Near and Far Faith

I'm loving Perry Noble's new leadership podcast. He's been doing it since the spring and it really gives you insight into more of who he is. I take a lot from his leadership and it's cool to know him better. We're friends now. He also had a great post on pastoral burnout today.

Looking forward to the Stress In The Ministry Conference in a few weeks. A friend of mine turned me onto it. You apply and if you pass the gulling tests... of name and church phone number... they fly you down to Houston for a week of group counseling and teaching. The common reaction I've been getting from people is "Is the ministry stressful?" Ummm... YES! And it says nothing about your church, only you. Pastoring is not a job but a calling and those of us who grasp that pour every drop of creativity and prayer and energy and resources and love into it. It leaves us empty so God can use us. But never think that you can survive alone. We should take every chance to bolster our marriages, our senses of humor, and our love of humanity.

Derek Webb had a cool post the other day. It echoes my heart to a T.

Oh and I started following Jon Foreman on Twitter. you should too. He's the lead singer of Switchfoot who also has some amazing solo acoustic stuff.

That's all.

So it's not too often that I get to preach the same message more than once anymore. A few weeks ago I taught on John 12 at Ignite - we've been walking through John a chapter a week since April (check out the Beard Challenge). It ran long. I preached for almost an hour. I hate when speakers do that... unless of course no one notices. That's when you know you're speaking truth and not ego. So Mark Culton (Ebenezer bible Fellowship Church) asked me to teach for him while he was away and last night I got to spend time with their high schoolers. I felt pressed over the last few weeks to do the same message again on the story in John 12. It went for an hour last night. But it felt good - confirmed. I speak so little lately, compared to a year ago, that I forgot how much passion comes when the Spirit truly moves in you.

I was convicted as I taught though and it bares repeating. Not because I dreamed up this concept and I'm amazing (true... but not the point of discussion). But because saying it out loud to all of you (6) who read this brings accountability. It was a simple concept of Kingship. This is what came alive to me last night: A king of old times owned it all. If he wanted your house, it was his. Your bride? His. Your money? Taxed. We loose this concept of Jesus being our King because as Americans we are bred to be independent with a vote in everything. The idea of dominance is frowned on. But that's exactly the concept scripture was utilizing in verses like Zech 9:9, quoted as fulfilled prophecy in John 12:15. Not just a physical King though. And this is no enlightening moment for many of us. However, what would life look like if Jesus was my king? Where would fear fit? Shame and guilt? Purpose?

At the end of the passage in John 12 He says that we have the chance to be children of light - and he is the light. So here it is: do I live the reality that God is my Father-king? And how do you know? I don't have strong faith. I question God and his logistics. I don't believe an un-questioning heart is called for. But I do believe there must be a ruling concept of dominance splattered on our lives.

So it took me most of the morning, but I just couldn't justify paying for hosting for this blog anymore. So here's my free version. I miss my old theme, but this one's cool and I like the twitter app for it. I'm still working on getting the podcast back up and I hope to do a new episode here soon.

Just a quick heads up do to my own lack of promotion. This Sunday is our final fund raiser before the West Virginia mission trip. Instead of a spaghetti dinner like we've done in the past, we're changing the menu up a bit and having a BBQ (pray the rain holds, though we'll have it either way). We'll also have a dunk tank that Jon Weeks will entice and tease you into getting angry (righteously... cause it's church) at. Suggested donations are $7 per Adult, $4 for kids 4-10, and free for kids 3 and under. See you there!

I'm coming up on 5 years here with Carpenter's and I've been reminded a lot lately of the many seasonal changes we've had here. I think it's not as much the change itself that embeds in our hearts through these things but the challenged growth. God brings seasons about - we don't and circumstances don't. In fact, many times we don't realize they've changed until half way through them. Paul tells Timothy to not let the seasons effect the message, exhorting him to be ready in and out of season though.

My point is this: in the middle of seasons often we are challenged towards new growth and our temptation is to force a seasonal change. Be encouraged. Just like our earthly seasons, we cannot change them, but they will come. Our reoccurring theme with Ignite Students has been this concept of remaining in Christ - His heart in mine. He never will never call us out of a season, but will often call us to be the instrument he uses to bring about change within it. Most of the time this begins in us. Don't miss it. It only makes the season last longer. He will never give up on you but will pursue your heart until he has the glory he deserves.

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.