Overwhelmed

I’m writing tonight after an amazing weekend at Youth Lab.  I came to one amazing conclusion after the weekend and that was that I have an amazing God and I don’t act like I realize that in my life.  Francis Chan was the speaker for the weekend and if you haven’t heard of him, look him up because he is amazing.  He looked at a passage in Revelation where John describes a vision of God.  Then the same day Dr. Ross, who is another amazing man, spoke on if we realize who Jesus is today.  So to make a long story short I quickly realized that my life doesn’t match up with who my God is.  I mean if someone where to look at my life, not just who they see in public, but the me behind closed doors I’m not sure my life would look like a person who is overwhelmed with God.  I’m not sure they would see a person who is constantly in awe of who Jesus is and what He has done in my life.  This blog may not make alot of sense to people who read this but I dont think I can fully put in words the experience I had this weekend.  I serve a God who wants personal relationship with me even though I am completely unworthy of that relationship.  And that just amazes me more and more every day.

Peace & Love,

The White-man

Revival

Websters dictionary says the meaning of the word revival is, restoration of life or restoration of use.  And the more I think about it, our revival here at the church this week was a real eye opening experience for me.  One of the things that I have noticed about ministry is many times its hard to get fed.  Before I was a full time staff member it seemed liked it was so much easier to be fed spiritually.  I wish I had a great explanation for that but I don’t.  Many times it seems like with all the stuff going on at the church, or maybe with small things that rub me the wrong way I get easily distracted and my personal walk gets pushed aside a little.

This week a man by the name of Don Phillips came and spoke at our church and in many ways I think God used him to hit me in face a little.  Don’s preaching style wasn’t something I was used to.  He used examples from hunting and fishing, things that I know nothing about.  And if someone would describe his style of preaching to me before I probably would not have been real interested to be honest.  But after his first message I was hooked.  The thing that I think I took most away from Don was his straight forward way of presenting the gospel.  I think so many times we’re scared to say certain things in a church.  Its almost like we’re afraid to mention the word hell because it might make people uncomfortable.  The only reason I say all that is to say that Don really stomped on my toes this week.  Some of the things he said at first made me uncomfortable but when I thought about it they should make me uncomfortable.  I think in many ways I get to comfortable in my faith.  I know where I stand with God, I know when I die I’ll be going to heaven but I think many times I don’t have the passionate burn to get others to have the same assurance of their salvation.  I recently read a book called the Barbarian Way.  The author describes how many times we lack the fire and the urgency we need to spreading the gospel of Jesus to other.  By lacking that fire we in turn take the fire out of others who don’t want to come across as overly religious.  I think the reading of the book and this revival were God’s way of smacking me in the face and asking…..Where’s your fire?  I like the way Webster defines revival, a restoration of life or a restoration to use.  That really sums up the last week for me!

Peace & Love,

The White-man

It’s Speedo Time Kids!!

So I realize I haven’t done this in a while and then I thought…..self…..its time you changed your blog account too. So I did and now I’m at Word Press. It seems pretty cool so far and because of this tremendous occasion I thought I should kick it off with a good post. I was searching for a picture on the web and came across this one. I have decided that these guys are my new hero’s. I mean you have to be some kind of comfortable in your own skin to look like this in public. And on top of that allow someone to take a picture of you. This gives me all the more reason to break out the speedo at the beach this year. I’m not sure my wife’s gonna go for that but I like I’ll look pretty good…considering. So as your sitting at home, maybe starting to think about that trip to the beach this summer and worrying because your beach body isn’t what you want it to be. Just take a look at these boys and then go break out that bathing suit and feel confident while you strut you stuff.

Peace & Love,

The White-man

Get in the boat!

So this morning I was reading in my Bible and I came across something that I found pretty interesting. I’ve probably read this story countless times or at least heard it countless times but there was a certain part today that really hit me. In Mark 6:45 and following is the story of when Jesus walks on water. We’ve all heard this story before probably alot in fact about how we need to place our faith in Jesus. If you want to I’m sure you can think of all the little catchy church sayings we get from stories like this such as; “always keep your eyes on Jesus.” You know those overused church sayings we seem to hear all the time. But it was another part of this story that really hit me this morning. In verse 45 it says, “Jesus immediately made his disciples get into the boat..” Think about that for a second. I always run right over this part of the verse wanting to get to the good part where Jesus walks on water, but listen, he made them get into the boat knowing a storm was coming.

