Off-guard in Orlando


Brian and I attended the National New Church Conference in Orlando, Florida this week, and it was an amazing time. It was the largest gathering of church planters ever with around 1,700 church planters in attendance. It's truly amazing how church planting has developed. When we started 2 1/2 years ago, there were only a fraction of the resources available that there are today.

We attended some great sessions, and we were humbled and challenged by what God spoke to us while we were away. It was a very timely conference for us.

On to the off-guard... They had two pastors present via video. It wasn't live video, it was a video presentation of some of their thoughts and opinions about church planting. There were multiple videos of Tim Keller from Redeemer Church in New York and one of Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Driscoll's video was about calling out the men and equipping the men. It was somewhat abrasive, but right on. Those familiar with Driscoll know how he feels about men being men and how important it is for church planters to be real men - love their families, live lives of integrity, be good fathers and husbands, be strong, etc. However, he does not say all these things at the expense of women. He is a complimentarian who belives that women can fill every role in the church except Pastor/Elder. He didn't say that women can't serve. He didn't say women weren't gifted to minister. He didn't say anything to demean women, he was just talking to the men.

Bill Hybels was the speaker that followed Driscoll's video. The first thing he did after everyone finished giving him a standing ovation was to say this, "Well, after that 8-minute video, I'd like to set the record straight." So, right off the bat, he was obviously annoyed at the length and content of the video. He went on to say something to the effect of women being a valuable part of church planting, women have gifts to offer, etc. This caught me off-guard for a couple of reasons. It wasn't Hybel's place to complain about the length or the content of the video. To me, it was disrespectful to the hosts of the conference and to Mark Driscoll. It's fine if he disagrees, but his response was uncalled for. He assumed that he knew Driscoll's position, and his comments were in response to a position that Driscoll doesn't even stand for. It was hugely disappointing and awkward. Hybels hadn't even been there for any other parts of the conference - so he had no idea what the heart of the teachings had been. He went on to talk about whatever he wanted and not what the theme of the conference was. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of respect for him, and I was even convicted by the things that he shared. I just was caught off-guard by his attitude and words right off the bat. We had been learning about not demeaning people who think differently than us. We had been learning about spending quality time with the Lord in order to be able to build into people and the church, and the first few minutes of Hybel's talk was contradictory to the very heart of what we've been learning.

So, I'll also confess that I'm a big Driscoll fan. I'll also confess that I think he occasionally may fall of the razor's edge of tact. I'm really not taking a side because I can understand why someone who thinks differently would have a differing opinion, but I think I expect more from someone of Hybel's stature. Actually, I'm sure I do. It would be different if Driscoll said these things at Willow Creek - at Bill's church where he's the Daddy Elder, but this was in a neutral site - not his place.

So, I hope that what we learn from this is that it's ok to disagree with each other, but we should disagree in a spirit of grace and love. We should disagree face to face and not criticize someone who's not even there. We should still act like we love and respect those we might even consider our enemies. I'm grateful for a friend of mine who disagreed with me last week. He called, took me to lunch, and told me that he disagreed. We talked, we discussed, we're still friends. I think we still don't totally agree, but that's secondary.

I hope that when I have opportunities to disagree that I will have the courage to disagree like a Godly man, in a way that builds the Kingdom, in a way that stands on unity and not division, in a way that would cause others to stumble.

Anyway, there I was off-guard in Orlando.

PS - this video is now available to be seen online @ http://www.theresurgence.com/md_blog_2007-04-28_banned_church_planting_video

Diversity & Cascarones

One of the things we've preached the entire tenure of River Stone is the importance of diversity. They say that Sunday mornings are the most segregated time of the week. In church planting classes, they teach you to target a specific demographic, and they call it the homogeneous theory. It's easier to go after one type of person. The fastest growing churches in America are evidence of this - people of largely the same race, socio-economic status, and lifestyle. While it's hard to be critical of anyone reaching a specific group of people with the Good News of Jesus, it seems that this is not necessarily the way Jesus built his Church. Phrases like "every tribe and tongue"and "neither Greek nor Jew" stick out to me. I remember Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well - a race detested by the Jews. I remember the story of the Good Samaritan - one that is all to real in our day and time. We have a tendency to stick with our own and to hang out with people who are like us and validate our particular style of life. Churches sometimes remedy the homogeneous theory by reaching out to different neighborhoods and starting mission churches to reach those different from them. Again, it's hard to be critical, but is that really what heaven's going to look like? Though every tribe and tongue will be represented, will we have different sections for every race? Will we look down our noses at the people who are different than us? Will we take credit for ministering to those less fortunate even though we paid somebody else to do the work or we spent a week in a particular place? Or, follow me here, should every church have all types of people every week?

We are not a big church, and if you evaluate us strictly on a numerical scale, we're not that successful of a church, but I love this place. I love our church because of Cascarones. We had a wonderful Easter Celebration this year, and it was a wonderful time of celebrating babies, families, life, and most importantly the Risen Savior, Jesus. We had a packed house, and the Spirit was so wonderful among our people, and then it happened. A Cascarones fight broke out. Cascarones are dyed eggs that have been gutted and replaced with confetti. They are a Mexican Easter tradition, and kids from our church assaulted each other and us with their confetti eggs. We were planning a traditional Easter Egg Hunt after church, but the super cold weather interrupted those plans. So, our spontaneous celebration with Cascarones replaced it, and it made me appreciate the diversity in our church. As I've walked down the sidewalk in front of the facility where our church meets, and I still see the confetti spread all over it, I'm thankful that I even know what Cascarones are. Last year, I had no idea. I'm thankful that our church is not made up of people like me. We are people of different tribes, different tongues, different status, different places in our faith, we're just different, and that's what I love about us.

