A spider danced across my windshield yesterday, I fought the urge to turn on the windshield wipers.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
The Deep End
I grew up in the pool. I think my mom had me in the water everyday or in the river. I was swimming by about age 3. I have distinct memories of the middle of our pool. We had an above ground pool. My dad wanted to make it deeper so we dug out the middle of it to make it deeper. It was shallow around the outside, but on the inside, it was about 2 feet deeper. At a good game of marco polo, u always knew where you were when your nose would start to snort water. We also spent a lot of time at our neighbors. They had an in-ground pool with a distinct shallow and deep end. Those were the good ol days, playing in the pool, then eating ice-cream sandwiches and hot dogs. MMMM.
I feel like I'm in the shallow end of a pool of all black water. Something is pulling me to the deep end and I can't see a thing. I can't even see my feet in the shallow end, much less what it will be like in the deep end.
I guess I've said before that I don't really know where I fit in. I don't feel called to be part of "normal church" as we know it. I went to hear a guy speak this weekend and I think it has revolutionized my heart. His name is Wolfgang Simson. He's a German church planter and has been all over the world planting churches and teaching people. His talks blew my mind. The purprose of his message was to get back to authentic worship and the type of church that Acts speaks about. A place where people share, don't gossip, sell things to pay bills, give away life, and eat together. Most of church today does not have a "real" look or feel to it. We go meet at a certain time, get out fill, then leave. Most leave unchanged. The focus of the church has been to get people to church. Pack the place out. And if it gets too big, build a bigger building. The focus is not on taking the church to people. Meaning, believers being trained and discipled, and going out into the world and showing them church. Wolfgang spoke a lot about what it will take to have this real fellowship and to take the church to the world. It's in the form of a house church. A place where people come together, eat real food, eat the Word, sing, confess sins to each other, and grow. The home is a place where you cannot hide your life. It's easy to hide our lives behind a pulpit. The first church I ever spoke at was interesting. I walked in the door and nobody in there knew who I was. It was awesome. They didn't treat me special because I was the guy speaking, they didn't know who I was. For all they knew, I was a stranger come in from the street. I could have been anyone to those people. I could have spoke about things that I do not live. I could share a life that I don't have. The same is true of many pastors. Most members will never share a meal with their pastor, will never see him interact with his family, or will never see how he handles his finances. It's a very personal thing to eat with someone in their home. You can see their dvds, you can see their books, you see how organized their life is. There is no way to hide! How scary! I think it frightens me sometimes if people get too close to my life. Am I scared that they may find something that would cause them to not like me? Who knows. I'm thinking through a lot of these things and just wondering what it will take to reach people like in the book of Acts. Church growth is not adding people from other churches, it's adding new people to the Kingdom. The growth that existed in Acts was new converts. Thousands, daily. Where do you put these people? Could they have built these buildings fast enough? Most of these people went to house churches. The branched off and would come back together and meet as a whole.
What does a house church look like? It's a place where a person or family opens their home to people. They share a meal together, study and read the Word together. And not only read together, but talk about how the words they read are going to change their lives. How is the Bible going to transform me? How is it transforming me? The last thing Wolf said was that they would gather around and pray. They would go in a circle and encourage each other, maybe in something from the Lord, maybe with just a verse, but something to spur one another on. We practiced this at our table in a room of about 50 people. Tables were about 6-7 a piece. The guy who said something to me did not know me. But he spoke directly to me. How could someone do that? I say God. He spoke about something that pertained only to me that day I felt like. A morsel of food God sent to keep me hungry again. Man what a crazy day it was. It feels so good to know when God is at work again. To know that He has not given up on you and He still wants to use you. I still am clueless about so many things, so many things, and so many things. But I do know that God is still God, He's the same one forever and ever.
I am so far behind in what I am to do, but I feel like I have more direction, that's now enough for me. I know the director and he's still moving His hands at the right part of the song. I can wait.
On a side note, Columbia was awesome this weekend and a win over Carolina was good. More importantly was to see Jason's life group in action. It's neat to see a bunch of strangers come together in Jesus' name. They were super awesome and so fun to be around. I really believe God is about to do some really crazy things around the Columbia area that could have implications in other places. I love to see people think radically outside the box about God. The craziest things can happen. I love crazy things.
I feel like I'm in the shallow end of a pool of all black water. Something is pulling me to the deep end and I can't see a thing. I can't even see my feet in the shallow end, much less what it will be like in the deep end.
