28 Days in Colossians – God is…

Our church is going through Colossians together and today is my day to write out our scripture verse that we are making part of our memory.  So here it goes…

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:9-10

This passage unfolds a true that we don’t need to look far into the universe for.  Many people are trying to figure out who God is and even ask themselves, does he really exist; and this passage plainly declares that Christ is the complete image of who God is to mankind.  There is no guess work involved!  When we see the compassion of Christ – we see that God is extending His love, when we see in scripture Christ stops to listen to man’s request – we see God is forever desiring to take care of all of our needs.  God is the one who is in control of everything and He gave Christ to us to show us that He is a personal God who will continue to use His power and authority through mankind.

This is practically is played out in our everyday life when we realize that though our world may fall apart, we still have peace because our economy and security is based on who God is, not on what happens to us.    Christ is…the complete image of the Godhead and is the head over every power and authority in our lives!  So therefore if our trust is in God who hears our cries and has plans to prosper us and not to harm us.  We have much hope!  Walk in His hope that He is with you and He is everything that you need in life!

 

Wii – Life Together

We have just started a new sermon series that we have entitled, “Wii – Life Together.”  One of the main ideas were “You hold the key to relationships.”  Healthy relationships don’t just happen, we must take an active role in cultivating healthy relationships.

Since I have been working at TrueLife and also at UNC Healthcare I have been away from my little ladies – Sam and Hannah in the evenings.  So this past Friday we had a late night family movie night.  It was so exciting to watch both of the girl’s excitement build as they anticipated staying up late with their dad on a Friday night.  (They probably were more excited about being able to stay up until midnight.)  The night was full of memories and the next day we did sleep in, which was great.

It would be so easy to passively live life and go through the motions of working and coming home, but there are times when we need to take steps to create memories in our relationships.  We must think of ways to interact and make live life together with those we love.  Whether it is a movie night or a special day at the park with your family.  Healthy relationships don’t just happen, we cultivate them.

The Original March Madness

TrueLife has been going through a message series that we have just finished, “The Original March Madness!”  It was a great series.  As I was thinking through the series,  I was thinking what were some key thoughts that have been communicated.

#1  TLC Core Value:  “You can belong before you believe.”  You can be part of community and experience the love of Christ through the Church before you commit your life to Christ.  What I love about this core value is that Jimmy Long has said in his book Generating Hope that there will be two conversations for the postmodern.  A conversion of community and then a conversion to God.  Our core value opens the door to reaching the postmodern generation.

#2  “Chasing the miracle moment instead of experiencing the miraclous life.?  We meet a lot of people chasing after a miracle moment instead of expecting God to work through our lives everyday.  The miraculous life is being a source of encouragement to those who are in dispair, it is praying and believing that God is with us and working out the details in our life that are beyond our control.  The miraclous life is allowing Christ to be part of our life everyday.

#3 God has called us to share our life with others and to not to live life alone.  I really believe that we cannot make it the long haul with our journey to follow Christ without joining with the community of believers and being involved in each others life.  I need you just as much as you need me.  I think it is key to point out that being involved with other believers means that we share what God is doing in our lives and also extending to others support and exceptance.

I know in the series other things stand out like: being pentecostal – which means to be in community, be inclusive and live missional lives, but my real question goes out to other TrueLifers:

– What stands out in your mind as we went through The Original March Madness?

– Second, Do you have any stories of what has happened in your life through the series?

Tagged Self-Disclosure

I was tagged by Ryan Day to participate in the following exercise in self-disclosure.

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself.
3. Tag random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

Here are my 7 things about me… We might want to call this 7 random facts about me….

1.  I met my wife Jennifer at Southeastern University – Lakeland, FL and was married at her home church in Columbus, GA in 1995.  Yes I married a southern girl!  Since then, we have had two beautiful children.  Samantha (8) and Hannah (6-who believes that she is 16.) A common side effect of youth ministry.

2. I have been in ministry since age 17.  When I was in high school I led worship for our junior high ministry in my home church in Sarasota, FL and was highly involved in multiple ministry opportunities.  What is interesting about that is Chris Connell who is our Associate Pastor at my current church where I am working was the junior high Pastor.  Who would have thought we would have crossed paths later in my life? 

3.  I love being with my wife and children.  There is nothing better in life then hanging out with my family over a good southern cooked meal and just being together.  I really  enjoy how our family can make each other laugh and just have fun with life.

4. My whole married life I have had a sibling or relative live in my house.  Right after I was married my middle brother came to live with us after having some difficulties as a teenager and after he finished high school he joined the military.  Not long after this my wife’s father passed away and her mother became chronically ill and has lived with us since then.  Currently my youngest brother, along with mother in law lives with us.  

5. I am an Associate Youth Pastor currently.  I basically take care of all the programing and oversee all the ministries within our department.  I also do a lot of the design stuff for our ministry.  I create t-shirts, brochures, logos, and anything else that we need.  I also lead worship for our ministry and give direct oversight to our small groups.  All I can say is fun! 

6.  I am a coffee consumer!  I originally started drinking coffee when I was a teenager.  I went to a dinner with my Uncle Allen and he got me hooked!  Since my addiction I have consumed massive amounts of Starbucks, Caribou and Fair Trade coffee- Larry’s Beans.  I enjoy collecting coffee from around the world.  My favorite coffee blend so far is from Ecuador and from the Galapagos Islands. 

7.   I am the most unique person I have ever met.  I am analytical, creative, relational – at times shy and withdrawn, musical, friendly, I am passionate – about life and God, a leader and humbly down to earth – about life and religion, I am authentic, genuine and yet complex at times because of my analytical mind, I am fun, realistic, romantic – at least my wife thinks so…. and I love to help people succeed at life, I am a good friend. 

I tagged Mark Carr, Micheal Moss, Paul Jenkins, James Halfhill