Category: Thoughts

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Unprepared

Have you ever felt unprepared for something?

I remember it wasn’t too long after I said ‘I Do‘ that I realized marriage was much more complicated and required much more responsibility than dating. The closer Nicki got to giving birth to our first child, I remember thinking that I was definitely not prepared to be a father, then Tristan came, even less prepared for two, oh yeah, then we had Hailey…three kids!? I’m still unprepared.

Have you ever just stopped and thought, “How much preparation would it require for me to feel prepared?” Maybe you feel unprepared because someone told you they didn’t think you were ready or qualified for a certain responsibility. What would it take for those people to see you as ‘prepared?’ Many times we don’t have a gauge at which those people would be pleased, but we allow them to point us in their direction for our lives.

I’ve never felt more unprepared for something than I do in my new role as a pastor and church planter. I am constantly facing new challenges and struggles that I’ve never experienced in other roles. You can tell me that you think I am unprepared for this role, and I’d agree, in fact you’d only be preaching to the choir. Although there are times I feel unprepared and I know that there are areas in my life where I am definitely unprepared, I had to make a choice whether I would listen to my feelings or past voices in my life or would I be obedient to God by listening to his voice. If I based having children on a timetable of feeling ‘prepared’ Nicki and I probably wouldn’t have the three amazing children God’s blessed us with.

We started a new series this past Sunday called ‘Ready, Set, Go!!!‘ – In the series we are exploring the journey that Christ calls his Church to and how he wants us to be obedient to that call.

We started off by looking at Jeremiah and the mission God sent him on as a Prophet to Jerusalem. There were several reasons why Jeremiah felt unprepared to fulfill this mission God had called him to. If Jeremiah were in our present time, I am sure there would be a “Prophet Assessor” or a “Senior Prophet” that would give Jeremiah a failing grade in this mission God called him to, but God declared him as prepared.

My encouragement to New Passion on Sunday is that when it comes to obeying the instructions of Christ #1 We are Prepared Because We are Called (Matthew 28:16-20) and #2 We are Prepared Because We are Gifted (1 Corinthians 12) – It was the same for Jeremiah. God Called him (Jeremiah 1:4-5) and God Gifted him for the mission (Jeremiah 1:7-10).For some of us, our obedience in pursuing Christ may not be anything huge (I.E. Planting a Church, Foreign Missions, Etc.), it may just be simple obedience in things like sharing the Gospel with a friend, loving those who are in distress, providing for those who are in desperate need.

Join the Conversation…Is there something that you are standing still on because you feel unprepared? Have you allowed other people’s opinions to hold you back from pursuing what Christ has called you to?

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Hell in Haiti

notre-dame-child-1This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. Matthew 16:18 MSG

When you write something, the opening sentence is important. The truth is, I don’t know what to say. There are so many words rambling around in my head, I don’t know where to start. I think I’ve grown from brokenhearted for the Haitian people to frustrated. Several people have made the comment that its strange so much attention is just now being put on the Haiti, when they’ve lived in extreme poverty for many, many years. To some degree I would agree, but the fact is, there have been many Christian and non-profit groups in the country for years, and they have brought attention to Haiti and other poor countries for a long time.

I have no better words to describe the things that I’ve been seeing and hearing other than “Hell in Haiti” – Can it be anything else?

I’ve been following Shaun King (Pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta) and his efforts to raise awareness on the Haiti situation, mobilize teams, raise money, send supplies, etc. through Twitter and his BLOG. I’ve heard chatter from Shaun and others about the Foyer Notre Dame Nativite Orphanage for DAYS. Pleading for help for the children trapped in the rubble and those who were displaced by the destruction of their home. Nothing. No help. Just cries for help…literally. 56 babies cried for at least 5 days trapped in the orphanage. The people in this part of the city didn’t have the tools to dig and to cut through the rubble. The cries equally filled the air through Facebook and Twitter. Help these children. Trapped, broken bodies, hungry and needing aid.

Have you ever heard someone say, “What could I have done to change things?” “What could I have done to make the outcome change?” – If your neighbor was brutally murdered by her husband, you may ponder whether you saw warning signs or not, or if you should have acted on the thoughts about him abusing her. But, in sitting neutral, something bad happened. I wonder what could have been for those children; 56 of them and one of their caretakers took their last breathe in that rubble. They were alive for days, what could I have done? What could you have done? Its frustrating at best to know that no one moved in 5 days.

