A Great Day

Today was a great day. It started with a productive early morning reading some articles and preparing for Staff Meeting. I love Staff Meetings. It's great to get to hang out with guys you enjoy and talking about the thing you love to do. A meeting followed which was painless, then more talking with folks at our facility... and then the fun begins.

From there I went to the HEB to stock up for dinner. Tonight we had our staff over (except Kaysa and her fam who are out of town) for a celebration. That's right the Astros Opening Day is an event worthy of much celebrating. We're not talking about mass produced spaghetti for dinner either - that's right. It was the breaking out of the grill for the first time this season. Steak, potatoes, salad, bread, and banana splits. I told you it was a celebration.

Unfortunately this is the first time we've all been able to be together like this in a long time, but fortunately it was great. It was great to be surrounded by folks we've been called to do life with. It was great to hold babies, to catch up, to laugh, to argue, to break bread together, to embrace the reality that God has handed to us. I know my friends don't enjoy baseball as much as I do, but they came knowing that it was a celebration special to me. I was honored to have them here. Could Acts 2 be this simple? Loving, laughing, eating, deepening friendships, sharing life, and Jesus being the glue that brings it all together - man, that's good.

I was excited about baseball, basketball and a new episode of 24. But it ended up being much more ... sharing life, investing in each other, growing together. The best part ... tomorrow we do it all again with our Overflow Group. Food, friends, Bible, prayer, and who knows what else. May the sharing of life continue, and I hope that if we haven't been able to share it with you for a while that it would happen soon.

You know what else (one last thing)? It's fun going to the store, working hard to prepare a good meal, and serving it to your friends. I highly recommend it and a reading of Acts 2.

Did I mention the Astros won? Did I mention that this day is made greater by the fact that when everyone leaves, I'm left at home with a beautiful, wonderful wife who allows me to plan random celebrations for seemingly trivial things even when she doesn't feel that great and an energetic three year old who was quick to remind me that opening day wasn't all about me when he began asking, "now can we play trains... daddy, let's build a biiiiiiigg track". Life is precious and we should celebrate it more often.

God Bless and have a great day!

Cash Flow

In the past year, we've learned more about trusting God in the area of money than ever before. I learned another lesson this weekend that God really does order what he pays for.

In Malachi 3, God invites us to test Him in the area of tithing. In other words, He will provide for our monetary needs when we're giving Him the first 10 percent and whatever else He tells us to give.

My friend Norman said that whenever he speaks in other churches, he always puts something in the offering so he can invest in that ministry. As I was pulling into Starbucks (thank you Jesus for Sunday nights at River Stone) early Sunday morning before preaching twice at Grand Parkway in Sugar Land, I remembered the words of my friend. I immediately began to feel convicted about investing in their ministry, but the battle raged in my mind that we can't really afford it. We're about to buy a house, and we need every extra penny we can get. Then the words, "test me in this" echoed in my head. I used my debit card to buy my venti caramel latte, and got some cash back for the offering at Grand Parkway. Then it occurred to me that there were two services, and I wanted to contribute in each service, so I went to buy a pack of gum so I could get some change. I was going to put ten bucks in each service. Well, the only checkout lane that was open was the self-checkout and there was no one around. I've never used cash at the self-checkout. So, I put in my $20 for my $1.05 gum. When my change came out, instead of there being $18.95 there was $23.95. Again, what do I do? There's no one around, and I'm running late. I decided this transaction was providence and that I would drop it in the offering plate. You probably would've hunted down a manger and told him the story of the machine making an error and had him stuff the money back in the machine. I took this as an act of justice for all of the times the self-checkout has ruined my day. Anyway, stop judging me and read on ...

So, I got to the church and put on the mic and some guys wanted to pray for me. These guys were older and wiser than me, men who have served the Lord for a long time who take great delight in asking God to do great things in worship that day. After convincing one of them that I really was the guy who was preaching that day ... they laid hands on me, and I felt the thermostat in the room elevate to "Holy Spirit is Here". It was amazing. The Lord was answering their prayers, and it was beautiful. When we were done praying, one of the men put something in my pocket. He said, "I made a little extra money this week, and while we were praying God told me to give it to you." I told him thanks, and thanked Jesus that His Word is true and does not return void. This is the kind of stuff that never happened to me until recently, and now it happens all the time. A dinner here, a reimbursement at just the right time, a rebate in the knick of time, a servant with an extra Benjamin. It makes it a lot easier to write that tithe check every week in order to continue to receive the blessing and provision of God. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you again Norman for your continual teaching. It goes on even when you go back to the UK.

My challenge is to test God in the area of finances. Read Malachi 3 if you have any questions. God Bless.

A Short Bus Tale ...

It is true that in my elementary school days, I was a beneficiary of the school bus. For the most part, I was not a big fan. Many times I found ways to miss the bus so that I would have alternative means of transportation. One time I hid from the substitute bus driver. Other times I chose to walk all the way home in the Houston heat. I didn't enjoy the school bus experience, and it was quite a dose of reality for a kid.

