Fathers Day

So this year was my first official father's day. I have been hearing the saying "like father like son" a lot lately. My son has a lot of my qualities and characteristics but I don't know if this is so good. I so want my son to copy me but only the God refined traits, there is so much I still wish to work on. It got me thinking about what an amazing challenge it is to be a father. As a father I have the responsibility to represent God the father to my son, what an incredible responsibility. I know that no matter how hard I try to be a Godly man for my son to emulate I will some how mess him up. In life we have all experienced father wounds, some deeper than other's that have lasting effects on how we as men will raise our son's. It is my prayer that as a father I will represent God as a loving father. I praise the Lord that he is the best father we could have, and he is so faithful to show us the genuine love of a father. May we as men continually look to our heavenly father for our example of being Godly dad's to our sons and daughters as we try raise a legacy of God honoring generations to come!!

Year 27!!!

So this week I turned 27. I had a birthday week instead of a birthday, I figure why not prolong the celebration of another year of life for a few extra days! I am so blessed as I look back at life and what God has done over the years. I can honestly say I am content and wouldn't want life to be any different.

Here are few things I have learned in my 27 years of life!

1. A Godly life is made in the small moments not the big ones. It's the small ones that prepare you for the bigger stuff.

2. Life is a journey enjoy the scenery, let God be the guide.

3. Don't pick up 200 pound coolers full of soda and water past 27, I threw my back out for the first time in my life, I feel old!

4. Spend time loving those God has given you relationships with you never know when those relationships might end.

5. Being a Dad to my son Caleb and husband to my beautiful wife Angelina is the absolute best gift and stewardship I have ever had. Don't take for granted the precious treasures the lord gives you in this life.

6. Life is not easy, don't expect it be because it is not about you. It's about God!

7. Anyone can be a man, not everyone is a man of God, I deeply desire to be a man that honors Him.

There are way more but just a few I have experienced this last week! On to another year 28 here I come...

I love my wife!!

Tomorrow Angelina and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary!! I am amazed at how quickly time has gone by and how much life has changed, for the better of course. I am even more in love with my wife today than the day I meet her. Her compassion, and loving soul has changed my life forever. I could not imagine a single day with out her by my side living life as a partner in so many things. I thank the lord for such an amazing women to share my life with and to experience all that life has to offer together. I will cherish her all the days of my life. If the first three years have been this great, I can not wait till year 50 or 60!!

Song of Solomon 6:3 "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine"

Radical living in a Comfortable world

I have been challenged lately by the type of Christianity that we the American Church promote. As I see the next generation of Christians grow more apathetic, I see that we as the church have failed to give them a picture of Jesus that stands for something significant. Instead we have painted a picture that Jesus is found on Sunday's in pews and mid-week bible studies, in fun events that do nothing for those in need. Christianity in America has become a private personal religion, where claiming Christ as savior brings no discomfort or change in life. The problem is that we in America are comfortable, our whole country revolves around our comfort. I drove down a paved road today with nicely painted lines, detailed by neatly manicuring bushes no one owns, and trimmed grass to make our community look beautiful. Yet the world we live in is not beautiful, it's dying and broken. We live in a fake reality of comfort and security. Does anyone feel the same way? It's time to start being a church that refuses to stay comfortable, that refuses to make Jesus a feel good ideal, a set of motivational principles . Christ died a brutal death for a broken and ugly world that we may live a life of love and discomfort for God's glory and God's kingdom! As Americans we are called to live a radical life in a comfortable world, not an easy task, but one we must seek after!!

Simply Amazed

I am simply amazed at how good God is to me. Despite all my inadequacies, character flaws, pride, and failures His grace has the ability to completely transform my heart over and over again. I am overcome with humility that he could use my mess of a life for His glory and His Kingdom. It is my hearts prayer that I may live a life in response to this amazing love. Not a life lived out of obedience and habit but of pure love for my God who has loved me so much than I could ever understand. I am amazed that He has the ability to give me the strength I need when I am so weak, the reminder that I am His child when I am feeling insecure, and the ability to smack me when I am so full of myself. When I am overwhelmed by my sin upon sin it is Him that reminds me that He has covered me with His grace upon grace. What an amazing God!!!

Rest

I am so looking forward to getting some rest next week. My wife and I with our 6 month old son Caleb are headed to the mountains for some R&R at a youth pastors Conference at Hume Lake. It is paradise up there. I can spend some time with the lord and my wife I don't have to shave, I can where flannel all day, and fish my heart out!!

I am reminded that along this spiritual journey with the Lord; rest is a key element in being effective for the kingdom of God. This is why God not only demonstrated the need for rest when he created everything and then rested on the seventh day, but he also made rest a mandate to his chosen nation Israel. Why was it a mandate for his chosen ones to rest. Because we are to represent Him, and our God is a God of order, of balance, of peace and of rest. As Christians we are called to stand apart from the world and this includes the busy, tired, stress consumed mentality that our world considers normal, yet I find myself running even faster than most people I know. What our world needs is rest and peace in the arms of our God, I wonder if we would have as many wars, and turmoil if we just slowed down and found rest in Him.

Matt 11:29-30 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I Praise the Lord that His rest is always available to those who seek it!!

I think my head is going to explode!!

I am tired, a little too tired I think. In the midst of crazy transition, and a few stupid moves on my part not respecting my boundaries I have put my self in a mental conundrum. My head literally feel like it is going to explode, I have had these crazy headaches that come out of no where. I think it is God's way of making me slow down, it's so easy to run a head of him. It's the times that I trust him the most that things get done. Instead I'm running around in circles with a ticking head bomb.