So, our church would probably be bigger if it was homogeneous, but if I have a choice, I'll continue to choose smaller and more diverse. May God continue to bring us people not like us. To Him be the glory in every tribe and tongue.

The Kingdom Come

I'm back. I have no excuse for my lapse between blogs, and I won't waste your time with a bunch of excuses as to why... so I'll just for for it.

Included in The Lord's Prayer are these very powerful words, "May your Kingdom Come." Since we started River Stone, one of our most fervent prayers has been for the Kingdom to come in our town. We want the blessings of God to rain down on our community. We pray for it to be a safer place, we pray for the schools to continue to improve, we pray that people would be compelled to live here, we pray that we would take the Gospel to the people through our actions and attitudes and not expect the people to come to us, we pray that God would use us to demonstrate His love and His Kingdom to our community. As a result, we're always looking for ways to be involved in this type of thing. Read on...

A few months ago at breakfast with the mayor (the mayor usually invites clergy to a breakfast once a month, but it sounds important, doesn't it?), she requested that someone from the ministers group volunteer on the volunteer committee for something called "Bobcat Build." I was very familiar with the event. It is a one day community service day where college students volunteer to serve their community. They recruit job-sites that need paint, fixing up, cleaning up, clearing out, etc. They spend an entire Saturday doing this. The college kids have kind of a bad reputation in town because they drive crazy, listen to loud music, party a lot, and make the lines at HEB and Walmart really long. Many people in the town don't talk favorably about the college students. So, how do they repay those who think that way about them? They serve them. They go to the homes of the poor, the needy, and the places that reach out to the poor and the needy. They call all the churches to see if they need any work done. This year, over 2,500 college students will work at over 100 job-sites. They're working to building bridges with the community. They're working to make their community a better place. They're blessing those who persecute them. It's truly one of the most beautiful things in a community that I've ever seen, and I've been honored to serve as a part of the planning team (I was the only minister who signed up, in case you were wondering. And, I don't say that to toot my horn, I just think is disappointing). Moving on...

Here's the revelatory paragraph that you've been waiting for. As we've been praying for the churches to work together to bring the Kingdom to San Marcos, the people who are actually doing it are the college students. I've never seen 2,500 Christians assemble in our area to perform acts of love and kindness just because it's the right thing to do. The churches are the ones being served by the college students -most of which don't even go to church (random fact - only about 1,000 of the 28,000 college students at Texas State go to church). My heart breaks that a secular (even though I don't believe in sacred vs. secular - everything that God made is good) institution of learning has a greater perspective on the Kingdom coming than the churches. I pray that the Church can exist for something more than trying to get people in the doors, and I pray that we would learn that we have a message to take to the people, and that message is love and humility by service.

Thank you, Bobcat Build for living out something the church has been teaching for years. May we learn to do the same. May there come a day where the university learns from the churches because of the tremendous examples of love they are to their community...instead of it working the other way around.

If you're reading this before March 31st. Please pray for favorable weather for the Bobcat Build work day. The coordinators of this event asked me to pray for it, and I would like to ask you to do the same. Thank you.

The Good and the Bad

Because I wait entirely too long to post my blogs, I kind of have a lot to say. So, roll with me on this.

Being a pastor is a crazy thing. I love my job. I love Jesus. I love helping others connect with Jesus. I love preaching. I love leading worship. I love doing life with the people God has surrounded me with to do life with. However, in the past few months, I feel more hurt than ever in the midst of the most joy I've ever had. I know, it's strange. As with everything else, it's a Paradox.

I feel an overwhelming call to simple honesty. I'm supposed to speak truth in love according to Scripture. We've been talking a lot recently about helping each other define true reality. Here's the reality that I've come to. Many people are faking it. I'm wearied. Have you ever walked through a spider web at night and found yourself trying to recover without looking stupid? That's kind of what I feel like. Over the past few months, people that I've invested hours, days, even years in have turned out to be something they're not. Because of what I do, people tell me what they think I want to hear (and that's how great they're doing ... if you were wondering). They tell me how great I am, how much they love the church, how much they want to help. Then, with no explanation, they're gone and won't return your phone calls and e-mails. A former co-worker of mine (a minister) filed for divorce this week because it turns out they were having an affair. Another friend has been lying about what they've been smoking for the past year and a half. These are all people that I've been close to. These are people I consider friends. These are people I consider followers of Christ. The reality is you can't follow Christ and act like this. You can't. It's impossible. As we follow Christ, we are transformed into His image. We become more like Him. Blowing smoke, pretending it, faking it is not what following Christ is about. I feel like I should be able to see passed it, call the bluff, expose the man behind the curtain, but in the past I've not wanted to think wrongly of people. Even though all the signs were there, I didn't want to believe these things about people that I love. The trouble is now, more problems have been sown into their life because of their pretending. It hurts my hearts, hurts my feelings, and makes me not want to give anyone else the benefit of the doubt.

So, my plea for everyone who claims the name of Christ ... stop pretending. Stop faking it. Stop trying to make people like you by saying that you're following Christ. You can't live a double life and be His follower. You can't receive grace until you're honest about the places in your life that you need that grace the most. It covers the darkest depths of your soul, and you have to confess it. Stop lying to pastors about how great everything is when the reality is that you're not really committed. Stop faking it, and get real.

That was the bad first, in case you wondering. Now, for the good.

Last night Holly put on a birthday party for me. My real birthday is the day after Christmas (the big 31 this year), but most everyone is scattered for the holidays, and Holly wanted to get everyone together before that happened. It was an "everything Jason" which makes me totally uncomfortable because I don't like to draw that kind of attention to myself. I don't like being the center of attention, and I'm not very good at receiving. However, she put together my favorite foods, gave me an Astros cake, put on one of my favorite movies, did a funny Jason quiz, and invited my favorite people. It was really great. While I've felt more burned than ever in my life, I also feel more blessed than ever because of the true friends that God has given me. It was a joy to be in a place where I could love and be loved without the expectation of anything in return, without pretending. I have never had such a strong group of friends - friends who know everything about me and who love me anyway (and vice versa), friends who know what gifts I'll really enjoy, friends who were excited about doing the things that I like to do for a night. It was really great. I also have to say how great it is to have my wife as my best friend who knows what I need more than I do myself.

