Well said.

I just read something I REALLY agree with over HERE.

Here’s the post I’m talking about HERE.

You know what really bugs me?

Anti-intellectualism.

If you don’t know what that means, I trust that you’ve heard it at play:

“Jesus didn’t go to seminary, why should I?”

“Seminary? More like cemetery! (Followed by snickering)”

“The disciples didn’t have degrees.”

“Me? Oh I just like to keep it simple. No fancy schooling for me.”

It drives me crazy. And I hear it all the time. It’s very subtle, but it’s out there.

It’s bad logic for so many reasons (Jesus, just like any Jewish boy in the first century, would have had extensive schooling; Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, was one of the most educated men on the planet; Luke, who wrote Luke-Acts, was a doctor, etc.), but most of all it’s profoundly prideful. Not to mention it segregates and divides those who have done the hard work of formal seminary education (like me, for instance).

Bottom line: If school is not for you, awesome. I got nothin’ but love for you. If school is not for you, realize that God does call some people to get a formal education. Sorry.

I totally agree with this writer and I’m glad someone finally nipped it in the bud.

I am also pro-schooling. What stinks is the reason the above statements are even uttered is because those who have been schooled have in some ways lorded over people. Think early Catholic church.

While I am a seminary grad – I would hate to ever take the Bible out of peoples hands and make them think that they can no longer properly read and interpret the Bible for themselves because they lack Greek training.

But…

Some of us are called to preach and teach the word and therefore SHOULD be trained by people GOD USES to do so in formal seminaries. Especially since James talks about those who are teaching being held to a higher stander.

If I’m be held to a higher standard than by golly – I want to make sure I know and understand what it is that I’m teaching. I’m just sayin…

Filed under: Personal, Religous

A Cartoon with a Lot of truth…

Found this cartoon this morning – lot of truth being spoken by it.

Wonder how many times we get caught up in these ridiculous though patterns?

Grabbed it from HERE

Filed under: Church, Reflection, Religous

You Can’t Have Enough Bad Ideas…

Got part of this post from HERE – it’s been rattling around in my brain for a week now – thought it was worth sharing!

Get this – Babe Ruth held Major League baseball’s career strikeout record from 1926 until 1964. But what gave him such grief also made him the home run king. He swung at a LOT of pitches… and SOME of them connected! You’ve gotta love that. You can’t have too many ideas because some of them will be great ones!

This was really thought provoking for me because who new that Babe Ruth held this record? No one because you aren’t remembered for your failures but for your successes.

I’m wondering – if this is true then shouldn’t we always be thinking about new ways to do things, reach people, be a community. Now don’t get me wrong – I am PUMPED about what’s happening and will happen in College Life this semester BUT – could we be doing something that makes it better??

Truth is – most times we don’t because we are scared of failure. I will admit it – I am FLAT OUT SCARED OF FAILURE.

But…I love God, I love what He’s doing and will continue to do in my life, and that’s enough. Knowing this helps me shift my thinking away from failing and more to listening, hearing, and acting on His call on my life to reach people – and I am sure that I can ALWAYS be doing it better or differently.

Think Benbino – Think Benbino – Swing Away!

Filed under: Leadership, Personal, Reflection

Pope Warns Against too much Facebook!

You heard it right – the Pope has finally put his foot down and said, “hey, don’t get carried away with that stuff!”

And…

I think he’s got a good point – when we start replacing real life relationships and connections with internet connections, something is not right…

Here’s his quote exactly:

“The concept of friendship has enjoyed a renewed prominence in the vocabulary of the new digital social networks that have emerged in the last few years. The concept is one of the noblest achievements of human culture. … We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialise the concept or the experience of friendship. It would be sad if our desire to sustain and develop on-line friendships were to be at the cost of our availability to engage with our families, our neighbours and those we meet in the daily reality of our places of work, education and recreation. If the desire for virtual connectedness becomes obsessive, it may in fact function to isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development.”

