wonderingfellow

The Great Commision or Missio Dei

2020-04-26T12:17:00.000-05:00

Isn't it incredibly difficult though to find opportunities to make disciples, especially in our online world? This discussion goes even deeper, if you like. The question of who is the driving force in the call to make disciples to me is a big question. Some say that the call is to the Church, after all the Church was founded only a few pages/days later. Others point to the Missio Dei (Mission of God), which they believe places disciples following the divine work of the Trinity which means that the divine "mission" is given not just to the Church but also to every disciple/believer.

If we think through Jesus' words to his disciples, we see, I believe, a focus on the later. In John 5:17 we see Jesus speaking, "But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working" and he continues in verses 19-20, "So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father5 does, that the Son does likewise". It doesn't take away from the purpose of the Church, but it adds to the understanding that the Church and all disciples/believers are being more than "prompted by the Spirit" but they are following the path that God through the incarnation of Jesus walked and continues to walk with his people. It happens as Jesus said at the beginning of John 15, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing".

This means that what we do or create can be created with the mission of God in the forefront of what we are doing as the Church or as a disciple. I believe though that the Church is only as strong as the disciples of God - no disciples - no Great Commission - no Missio Dei in the Church

Go Therefore

2020-04-25T21:50:00.002-05:00

The Great Commission is the marching orders for the people of God. It was the foundation for the creation of the Church. Jesus himself walked with his disciples for nearly three years to prepare them to receive the commission.

We understand that the words, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them" tells us that the primary command of the Great Commission is making disciples, which involves identification (baptizing) and instruction (teaching). Taking this further, we realize that the ability to make disciples is something that is taught and not, as the saying goes, caught. It is an intentional undertaking. The Church was created to proclaim the Great Commission, but the Great Commission was not given to proclaim the Church.

It then is practical that the Great Commission must be a part of our professional undertakings. The expression of one's faith in word and deed is central to the core of making disciples in our work life. It gives greater meaning to our work. Being able to do more than integrate our faith into work, but instead to allow our faith to be a goal of our work fulfills Colossians 3:23-24, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ".

In the online social world that we live in in 2020, the opportunity to be seen and heard becomes drastically increased as we realize that our words and deeds can be carried to a global audience. The risk of success often is found in the emotional triggers that we all have. To be successful and a humble representation of Jesus has proved impossible for most people. The ability to be recognized as one who produces a great product or gives a compelling message is, in many ways, easier to execute than staying faithful to the call of Christ.

When Jesus stepped into the story of humanity in human form, he provided a path for humanity to follow. If we watch carefully the path on which he led his disciples, we see less notoriety than fireside chats and more conversation than proclamation. Jesus was well known and did proclaim the Gospel, but at the core of his message was servanthood. He placed others above himself.

It seems that humanity has a problem with pride to the point that we become proud of how humble we feel. We take the risk of cheapening the love of God, to simply loving tasks like helping the poor. If we buy someone lunch behind us in line at the drive-through, we often feel that we have shared the love of Christ, but isn't it more than that. Isn't it meant to be face-to-face, person-to-person, and heart-to-heart? When Jesus saw the lepers in front of him, he did more than just love them and touch them; he saved them. Their lives were better, but the life that he was concerned with was the life beyond the moment – going forward.

Our ministry should look like more than love; it should look like the path that Jesus took. It was dirty, difficult, deeply personal, face-to-face, and heart-to-heart. He chose people to walk with him who were ugly, beautiful, rich, poor, good, bad, simple, low class, high class, and everything in between. He didn't offer a whitewashed one size fits all Gospel; he offered his life. That is what discipleship, as presented by the Great Commission, looks like.

Coffee Journal - Guji from Moustache Coffee Club

2015-07-29T08:35:00.001-05:00

I recently started subscribing to a bi-weekly delivery from Moustache and have really enjoyed the coffees. The complexity of the flavors that hey have sent have been amazing along with really great delivery and service (even when my debit card died)!!