For a couple of those years, the bus that I was assigned to (#772) was shorter than many of the normal busses. It was a "short bus" as seen on the left here - a Bluebird to be specific. While it was short in length (not height), it did not contain seatbelts, rails, lifts, or any other "special" features. It was just short. That's all. The other bus seen above is also a "short bus" complete with lift, seatbelts, rails, special mirrors, and more. My bus (#772) did not have any special equipment.

Recently, my beautiful wife and my friend Brian thought that it would be funny to dwell, and when I say dwell I mean beating the horse for about an hour past the time it breathed its last, on the fact that my sole transportation to and from school was a bus that was not as long as many other busses. It was a "short bus", but not the "short bus" that you're thinking of. I furthermore won't reveal the derogatory slang that they used to refer to the bus on the right, and for some reason I have an overwhelming need to explain this to the general public since my wife and my friend won't listen.

While I learned important lessons about life (it hurts a lot less to be punched in the back than in the arm or head, all cuss words are not created equal, some bus drivers have a phallic symbol on their key chain, that you can in fact peel out in a bus, when the guy next to you had pancakes for breakfast - his clothes smell like it all day, being introduced to rap music from the small boom box above the driver's mirror, if you got to the bus stop early you could work in a game of Excitebike at Sunny's, do unto others as you would have them to unto you, etc.) I never considered my bus experience "special", even though apparently some close to me - whom I didn't know at the time - do.

I also must say that at the end of elementary school, my bus was big - large - huge - full size. That's right, I was not limited to the "short bus" for my entire elementary school career. I eventually grew out of it.

While I don't have any animosity or ill-will towards those who rode the bus on the right, I did not ride THAT bus, and I feel more than compelled to plead my case on this matter in this context. So, thank you "short bus" for my many lessons learned and for preparing me for the ridicule and mocking I now must endure because of you. I'm a better and more complete person for riding you, and my heart hurts for those who were robbed of the opportunity to learn what I have learned. God Bless the "Short Bus".

Many Blessings to all Former Riders of the "Short Bus".

The End.

The Dam Church Theory

Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." ~John 7:37-38

We have been studying the book of John for a long time, and my life and view of Jesus has been radically changed as a result. One of those changes came about from this passage.

Jseus tells us that the Holy Spirit will equip us and lead to overflow living water (Jesus). The streams element of this really got me thinking about the functionality of church. Rivers (I'm using this interchangebly with streams) are these huge systems that carry water downstream to places that need it. Rivers always branch off into streams and tributaries. Over time rivers mold the land they flow through. Hello! The Grand Canyon was formed as the result of the river that runs through it. The objects in the river are also changed... River Stones are smooth and beautiful. Think of the whole life system that exists beneath the surface. Fish, snakes, turtles, plants ... the river maintains life. Water sustains, nourishes, shapes, refreshes, carries life. Rivers always empty into a much bigger significant body of water. They're always a part of something bigger than themselves. What an amazing picture.

Since the Church is not something you go to, and it's something that you are...and if Christ-followers are to have streams of living water flowing out from them...then our churches should be these celebrations of living water flowing. When I think of rivers I think of the big ones - the Nile, the Amazon, the Colorado, the Mississippi. I think of rapids and powerful rushes of water that are uncontrollable. In addition to receiving what's necessary from rivers, we receive joy from rivers. San Marcos and New Braunfels summers are filled with people floating the river. Why? Becasue the river is moving and riding it is fun.

Here's the problem. I think churches are much more like lakes than rivers. Instead of realizing that we have the ultimate source of life that a world desperately needs. Instead of praying that God would flow his living water out of us to the hopeless, helpless, and hurting. We've built dams. We've stopped the flow of the living water. Why? Because we like it. It makes us feel good. In the lakes we swim, we ski, we fish (that's a whole other blog - "fishing" where the fish are...), we lay out, we have a picnic, we spend the day. We think that church is about us. We think that living water is something that Jesus gave us to feel good. Jesus puts the Living Water of His Spirit in us so that we can be a part of letting it flow to others. Look at the little flow of water coming out of this dam. Now look at the river above the dam. We tend to manipulate, control, and rationalize how much water comes out. We open and close the valves at will - it's all up to us how much God we overflow to others. That's not the way Jesus intended for it to play out. When the river flows, it flows wherever it wants, it flows powerfully, and it brings life. Shouldn't the church be more influential because we've earned the respect of our communities with an outpouring of love. Shouldn't we be known for how much we give away and not for how fancy our facilities are? Shouldn't we be helping those who need help? Shouldn't we be out to do something about the fact that our world associates us with the "Christians" on TV. Maybe it's time to follow Christ.

Jesus broke all the rules of the religious. He caused division among the leaders. He brought life to those who didn't have a chance. Maybe when you look at your life, like I've recently done at mine, you find a lake where a river should be. It was never solely for our enjoyment. The irony is there's not greater joy than bringing life. I promise it's a lot more fun to trust God to overflow wherever He decides and not where we decide. Let's make a pact...let's get rid of the "Dam church" and let the river flow.

Thanks for putting up with my ranting ... I'm a little passionate about this one.

Oh No ...

