what a beautiful day

well, today i was back home at myrtle beach, spending time w/the fam because my birthday is this weekend. and of course...i went to the beach. Mom and i were running some errands and we met my sister at one of our favorite lunch locations, River City Cafe. they have great food and it's oceanfront in Surfside Beach. while we were there, i was reminded of 2 great scripture passages.

"Who [God] has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand..."
isaiah 40:12

The ocean is so, so massive and Isaiah tells us that God measured out the amount of water for the seas in the hollow of His hand. Holy Cow!!!!!! also,


"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If i would count them, they are more than the sand..." Psalm 139:17-18

David says in this psalm that God's thoughts to us are more than the sand. WOW again!! i love in scripture where we find the paradox of a sovereign and personal God. He is awesome!

shane & shane concert

last night i went to a Shane & Shane concert here in Charlotte at a weekly city-wide young adults gathering called "charlotte ONE." If you aren't familiar with Shane & Shane, they're a christian band that plays really unique accoustic type stuff (unbelievable guitar).

the coolest thing about the concert was that it was really a worship service. i was so thrilled b/c the entire night was seriously centered on Jesus. that's kinda rare for some concerts. the band was continuously talking about the gospel and what that means for someone who is "in Christ" and no longer under the curse of the law. Scripture was mentioned throughout the whole night, but there was on verse that really stuck w/me, Galations 3:13.

it says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us..." Satan tries to beat us down sometimes by telling us we're worthless and terrible at living righteously. we mess up alot. BUT...when we couldn't keep the law, someone came and kept it completely, and actually fulfilled it. His name is Jesus, and when we put our faith in His death for us, God the Father allows Christ to be our substitute and righteousness. He no longer sees our shortcomings and failures, but rather sees Christ in us!!! wow!

think on that today and let the gospel change the way you view Jesus and yourself!

journey through the scriptures

right now i'm currently doing a study through the book of 1 Corinthians. today was sweet!!!! if you get the hunger, check out chapter 8.

the idea of the chapter is there are 2 "knowledges" in the Christian faith. one is a deeper/mature knowledge of God and Jesus, realizing there is no other god but God (this brings much freedom and liberty in the Christian life knowing that our identity is Jesus Christ...not the things we do or where we go). the other knowledge is a weak knowledge, not bad, but an immature/young knowledge of God (not yet fully understanding the gospel and our identity in Jesus).

so, Paul says, those who have the strong knowledge of God/gospel, do not use your freedom to do something that would cause your weak brother to trip/stumble. Paul also says at the end of the chapter, "if food [offered to idols] makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." we should be on guard, not to please the legalistic folk, but rather to take much caution w/our liberty, so our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ do not stumble over something we say or do.

my favorite part of the chapter is verse 6: "yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."

the loudest church i've ever been to...

so...during my current nomad days, i'm attending 2-3 different churches each weekend to see what's out there and experience different styles of church. today i went to one of the craziest, hooked up, off the wall, unbelievable, loud, "out there" churches...literally, my ears were pounding as i left the service this morning!!

Elevation Church started less than 2 years ago w/less than 20 people, and now there averaging over 2,400 people in attendance each week at their 2 campuses in 2 suburbs of Charlotte. the most incredible thing about the new church is they're growth is largely due to people who are unchurched and putting their faith in Jesus and now attending regularly. they've had close to 600 people accept Christ in approx. the last 6 months...INCREDIBLE!!! they're really experiencing a "move of God."

it was quite an experience!! check them out at http://www.elevationchurch.org/

my new friend jack

so, as i type, my new friend jack is putting his tiny paws all over my laptop, pleaing for attention. he's a 5 month old malti-poo (spelling??). right now i'm living with two of my best friends, Patrick and Crystal, who got married 2 years ago, and they bought this little dog who i'm stuck with as they go to work. blahh...

i admit, he is a little cute, but i'm not a big fan of small annoying, spoiled dogs who bark, yelp, pee on the carpet, crap on the floor, wont leave your sight, and act as if they own the universe. i'm not bitter...unfortunately, i cant be b/c Jack is God's creation. if you're wondering where the name "Jack" came from...Patrick and crystal named him after Jack Bauer on the tv show "24." what a blessing.

i hope this was inexchangably encouraging and deeply moving for you today!!

