A beautiful reminder

Well it was our first Sunday worshipping in our new home in Ontario, California and it was a strange amazing experience. It is still a little strange sensation meeting new people and telling them how we came to be here. If you're not a Christian then nothing about what we did makes any sense because we gave up our home, family and practically everything we own to come here because we trust that our God knows best and so when He calls we answer.

I am happy to say that we do officially have a couch to sit on, a bed to sleep on and food in our fridge. There are still several boxes around the apartment to unpack and we're still trying to decide if and where we want to "hang" a few things on the wall. And by "hang" I mean use command strips because we are still living by our no holes, no paint policy. I still need to get a few of our utilities switched over to our name as we approach being here for 1 full week but we have finally gotten internet at the apartment which is what allows me to finally post a new blog since we used up almost all our data driving accross the country.

Here's some of the biggest updates since my last post: Friday was New Student Orientation was Friday and it went very well. I got to meet several other seminary students, some with beards and sadly some without. We toured the campus again and most importantly I got to hear first hand the hearts of some of the staff at Gateway like Jeff Iorg (the President), Adam Groza, Shane Tawnigawa and a couple others as well. It was so refreshing to hear them all have such a common heart for sharing the Gospel, planting churches and placing priority on family and church service. It has me very excited for classes (not tomorrow but on the 30th, oops, so yay an extra week before class).

Next update is that we've been experiencing our yearly supply of rain over the course of the next 2 days. It started on Friday, we got a break from it yesterday and it has continued again today and at least for all day tomorrow. Prayers would be appreciated as we are on the lower floor and California does not necessarily have proper irrigation. I have bought some portable water blockers to keep water away from our door and so far they seem to be working. The last update is that we got to go worship for the first time on the west coast at a church plant called The Vine. It was a wonderful experience and we are looking forward to visiting others and making as many connections as possible. You can pray for this as well that the Lord would direct us to where He wants us to serve and get connected.

I still haven't fully gotten used to being here yet. As I drive around doing different errands I still can't help but notice this giant beautiful mountain everywhere I look. If you're not familiar with the geography of Ontario, CA there is a mouintain called Baldy that you can see from almost anywhere in the citry and surrounding areas. It is gorgeous (when you can see it, sometimes smog blocks it from sight) but it's also a very beautiful reminder that I am not home. I can be walking around a Walmart, a Lowes or whatever and it could just so easily be a Walmart or Lowes that I would frequent in good ole Charlotte, NC on a fairly regular basis (sometimes mulitple times a day) but then I step outside and there it is...that beautiful reminder...that I am not home. In fact, I am on the other side of the country and 3 hours behind all my family and east coast friends. It is definitely going ot take some getting used to. My sweet and beautiful wife has finally been able to make us some home cooked meals and in fact is doing so as I type. Please continue to pray for us, as they are needed and very much working. We miss you all so very much. Feel free to email us or even better send us a card. Our address is 1536 E. Princeton St. Apt 11 Ontario, CA 91764. Until the next one :)

If only...

As Ali and I have been driving across so many different highways, insterstates and back roads going accross the country I have noticed a certain sign quite frequently and I always hate to see it. The sign says "Rough Road Ahead" and basically it means that there is a stretch of road coming up that has multiple bumps, craters pot holes etc that can make your driving experience quite unpleasant (especially when you are driving a 16' truck and car trailer). It doesn't matter how fast or slow you go it is going to be unpleasant, frustrating and annoying.

If only real life came with warning signs like this so that we could know when "Rough Roads" are ahead. It's not like it would make a huge difference, I still have to drive the road and there's not really time to turn or stop so you just have to end up plowing forward knowing that shortly your journey is going to get bad. So often we think that it would be better if God would share His plans with us and let us in on His thinking...but as I have had time to reflect on some "rough roads" that I've gone through I don't know if I could stand to know what was coming.

Here is the weird thing, as bumpy and unpleasant as the road was, it was almost completely contained within the right lane...the left lane was almost perfect. If I would just shift over to the left a little bit the whole experience was completely different. I think that if when we go through these unpleasant parts of life we shift just a little bit to what God's perspectivce is, it may not take us off the "rough road" but it does may the overall experience more bareable. This unfortunately isn't as easy as just shifting to the left lane but it is still possible. Ask God to use you to point others to Him even in the midst of hardship. You may have to ask more than once and getting in the Word and knealing before the Father on a regular basis sure makes this easier, but don't take my word for it. Try it out.

