De-churched

Stuck in the trap of always trying to be good!

A Graduate…Now What?

Last week I finally graduated from Southern Seminary with my Master’s of Divinity from the Billy Grahm School.  Hard to believe that now after three years in Louisville and one year in Dayton that it is done.  Honestly last week as I finished there kept being this sense of now what.  The reality is that I am still employed by Starbucks with no real paid, full-time ministry opportunities in sight.  At one time this was my greatest fear, that I would end seminary and have no idea what I would be doing.  I put a lot of effort into figuring this out, only to have the Lord in the end say no.  This was extremely difficult and depressing as I longed to know where I would be serving after seminary, after all we had spent all this time and money to do something.  God is truly amazing!  He has used this last year in Dayton to reveal to me that ministry is not a job but rather it flows out of who we are.  For instance if I need a “job at a church” to be in ministry then I have lost sight of what God has called believers to. If I can not get in and get my hands dirty now then when I have a job will I be doing ministry at a church as a job or as a calling. So now rather than focusing on where I will be ministering in the future, my heart is to simply do ministry where we are and allow God to move as he sees fit.  This has been a long journey for myself but it has been valuable. For now we are serving at Morningstar Baptist church in Centerville until God moves us on.  We love the people there and long to see the community reached so until that time we find it a great privilege and blessing from God to be there!

The issue for me at this time is laziness!  When I have school deadlines it is so easy to stay motivated and to be studying and growing.  But now there is nothing to drive me to be studying and nothing driving me to read.  At night it becomes easy to lay around and not do much.  Without the pressure of deadlines the sleepiness overwhelms me.  By God’s grace and the driving of His Spirit I must dig in and stay active in my studies and reading.  There is much on my mind to do and accomplish, plus many books on my reading list.  The other thing is that as I become lazy (sin) it then begins to open the door for other temptations so I also recognize how important it is to be faithful and diligent.  God is amazing so I am excited to see how he helps me grow through this time.

The other thing that I am looking forward to doing now that school is done to do expand the amount of time that I am spending with the Lord.  I am looking forward to setting up a Bible reading plan, spending more time meditating on the Word and setting more time aside for prayer.  I understand that the ministry that I have to my family and to others will only be as strong as my relationship with Jesus.  What is the one thing that I have to offer to people? JESUS!  What is the only way that I can give them Jesus?  By walking with Jesus myself! When I am close with Him, He most brightly shines through me. So Jesus here I come!

The final thing on my mind as I am now a graduate is Amy and the kids.  Over the last four years there are a lot of things that we have not been able to do or things I have had to miss because of studies or school! I am excited to be able to have a day off and spend it with the family without thinking about the ten things that I have to get done. I am excited to not have to run off to study or write a paper all the time but instead to go outside and run around with the kids.  I am excited to give Amy some mornings of sleeping in, which she more than deserves. God has been so good to us as we have been on this journey really drawing us close as a family. I have an amazing wife and three incredible kids and I do not want to miss out on their lives anymore!

A Graduate…now what?  Just a normal guy! A family man! A follwer of Jesus!  Just wanting to be faithful in the moment! Hoping to see God do amazing things in the lives of others! Thank you Jesus for everything!

A Tribute

Over the last four years as I have completed my master’s there is one thing thing other than God that I could not have down without: Amy!  Between working full-time, school and the family if she had not been there we would not have made it through.  Throughout the entire journey with all the ups and downs, mountains and valleys she was a so strong and made so many sacrifices.  For all she has done there is nothing I could do that would be worthy to express how amazing she is.

She is an amazing friend. Amy is my best friend! There is no one I would rather spend my time with than her.  She knows me inside and out, with all my strengths and weaknesses and yet she still wants to be with me and around me.  As a friend she was such and encouragement during those highs and lows of school when I thought I might fail a class as well as when I did great on a test.  She also encouraged me through different jobs I had that at times were tough because I didn’t enjoy them. She would stay up late to spend time with me and always do lots of little things to let me know she was there for me.  I praise God that He has given me such a great best friend!

She is an amazing wife! In the Bible it teaches that the women was given as a helper to the man.  A famous line from a movie is “you complete me!” These two things typify who Amy is as a wife.  Over the last four years and I am sure for the rest of our lives she has been great at keeping things going in our lives, allowing me to be free to focus on school.  From making phone calls, to dealing with people, to keeping our calendars insync, to finding unique ways to make money she did so much to keep us a float.  One winter she addressed and stuffed envelopes so that we could buy people Christmas gifts.  She spent hours doing this, with such determination and doing all of it because of the deep love she has for people. She also sold pampered chef for a little while which also helped keep us a float.  I know especially when we first got to Louisville it was extremely tough but through it all she came out on top, trusting the Lord to get through it all. So much of who Amy is, is a complement to me and vice versa.  Where I am weak she is strong and she often has insight into things that I am missing.  From what I can tell she is an example to all woman of the calling God places on the wife.

She is an amazing mother! We had two kids when we moved to Louisville and the third arrived while we were there. I often find myself amazed that even when she is entirely drained she finds more energy to give to our children.  With three kids under five it would have been easy to just let them run wild around the house but that isn’t Amy.  She has a strong passion to see our kids grow, mature and know how to behave in a respectable way.  She has done a great job with consistently loving and discipling our children.  Not only that but she is always thinking of creative things to do with them.  I am often amazed at the things she does with the kids that I know would blow my top with stress! Things like letting a two and four year old free paint. Freak me out!  The thing is it doesn’t even shake her.  Another area that she excels in as a mom is teaching our children about the Lord and taking those teachable moments and maximizing them. I am thankful for her passion to share Jesus with our children. There is nothing she would not do for her children. Amy is such an amazing mother, I can not praise God enough! Thank you Lord for the woman you have created in her.