The original post was found HERE

Filed under: Random, Religous

I Am…

…a man who desires to follow Christ.

…a husband to Michelle.

…a coffee drinker.

…usually cold.

…a brother of two.

…a planner.

…a jeans, tennis shoes, and long sleeve tee kind of guy.

…craving coco pebbles right now.

…obsessed with backpacks and laptop bags.

…love all things small and digital – cameras and “i” anything.

…5′10″ on a good day.

…an emotional crier (I’m not apologizing for it either)

…comfy right now.

…looking forward to Sunday morning with the college students.

…loyal.

…not happy when Michelle’s dog lets her stink gland go.

…likes to stay up late.

…likes mornings.

…thankful for many things.

Here’s some of my favorite pics of Michelle and I…

Filed under: Personal, Reflection

Today’s Journal Entry

I figured that since I talk a lot about journaling (here, here, and here to show a few) that I might as well show you / tell you / share with you what I journaled today.

Today was pretty awesome – I have to admit. Lots of thinking / reflecting / changing of heart going on and I love days like this…

The passages came from THE VOICE, which is stellar and I think you should get your hands on it, and a quote came from the book Respectable Sins…

Here’s todays thoughts:

“Pray that the gospel will spread quickly and receive the praise and respect it deserves from others as it is with you.”

* What am I doing to spread the gospel. Sure we can talk about the question “what is the gospel” and how should “evangelism” happen – is it pure proclamation, pure relational, or some other form? But…regardless of the answer to either of those questions – the question remains – WHAT AM I DOING TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL. It’s a fair question and should be constantly asked…

“You know how essential it is to imitate us in the way we live life.”

*I hope and pray, especially as of late as God has really been sticking me in the side with this one, that Michelle and I would be GREAT imitators of God. Not just good imitators or fair imitators but GREAT imitators of God. This will take a lot of change in my attitudes and actions but I pray that God WILL continually to transform me into a GREAT imitator of Him. I hope that would be your prayer too!

“Never grow tired of doing good.”

* Enough said.

“Our speech, whether it is about others or to others, tends to tear down or build up. It either corrupts the minds of our hearers, or it gives grace to them. Such is the power of words.”

* I firmly believe that I DO NOT take my words serious enough. I just don’t. But I need to. I pray that God will be constantly reminding me of the power of words. The good news is…you CAN be funny without always being sarcastic. Kyle Hess is a great example of this…

Good stuff…at least I think…I guess that’s cause I journaled it…

Filed under: Reflection

8 Unusual College Scholarships

Here’s one for the OU posse out there! I remember when I was in college always keeping my eye out for those random scholarships out there that I might be able to get just because no one else knew about them…

So when I came across this post, I had to re-post it!

Click the LINK and check them all out but to give you an incentive – here are my top three favorites:

Duck Callers

Top prize is $1500 in scholarship money, so if you’ve got a knack for calling ducks I say you’ve got nothing to lose but your dignity and some airfare to Arkansas (doesn’t really surprise me that this is held in Arkansas).

Unique Prom Attire

You’ve heard it said – “You can do anything with duct tape.” Well…now is your chance to prove it. The good people who have graced us with the magical essence of Duct Tape now will give you and your date $3000 each if you fashion your prom attire out of…you guessed it…duct tape.

You have to provide proof that you actually wore the attire to the dance too!

Twins Who Don’t Hate Each Other

All kinds of twins scholarships out there – assuming that you made it through the first half of your life liking each other because most of them require both of you enrolling at the same place. Man…maybe I should hope to one day be the father of twins…wait…I didn’t say that – I take it back!!!

Here’s the LINK one more time if you want to check out the rest of the 8 unusual scholarships out there!

Filed under: Random

Community Outreach + Free Starbucks!

Just stumbled on THIS today thanks to DIGG and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes because it is just pure GENIUS on Starucks part.

If you haven’t read “Pour Your Heart in It” by Howard Shultz then you may not know that Starbucks truly desires to be that third place in your life – home, work, Starbucks.