See I think alot of times when bad things happen we, meaning I, have a tendency to say…why God are you allowing this to happen to me. You know where I’m coming from. Its almost as if I forget that He’s in control and no matter what happens He has a plan. When you read on further down it says in verse 48, “that he saw the disciples” and it goes on to say that “about the 4th watch of the night he went out to see them, walking on the water.” See he was watching them, he didnt even go out to see them until the 4th watch of the night, which was the 3:00 am – 6:00am shift. He knew all along what was going on. Its almost like we sometimes see God as our knight in shining armor that comes to the scene to get the big bad evil things away from us and regain control and walk out on the water and calm the storms in our life down. Instead of thinking of God as the all knowing, all powerful, all everything God who told us to get in the boat in the first place. Its not that God isn’t the knight in shinning armor, its just that He’s so much more. God is in everything, good and bad and as tough as it is he has called us as his followers to trust in His perfect plan. So no matter how tough life is or no matter how hard you feel like your going to crash just remember that He’s watching and waiting and IN CONTROL.

Peace and Love,

The White-man

Big Mouth Challenge

As I sit here and write from my hotel room tonight I have to be honest I’m pretty convicted. This week I am at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. To be honest its not exactly my idea of a good time although the messages have been pretty good. But it was tonight that I realized that there is an area of my life that I need to work on. I mean I’m sure if I sat down and thought about it there would be alot of areas in my life that I need to work on but this week one has really hit me in the face. Personal evangelism is really hard for me. It just doesnt seem to come natural. You know some people can just turn anything into a way to share Christ. They just seem to have this transitional nack for turning any conversation into a chance to share the gospel. Well I am here to tell you that I dont posess that nack. Its awkward for me. I dont know why and in many ways I feel bad about it but its something that I intend to work on. I can present the gospel from a pulpet or a stage to my youth every Wednesday night without a problem, but its those daily run ins with people that just seem to give me trouble. Its also with those friends that I’ve had forever that I know are not saved. I worry about their salvation and infact I pray about it often but I have never taken the time and just spilled my guts to them. I figure maybe if I write this out that it will give me further insentive to go out and share my faith with others.

But have you really ever thought about this? Its so natural for us to talk to people about the weirdest things. The other day I was in a restraunt and talked to some dude about knives for like ten minutes. I dont know the first thing about knives but for some reason we talked about them for what seemed an eternity. Think about how many random conversations you have in a week. Or how many random conversations you have daily or weekly or even monthly. Unless your living under a rock you probably have tons. I mean its easy for us to talk abot sports, news, politics or any number of things but its so hard for us to share a faith that has eternially changed us. Why is that I wonder? Is it the fear of rejection? Is it the fear of a Jesus Freak label? Or maybe its just a fear of not knowing what to say. I dont really know but its something that I’m going to work on. And this is my challenge to you: If you happen to read this and feel like maybe its something that you need to work on well thats my challenge. Im going to work on taking advantage of opprotunities I get to share my faith in Christ and Im going to pray that God puts the people in my life.

Peace and Love,

The White-man

Overflowing with Thankfulness???

As i was doing my quiet time today I was reading in the book of Colossians. In Chapter 2, verse 6 and 7 Paul is talking about being rooted in our faith and continuing to strengthen that faith. But he goes on to say that we are to overflow with thankfulness. As I was thinking about this, this one small verse really hit me today. I mean i feel like I am rooted in my faith and I believe I work on strengthening that faith. There are times I could do mch better at that I know but I feel like I am a rooted follower of Christ. We all struggle with our walk from time to time and we all struggle from time to time to really get into the word and soak it up. it happens to everyone at diffrent points in our lives. The christian life is a struggle as anyone who professes to follow Christ knows. But it was this next part that kinda called me on the carpet today. We are to overflow with thankfullness. Wow is that hard sometimes. We all know that even in our darkest times we have things things to be thankfull about but sometimes its realy hard in those dark times to overflow with thanksgiving. And it began to make me think. Being thankfull doesnt have to mean overly bubbly does it? Overflowing with thankfullness does have to mean that everything in our lives are going great and that we have to put on a happy face for the world to see but I think it does mean that we have to be able to put things in prespective. I mean we all know life isnt always fair and that life doesnt always make sense. But maybe what Paul is trying to say is this; Life is life and it may not always be great and it may not always be what you want it to be but that as followers of Christ we are called to keep things in prespective. That we should always be able wipe away the clouds and know that through it all we have things God has given us to be thankfull for. Is this easy, heck no. Thats why Im writting about it…it stepped on my toes. But it hit me as important because I think I forget it alot. I have much to be thankful about and showing my thankfulness doesnt have to be a fake smile or acting like all is wel in the world with me. Its being able to keep a prespective on life that all isnt well with me but that God is still God and that He has still given me things to be thankful for.

Peace and Love,

The White-man

Hardrive Hypocrite….yay thats me!!

Well as I sit here today i am still a little peeved. You see someone broke into my office last week and stole my laptop and an external hardrive. The hardrive had all my pics and music and work from college and seminary but it also had Jaimes computer stuff on it to. All her music and all her pics. And it got me thinking. What kind of person steals from a church you know? Remember when you were a kid and doing anything in a church was so much worse than doing it at home. Like when that kid from the down the street would cuss and someone would say….ooooooo you cussed in church..haha Or if someone stole something from a classroom, someone would say……ooooooooo you stole from a church (usually the kid who says that is the same everytime, you know the annoying girl who knew everything…hahaha) But in many ways it kinda shapes our mentality about church. You dont mess with the church. Its sacred or something and its not to be touched. I promise I’m getting somewhere with this.