I guess I've said before that I don't really know where I fit in. I don't feel called to be part of "normal church" as we know it. I went to hear a guy speak this weekend and I think it has revolutionized my heart. His name is Wolfgang Simson. He's a German church planter and has been all over the world planting churches and teaching people. His talks blew my mind. The purprose of his message was to get back to authentic worship and the type of church that Acts speaks about. A place where people share, don't gossip, sell things to pay bills, give away life, and eat together. Most of church today does not have a "real" look or feel to it. We go meet at a certain time, get out fill, then leave. Most leave unchanged. The focus of the church has been to get people to church. Pack the place out. And if it gets too big, build a bigger building. The focus is not on taking the church to people. Meaning, believers being trained and discipled, and going out into the world and showing them church. Wolfgang spoke a lot about what it will take to have this real fellowship and to take the church to the world. It's in the form of a house church. A place where people come together, eat real food, eat the Word, sing, confess sins to each other, and grow. The home is a place where you cannot hide your life. It's easy to hide our lives behind a pulpit. The first church I ever spoke at was interesting. I walked in the door and nobody in there knew who I was. It was awesome. They didn't treat me special because I was the guy speaking, they didn't know who I was. For all they knew, I was a stranger come in from the street. I could have been anyone to those people. I could have spoke about things that I do not live. I could share a life that I don't have. The same is true of many pastors. Most members will never share a meal with their pastor, will never see him interact with his family, or will never see how he handles his finances. It's a very personal thing to eat with someone in their home. You can see their dvds, you can see their books, you see how organized their life is. There is no way to hide! How scary! I think it frightens me sometimes if people get too close to my life. Am I scared that they may find something that would cause them to not like me? Who knows. I'm thinking through a lot of these things and just wondering what it will take to reach people like in the book of Acts. Church growth is not adding people from other churches, it's adding new people to the Kingdom. The growth that existed in Acts was new converts. Thousands, daily. Where do you put these people? Could they have built these buildings fast enough? Most of these people went to house churches. The branched off and would come back together and meet as a whole.
What does a house church look like? It's a place where a person or family opens their home to people. They share a meal together, study and read the Word together. And not only read together, but talk about how the words they read are going to change their lives. How is the Bible going to transform me? How is it transforming me? The last thing Wolf said was that they would gather around and pray. They would go in a circle and encourage each other, maybe in something from the Lord, maybe with just a verse, but something to spur one another on. We practiced this at our table in a room of about 50 people. Tables were about 6-7 a piece. The guy who said something to me did not know me. But he spoke directly to me. How could someone do that? I say God. He spoke about something that pertained only to me that day I felt like. A morsel of food God sent to keep me hungry again. Man what a crazy day it was. It feels so good to know when God is at work again. To know that He has not given up on you and He still wants to use you. I still am clueless about so many things, so many things, and so many things. But I do know that God is still God, He's the same one forever and ever.
I am so far behind in what I am to do, but I feel like I have more direction, that's now enough for me. I know the director and he's still moving His hands at the right part of the song. I can wait.
On a side note, Columbia was awesome this weekend and a win over Carolina was good. More importantly was to see Jason's life group in action. It's neat to see a bunch of strangers come together in Jesus' name. They were super awesome and so fun to be around. I really believe God is about to do some really crazy things around the Columbia area that could have implications in other places. I love to see people think radically outside the box about God. The craziest things can happen. I love crazy things.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Dillon Strikes Again
After the wonderful victory over the University of Chicken, Dillon's own Shipp Daniel makes the cover.
On a side note, I do believe that the gamecock crow is going to be the siren that is played over and over in Hell.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Good conversation
I really like to listen to a guy name Todd Friel. He is controversial and really makes people think. Some of you might like to listen to this.
Todd Friel talking to high school kids.