So what better way to show its devotion to the community then by telling you to pick up a cup of joe when you do 5 hours of community service. Makes me like Starbucks all the more right now…

Not only will they give you a cup of java for doing five hours of service but they will even help you find ways to serve right there in your own community.

On the flipside – while I applaud Starbucks effort to get people involved in helping their communities, there is also that side of me that is kinda of saddened that it has to take a free cup of coffee to get people to volunteer in their communities…

Filed under: Random

4 Shifts…

I recently streamed a conference via the internet (CRAZY!) where Rick McKinley was talking about four shifts that his church has made towards a more missional / incarnational community of faith. I thought they were pretty stellar – hence my sharing them with you!

I would love to see this take place within College Life this semester and upcoming years…guess it starts with me…

Anyways, here are Ricks four shifts that he has got me thinking about:

1. From “how to” to “want to”

I think historically the church has taught people how to do a heck of a lot. That’s not the problem in my opinion. The problem is that even though most people know what to do they don’t want to do it. We need to help them make the shift from “how to” to “want to.” Hopefully as a community, we are continually revealing how Jesus moved through the New Testament, how he has called us to move in the present day, and then hopefully we can make the correct course correction with how we live our lives.

College Life is going to be heavy on service this semester – we are going with the them “something local, something regional, and something global.” So we are going to hopefully be involved with a safe house here in Norman, habitat for humanity in Oklahoma City, and Moscow mission trip at the end of the semester.

Hopefully by being involved and getting our hands dirty it will help us begin our transformation from “how to” to “want to”

2. From “coming to “going”

I love Sunday mornings. I love coming together as a body of Christ and worshiping together. I love seeing people. I love getting in the word together. I love Sundays. But…Michelle and I have really tried to shift from one day to a lifestyle of engagement. Throughout every day I have the opportunity to engage people…do I?

Some of this has to be done by:

Exposing the needs

Providing opportunities

Developing a lifestyle of engagement

A lot of people, myself included at times, say, “Oh…I went this year. I took two weeks off and served in Mexico or wherever.” But that’s not really going…Hopefully I can help college students begin to develop a habit of living a lifestyle of engagement so that when the leave this unique time in life they will be better equipped to be vessels wherever they are…

3. From “protection” to “proclamation” (words and deeds)

I won’t lie – I’ve been playing it safe a lot lately. But…is that what God has called me to?

Now hear me correctly, I am not saying God calls us to a life of recklessness or acting foolish – pretty sure the Bible speaks against this but I also believe that God is calling us all to go and do – all the time.

4. From “relevance” to “influence”

The “relevance” buzzword is pretty interesting to me. Relevance used to come by way of lights and sounds and glitz. It then transitioned to dark settings with candles and liturgies. But I like where Rick is going with this – forget relevance – lets try to be influential.

I truly believe that if the church is really being the church, as designed by God, then there has to be influence exerted.

——

Anyways…good stuff – I like a lot of what Rick has to say. Here’s a LINK to a book that Rick wrote not to long ago that I really like and struggle through – been through it three times. I will put a little bit of a disclaimer – there are plenty of conservative Christians that DO NOT like this book. However, I am not one of them.

Filed under: Church, Personal, Reflection, Religous

Matt Chandler Saving His Lost Church…

more about “Free Tickets to the Desiring God Conf…“, posted with vodpod

I was just over at Desiring God website checking out their upcoming desiring God conference and came across the above video of Piper talking about why he chose the speakers he chose for the conference.

He says he chose Matt Chandler because:

Matt Chandler is in a church that is growing wildly with people who claim to be Christians.  But he doesn’t think they are.  So he’s trying to get them lost so he can get them saved.”

Great Quote….about time somebody started smacking the church 2 percenters around…

Filed under: Uncategorized

Year End Reflections…

As many of you know – I am a big fan of journaling. It has helped me exponentially in dealing with anxiety because I can chronicle times of intense anxiety and write how God works in those times so that when anxiety comes in the future, I have all the stories of Gods faithfulness in previous attacks and I can relax and breathe.