So, close, honest, loving in spite of our weaknesses friends are the Good. Pretending, faking, and lying is the Bad. Thank you, Jesus for both because the good is made better because of the bad.

"Shaken"


What a roller coaster of emotions the past few weeks have been. My good friend, Thomas Escalon, was raised from the dead (it's a long story if you don't know it). A month later he survived a quintuple bypass heart surgery and is recovering at a rapid rate - it's nothing short of miraculous. God is seeming to put the power of prayer on display in our lives. He brings us to the point of death - twice in the same month - and miracles happened both times. Why are miracles so surprising. Does Scripture not say that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us. The same Spirit. Not some western-civilization, modern version of the same Spirit. Not some weak, dumbed-down, tame version. The same Spirit. Miracles should be more common. I'm so grateful that God chose to put that on display to us as a church this month. He's teaching us to pray, He's showing us that He's got this thing. He's drawing us closer and closer to Him, but He has to shake us up to do it. Thank you for the shaking.

For another story on shakes... Yesterday, on my day off, the fam and I journeyed northward to Round Rock for the opening of the new IKEA store. Actually, it opened on Wendesday, but we figured we would miss some crowds on Thursday. So we found our way through the circus of cars, parking attendants, and parking lots. We parked in an overflow parking lot across the street. As we were stepping into the street, I looked down to grab Jacob's hand. In that instant I stepped into a drainage gutter and twisted my ankle in two different directions other than what it was created to twist in. Spraining my ankles has become a hobby of mine beginning in college, but this was by far the most pain I've ever felt in my ankle - maybe the most pain period. I hopped around, yelled at my wife (she was the closest person and I had to yell at someone!), and somehow managed to prevent both expletives and tears from coming out.

I wasn't about to drive all that way and not experience IKEA, so I did with much pain as I hobbled arround the ginormous store. It lived up to they hype. I love that place and wish I had a lot more money to spend there. Afterward, traffic was horrible, so we stopped and watched a movie. During the flick, I propped my foot up - yes on the seat in front of me, I know it's against the rules, but I was in a lot of pain. Anyway, we stopped for a bite to eat at Fudrucker's (still waiting for the traffic to die down). We had just begun to eat when they announced that someone's Strawberry Shake was ready. For those of you who don't know, it is my opinion that a Strawberry Shake is one of the finest experiences in this life (especially if it's from Annie's on South Post Oak in Houston). Anyway, I told Holly that I thought that maybe my own Strawberry Shake would make my ankle feel better. Jacob quickly chimed in that he thought it would heal the scratch on his face. We were in agreement. Now, I have to confess that it was a plea more than a prayer, but before I could really work my case, the manager came up with a beautifully crafted Strawberry Shake in his hand and said, "I accidentally made an extra one of these, would you guys like to have it?" Yes we would, and yes we did. It was a beautiful thing, and my ankle did begin to feel better for a few minutes.

Maybe the lesson is something about how the lows and hard times make the good things even better. I'm thankful for the Strawberry Shake, but I'm more thankful for life and breath. Consider me shaken by the provision of my Father.

Deceived


I can't believe it's been a month since I jotted anything down. Anyway, on with the thought...

Last night we continued our teaching through 1 Corinthians 3 (available for download at www.river-stone.org), and the focus was on what destroys the church. The most profound thing I can't stop thinking about from this is how deceived we really are.

Anyone who's watched and of the audtion episodes of American Idol has witnessed self-deception at it's finest. Loads and loads of people who obviously have no talent, really think they can sing. They think the judges are wrong. They think millions of viewers are wrong. They completely ignore what is a black and white reality in lieu of their opinion of themselves.

The reality is that our opinion of ourselves can not be trusted. We deceive ourselves. What we see in the mirror isn't what other people see. How we think of ourselves is not how other people think of ourselves. We often think we're better or worse than we really are. We define our own reality based on our perceptions, and that's a flaw of our humanity. We need to surround ourselves with others who help us see more clearly who we are. Our friends see us for who we really are - for the good and bad. Accountability is what we need to more accurately see who we really are.

I often times consider myself to be fairly self-aware. I know what I'm good at, I know what I'm bad at, I know what I can pull off and appear to be good at. However, at any moment, I could find myself thinking more highly of myself than I ought. I could find myself not having people in my life that help keep my reality defined. I could believe what I want regardless of what everyone else says. I could very easily find myself deceived.

We need to be aware that we are deceived people in need of honest friends to walk with us in our journey of faith in order to keep us more in tune with the reality of Jesus. Only when we look at ourselves through his eyes do we see as we ought to see. May we be honest with ourselves and surround ourselves with godly people who love us enough to help us determine who we really are.

If you're certain that you're not deceived, you are. If you know you're deceived, then you're in the best place for discovering reality. Regardless of how you see yourself, this week you should ask someone you trust for an honest evaluation of who you really are. Does anybody remember "The Emperor's New Clothes"? Wouldn't you rather know? Ask someone. You don't have to be deceived.

Musicians

I found a new take on musicians this week in Scripture that I'd like to share. We all know there are a million different styles of music, and we also know that music is powerful enough to split churches, separate close friends, bring people togehter, create emotion, and on and on. At River Stone, we don't believe in sacred and secular, and over the past few years we have covered plenty of songs that wouldn't be considered "Christian." We based that on Acts 17. When Paul preached on Mars Hill, he quoted poets of that time. Well, today, musicians are the modern day poets. In lyrics of mainstream music, you find the heart of mainstream culture. In mainstream culture you find people who need Jesus. Our job is to help people connect the dots that show them Jesus. Music is a very powerful tool. So, that's what we already know.

