we totally ripped it off from Granger's series form last year) thought process. Jim and I are excited to use the music of U2 for God. And I get to sing U2 stuff on Sunday.

Simply put - Rock the Gospel!!!