Near and Far Faith

Growing up in the church, sharing the story of Jesus lost its luster. It was never something that I was passionate about, but something that "should be done" as a good Christian. If we're not careful, many of the passions that Jesus once motivated in our hearts care turn sour if we choose not to grow closer to him. In fact, it's a good spiritual barometer to gut check your heart on these things, asking "How passionate am I about..." . For me it's always been easier to preach in front of a crowd what we should do rather than walk through those things on-on-one. But as my faith has been tested and refined lately I have seen passions be renewed, especially in the area of sharing Jesus' story with people.

We began a new series of talks and discussions at Ignite a few weeks ago called "Believe". We're walking through the book of John a chapter a week. I know that the scriptures cannot be read for long without igniting passion in our beliefs and faith, so I've issued this challenge to Ignite Students: I won't shave my beard for the duration of our John study, which is 21 weeks. If any of them can memorize an entire chapter of John, when the study is concluded they can shave my beard however they wish and I'll wear it that way for 48 hours. To be honest, I'm so much more excited about seeing students passionate about God's Word than about wearing a "different" beard for a few days.

So each week I'll post a beard picture to keep the interest alive. It's going to get manly... or nasty weird.

So... it's been a while. But the storm of stuff is subsiding. I've been so blessed to see God in many different ways lately that I wanted to share them in hopes of encouraging you. We have had a rough few years. It has been trial after trial of great intensity. But there are people in our lives on purpose. Often, though, our expectations rob them of any notoriety. But I am just very grateful for these...

First, my wife. Who, through an intense schedule of 3 jobs has held our family intact, sometimes single-handedly. I began this schedule in September as i took on 2 part time jobs - one with Lehigh Valley Christian High school advising their student worship band, and the other beginning my own remodeling business. All that on top of still leading both the music and student ministries here at Carpenter's. There have been days at a time when the only time we see each other is when it's dark and the only thing we have left is a vegetative grunt. But as things calm down and family time reemerges, I am eternally grateful that despite the stress I know she still loves me and she shows it. That, for me, is unconditional. She doesn't think does much, but she has done it all when it comes to my family.

Second, the band. We have walked an intense road over the last 6 months together as ministers and musicians. The elder team began months ago looking at ways to relieve my responsibilities at the church and that relief came to fruition because of a hand full of people willing to step up and lead, no matter the discomfort or, at times, tremendous scrutiny. They have stayed strong and grown stronger. Jim, Justin, and Steff have stepped up to share the worship leading responsibilities which means I only lead worship every 4 weeks or so now. I still choose to play occasionally, besides leading, but these are no longer part of my job description at Carpenter's, rather an exercising of my gifts. Tim Cunningham, Mary Lou, and Tim Beam have stepped up into leadership roles - Tim C. as the Deacon of Media and Technology and Tim B. heading up the tech team. These two guys have grown in front of my eyes into great heroes for me. They will never know the full weight they took off my shoulders. And Marylou - handling the scheduling admin that I so despise.

Third, for Bob Hampton. He came on as our Sr. Pastor just over a year ago (April fools to be exact... cause we're cool like that). I think I speak for many when I say we were reluctant to think that anyone could help us out of where we were. But Bob has been an amazing example of simply knowing the Word of Truth and living it. He has been real, but led us to a place where the Word is changing lives. I hope people can say the same of me some day. He's not perfect... thankfully - he fits right in. But he loves his calling to these people and it shows.

And finally, the Elder board. My brothers in arms. They have pressed and pushed me into God these past 2 years and I can honestly say, that if it wasn't for them, I would not be as close you Him. They helped me see what He had next. They laughed with me/at me for hours at a time - those were our monthly meetings. And yeah, we're down to a monthly 2-3 hour meeting. THAT is church body success for us! We were just remembering yesterday the 4-5 hour weekly meetings!! It is because of the devotion of these men - Dave, Jerry, Jake, Mike, and Chris - that I can say confidently that Carpenter's is not perfect, but it is now healthy.

I hope that you can be thankful in the midst of trial so that you can take a deep breath on the other side, resting in the thoughts of purpose.