This past week at church, God led me to share testimony about the journey we've been on the past year and a half. I won't go into all the details here as I went into great detail Sunday night. (The entire message is on-line at www.river-stone.org or www.myspace.com/rscc)

The jist of it is that we cannot experience the full glory of God in our lives until we are desperate for Him. In the past year, I've gotten glimpses of desperation. We've had to learn to trust God in ways that were at one time foreign. I would've told you that I was trusting God, but the reality is that I was trusting myself. In order for me to come to a place of actual trust in God and not in me, He had to walk me down a path that at times has been uncomfortable. We've had to trust God to make financial ends meet, for provision, for food, for a bed, for many other things that in a former time we could've provided for ourselves.

On a trip home from HEB Saturday night, I was having a moment with my Savior in the car feeling extra grateful for the provision of groceries in the back. I was remembering times of Ramen Noodles in the recent past. I was remembering our friend Norman's stories of the poor and hungry overseas. I was thinking about different experiences of hardships and how I've learned to trust Him more. I was strangely moved. I was humbled. I was thankful.

My trusty 3 year old was in the back recovering from the rejection of all the No's he'd just experienced at the store as he attempted to drive up the bill with additions of toys, candy, and chocolate. He loves the store. He loves to help bring in the groceries ... and drop them in the middle of the kitchen floor. He loves awaiting the opening of the bags and asking, "What you got for me?". So, as we're on our way home, and I'm having a solemn assembly in the front seat - I hear him begin to sing. This is something he's started to do more and more. Sadly his songs are usually "Little Einsteins" or "Thomas the Tank Engine" related, but this song was different. He began to sing one of my new favorite worship songs...

"Oh no, you never let go,
through the calm and through the storm.
Oh no, you never let go, in every
high and every low.
Oh no, you never let go,
Lord you never let go of me."

God spoke to me about my difficult season and the difficult seasons of people that I love. He reminded me of the truth of this song, and also that He never leaves us or forsakes us, and that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. For those of us who've walked through the valley of the shadow recently ... Immanuel ... God is with us. For those of you hungry for God, the difficult season may be coming and ... Immanuel ... God is with us. Thank You, Jesus.

PS - I could also spend a lot of time talking about how special it was for my son to lead me in worship. I don't even know how he knows that song. He's in KidsRock when we sing it, and I've only sung it around the house a few times when I was learning it. Amazing that God puts things in our hearts in order to use it to minister to others. Thanks, Jake ... I love you. Here is the song Jacob led me in ... "You Never Let Go" by Matt and Beth Redman.

Even though I walkthrough the valley of the shadow of death,Your perfect love is casting out fear.And even when I'm caughtin the middle of the storms of this life,I won't turn back, I know You are near.

PreChorus:And I will fear no ev   -  il,For my God is wi - th me.And if my God is wi - th me,Whom then shall I fear?Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:O no, You never let go,Through the calm and through the stormO no, You never let go,In every high and every lowO no, You never let goLord, You never let go of me.

Verse 2:And I can see a lightthat is coming for the heart that holds onA glorious light beyond all compare.And there will be an endto these troubles, But until that day comes,We'll live to know You here on the earth.

Bridge:Yes, I can see a light that is comingfor the heart that holds on,And there will be an end to these troubles,but until that day comes,Still I will praise You,still I will praise You.

The nicest thing anyone has ever said to me...

So, it was a pretty typcial valentine's day - meetings by morning and lunch, checking in on an elementary school by afternoon, a little computer work to finish off the work day before getting ready for our Valentine's (check out http://www.theresurgence.com/ for a great history of Valentine's Day) rendevouz. My first stop was the annual trip to the Connelly Car Wash. The Durango had grown quite gritty in recent months inside and out due to countless happy meals spilled in the back seat by Jacob, my wife's obsession with using the passenger door pocket as a really big trash can, and my inability to take empty bottles and coffee cups into the house or closest garbage receptacle. So, the car was dirty.

I waited my turn, threw some stuff away, and talked to the guy about the car wash I wanted. I decided to splurge for the wheel and tire treatment (I can't express to you the joy I receive from Armour All). I then took my ticket inside the car wash waiting room which could easily have been confused with an indoor flea market. I looked around at all the junk and paid for my car wash while anxiously awaiting my turn to follow my car down the car wash through the 4 big glass windows in the flea market. Once it appeared to be safely through, I went outside to wait. This is where it happened.

I was sitting on a bench talking on the cell phone... waiting. There were 4 cars being dried. Mine was one, a beat-up Chevy Malibu was another, and two - count them - two Corvettes. One was a mid 90's model, and one was a new C6 as pictured above, but black. As I ended my phone call, I was noticing how our car looked pretty good for an almost four year old family SUV. Mid-thought, a snappingly dressed gentleman in his mid 50's, who also happened to be the owner of the 90's model corvette, approached me cautiously and respectfully and inquired of me, "Is that your C6?" Immediately, I was taken back. I was filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I stood a little taller, lifted my head a little higher, stuck my neck out a little bit and replied, "No, unfortunately No." I didn't appreciate the magnitude of what had happened until later. A member of the Corvette family accepted me and welcomed me as one his own. To him, for a moment, I looked the part of the owner of one of the coolest cars to ever touch the road. As a former motorhead who used drag racing as my drug in high school, it was the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me.

Immediately following, I found out they lost two of my hubcaps in the carwash somewhere in the "trough". I didn't care.