This week we are enjoying the following :
Name:
Guji

Location:
Sidama, Ethiopia

Distinctive Flavor
Tropical Fruit, Sparkling Acidity

Roasted By:
Bar Nine

The flavor is what I would describe as sweet with a fruity aftertaste.

If you are interested in trying the Moustache Coffee Club then use this link to get $5 off!!

https://www.moustachecoffeeclub.com/invites/efd195a0

A Haiku

2011-05-27T11:48:00.001-05:00

A cool, crisp mountain morning

The river is roaring nearby

A hot cup of coffee and a bowl of grits while sitting by the campfire

Fly rod and waders at the ready perched against a nearby tree

A day of fishing and contemplation ahead

I hear God

I wish I were there. A chance to breath and clear my head. We all need that - time to be silent and listen. For me it's on a river, especially in the Fall.

It's been a long, long time since I have been there. I'm ready!

A View of the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus

2011-04-19T01:18:00.000-05:00

Here is the final project for my Eschatology class. I wanted to make a simple easy to understand video about the Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus. I have included the script from the video along with the video itself.

The Pretribulational view of the Rapture

and the Second Coming of Jesus

The Pretribulational Rapture

The pretribulation position advocates that the rapture will occur before the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period, while the second coming will occur at the end of the seven-year Tribulation period. Pre-tribulationists often describe the rapture as Jesus coming for the church and the second coming as Jesus coming with the church.

The Cross

The Cross is the beginning point of our timeline. Those who hold to the various views of the end times all believe that Jesus was born and was crucified in the early part of the 1st Century AD. They also believe that 3 days after he died on a Roman Cross he rose from the dead and spent a brief period of time on earth before rising into heaven. While he lived on earth and briefly before he disappeared into heaven he promised that he would return in the future for all believers and would judge those who did not believe and would defeat Satan.

In John 14:3 Jesus promised:

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Church Age

In the Pretribulattional view the Church age began with the ascension of Jesus into heaven and will end at the Rapture of the Church. The age is marked by the work of God in and through the lives of those who are a part of his Church.

In Acts 2:42 – 47 we can read about the beginning of Christ’s church:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Rapture of the Church

The pretribulational view believes the Bible tells us that at some point in the future Jesus will return to the clouds above the earth and will raise the bodies of the believers who have died to up until that time and will then catch up every living believer to take them back to heaven for the next 7 years.

In the book of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 it says:

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Tribulation

The Tribulation in the pretribulation view is a 7 year period of time that will be marked by destruction and pain. During this time a leader will present himself as a world leader who will begin to persecute the Jewish people and believe of Jesus. The leader will be called the Anti-Christ.

Jesus told us in Mathew 24:21:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”

Second Coming with the Church

The Second coming of Jesus occurs at the end of the 7 year Tribulation. Jesus comes back to Earth to defeat the Antichrist. Jesus gave us the description of this in the book of Matthew 24:29-31:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Millennial Kingdom

In the Millennium Jesus will rule for 1000 years. The Jewish people will be affected and the believers who come out of the Tribulation will be there as well. The believers from the Rapture 7 years before will be there as well ruling with Jesus.

This is described in Acts 15:16-17:

“After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things”

Satan and his evil demons will be bound during this time and put into a pit. In Revelation 20:1-3 it says:

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.”

Final Judgment

At the end of the 1000 years Satan will be released for a final battle.

We see this in Revelation 20:7

"And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison."

Then Satan and his demons will be defeated and thrown into a lake of fire for eternity.

“and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 ESV)

The Beauty of Nature and the Beauty of Vimeo

2011-03-28T14:10:00.000-05:00

I love Vimeo. The site seems to attract the most beautiful HD video out there. I have posted others here and this one is the latest that I love!

Living with Passion

2011-03-16T11:27:00.000-05:00

I recently had to come to a realization about myself - I often don't adequately express my passion.

