HAIR UPDATE

The summer cut. Well my hair is now gone. I think I like this.

A WORLD GONE MAD

I am leaving for Rwanda soon. Two months I will be gone in a new culture amongst a whole other people I am quite unfamiliar with though experienced from afar. I am as ready as you can be. I am blessed to experience what I will be experiencing, though even that as of this moment is uncertain. Fearful, not really, more so simply anxious to jump in.

Africa. What comes to mind. Well for me I think of one word, huge. Huge for more than the obvious fact that it is the largets continent in the world. I think of the huge and quite overwhelming humanitarian crises affecting the large majority of the continent. I think of the huge diseases killing off entire villages and regions, malaria and HIV/AIDS only to name two. I think of the huge numbers of people who go days on end without a meal to fill their stomachs. I think of the huge numbers of those who are daily affected by corrupt leadership. I think of the huge numbers of those who have not been afforded a basic education. And then I think what in the world can I ever do to make even a dent in any one of these huge crises.

I would not say I am realist, I fall much more in favor of being an optimist. Yet I face moments where it is hard to look in the face of these giants slaying millions upon millions without saying we don't stand a chance. However, these are only moments. God has entrusted me with such a great responsibility as he has with all who are playing an active role in taking on these giants affecting humanity, to not back down. Backing down would be to promote injustice. I have been called as has the church of Jesus Christ to act upon the heart of God, to love. To forsake, the widow, the orphan, the poor, the destitute and the sick both spiritually and physically would be to forsake the heart of God.

In Proverbs 31 King Lemuel writes, reminding himself of what he was taught as a child.

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Indeed Lemuel was a king in his day. He was a minister of God, as are all of those who have been entrusted in government positions, to administer justice. It would be easy to write this off and say well I am not a king or a judge. Indeed. Yet, are we not all kings in a certain right? At creation God entrusted humanity with the responsbility of ruling over all creation (Genesis 1). I would take this to include you and me not matter what position the world may categorizes you in. All sons and daughters of God are ministers, little kings in service to our King. All sons and daughters of God follower of Christ or not. For he uses even the most wicked to carry out his purposes in the world.

Yet more so, as followers of Christ, we have been entrusted to uphold His decrees, His commands, and His heart in a world horribly gone wrong. In a world in whom all have been infected by a global killer present from the first age to the present, sin. Part of our responsibility as followers of Christ is to be those defenders for the destitute, the poor, and the needy. We are to be a voice. Yet more than a voice, we are to be ministers driven by love. Love is the root from which all action must grow. Why do I choose to act? Why do I choose to go against impossible odds and take on these global giants? Because I am a minister of God who has been called to love.

Thus, Africa what can I do?

I can go.

I can act.

I can love.

And hopefully in those moments God gives me there I can make an impact on one community or even just one person whom God will raise up to embrace God's destiny for their lives. Change occurs when people rise up and embrace what God destined them to be. It is destiny not earned but destiny given. When people discover what their real purpose in life is, their unique destiny, the world will be shaken. This may take a lifetime for some. But in its discovery, life, true aliveness will be experienced. Our unique purposes and destinies in life each serve a higher cause and purpose. They fit together into a giant mosaic to create one beautiful picture, one beautiful outcome.

Do not sit idol in this world gone mad. Embrace your destiny and become. Be a minister of action driven by love.

A VOYAGE

Weary and broken
Parched by a familiar thirst
This voyage has left you awoken.
Though your heart feels as if it will burst
You must jump in headfirst.

Stop and do not move.
Breath in this moment, now in this second
What do you have to prove?
Your soul has been beckoned.
The time has come to be reckoned

Have you forgot?
If you stay numb
Your heart will rot.
Leave this slum
Humble yourself and succumb.

The ship you sailed is broken.
It’s ok to not understand
But don’t be fooled He has spoken.
He has issued the command,
You are not far from dry land.

Mighty winds have kept your sails low
Trust, you are in good hands.
Fall and let go
Though you feel He misunderstands.
Look, in the distance are the sands.

