Some of my thoughts from over the last month

I have been full of emotions over the last month or so.  Not sure if it is that I'm getting older or if I'm just paying more attention to what is going on around me.  I have realized that I have been called to a certain place and been given a voice for some who are voiceless.  I know that I/we are right where God wants us to be.

A little over 3 years ago God called us to leave some of our comfort behind and move to the Keller Park neighborhood in South Bend.  This is not the worst neighborhood here in South Bend, with that being said we still have issues that I have never witnessed in the different places that I have lived in my life.  I love my neighborhood and all the issues that go with it.

A few weeks ago I was listening to Trip Lee's new album Rise (you should check it out if you haven't already done so).  As I was listening to a song called All Rise Up I was hit with a bunch of emotion and reflecting on where God has brought me over the last 7 1/2 years. Real quick for those that don't know alcohol consumed my life for the better part of 15 years. In June of 2007 I ended up in the hospital from drinking to much.  At that point I truly thought death was a possibility.  I obviously didn't die and I believe that it is because God had greater plans for me.  On January 25th, 2009 I gave my life to Christ.  It has been a roller coaster ride ever since and I wouldn't change it for a minute. Reflecting on where I was and then seeing where I am now lead to tears rolling down my face.  My time as a Christian has not always been a great time.  There have been lots of trials and tribulations over this time and even some anger at God.  During this time I have been thankful for a loving God who provides grace and forgiveness!

One of the main reasons we moved to South Bend was to be able to work with Transformation Ministries.  Check out the ministry here transformation58.com.  Every Wednesday I meet with 5 young men between 6th grade and 9th grade.  The group is racially diverse and represents our neighborhood and city well.  We have had to have some tough discussions and it is because we want more for these kids than what society says they are capable of.  They have raised up every time we have pushed the bar higher.  All they really want are people who care and that will push them to be better people.  This quote is fitting.
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care!" Unknown

I have some view points on Ferguson and what is going on in our country right now but this post is not the place for that talk.  My goal is to build others up and get them to think before they post or respond to something, so I'm taking my own advice and cutting this post short.  I will leave you with my life passage:

James 1:2-5New International Version (NIV)

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Spiritual Birth

So, tomorrow is the anniversary date of my spiritual birth.  It's hard to believe that it was only four years ago that I was sitting in Pastor Justin Lamason's office.  We had been going to church for about six months and I had a lot of questions that I was trying to process through and needed someone to talk to.  This was the first of many talks with Pastor Justin over the years and I'm thankful for what he has meant to my family and I.  I've been processing a lot lately about what all has happened in the last four years and what it means to my neighbors, my family and to me personally.

Today we closed on our house in Bremen!  It's amazing how relieving getting rid of 2/3 of your debt is.  When this journey started I would have never thought that we would sell our house and move to the inner city of South Bend.  At times it still does not seem real and it is all a little over whelming.  The reality is I have no idea what I'm doing and I have had just a little bit of  training.  I doubt that I will ever be considered a theological scholar and I'm okay with that.  Here is what I do know.  God has laid on my heart a passion to see people transformed and redeemed through Him!  This includes all ages but especially youth.  Where this journey will take me in the future I don't know, but I believe in the Lord of Lords and that His plan is far greater than one I could come up with on my own.


Jeremiah 29:11-13
New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I know many thought that we were crazy for moving or that I'm glad it was them and not me.  Well let me tell you when God says to move He will provide for a way for that to happen.  Throughout this journey He has shown His perfect timing in buying our new house, the kids schooling and selling our house in Bremen.  I have no other way to look at things then to pray and rely on His timing in my life.

I know that whatever platform I've been given I need to share what God has done in my life and what He can do in others.  The following song by Lecrae "Tell The World" says it better than I can!  These two verses also say a lot about how I've been feeling lately!


Philippians 4:12-13
New International Version (NIV)
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

This has been written in my head for awhile!

So this post has been written in my head for awhile now!  Floating around in the mush that I call my brain.  It might not sit well with others but I have to get it out before it makes me crazier than I already am!  So here goes.

