the misadventures of a beautiful letdown

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Probably one of the most famous Bible stories of all time comes from 1 Samuel 17. This is the story of David and Goliath, a classic case of sending a boy to do a man's job. If you haven't read this story, I encourage you to read it by clicking here. Just before David is getting ready to go out and fight Goliath, Saul suits him up in his own tunic and a suit of armor. David says, "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So David proceeds in his own clothing with a slingshot and five stones to face the giant. As I was reading this passage earlier I thought of what David must have been feeling at this point. He is going out to meet a 9ft tall giant who also has an armor bearer, whom if I had to guess was most likely similar in size to Goliath. In the face of two giants with only a sling and some rocks. Sounds like a great place to be. David's response to Goliath's ribbing was, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." Pretty bold statement in the face of the giants, but when the LORD has got your back who do you have to be afraid of?

Sometimes I feel as though I am a boy sent to do a man's job, facing giants with a few pebbles. The beginning of chapter 18 finds David making fast friends with the King's son, Jonathan. The scripture says that Jonathan became one in spirit with David...soul mates if you will. The Message translates this as: "He became totally committed to David. From that point on he would be David's number-one advocate and friend." When you are facing a couple of giants it is good to have a dude that has your back. I appreciate those in my life that are like Jonathan...the people who got my back. As I venture out into the new life ahead of me, not only in ministry, but in life change, I need a number-one advocate and friend.

Blessings....

Anyone have any idea how to point the traffic from this blog to another? I think it is time for change...Any help will be given a cookie.

What does a sidewalk have to do with Ebenezer? In 1 Samuel 7, Sameul starts out by calling the Israelites to turn from their old gods and return to the Lord, they go through a cleansing ceremony and commit themselves to the Lord once again. The Philistines get wind of whats going down and they rush out to beat down the Israelites. The Israelites get the 411 about the Philistines and ask Samuel to cry out to the Lord on their behalf. The Philistines sneak up on the Israelites while Samuel is sacrificing a lamb, but the Lord sent a storm to divert them. The Israelites ended up beating the Philistines down, old school style. Samuel sets up an altar and named it Ebenezer saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us." Mark Batterson translates this sentence as "So Far So God".

This sidewalk is one of my Ebenzers. This sidewalk is in the backyard of my friends' house that I stayed at while at the Buzz Conference. Every morning while I was there I woke up extra early. One could attribute that to several things, but in my soul I know that it was a God thing that I woke up so early. This time allowed me to reflect and to pray and to just generally be in the Spirit. Last Friday I woke up around 4am and spent some time reading and praying and went into the kitchen mainly because I was restless and needed to pace. I paused for a few minutes in front of the door that looks out onto this sidewalk and just gazed. Those moments were some defining moments in my life. It was in those moments of quiet and openess that I felt the Lord calling me to ministry. I can honestly say that the emotion that filled me in those moments were something I have not experienced before. It is funny to me that I have gone to Bible College for as long/many times as I have and not felt God's calling. So Far So God.

Another of the big ideas that I came away from the conference with was that people are looking for something greater than themselves to be a part of. I began to think about that in my own life and where I have been and wanted to do. The companies that have drawn my attention to work for: The Walt Disney Company, The Mayo Clinic, Harley Davidson. Think of those companies in the context of what they do and it is easy to see why someone could be easily drawn to them. There is truly an air of greatness about them. I have wanted to be a part of something that is bigger than myself and have searched for that very thing. The funny part is that I have been a part of something bigger than myself and found everything else wanting. My thought goes like this: At Disney I had the opportunity literally everyday to make the vacation of a lifetime for families from all around the world. There is a great deal of satisfaction and pride in doing that. How much more then should the satisfaction (not a great choice of words, but all I got right now!) be for helping someone secure what happens after this lifetime?? I firmly believe that this is one of the reasons why I have not gone into ministry full time...I was looking for something greater than God. Many people spend their entire lives trying to find something greater than God and that is a life wasted.

So all that to say, I am in the market for a new job...one with eternal benefits.







I am up at the crack of dawn again...been up since about 4am again. I could attribute it to working nights or I could attribute it to God. I think I would rather attribute it to the latter. I decided to redeem this time and finish up some homework, all the while listening to a little music. The song that just came on was Creed's "What's This Life For?" I have been literally on the verge of tears for about the past 24 hours and this just about broke the dam. I can't really say that anything that was said at the conference was earth shattering, but I can say that God has been working on my heart and mind through the stuff that was said.