I've been thinking about this for the last 24 hours and have come to a realize that passion can't be hidden for the sake of not appearing nieve or over zealous. In the world today we face many false ideas and thoughts that have pervaded our society. One idea is that if we are too zealous or too agressive that we are too pushy, arrogant or belligerent. Even though the goal of this idea is that we aren't perceived as lacking faith in God's will or as being arrogant it often morphs into being passionless and just plain timid.

I have fallen into this trap. I have exchanged my passion and fire for acceptance and silence in order to be a team player.

We all know Michael Jordan as the ultimate basketball player of all time but did you know that he was cut from his high school team. He said once:

"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

In all of this though he kept his passion alive and while failing along the way but his passion burned inside of his gut. I am this person as well. We can no longer live as just passionless team players - leaders must lead!

So wake up sleeping leaders and get loud. Live your passion.

Coming to the End of a Journey and the Beginning of Another

2011-02-27T12:02:00.000-06:00

With graduation approaching I'm thinking a lot lately about the last three years. My time studying at DTS has been amazing. I had hoped that seminary would be more about knowing God and less about simply gaining knowledge. I didn't realize at the time how my wish would be so difficult. Knowing God isn't easy. Our sinful nature battles so much against us. Like Paul the things that I want to do are often the most difficult and the thing that I know I shouldn't do seem the most easy to do. But God is sovereign. Sovereign simply means that he is in control and like James 1 says every struggle draws me closer to my Heavenly Father.

As I look back on the last three years I have seen the following happen:

1. My children know what it means to follow God's will even when we must give up a lot. I think they know that what we give up is nothing compared to what we gain.

2. My wife has been an example to me of grace under pressure and strength during change. For a woman that didn't want to come to Dallas she has been everything that a husband could ask for in a wife and more.

3. God takes the simplest things and makes them major tools in his plan. Friends, professors, those that even made life difficult have been used by God to demonstrate the power of his plans. He does deserve all of the glory. The only thing that I can claim is that I have tried to pay attention.

4. A person can save a lot of money at Half-Priced Books and find a lot of really awesome books at the same time!!

These are just a few of the things that God continues weave into my life.

Most importantly I have learned that I can trust God. The only value that I have to offer anyone is the value of God the Holy Spirit working in and through me and finally I realize that this is more than enough!!

To God be all Glory!

Our Public World - Our Private Battles

2010-12-09T13:05:00.001-06:00

This spoke to me today and I wanted to share it:

"We are naively inclined to believe that the most publicly active person is the most privately spiritual. We assume that the larger the church, the greater its heavenly blessing. The more information about the Bible a person posses, we think, the closer he or she must be to God.

Because we tend to think like this, there is the temptation to give imbalanced attention to our public worlds at the expense of the private. More programs, more meetings, more learning experiences, more relationships, more busyness; until it all becomes so heavy at the surface of life that the whole thing trembles on the verge of collapse. Fatigue, disillusionment, failure, defeat all become frightening possibilities. The neglected world can no longer hold the weight." From Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald, p. 15.

For me this passage screams the truth that this thinking comes from our own energy to create our world. We take our insecurities and attempt to make a world of success by our own efforts following a broken pattern. This passage speaks to me in a way that sets off several alarms in my mind.

Felix Urbauer

2010-12-02T18:48:00.001-06:00

I found this video by filmmaker Felix Urbauer. Check him out at Vimeo or his website. I love the beauty of his work.

FRAMED-Andi Wittmann Rider profile from Felix Urbauer on Vimeo.

Credit - LikeCool

Change

2010-11-07T17:52:00.000-06:00

Fall for me is a great time, always. No mater what's going on this time of year I always have this warm feeling of impending hope and desire for the change of seasons, even in Texas where we really don't have Fall.

The Emory family have so many changes and awesome things happening in the next few months. I'm looking forward to the process of marching toward graduation, the hope of finding a ministry position somewhere, and seeing God working and moving us toward something new.

