2006 and more

This scene I do miss. But have it as I may, my transition to Houston has been great. I've tried to recount the number of very specific needs that have been met through the short time of the last month or so and am still quite astounded.

One is I place to stay. That one is taken care of as an incredible couple has opened their home to me.
Others to meet. That has been in quite abundance and still growing
Peace. Yes I do have this
An avenue to serve/partner with others to love others to Christ. In just the last 2 weeks people have come to me that minister to the inner city too and have a history of working in the inner city of Houston. I knew that in order to love more people to Christ I needed to serve alongside other ministries too. Student Venture is just an arm and together the whole body is most useful
A community of others to encourage me. Four hours away are best friends, my teammates on staff here with me are awesome...Plus others which literally God has brought into my path out of nowhere

Work like you don't need the money
Love like you've never been hurt
And dance like nobody's watching

You're doing what?

I'm tired of it. I'm tired of telling people I'm moving to Houston and the first thing they say to me is either " why in the world would you ever do that " or " that place is miserable." Here's a note of advice, if you want to encourage someone try not to say those things either to their face or immediately.
I've starting weighing all the different answers I can give people to make them feel that much worse for responding to me like that. Yes, that has gone through my mind.
Fortunately it hasn't materialized yet into actual words directed at someone. But really, why have I moved here. Can I answer that in a very short sentence that is the God honest truth without trying to be super spiritual at all what so ever - I moved to Houston because I am belieivng in faith that this is the exact place I needed to go. Not the place I needed to go to be succesful, not the place I needed to go because I am going to do great things or that anyone needs me here, and not the place I needed to go to in order to be blessed. But it is the decision to trust in faith that I needed to make and that is why I have moved here.
But couldn't I have stayed in Colorado and done the exact same things as I am going to do in Houston. Want to know the answer - NO.
I couldn't because i know that a decision to have stayed there would have been one led by fear of not leaving and not one of faith. There are people everywhere. There is need everywhere for people to minister by loving others. The measure isn't as much of the what I will be doing as it is the living by faith. Right now, I needed to live by faith and that meant trusting this way. This I can say with certainty.

Will

" Be joyful always, pray continuously, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. " 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ( I do believe)

Right, be joyful always. But today just isn't a " happy " day. I don't feel in a great mood and my emotions aren't running on feelings of wonderful excitement. My gosh, thats just it. The joy has remotely nothing to do with these things at all. What I'm describing above has everything to do with being happy. My happiness has to do with my " happenings." In other words, " my circumstances." So joy isn't based on my circumstances or emotions then. Truthfully, I understand that I do have joy, yes, even when my circumstances have been very painful. And that comes from when you understand the there is so much greater that does exist outside of yourself. In other words, coming to the assurance and the conviction that there exist a greater purpose to my life that I don't have the ability to produce by myself. And that this purpose is made known to me from something which is greater than myself.
Pray continuously - Ever asked deeply, Why Pray? Some have answered because its a great way to get things answered. Others say its a good way to connect with God. Most often I have heard it used as a " if you pray, you will hear what God has to say" way. I'll be honest, I have definitely not heard many times what God has to say on the issue that I have prayed to Him about. I have wrestled many times with my reasons for praying. I have used it at times as a " formula " to get things fixed. Other times because I didn't know what else to do. If I truly do believe prayer has great value then why would I ever do anything without praying with God about it. Why would prayer ever become 2nd choice to how I approach a decision, situation, or anything else to matter. Pray not to serve my needs but simply to Glorify God! See, get prayer in my head that it is something in which I was created for - to commune with God, to communicate with Him. Why the heck would I ever not want to do that?
Give thanks in all circumstances - Images of the " always happy people " immediately come to my mind when I hear this. The person who never has anything wrong. Rather uncomfortable if you ask me. Giving thanks - to give thanks when a close friend dies, to give thanks when one is dealing with hard medical situations, to give thanks when people turn their back on you....about the only way it seems possible for me to give thanks in these situations is if the ability to do so comes from some other source...Ummmm, this sounds rather familiar to that whole " joy " topic...So in order to give thanks in all circumstances it would take something inside of me, something other than myself, to give me the ability to give thanks...God's Holy Spirit is not some mystical weird thing. If you think so, I challenge you to do you darnest to take the time to read what it is about but even more to seek God for understanding as to what this Holy Spirit does...It is the power for being able to do the will of God - for being joyful always, prayig continuously, and giving thanks in all circumstances...