From there, I went to pick up flowers (which we later found out we were both allergic to), went home to pick up my beautiful valentine, dropped the kid and picked up Brian & Christy, and went on to a wonderful dinner and murder mystery experience. It was a great day!

In case you're waiting for the spiritual parallel or what God taught me through this experience ... sorry, this moment was strictly for my ego and pride. Thank you, Jesus.

I love the Church

Over the course of my ministry career I think that perhaps I have been the biggest critic of the Church. This is ironic for a number of reasons. First of all I have surrendered my life to serving this thing called Church and a couple of times a month I get a paycheck from that very Church. The very thing I've given my life to has caused me as much frustration as joy over the years - not necessarily the churches I've served in, but the bigger picture of the Church.

When people outside of church think about pastors or church people they think of bad TV shows hosted by old ladies with huge blue hair, way too much makeup, and lots of tears. Or maybe they remember televangelists having affairs. Or maybe they think of places where little boys are molested. Or maybe they think of the people responsible for bombing abortion clinics. Maybe they even remember boycotting Disney or forcing wives to submit. Or there's the issue of whether or not we hate people who are gay. I don't remember the last time the church got national run for anything good. Locally, churches get some decent press every once in a while, but as a whole it's been very disappointing what we're known for. It seems we're known more for what we don't do than what we do. The tension I've felt in this area over the years is much.

However, a little over a year ago, God allowed us to start a new church called River Stone. Since that time we've deconstructed every thing we learned about church. We questioned everything, studied scripture intently, prayed a lot, and decided a lot of things that we didn't want to be. The problem with deconstruction is that when you're done you're not left with anything. If you want to be a part of growing a church, at some point you've got to begin construction of what God has called you to be. I think that we've stumbled on to what God has called us to be.

God wants us to be pro-Church. Not pro River Stone, but pro Church. I was honored to be able to lead worship at a sister church in our town this week. I stopped to think during the message how we had another worship team leading at another partner church in our community. Here we are serving two churches we're not even a part of. During the message of the church I was serving, I began thinking about how different our churches were. A year ago, I would've thought that our way of doing church was better or more "right." Thank you Jesus that I've been humbled to the point of seeing the value in any type of church that desires to be who God has created them to be who preach the Gospel of Jesus unapologetically. This church, though different, was much the same. Preaching the Word, worshiping through song with a band, offering programs for people to plug into for spiritual growth ... maybe we're not so different after all.

A major point of revelation was, "I love the Church". It hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't just love my church, but I love the big C Church. The bride of Christ is something worthy of investing my life in, and now that I'm pro-Church, not just my church, it is an honor to partner, invest, and serve the other churches in our community or your community or our global community.

Thank you, Jesus for the Church. May you bring Your kingdom to earth through your bride. May we love, honor, and cherish her everyday, may we pour our lives into her, may we experience Your love for her and walk empowered in that love. I love the Church. Amen.

Robbed

As many of you probably know a couple of weeks ago we got robbed. I walked into our apartment to find DVD's scattered all over the floor, our video camera gone, my playstation - gone, Holly's computer - almost gone. We think I scared them off. That's right - they were in my apt. when I went to open the door. I came in the back, they ran out the front.

In many ways I was already thanking Jesus when I went to bed. It couldn't been worse. My media computer (the mac) was at the church and my other laptop was in the car. Both of those would've been gone and I don't know what I would've done. The same for my music stuff - all at the church. I was feeling very blessed that I didn't actually walk in on these guys, and that the stuff that I really care about/need was protected.

A few hours later the guys tried to sell my playstation to some other guys a few doors down in the Motel 6. That's right, they were from out of town - FT. Worth actually. They came in robbed two apts, then stayed to party in San Marcos. Then, they unloaded all my stuff into the Motel 6 and tried to sell it to the guys 3 doors down. The deal went bad, a fight broke out, someone called the cops and I found my stuff. They arrested the guys and told me they would be calling me to pick up my stuff. I got the call yesterday. I went and picked up what they confiscated. A duffle bag full of 71 DVD's (I can't believe we have that many DVD's, but many of them were hot titles like Bob the Builder, Thomas and his Friends - quality stuff), my video camera, my PS2 controllers, but no playstation. Even though I saw it at the scene, it didn't make it back to the Police Station somehow. So, they filed a request for restitiution on my behalf. I'm not going to be waiting by the mailbox.

So, a week and a half later the intial emotions of fear and caution are subsiding. For the first few days we couldn't sleep, every noise woke us up. Lights were left on, and I found myself getting up multiple times during the night to check the locks. Since they tracked mud into our apt, our office had the carpets cleaned for us. It's amazing what clean carpets will do. Today, we feel safe, know we were not a planned target, retained all of our stuff (except the playstation), and are content to live out our lease here through the end of May.

Thank you for your prayers. We had many people ask about us, call us, and e-mail us. I know that your praying for us gave us strength to make it through a difficult time. God is good, it could've been so much worse, and we could've lost a lot more. Thank you Jesus.

However, if the people who robbed us, or if you're considering robbing us, are reading this - we're soon to be protected by Smith & Wesson. God Bless America!

Seriously, thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. It made a big difference in our lives.