This year I have noticed how easy it seems to get a group of Christians to come behind something that seems to be an unjust situation.  Don't get me wrong I'm all for helping people and doing what is right as long as I have enough information to make a clear evaluation of the situation.  As that goes, the most resent issue that has attracted a lot of attention has been Chick-fil-A and all that has surrounded it.  Let me explain myself before you jump to conclusions on where you think I stand.

First and foremost I'm a follower of Jesus Christ who is my Lord and Savior.  I try to live each day to the best of my ability as a follower of Jesus.  As most of us know the whole Chick-fil-A issue stems from Mr. Cathy sharing his belief about same sex marriages.  As a Christian I believe that the gay life style is a sin, as is stealing, adultery, murder and a whole list of other things.  My issue is that the whole appreciation day in my opinion showed more hate than love if you attended it because "we have to stand up for God".  If you went to Chick-fil-A on August 1st to show support for First Amendment rights then I believe you where there for the right reasons.  That being said I also don't believe that any official that can legally marry someone should be forced to marry a gay couple if it goes against their religious belief.   As for my family and I we will continue to eat there as we love chicken and also their waffle fries.

I see so many more issues within the church than gay marriage but right now this seems to be where so many people are putting their stake in the ground.  It seems easier to look and say what is wrong with the world than to maybe look at the "church" (as the body of Christ, not a specific building) and see the issues that are going on within it.  I'm not, by any means, saying I'm with out sin.  Let's be real none of us are.  When speaking with a friend lately he talked about how 50% of high school guys that he had in a group admitted having an addiction to pornography.  How often is this brought up in discussions within the church?  What about spending money on the church to make us feel better rather than sharing that money or putting the money to feed the homeless?  An example that almost made me throw up was when I seen an episode of TANKED on Animal Plant. A church had built an aquarium that cost over $250,000 and it required having a full-time biologist on staff to take care of it.  That seems a little over the top to me.  This passage comes to mind when I think through all this.

Matthew 7:3-5

New International Version (NIV)

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

As Christians we are called to show the love of Jesus.  I believe there is so much more that the body of Christ could do to show this love.  Will you join me in trying to live it out and being the light for others?  If so here is a daily check list that I came up with for myself. I'm not going to lie it not always easy to follow this list but it is how I need to define each day!

My new checklist:
1.  What have I done to glorify God today?
2.  What have I done to advance the Kingdom of God? 
3.  How have I shown the love of Jesus?

Big News!

(Quick disclaimer, I tried to put links to things and couldn't figure it out)

   So, we have some BIG NEWS that has come about over the last week or so!  Some of you may have been wondering what has been going on with us as some of our tweets or facebook statuses have been vague or not completely coherent at times.  Well as of now we are set to close on a house in Keller Park next Friday.  We are taking a leap of faith and doing what we believe God is asking us to do.  We plan to be living there by around the first of August.  Some will question why we would do this and some will call us stupid and irrational.  We appreciate every-ones honesty and we do listen to what you have to say.  I will try to explain some of how we got to this point.

   For me this started in November of 2009 with a small group outing and a series that was happening in Senior High at that time.  You can read more about that by going to my first blog post.  It has been a crazy journey since then.  In the spring of 2010 my friend Pastor Derry Prenkert re-posted a blog from Kory and Ali Lantz (Transformation Ministries) about needs in their ministry.  You can check their blog out here www.kptransformation.com.    We were in a position to be able to help them with some of those needs at that time.  When our family took the supplies and food to Kory and Ali we sat down and talk to them sharing my story and ours as a family.  A connection was made and we continued to pray and also give money to Kory and Ali and the Transformation through our weekly giving at Nappanee Missionary Church.  We would continue to stay updated with what was going on in their ministry through blog post and talking with Kory's mom Cindi (a great women of God by the way).  Chris continued to say no to ministry full time (with valid reasons) but allowed me to help serve at NMC however I could.