REST

A common theme of life we can all relate with is difficulty. Life is hard. We all face certain demands manifested in a varity of ways. We get stuck in routines that for the most part drain us more than they bring rest to the soul. We face tough circumstances and are faced with the demands of making difficult decisions. We forget to hydrate ourselves as we walk through the dry deserts life often brings us through. We lose our bearings and navigating these deserts becomes quite difficult. This takes such a heavy toll on our souls. Our hearts become pressed and restlessness enters in. We fantsize of rest and peace, yet, for some reason we forget how to obtain it.

Rest. O the beauty of rest. How we long for it. I am not simply refering to the rest of our physical bodies but the rest of our soul which I have found brings even physical rest. When was the last time you experienced this kind of rest? God brought me to a place of rest this last weekend. What a gift it was.

I went to San Antonio to be apart of the wedding of one of my closest friends. Wednesday I departed from Orange County and went back to a familiar place, the place of my upbringing, the Texas Hill Country. I saw old friends yet was able to meet new ones. Leaving California I asked my Father to let this weekend simply be a weekend of rest. I found that rest there in Central Texas. Finding and experiencing that rest did not necessarily involve secluding myself but by being around a community of people who love me and I them. I was able to leave behind the tail end of some of the battles I have been walking through here in California, that have indeed taken there toll upon my heart. I was able to simply be removed for at least a weekend. Through beautiful conversations and God orchestrated moments I found rest in my soul. Praise God!

Rest comes in a variety of ways. It may mean turning off your cell phone or ceasing from checking email just to remove yourself, even for a moment, from some of the demands in life. This is good and well needed. I have been reminded through this weekend that even in the battles and difficulties that life can bring before me that removing myself, not out of neglegence but simply out of necessity rest will come and enable me to better navigate through the deserts.

Remove yourself, stop and enjoy the beautiful moments that our Father will bring us into if only we will allow him to do so.

Beautiful rest come and breathe life into this weary soul!

A CONVERSTATION WITH GRACE

Beautiful redemption,
Have you come to rescue me? My chains held me tight at past dusk. The night was long and dark. I remember crying out to you, though even this seems so distant. Yet, my wrists bare only the scars of my captivity. My mind is restored to its youthful innocence. I awoke in the beauty of your peace my chains left undone. Yes sweet redemption it was you! It is only you who gives me that which I cannot obtain. It is you who pull me up. It is you who lift me out of the pit of my despair.

Son,
You stood last night stuck in between a decision. In the moment of your choosing I cried out to you, yet you chose to harden your heart. You chose to drink from that beautifully disguised cup of ashes. As you lifted the cup to your lips those familiar chains quickly wrapped themselves around your arms. It was to late. A moments anger filled me. I asked, "Why, why does he keep rejecting the invitation to my banqueting table over a cup of ashes!?" Yet, it was only a moment. I cannot quickly forget the price that was paid to release those bonds that entrapped you. A moment later you cried out in the realization that your decision led to your captivity. I came to you, clothed you, unchained your arms, and filled you with the peace of forgiveness. Child it is true your sin has been blotted out. You are forgiven!

ORIGINS

I headed up to Pasadena, CA Monday through Wednesday this week for a Church Leadership Conference. It was an incredible time to hang out and have fun with some of the other interns at Saddleback and our leaders as well as learn from an incredible church community doing some amazing things in the Los Angelos area.

Annie and Me at Starbucks
Jesus served us our coffee Tuesday morning

Went to see the Dodgers Tuesday night

Annie and Elizabeth at Dodger Stadium

The crew at the 7th stretch

IN THE NAME OF LOVE

I am guilty.

I have lost my bearings amidst what can become the task filled world of the church.

I am wrestling with not making ministry a task but rather a service driven by love.

I have allowed myself to tread down a path that has lead me to activiate a wrong perspective of what it is to be a part of the body of Christ. What does it mean to be an active member or part of the body of Christ? Do not be confused by apart and a part. Indeed I am apart of the body of Christ yet I am also an active part. The former recognizes ones membership in the orginization while the latter indicates ones role in the orginization. Thus I am not focusing here on what it means to be apart but a part. Indeed I am a member, a part, a piece of the body of Christ. Each part has a symphonic role that when working with the whole compliments all the roles resulting in beautiful and unique compositions of love. This is the body of Christ, individual musicians commissioned to play according to their unique giftedness as a unified symphony.

