Here’s the Plan
Posted by thelokey in Uncategorized, life, personal, realizations on December 10th, 2009
So the blog’s been a little quiet over the last few months and for good reason. I’ve been taking some time to really focus on my life and where God is leading my family. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions that has forced me to reevaluate a lot of things. The last thing I could do was try to express the details of everything that was going on during that process. Needless to say, it’s been raw, emotional, and at times very scary.
Anyone that knows me will read the title of this post and laugh at the word “plan” when it comes to my life. I don’t think I’ve had a plan of mine work out since I got the lead in “Oklahoma” my senior year! So for me to say “here’s the plan” is comical at this point. Let me go on record and say “I’M SO GLAD MY PLANS DON’T WORK OUT!” If I had had my way, my life would be TERRIBLE right now. That’s the cool thing about submitting to God as your authority, there’s so much safety and protection there.
So, back to “the plan”. I’m going to attempt to go back to school and finish my B.A. degree. It’s a goal that I set for myself a long time ago, and it’s something I’ve always felt God really wanted me to accomplish. After a lot of trials, praying, and plenty of setbacks, I really feel like this is the right time to finish this chapter of my education.
What this means is I’ll be splitting my time between Columbus and Valdosta. God has provided a way for to have a place down in Valdosta (for free!) so I can really focus on studying (what’s that?) and maybe even have a part-time job to pay some bills. Crissy will be staying in Columbus full-time and working which is right where she wants to be. (BTW..She’s graduating on Wednesday!) So it’ll be tough being away from each other, especially since we’re expecting (another post).
All in all, we’re feeling really good about the idea of both of us being finished with school and expanding the family a few months later. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the course of my life, it’s that God always finds a way to provide for us even when we don’t know what we need.
Stay tuned to the blog, there’s a lot more coming your way.
Methodology
Posted by thelokey in Uncategorized on August 21st, 2009
This post is in response to this article. I’ll give you the rundown, the UMC is spending 20 million dollars over the next 4 years targeting 18-24 year olds. Part of this campaign is running ads in Times Square.
Although I don’t think we should try to keep up with secular companies dollar for dollar when it comes to media and advertising, it doesn’t mean we should ignore it all-together. A lot of the comments I’ve read about that article are saying that instead the money should be use to train missionaries, etc. This isn’t an either/or situation (either we advertise in main stream media OR we train missionaries), it’s a both/and situation. And that’s what we’re really doing.
The thing that makes me happy is that the people getting upset about this “waste of money” are church people that think the world thinks like they do. Church people think that lost people are looking for a nice, big building with a fancy preacher and contemporary worship music. That’s really what church people are looking for.
I read an excerpt from a book by Ed Stetzer called “Lost and Found” that gave the results of extensive research into the young adult demographic and their thoughts on spirituality, the church, and God. When asked what appeals to them the most about a church: music, small groups, connection, and teaching, the results were not what most church folks would expect…
63% said they would be more likely to attend if the teaching was understandable and related to their life
58% said a church that cared about them as a person would make them more likely to attend
46% said they would be willing to join a small group to learn more about the Bible and Jesus
31% said they would be more likely to attend if the music sounded familiar to them
31%!!!
And the thing that gets me the most, is that half of those items don’t deal with just what happens on Sunday’s! It’s about connecting with other people!
Once again the church (in America) is finding itself playing “catch up” when it comes to actually meeting the needs of what people are looking for. I’m glad the UMC is doing SOMETHING! But all the advertising in the world won’t make up for a church unwilling to welcome newcomers and unwilling to let go of the “stuff” (ie., traditions) and grab on to what God is doing!
The All-American Gods Part 1
Posted by thelokey in encouragement, life, realizations, spirituality on June 27th, 2009
I recently shared with some students in our youth group two things that God never called us to have. I surprised myself since this particular “message” wasn’t planned or scripted in any way, just me sharing some thoughts on where God was calling us as individuals and as a group.
I also think these two things are the gods we worship in America, whether we’re Christians or not. Yes, I said Christians worship these false gods. I have worshiped them on numerous occasions. There two little god’s called “Safety” and “Comfort”. Neither one bad in and of themselves, but taken to extremes and vaulted over God’s call to discipleship, sacrifice, and obedience they become dangerous foes that can derail even the “godliest” of Christ-followers.
For example, every time I pray before going on a trip with students, I pray that God would keep us safe. Why? What if God not keeping us safe forces us to rely more heavily on His power, provision, and protection? Our parents never want us to experience danger because we might get hurt, but it’s through the hurt we experience that we grow to become more like Christ. It’s a pretty tough balance.
Obviously I don’t WANT bad things to happen to me or the people I love, but my desire for safety should never trump my desire to see God have His way in those lives.
So my question becomes, “Are we seeking safety or are we seeking God’s will?” Because the last time I checked, His will is the safest and most dangerous place we can find ourselves.
The All-American Gods Part 2
Posted by thelokey in commentary, hot topic, realizations on August 19th, 2009
I’ll admit, this post was hard to do without some serious self-evaluation.
Let me make sure I’m clear on what I’m talking about. There’s a difference between contentment and comfort. While sitting in jail, Paul said he as content, but he NEVER said anything about being comfortable. I’ve been wrestling with this post ever since the last one because I knew I’d already put it out there and now I HAD to do the part 2.
The best way I know how to describe the way God couldn’t care less about our comfort is through the very words of Christ.
Ouch! I’ve read that verse countless times, and every time it never gets any easier.
I’ve fallen in love with the Gospels all over again. Our pastor is doing a series through the book of Mark, our staff is walking through John, and I’ve been teaching out of Luke 15. It’s just been a lot of learning and teaching through Jesus’ teachings and words. The more I read them and understand that when Jesus said the things He said, they were EXTREMELY offensive and completely UNCOMFORTABLE. Uncomfortable to the religious people, but to the lost and far from God, His words brought hope, mercy, and ultimately forgiveness.
So my prayer is that I’ll stop playing things safe and seeking the easy way that is the most comfortable. I hope you do the same.
1 Comment