I started journaling about my junior year of college and have been going strong since. It truly has been a blessing to be able to remember, look back, and reflect on seasons of life where God worked – either through others around me or through me.

I think this last year I learned more about myself then any previous years – mostly because Michelle and I took on so much change that we had to depend on God while clinging to each other. In this past year we have interviewed all over the United States, graduated seminary, relocated to another state, left two jobs, took on two new jobs, bought a home and left friends who have been traveling alongside of us for many years. All that breeds ways for God to enter into the story of our lives in ways that we hadn’t already seen Him moving, not to say that He wasn’t already there, we just hadn’t seen Him that way yet.

The past couple of days I’ve been looking over some journal entries from this past year and here’s some things that God has taught or re-taught me this past year:

• You can’t be lazy and walk with God. If we truly desire to be CONTINUALLY transformed than we have to be intentional about our relationship with Him. There’s just no way around it.
• God is faithful. That is such a simple statement but this last year I have learned that I can truly depend on Him for everything. He will provide. He just does. I love Him very much for that.
• Planning is good but allowing God to do whatever He wants is good to. This past year Michelle and I went from wanting to be in a super urban setting as far away from Texas as possible to putting roots down in Norman, OK. We also saw friends go to another country expecting to do one thing and come back with a hope to do something else and end up doing it. It’s good to plan and it’s good to move out because God will take you where you need to be.
• There is always more to do.
• I may not be the greatest leader in every area but if God says, “Lead” – you need to step out and lead.
• You need to share what God is doing in your life. We need to continually challenge each other – if God is not working in your life, why is that?
• I need to challenge those I lead. So often I can be timid and scared of scaring people away – God wants me to challenge them.
• I need the Gospel daily. I read “Respectable Sins” and Dr. Bridges says something amazing about the Gospel – he writes, “The gospel is for those who recognize their need of it. Many Christians think of the gospel as only for unbelievers. Once we trust in Christ, so the thinking goes, we no longer need the gospel.” When I read this statement I journaled – I need the gospel every day. Why? Because it is a vital gift of God NOT ONLY for salvation but to enable us to deal with the ongoing activity of sin in our lives.
• Because of the above statement – a lot of journaling went in this year about fighting off sin. I have been living the gospel anew each day and I have seen God working powerfully through it. Something just clicked and I realized that if I believe Christ has truly broken the chains over my life then I need to live that freedom out.
• I wanted God a lot this past year. I hope that I want Him more this year.

There you go…my heart and God’s story in my life on a platter before you…

Filed under: Personal, Reflection

Are you moving east?

I recently finished “The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures” – blog review to come – and just started “Jesus Wants to Save Christians” – Rob Bells latest work in print.

Right out of the gate Rob’s got me thinking, not real sure if this is the direction he’s wanting me to go as I am only a couple chapters into the book, but nonetheless, he’s got me thinking.

Rob presents this idea that after Adam & Eve’s taking of the fruit – the first family kept moving away from the garden – the garden that was created for them by God.

He states it this way, “As a result of the murder, the text says, ‘Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.’ East of Eden. And Cain is not there. He’s east of there. And he’s not only east of Eden, but in Chapter 4 of the book of Genesis, the text says that he was ‘building a city.’”

Bell continues along this path stating how interesting it is that the family was in a place that God created for them but Cain kills his brother and shifts gears – he’s outta here, “I’m going off on my own.” He does this by leaving Eden, heading east, and then puts up his own city. He leaves “God’s Country” and goes and builds his OWN city – CRAZY!

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the last couple of days. What are ways that I move east. What are ways where I am sitting in God’s perfect provision but I, either don’t like it, don’t want it, or want something else? And so…I move east.

I wonder if there are areas like this in my life – where God is calling me to act, live, do, be something but I refuse and stay east of Eden. I hope that I return. I pray that I return.