peace, love Jesus

prayer & fasting

currently, i'm reading a great book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, by one of my favorite authors, John Piper. It is a plea to pastors to not follow a worldly mindset of our calling and try to be professional CEO's of the church, but rather to be Spirit-filled biblical pastors. it's kind of a wakeup call for me b/c there's so much great technology and leadership advancement in the church (which is good), but it leads me sometimes to follow a worldly philosophy on my calling rather than a God-centered biblical philosophy.

so, the chapter i just read has motivated and compelled me to intensify my prayer life. this is the weakest area of my spiritual fellowship with God. i wish prayer was natural habit for me and i could spend an hour or two a day in prayer, but it's not. so, i'm making it a discipline to start each morning with a prayer time for no specific amount of time, but i'm aiming for 30 minutes. this is not a legalistic demand i've put on my favor with God, but rather a spiritual discipline that i hope will turn into a lifelong habit.

Here are some great quotes from the chapter in his book:

"A pastor who feels competent in himself to produce eternal fruit knows neither God nor himself. A pastor who does not know the rhythm of desperation and deliverance must have his sights only on what man can achieve."

"The proper goals of the life of a pastor are unquestionably beyond our reach. The changes we long for in the hearts of our people can happen only by a sovereign work of grace."

A. C. Dixon, "When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend on education, we get what education can do; when we depend on man, we get what man can do; but when we depend on prayer, we get what God can do."

"I know that the reason so few conversions are happening through my church is not because we lack a program or staff. It is because we do not love the lost and yearn for their salvation the way we should."

wow! we'll see what happens...through prayer.

worship and the gospel

"the degree of our worship will always be determined by the depth of our understanding of the gospel."

what is worship?? worship is a response to whatever we value most. we worship at ball games, at the movie theatre, at the restaurant, in the car, at home, in school, at work, pretty much everywhere. worship is a 24/7 thing that is so much more than singing. you can tell what you worship by checking what is the object of your affection (values). all people, of all times, of all places are all worshipers.

what is the gospel?? well, thanks for asking. We (all people) are pretty much wicked, unrighteous sinners that can never get to God on our own...not even a chance, b/c He is a holy God that cannot dwell w/sin. (this is hard for americans to grasp). our punishment for degrading the fame and glory of God is separation from Him forever. the only way to get to God is to be perfect and keep the whole law. so, we're doomed. however, Jesus (God the Son) came and entered human history to live the perfect life that we could not live (He kept the law perfectly and actually fulfilled it); then He died the death on a cross that we should've died. Then, He rose from the dead, conquered sin, and gives us eternal life that we don't deserve. wow!

the degree of our worship to God will always be based on our depth of our understanding of the gospel. if i don't deeply understand the gospel, than i will never deeply worship God.

the unexplainable

How cool would it be to be a part of something that couldn't be explained. most of the time, i get the outcome i planned or hoped for. i took the right steps and followed the process to produce the product i was desiring. i think most of our lives and churches look like this.

However, wouldn't be exciting to say, "Wow, i don't know how that happened." or, "Wow, God must of done that b/c we weren't expecting that to happen." Too often we're relying on our own talents and skills to produce what we desire. church success too often can be defined by cool music, a great communicator, a nice facility, etc. Instead, i want to be a part of a church that is unexplainable, and where God is the only logical reason for why something happened. lets move out of the rational, predictible philosophy, and hit our knees, begging for God to move in a way that is unexplainable.

jude25??

jude25 comes from a scripture reference in the bible found in the book of Jude, verse 25. it reads,

"to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen"

this verse parallels the passion of my life, which is knowing my God and Savior Jesus, and making Him known. i remember a few years back when i finally tasted and saw, for the first time, who God was, and what He was like. i didn't see Him literally, but rather spiritually through His word. For some crazy reason, God decided to make Himself known to me. it was a crazy time in my life. it was kinda like standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon, and looking across that great divide, feeling rather small, but at the same time feeling so wonderful to be able to see a sight so huge. its the same way with God. anyone who truly sees how awesome God is, can only feel humbled and small. but at the same time, would feel so enthusiastic because of sharing in the view. the bible refers to Him as glorious, majestic, dominating, authoritative, and eternal. i hope God would open your eyes also to see the wonder of who He is...its an awesome sight!