I'm also filled with a little bit of sadness. The idea of change also brings the pain of leaving friends behind, the leaving of the comfort of familiarity, and the fear of establishing home somewhere else.

Change is required of us. Without it we're incomplete and become dull. Change is growth and the invitation for reliance upon our Heavenly Father. I can't understand a life lived without Him because change is scary.

I look forward to the changes that are coming. I'm not fearful, but instead I'm excited. I was reminded again today from Jeremiah - God has a plan, He is not unaware, and He is in control.

Pride, Sin and the Holy Spirit

2010-11-05T12:14:00.000-05:00

The last few weeks have been huge for me and my family.

I have heard a constant message everywhere I turn, for about the last month, about Pride, Sin and the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that works in us and through us to accomplish the only things of value in our life. Our plans and actions are only “filthy rags” but the actions that the Holy Spirit desires to work through us are worthwhile. John 15:5 is Jesus telling us that only through Him can we accomplish anything! He means anything lasting and of value! “apart from me you can do nothing!”.

The Holy Spirit is the answer to our pride and our sin. I now firmly believe that scripture tells us that we must be in constant conversation with the Holy Spirit over every thought, idea and action in our lives. It is total reliance on God moment-by-moment and complete abandonment of the idea that we can conquer our sin and our problems ourselves.

R U an Influencer

2010-11-04T16:47:00.001-05:00

I found this great short documentary about being an influencer. Christianity needs influencers that are influenced by the Ultimate Influencer. We have too few and too many Christan influencers that influence under their own power.

via LikeCool

Help Me Complete Seminary

2010-10-06T18:00:00.000-05:00

I've been taking classes at DTS since the Spring of 2008. In the Summer of 2008 we moved to Dallas so that I could attend classes. Stacy and I felt that God totally wanted us to be here. I've attended both full and part time since then. It has been incredible and now we are about to finish.

We've tried really hard to not take student loans and have been somewhat successful. We are now at the final semester coming up this Spring and we hope to be finished and graduating in May!!

We've had several people bless us greatly with support along the way. It has been so helpful. My parents and my mother-in-law, Jane, have also helped as they could. My wonderful job at Fellowship Technologies has helped us pay for the rest along with a few small student loans. It has been God that provided all of this and he deserves the glory for sending such wonderful family and friends our way along with a great job.

It's in this last semester that we find ourselves needing the most help. By November 11 we need to raise $2550, and then by December 3 we need to raise another $4200. We have no idea how this will happen but we are fully trusting God to provide. He has provided always and we have made it this far without any understanding how it has happened. God just seems to always work that way.

I have setup an online payment tool through Chipin that will allow people to make online payments to an account that will help pay for this final semester. It's safe, secure and easy to use. If you feel led please click on the link below.

Droid Incredible: Sizzle (My New Phone)

2010-06-22T10:34:00.000-05:00

Here is a cool video about my new phone.

What strikes me as most interesting about it is that this video is totally hype! It's a phone for gosh sakes! I love the phone. My experience with my BlackBerry was less than stellar but according to this video my new phone is the most exciting thing ever at least until next week or the next when the new Motorola is out and iPhone 4 arrives for some of my friends. Have I become just a regular consumer?

Will I be disappointed (at least slightly) with my phone next week when I see the iPhone in person? Probably a little. So is that my lot in life - to grab onto the next new shiny thing, watch the latest movies or TV shows, think about buying the next car, or scramble around to find the next toy?

OK, OK I can here you from here. So what? Isn't that what we do? What's wrong with having cool stuff? Are you one of those guys who beats himself up over consumerism and screams about how we have all given up our life for the next new toy?

My answer is, "Maybe!". What's next? At what point do we see a long term result from consumerism other than more stuff and old stuff in our closets?

I am wondering if there is more to find. Can we make more of our lives and still be consumers? I mean really make more. Not just have more money to spend. Can we be more than consumers?

