In sickness and in health

I've been the groom in one wedding, the best man in one wedding, a groomsman in several weddings, an officiant at multiple weddings, and an attender at tons of weddings. In most all of these ceremonies, the bride & groom made a commitment of love to one another for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. Each time they said it there was a huge smile on their face and they were absolutely confident that they would extend love and grace to their spouse in the face of health challenges.

However, it's unfortunate that we had to make these promises before we ever have to hold a vomit bucket for our lovely bride. It's a very sobering experience to watch the person you love the most face health challenges. I can't even imagine what it's like for a spouse to love their partner through life's final days. I have HUGE admiration for those people.

Currently Bonnie has "the stomach bug" and she's not feeling good at all. I really feel for her. I HATE having a stomach bug. It's so painful.

So, I'm just praying that I'll be the faithful husband that I promised I'd be in 1992 with my sweet white rented tux. She is surely worth it!

Smart or Wise?

I've spent much of my life acquiring intelligence through formal education. I started kindergarten when I was 5 years old and I finished my graduate degree about a month before my 29th birthday. I only took off 1 year during this time. I've been through 3 different graduation ceremonies, read countless books, and written more bad papers than you would care to read.

Yet recently I've stumbled across the book of Proverbs again. This simple book of ancient Hebrew poetry. These writings are simply stuffed full of life-changing principles.

I'm not sure what the cumulative effect will be of my formal education when my life is over, but I'm very confident that soaking up the truth of Proverbs and courageously living out those principles of wisdom will keep me from a life of regrets. This is what I want most. I want to end my days and look back on a life filled with decisions that I'd do again if I could.

Prov 2.12 - wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men
Prov 2.16 - it will save you from the adulteress

Boo Boos

In the last 2 days my youngest son (5 yrs old) has been fairly significantly injured twice. He first dropped a pretty heavy item on his toe and it essentially popped off the toenail. This was a really dramatic and painful experience. Then today he was standing on a stool to put something up and slipped, only to bump his chin on the counter-top and bite his tongue really hard. Needless to say, lots of bleeding and crying (for the whole family).

I'm sure every parent could say this, but I HATE WHEN MY CHILDREN GET HURT!!!!! It breaks my heart to see them in pain.

Ocasionally when I have these parental moments, I think about God. I think about what a pitiful, selfish, and insensitive father I am in comparison to my heavenly Father. It's so hard for me to picture this, but my Father loves me tons more than I love my precious, soft, wonderful son. I really can't fathom that He would love me that much.

Why is that so hard for me? Why is it so hard for me to mentally or emotionally grasp God's amazing love for me? I feel like it would revolutionize my life if I could live with a consistent emotional understanding of His love. I feel like I'd be full of such joy and contentment. I feel like my life would be so quicly rid of the things I do in search for life. I spend so much of my time and energy searching for life, fulfillment, and satisfaction. But if my heart were full of the amazing love God has for me, I'm sure I would be set free of this pursuit.

So, the age old question persists, "Why doesn't God help us experience this love on an emotional level consistently?" And the only answer I have at this point is that He wants me to trust Him that His love is true whether I feel it or not. He wants me to take Him at His word. His love is a proven historical fact. He loved me so much that He gave His Son for me (and you!). He also says that one day He will bring me to a place where this love is the constant reality of my existance. Wow! I can't wait to be there!!!

Logged In!!!

Well it's official. Our family is officially logged in to the Chinese Center for Adoption Afairs. The ball is now fully in their court. They can accept us or reject us during this waiting process. It's just another reminder that we're not in control of life. We have worked realy hard and paid a lot of money, but we may still not get a daughter.

They are saying that the typical wait at this point is 14 - 18 months, which would put is in the summer/fall of 2008. This is when the Olympics will be in Bejing as well. It would be intriguing if they overlap. At least there will be a lot of the world's attention on China at that time.

Bonnie & I have each read a book on Chinese adoption and feel like our hearts are getting more and more ready.

Easter In The Theater

We're excited about the opportunity we have to worship together this Easter at The Classic Center in downtown Athens. Even though a good number of students go home for the weekend, it will be a lot of fun to be all together for one celebration service. The Classic Center is a beautiful facility in the heart of our city.