Are there areas like this for you? Thoughts?

Filed under: Personal, Reflection, Religous

Dusty images…

For those of you who know me – you probably know that I have a thing for cool art and photography. I am more of a “modern art” guy – love colors, love abstract stuff, etc.

Because of this – I keep my eyes on a couple of sites that help me stay creative in picture taking and other forms of creativity.

Really, all that has nothing to do with this post other than letting you know a little more about me and…

The fact that I saw these cool artworks…

Couple of guys that blow dust on cars and then draw in the dust. Pretty sweet. Be sure and check it out…

LINKY

Filed under: Random

Meditate it up…

Yesterday I mentioned how I’ve gotten to hang out with the “in-town” college students and how we’ve spent some time sharing different resolutions that we’ve made. In the last post, I talked about the resolution to pray more and gave some simple ideas that could help your prayer life – today, we are going to look at getting in the word. How do you meditate on God’s word?

Again, by NO means am I advocating legalism. I think you’re heart and desire HAS to be to grow in your relationship with Christ but at the same time – there are going to be times where you just don’t want to do it. At those times I think having developed a good habit and having some go to ideas of how to push through are CRUCIAL to continuing to be diligent in your walk.

So…this may not be the “best” way to meditate on God’s word but it’s some steps that have helped me in the past and hopefully you can gleam a little bit that will help you in the future.

1. Repeat the verse or phrase with emphasis on a different word each time.

Whatever He says to you, do it.

Whatever He says to you, do it.

Whatever He says to you, do it.

This has actually helped me see different vantage points of some of my favorite verses – give it a whirl – what have you got to lose? If anything – repeating the verse over and over again gets it stuck in your mind.

2. Rewrite the verse or phrase in your own words.

This has helped me really think about the verse and it’s application to my life. Internalize it.

3. Pray through the text.

4. Ask the Philippians 4:8 questions.

When meditating on an event, an experience, an encounter, and really anything within Scripture, ask:

- What is true about this, or what truth does it exemplify?

- What is honorable about this?

- What is right about this?

- What is pure about this, or how does it exemplify purity?

- What is lovely about this?

- What is admirable,. commendable, or reputation-strengthiening about this?

- What is excellent about this?

- What is praiseworthy about this?

5. Journal Journal Journal.

I just can’t say it enough – journal what God is doing in your life or thoughts that come to mind as you interact with Scripture. How is it making you feel? How does it make you want to change? What are some questions you have about it? It will truly be a blessing years down the road when you look back on it.

Well…that’s some thoughts that I have on getting in the word – I hope it helps! If you didn’t have the opportunity to check out the post on “praying it up” just click HERE

Filed under: Religous

Tribute to Steve Jobs

With Steve Jobs officially taking a leave of absence from Apple due to some medical issues – I figured I would put a little plug in my blog as a shout out to the fella that changed my life – not just with computers (currently sporting the macbook pro) but how I engage the world (ie iphone baby)

I bookmarked this little audio blurb that Steve made back in the day about Microsoft. It’s short short and sweet and not too far off the mark.

That’s right, I am a mac user.

Hit the LINKY for the audio clip.

Filed under: Random

Pray it up…

Been hanging out with some of the college peeps who either live here in Norman or had to stick around for the dirty winter semester and we’ve been talking a lot about new years resolutions/goals/hopes. It’s been fun sharing and hearing the way people want to change and I look forward to both holding people accountable and being held accountable too! Change can be VERY VERY good!

One of the many aspects that I have heard is that people want to have an increased/better prayer life. The problem is – most people don’t know what to pray for. Or they pray for the same things over and over again and get tired and give it all up…so I thought that I would share a couple of things that help me keep praying and how I mix it up everyone once in awhile…

1. Set Prayer Goals – Goals can be very good. I heard a quote the other day that it takes roughly 28 days of doing the same thing over and over again before it becomes a habit – a goal can be good – legalism can be bad. Try praying for 10 minutes and continually move that back – sometimes this can feel like you are “punching the clock” but I think God smiles down on us pursuing diligence – especially when it involves being in relationship and connected to Him!