Head, Heart, then Hands

Recently we've been discussing our existence statement, "A Community of Christ-followers continually devoted to pursuing the fullness of God". It has come up repeatedly in our staff discussions that for too long the church has focused on the how and not the why. Even in the fleshing out of why we exist as a church it is possible to focus on the how and not the why. Why do we even desire to exist as a church? Because the love of Christ pursued us, found us, engaged us, changed our lives, and gave us a desire (and an opportunity) to serve Him by serving others. Paul says, "the love of Christ compels us." Compels us to what? For us, we feel compelled to pursue the fullness of God.

Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle says that the fullness of God has to do with experiencing Him with your head, your heart, and your hands. Experiencing God with our head describes our knowledge of God. We know about Him, we know who He is. We can tell you what He's like, what He's done throughout time, that He sent His son to die in our place and to pay the price for our sin. We know a lot about God, don't we? But knowing or even believing in God is not enough (even the demons believe that and shudder). There's no fullness in knowledge alone. We must next move to the heart.

You experience things with your heart when you spend time together. When we know or believe in God, we are drawn to Him, we want to find out more, we want to spend time with Him. As we spend time with Him, listen to Him talk to us through Scripture, pray and meditate on Him, worship Him, etc - something happens. We see that the love and grace He lavishes on us was not only for ourselves but for the good of others who haven't experienced Him. My heart, the center of my emotions, is sparked by being with God. When we are ignited by spending heart time with God, we are urged to take another step ... hands.

Hands has to do with serving. This can also be referred to as works. Works has become an attention getting word in the world of the heart. After all, works don't get you to heaven, knowing God does. Working hard isn't what gave us the right to be forgiven, grace did. It is true that faith is by grace through faith alone, but that's an incomplete picture of following Christ - especially pursuing His fullness. When we know God with our heads, experience Him and feel Him with our hearts, we are compelled to serve Him and live for Him with our hands. Ephesians says that God sets apart certain things for us to do and prepares/equips us to do them. If I don't make it to the works, then I'm not full.

I'm afraid that we've become comfortable hanging out in the heart and not made it to the hands. Now, there are plenty of people who are trying to bypass the heart with works and performance, but that doesn't work either. God is not impressed with our activity alone. God loves us, draws us to Him, then hand-picks us for specific tasks that in return give him the Glory that is due Him.

My prayer is that we struggle through these things. Our knowledge of God (and the things of God) should increase daily. Our experience of Him with our heart should also increase daily through the time we spend with Him. Finally, our lives should be consumed with doing the works and performance that He has created us to do. Intimacy with Him compels us to activity that He has prepared in advance for us to do. So, we shouldn't be afraid of works. For it is by His grace and love we are able to know Him and to participate in His drawing all people to Him.

Thank you, Jesus, that in spite of my humanity and depravity that you have prepared and empowered me to work for You as a part of Your plan. Use my head, my heart, and my hands.

All in the Family

One of the greatest joys of a young church is knowing everybody. It's easy to get to know not only the heads of families, but the kids also. We don't have a bunch of programming for children, so we spend a lot of time together, and I've never been more grateful for that than Friday night.

We had a night we called "Porch & Altar". It was an intimate night of prayer and worship. Kaysa led us through a Lord's Prayer model of praying, and it was a great time of interaction with our Heavenly Father. When it came time to repent of our sin, to confess our depravity, and to allow God to forgive us and cleanse us ... one of our kids did that for the first time. It was one of the greatest joys of my ministry career. Brian and I were leading worship from the stage. We were singing Martin Smith's "Majesty" and I saw this young man tell his dad what was going on. Then I saw him tell his mom. It was beautiful. This young man was no stranger to God. He sits in worship every week soaking up truth like a sponge. Just this week his dad and I were talking about how close he was getting to becoming a Christ-follower. Friday night, with his parents praying on both sides of him, God called and he answered. I was later pondering the tragedy of many kids coming to that point with people they barely know at a camp or retreat or programmed event. Since it is the job of parents to disciple their own kids, I felt such a sense of completion watching this experience unfold. A 5th grader was saved with no invitation, no plea from a pastor desperate to see salvation - only the pursuit of a loving heavenly Father.

I pray that my son is raised in such a way that the love of God surrounds him continually. I pray that he would daily become more aware of what God is about and how powerful His love is. I pray that God would call him as clearly as he did my friend on Friday night, and I pray that just as my friend did, that he would recognize the voice of the shepherd immediately.

I was so relieved that as we pray for salvation in our church and in our community that I didn't have to do anything for salvation to happen except provide an environment of connecting with God. It truly is God's job to build the church - not mine.

Thank you Father, for drawing men to You as You are lifted up. May we see this continually. Amen.

Congratulations, Jack! You're an amazing example.

Where Religion Finally Dies

I've always loved the Darrell Evans song, "Fields of Grace." The line, "There's a place where religion finally dies" is very profound for me. As I've been studying and preparing messages from the book of Acts, I've been enlightened to more of the significance of that song.