At some point a consumer has to become a provider. Someone who contributes to the common good or whatever you want to call it. Someone who stops looking at the response from others concerning their actions and begins to make their actions based on a higher (hopefully much higher) standard. I think we can!

What do you think?

Ego

2010-06-19T13:37:00.001-05:00

It's funny how many things lately have been pushing me to examine myself and think about my motives in life. I find myself in a new chapter of my life even though we haven't moved, changed jobs, changed churches or really changed much of anything. It all centers around the affect that where we are is having upon me. Looking at the next several months to a year I will be completing seminary (at least I think so). After that we really have no clear idea what will be next. Will we stay? Will we go? If so what will we be doing and where? This move to Texas and Seminary has certainly not been without plans and without a sense that we would be changing, but it has yielded change differently than I thought it would.

It's interesting that I find myself more at peace and happier than I have ever been without a lot of my own effort. I also find myself more open and honest with life and what I'm involved in. It's certainly not all roses and smiles, but I feel it changing me in a lot of ways.

I'm discovering that something that He is doing is pointing out my problem with my ego. I really didn't see that one coming. I have felt that I've been a pretty easy person to get along with and often a very good follower and sometimes a good leader. It has been shocking to me to see as I am entering this new chapter that I am recognizing something that I have struggled with but never could completely understand which is the struggle of being a doer without the burden of being egotistical. It is so easy for me to either be at the bottom of the pile or seemingly important for me be at the top of the pile (of my perception of an egotistical success), standing on top and somewhat feeling in charge and successful not only at work, but at church or really in life in general. Being in the middle has always been the hard part. Standing with a group of people and failing or succeeding together to has almost been impossible. I either have always had to be the reason for the success or the reason for the failure in order to feel that I was the one in control of my life. What an ego!! It has always seemed that this ego is required to live.

But this new chapter is revealing to me that my ego is pride and that even when this ego "humbles" me that it's really about the feelings that I have about me and not others. To allow such ego God would be letting me have success and failure without Him. I have realized that I cannot move forward in life to the next chapter fully until my ego is dealt with fully.

So today I continue to place my ego in God's hands which means I place my existence in His charge. In trying to be like Jesus I finally have to say "Not my will but thy will be done, God."

God is Still God and God is Still Good

2010-05-17T22:04:00.001-05:00

I heard about Zac Smith who was the IT Director at New Spring Church in Anderson, SC through my job at Fellowship Tech. I had spoken to him on the phone once and I've never met him in person but his life will affect me for days to come.

Zac passed away from cancer yesterday, May 16. This is his story.

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Still Wondering

2010-05-08T12:07:00.000-05:00

It's been a long while since I last posted anything on my blog. I really thought that once we moved to Texas I would fall into a regular practice of documenting our experience here in seminary and living in Dallas. Boy was I wrong. I have had no time. Between work, school, family, church and those too rare occasions of sleep I am pretty busy!

I can't begin to even share how much has happened in the last two years. We celebrated the 2 year mark last Sunday, May 2. We're all doing well and everyone is getting older and growing.

School is incredible and has been worth every penny. I take normally 9 - 11 hours each semester. I'll be taking classes this summer which will allow me to finish next Spring.

Stacy is amazing. She's working part time at our church, teaching home-school, and keeping everything together for us. She has a huge load on her but somehow keeps things running.

I am still working full time at Fellowship Technologies and really enjoy the job. Were it not for all the other things going on outside of work everything would be pretty smooth. It's a really good place to work.

Today I'm on my way to Florida for the weekend to visit a church and hopefully help them with their performance issues. I've done this several times and enjoy meeting our customers.

I'm riding the train to the bus to get on a plane so I will have take planes, trains and automobiles to get to Florida before the day is done.

So it's good to catch up. Dunno if anyone will ready this but it helps me to write.