2. Keep a Prayer Journal – Yes…even you fellas can journal! I’ve actually really loved this one – I have probably six journals now – I started back when I was in college and have gotten hooked. It’s fun to go back and see stuff that I was praying for and how it all turned out here in the future. It’s been a great way to see how God has been working / growing in my life.

3. Put together a Prayer List – This kind of goes hand in hand with the journal, though, my journal is more personal and so I have a separate prayer list – not to say you can’t combine the two. It’s easy – just come up with a list of things that you want or need to pray for – mark’em off as they get answered and add to it as new ones arise.

4. Pray through the Newspaper – A great prof I had in seminary always said to do your quiet time with a Bible in one hand and a paper in the other. This actually has really blessed my life and I love picking up a paper from time to time and praying through it – whether it be the economy, businesses, people, events, etc

5. Pray through your calendar – Pray for your meetings that you have throughout the day or different hangout times you are going to have with people – don’t just go into them but pray before hand.

7. Turn your commute into a prayer walk or ride – I do this a TON. I think a LOT while I drive and so it’s been great to pray for things right when they come to mind instead of having to wait until I have my time in the word – just pray for it right then!

8. Fast something - Lastly – give up something that is normally part of your schedule for any amount of time and use that time to pray. Give up a weekly racquetball session for a week or two or a month…

Hope this helps and I would love to know how it goes!

Filed under: Religous

Ordination….

Got ordained this past weekend. It was pretty exciting. Not going to lie – I was nervous as Michelle and I truly believe this is a HUGE step and an honor for us to be ordained by these guys. Woodcreek Church has supported us in MANY MANY ways and has truly helped me become the person that I am today.

It’s funny…thinking back to my sophomore year of high school, I would have NEVER thought that this day would have happened for me. But…thanks to a man named Scott Winn who God placed in my path at just the right time – my life changed drastically. I actually remember one time having to apologize to him for a fight that I got into at school…I am grateful for people who have stuck with me – I am even more thankful for God bringing those people into my life.

I loved Michelle getting to be up there with me. She truly has been my BIGGEST supporter, encourager, and friend – God has used her insurmountably to help me overcome the fears in my life. She is truly an AMAZING AMAZING person and I love her very much.

Love the bright cross in the background. He truly has given me the gift of life and I hope that I can bring honor and glory to Him.

Filed under: Personal

An Outreach Conversation with Jesus

I have a feeling that if we, the church, were to have a conversation with Christ about how we do outreach, it would go something like this:

Jesus: Listen, when you go into someone’s house, stay there until it’s time to leave. Don’t bring any food or clothes or anything. If the people don’t welcome you, then go outside the town and shake the dust off your feet.

Church: Well, we thought we’d just hand-out flyers. Put them on door knobs and all. Probably won’t even run into anyone. Figure we’ll knock it out in about three hours.

Jesus: What do you mean, flyers?

Church: You know, like, papyrus that says how you’re gonna be a the “gogue” this weekend.

Jesus: But what about the power and authority I gave you?

Church: We used it on graphic design

Jesus: On what?

Church: Nevermind…

Original posting came from HERE

Filed under: Church, Religous

10 Theological Issues…

I came across this post while Michelle and I were making the “Family Christmas tour” and flagged it for mentioning when I got back in the saddle…and…I’m back in the saddle…

While I am always a bit leery of guys writing lists about theological issues that the church will face in the future – I think this list is pretty balanced and worth having a look at.

I encounter the majority of these issues within different conversations with students throughout the year. How about you? What do you think about the list? Have a look….

And the original list was posted here but I thought this reposting was a good abbreviated version here.

Filed under: Church

How to Change

How to Change

“If you want to conquer a besetting sin, you need to stop loving it.”

-Matthew Elliott

Filed under: Religous