See I’ve always been one of these people that has said things like. “I hate when people treat the church like some kind of musem.” Or, “I hate when people say you cant do this or that because your in a church but when you take two steps out the door its ok.” We all have heard the verse that says, “where two or three are gathered their I will be also.” So its always drove me crazy those people who act like the church is not to be sneezed in. But as soon as my computer was stolen my immediate reaction was, “that jerk stole from a church!” So after thinking about it. Does that make me a hypocrite? Did it make it worse that he stole from a church? Well of course no. But its what I was thinking. I guess its really easy to be hypocrite in some way isnt it. This is a really strange example of that I know but it was one of those things that made me think. So here it is world I’m a hypocrite. Just wanted to clearify where I stand in this world. And if you see a silver Dell computer or a red Western Digital Hardrive call me. I need to go share Jesus with whoever stole it. (by that I mean hit the person with my Bible……well ok maybe not.)

Peace and Love,

The White-man

Harry Carry and My Dad Will Be Rolling in Their Graves

I am writing this blog hoping not to jenks my Cubbies, but I’m getting pretty excited. My cubs are leading the central division by a game and half with only a few weeks to go and my mind is already racing. Is this the year? Are we going to be like the Cardinals last year and come out of no where to win the whole thing. Is 1914 going to be a distant memory? Are the tears this year going to be tears of joy? I dont know if you can tell but I’m a little excited. I mean the last time I got this excited about the cubbies the cubbies came so close and were outs away until the name that shall not be mentioned happened and the Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series. So I can only hope that my Cubs are going to break through this year. GOOOOOOOOOOO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God’s Warriors

I’ve recently been watching the CNN special called God’s Warriors and it in many ways has made me think. Can there be such a thing a Christian nation? Has America ever really been a “Christian Nation” like so many people would have you believe? Can we ever really seperate our faith from our politics and do we really want to? All these questions came to my mind after watching this program for the past three nights and in many ways I’m pretty puzzled.

Can and or should there be such a thing as a Christian nation? Did God really intend for us to form our own Christian nation or did he not want us to impact that world in which we live. And suppose this Christian nation did come to being, would others still have religious freedom, a principal this nation was founded on? Would the US become a theocracy like Iran? I could be wrong here but I dont believe God ever called us to form any nations, he did however call us to be salt and light. So many people make the US out to be a formally Christian nation but I’m not sure I understand that way of thinking. Was the United States morally diffrent many years ago, absolutly. But was it an all out Christian nation? I’m not sure I’m willing to say that. Morally diffrent yes but Christian….hmmmm I dont know. I’ve also heard the argument that families were involved in churches all throughout the country and that faith played a huge role in how those families were raised. For example the post WW II world. And my thinking is were families really being changed. After all it was there children that led the 60’s revolution in our country. How great was the parents impact on there children by that argument. I think the US was morally diffrent, standards were diffrent but was it an all out christian nation.

Can America ever really seperate its faith from its politics? I’m not sure about that either. Thomas Jefferson once said that there should be a wall between ones faith and ones politics. Its an opinion that former Pres. Jimmie Carter agrees with. I’m not sure I fall in line with that. To be honest this is an area that I dont really know how I stand. My faith is who I am. I am a follower of Christ, therefore every aspect of my life is supposed to represent Christ. But was Christ political? He lived in a political hot bed during his time but he never mentioned politics. So I’m puzzled should my faith enter into my political thoughts and ideas. Well I think so. I think my faith will always play a part in my politics without question.

But I wonder this: If every “Christian” in America who is heavily wrapped up in Christian politics changed direction for one year. If they ignored politics for one year and focused solely on their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and evangelism I wonder what would happen. I wonder what would have a more lasting impression on society. I wonder if their might be a change our world as we know it. I mean think about it for a second. If ever person who claims to be a Christian would step out and impact their surroundings for Christ which would have a more lasting effect. My guess is it wouldnt be politics. Something to ponder I guess.

Peace and Love,

The White-man

Its been some time you know

We like the title states, its been a little while. I get where I’m good about writing on this thing and then, well I just forget about it I guess. But so here’s an update on our life here in Arkansas. Things here are good. Its to freaking hot because it so stinking humid..haha But its worth it. I am now the youth minister at First Baptist Church in Dumas, AR. Its a great place and the kids are great. We have some rebuilding to do but we’re excited to see what God has in store. We went on a Mission trip to North Carolina where we helped do a Vacation Bible School there. While there one of the youth gave their heart to Christ and that was awesome. We know that God has us right where He wants us and that excites us. We miss our friends back in TX and NC and other places and would love to hear from you all. Its short today but its all I got.

Peace and Love,

The White-man