Read the Bible Through:Matthew 1-3

2009-07-03T08:38:00.004-05:00

This is a new series that I am going to be doing. I am reading through the Bible and will record my thoughts and the overall ideas that I see expressed in Scripture as I read. I found out last semester at school that this is a great way to get to know the Word better - reading and then recording what I read.

MATTHEW 1-3
Chapter 1 of Matthew is the recording of the 14+14+14 generations that were the blood line of Jesus' earthly father from Abraham to Joseph. Luke 3 records Jesus' lineage through Mary back to Adam. Chapter 1 also talks about Jesus being born to Mary who was a Virgin and the intervention in the "divorce" of Joesph from Mary by an angel who visits Joseph. This has to do with the time before Joesph and Mary were official completely married but for all practical purposes they were married.

Chapter 2 tells of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem and the entrance of the wise men into the story. As they pass through Jerusalem, Herod hears about them and asks them to tell him when they find Jesus. He's not planning on worshiping Jesus as he says by the way.

The wise men follow the star to Bethlehem and find Jesus and Mary in a house. It sounds to me like Joseph, Mary and Jesus are living in Bethlehem. The wise men bow, worship Jesus, give him gifts, and then head back to their country after they were warned in a dream to not tell Herod.

When Herod figures out what has happened when the wise men do not return to him he sends his solders to kill all of the children two years old and younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area (maybe Jesus may have been close to 2 years old then??).

Joseph gets another angelic visit telling hm to take the family to Egypt. They do so and the story quickly turns to the death of Herod and the angel tells Joseph to move back to Israel and ultimately to Nazareth.

Chapter 3 introduces John. What an interesting character in the story. Of course this chapter talks about Jesus being baptized which certainly gives importance to baptism, but I wonder how baptism was introduced and at what point it became important. This obviously is before the resurrection, and certainly seems to have no other biblical precedent. I will need to research this one! Stay tuned.

Awesome stuff in the first three chapters! Why don't we spend our lives immersed in this book?

Do I remind you of Jesus?

2008-07-29T22:07:00.004-05:00

I heard this great question today while driving home and I immediately began praying and asking God about it because it's a question that I've never honestly asked myself - "When people see me do I remind them of Jesus?". A deep question for sure.

I've thought about this a lot this evening (and I suspect I will for a few more days), and I wanted to share where I'm at with the question right now.

The first answer that comes to mind is, of course and emphatically, "No!". I have to ask myself then "Why?". I mean I do work for a Christian company, I'm going to seminary, I read Christian books, I listen to Christian podcasts and music (and like them), I have lots of Christian friends, and most importantly I am a Christian (got saved, been redeemed, accepted Christ, turned my life around, asked Jesus into my heart, walked the aisle, got religion, had a conversion experience, been baptized, etc). I'm going to heaven when I die. I see God working in my life and I give him the credit. Seemingly all of the right things. But when it comes down to it - would most people say "You remind me of Jesus"? I don't think they would.

It's not due to a poor self image or false humility that I say this! It's my external actions that reveal it, and it's the still small voice that whispers it to me. I want to publicly here over the next few days ask myself and ask you to ask yourself "How am I willing to go to let God change me to be someone who people look at and are reminded of Jesus?". I hope that some of you will begin to ask yourself the same question and will share your thoughts here!

Grace and Peace!

Mexican Coke - Not what you think!

2008-07-26T21:22:00.004-05:00

I took the family to Central Market today. Its basically a grocery store, but its a destination grocery store! The fruit's organic, the meat's organic, the cheese, the bread - all organic and slightly more expensive. They had a live band playing in the cafe, chefs cooking over open ovens, and fast paced lively music playing over the speakers. How strange to think that we're paying $4 a gallon for gas and we're going to amusement park supermarkets. Another post for another time I guess!

