Archive - September, 2008

Things I’ve Been Reflecting ON 9.10.08

September 10, 2008 in Blog,My Life with 0 Comments

It’s been an absolutely insane 2 weeks! A lot of new seasons have started in my life and it will be a big season for making decisions and a lot of change.

New Youth Pastor - we’ve hired a new youth pastor! Pastor Nathan Hurst from New Orleans! He came to Rev 2 weeks ago and spoke and we got to hang out with him and his wife a while to get to know him. I am excited to sit under new leadership and see what I can learn, I’m excited that Rev is going to go to a new level, and I’m most excited to learn everything God has for me to learn this year through this new experience.

RMU Last Semester - I am finally in my last semester of college. I literally cannot wait until December! This has caused my Fall Schedule to be Insane!

Victory Bible Institute - I am starting my third year of Bible School…I can’t even believe that. It seems like Pastor Craig was just telling me they’d be starting it and now I’m in year 3. It’s been one of the most beneficial things I’ve ever done though!

Chicago Marathon - I’m literally a month away from running my first marathon! I’ve been training since March! That went so fast . . . it’s going to be tough, but I am excited to cross the finish line!

What’s Next? - Perhaps this has been the craziest thing I’ve been reflecting on. In the past 2 weeks, I’ve had situations come into my life that I’d thought would never be there and it’s just added to my phase of dreaming for the next 5 years of my life. I can’t believe I’m growing up… but here is what I know: God is big, He’ll lead me, and if I seek Him first, He will do super abundantly far above all I could dare ask, hope, or think in my life. (Eph. 3:20)

Messages Worth Listening To:

  • I started listening to 2 Keith Moore’s Series: One on Submission and One on Faithfulness. I would recommend them both as well. Especially for young leaders!


Love Never Fails

September 10, 2008 in Blog,leadership,Ministry with 1 Comment

“So Many People Want a Love they can Feel Instead of a Love that’s Real”
-Erwin McManus

This is an area that God has been teaching me a lot in. Love… I used to think love was when you feel all warm and toasty inside or when I felt good because of the way somebody treated or loved me. I would hear leaders and pastors constantly say that in every situation you need to ask the question, “What would love do?” and I’d think to myself, I know that! That makes sense! But I didn’t have a clue what real love was, I only knew what love on the basis of how I feel was.

I Cor. 3:1-3 basically says listen… I could own everything on the planet, I could have achieved more than any other human being on the planet, be more popular and influential than anyone on the planet, love what I see in the mirror, and yet if I don’t have love, I would have gained nothing. When I see things in that perspective I start to realize that if what I am doing with my life isn’t building the Kingdom of God and adding value to people, then ultimately it’s worthless. When I die, everything that wasn’t done in love and didn’t build the Kingdom of God will instantly burn up into a pile of ash before my eyes.

One of the greatest statements I’ve heard on love, I heard from Doug Jones. He said, “Love always does what is most beneficial for the other person.” I’m really coming to learn that Love is about giving yourself away. Laying down my wants, my desires, etc. in order to benefit another person. I like what Erwin McManus said, “Part of the product of Love is being aware of how our lives affects other people.”

Real love isn’t about me, what I can get out of something, how other people can make me feel.

Real love is about giving yourself away, laying down your desires to lift up somebody else’s, adding value to people regardless of whether or not you get anything in return… I could go on and on.

I constantly ask myself and encourage you to ask yourself:

  • Are you overly focused on yourself?
  • Do you treat people based on what they can do for you?
  • Am I doing whats most beneficial for the people I love the most in everything I act, do, and say?
  • What am I doing for the Kingdom of God and how will the way I treat this person impact their lives and their eternity

What would real love do?

5 Years Can Change Everything (Part 3)

September 8, 2008 in Blog,My Life with 0 Comments

So… We’ve covered where I was 5 years ago and what I’ve done over the past 5 years to get to where I am today. My final post will be where I’ll be in 5 years. When I got to thinking about this, I realized I am in this re-dreaming phase of my life. In all honesty, I can take a good shot at where I’ll be, but the verse is true that says, “many are the plans in a mans heart, but the Lord determines his steps.” I can’t tell you the number of plans I’ve made for myself and have seen a whopping none of them come to pass, but every time God has led me somewhere it’s been for my benefit and the most amazing experience. So the simple answer to where I’ll be is the cliche “wherever God leads me”. As far as my plans:

In 5 Years (I’ll be 28 Yikes!):
  1. I’d like to be married!
  2. Possibly have a kid on the way (imagine little Bubba’s! sweet!)
  3. I would have liked to have published one book
  4. I’d like to be the leader of a ministry (youth, college, adult… who knows!)
  5. Have my masters in Organizational Leadership

Just some thoughts… again… I’m in a re-dreaming phase where I’m really dreaming about the next 5 years of my life. Where will you be in 5 years? Are you dreaming? Get to it!

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