Jesus was killed by religious people. The government tried to let him go, the religious people demanded that he be crucified. The government was scared of the crazy religious people so they complied. A little while later, this guy Stephen shows up who's doing what Jesus did. He's teaching, he's healing, he's serving, he's proclaiming the message of the Gospel. He's real, he's wise, and he can't be argued with. While many religious people (priests to be exact) were walking away from the shackles of religion into the freedom of Jesus, the most religious people were so threatened that they had to do something. So, they grabbed him and killed him.

Right before he died, Stephen delivered the most comprehensive Gospel presentation in the entire book of Acts. He painted the big picture for the religious. Here's my summary:
God loved you so much that He led you out of captivity into the promised land. He gave you the law and said He would take care of if you would just live by it. You thought your way was better. You thought your plan would work out in the end. He sent prophet after prophet to help you see that you were putting yourself above God. You would torture and kill anyone who was different than you. You were worshiping weird gods, with a a particular affinity toward sexually immoral ones. You separated yourself from God b/c you ran your plan. So now, same song ... about the 5th verse. Jesus came to allow you to be free. He died so that you might experience life. Walk away from your traditions created by man. Religion is sin. You've missed it ... again.

What they didn't know was that this was God's last plea to His chosen people. That's why it's so long. He wanted them to be able to understand, but one last time ... they missed it. From this point on, God sent the message to those who would receive it.

This is the way I see it here and now. When we follow Jesus, the religious people will hate us, or at the very least not understand us. Yes, those comfortable with their status in "church" - complete with rank, title, policies & procedures - will look at those who are following Christ differently and pass judgment. They will assume the Christ-followers are not right in their manner of worhsip. They will be threatened and afraid. In the end they will try to destroy the Christ-follower. Jesus was opposed to religion when He walked the earth, and today his followers still should be. The problem is religion in churches is the status quo. Statements like, "'we've never done that before" or "it doesn't feel like church" are indications of religion. A living breathing relationship with Christ eliminates the opportunity for religion. If we want to thrive as a Church, religion must be dead. Religion dies in a relationship with Christ.

As we've been questioned by the religious, we've faced statements like, "You're not going to make it," "You're a cult," "You're just a church for college students," "You're a fad," "when are you going to start meeting on Sunday mornings like a real church" and on and on. All I can say right now is that at the moment we've won the approval of the religious is the moment that we're not following Christ. It would also be easy to say that we're rebellious or liberal. The reality is that those who encountered Jesus would've said the same of Him. I don't mean to say that we've reached the place where we look like Jesus, but as long as we don't look like religion - I'll be happy with the progress we're making.

"There's a place where religion finally dies,
There's a place where I lose my selfish pride."
-- Darrell Evans, "Fields of Grace"

May we have the strength and boldness to never find ourselves in the status quo of religion, but may we float in the wind of the Holy Spirit as He blows us in whatever direction He chooses.

Your Life is a Mission Trip

A couple of weeks ago, we (Holly, John, Clay, Brian, Mark and I) had the opportunity to accompany Grand Parkway Baptist Church's students on a mission trip. They were serving City Church in Amarillo. Our experience taught me a lot as the week went on.

First of all, City Church loves their community. They feed thousands of kids every month. They feed the kids of people who spend food money on drugs. They take the food into the 'hoods where these kids live. What they've gained in the process is an opportunity to procalim the message of Jesus. The week we were there, the church held a three day crusade to reach out to the families of these kids. Jesus earned the right to talk to people about who He was because of the unbelievable love He lavished on people. City Church modeled this. The beauty was that these people did "church" completely different than we would have, but God used it. You know what was more important than the style of how they ministered? It was that God had told them to do it, and they said, Yes, Lord. We learned a lot - not that we need to go home and do that, but that we need to continue to be who God has created us to be in our community.

I learned something else from my Father-in-law, the Yoda of Youth Ministry. Rick told the kids in a teaching time, "Your life is a mission trip." What a concept. How could I have missed that? Why do we think we have to spend some money and go to a different place to do missions? The reality is that now people are sending missionaries to the United States to reach the pre-Christian population. We should be offended! We should be filled with holy anger! That's why God put us here - to reach our community. We are missionaries. Wherever you live, your life is a mission trip. If we lived each day as if it were a mission trip, we would see the Kingdom of God growing in our daily lives. Acts says that day by day and house by house people were being added to the Kingdom. That's an attainable goal for us or any community of Christ-followers continually devoted to pursuing the fullness of God. Let's live on mission together and pray that the Kingdom would come on earth, maybe even in San Marcos.

Move

Father,

Thank you for the priviledge of serving you. Thank you for allowing me to see that my best efforts will never bring about the movement that my heart longs for. Father, forgive me for the wasted time hobnobbing in my Christian bubble. May I continue to learn the value you place on a not-yet believing individual. May I live a life surrendered and yielded to the movement of Your Spirit. May you breathe into me that I may breathe into others. May I learn to love those different than me, may I learn to interact as You would in my surroundings. May I let go of the need to build a great church. May I learn to let You do what You said You would, and may I continually be put into my place. Increase as I decrease.

Move in San Marcos, move into San Marcos, move through San Marcos. Move through the lives of Christ-followers, move through River Stone, move through the other churches. May your Kingdom come in San Marcos. May you have opportunity to move through lives surrendered and humbled. May your will be done. We want to see You lifted up as the most famous person in our community. May we not interfere with your movement, may we not hinder what You want to do. Flow through us. Fill us. Overflow out of us. Make grace, mercy, love, and hope reality for those around us who need it.

