Monthly Archives: December 2008
A LooK Back and a Look Ahead….
As the new year approaches I am waxing nostalgic. I want to look back at the major things that happened.
A NEW JOB….ALMOST
It was very hard when I was offered a job after a year of searching and then being led on only to be
told that I wasn’t going to be hired after all. I cried a lot but in the end it was probably for the best
A NEW JOB
After all the drama that went on I found a job closer to home and made the big move to Greenville SC.
I will admit I was never as excited about this job as I was for the one in Charleston but I am beginning
to see a grand future here at Reedy Fork. God is slowly putting pieces in place and I can’t wait to see
what it looks like when done.
A NEW TOWN
I have NEVER lived anywhere but Rock Hill and it has been interesting living away from family and
friends. Challenging at times yes but also very freeing.
NEW SUCCESSES
I relish in blessings. I have had so many doors opened since I got here in Greenville. From Christian
Release time to Band Camps to Mentoring groups God just keeps expanding my influence. I went from
seeing 5 teenagers on our Wednesday night services to 20. I had 20 teens at my first Lock in I had 44
at the last. I am developing a Evangelism strategy that is drawing interest.
RENEWED LOVE
I rediscovered my Love for reading this past year. i have probably bought and read parts of close to
60 books this year. That doesn’t even count the Bible studies I have done. I had gone years without
reading much and wonder why I waited so long. I have to thank Tony Smith and Lee Clamp for the
words they shared with me in interviews back in 2007 that pushed me back into the habit of reading.
While all these are Good there are things I am eagerly anticipating in the new year.
A NEW PASTOR
It has been hard operating in a church with no pastor. The leadership that I have come so dependent
on is not there. Communication is lacking. People are disconnected. Church leadership is scattered. I
look forward to God bringing in a man to take us to the next level. One who is evangelistic, a visionary,
a Developer of people, is forward thinking but also who is a care giver and recognizes the value of
everyone person to the kingdom of God.
MORE GROWTH
I eagerly await the pouring out of God’s blessings as we begin to reach out to our community. I hope
to see lives being changed because of our church.
MORE BOOKS
I am hooked again and I have a reading list a mile long. I would actually like to finish some of the
books I have bought.
MORE FRIENDS
I am a people person and I am lacking some close friendships here in Greenville. I am praying for God
to bring another young family into our lives to have a friendship with. It would be good for me as well
as my wife.
2009 is going to be an awesome year I can feel it and I am sooooo ready for the Blessings God will pour out
An open letter to someone Codenamed: success
Dear Success,
I have watched from a distance as your life has unfolded over the past year. It was a life that early on held such promise for immediate greatness. Unfortunately that potential has not been reached. I have watched as you have become the antithesis of what I hoped you would become.
I thought you had made it you were one I thought really understood what we had worked so hard to achieve. You grabbed hold to the ideals that were proclaimed and seemingly made them your own. Alas it has not come to be as such. Quite oppositely you have taken the opportunity to spread your wings as a chance to abandoned the values I thought you held dear and become exactly what I hate the most.
I have watched so many of my friends become what you are now. Clinging to temporary pleasures and appeasing your fleshly desires. You a re now no more than a common fly resting in the place where you belong the least.
I cannot begin to express the pain that the disappointment has brought me over the previous months. I must confess that your actions have caused me to question if my life’s work really matters at all. I have wondered if it was worth the time effort and agony. I have wondered if maybe I should walk away. Surely there is something easier and more profitable that I could be doing.
Success you know I love you. You have been a treasure to me for many years. As time has passed our relationship has changed and I gladly and proudly call you friend. And it is for that reason alone that I have not boldly stood before you with the confrontation that I so badly want to present you with. I know that will simply end our friendship. That it will, at best, cause a rift that will last a long time.
Success I pray daily that you will realize the error of your ways. I have tried to release my mind from the circumstances that you so proudly boast about. I have tried to let go. I can not. It is not my nature.
And so I will continue to carry a burden in my heart. A brokenness that I cannot repair. With great anticipation I await the day when God brings you back to the place that I know you need to be. I can only hope this is a phase that it will pass but I know that once the devil has a hold it is difficult to get him to let go.
Success be careful. I am here for you. I still hold out hope that you will be a story of success. I desperately pray that I do not have to write to you under your new name…..Failure
Tis the Season
I have almost everything purchased for this Christmas. I am now in the busiest time of this season for me as school winds down and Christmas parties start up I am going to be on the go constantly for the next 12-14 days. I am looking forward to it but unfortunately it means I won’t get to blog as much ( if blogging any less is even at all possible) I hope you and yours have a great Christmas time and Look forward to next year.
Seriously ridiculous
Seriously Ridiculous was the Theme of the conference I attended a few weeks back. I have always been amazed at the difference of modern day religion and what the Bible actually speaks of. So I ram across this today and thought I would pass it along. I will warn you it contains some harsh language but it is insightful.
Not Nice
I found this to be a little unnecessary and unlike many of the comments I do not think just anyone would do something like that. I know I wouldn’t would you?
MAn time flies
This time of year is hectic and I havent had a chance to blog.
Some interesting things that I am carrying over from the last post.
I went to a couple of sessions with Brock Morgan as the speaker. I absolutely loved that guy he was very open and honest about the burden he had felt over what youth ministry has become in this country. He encouraged us to look at what we were doing and see if it actually was producing teenagers who were real Christians, real disciples as modeled in the New Testament. He floored me. He was able to express some things in words that were eating me in the pit of my stomach and I could not get out.
As a result of his lectures I have become more intent on getting deeply rooted in the school system. Not as an agenda to grow my “church” or “youth group” but as a way to actually change the world around me. But not only have I been more intent I have seen God opening doors. This past week while I was at the school for lunch I was asked to become part of a mentoring group. I attended and was able to spend some time with some guys that I could tell had some real problems they were facing. It was an incredible feeling. I cannot wait to see what God has in store.