Perspective

I thought that just driving a 16' Penske truck with a car trailer across country was stressful enough, but then your GPS says drive 137 miles to Albuquerque you add fog so thick that you can hardly see the lane to the left or to the right. It's so unbelievably thick that you have absolutely no perspective whatsoever and I can't even tell if I am driving up hill or down except for the shifting of the large, loud engine of the truck I'm driving. Thankfully I have the soft glow of my iPhone giving me a slight idea of what the road ahead does but that still doesn't do much for the stress of driving a very large vehicle at 63 mph when you can only see 10' in front of you at a time. There are only 2 things that comfort me in that very stressful situation; the occasional red tail lights of the cars occassionally passing me and the solid white line to my right side that keeps me from vearing off into an unknown ditch or who knows what else.

Perspective is so important when you're a Christian and you have to live in this world that pursues everything completely opposite to what we know to be true and priority. As we head down that incredibly long road that our Creator calls us to live we encounter moments of fog where visibility is going to be extremely limited and the potential danger increases exponentially, with just the slightest deviation off our course we could quickly find ourself in a ditch or worse. The white lines are the spiritual disciplines we set, practice and implement every day, the red tail lights are the strong Christian influences that we connect with that act as examples, encuragment and accountability when we are feeling weak or diminished. When these moments come if we do not have the white lines and red tail lights it will mean certain disaster. If the road suddenly goes left or right and I don't have that solid white line acting as a bright guide letting me know where not to cross then I could wander off the path without realizing it and next thing I know, destruction. While the red tail lights were far less frequent than I would like they bring a great comfort to me because while they are near me for only a moment and then they slowly get farther away, as I watch their path in a moment of such darkness I can now follow in their steps and it keeps me on track until hopefully the fog thins or dissipates completely.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a verse that most Christians who have been a Christian for any significant amount of time know very well and many probably use it as their favorite verse or "life verse". It says,
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
I have found that typically people focus mostly on the first part of the verse but don't quite gather all that is said in the last 6 words and how those 6 words add so much to everything before it. I read that verse and I can't help but notice that everything leading up to those 6 words is a pretty tall order and I would think that if we are truly honest with ourselves it's not an easy or natural thing to do. Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, we do not live in a trustworthy world or in the midst of a trusting society so to ask someone to give that trust to someone COMPLETELY is a challenge to say the very least. Then it says lean not on YOUR own understanding, which if you watch any TV or read any magazines or read social media then you know that everything in this world tells us to trust your instincts, do what you think is right or makes you happy. However, IF you can manage to do this and in ALL ways acknowledge Him (Jesus) THEN here's what happens then, HE (Jesus) will make your paths straight. To make your paths straight means to take the question out of the decision. You no longer have to wonder what to do, where to go or how things are going to happen in the future. If you're walking down a road that has lots of curves, turns, forks and bends in it then it can be a challenge to navigate your way and very easy to get lost or turned around. But if you're walking down a straight path it's pretty hard to mess that up. This verse is saying that when you trust Jesus with everything and put your faith in Him instead of yourself that He will make your decisions easy. Not just easy, but obvious. This is huge. The Holy Spirit pointed this truth out to me a few months to a year ago and I tried diligently to get my students to grasp this but grasping and implementing are two very different things and if grown adults have a pretty difficult time with this then students are going to take some time.

The road I was driving down tonight could not have been much straighter, yet like I said, that doesn't change the fact that I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me and so I had to trust in that solid white line because my life and the life of my wife & Lois depended on it. When those moments come it's too late to start implementing biblical principles in your life life studying the Word of God on a daily basis, talking and meditating with the Holy Spirit to learn to discern the Lord's will and all the other things we've grown up hearing we're supposed to be doing. Same is true for trying to build relationships with people that point you to Christ, encourage you and keep you accountable in your weakest moments. When the fog rolls in, you have what you have. You will do what you're in the habit of doing. You'll turn to the people that you already have as focal points in your life and those things will either save you or doom you.

