Extreme Makeover

Here at FCC Clearwater, we are getting ready to undergo a major project. Repainting, resigning, and generally repairing the building. We have decided to call it, Extreme Makeover Church Edition. It really is a pretty fitting name since the church will look entirely different once it is completed. Each room in the building will go up for adoption. Once adopted the room will be made over. We are so excited about this project, and hope we can get the whole churhc involved in Extreme Makeover Church Edition.

Rooted
Being rooted in scripture is something that is vital to life as a Christian. As we journey towards our goal (heaven) we must stand rooted or we will be knocked over by the storms of life that come our way. I am so glad that I have a God whose roots go back before time began. Christianity is not a new thing, know your roots!

Getting rid of the old man can be hard. It is something that is a daily struggle in our lives. This doesn't mean that we should kick senior citizens out of church! However, when we become a Christian we are told to get rid of the old man! His ways are not God's ways. The old man is our old self, our old way of living. It takes a total mind-set change. We were going in one direction, now we are going in another. It is a difficult change at best. The old man creeps back in whenever he gets the chance, so watch out! With God's help we can keep the old man out and live the way Christ calls us to live.

Brickianity

How often is our Christianity like a brick wall? Each part is set in place and we think we have it all figured out. But lets but honest, we don't! In a brick wall everything is firm and in place, if a part of it moves or changes shape the whole thing falls apart. Is that really how Christianity is? Don't we learn new things all the time about God? If we could completely figure God out, would He even be God?

Right now I'm reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and he poses that question. He compares Christianity to more of a trampoline with supporting doctrines (or springs). We don't have to, in fact we will never have it all figured out so why are we so headstrong and exclusive of others? Not to say that we embrace every teaching, but that we are open to discussion. Here is a quote from the book that I really like: "Have you ever seen someone pull a photo out of their wallet and argue about the supremacy of this particular loved one? Of course not. They show you the picture and give you the opportunity to see what they see."

That is what we are supposed to do as Christians, invite others to see Christ! The invitation to jump is for everyone. And you can jump with all your fears and doubts, and all the things you haven't figured out. "The invitation to jump is an invitation to follow Jesus with all of our doubts and questions right there with us."

Enjoy the Journey

The goings on...

It has been so long since I used this thing I actually forgot that I had it for awhile. Abi and I now live in Clearwater, Fl, and we love it! It has been an amazing journey since December: Graduating, getting married, getting a job, getting a house, and getting settled in a new place. God has been incredible throughout the whole thing, continuous blessings. We are still close to both sets of parents (but not too close) ;) and we are working with a great group of people here at First Christian Clearwater. We couldn't ask for more.

Possessed

That was the theme of FCYC 2006. It was a theme that had many people concerned, but frankly its because many people didn't take the time to find out anything about it. What possesses you? The answer is alot of things possess us, but only one thing should. God. The three days were Possessed by the World, Possessed by God, and i am not. There were around 800 kids there, and it was a great weekend. I was given the opportunity to lead worship at FCYC with Andrew, Ben, Dana, Ron, and Adrian. This is a picture from the convention.



Enjoy the Journey

Punched in the face

Ever been punched in the face by God before? I have, in fact I think I may have a black eye right now. I have been so worried about things lately. I mean I've got to find a place for Abi and I to live within the next 6 weeks! That is priority #1. But I also have my senior recital, work and classes to worry about as well. Man it is a crazy time. The job hunt continues to get crazier with each passing moment. Today I got a call from a friend at Mid-Lakes Christian Church telling me that one of the guys in the praise team died on Friday, and that they want me to come up and help with the funeral on Thursday. So this week I have rehearsal for Senior Recital tonight and tomorrow, FCYC rehearsal tomorrow, Southside reheasal Wednesday, a funeral Thursday, my Senior Recital is Friday, and I have to go back to Jacksonville this weekend.

Frankly, I'm really tired right now. Anyway, back to the punch in the face. I've been weighing all these things in my mind for a little while now, and then Sunday came. In Sunday School we talked about Saul and how he sacrificed before it was time. "To obey is better than sacrifice." You have to wait for God (a little jab there). Then in the sermon I was reminded that I need to listen, because to listen is to obey! (PUNCH!) I need to stop my worrying and start listening. God has opened doors, and if I will stop complaining about things long enough to listen, He will show me where to go.

So pray for me, that I will shut up and listen (and that I don't have a nervous breakdown in the meantime).