Pruning Shears and such

I've never been into gardening. Give me a shovel cuz I want to at least sweat. Plus I've never like those garden hats. They look kind of spaceshipish. BUT, there sure is a lot that we humans have in common with your local front porch hedge. It has taken me quite some 27 years to begin to even understand what commonality there is. That one thing that we as humans share so much with a garden hedge....Well before I tell you let me give you the true source of this incredible truth because it didn't come from me. I just know it is something I've begun to experience.
The source of this brilliant analogy comes from the Bible. Oh great, another " I told you so " remark. No, actually not at all. Just pure truth. Ever asked your teacher where the saying " you will reap what you sow " comes from? Surprise it wasn't an amercian president or great mathematician...It was Jesus who said it...And now, how are you and I ever so similar to a front porch hedge? Everyone knows that a hedge, if given ample oppurtunity and little care, will literally grow out of control. It will take over the area, produce unwanted messes, and lack any real definition or beauty. So out of care and fondness for the hedge and hope that it would continue to birth even more beauty than what is present, one PRUNES it. That's right. Someone takes these really sharp abrasive shears and cuts away at the exterior so that it would grow to produce even more leaves and become a mature porch hedge.
I've never asked but I don't see how this can feel good for the plant. And it is exactly the same with us. I too continually go through pruning in my life. Time and time again we have things cut away from us (health, friends, family, jobs, material items, ie) so that we would keep maturing in our understanding of what is truly significant and become mature in our love for the One who ever so purposefully prunes us. The enture chapter of John 15 describes this in full detail. It is because of love that I experience pain often. It is because of God's compassion that I dont always succeed. Remember, the hedge's leaves don't have the ability to grow fresh leaves themselves.
They must depend on the nutrients and the root. How freeing is that for the leaf. It doesn't have to sit around and worry whether it is performing good enough to grow. That job is totally on the shoulders of the root. It does make it dependent though. My life is similar. I dont have to depend on myself to produce " New Me." Recall in John it says " abide in Me. For apart from Me you can do nothing." How freeing it is to know that it is by abiding that I have " New Fruit" produced in me. But abiding in what? Abiding in who? That's the money question. The ansewr to this is abiding in Christ! By abiding in Him the fruit of the Spirit is produced in me. Does anyone want this fruit? Let me tell you what the fruit is first. The fruit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. Now let me ask, " Who wants this fruit?"
Even better, who is willing to be pruned so that this fruit might be produced. That's the desire I want to have. I dont always. In fact right now I feel like I'm being pruned and though it does not feel good I sense the utmost need for it. The after effect of being pruned sure is nice. Now I see more why it is that faith is so key. Ummmm. I need rest.

Hebrews 11:1

front porch living

A world on fire. From the looks of this picture you might think the world is on fire. This brilliant experience was rather quite simple. It came while I was standing on my front porch. I find that quite often incredible experiences can take place on the front porch. Would that work for a book title " The Amazing Life While Living on the Front Porch. " Actually my porch is about a 3X3 piece of concrete. If it was up to me every house would come equipped with the most massive porch.
Here's the reason. Cuz people wouldn't be in such a dang rush to get away from their house if they had a huge front porch. I mean, back in the day when I wore one of those full length pajama outfits I remember the porch is where the center of life took place. People actually sat down to talk to others. Every second I'd hear a holler from someone on the street and soon enough you know where theywould end up ...talking on the front porch. If I was a door to door salesman I'd push the government to install porches on all houses cuz people are a lot more prone to talk to ya out on their porch than they are to invite you in. Front porch livin' takes time to deal with the most important things in life - notably relationships. I bet nearly 50% of all marriages in the South probably got their start on a front porch. Think about what really means the most. Is it a what or is it a who? Does it require money or sacrifice? I'm finding out why so many people loved hanging out with Jesus.
He was a front porch kind of guy. He knew what was most important - Having compassion for people and spending time with them. He probably was the one who thought up the porch idea cuz He knew that if we all had porches we would take more time to speak with those who are around us. Jesus was just so dang good at being a best friend. And talk about loving strangers. The guy never met one. Cuz He saw everyone with love. And that my friend, is what changes people's hearts. I can show all the tricks in the world and have all the goodies this world offers, but if I have not love then its useless. Maybe I need to find more porches to hang out on...

Simply Amazing

September 23-25 I was invited to speak at Campus Crusade's fall retreat for all the Colorado Colleges. There were nearly 600 students who came. My role was to come share with the staff/students my story of how God brought me to serve with Student Venture and invite the college students to serve as Student Venture leaders while in college. On saturday I spoke briefly to everyone and that afternoon held a seminar for those who wanted to hear in detail how Student Venture works to share Christ with teenagers. It was amazing!! Nearly 50 students came to the seminar. We begin by watching a video about a girl named Stacy whose love for others changed an entire high school campus. Then for nearly 20 minutes the college students opened up their hearts about what they went through in high school and why teenagers are such an important group to invest in. So what has come of this? Just last week Student Venture opened up on the campus of CSU in Fort Collins, CO. They have 12 college students who want to serve as volunteer leaders. The staff person who is leading these volunteers is Bobby, who is pictured next to me in the picture above. Please pray for him and the college students.

in 21 years.....

I took this picture 2 weeks ago with some of high school teenagers that I have gotten to lead over the last year. I put the picture up cuz I thought it looked neat. I just returned from 10 days being in GA and TX. In Texas the student venture staff brought in Craig Scott, brother or Rachael Scott who died in Columbine declaring her love for Christ. Craig travels sharing the message of compassion. In 2 days over 2000 middle schoolers heard him.
On Saturday he shared at two Student Venture outreaches and included in his talk how his sisters faith in Christ lived out by way the she loved other people has brought to life the reality of having a God whose desire is that we would know Him personally. Exactly 200 young people personally indicated their desire to know this God, one who gave up His own life. All 200 are now beginning what it means to walk by faith. To ensure that these students have others around them to encourage them, teach them, and explain to them what it means to live a life by faith, Student Venture has staff, parents, and volunteers whose time is committed to the lives of these young people.
I had a student venture staff person tell me that in 21 years he has never seen something like this. I believe that is due to the committed prayer and sharing the Gospel. This is the power of God to move in the hearts of people. His love is for real.

ignore

I'm simply trying to figure out how to post the picture on the About Me side of the page...not in the message board side...ignore the repeats of this picture....

Stepping up in the world

I hope you enjoy adventuring around this blog. I created it to give others the ability to catch up on the day to day of my life and to give others a peek into the window of my life. Hope you enjoy yourself.