God Change Things? God Change Me!

I had the awesome opportunity to preach at Cru (Campus Crusade @ FSU) tonight. I am always grateful for the chance to preach the Word, but I'm always encouraged speaking to this generation of college students. Most that are following Christ, are doing so with a hunger to be different and make an impact and desire for God's name and renown to go to the ends of the earth.

God has really been challenging me with the notion of desiring God to change things rather than changing me. Too often I'm looking at circumstances, pain, temptation and my surroundings and looking for those to change rather than asking God to change me through them. Too often I think we are always looking to God for answers rather than just knowing and resting in the fact that He is the answer. I've been challenged to start praying God change me instead of God change things.

I have a desire to be consumed and thus satisfied with Christ. He is my sufficiency and portion forever. It must become less about what He offers or even where He is taking me and just more about Him.

A story I read this week really hit home. It is the story of Dr. John Kavanaugh’s visit to Mother Teresa’s “house for the dying” in Calcutta, India. Kavanauh had traveled half way around the world seeking a clear answer on the direction his life should take. He met Mother Teresa, and she asked what she could do for him. He asked her to pray for him that he might have clarity. Mother Teresa responded firmly, “No, I will not do that”. Surprised by her quick denial, he asked her why. “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of,” she said. Kavanaugh looked at her and responded that she always seemed to have clarity about her purpose and mission. Mother Teresa laughed and said, “I never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God!”

If you choose to walk with God, you may not find the clarity that you seek about your future, your dreams, or even any decisions you need to make... and you don’t get to be in control either! But what He offers is a relationship with His Son and our Savior. A life changing relationship where He is at work molding us and shaping us into His image. I pray my heart would find satisfaction in no other and my life would be consumed in knowing Him, loving Him and making Him known. Soli Deo Gloria!

Happy Bday Jake Taylor!

I guess this post will be one of those self-indulgent, proud daddy-type entries. But I did want to take a moment to celebrate the blessing God gave Brooke and I two years ago when our Jake Taylor entered the world. It has been so amazing to watch him grow and develop. He's quite a character and is all boy for sure.

It's hard to believe that we were celebrating his first birthday a year ago already. Time has sure flown by. Fortunately this birthday was uneventful (in a good way) and we didn't end up in the ER like last year. If you missed that story, click here.

Thanks to all the relatives who made the trek over to Tally to celebrate with us. We had a great time sharing the day with the ones we love. So let me wish a big happy birthday to my little man... Daddy loves you!

Becoming like Christ

What a second day it has been for me during this time of 'Refuge' here in Bham. I had a great start to my morning by getting some free Starbucks (thanks John) and then getting to check out a Bham staple... the Rick and Bubba show. They've got a new studio that was pretty sweet. Refill on the Starbucks, some conversation with God and then I was on my way to Refuge for the morning session.

Kristan Stanfill and band lead in worship this morning. We started off by singing "Oh Happy Day" the way it was meant to be sung. It was great to sing it and mean it! What an awesome morning to come into God's presence. His Spirit was thick in the room and that was refreshing. Randy Hall came up next to speak and challenged us to redifine student ministry as simply "Helping students become like Christ." Then the second part of his definition was "By leaders becoming like Christ." Simply, yet profound. And in reality that's the goal. I've always heard it said and strive to live by, "Follow me as I follow Christ."

No trip to Bham is complete without a visit to Milos. Milos is hard to put into words, other than saying, "Everybody goes to Milos." Everyone reading will know my love for Sonny's sweet tea. In fact I attribute most of what hangs around my waist to Sonny's sweet tea. Don't burn me at the stake for heresy, but Sonny's sweet tea can't even hang with Milos' sweet tea. I think Milos invented sweet tea. Milos sweet tea will be in heaven. Great cheesburger and the famous fries to go with it... what a great lunch.

After lunch I swung by both my alma maters, Samford and Beeson Divinity. Man, I felt old walking around there. I got to catch up with a former student that just graduated and is a freshman and SU and that was fun. Alot has changed on campus. I spent some good quiet time at Beeson... good time in the Word, polished up my sermon for tomorrow night and worked on material for the SLT retreat this weekend. Slow paced for a day - what a relief.

