Tag Archives: change

big life changes…coming right up

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On September 15th at 12:45am my friend and mentor Pastor Gordon Coulter went to be with the Lord.  He said that God had been so good to him to give him 15 more years of life after his initial battle with cancer.  I am glad that I fit in to one of those 15 years. Many of you did too. 

Since the passing of Pastor Gordon our Local Board of Administration at the church has turned into a search committee.  Their function has been to discern God’s will for our church and to interview, check references and most of all pray.  On Monday the 7th the LBA offered me the position.  I am continually blown away by what God is doing.

On the 20th of November our church will hold a vote.  If the church confirms the recommendation of the LBA then I have agreed to start full-time on January 1, 2012.  Thank you all for your continued support and prayer during this time.  It has meant a lot to my family and I.

Neighborhood Christian Fellowship is so much more than just me.  Over the years here I have seen people get called to ministry.  I have seen people make first time decisions to submit their lives to Jesus and I have been fortunate enough to marry, baptize and even bury some wonderful friends.  Neighborhood is a place that makes the gospel come alive in the way its members live their lives.  It is a little community that continues to be a beacon of light to a larger world.

I am so excited to begin this journey and I hope you will walk this road with me.  Thank you for your prayers and please, don’t stop.

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staying connected

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I think that sometimes it is difficult to have an understanding of God at work on a daily basis. I know for me that can be one of the toughest things. I get paid to reveal knowledge of the Holy to others. It’s more than knowledge; it’s leading others to lead themselves inconnecting with their creator. This is difficult sometimes because although this is my vocation and passion I still have days where I don’t feel connected to God. There are times when I read the Bible and am bored. There are times when I don’t feel connected to God at all. But one of the things that I was reading today reminded me of the way that God moves and works. In the book of John, Jesus is getting criticized for healing on the Sabbath. Jesus’ response was simply to say, “my father is always at his work, to this very day.” What Jesus did was to reframe the conversation, the authorities were upset that Jesus was working but they couldn’t stop God from working.  He reminded his accusers that God is always working, whether we acknowledge it or not.

This little exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees brings a realization that God is present and at work, even in the times where life is rough or it’s tough to hear God.

When you look at your spiritual journey, how do you stay connected? Knowledge increases my faith, so just knowing this account and internalizing it helps me. What about you? How do you keep understand that the Almighty God is present and always at work?

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change the world

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On August 5, 2008 I was at surf camp.  I woke up earlier than all of the other students and I noticed a missed call on my phone.   There was no message just a missed call from my dad.  My grandpa had been in the hospital for a number of weeks.   I have a great relationship with my dad, but we are guys and therefore we don’t call just to shoot the breeze.  I knew something was up.  As I type the emotions are coming back.  He said, your grandfather went to be with the Lord early this morning.

I remember not crying or getting too emotional.  I had over 40 other students to worry about, I had just kicked a kid out of camp, the parents were mad at me…I had a lot on my plate.

Every time I saw my grandfather, from when I was a little kid to an adult he used to passionately tell me to change the world.  I used to think, “Okay Grandpa…whatever, I’m five.” I wasn’t super motivated to do anything.  He never said how or when.  He just told me to do it.  That sticks with me.

Sometimes I think that my job is to read, write and talk, how can I change the world?  I was reading the Bible this morning and I couldn’t get past two words that were in Matthew 28.  It’s a spot called, “The Great Commission.” The two words that Jesus says are, “all authority.”

All of it.

He says that it has been given to him and that he is using it to send us…

All authority stared a little group of people worshiping God…All authority gave permission for those people to communicate God’s story.

All authority for those people to start movements.

All authority for those people to become you and I.

All authority to change the world.

So if a person who contained all authority above heaven and earth told you to change the world, what would you do?

Maybe it’s time to take this a little more seriously…

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re-purposed

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I had a cool experience today.  I went to a warehouse where a bunch of workers repurpose electronic equipment and anything else they get their hands on.  They fix it then they sell it.  And they do pretty well financially.  So I started thinking about what it means to re-purpose something.

Re-purposing something means to take something and change its reason for being.   Think about what your purpose is.  What if someone walked up to you and told you that you needed to be re-purposed…That you were not living life according to your purpose.

Every now and then I need this.  I need to look at life and ask if I am really living up to my God ordained purpose.  If I’m not then life needs to change.

What in your life needs to be re-purposed?

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change

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I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve posted.  And it has been, not because of a lack of things to say, but because this last week my life was totally consumed building a park.

I helped build our new playground at the church this week and I couldn’t believe how hard construction guys work.  It’s been almost 5 days and my fingers still hurt.  There is a reason why I read and write for a living. I can’t hang with manual laborers.

Here is the cool thing that I noticed about this playground build.  First, we had to remove our skatepark in order to build this playground, a move that was clearly unpopular with our skaters.  I understand.  It was a tough call to make and the skatepark has been an institution on our campus for almost 10 years.  But the second thing was so cool.  One of our students who had been there from the beginning with the skatepark came to help build the park.

I should also probably mention that this student was probably the most upset that the park was closing.  But he came, he helped, he saw the bigger vision of what God was doing on this property and he accepted it.  He supported it.  This I have to confess, this is impressive.  I wish more people could have the mindset of this particular student.

Wouldn’t it be great if people were open to change like this?  What would happen?  Tradition has a huge part to play in church, marriage, politics and life in general.  What makes things stand out is when people say, “I am going against the grain.”  I’m going to do something new.

Change brings a fresh sense of momentum.  Of course there is bad change, but a change that is really good is refreshing and gives life.

Change doesn’t have to be scary.  I admire that some people make a decision for change and they stick with it, they make it public then they go for it.  They forge a new path, a path that will eventually itself need to be changed.

I find myself falling in to the things that I have always done.  In reality I need to change.  I need to evolve and throw out the playbook every now and then.

This makes me want to ask the question of what will I change about my day, week, month to add some more meaning to my life? How about you?

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