We are your witnesses. Call upon us to testify as to what we have seen You do in our lives. Expand your Kingdom.

Amen.

Innovating

I saw an ad in a Consumer Electronics magazine recently that read, "If you're not innovating, you're just imitating."

What a profound statement that is. We live in a world of church copycats. Whatever is working somewhere, we think we can bring home, replicate it, and expect the same results. Imitating may be the most sincere form of flattery, but since when did the effectiveness of the Church have anything to do with flattery?

I have the utmost respect for Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Ed Young, and on and on, but what makes these men great to me is their willingness to hear what the Lord has called them to do in their specific places and follow Him into their endeavors. That is the one thing we should imitate from them - their innovation.

Jesus was an innovater. He took the law, fulfilled it, demonstrated it, lived it, and equipped some guys who spent time with him to do the same. They in turn took the message of Jesus to different places in different ways and gave birth to the Church. None of the churches in the Bible were exactly the same. They were all different with different struggles, different strengths, and different people. Jesus trained them for diversity. Our churches should be diverse. They should be innovative. They should all have different strengths. They should work together to overcome weaknesses. They shouldn't waste time thinking, "Why didn't we think of that?" or "we should do that".

God has a plan and a purpose for every church. My prayer is that our church would be more focused on being innovators than imitators. Our success is not determined by the success of other churches. Our results are not dependent upon the same formulas and strategies of other churches. Our success asks, "Lord, what do you want us to be?" How can we be innovators in San Marcos? How can we compliment the churches that are already here? Are we hearing your voice for what you're calling us to be?

Lord, may you allow us to fight the temptation to be imitators. May we not compare ourselves with the "success" of other churuches. Teach us to be innovators. Teach us to be world changers. Teach us to leave a wake of Christ-followers behind us. Teach us to demonstrate Your love and law to a world that is begging to see it. Amen.

Prophecy

For the first time in a long time, I was prophesied over. When I was a kid I used to go to a church that had a healing service, and my parents took me there one night because I had been diagnosed with Juvenile Rhumetoid Arthritis. I don't remember much, but I remember a lady whispering in my ear speaking to me about the timing of my healing. What I do remember is that her prophecy was not fulfilled ... well ... actually her timing was just a little off.

Today, our team spent the day with Norman and Grace Barnes. Norman is an internation minister who speaks, ministers, and supports ministries all over the world, literally in over 50 countries. His testmiony is amazing. God has used him in tremendous ways over the past 40 or so years. For whatever reason, the Lord has seen fit to connect us with him. He loves our church, and feels called to invest in it (and in us) for the long haul.

For the first half of the day we talked church - hallmarks of Kingdom-minded, successful churches. We learned a lot, had a lot of healthy discussion, and asked a lot of questions. The day flew by, and as we were drawing near time to leave, Norman suggested we see what the Holy Ghost had to talk to us about. This is the kind of stuff you don't learn in church planting books. We had all seen him prophecy to a college student named Erik two nights before, and it was amazing. None of us had ever met Erik until that Sunday night, and his life was an open book before Norman. He saw into his life, identified his past, and gave him hope for his future. It was amazing, and we were blessed by being a part of it. However, it's different when you know in advance that you're going to be prophesied over.

So, we began to pray, and I began to get a little nervous. Fortunately, he went to Clay first and addressed him. He used a word that I had to look up later to describe Clay, and told him that he saw the likeness of one of the disciples (he was very specific, but I don't feel led to share all the details) in him - amazing! If I could have said something to Clay, it would've been that, but I hadn't thought of it. Brian was next. He identified Brian's main gift, encouraged him in it, and boldly procalimed how he should use it. Again, amazing - what I would've said, but ... yep ... hadn't thought about it yet. Christy was next, then John, then Holly and I were the only ones left. Norman proceeded to speak words from the Lord into our lives. Some things we knew, some things were brand new, but all things were from the Lord. We knew it, we were praying through these things together, and we could feel the unity of the Spirit. It was pleasing to the Spirit and to us to hear from the Lord in this way.

It's amazing to me that God can and does use those who are willing to encourage others. Norman simply listened to God, and God spoke clear as day to me. He told me what I needed to hear for my current struggles, He affirmed me, challenged me, and allowed me to see things in myself that I had not yet seen. Some of the things, I've yet to see, and they are things I don't think I'm ready for at this point.

Norman said that someone prophesied over him once, and it took 20 something years for it to come to fruition. I guess where I am is that I'm so glad that God is in control of the plan for my life and for our church. He is in control. He is in the middle of everything we're doing. He is planning this thing out far in advance, and all He's asking me to do is to trust Him and walk with Him. Thank you, Jesus that Your grace is enough, and that you are true to Your Word. You're amazing me this week, and I am honored to be Your Son. I love You, and I pray that my love for You would overflow on and in to the world around me.

Activity and Adoration

We are reading a great book as a staff entitled Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. In this week’s chapter on worship, we ran across a great quote. “Activity is the enemy of Adoration.” Let that sink in for a minute. Say it to yourself. I think this idea has some very significant implications for us.

