Hey Ya'll,

 

Well we gave it a shot! We are officially unemployed! That's right we have resigned as the youth pastor's of Timbercreek Community Church. If you are interested in filling the position you can go to churchstaffing.com and apply if you like. So here were are in Mo. With a house, a baby on the way, and NO job! What can I say, but eat your heart out Don Miller! Blue Like Jazz will be a distant memory when I publish..Lost In The Ozarks.

 

Let me just say that this was not the best fit for my family and me. I know it doesn't make sense to move across the country, buy a house, start working in a new environment and than quit 4 weeks into it. Trust me, it doesn't make sense. From the beginning of my employment, things just didn't feel right. I am not talking about emo feelings, I am talking about the feeling in my gut. I am fortunate enough to have some people in my life who care about me. So I called Pastor Adam, Pastor Sam, Kent, Scott, and even talked to Ms. Jami. They all gave me consistent advice. The long and the short of it was that this was not the place that my wife and I needed to be. It just wasn't a good fit. So through prayer and fasting we listened to what God was speaking and to the advice from those above and came to the same conclusion. It was a difficult decision, but let me teach ya'll something through all of this. You need to have people around you who know God, and know you. People who genuinely care about you. They don't have alterior motives. They only care about you and have your best interest in mind. It would also benefit you if those people had a relationship with God. My wife and I have been blessed to form the relationships that we have had. It was because of those relationships that we were able to make a very tough, very scary decision. However, it is not so scary. There is a peace that I cannot explain and a confidence that this is exactly where God wanted us to be. Why? I dunno, but in ten years we will look back on this and say: "That's why we went through that." So for those of you that are facing some tough decisions, "Ask God, and ask some close friends who have YOUR best interests in mind.

 

So where do we go form here......Well, we have narrowed it down to two places that we are going. We will either move to Ohio to be with family and friends. We will also have the opportunity to go back to the church where it all began for my wife and I. We will get "normal" jobs and serve them in any way we can. We also have the opportunity to move back to Dallas to be with our spiritual family. We would pretty much do the same thing as in Ohio. Serve Pastor Adam & Jami and get "normal" jobs. So be praying for us, we are stepping out in faith again. It has been a long year, but one that we will remember forever....

 

Igniting Chang...

So yesterday, My Pastor had a meeting with the new staff. This is the first of three day-long meetings with us. He wants to make sure that we are on the same page doctrinally so that we are all teaching the same thing and having consistency within the church. Great idea! Well we were on the topic of salvation. What is salvation? Who can be saved? How are they saved? We are on the same page. It is with your heart you believe and with your mouth that you confess that Jesus is who He says He is and died for us to give us life. That is who, how and what all wrapped up in one nice little consisce answer. Than we started talking about healing. James 5 was brought up:

 

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

 

Now we have been taught that this is about physical healing. And it could definitely have to do with that, but, looking at it in context it seems to be talking more about spiritual sickness and healing than it does physical sickness. One would argue that spiritual sickness brings physical sickness. I think that is a valid arguement and one that is supported. However, here is the paradigm. Now don't lynch me. I am working through this theologically, but I had a different take. John 10:10 says that God came to give us abundant life. That means that God wants us to enjoy life to the fullest. It is very healthy for us to do this. If everything that we do glorifies God, we will avoid spiritual sickness. If we live our lives and do whatever we went disregarding God, than we will become spiritually sick. Spiritual sickness causes us to not have the full life that God intended us to live. Therefore we are not experiencing the abundant life. Does that mean that we are now condemed to hell because we decided not to walk in the life that God has for us? OR Does that mean that we just don't experience abundant life on earth and we are still going to end our journey in Heaven? Because the Word clearly states in Rom. 8:35:

 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

 

So no one can separate us from the love of Christ. Now, we can choose to walk away from God and deny the truth. If we deny the truth than we are no longer in relationship with Him. However if you make a decision to follow God, it is up to you, as Paul says to work your salvation out with fear and trembling. You have a responsibility to find out God's heart and to do what glorifies Him. He wants you to have a great life. Can you choose to follow God, yet have things in your life that don't bring abundant life, and still have a reserved spot with Him in Heaven? I am chewing on this and grappling with this text as we speak. My first response is that this can happen. This could be very freeing. However, this new way of thinking does not give you the "liscense" to do whatever you want, but it does allow you to have freedom in Christ. So......let's discuss this and work it out. Biblically...Questions are good. Discussion is good.

 

Igniting Change....