Now, you may be wondering what Louis Armstrong has to do with this, and the answer is nothing. He's just a great musician whose picture I came across. Ok - here's the new stuff. In 1 Chronicles, David is preparing for his death and departure. He's filling all the positions to fnish what he started. The main task at hand is the construction of God's temple which was going to be the task of his son, Solomon. Now, to give him a headstart, he's appointing people to do everything related to the building of the temple. One of the areas he's preparing for is the music. He appoints musicians. In this time, musicians were very important. Even in armies, the band would go out front. They would motivte the men in battle, they would lead the charge. They understood the power of music. Now, what I learned goes even further than that. It says that David and the chiefs set apart some guys who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. I never thought of that really. I've run across plenty of artists who have a prophetic flare - Derek Webb, Keith Green, Delirious, Johnny Cash, Bono for example, but I never knew that was part of the assignment for temple musicians.

As I think about church music, I'm often saddened by how good it makes you feel and how little it challenges you in your faith. Today we gravitate towards the songs we like and discard what we don't like. It sounds a lot like the prophets in the OT. God told Isaiah - these people aren't going to listen to what you have to say. Think about music you don't like. Could it be the voice of God presenting something to you that forces you more into honesty that blind happiness. What if church musicians were more of a mindset of delivering the message God wants - even if that means most people are not going to listen? After all, don't we write songs in such a way that the most important thing is for people to listen - to have a shot at airplay.

I wonder if the most important things we need to hear are what we don't automatically like. I wonder if the musical prophets of our day aren't on the radio. I wonder what church music would be like if their intent was to prophesy. I wonder if anyone's going to listen anyway.

Breakfast with Martin

Today is a day I've been looking forward to for a very long time. Norman told us that he would try to arrange a time for us to meet Martin if he was in town. Needless to say, his tour schedule is always a challenge to work around. I really tried not to get my hopes up. Even until Thursday, I was anticipating a cancellation - after all he is famous and very busy. There's a lot of expectation that goes into meeting one of your heroes, and sometimes we hold them at a level they can't possible live up to. Well, I'm happy to say that Martin Smith is a hero that met every expectation.

For those of you who aren't sure who Martin is, he is the lead singer of Delirious. He has penned, what are in my opinion, the best worship songs ever written (I Could Sing of Your Love, Shout to the North, Deeper, Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble, My Glorious, Majesty, Rain Down, etc.). I spent an hour and a half with him this morning (he only committed to an hour, but stayed longer) over pancakes and coffee. Ok - now for the rest ...

This man is humble, respectful, wise, polite, a deep thinker, discerning, and a lot of other great words that I could put here. We talked about worship, about the church, about the band, about his family, about our church, about missions, and much more. He initiated questions about our home, church, and family, and he followed up with questions that let you know he really cared about us. He spoke profound words about worship and the church, and he used many of the buzzwords we use - especially "doing life together". Ever since we started River Stone, it's been refreshing to find people who are like-minded who give credibility to what we do and how we do it. I never thought that Martin Smith would be one of those people. The things that are important to us are important to him. Many of my soapbox issues were things he's passionate about. I couldn't believe how great our time together was. The tragedy was we had to kick him out because of plans that we had previously made. Time with Martin cut short. But, we were invited to his father-in-law's birthday party (who happens to be the pastor of the church here), and we found out "the band", as they're referred to here, will be leading worship on Sunday at Arun. They haven't led here since July, and these days it is a rare occasion. The Lord has smiled upon us and blessed us more than we ever could've imagined. He has confirmed every step of this trip, and it's been amazing. Did I mention that Steven Curtis Chapman will be at church on Sunday? We will be the only other Americans in the place.

I know that I've rambled on and haven't made the most sense, but I'm really excited about what the Lord is doing in our relationship with Arun Community Church. Every few months I get very weighed down by the weight of ministry, and times such as this are invaluable to my own personal rejuvenation and refreshment. Please continue to pray that God would continue to reveal himself and how this relationship is supposed to manifest itself in the future of my life and River Stone's ministries.

On a personal note, pray for us as we travel to London on Sunday night to spend the night. This will be our only chance to see London. We will be traveling by train from the Southern Coast of England to Victoria Station. We will spend one night at the cheapest hotel we could find and return back to Norman and Grace's Monday evening before we get up super early on Tuesday to fly home. The unnerving thing is that we will be touring London on 9/11, and with the recent terrorist activity in the city, it is easy to feel anxious. However, we know that we won't necessarily have many other opportunities to see the city. Pray also for us as we begin to be aware that we've been away for Jake for 5 days. We miss him, and he's getting over some congestion in his chest. Also, pray for Grace. She's struggling with polymyalgia. It is a disease of the nerve endings that causes her a lot of pain. You would never know she had it, but she is in a lot of pain. Norman and Grace are fasting breakfast and lunch every Wednesday - trusting God for her healing. We were able to stand alongside of them in that this week, and I got to pray over Grace for her healing. What a blessing it was. I wanted to share that in case you would like to fast and pray for her. Also, we are suffering from jet lag, but haven't really had time to be affected by it. We've been sleeping just fine (in spite of no A/C), but are overwhelmed by sleepiness a few times a day.

So, that's probably it for now. There is more to tell than I can tell. There are more thoughts to unpack that I haven't even begun to process. I could go home today completely enriched and refreshed, but we've got 4 more days. Tomorrow, we're going to a medieval castle and to the pastor's birthday party. Sunday, we'll go to church in the morning and to London in the evening. Monday, we'll see as much of London as we can see. Tuesday, we leave Norman and Grace's at 6am to catch our plane. We're excited about the rest of our trip, and we are trusting that God has plenty more for us.