Thanks,

Enjoy the Journey

Everyone has a path. Mine seems to get crazier by the day. Abi and I have started our journey already, and we aren't even married yet! We are trying to graduate, get married, and find a place to live, o yeah...we have 2 months to figure it out. It is funny how one decision you make can so radically change the rest of your life. For example, when I made the decision to leave Mid-Lakes Christian Church to come intern at Southside Christian Church under Eli Reyes, I had no idea how much life would change. That decision resulted in a lot of learning, playing at the North American Christian Convention, making several contacts, and job opportunities! Life looks a lot different now than it did this time last year.


Someone once told me to wait for a push and then a pull before I made a decision on which path to choose. I've received a push, now I'm waiting for the pull. It is not the push or the pull that is, but the waiting that is difficult for me. But for now I wait, I am finishing up at FCC, planning FCYC, helping out with wedding details, and looking for a job. Waiting for God to show me the right path, and doing my best to Enjoy the Journey.

Enjoy the journey.

Melissa (the office administrator at Southside) and I have deemed that the new motto of Southside Christian Church. We went to Disney World on September 11, 2006 as a staff. The group included Arron Chambers, Eli Reyes, Susie Richetti, Melissa Clark, Josh Van Tassel, and myself. Arron kept giving Melissa a hard time because she was in a hurry to get from place to place so we could fit in all the parks in one day. He kept saying, "Enjoy the journey!"



In between all of the riding and yelling 'Carlos!' I started thinking about what that meant. By the way there was no Carlos with us, but we did get a few waves from 'Carlos.' Arron is about to set off on a new journey, one that will take him to Christ's Church Manderin in Jacksonville. The rest of us are starting a new journey here as well. Southside has been given the chance for a fresh start, hopefully with some new property! Ironically we found out about the property the day Arron was up signing his contract with Christ's Church. We have jokingly started calling him Moses, because he lead us to the promise land, but he will never enter it with us. Now all we have to do is keep praying that God will send us a Joshua to take us in the rest of the way and help us grow like crazy.

The journey has been a long and crazy one, and no one's journey is exactly the same. But I think the motto 'Enjoy the journey' has alot of meaning. I say that because alot of times it is not where you started or where you end, but the jouney from start to finish that makes you who you are. 'Remember who you are.'

Enjoy the Journey

I was in class the other day and Mrs. Reyes said something that really made me think....

"Wasting time is wasting life, because we aren't guaranteed the next breath."

I thought to myself, man you could go on about that forever. It comes down to this: 'If it is important...do it! If it isn't important...don't do it!' How many time do we sit around doing things that don't mean anything! If I spent more time talking to people and building relationships instead of watching some meaningless show on television, life would have much more meaning. So stop wasting time! Because you might be wasting your life.

Today I had lunch with Doc Smith. That is a cool thought. I wonder how many other college students go to lunch with the most esteemed professor at their respective school? Anyway, he was asking us (Tyler, Mike, Ralph, Andrew, Josh and I) about our summers and we talked about school, just small talk. Then he started telling our table (Tyler, Mike, and I) about a new course he is teaching at the church where he works. It is called 'Everything You Should Have Learned in Sunday School.' It is a course on Bible History.

I think that is a great idea. Not only is he one of the foremost experts in Bible History (so they are really in for it), but that is a subject often overlooked in churches I have attended. I don't know about most churches I suppose, but I feel like we sort of glance over the history portions of the Bible, and that is wrong! There are so many lessons to be learned from the Old Testament, in fact that has been one of my favorite things about FCC. Doc Smith classes are very demanding, but I have gleaned so much knowledge of the OT from them! Being familiar with the stories from the OT has really helped in my undrestanding of the New Testament! I am hoping to get ahold of this curriculum so that I can use it in the future so that we can learn in Sunday School what we should learn...The Bible!

Sometimes uncertainty can be good. I had lunch with Arron Chambers today. He recently resigned from Southside (where I work) and we were talking about our futures. He encouraged me to just let go and let God take the lead. It is something that I have heard my whole life, but I think I understand what it means more now than I ever have. To have models like Arron and Eli to follow has been such a blessing to me pesonally and to my ministry. I have learned alot from both of them, and one of the lessons I learned today was that I need to trust God even when I don't know what lies ahead.

Over the next several months alot will be changing with me. I graduate from FCC in December, and if that isn't enough change, I am getting married December 22! But as Arron said, not knowing what God has in store is part of the adventure. Peter Pan once said, 'to live will be an awfully big adventure.' I will take that one step further. "To live for God will be an awfully big adventure."

God Bless

So last night I realized something that I never realized before. It REALLY annoys me when people go through the '10 items or less' with 25 notebooks plus a shopping cart full of thing. I don't know if they can't count or they can't read. Either way, you shouldn't go shopping unless you can do both. Do us all a favor, if you have more than 10 things, go get in a different line!

:)

So I created a blogspot today. Never done that before. Just thought I'd try it out and see if I like it...so here we go.