I recently got the new iPhone 7 Plus (yes, I know it's been out a while). One of the very cool features of this iPhone is in the camera app you have a new photo taking mode called "Portrait Mode" and what it does is it detects what you are trying to focus on and it blurs the surrounding background. It's called "depth effect" and it makes for a really sharp photo because it removes all the distractions form what you want everyone to focus on. This is what happens when you Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart and lean NOT on your OWN UNDERSTANDING and in ALL your ways acknowledge HIM. My encouragement or challenge to you is that whether you are driving through a fog, just came out of a fog or you've been driving in clear weather for a while and you are well overdue for some fog that you will realize the importance of having the right PERSPECTIVE and start implementing right choices for your future so that next time you encounter that terrifying fog you will be stressed but not lost because you will have that white line and red tail lights to guide you through it.

Truck Life

Waited too long

So we had an interesting adventure/stress attack on our way out of NOLA today. When we got in last night we were running out of daylight but wanted to try and see the cemetaries and other sites in New Orleans, LA before the sun went down so even though I needed to get gas I decided I would simply get it in the morning on the way out (makes sense). So we enjoyed downtown N.O. including Bourbon Street which had loads of entertaining features and some delicious New Orleans style food (complete with the most delicious homemade beignets I have ever had (sorry Cajun Queen). Morning comes, we load up and hit the road, now it's time to get some gas. My wife suggests that we get out of the hectic downtown area first with it's tiny streets and narrow turns since we are in a 16' Penske truck with a car trailer behind us and seek out a gas station off the major highway where there will be much more room and hopefully much less stress. We get on the highway only to discover that we are now crossing over water on a bridge that doesn't appear to be ending any time soon and there are no exits in site (which means definitely no gas stations). GPS says the closest gas station is 50 to 90 miles away depending on what I want to pay for gas (like I care at this point). Oh, did I mention? We were on EMPTY! I know what you're thinking and no, this is not one of those "I prayed for gas and miraculously we made it 50 to 90 something miles on empty" no, instead we discovered a gas station only 7 miles away that wasn't originally listed on GPS (don't get me wrong, I recognized God's handywork there and gave Him the glory, but that's not the thought I want to share tonight).

Why is it, that since abiding in Christ is so crucial for a Christian that we wait so incredibly long in the journey to discover this and actually start implementing it in our lives? In the same way that we needed gas or we would be stranded on a narrow bridge in the middle of water, Christians continue to choose to put themselves in the same pricarious position day after day. We supposedly have tghe Holy Spirit dwelling within us and therefore have access to the great intercessor whenever we want to, PLUS we have the Bible which is the translated inspired inerrible word of God, sharper than any two edged sword readily available in paper or digital form...yet we waste it. Many of us avoid praying and reading our bibles simply because we are busy, distracted, intimidated, lazy, tired or scared when instead we should be soaking, absorbing and marinating in these things almost as often as we take breath. If I do not get some time in my Bible and in prayer every morning my day is off, plain and simple. And yet I still miss a day here or there and the days that I do get into it I don't spend near enough time in it as I should. Why? One word, priority. It's not high enough on the list. Yea, it's on the list, but not at the top...we have things like family, friends, social life, career and other things above it and all the while those very things are suffering because we place them too high priority. Those things are important, don't get me wrong. Jesus taught about the laborers in the field, the brother of the prodigal son and many others that illustrated that working is good. And the 10 commandments include honor your father and mother so family is clearly important. Then in Proverbs it talks about a three strand cord is not easily broken and woe to the man that has no one to pick him up when we falls down, so clearly friends are important too. But inspite of all that, Jesus also told the guy simply wanting to bury his dead father to "let the dead bury themselves and come follow ME". HARSH! All that to say, those things are important but not most important. Jobs end, friends come and go and people all ultimately die. But our walk with God determines ETERNITY!

In that moment on that bridge today, nothing mattered to my wife and I except getting gas in the truck. When your perspective changes, your priority changes and your priorities will NEVER change until that perspective changes...so how do we change our perspective? In my experience, it starts a little at a time, trusting God and seeing what He does with it. Challenge yourself to read your bible every day for a week, then a month and so forth and so forth and see what God does with it. Do the same thing with your prayer life. It's not easy, I still struggle with it. But it's worth it and that motivates me to keep trying.