We love you and miss you guys very much. We hope you're having a great week!

Made It

Well, Holly and I made it to the UK. The 9+ hour flight was not so bad. We only slept a few hours and arrived here at 9:45am. We've already walked up and down the seashore in Rustington where Norman and Grace live. We've celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary, and we've planned out the rest of our week. It's hard to believe that we're in another country, but it's truly great to see what God has planned for us.

Please continue to pray for us. Tomorrow could be very difficult in the jetlag department. Also, pray for Jacob. We had to leave him sick in the care of his Nanny, Pawpaw and Grandma. It's hard for us to be away from him while he's not feeling well.

That's all for now.

Blessings ...

jason

My Shepherdess

This title makes a lot more sense if you were at River Stone Sunday night. We're studying Genesis and when Jacob first sees Rachel, he sees her with sheep - something he's totally in to. Driscoll says it's like finding a woman who owns her own bass boat. Sunday I added like a woman who bungee jumps or rides motorcycles or climbs rocks, etc. The point of all this is that I had one of those moments with my bride long before she was my bride. I fully intended to talk about it Sunday night, but brain cramped it out. So, here it is.

When I met Holly, she was (and still very much is) this beautiful, intelligent, clean cut, prim and proper, small town girl. I knew I was attracted to her, but I was still checking out to see what all we had in common to see if this was going anywhere. After all, she was from the town where not only does every guy drive an old piece of crap pick up truck, but most are (or were) decked out with certain features of a cow's anatomy hanging from the spare tire area (I'm not unpacking it if you're missing it). She seemed different from the rest of the town, but I was unsure.

I was a total wanabee Christian rocker (if there is such a thing). The "Jesus Freak" album from DC Talk was new, and I was a big fan. At the time I drove a 1985 K-5 GMC Jimmy with 32.5" tires. It was large and so was the sound system. The most expensive Sony CD player you could buy in 1996 that fed some big fancy amp that pushed two 15" Kickers. I liked my music loud, I liked to sing along, I liked to bob my head to the beat, I was a huge dork. However, I thought that I was bad. My friends at the time were not bold enough to confront my posing - maybe because they were too ... maybe. Anyway, on the way home from our first date which was not a real date b/c it was a set-up, I decided to conduct a little test to see how this small town goody goody would react to a little rock-n-roll. Up with the DC Talk. To my surprise she knew every word to my favorite songs. She sang - loud - and really good by the way (not a surprise to anyone who hears her belt it out every week at church). Not only that, but that every so carefully brushed hair was soon flying back and forth as she banged her head. She says this is the moment when I fell in love with her, and I'm not sure about that ... BUT ... it was the moment that I was confident that this relationship was going places.

It may sound pretty insignificant, but when I saw that, I connected with my shepherdess. Our first real date was a few weeks later. You guessed it ... DC Talk concert under the stars at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. It was as romantic as DC Talk music could be, and we had a great time. 7 months later we were engaged. A year and a half after that we were married. And to borrow from the romanticism of my forefather Jacob, I can honestly say that 10 years of working and doing life together seem like only a few days. I thank God for reminding me of this innocent time in our relationship where everything was new and I was more concerned with uncovering the mystery and godliness of this wonderful person than I was of my own selfish desires.

What God orderes he pays for, and He ordered me a prim and proper, clean cut, small town, rocker that was exactly what I needed to motivate me to become the man He created me to be.

That's all for now. Blessings to you.

Washing Feet


This evening I learned another lesson from my soon to be four year old. I know it's weak that this is my only blog material as of late, but this was significant.

Tonight was the playoff tournament for our Co-Rec softball team. I'm proud to say that our record is perfect - perfectly bad! We lost every single game ... except for our first playoff game - which we won due to the other team not having enough players. The outcome of our game tonight was not favorable, but it's a great group of people to be around, and thank God the beatings are over.

Anyway, back to the boy. My son has a crush on an extremely cute three year old named Allison. He says that she is his girlfriend, and tonight he said that he loved her. I wish we were still in the era of arranged marriages. I'd hook this one up in a second (Cody and Amy, I think we can work it out). Jacob loves it when Allison comes to the games to watch her Daddy play. Tonight was such a night. They ran and played and climbed and mostly played in the dirt. When it was discovered that Allison's feet were dirty from their play time, Jacob volunteered to wash her feet. He took the wipes and started to work. I was not an eyewitness, and I'm not sure how good of a job he did. I'm not even certain that he got to execute his plan, but it was a beautiful moment. Tears were in eyes, and I'm proud of my boy. When a lot of kids punch their "girlfriends" or boss them around or tell them what to do ... Jacob wanted to wash her feet.

Normally at night, we go through our KidsTalk page that Holly puts together for all the kids at our church. Tonight when I was tucking him in, with tears in my eyes, I told him that he did something just like Jesus. I told him how Jesus washed the disciples feet when they were dirty. I also told him that tonight instead of me teaching him something, that he taught me something. Tomorrow I'm going to look for an opportunity to wash some feet - especially of the people that I love.

Appetism

I do have to confess that I like to make up words, especially while I'm preaching. This word, however isn't a word that I made up, it's real. Read on ...

One of the greatest delights of my job is baptizing people who have become Christ-followers. This past Sunday we baptized these 4 beautiful people in the San Marcos River. There is something special about baptizing in the river, something very New Testament, something refreshing and something very fun.

To make things more fun, count on my son. When Jacob was watching us walk down into the freezing cold river, he looked up at his Mommy and said, "Mommy, why is Daddy going to appetize those people?" I more than chuckled at his attempt to repeat words that make sense to everyone else, and I trusted that he didn't really think that I was going to consume any of my friends in the river. We've told him it's "Baptize", but he's still got his heart set on "Appetize". So, according to my almost 4 year old, we had an "appetism" celebration on Sunday.