After that I was able to hit the pavement on one of my favorite running greenways. I typically have a pretty rushed 3 mile run each morning, but today I was able to have about an hour for a 6 mile run. Maybe I shouldn't have picked the hottest part of the day, but I didn't have much of a choice. But it was great to get out and enjoy the beauty of God's creation and enjoy a Driscoll sermon on my iPod. The run was great and my legs feel good, but I'm betting the morning will be a different story.

I about to head out a grab some dinner and then back for the last Refuge session. Can't wait to hear Dr. David Platt tonight. The guy knows, loves and brings God's Word. I'm praying God has a word for me tonight.

Unfortunately I've got to make the drive back tonight. That means 5 hours are ahead of me starting about 10 CST/11 EST. Looks like I'll be pulling back into Tally around 4 am. Not so excited about that.

God knew what I needed by providing my this rest, renewal and place of refuge. He is so amazing to call me away and renew my spirit.

A place of Refuge

Tonight was a bit of a homecoming for me. I've traveled 5 hours up to Birmingham, Alabama for Refuge '08... a retreat, rest and renewal for student pastors. I come to Bham pretty often to see Brooke's family, but somehow traveling alone brought back alot of memories and a good feeling as I drove in this afternoon. I guess all in all I spent about 10 years of life, college, seminary and ministry here in Bham.

I knew it was going to be a great evening when Ponzee (one of my former students and interns) wanted to grab some Dreamland for dinner. I opened the door to a smell that was almost heavenly. Full slab of ribs, white bread and sweet tea. Pretty sure all 3 of those will be in heaven. But while here on earth and especially in Bham, Dreamland is a must visit. What a great start to my trip.

Headed over to Brook Hills for Refuge after dinner. And by heading over I mean 280. That won't mean anything to you unless you know Bham. I don't miss 280. Bumper to bumper and they keep building new stores along the way... as if 280 needs more people driving on it.

Awesome to be back a Brook Hills. I spend a good many Saturday nights there for Saturday worship while living in Birmingham. It was always great to go to a church and be able to worship in a place where I wasn't on staff and didn't have responsibilities or keys to the building.

Refuge started out with Chris Tomlin leading in worship. The sound that followed was incredible. Over 1000 student pastors lifting up praise to a holy God. I hadn't become that emotional in worship since being in Nicaragua earlier this summer. It was such a blessing to sing with people of like mind for the Kingdom and a passion for the worship of God Almighty. Tomlin introduced "Jesus Messiah" from his new CD. Powerful song.


Louie Giglio was up next with the Word. He said something that I'm still processing. When talking about our role as pastors in the Kingdom he said, "It's amazing that we aren't necessary but we are invited." The idea was that God in no way needs us but rather chooses to invite us into the work that He is doing... the work of the Kingdom. Giglio went on to share out of Colossians 2 and 2 Corinthians 5 about grace. It was so refreshing to hear the word and feel the grace of God pour over my heart. "I can't". That had to sink in. "I can't, but He can." "Christ IN us - the hope of glory."

I thank God for giving me this opportunity for rest and renewal. I wish it was longer, but I'm waiting in anxious anticipation to hear what He has for me and to spend some time seeking refuge in Him!

Nicaragua:: finally home!

Back on US soil... I'll admit it was refreshing but also a little bit of a weird feeling. Especially for me since I stretched across both teams and was in Nicaragua 18 days I guess. For the first time I won't be eating gallopinto for at least one meal (I had an 18 day streak going). For those of you reading this that were on one of the teams... you'll laugh to know that I had to remember to actually flush the toilet paper when I got home.

We had a pretty easy day for our travel day home... other than waking up at 4 in the morning. That's never fun. But we made it out of the Managua Airport half asleep and without breakfast, then we landed in Miami and it was lunch time. Fortunately this year, we had enough of a layover not to have to run through immigrations and customs trying to catch our next flight. Some took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep and we all had tough decisions to make about what was going to be our first taste of US food... most chose pizza. One other thing we noticed was how cold we all were in the Miami Airport... from this strange phenomenon called air conditioning. A hot shower will also probably be an adjustment.

I know I leave a little piece of my heart in Nicaragua every time I leave (this year was number 5). I suspect after going on enough missions there I won't have any heart left to bring home and I'll just have to stay and minister there! God has and continues to grow inside me a heart for the nations... so that the world can hear, know and experience the good news of the Gospel of grace.