We didn't buy much there but I did buy two bottles of Mexican Coca-Cola. "Why?" - you might ask. Well Coke made in Mexico still is made with cane sugar and not corn syrup. It's not a huge difference but it does make some difference in the taste. Most soft drink bottlers switched from cane sugar to corn syrup in 1984 so the soft drinks that I grew up drinking as a kid contained cane sugar and buying these Cokes today and drinking them takes me back to that time in my life when soft drinks were still in bottles and contained enough of the right stuff to make you burp out of your nose if you drank to fast! Of course drinking such things has helped me develop other bad eating habits, but as a kid it didn't matter that much.

I think of the days of being a kid and just living to play, drinking soft drinks, getting pocket change for bubble gum and trying to find a someone who had a go cart (and would let you ride it). Nothing mattered but having fun.

Sometimes I'm like that today, just so ready to have fun. That kind of short lived go cart riding, bubble gum chewing, burping out of your nose - fun. And I think sometimes I feel guilty for wanting to do so. I think I need to be so serious and need to get on with the "adult" things in life, but the truth is no adult can keep that up forever. We were made to laugh! We were made to live life to the fullest and not to make every moment about the next task that we'll accomplish or the next big step that we'll take.

So here's to Mexican Coke - May I drink it so fast that I burp out my nose!

Why, Jesus?

2008-07-19T00:02:00.006-05:00

I've just begun reading a book named
Be Last by Jeremy Kingsley. I heard Jeremy speak several times at a Youth conference in Pigeon Forge, TN this past January (can I hear a - Runnnnnn's house - - inside joke). He is a great speaker. He took wonderfully deep, important concepts about life and brought them into focus for a room full of loud teenagers (and a few adults)!

In the first chapter he brings to life a thought in me that I, like a lot of people, have thought of or heard someone tech about before but for me it opened the door a little more and got me wondering "Why, Jesus?".

Why did Jesus come to earth when he did? Imagine a part heaven as it's described for us in Isaiah 6. God is surrounded by six angels that are in the room saying "Holy, Holy, Holy........" all day long everyday since the beginning of time until forever! Their entire job in their existence is to joyfully praise God and tell him how wonderful he is. Hard for us to understand but they actually desire to do this rather than taking time off for a vacation or rather than going out for a Latte with some friends or taking a great trip to the most amazing part of the universe. They want to stay with God telling him how great he is! Then cut to the next day. This same God who is at the peak of fame, is given all the honor and praise that Heaven can produce shows up on earth in a barn with animals and hay and dirt in the middle of the night in a city that is so packed with people that there is barely room for him and his unwed mother and blue collar father and in the middle of all of this a bunch of dirty smelly shepherds (who by the way are like social lepers) who come and want to see him. He's born on the street without a home of his own and this is the same God that created the street and the city and the country and the planet and the universe that it all exists in! Why pick this place?

Why, Jesus did you come when the largest super power on the planet was ruling over the nationality that you were born as. A Jewish child born in one of the worst times to be a Jewish child! There's no cars, planes, air conditioning, excellent modern health care, or child protection laws.

Why, Jesus did you come and spend all of your time with the people that you did? Hanging out with tax collectors, prostitues, lepers, dieing and dead, sick and blind, poor and forgotten. Telling people to not tell about what you have done for them but simply to go and stop thier sin. No self promotion, no big plans to gather armies, no apparent plan (until the end). The God that could have brought an army of angels clothed in gold and just gotten rid of it all and reigned as a king as you deserve.

You could have come today and accomplished the same thing. You have told us why you came (which seems incredible as well). But why didn't you come today or in the future when technology and society might could have afforded you a little easier life? Why just hang out with really undesirable people? Why not the middle class or members of a small church that wants to grow into a larger church?

I really don't know the answer, Jesus. But somehow I think that it is more important than I have realized before. Maybe more core to my faith and my life even after so much time and even after being so far removed from your life than I have realized. Is it a riddle or a deep theological answer? An answer that will take my entire life of reading every book or listening to every speaker or struggling with all of my life to discover the deep hidden or guarded meaning? Or is the answer as simple as the words you spoke and the life that you lived? Maybe these examples will fill the void in my life - the longing for more stuff that I have - the longing for something new to do or the longing to get deeply interested in and sped my time and money doing. The answer to the questions of life.