As usual, the apparent randomness of my kid teaches me the grace of God. In many ways baptism is appetism. Before you dig into the main course, you whet your appetite with an appetizer. As you begin your journey as a Christ-follower, the first thing the New Testament asks of us is to be baptized like Jesus. It is the beginning, the diving in point, the whetting of the appetite that makes you hungry for more. My heart breaks for those who arrive at baptism and see it as an end. It's truly a beginning, a Genesis moment, the start of a journey with the Lord. It's an appetizer.

Another way my son's brilliance (I know that I'm biased, but he's freakishly smart even if he is too stubborn to poop in the potty) shone through is how appetizers affect others. Even when I'm not hungry for an appetizer, if someone at the table suggests it - I'm in. Or, if another table orders it and it catches my eye, I want it. It was truly delightful to gather with most of our church on the banks of one of the most popular swimming holes in our town, in the shadow of Joe's Crabshack, for a celebration of new life with Jesus. As I dunked each Christ-follower, the people screamed, clapped, whistled, and yelled in celebration as others who were just there to swim were drawn in by the experience. Maybe they saw that following Christ is exciting and fun, not boring and mundane. Maybe they saw that we rejoice with those who rejoice. Maybe they longed for something they don't have. Maybe appetism is something they will desire for themselves some time soon. That's my prayer anyway.

That's my blog this time around. Thank you, Lord, for my son who continues to teach me and make me laugh. May his life continue to be lived for Your glory!

In Defense of the Bride...


I have to confess right now that I'm angry. Actually, I don't really need to confess it because anger is not a sin, but I just thought I'd start there to explain the intensity of the following rant.

I just read a blog that was very disturbing to me. It's the same song, same verse that gets sung all the time. Church sucks. It's boring. Everyone's fake. Nobody cares about me. It's all about religion, a checklist and routine. Why can't I just be myself? Why won't they play music that I like? Why do I not feel better when I leave? Why can't it be more like a rave? Why can't we just drink beer, smoke weed, and talk about God and spiritual stuff?

The common theme is always the same... someone who doesn't put anything into the church but expects a whole lot out of it. Someone who is so consumed with their own wants and desires that they miss the whole thing. Someone who wants to experience God, but doesn't want to obey His Word. Someone who is all of the sudden a music critic b/c they can't get beyond their own preferences.

I have little patience for this way of thinking. Believe me, I've experienced ritualistic worship in a traditional church. I've watched with broken hearts as people just sing words off a page with no expression, no emotion, and certainly no excitement. I understand you can make an argument that emerging churches can fall into a pattern that is comfortable for them. I even understand the parallels between the traditional forms and emerging forms. This is what I don't understand. What gives any one the right to show up once or twice a month just to give the church a rating? The church doesn't exist for the satisfaction or joy of any man. It exists for the glory of God. The moment we criticize an honest service of worship that has been put together by pastors or leaders who have prayed to God for direction and led by volunteers who have sacrificed their time, energy, and talents for a greater good, we place ourselves on the throne and focus our worship there. Nowhere does scripture teach that worship is supposed to make you feel good. Though experiencing the presence of God is what we were created for, and it does bring us joy in a way we can't understand, the reality is often when biblical characters actually experienced the presence of God - they were afraid for their lives. The bowed in honor and reverence. They prayed for others. They ministered. They were used by God to bring about life-change in others. They experienced the supernatural in their very lives because they were focused on God and not the songs, or whether or not anyone talked to them, or whether they liked the sermon. They showed up every day in excitement of what God was going to do. That's right every day. Scripture tells us not to forsake meeting together. It also tells us they met together daily to be sharpened by each other. Proverbs says that as iron sharpens iron one man sharpens another. When iron sharpens iron ... sparks fly. I've experienced this in my own life more times than I would care to admit. When I need to be sharpened, my sharpening experience doesn't always make me feel good, but knowing that I'm being molded and shaped and stretched is good. Worship has that same potential - sometimes - a lot of times what's more important is that it hurts good not just feels good. Look at the people's reactions to Jesus' teachings. How do you think the pharisees felt when Jesus told them they were sons of their father the devil? I'm guessing that didn't make them feel good. The old adage that the truth hurts is true. But it hurts good. When I put on my critic hat, which by the way I'm very quick to do when I attend churches other than my own, I become the object of my worship.

Now, is there any excuse for Christ-followers to not grow in community with other Christ-followers? No. Is there any excuse for not being missed? No. Is there any excuse for exclusivity? No. However, in my experience the people who complain about that intentionally avoid contact from others. Intentionally don't initiate conversations. Intentionally don't let anyone know what's going on with them. Intentionally leave without telling anyone just to prove that the church has failed. Community is two way. The root is the same as the word communication. It is impossible for communication or a lack of to depend on one party. It's always both. Not "feeling" part of a church is never one party's fault. It's both. However, if your worship experience is dominated by feelings of "I dont' really like that" or "these people are all fake" or "I'd be better off on my own" you're more focused on yourself than what Scripture teaches us about church.