We'll be enjoying the baptism of one of my friends as well. It will be fun to hear his story and watch him "go public" with his faith in Jesus.

if you're in town, we'd love to have you join us at 11am on April 8th. It will be a lot of fun!

Preparing My Heart

I'm reading a book called "The Lost Daughters of China." It's a great book written by a lady who adopted a little girl from China. God is really using it to move my heart and help me better understand the adoption process. I really don't know how all of this is impacting my life right now, but I know it's lingering in the back of my mind at all times. There is so much about this journey that I don't really understand. I've zealously stepped into this adventure and I really don't know what it all means. Either way, I sense that God has led us to do this beautiful thing and I know it's going to be a huge blessing to our family. It's going to stretch us in some great ways. I know it will be life-changing for one special little girl named Ellie.

5 Things God Uses

We're starting a new series tomorrow called "IGNITE." The big idea of the series is this, "More than anything, God wants us to trust Him, so He's committed to helping grow our faith." Through the years we have observed at least 5 things God uses to help grow our faith. We're going to spend a week discussing each of them. We call them the 5 faith catalysts and they are:
Providential Relationships
Pivotal Circumstances
Private Disciplines
Practical Bible Teaching
Personal Ministry
I pray this series will be a key time in the life of our church for our faith to grow in individually and corporately. I long for us to be a people who greatly trust our great God!

My Anxious Thoughts

One of the great temptations in my life is to live in fear. This could be in any are of my life – the safety of my children, whether or not people will follow my leadership, my communication opportunities, my financial future, my health, etc. I daily sense the fear of “life going wrong” creeping up in my thoughts. The desire of the temptation is to dominate me and my day. This has surely happened at times, and when it does I’m no good. I’m impatient, judgmental, critical, and I live with no energy in life. I’m exhausted when I live like this. I can’t enjoy things and I rarely smile. My life feels heavy.

So, on a moment by moment basis I have to fight the temptation to worry unless I want to be dominated by it. Actually I’m of the impression that fear is the great enemy of faith. I know that my life is totally different when I’m living with faith. Not necessarily faith that everything will work out the way I want (I’ve lived enough life to know this isn’t a realistic hope. Rather, faith that God is enough for me and will sustain me no matter what life throws my way.

I came across this passage again recently and it is a prayer I want to keep on the tip of my tongue. Psalm 139.23 – Search me O God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me in the path of everlasting life.

This is how I want to live my life and I really believe it’s the abundant life that Jesus came to offer (John 10). Jesus actually commanded us to not be anxious about anything. Worry and anxiety scream out at God, “You can’t take care of me!” But this is so far from the truth. I know God is more than able to sustain me through any set of circumstances. He doesn’t delight in my experiencing pain or discomfort. As a matter of fact, one day He has vowed to remove it all (Rev 21.4).

So, if you’re looking for a way to pray for me (and I’m sure you are :-); you can pray that I will continue to make the decisions moment by moment to trust that God is enough for me and to walk in His joy!

Banner Ads

We have just added banner ads to our site to help people invite friends. Here is the link to that part of our site and a sample banner ad - http://www.athenschurch.com/pause_ads.asp

Perfect People

When we moved to Athens our heart's passion was to start a church which would help spiritual seekers find the Truth. The goal was not to start a church that would only draw people from other churches. Our goal was not to reach discontent churched people, however this is what often happens with a new church. People are often very willing to leave their current church to try something new. This has more to do with the dysfunctional nature of churches than anything else.

We're now almost 2 years into this journey and I think we still have a long ways to go when it comes to reaching unchurched people. God has been very gracious to us thus far - we have grown numerically and financially. We have some amazing people who attend Athens Church and I'm honored to serve with them. I just know we have so much more potential in the arena of creating an environment for people who don't yet know Jesus. There is such a great need in this city. There are thousands and thousands of people who don't know that God really loves them and wants a wonderful life for them.

I'm currently reading a book by John Burke called "No Perfect People Allowed." It's a compilation of stories of what God is doing in their church (Gateway Community Church) in Austin, TX. The title of this blog is a link to this book on Amazon. So far, I think this book is INCREDIBLE! I've been so encouraged by what God is doing among this courageous group of people. It's given me even more hope and vision to create an environment for the unchurched.

If you're looking for a way to pray for me and/or Athens Church please pray that we will create the optimal environment for those who are seeking the Truth to find Him.