I really do wonder - Why, Jesus?

Finances and Housing at Seminary, Part 2

2008-07-09T20:40:00.004-05:00

Image via WikipediaYesterday I talked about the two most scary questions in moving to Texas to attend seminary : "Where would we live?" and "How would we support ourselves financially?". I covered our housing yesterday and I'll cover our finances in this post.

Everyone that we've spoken to here at seminary has a different take on making it financially. Several people that we have met have had enough money from the sale of their homes to be able to come and live without working (especially folks that are coming for a two year program). We sold our home and had enough money to be debt free but not enough to live without working.

So the questions became "Could we make it working part-time and going to school full-time or working full-time and going to school part-time or do I work full-time and go to school full-time?".

Then there is the question of "Could we get support from our church, friends and/or family?". There is a strong feeling at DTS that churches and family should support seminary students. We all would love that to be possible, but many people (myself included) come from smaller churches. But it is important to remember to not say no for your church, family or friends. A lot of people have told me that financial support may come from some of the most surprising places or people and that it's up to the Holy Spirit to move people's hearts. We have planned our money as closely as possible but God has done a lot of amazing things to supply our needs.

My job situation has been scary but God has provided amazingly. I hope to be able to share some amazing stuff by early next week. But even with a full-time job money isn't overly plentiful so it is important to be frugal and diligent in keeping up with the bills.

One important thing that I want to mention is to suggest that anyone going to seminary try as hard as they can to come out of seminary debt free. Pay for it along the way - pray hard about this. You don't want to come to the end of 2 or 4 years and owe more than you can make in a ministry position - that will making serving difficult(er).

Again like I said yesterday, don't let any of this scare you away. Wait for God to open the doors and wait for God to give you and your spouse the desire to attend seminary. Be patient and know that he will use this situation of getting to seminary or getting to anywhere in life to build our faith in him. He will use circumstances to grow you in the ways that you need to grow in life. Welcome the challenges and let them build your faith in a Heavenly Father that loves you more than you can imagine!

Finances and Housing at Seminary

2008-07-08T10:23:00.004-05:00

Image via WikipediaFor my family the two most scary questions in moving to Texas were : "Where would we live?" and "How will we support ourselves financially?". I'll cover our housing in this post and our finances in the next one.

We spent a considerable amount of time online looking at apartments, looking at campus housing and looking at rental houses. Apartments in our price range tended to be dangerous (i.e. the neighborhoods) or too small. DTS has campus housing which are apartments. They were very nice, but a little small for our family of five, plus no pets (a sacrifice for the short term, but we haven't felt we wanted to make that sacrifice). So we ended finding a house to rent. The good houses, like the apartments, were a little more expensive, but for us offered the best option.

But there have been a few gotchas! One big gotcha has been the cost of utilities instead of $200-$250 that we paid at our home in South Carolina (which we considered to be really high) we are paying thus far in Texas around $450. I think mostly because of the age of the home (poor insulation, appliances don't appear to be energy efficient, etc).

The second gotcha were bugs - mostly ants and few roaches. They haven't been a huge deal but we were responsible for this and not the landlord according to the huge multi-page contract that we signed.

There was also a surprise with renting - we both had to be here in person to sign the lease! We thought that was odd but we were told this by several renters. We are still unsure if this was true!

The other scary fear/question for us was about the finances. I'll talk about this one tomorrow, but in the mean time don't let any of what I have said scare you. It's all worth it!! I'll talk more about this in the next two posts!! In the mean time remember God owns it all and is faithful!

Update 1

2008-07-05T17:23:00.001-05:00

Update 1 from wonderingfellow on Vimeo.