I think it's tragic that people complain about how pastors like me expect people to come to church. The collective church is the bride of Christ - the very people that Christ died for. It crawls all over me - just like if someone talks bad about my wife - when people attack the church either generally or specifically. The bible talks about those attacks too. Be careful about pointing out the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye when you've got a plank in your own. In humility, having someone pull your plank out is going to be painful, but necessary. It's time to come to church in humility with brokenness, with an open heart and mind, with a desire to plug-in, with a desire to serve others and consider them more important than yourselves. It's the bride of Christ, not of ourselves. It's not for us to talk bad about another man's wife - especially Jesus'. It's our job to get to know her, spend time with the bride and the groom, and grow in love and respect for them both. The epistles say that the two become one. So, when you trash the bride, you trash the groom. It's ironic that people say "I like Jesus but hate the church". It's impossible. The two are one. It's time to see the church for what she will become, not for all of her faults. Thank God Jesus doesn't look at us like that. He takes us as we are, reconciles us to Himself, and spends the rest of our lives sanctifying us, perfecting us, making us more like Him. The church is by no means perfect. There are faults, there are problems, but she's still the bride. Still one with Christ. Maybe it's time to stop hopping around from church to church and finding all the problems and time to plug-in and be a part of helping them to be what God is leading them to be.

I'm tired of "Christians", religious or non-religious, blaming the church for all their problems when all the church desires to do is provide them with an opportunity to connect with God. It's time to take ourselves off of the throne and remember what church is about - for the glory of God not the glorification and enjoyment of ourselves. Lord help us that we think it's too hard to follow you in modern day America and that we have good excuses for not commiting to pouring our lives out as a drink offering for the greater good of mankind. May you break our selfishness and pride.

I told you it was a rant.

May the Lord have mercy on the critics of His bride and pastors who are caught in the middle of a God who loves His creation, and a creation who loves darkness more than light.

Friends





I've learned something this week ... I'm co-dependent on a lot of people. We have some of the best friends in the world (some of whom are undeniably pictured above). The past week has been a whirlwind of activity at our new house. We've cleaned, painted, put down new flooring, and a lot of other stuff. The bottom line is that we couldn't have done it on our own. There's no way. The other thing is that we didn't ask anybody for help. It just came, and it was and is one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced. On top of that, our 24 date friends put off watching the 2 hour season finale until we could watch it together. Who does that? Who helps paint until 2:30 in the morning ... and then again until 1:15 in the morning two days later. Who stays until 2am putting in floor? What kind of crazies am I surrounded by? I'm really not sure the answer to the last question. All I know is that the love of God has been on display through many beautiful people in our lives.

Thank you for those who have helped, who are going to watch Jake, who are going to clean, who are coming to help move stuff, who put off watching 24, and who have patiently allowed your spouse to be apart of any of these things. The sacrifice you've made is humbling and a wonderful overflow of the joy of the Lord. May the Lord bless your commitment to being great friends. Holly and I love you and appreciate you more than you know.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

Sleepless in Seattle... and San Marcos...

While this does sound like the title of a girl's blog, in my defense I've never watched the movie ... well at least the whole thing. It's true. That's Holly and I at the original Starbucks in Seattle. Coffee was more of a requirement than a luxury last week for us as we spent most of the week, well, sleepless.

Once or twice a year I get wind of a conference that I'd actually like to go to. Most of the ones have to do with topical church things that I frankly could care less about. The Reform and Resurge conference hosted by Mars Hill Church was appealing to me. The pastor is Mark Driscoll, and he's a controversial, outspoken leader who recklessly and faithfully pursues the fullness of God. While I don't agree with everthing he says, I have been very sharpened and influenced by his work and research. What set this conference apart is that it focused on theology more than ideology. In other words not the how to, but more of the why to. And pardon the Sunday School answer, but it was a lot about Jesus.

I told my staff about the conference in December or January and told them I thought we should go, but that I couldn't garuntee that the church would be able to pay their way. Quickly we decided that we would trust God to provide for us to go which included paying our own way if we had to. We also decided to invite our wives along. The most unappreciated role in the world is that of a pastoral staff's wife. Every day our wives willingly sacrifice us to the common good of the church and everyone else. Every day our wives suffer more activity from the devil himself than anyone else. Every day our wives hurt when we hurt and are mother and nurturer to not only our kids, but to the church. Every day, our wives are the strength behind our ministry. They are rarely thanked even though they are more than major players in all of the ministries we are involved in. Because they end up being so involved, it was great for them to be involved in the training that we received. Because we received a generous donation from one of our partner's employers, we were able to pick up the tab for the entire team to go to Seattle.

We spent 16 hour days listening, learning, crying, laughing, worshiping, praying, thinking, planning, processing, and meeting together. It was intense. It was more Jesus than I ever expected, and my life will never be the same. We did work in some sites, but more than that God actually awoken parts of me in the midst of my sleeplessness.

I feel my sleeplessness in Seattle is actually giving way to sleeplessness in San Marcos. God used a week in the most beautiful city I've ever seen to refresh and refocus my heart. He reminded me of why we came to San Marcos. We came to reach a lost college campus, to redeem the city, the make an impact, to make a difference, to be a church that would be missed if the doors closed. That's why we came. I have to confess in my own life that what has actually gottten sleepy is my personal vision and pursuit of those goals. Meeting new people, building new relationships, prayerwalking, and serving my community has given way to maintaining a church, leading a staff, having a bunch of meetings, and surviving the weekly worship grind. That simply will not due any longer. It's time to do what we came here to do, by the grace of God.

If you're a River Stoner reading this, I pray that God would grant you your own personal sleeplessness for San Marcos. I pray that we would start dreaming dreams, having visions, and being the Resurgence that God has called us to be in our community.

Now, that's just a glimpse of what happened, and to be frank. I'm tired and going to bed.

Blessings to you. God Bless.