She is an amazing women of ministry! As I just wrote about all the things she has done to get us through the last four years I am am blown away to be able to say that she is others centered.  The truth is she could have been a hermit the last four years and said she was too busy to get involved in the lives of others.  That isn’t her though!  There have been women over the last four years that she has poured her life into despite everything going on.  She truly loves people and it drives her to make the time to help them out.  Even when she would be hurting she was still willing to give. She is truly amazing! I am blown away by her!

She is an amazing follower of Jesus!  I praise the Lord that I have married a women that loves God and wants to have a life conformed to Him.  Over the years she has learned much and there would be times when I would come home and she would share what Christ was teaching her.  She was driven to be in church because she wanted to stay close to Jesus.  She would find time to read the word and pray because she knows that He is the source of her strength.  I know that her love for Jesus will be an example to our kids.  I was always amazed how when either one of us felt drained spiritually the other seemed to be strong and close to Christ.  We were often able to mutually encourage one another in our walk with Christ.

She is an amazing fighter in Christ!  The truth is that while we have been in seminary there has been many attacks against us as a family and her individually. Some have been from struggles in my life that she has fought through and forgiven me only to see our love grow deeper.  Also though she has been attacked physically.  While in seminary she has dealt with tendonitis in her shoulder while having three kids to care for. She still deals with that today.  Even when she was in incredible pain she would still pick up our kids and love on them when she was needed most.  She also had a scare with the potential for cancer that she fought through.  She had a baby that involved a tough, tough pregnancy.  She had a cyst grow on her foot that had to be checked for cancer and had to have surgery on.  She had a large kidney stone after Emma was born and had to have surgery to deal with that. All the while she still dealt with headaches and migraines.  As I write that list I am amazed at what she endured with three kids and having me in school.  She fought through and relied on Jesus.  There was also a broken nose and surgery , and staples for Alexa and stitches for Noah’s head. Again through all of this she fought through and remained positive!  She walked with Jesus and remained full of love!  She is truly an amazing women!

She is an amazing proofreader!  Finally I don’t think I could have made it through seminary without her proofreading skills! Those who know me, know writing is not my expertise but with her help I got through with a good G.P.A! Thanks Amy!

Everyday I can’t praise God enough for Amy!  She is my friend, lover and bride!  I really and honestly could not have made it through without her!  Her support and encouragment were always timely and appropriate!

Thank you Lord for such an amazing gift!

I like being with her!

I love her so much!

I love you Amy!

Zealous for Good Works

The last couple of days I have been reading through the book of Titus and this morning I was amazed at the emphasis of good works in the book. As a follower of Christ for many years now, I know that good works are to be a part of the Christian life but today the importance of them hit me more than ever. I would like to leave you with a few initial observations that are swirling in my head.

As followers of Christ as we grow in the truth and follow sound doctrine we will grow in our good works. Essentially sound doctrine results in good works.  In chapter one the author points out that false teachers are unfit for good works. The teaching that they proclaim does not lead to good works nor is their life fit for good works.  This makes me ask myself, when I teach are believers compelled to do good works. Also would the mark of a healthy church be that it is full of God’s children doing good works.  Is the church impacting the culture and community through service?

In chapters two and three Paul tells Titus that believers are to be zealous for good works and devoted to good works.  This does not mean that every once in a while we do something good but rather one of the marks defining the Christian is that they are all about good works. Paul uses the same word “zealous” of himself in Galatians 1:14 when he was talking of his following the traditions of the Jews.  It says he was more zealous than his fathers. Paul was so zealous that it led him to persecute the church in order to protect Judaism. My son Noah is a great picture of being zealous for something.  He loves apple juice and when he wants it nothing will get in the way of him attaining it.  He will ask Amy and I over and over again until he gets it. No answer is sufficient unless it is that we are going right that second to get it. That is how we as believers should be towards good works. They should consume us, we should be defined as ones who do good works. Is this how you or your church are defined? I think of the body we are a part of right now and what would happen if all 200 people were devoted to good works. How would Centerville be changed? How would your community be changed if everyone in the church were zealous for good works.

The last thought that I would like to leave you with is some thoughts about the gospel impact of being zealous for good works.  I was intrigued because Paul did not say that they would be zealous for sharing the gospel or to be devoted to sharing the gospel but instead he focused on the end result of God’s grace in our life is being zealous for good works.  Why is that? I mean if they don’t hear the gospel how can they be saved? It is my conviction that every follower of Christ should be proclaiming the gospel but in this book why is there no emphasis on this. As I ponder this I realize that could it not be because as we are selflessly invovled in good works doors for the gospel will begin to open up. If we are zealous for good works and we begin to interact with people will they not begin to ask why we do such things. In the end when the church gets outside of its walls and gets active they will begin to find many opportunities to share the gospel with people around their community and the world!

Am I zealous for good works? Are you? If not lets begin to pray that God would refine our heart to be devoted to good works.  Also go out and look for opportunites to do good in the church and outside the church! I bet each of us will be blown away by what God does!