   Fast forward to the beginning of October 2011.  After me praying for almost two years that Chris' heart would open up to us living differently God answered my prayer.  Out of nowhere Chris mentioned about 5 different mission fields that we might look at.  Some excited me and some scared me but one in particular made me smile.  She asked what if we moved to Keller Park and lived in the neighborhood.  Well on November 13th at the morning service at NMC Kory and Ali along with David and Carrie Badertscher (www.kptransformation2.blogspot.com) shared about Keller Park and the Transformation.  Well after the service Chris went and asked Pastor Terry Bley if there had been thought of another family locating to Keller Park.  After Pastor Terry picked himself up off the floor, he knew that Chris was against ministry work and that the Holy Spirit was clearly talking, he said that we would have to talk about it.  Through emails and a sit down with Pastor Terry a plan was laid out on how to approach this possibility.

   Through part of figuring this all out we meet with Pastor Ryan Yazel and his wife Robin, who have been at Keller Park Church for the last 8 years.  These two are great and have their hearts right and I'm excited to see how our families relationship will grow.  Also, check out this blog post from Ryan as it states things better than I could think of doing ryanyazel.blogspot.com/2012/02/raise-them-in-hood.html#comment-form. 

   Now, to clarify a few things.  We will not be part of the Transformation as Chris and I both plan on still working our current jobs.  We will be helping with the Transformation and with the Keller Park Church.  What those roles will look like I believe only God knows at this point.  We are excited, scared and nervous and whatever other emotion you can think of.  Here is what we know for sure and that is that we have been called to live beyond ourselves and to help serve others.  This song seems fitting at this time.  The only glory that we seek is for God to be Glorified in all that we do!  We are currently accepting applications for prayer warriors as we continue on this journey that God has us on!

Price Reduced

We have reduced the asking price on our house. We are now asking 182,900. This is less than we paid for the house 5 years ago. If you are interested please give me a call at 574-209-0293.

We have officially put our house up for sale. If you are looking at buying a house in Bremen check ours out. We are asking $189,900. The house has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths upstairs and 1 bedroom 1 bath plus family room in the basement. There is a swimming pool in the backyard which is fenced in. Below are a few pictures of our house. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 574-209-0293.

Who's voice are you listening to?

There have been a lot of questions racing through my head lately. One is why have I not blogged for a year when I have felt that it provides peace to me to have things written down. Another question is what is the next season of our family's life going to look like and also why do we listen to what the world has to say when we have the Bible and it tells us what we need to do.

The last question is why I'm finally writing again. As a family we have suffered some losses this year that make us question why all of this now God. In the last year we have lost both of my wife Chris' grandparents, Anissa's grandma, my Aunt Rose (who was like a second mom to me), and one of the greatest dogs in Muffin. I keep going back to the same verse of scripture James 1:2-5. This verse has helped me time after time. I know that we have come out of this season stronger as a family and that our faith in God is also stronger.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

So who's voice are we listening to? The world tells us to get a bigger house, TV, vehicles etc. We need to live the American Dream because that is what we are suppose to do. It is our given right since we were born here in this great country and we went to college and we have good jobs. The Bible tells us something much different. Jesus asked people to give up everything for Him. In Mark 10:17-31 we hear the story of the rich man. Jesus didn't ask the rich man to give up some money and help the poor He said "EVERYTHING". So which voice are you going to listen to?

For a couple of years now I have been ready to sell everything and live out what we are taught by Jesus. My wife not so much. That is until recently. We are currently working through what it would mean for us to sell our house and some of our belongings and move to a neighborhood that needs more people to show the love of Jesus and what He can do to change people. God has been speaking to us both about living more for Him and less for ourselves. Now that does not mean we are selling everything, yet. We will learn to take what we do have and use it for the Kingdom of God.

So, what does this look like? We are not really sure at this point. Here is what we do know that we are going to listen to God's voice and not what the world is telling us. There may be earthly things that we miss out on but we will be rewarded eternally for the choice we made to follow God. We are all called to a greater purpose. So, the question remains who's voice are you going to listen to?

Job 37:5 "God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. "