The Lord has helped me discover a sobering reality. I am not being an active part operating effectively for the whole. If one part is not working well then the whole will not operate to its fullest potential. What am I talking about then, where does this task thing enter into the picture?

I have a tendency to make ministry the accomplishment of a series of tasks and not well, ministry. To be doing ministry to me is simply loving on those who need to be loved. I have discovered this to be the greatest difficulty I face in full time ministry. I have allowed myself to sit and accomplish a series of tasks that indeed contribute to the overall ministry of my church community to the outside community. Yet, by doing this I excuse myself from personally ministering to that outside community. I sit behind the ministry helping equip it to minister effectively, yet I am not out doing that ministry. I in turn develop an excuse to doing nothing at all. I believe there is a difference between contributing to the administration of the ministry of the whole and ministering along with the whole. Indeed the administration part is needed, yet for that to become the only part of the ministry that you involve yourself in you qucikly forget what ministering is all about.

Ministry is more than sitting in the office, going to meetings, writing out strategies, doing things, etc. These are only tasks that left to themselves can blindly be substitued for doing the action of service driven by love. No you are not doing the ministry, you are in essence simply planning the action of the ministry. I see ministry as an action that takes away the attention of serving your own needs and focuses them on serving the needs of those in need.

I have already been and will probably forever be labled as a minister of the gospel, simply because I will be in a leadership role at the church. I can't get around it this is just how things are. However, I am beginning to conclude that I don't really like this label, minister.

I often chuckle inside when I hear the phrase, "Well this is my ministry," as that individual sits down folding letters for one of the churches ministries. I hear all the time, "I am in the ministry", or "I am a minister", or "I did ministry this weekend." I am realizing that I am getting sick of this word. Maybe because I am not seeing the heart of what ministry is by those who say that they are doing it, this especially includes myself, especially.

What does it mean to minister, to do ministry, or to be ministering. Is folding a letter ministry? Is counting a tithe ministry? More generically is volunterring your time and accomplishing a task ministy? Part of me wants to think not. I tend to think of ministry as for example spending time with the poor or one infected with HIV, feeding the homeless, or taking an under priviliged kid to an Angels or Ducks game. I would like to think that ministry is serving the needs of others both inside and outside of your church community driven by nothing more than love.

The word ministry in its truest form is simply an act of service. Thus, another part of me recognizes that ministry is nothing more than service and indeed folding a letter for a certain ministry, counting the tithes, or shuttling people from the parking lot to the worship center is ministry. It is a place to serve. Anyone can serve, yet here is where the dilema I seem to be facing surfaces. What is driving you to do this service, what is the heart of it? Is this service accomplished to simply get something done, or to make yourself feel good or are you doing it with a heart that centers itself on a selfless love. For the heart of true service is nothing more than love. Serving is laying down your needs and acting into anothers needs, whatever it may be. Both outside and within the walls of the church there exists a hundred different oppurtunities to serve desperate needs in the name of love and in the name of Jesus Christ. I think what it comes down to is that I am not on the frontlines of service, doing those service projects that affect people in big ways.

Let us move beyond our walls. Let our blind eyes have their site restored to the needs amoungnst us. Let us dive into action driven by love.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

The last several days have been refreshing. I had the chance to return home for a brief...very brief visit to be in the wedding of a close friend. My time home served me in three ways...great sleep on my wonderful bed, a place to decompress and be refreshed through great company and converstation and finally confirmation that NWA is not where I am to be at this season in my life.

I am blessed. Blessed in so many ways. I was driving down 540 the other night returning to my house after a night out with the guys and I can't tell you how much joy came over me during that drive home. It was like a waterfall of happiness was released. God has been so faithful to place incredible friendships in my life. These guys and girls are my rocks. How fruitless and unabundant life would be without friends who stick closer than a brother.

I am also blessed to have a safe place to hide when it is time to retreat and decompress from the hustle. My home is a safe place. I have two rocks in that home whom I can fall on and know everything will be ok when the storm rages on.

Home I have realized is not simply a geogrpahic location but it is a community made up of your friends and family. So no matter how many times that geogrpahic location may change my home, as the old saying goes, is where the heart is.