The Low Down

No Longer New

The year is no longer what we would call a "New Year," being the first of May - and I can't help but think that many of us made some resolutions at the beginning of 2008.  So how are we doing?  How many of us have given up?  How long did it take you to give up on your diet, your goal of reading the Bible in a year, your goal of spending more time with your family?  For me, there are some areas of my life that I am honestly proud of while other areas generate thoughts of failure. I know that's not what God wants. The last thing we should ever do is beat ourselves up for the mistakes that we have made. I know that the devil loves it when we begin to look at certain areas of our lives and begin to say to ourselves - man what a loser. However, do you know what God says? "There are new mercies every morning."

There are times when our goals that we have set are like getting a new car. It's exciting to drive the new ride home off of the showroom floor.  We baby it and wash it every other day.  No one can eat in it because it's "new".  For the first few weeks and months this car is in the fore-front of our minds.  People comment on it, conversations center around it, and ladies smile as you pass them by in it. Everything about the new car makes you feel good. However, after some time (and normally it doesn't take long), eventually that car becomes common place and usual. After some time, it seems to lose it's zing and the incredible thing is that the car has never changed. So what about your challenge? Guess what - it's still there. Just because you have lost your excitement about it doesn't change the fact that the challenge is still on the table. So what do we do? We press on.

One particular challenge, among many that the Lord has thrown at me this year, is the goal of reading four books a month. I'm working on my 18th as we speak and the sense of achievement is incredible. I'm learning so much as I read, and even though there are other areas of my life that need tons of work, I'm not giving up on those goals either. Sure I may have dropped the ball and I may be struggling in a few areas, but tomorrow's a new day. So let me encourage you to not get caught in the trap of thinking that says, "I let a goal slip and now it's too late". No, instead pick that dropped goal back up and start again. If you have to - start again, and again. Keep moving forward until that goal has become a lifestyle. I read a quote from a good friend's blog today.  Doug Reed is an incredible evangelist traveling the globe and I think it is appropriate to share his quote here in this blog.  He said, "The day you think that your history guarantees your future is the day that your destiny is in trouble." Think about it and realize that even though this year is no longer new, it's no where near over either.  So pick up the torch again and move on.  You can do it!   

*I know that I haven't been an incredibly consistent blogger over the past few weeks, but I want to thank each of you who read my blog.  Thanks for being patient with me. I hope that at some point in this new journey of blogging that something I say may be used by God to speak into your life. If there is ever anything that I can do for you. Please feel free to comment or email me at ignitionstudents@hotmail.com.  Thanks.

What I am Dreaming About

Right now I am going through an interesting period of ministry and life. With each day I am finding myself in new positions that I have never been in before. So what am I dreaming about...

1. I am dreaming about the kind of father I am and will be. Right now I am reading a book by author and speaker Josh Mayo called, Help! I am raising kids while doing Youth Ministry. I love my little girl more than life and I am trying to do my best to nurture her and love her the way she needs to be loved. I'm trying to give her the right idea of who God the Father is as she relates to me as her earthly father. The book is incredible, and I look forward to hanging out with Josh next weekend at a retreat here in Oklahoma.

2. I'm dreaming about the kind of husband I am becoming and will be in the years to come. After nearly seven years of great marriage my learning and growing is anything but done or "complete" as the number seven often suggests. In fact, I feel as if I am just beginning to understand many areas of marriage. I am extremely thankful that my wife has been so patient with me and I am so excited about how we have grown over these past seven years. As the book Choosing to Cheat by Andy Stanley so powerfully suggests, I am learning who to cheat in life. My prayer and my hearts desire, more than anything is for my girls to know and see in my life that they are my one true priority.

3. I'm also dreaming about the Man of God that I desire to become. Today as I was sitting in Pastor's office we began to talk about the goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of this year. I'm excited about some areas and cringe when I think about others. Let me say, first of all, that I am so thankful to have a man like Kevin Ward in my life to love me enough to challenge me and be "iron" for me. But I pray that I will become the man of God that He wants me to be. A true prayer warrior, a man passionate for His Word, and a man of upright and unquestionable integrity.