Shaun King, Spencer Nix, and others finally got the attention of Alyssa Milano (Who’s the Boss, Commando, Charmed), now an Ambassador for UNICEF, through her Twitter account and the attention of Fox News reporter, Adam Housley, on his Twitter account. Alyssa got word to UNICEF to get a relief team to the area and Adam and his film crew went to the Orphanage the next morning. Read Adam’s story HERE or watch his video report HERE (I highly recommend you read and watch the reports). When Adam arrived a team from UNICEF and World Vision were just arriving to bring aid to the ravished daycare and its survivors.

70+ Children are still displaced. Their homes are now on a tarp in the grass. Their food, a brown gravy-like Porridge. I watch these stories feeling handcuffed that maybe there was something I could have done, if I were only there, but facing the reality that at this time I cannot be there. So right now, I’m just a guy with a computer, doing what I can to tweet and blog and update those I have connections with about the Hell that Haitians are living in. I’m doing what I can to call the church to rise up and live out the hope that we claim we have. Jesus said that Hell cannot prevail against His church. We have the solution. The Government proves over and over they are incompetent to offer the total solution. The church can respond quicker and more efficiently than any organization around. If you claim to follow Christ, now is the time to step your game up, and do WHATEVER is in your grasp to bring help to these Haitians who are in distress (James 1:27) – Unfortunately it doesn’t stop in Haiti, but they are in the most dire need at the moment.

HERE’s a list of organizations that you can partner with. Many of these have been on the ground in Haiti way before the earthquake struck. Can you give $5? Do it. Can you bug people through your social networks to get involved? Do it. Whatever is in your power. Do it.

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Anderson Cooper is My Hero

I’ve always enjoyed Anderson  Cooper’s reporting. I don’t particularly like CNN as a network, but Anderson Cooper always seems to shine in the midst of the toughest turmoil and crisis. I hate that much of his recognition is rooted in situations like the horrific earthquake in Haiti, or in Katrina. Today, in Haiti, looters were attacking each other for their stolen goods. Anderson Cooper was at the scene shooting video, when a young boy was apparently struck in the head with something. This video is graphic, so if you cannot handle a lot of blood, do not watch. It is impressive how Anderson drops his camera in the midst of a sea of looters to care for the wounded, bloody boy, and to carry him to safety. That is a true Hero, and you  don’t see that from reporters (typically). They are usually more interested in the story, not the people:

For the entire story, Click Here.

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Um, Global Warming, Please?

Our culture seems to pride itself on demanding a burden of proof for everything. If you’ve ever had a discussion about the Bible or Jesus with anyone, chances are, you’ve had a discussion with someone requesting evidence or facts for your beliefs.

I guess that’s why Josh McDowell has produced The Evidence that Demands a Verdict Volume 1, The Evidence that Demands a Verdict Volume 2, The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict Fully Updated, and on and on and on….

So, why is it any different with Global Warming? Because, right now, I’d like to believe its true. Those of us who live in the south and do not have the wardrobes of those who live in the North, can’t deal with this Northern weather for too much longer! But seriously, if I were examining the claims of those who believe in Global Warming to decide whether it was an idea that I wanted to embrace, would there be enough evidence to back up their claims? Right now, I’d have to say, No! In fact, the Earth cannot be substantially warming at an alarming and life threatening rate, and produce the kind of COLD weather that we are dealing with. I think those who say we are only experiencing a weather cycle, would appear to be more accurate. After all, the Godfather of Global Warming, Al Gore, has been seriously proven wrong in recent months, first Gore had to admit that he made up the claim that the arctic polar-caps would be ice free in 5 years, earlier he was proven wrong that Polar Bears are in fact not facing extinction, but instead their population has increased. Now AccuWeather, is saying this could be the worst winter in 25 years!

I like Billy’s Tweet the other day: “Thank God for global warming, it would really be cold if it wasn’t true”

Here’s a little video from MSNBC to show what’s been happening with the weather lately in the United States, I love the little golf cart car they show at the end of the video, the very product of the global warming debate to save the Earth, funny 😆

Join the Conversation: What’s the Weather Like In Your Area of the Country?

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Passion

I love this quote…

“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping… waiting… and though unwanted… unbidden… it will stir… open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us… guides us… passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow… Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.” – Joss Whedon

That’s why I love the word “Passion” – I don’t want to be the hollow, empty shell of a man.

Join the Conversation…What are You Passionate About?