Trailers

A few days ago I picked up our 16' Penske truck that I would soon load 99% of what my wife & I own into and transport it across the country, quite literally as far away from "home" as I can get while staying on dry ground. With it I also picked up our car trailer that we would be hauling behind our truck. I have driven a lot of different wheeled vehicles...from a greyhound bus that felt as big as a building to my much smaller Vulcan 900 motorcycle (which is currently in the back of the Penske truck)...but nothing is quite like driving a trailer. Those of you that have before know what I am talking about and those that haven't don't have a clue, so just take my word for it. My dad has a trailer that he's had for a very long time and has paid for itself many times over, from trade shows, to installations, to moving people and more it has really been a great little trailer. Dad has talked about getting rid of it numerous times but truthfully I don't think it'll ever happen unless the wheels just fell off (but even then I'm sure dad would find some random creative use for it in the kingdom, which is what he calls his back yard that's designed to spark imaginiation and point to spiritual truth). I have driven this trailer several times before and while it's always a little stressful, it is different when the trailer is filled with basically everything you own. There's a lot of pressure there. But the one thing that everyone that's driven a trailer knows, it's that they ride a whole lot better when they are full than when they are empty.

A trailer can really do nothing on it's own other than store things and take up space. Trust me, I know, my dad's trailer has played the role of storage building and eyesore for several decades (just ask my mom). Trailers are basically mobile closets. You don't have enough room for something in your vehicle so you attach a trailer and it follows you around. It has wheels and if it's really fancy it might have its own breaks but that's really it. You attach them to your vehicle and pull them along. When your vehicle stops, the trailer stops, when your vehicle accelerates the trailer accelerates. Trailers get tossed around in the wind and as a result you have to pay so much more attention when you are pulling one.

It occurred to me as I was driving the Penske truck and trailer to a friends house that has been kindly storing some of our possessions since we sold our house, that God designed people to be trailers. By ourselves we really don't accomplish that much. We come in different sizes and shapes and some have more bells and whistles than others but ultimately we aren't fullfilling our purpose until we hitch ourselves to something. It's not that complex of a metaphor, you either hitch yourself to the world or to God and clearly which ever you choose is going to determine where you end up. However, that's not the thought that hit me the hardest. Back to that one thing everyone who's driven a trailer knows. They ride much better when they are full. You see, when a trailer is full the weight keeps the trailer on the road and it doesn't move quite as much when driving down the road. It doesn't bounce quite as much when it goes over bumps and it doesn't blow as much in the wind when it has all that weight in it. Obviously we all need to be careful what we hitch ourselves to but as followers of Christ, Christ-ians, I think it's accurate according to what I see in scripture that we function a lot better in life when we are weighed down and the weight that I am talking about is doing God's will. 

We read scriptures in John like "if you abide in me and my words abide in your ask whatever you wish and it will be done" that's not something Jesus said a lot and to be honest it seems kind of contrary to everything He taught through His ministry. Remember, this is the "take up your cross and follow me" guy. Doesn't really sound like a "follow me and get whatever you want" kind of thing. SO why would He say that? Scripture is full of teachings that give the picture of following Christ as a life filled with suffering, struggling, discomfort and pain (just look at Joseph, Job or Paul to start). It appears that the caveat to getting whatever you want is to abide in Christ/the Word (same thing since the Word became flesh). So what does "abide" mean? I hear that word and the first thing I think of is abode, like "welcome to our humble abode", does anyone still say that? Anyways. Your "abode" is your home and to "abide" is to remain or stay for a long period of time. So to abide in the Word is to remain in it for a long time. It should become your home, where you naturally go to, where you are most comfortable with. Here is the problem, sin. We are full of it. The process to getting rid of it is called in scripture as (big word alert) sanctification. This bascially means to make something valuable (or holy). It's not an easy process by any means but if it was then it wouldn't really be considered that valuable. 

Let me get back to my original fancy shmancy metaphor. If we're all trailers I think one of the big problems we have as Christians (which means we've already hooked oursleves up to the right wagon) is that we haven't given everything to God and thus we are riding light or even possibly empty and as a result the journey is very bumpy, difficult and we are getting blown all over the place. In essensence, God wants us to surrender everything to Him and trust Him with it completely. When this happens it takes everything out of our hands. Where He goes, we go, when He accelerates, we accelerate, when He brakes, we brake etc etc. 

I'm not sure if you were able to follow this long blog and my train of thought, it's getting late and my mind is difficult to stay on track but I wanted to try and get this all out there. My challenge to every Believer is to surrender it all to God and let Him take control. It takes everything out of our hands and puts it into His and then we can ask whatever we wish and it will be done because it's in the best interest of the combined convoy. God wants to accomplish His will in you. No matter what that journey look like.

Crossing over Lake Pontchartrain

SWEET HOME ALA-BAMA!

Leaving the knoll...