4. Fourthly and finally, I am dreaming about our youth ministry. This is an extremely exciting time for Ignition Student Ministries and Central Assembly of God. As I blogged earlier, a few weeks ago we broke ground for our new Youth and Family Life Center. Sure, I'm excited about the building, but being real with you - I'm really more excited about what the building represents than I am about the building itself. Sure it's going to be awesome to have a 17,000 square foot building to worship, have fellowships, and play basketball in. But you see this building represents so much more. To me, this building represents moving forward. It represents the facilitation of growth. It represents years of vision that have been laid aside that are finally revived once again. It's a sign of "life" once again at Central Assembly of God. It's a sign of a good church moving toward becoming "great". AND I am excited to be a part of this dream. As I pray, as I think about what is taking place I can envision faces - faces of kids I have never seen before and they are mouthing the words - "Thank You". Why? Because right now they aren't serving the Lord, but eight months from now, two years from now, five years from now - they are going to be a part of ISM, serving the Lord, and living a truly revolutionized life for Jesus Christ.

So I am daring to dream tonight. Sure some parts of the dream invoke a little fear in me, but I guess those are the parts that show me that without God this dream is not possible. Isn't that the way our dreams for God are supposed to go? As I wrap this thought up tonight, what is it that God has placed in your heart that you can dream about for Him? Won't you dare to dream some big dreams for God? Won't you dare to step out and accomplish something big for Him? I have always said that my biggest fear is not failure, but rather living with the regret that I could have done something amazing for God but I was too afraid to step out. So tonight I'm reaching out my hand and I'm stepping out of the boat. What about you?

We Can't Just Sit Here and Die

This past weekend was an incredible time around Central Assembly of God as we began to cast vision and broke ground for our new Youth and Family Life Center on the campus of Central Assembly of God (See pic in the middle).  We began this campaign with the slogan of 20/20 Vision:  Bringing the Future into Focus.  It is our goal to encourage our church body to begin thinking about what our church will look like in the year 2020. 

We began our push by talking about four lepers in 2 Kings chapter 7.  These men had been banished outside of the city gates because of their leperous conditions.  They were "unclean men".  During this time, food had run scarce in their own city, and guess who was the last to receive food.  Yeah, you guessed it, the outcasts sitting at the city gate.  As the men were chatting it up, they began to realize that while they were sitting outside of the gate they had been living in surviavl mode.  They were trusting in other people to sustain them and provide for them.  What they were doing took no effort on thier part.  They had grown lazy.  But then something exciting took place, scripture says that, "They began saying to one another, 'Why stay here until we die?'" 

Something began to stir in them.  Ideas began to brew, their spirits began to receive encouragement as vision and direction was birthed inside of them.  So what did they do?  I must admit that what they did was unthinkable - they went to the enemies camp - the camp of the Arameans.  Now logic says, that was a dumb move.  You know that when you are an outcast in your own society, you are an even bigger one elsewhere - but that didn't stop these four men.  They were on a mission.

So when they arrived on the scene, guess what they found?  An empty city ready to be taken over.  Hoards of treasures and good things.  Food enough to gorge on.  AND do you know what they did?  They took the new vision back to their starving city.  We aren't told, but I can just imagine the streets of their city lined as the four men are ushered in during a parade like celebration.  They are honored in front of the king.  Why?  Because they had enough guts to follow after vision, and they didn't want to just sit around and call it quits.

Today ATA collapesed.  Bankrupt, called it quits.  Thousands of jobs were lost and over 10,000 flights a day are cancelled.  You can read about it at www.yahoo.coms/ap/20080403/ap_on_bi_ge/ata_bankruptcy.  I empathize with the thousands who are affected, but I don't want my church to follow the same path.  In the words of a wise man, "We can't just sit here and die".  We have to take God's vision and move forward.  That's what we are doing as we move forward with this project.  I understand that this building is not our vision, but it is exciting because it is just one small part in the grand scheme of things that will help us get to where God is calling us to go.  Will you pray with us?  Will you jump on board?  I hope so, because it's time to get up and go with God.  We're ready!