God deserves all the praise and glory for what He did through both of our teams in Nicaragua. We train and prepare as best we can, but ultimately it is God who chooses to work through us. We don't have anything to offer other than our availability. And God likewise deserves all the praise and glory for what He did in our lives. I can honestly say that everyone on both teams was powerfully impacted by our time in Nicaragua - the time we spent with God everyday and also what God showed us and taught us about Himself.

We had an opportunity to live out Jesus' mission. In Luke 4, he reads a prophesy about Himself from Isaiah that says, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Our worship of Almighty God must propel us forward with Jesus' mission at heart. I'm so grateful to Wildwood for being a "sending" church and being a church that not only supports, but values student mission trips. And I wait with anxious expectation for the opportunity to return next year!

Nicaragua:: Day 15

It is going to be difficult to summarize all the happenings from today. We started our morning by visiting the city dump - home to about 1200 residents (800 or so being children). The dump is a working dump and the residents that live their make their living sorting through the trash - looking for food, things to reuse or even sell. They make their homes out of whatever they can find to construct with. I am always overwhelmed with emotion just thinking about these peoples lives and God's grace to me in the fact that I wasn't born there. It is difficult to understand and wrap my arms around for sure. I always pray that God would allow me to see the world (and the people there) through His eyes. I was reminded of the verse where Jesus looks out and has compassion on the crowd as they looked like helpless, scattered sheep without a Shepherd.

After the dump we visited Sister Ruby for a time of prayer. Time with Ruby (see previous post from the construction team) is always a powerful time of ministry. It was so refreshing to just spend time in God's presence, hearing from Him and praying for one another.

We returned to the compound for lunch and then had a special time down by the pool. God put in on Ginger's heart to be baptized, so I had the privilege of baptizing her in the Buzbee's pool. It was a joy to celebrate in the sacrament of baptism here in Nicaragua.

We then loaded up the buses and headed out to the market and then out to dinner. This seems to always be a highlight of the trip. It was fun to just end the trip together celebrating what God has done here in Nicaragua.

Unfortunately our time here on this mission is over, but we know God's mission always continues. We do have to be up early - 4:30 am to be exact to head back to Tally. Please pray for our safety as we travel!

Nicaragua:: Day 14

Today the campo team transformed into the construction team. We started early with our breakfast and team devotional time and then headed out to Los Cedros to work on the house that our construction team started. It was awesome to arrive to see everything completed... almost! The house had all the walls up, the roof on and just lacking a door, 3 windows and the concrete floor for the main house and the porch.

We got right to work on making sure the interior was level and ready for the concrete. The main home was pretty ready, but the porch required about 40+ wheelbarrows full of dirt. It was a lot of hard work digging more of the trench (for water runoff) to give us dirt for the porch. After the level was set came the mixing of the concrete. We got a good start on the concrete before heading to Louisa's house for lunch. Going to Louisa's is always a treat - a break from PB&J and having a hot meal for lunch. What a blessing and it was delicious!

God gave us another blessing at lunch when we rounded the corner and saw about 15 kids from camp on the way to school. Their faces lit up when they saw us coming. It was a sweet reunion in the streets of Los Cedros. It was an awesome addition to our day. Many of the kids came to the worksite after school to hang out with us.

After lunch we had loads of concrete to make and bucket lines to form! But everyone worked really hard and by God's grace we were able to complete the flooring in one day! Majoure and one of her sons came to the house to see the completion as well. It was a treat for me to talk with her and even though we had already dedicated the house - to encourage her to use her new home for God's glory.

On the way out we stopped by Collegio Christiano to say goodbye to Pastor Manuel and his wife, Pastora. They presented us with a letter, which they read, thanking us for our investment of time and energy into the camp and the construction of the home. It was a touching time to spend together. I have had the privilege to get to know Pastor Manuel over the past 5 years and it was a God moment for me to realize that I have a brother in Christ and in ministry - though thousands of miles apart - we are connected in friendship and the desire to see people come to know Christ and see His Kingdom come!

Tomorrow is our last full day here in Nicaragua. I know that we are all anxious to be home, but at the same time it is always hard to leave. God is doing a great work in our hearts, but I know He has more in store for us tomorrow!