It’s been too long since an update so here some things that you may or may not know to catch you up with our lives-
- After 4 months of no luck on the job front, I finally got a job. I’m working for a free online public high school here in South Carolina as a Community Outreach Director. It’s a Godsend for more reasons than just having a paycheck. For one, I’m getting to meet more people here than I could have ever done simply as a pastor. I’ll be speaking at events all across the Midlands. Also, it’s great to be working with a school that will make an impact on tons of lives here in South Carolina. The main downside is that there is no guarantee that the job will last beyond the summer. But…that should be enough time to line up other things to make ends meet just in case it ends.
- The church plant is going well. We are really starting to meet a good number of people here in NE Columbia that aren’t plugged into churches anywhere. I’m convinced that living at an apartment complex is one of the best things a church planter can do because it is so easy to meet people. I’m also working on piecing together some key staff people in the coming months so pray that God lead the right people here and that we will have a diverse staff.
- My wife’s chiropractic practice still isn’t open. About a month ago, the group that was supposed to buy a building to lease to her informed us that they cannot find anything and that we are on our own. It was a huge shock since they had given no indication that they were having difficulties at all. We really don’t know what to do right now, so pray for direction for us with this. Hopefully we can find a building and find a way to afford getting it open.
- I just got a Flip Ultra HD camcorder so this blog will eventually have more video. It may get interesting.
I lived in Kentucky for three years while going to seminary, so I got to see first hand the love that a lot of people in Kentucky have for their Wildcat basketball.
That being said…wouldn’t it be great if John Calipari announced today that he is not going to accept the Head Coaching job at Kentucky and that it was all one big April Fool’s Day joke?
That would be priceless.
This week I got a startling reminder of how quickly our lives can end. Early this week, a friend of mine who was only 20 years old lost his life in a car accident. It’s always such a tragedy to see someone lose their life at such a young age. It hits even closer to home when it’s a young man who God obviously had his hand on and was working through. It triggers questions in our minds about how God could allow something like this to happen and why it happened. It’s only natural to question, and honestly, we typically don’t get the answer we were looking for.
So what are we to do in situations like this? I really don’t know completely but here are some things off the top of my head that I’m choosing to do and take from this and similar experiences:
- Celebrate the life that Brandon lived. He may have only got 20 years on earth, but God did more through him in that short time than a lot of Christians experience in their long life.
- Celebrate the life that he is now living. In the words of another friend, “I can’t even imagine the things you are seeing right now. and i must say… i am jealous.” Brandon is seeing first hand what a lot of us live for. (Wow…I totally quoted Joey West) I thank God that he had already experienced God’s love here on earth so he can continue to experience it forever.
- Mourn. It’s OK to mourn. It’s part of our healing process.
- Hug those that I love more. Tell them that I love them more. Play more. Laugh more. Cry more. Basically, just enjoy the time that I do have with my family and friends because it can’t be taken away in an instant.
- Most importantly, I am reminded to share Christ with everyone around me. I have to look for more opportunities to show and tell others about what makes me tick….and what makes them tick, too, but they just haven’t discovered or accepted it yet.
What have you learned from experiences like this?
What do you do when you face criticism/advice/”wisdom”/blowing hot air from people who don’t have your best interests at heart or whose opinion really doesn’t matter? Personally, I have chosen to put in the earplugs and ignore them.
For example, yesterday I had a conversation with a man who decided to bash me personally and let me know about how wise he is. Should I take his comments personally? Absolutely not. And to be quite honest, it really didn’t bother me in the least bit. Why? I’ve decided to put in the earplugs and not listen. It wasn’t worth my time or attention to argue with him nor worthwhile to bash him back.
Here’s why I chose not to listen. I know who God has called me to be and what he’s called me to do. God has made in blatantly obvious through His word, through godly counsel, and through circumstance to make it known what it is that He wants me to do. I know that my worth is found in Him and not in the “wisdom” of someone who has no concern for my life. Heck…the countless advice and encouragement that I have received from godly men vastly contradicted what he had to say.
I really think that God prepared me a lot this week for this conversation because I had just read and listened to some things that spoke directly about this topic. For example, did you realize that in Mark 5:36, Jesus himself decided to put the earplugs in by “ignoring what they said.” Steven Furtick brought this to my attention in this incredible post and said “if any voice is raising itself in contradiction to the will and Word of God concerning you, be like Jesus” and “ignore what they said.” (You absolutely need to check his post out)
So who do we listen to? I can’t tell you the exact people, but perhaps another pastor, Troy Gramling, said it best in this talk. He said that there are three types of people you should listen to: those who love you, those who believe in you, those who know more than you. Incredible advice if you ask me. And if they constantly remind you of how wise they are, grab the earplugs.
Simply put, there is a ton of value in listening to other people. But practice selective hearing. Listen to God first and foremost and listen only to those who fit the criteria above. Are you with me?
In thinking through this process of starting a church, I’ve realized, more than ever, that there’s something terribly wrong. People don’t have a problem with Jesus….they have a problem with Christians. Even more so, they have a problem with the Church.
Why? Somewhere along the way we’ve missed the point.
Salvation has become more about getting out of hell
rather than God transforming every area of our lives.
We’ve replaced serving others with serving the church.
We’ve become more concerned about the church
than we are about the Kingdom.
I think it’s time for a shift.
Thoughts?
Here are some quick hits and updates from this past week:
- The bad news: still no luck on the job front. I’ve probably applied to 50 jobs and only had one call back so far. The good news is that God has provided for our basic needs so we can’t complain!
- I’m meeting monthly with a group of church planters from all across South Carolina. It’s been amazing thus far and God has definitely been rocking my world through it.
- Patty’s chiropractic office probably won’t open until the end of April. I’m not going to lie, I’m frustrated with the group that she is working with but it will all work out.
- I really want to go to this event. If anyone feels extremely generous and wants to hook me up with a ticket, let me know.
- Pray that I find a host church in the area to be able to accept donations for our church plant. I was waiting to hear back from a church in another area, but it seems that hell may freeze over before I hear anything back from them. Nothing like good ‘ole incompetency.
- Isaiah is growing up too fast. That’s him below and he’s 17 months old and into everything. Oh..and he insists on having the David Crowder Band DVD playing at least 5 times daily while he is doing other stuff.
- This post from Brad Ruggles I thought put the current economy in perspective.
- Did you see the story about the guy who put a cat in a homemade bong while he smoked his week? For some reason, it sounded like something out of a book that I used to laugh at when I was little. What’s also funny is that someone will inevitably find this post because of a Google search for the word “bong.”