Todd Friel talking to high school kids.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
More than this
Times are going fast and life has passed me. I'm just trying to catch up, hang on, etc. So officially a homeowner! Exciting times ahead. We settled everything yesterday and finally closed on the house. I left feeling a little disillusioned. I was excited but there was something else I was feeling. It took me a few hours to really feel what it was. I think partly it was the fact that well..."wow, that was a lot of money." But I don't even think it was the money, I think a big part of the feelings was the thought that I have committed to something big. I think commitment really sobers you up from the fast pace of life. The other thing I have been feeling lately is that I have let life run over me. I let it. God made our days for something bigger than having a good job, money, friends, and a mortgage. There is something in me right now that says something big is on the horizon. Ever feel like that? I never really feel anxious about anything. I really think that God has blessed me in that area. I never worry. I have a good life. Somewhere in the past year, I have made a provision for life to pass me. Scripture speaks of not giving the devil a foothold in your life and not making a provision for your flesh. Mainly it's speaking about lust and the things of the body, but you can apply that to so many other things in your life. I think most of my past year, I've just let the world and surrounding dictate what I do on a daily basis. I haven't grabbed my days by the horn and done something that I really wanted to do. None of this probably makes sense, and that's okay, because my blog is therapeutic for me. Right now, I just feel like something is just around the corner in my life that is going to be crazily good and from above. I've had so many thoughts lately about big things that I want to do with my spare time right now. I don't have everything sorted out and a true direction, but I do have some baby steps. I will take them. I want to do something that has some eternal impact. We think so small, I know I do. We believe that...all the big things in the faith must be done by people blessed with organization, money, time, smarts, or many other excuses. That's crap and from below.
I've been thinking about a lot of other crazy things too. Ever really wonder why you are the way you are? Were you born that way? Did your social conditions do the most to shape you? If you look at my left ear, it def. sticks out more than my right ear. Anyway. I didn't get serious about living for the Lord until probably my senior summer of high school. I think that's when the Lord really started working in and around me. I began to read my Bible and just grew. I didn't listen to sermons, I didn't read Christian books. I didn't wear a Jesus bracelet. I would just read. I wanted to go to school in the Navy, but ended up being color-blind so I had to sit home a semester before starting Clemson. I would just read every single night. If I would fall asleep, God would wake me up and instantly, I would start reading. I was disciplined. It was a good time of growth, real good. I have never been directly involved in a church. I've always been on the outside looking in. I just never really felt like it was my place or that I didn't really belong there. These are feelings that I am sorting out. I've been apart of churches, helped in their ministry, and done things behind the scenes but I just have never really had this deep desire to be involved in one church. Something in me these days is telling me that I prob. won't ever be. I'm always going to be on the outside and roaming around. I don't know what that looks like yet or where it will go, it's just what I feel and have felt for a long time. I do not believe that everyone is called to that type of life. For most people, it might be harmful. But for me, I do well having people around me that are good and from above, friends that care about the Lord more than themselves, for the most part. Wow, we struggle there. I raise my hand first. I'm the worst. Back to church, I feel like God is leading me to something that will help glue churches together and make it where we will care about souls. Somewhere in our growth, the church seems to have forgotten about the souls of people. We forgot that Hell really does exist and people will go there. Do we care about the lost? Think about all the books that are out right now. They all seemed to be focused on what God can do for us and how our lives can be complete. Does this bother anyone? This life is not about us. In Philemon, Paul was writing to this small church that was meeting. He really loved them and wanted to encourage them because he heard good things about their faith. He tells them in verse 6..."I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of everything good thing we have in Christ" How do we REALLY know what we have until we explain it to someone. Man, that's good. I miss opportunities all the time to share my faith, but as soon as you finally share with someone, there is no feeling quite like that. It encourages every part of you and the people around you. Christianity isn't just about witnessing to people, it's about exciting and refreshing the hearts of people around you.
It seems that most of today's modern churches have an inward focus. I know, right now, of one church that does evangelism training. One. I think most churches really believe the sign out front that says..."Walmart, it's not the only saving place" is their evangelism. We are missing it. This world is not going to be reached by just inviting people to church. That is not the heart of what Jesus taught. I'm not saying it's bad to invite someone to church, that's great. Jesus' greatest ministry took place during the one-to-one relationships He had. They multiplied from that. Evangelism is not about how great your videos are at church, it's not about how great your singers can sing, it's about having a contagious faith. This is convicting for me to type. God has done the work, He has paved the path that we will walk, in His blood. How often do we cry for lost people around us? Who cares whether or not God chooses or He doesn't? I have spent way too much of my time wondering that one. He has commanded us to care for the lost people around us. Who knows if God will save them? He didn't ask us to save people, He commanded us to speak and encourage them, He will do the rest. I do such a crappy job at encouraging people. I have a friend that really believes in me. A friend that always challenges me to think outside of myself and get out of my world for a little while. A friend that sometimes makes me mad. The madness will go away and I'll realize the truth. Mmmm, that's good. It's so good to be encouraged and have someone push you along into doing something eternal. Mmmm...good.
