“Hey, I’ve got good news!”

Disciple.

Whoa. That’s a pretty BOLD word when it comes to Christian terminology.

Seriously.  Jesus handpicked 12 of these guys to carry on all that He had been doing from that point. Talk about responsibility…

All this stems from me reading more and more of the book Radical by David Platt. It has been such an eye-opening instrument that God has put in front of me that has “radically” shifted the way I look at my faith and obedience to God. There are so many things that I have just “twisted” into working for me as far as serving God goes.  Instead of taking the Bible as a whole, I have pulled together a few key verses that make ME feel good about my daily walk.

Newsflash! It’s not about me…

In Matthew 28: 19-20 Jesus says:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus commands us to make DISCIPLES of all nations. So the same task that was presented to the disciples of Jesus’ time, has been given to all Christians alike! We have news to tell the world. Good news, great news infact!...

But what’s holding us back?  Fear?  Money?  Confidence?

Look at the last part of that verse. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He’s with us EVERY step of the way. 

I don’t have any of this figured out, by any means….but I want to. I want to figure out how I can best serve God by spreading the great news he has instilled in ALL of His believers.  After all, why would we, as followers of God, want ANYONE to miss out on this amazing gift he has given us?

"Me, Myself and well....I"

So if you don’t know me very well, let me give you a little background…

I’m not a planner.  At least I didn’t used to be…

I’m a “spur-of-the-moment” type of guy.  When people used to ask me what I was doing on the weekend, I would look at them and say “Seriously? That’s like 2 days away. I have no clue.” That kind of mindset was all fine and dandy, until I got married….

My wife takes the other approach. She’s the type of person that if we are planning a trip, she wants to know what room #, what floor, what direction the building is facing, etc…(maybe not THAT bad, but you get the idea…  Love you Meg! :P)

As we grow in our marriage, I have really noticed myself getting out of the phase of not caring what tomorrow holds, and really start looking and planning for the future...almost too much. I mean I’m to the point where I have finances sort-of mapped out, 401k, stock options, the whole works…

Now planning for the future is not a bad thing by any means, in my opinion, but as it stands, my future is solely based on our individual performances, with little or no faith involved. I mean seriously. Think about it: A well paying job, a cushy savings account, and a retirement plan that takes care of the rest. Where am I involving God in all that? I’m basing the rest of my life on myself. And that is BAD news…

What I’m getting at is, I want God to plan my future. I want to be totally satisfied with WHATEVER God has in store for us. If that means selling everything we own and moving to India, so be it… I want to be an obedient servant that is not deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  He tells us that we are granted the treasure of Heaven as long as we are obedient to His call!  The gift of Heaven…

That’s heavy.

I want that.

God deserves to be the planner of our lives. He is the center of the universe and Creator of everything we love and know.  How foolish of me to think I can do better than that myself…

Also, if you haven’t read Radical by David Platt…it’s legit. Totally worth every penny!

How Big.....Is Big?

What then are we to say about these things?

    If God is for us, who is against us?

                                                                                Romans 8:31

Hmm, there’s a thought to ponder…

It’s been a while since I started this thing, and to catch you all up on my life…… one word:  School.

Seriously.  It’s been ridiculous. I’ve never been a great studier, just coasted by with what I could pick up from class and it’s worked for me…for a while. This semester has really put me in my place as far as actually sitting down and learning my material…

Ok. Back to my point. As a Christian, I serve a mighty God.  Not just a God that reigns above all, but a God that is so infinite in glory and power,  that my tiny little brain can’t even begin to fathom how great He is. For real.  He is a God that not only created the heavens and Earth, but exists out of time itself. I can’t even find a starting point in trying to imagine what that is like.  God is bigger than the universe itself. That’s big.

Everybody’s got problems on a day to day basis, right? I do. Money, school, work, friends, family, etc.  We’re faced with problems all the time. I’m a problem solver, so 9/10 times, I try and fix those problems myself. Every time I fail, which is the majority of the time, I think to myself…“Dude. What are you doing? God has called us to lift our problems to him and he will take care of us, as long as we are obedient to what He is calling us to do.

This is my prayer tonight...

“God, I want everything I do in my life to be out of obedience to you. My problem solving in the flesh will only create more problems. I want to be sensitive to your voice and glorify your name in all situations. Provide me with opportunities to be obedient, and to make your name known to those who do not know you.”

On top of all this, I have trouble finding the time in my “busy” day, to sit down and really dive into the Word (that He has supplied us with) and listen to what my Creator wants me to hear. I mean I read my Bible often, but is God worth just reading my Bible “often?” Negative. God deserves everything that I can possibly give him…

Our God is larger than life itself, but yet we still try to hold on to our problems and not let Him help. Most of the time it’s because we’re afraid he’s going to tell us to get outside our comfort zone. That’s my reason 100% of the time. Think about it though. If we have our God, the One that is above everything we have ever known and will know on our side, what can stop us from glorifying His name in everything we do?

Isn't God worth EVERTHING you have?

Giving in...

Yea, yea, yea I know...a blog right?

Who would have thought I would be actually sitting down and typing out a paragraph/page, when is wasn't required? I mean, I can't stand typing papers. In fact, I would probably do some strange things to get out of writing a paper. I really don't even enjoy Facebook all that much. I know, I know....crazy right?

All that being said, I feel like this is a way for me to say what I want to say. Whether it's a growing experience or something that may have knocked me down, I want it to be useful to someone else who might be struggling with those same things. I know a lot of my mistakes could have been avoided if I had some insight on what was to come.

Most of all, I want people to hold me accountable for allowing God to be the commander of my life.  I try so hard to live the right way, eat the right way, speak the right way, work the right way, etc. But most of the time I find myself making what some would say was progress, just to fall back into the same pattern and mold. Ok. So what? What's the problem with that? Everybody makes mistakes. True. Nobody's perfect. But, the point is that in all those situations, I'm the one making decisions, not God. He's supposed the the commander-in-chief of my life! I try so hard to please God, and make-up for the mistakes I've made, and I completely miss the point of having and intimate relationship with God. When your intimately close with the God I serve, those decisions will become second nature. That's what I want. I want a relationship with God that compels me to become the "Christ-like" believer I'm called to be.

I'm gonna get a little cliche, but bear with me....

On June 5, 2010, I married my best-friend. For real. She is my complete other half and I seriously would not be where I am today if it not had been for her. I have a wife that truly Loves the God she serves. I thank God everyday that he placed her in my life, and put it on her heart to bring us out of the path we were heading towards. I couldn't have ever done it by myself.  I love you babe, and thank you so much for being the wonderful person you are. You truly are a gift from God and I can't wait to grow old with you...

So. I hope this thing is both encouraging and entertaining because no one wants to read a boring paragraph about my life, so I'll do my best to spice it up every now and then. But seriously.

"May my words and thoughts be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my sheltering rock and my redeemer."
Psalms 19:14