Big Idea: Be who you are. This applies not only to the church, but also to me. The mix of dudes and chicks that were here was simply amazing. From goofy Mark Batterson jumping in the dirtiest river in America to chase after a goose to Harley riding Dean Johnson to Ed Young d/b/a Bishop T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen. Be who you are. Be you. I wrote to my lady and said that I finally feel free. Honestly, I have struggled with ministry because I felt that I am too unconventional for ministry. I am off the wall, I have a lot of fun, I don't say things like normal church people say them ( I don't normally say nads though like some dudes I know. hah!) I think the huge takeaway for me is freedom to be who I am, unappologetically. I am pumped about what the coming days hold...it will truly be AWESOME!

I will post some stuff about Buzz day two when I get a chance. It was a good day as well...Lots of info about Branding, which was cool. We do that at Journey, but the next level is calling. Pastor Rich on a goose hunt at Silver Lake? I am pretty sure that if anyone dived into that lake they would die. (For those that have never been to Rochester, MN..we have one of the largest populations of Canadian Geese at this lake that is heated with waste water from the power plant. All year round we literally have thousands and thousands of geese around. Thousands of geese in one spot = lots of goose poop. I will do pretty much anything for the gospel, but I don't think that I would jump into that lake. Props to Mark!)

Blessings.....

Well since everyone else is blogging on day one already, I had better get cracking as day two starts in about 3.5 hours. By everyone else I mean: Gary Lamb, Ben Arment, Mark Batterson, Tony Morgan, Tally Wilgis, Scott Hodge...just to name a few guys that I read when I can. I might be able to make the bloggers breakfast today, so we shall see. I am at the mercy of my driver. Oh yeah, I just checked in with the hardest working man at NCC, Tim Elzea. He wrote a little bit, apparently while Mark was praying? Whats up with that? haha! Tim, didn't want to bug you while you were running your tail off! Keep up the good work man!

Day 1 Buzz was awesome. It is just too bad Joel Osteen couldn't make it.

I am sure I will have some fresh thoughts and ideas after this weekend, I just need to process them and go through a whole bunch of pages of notes. I was digging the mind mapping software that some of the guys had there..pretty stinkin sweet.

The Theater Church forum was rocking and like many people said I felt like we were just starting to cook when the gas got turned off. Like Gary, I think that there is enough support to have a theater church conference. I had a thought yesterday while sitting there listening to some of the dudes talk about space limitations and creative service staggering, now mind you there was a representative from National Cinemedia there.....What if theaters had to start building bigger theaters for churches to meet in them? How stinkin cool would that be? It truly does seem like this theater church thing is a revolution indeed. Will there be a point when it becomes ineffective and obselete? Maybe. But what if churches caused a revitalization of the local cinema? Production companies are already talking about direct to DVD or DVD released on the same day as the movie, but what if there was reason for them to keep shipping out platters of movies? Revolution indeed.

Looking forward to day 2...Defining Moment is for sure happening for me. Up at 4 am this morning for whatever reason. I can't say that I heard an audible voice from God, but I can say that the Holy Spirit was there. Good times. Praise the Lord and Pass the Popcorn. (Or Redbull this morning, 4 hours of sleep is too beautiful for me!)

Anyone reading this at Buzz...look me up if you see me, I would love to meet you. Its a little hard to tell what people really look like in real life! ha.

Blessings....

I am checking out of the blogosphere for a few days....probably won't even get around to reading anyone's blog either, since about 3/4 of the blogs I read will be live and in person with me!

I am heading out in a few hours for the Buzz Conference in D.C. If you haven't heard of the Buzz...check out the link. Be cool to hear from people have been where I want to go. Mark Batterson in one of his recent eVotionals said that, "I think everybody will be challenged and encouraged by the conference, but I'm really praying that it is a defining moment for some of the attendees." (emphasis his) I have been praying that I am one of them. I need more defining moments in my life. They are what make life so grand!

So, as I embark on this rockin adventure this weekend I covet your prayers for not only safety in travel but some serious God moments. I also ask for just a nice relaxing time with two of the coolest people I know, Curtis and Amy McGinnis. Hopefully they don't get sick of me after a couple of days, I don't come home til Tuesday.

Blessings friends. If you are going to Buzz, see you there! If you're not going to Buzz...well, my mom always said if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all....So I'll just not say anything!

Shalom in the home.