Big Daddy Ibex


Please forgive my gap between blogs. I've been meaning to get this one down for a while, but I think it's worth the wait. Last week I actually took a day off - it was wierd - I admit - and took my family to the zoo. Jacob had been talking about it for a week, and it was part of his reward for his continued progress in peepeeing in the potty. Anyway, it's been a while since I've been to the zoo, and we had a great time. Like all zoos, the smell was atrocious, but it didn't prevent us from standing in awe and wonder of the detail and majesty our creator put on display in each and every animal. Every one unique, specifically adapted, colorful, inspiring, scary ... it's all there. So, we walked around, saw everything, and were about to leave when we stumbled on to something amazing ... the IBEX exhibit. At first glance an Ibex looks like a cross between a goat and a deer - crazy looking little things. As we were approaching them, a zookeeper said if you look closely, one has just given birth. Sure enough, less than 5 minutes before we got there a baby Ibex had been born. You can see him there in the picture. Momma was still down from the birthing experience, and when we got there there was no Daddy in sight. Within a few minutes, Momma had licked the baby clean. Within another few minutes he was trying to stand up. He's not even ten minutes old, and he's standing up - amazing. I was impressed. Then I was scared. I was scared because Momma decided she wanted to give birth up on a cliff. As this baby Ibex was stumbling around for the first time, he was making his way very close to the edge of the cliff. There was no way his tiny body would survive a fall of that magnitude. I found myself getting mad. I couldn't believe that this precious Ibex 10 minutes old was going to come crashing down to a horrible death. Worse than that, Momma was unable to help because she was unable to move yet. I couldn't watch anymore. I'm serious. I turned my head because I didn't want to watch. Then out of nowhere, Daddy Ibex lept up the cliff and nudged the Baby up to safety. What I didn't see, that I see in this picture is that it looks like Momma was crying out, and then Daddy came through. After he saved the baby, he never got far enough away that he couldn't quickly come through for the baby.

It just made me think about God coming through for me - saving the day, making a way for me to be safe - in Him. Sometimes I venture out too close to the edge, and He's always nudging me back to where He knows I need to be. It also inspired me as a Dad to give my son freedom to explore, but to always be there to keep him safe - to never be so far away that I can't come through for Him.

That's what I learned from the zoo.

Celebrating a Miracle ...

One of River Stone's first miracles turned one today... which actually means the miracle is about a year and 9 months old. In our first couple weeks of existence as a church, not only did we find out that Brian & Christy were going to have a baby, we find out they were going to have two babies, and we found out that something was wrong. Come to find out the babies were conjoined.

On our second Sunday, we brought them to the front and prayed believing a miracle was going to happen. We prayed for separation. When they went to the specialist the next week, they looked at the previous information and agreed that they were conjoined, but at this point they were no longer one, but two.

The girls were born prematurely and spent a bit of time in the NICU in Austin, but today they are amazing. Two beautiful little girls with character, personality, senses of humor, and an amazing story to tell when they get older. When I watch them crawl around, try to stand up, clap and laugh, capture the attention of anyone within view, and pull my goatee, I stand in awe of the greatness of our God. He still works miracles. Tonight I was reminded of the miracle of Adalynn and Mikaiah.

Thanks for the reminder, girls. You're beautiful.

Like the Wind

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." ~ John 3:8

That's what I kept thinking when Jake and I were flying our kite last weekend. I don't remember the last kite flying experience I had, but it didn't take me long to realize that this kite flying stuff is fun. I had more fun than Jacob, and I wouldn't rest until I had let out the entire spool of string. Our park location wasn't ideal - it was kind of a bowl surrounded by hills and trees that encouraged swirling type winds. Right when I thought we were doing - it came crashing down all the way to the ground. So, I would run, dip, pull, backpeddle, kneel down - whatever I had to do to put the kite in the way of the upswirls. Once it was up, I let Jake hold it all by himself. He did great and didn't let go. He also loved running and chasing me across the field as I was fighting with the kite. For some reason, Holly always positioned herself right where the kite would dive-bomb all the way to the ground. I'm happy to report that no injuries were incurred, but a lesson was learned by me...

When we live our lives under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we can not predict what it will be like. It's not up to us to predict and manipulate the ups and downs. The Spirit (like the wind) takes us up and down, and sideways, then rapidly up, then gliding effortlessly, then through a very difficult time, then ultimately as high as you can possible go. That kite was most impressive when it was fluttering loudly and the streamers off the tail were flying wildly due to being caught in the strength of the wind. The wind blew wherever it pleased, and I had to do a lot of running, pulling and inconvenient stuff to get where it was. Once I was there, it was beautiful.

We were meant to live at the mercy of the wind that we can't see, but we know is there. Sometimes it takes us high, other times low. Sometimes we have to readjust to find ourselves back in the influence of the wind. Life in the Spirit is the best life ever ... never dull, never predictable, up, down, loud, quiet, but most importantly soaring high under a power beyond what we could accomplish on our own.

Maybe you should fly a kite this weekend ...

God Bless.

He took my place

At a Ecumenical, Good Friday Service a couple of days ago, I carried a cross. When they passed out a sign up sheet a couple of months ago, the only thing on the list I was remotely interested in was carrying the cross. Everyone else did a dramatic (actually a not-so dramatic) reading of John 19. The text was amazing, but the emotion was lacking. Many of those who were reading were friends of mine, and they were serious about what they were reading, but they were just reading. I had no idea that what I signed up for would affect me.

As I carried the cross down the aisle to the stage to stand it up, I was reminded of the million images of Jesus carrying His cross I've seen over the years. I was reminded that Jesus told me that unless I take up my cross daily then I cannot be His disciple. This cross carrying is serious business, and all of the sudden I was very honored to be carrying this big piece of wood. After all, it was my sin that sent Jesus there. It was my shame that He took. It was my pain that He bore. It was my public humiliation that he embraced. On Good Friday I remembered that the only reason that anything Good is - is because of the cross.

Recently the Lord put some words in my heart about a song I was wanting to write, and the bridge simply says this ...

It should've been me hanging on that tree
Exposed for all the world to see
I owed a debt that I could not pay
And dead in my sins I would have stayed ...

Thank You, Lord Jesus for the sacrifice You made on the cross. Thank You for taking my place. Thank You for making a way for me. I love You.