I've been thinking about a lot of other crazy things too. Ever really wonder why you are the way you are? Were you born that way? Did your social conditions do the most to shape you? If you look at my left ear, it def. sticks out more than my right ear. Anyway. I didn't get serious about living for the Lord until probably my senior summer of high school. I think that's when the Lord really started working in and around me. I began to read my Bible and just grew. I didn't listen to sermons, I didn't read Christian books. I didn't wear a Jesus bracelet. I would just read. I wanted to go to school in the Navy, but ended up being color-blind so I had to sit home a semester before starting Clemson. I would just read every single night. If I would fall asleep, God would wake me up and instantly, I would start reading. I was disciplined. It was a good time of growth, real good. I have never been directly involved in a church. I've always been on the outside looking in. I just never really felt like it was my place or that I didn't really belong there. These are feelings that I am sorting out. I've been apart of churches, helped in their ministry, and done things behind the scenes but I just have never really had this deep desire to be involved in one church. Something in me these days is telling me that I prob. won't ever be. I'm always going to be on the outside and roaming around. I don't know what that looks like yet or where it will go, it's just what I feel and have felt for a long time. I do not believe that everyone is called to that type of life. For most people, it might be harmful. But for me, I do well having people around me that are good and from above, friends that care about the Lord more than themselves, for the most part. Wow, we struggle there. I raise my hand first. I'm the worst. Back to church, I feel like God is leading me to something that will help glue churches together and make it where we will care about souls. Somewhere in our growth, the church seems to have forgotten about the souls of people. We forgot that Hell really does exist and people will go there. Do we care about the lost? Think about all the books that are out right now. They all seemed to be focused on what God can do for us and how our lives can be complete. Does this bother anyone? This life is not about us. In Philemon, Paul was writing to this small church that was meeting. He really loved them and wanted to encourage them because he heard good things about their faith. He tells them in verse 6..."I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of everything good thing we have in Christ" How do we REALLY know what we have until we explain it to someone. Man, that's good. I miss opportunities all the time to share my faith, but as soon as you finally share with someone, there is no feeling quite like that. It encourages every part of you and the people around you. Christianity isn't just about witnessing to people, it's about exciting and refreshing the hearts of people around you.
It seems that most of today's modern churches have an inward focus. I know, right now, of one church that does evangelism training. One. I think most churches really believe the sign out front that says..."Walmart, it's not the only saving place" is their evangelism. We are missing it. This world is not going to be reached by just inviting people to church. That is not the heart of what Jesus taught. I'm not saying it's bad to invite someone to church, that's great. Jesus' greatest ministry took place during the one-to-one relationships He had. They multiplied from that. Evangelism is not about how great your videos are at church, it's not about how great your singers can sing, it's about having a contagious faith. This is convicting for me to type. God has done the work, He has paved the path that we will walk, in His blood. How often do we cry for lost people around us? Who cares whether or not God chooses or He doesn't? I have spent way too much of my time wondering that one. He has commanded us to care for the lost people around us. Who knows if God will save them? He didn't ask us to save people, He commanded us to speak and encourage them, He will do the rest. I do such a crappy job at encouraging people. I have a friend that really believes in me. A friend that always challenges me to think outside of myself and get out of my world for a little while. A friend that sometimes makes me mad. The madness will go away and I'll realize the truth. Mmmm, that's good. It's so good to be encouraged and have someone push you along into doing something eternal. Mmmm...good.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Quote from Wise Cheatham
My boy Rhett and I were sitting in Zaxby's when he spoke these words::
"There is nothing like seeing a girl pray and then tear into some hot wings" - Rhett Cheatham
"There is nothing like seeing a girl pray and then tear into some hot wings" - Rhett Cheatham
Friday, November 04, 2005
Friday!
You never really know where you stand until you look to see what is around you.
On on a side-bar...Today is the annual MARKETING VS. ENGINEERING SOFTBALL GAME. GET EXCITED CORPORATE AMERICA!
On on a side-bar...Today is the annual MARKETING VS. ENGINEERING SOFTBALL GAME. GET EXCITED CORPORATE AMERICA!
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