Jesus tells us that He came that we may not only have life, but have it to the full. I guess the question I have is … full of what? There is no question that our lives are full of stuff. Full of school, full of work demands, full of extracurricular activities, full of recreation, full of finals, full of homework, and full of dysfunctional relationships. It seems that our lives are full, but not the kind of full that Jesus was talking about. He came that our lives may be full in Him, but my fear is that we’re so full of everything else that all we give to God is the left-overs. That spinach enchilada from Los Cucos is good microwaved on the second day, but it pales in comparison to the way it tasted when it first came out. Steaming hot, fresh out of the oven, dripping with cheese, accented with beans, rice, fresh vegetables and served with chips, salsa and green sauce. When you just have the left-overs, you’re missing out on the whole experience.

We are often settling for less that what we could have. I think we need to have a priority check. Is our “full” life keeping us from church? Are we neglecting meeting together with our community of believers because we’re too busy? Activity is the enemy of adoration. You were created to worship the Lord, to adore Him, to stand in awe. If it’s been a while since you’ve been at that place of worship, I’m willing to place a bet (I can do that now that I’m not Baptist anymore) that it’s because of too much activity. If activity has kept you away from worship, away from adoration, it’s time to confess that sin to the Lord, and make it right with Him. Don’t settle for once a month with the Lord when you could have it every day. Learn to say no, learn to be Still, and invest in the Kingdom and in your church.

Recovering thoughts from Vacation

Holly and I just got back from about 10 days of being gone. We were on a cruise for 5 days, and we were in Houston for the remaining time. I learned some things while I was gone.

1st of all I was reminded of the greatness of our God. When all you see is blue in every direction, you're reminded of the hugeness of our creator. As if that wasn't statement enough (to be in the middle of the Gulf on a big boat seeing nothing but blue). It was that way for two days. After two days of trekking along at 20-25 knots, we arrived at Cozumel, then we stopped also at Playa del Carmen. In a word, the water and beaches were majestic. Pure white sand, Clear blue water. It was beautiful. We were able to sit back and enjoy the sun, swim with the fish, and experience a whole other culture. The Kingdom is so much bigger than us. It was good for me to be reminded of that.

2nd - I realized how addicted I am to our community (of Christ-followers). After 5 days, I was ready to be home. Vacation was great, rest was great, relaxation was great, but being apart from the people we've come to do life with over the past few months was difficult. We only missed one Sunday, but it felt like we were gone forever. We realized how strong of a connection we have with the people of our church. It was great to be gone, but it's greater to be home.

Finally, I was reminded of how great a team we have at River Stone. At no time did I worry about how worship was going while I was gone - I knew. I didn't even think about it until 6:15 pm on Sunday evening when I felt like I should be doing something. God has truly blessed us with a tremendous team of talented people, and I love the diversity of having interchangable people leading our church in worship. We are truly blessed.

So, as I'm still recovering from my cruise hangover (the rocking has finally stopped), I am more in tune with what I love about my life, my church, and my community.

Blessings -

Jason

The Rest of the Story

Last week as I was in Houston, the guys planned worship for this past Sunday where it was my turn to lead worship. In the context of the planning, they decided to have me sing a song I wrote last summer. I wrote it at time when I was angry, and I realized that my anger was limiting the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. So, here is my cry - I hope it blesses you.

Jason

THE REST OF THE STORY

(Jason Bollinger © 2004 River Stone Music)

If time really heals, then why do I feel, this emptiness inside me still?
It’s been a long, long, time, But my heart can’t seem to find
Anything the help me feel alive

My weeping still remains, My night won’t turn to day
I’m waiting for the sun to rise
My strength is running thin, and my mind just seems to spin
Trying to find a place just to begin

I want to know the rest of the story

I want to see Your glory, Your face shining down on me

My heart cries out for the peace I hear about

I’m tired of all this fear and doubt inside

I know that your ways are not for me to know
I know that this pain – though it hurts – I know it helps me grow
My trust is in You, when I don’t know what to do
I know that You’re faithful -- faithful and true

Rescue me and hold me close, Walk me down the narrow road
Deliver me and pull me through, My Refuge is found in You

I want to be the rest of the story,
Reflecting Your glory for the world to see
My heart still cries out, but now my lips sing and shout
Of your love that rescued me from my doubt

New to blog

Here is my first blog entry. Two days after Easter (still recovering from my Easter hangover), I find myself pondering whether or not our Easter Service was a success. On many fronts I think it was. Worship was strong, the creative elements really came together, the truth was clearly communicated, God moved. I am so humbled by the crowd that assembled to experience God through our Easter Worship Celebration, but I can't stop thinking about the masses who didn't experience anything on Easter except eggs, bunnies, and candy. I think at some level I honestly think that the masses will eventually come and check us out just because we're doing some really good God stuff. The reality is that we are here (as a church) to serve. It's time for us to serve our community - to reach out and touch the masses with encouragmnet, with the love of God in a way that allows us to connect them with that love. So, I find myself ready to do more than lead our team to organizing and leading good worship experiences, I'm ready to serve. If you're reading this, and you're a part of the River Stone Community. Pass on some creative service ideas where we can spread the love of God into the streets of San Marcos and Wimberley.

jason