Monday, June 29, 2009

For real the blogging will begin again soon...

I've been uber busy the past week and have neglected to blog. I should be blogging again soon after I get the kinks of the youth trip out of the way and am not running around taking care of Mom as much. Much Love and keep checking back guys.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Lack of Blogging.

So for the chosen few... I'm referencing those who actually keep up with my blog. I'm sorry for the lack of Blogging the past week or so. The reason being is because I've been out of the church office doing other work, as well as on a youth trip and maintaining a social life with those that I enjoy being with during my summer break. I promise I will get back to blogging Pronto! Its just not going to be till probably Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.... So sorry! But bear with me... Im not like John Bishop and I dont just up a quit my blog..... *low blow* I'm just kidding........ John probably wont even read this so really I could say whatever I want. Like that he immensely enjoys it when people call him "Hott Pants" and "J Nasty"....... Love You John....

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

No Reserve, No Retreat, No Regret.

The past week has been a very good one. A lot went down and I was running around a lot. I drove down to Charlotte Monday night of last week and crashed at my small group leader's house. Woke up early Tuesday and met John Bishop and Jared Abel for breakfast. Then proceeded to UNCC's campus, and changed my major. I ate lunch with a studly Wynne. I researched a lot of things in the library for like 4 hours, then drove to Carowinds to pick up some tickets for the youth. Took a Mr. Adam Shinn along for the ride and had good time of conversation. I later went back to my small group leaders house for small group, and got to hang with my boys. Love those guys. Then after small group I was sitting around with my Small Group Leader and decided I wanted to drive another 2 hours or so to see somebody very special. This is where the title comes in.

They didnt want me to drive because it was storming which is a valid reason. However I was thinking about it, and if I hadnt gone to see them I would have regretted it immenseley because I had the time, money, and ability to go see them crash and then hang out the next day a little. Again this person is very special to me, so I really wanted to see them. Yes I frustrated them and yes I probably should have just waited till morning but I drove on. I ended up crashing (as in sleeping) in Greensboro at a friends house. This was a blessing in itself because again this was somebody I care greatly about and I greatly enjoyed my ..... like 5 hour stay at their house.

So moving on, I got up around 5:30 and then drove on toward my next destination. I got there and was able to hang out for the morning and eat breakfast and spend some much needed time with this person. I then left arond 11:00 and got home about 2:30.

I tell you all of this because....

I Reserved no resources, I used every means I had (and then some) to get to where I wanted to be.

I did not Retreat even when that person told me to stay in Charlotte and not travel and that I could just come see them another time.

And I wasnt about to not go because of the Regret I knew I would have if I didnt go.

What does this have to do with anything spiritual?

Well in our daily walk with Christ we should live it out in just such a manner. We shouldnt Reserve ourselves we should get out of our comfort zone and love the unlovable, care for the needy, and pour out our lives into those who dont have anyone investing in them.

We cant back down and Retreat from what God has called us to do. We have to boldly go out and proclaim what God has layed on our hearts and live out what he has commanded of us.

And finally we need to live life in a way that would leave us with no Regrets. This last one is hard because we have to always be vigilant and open to the will of God. We have to be seeking opportunities and actually accepting them once they are presented. I was always bad in highschool to pray and ask God for the opportunity to do something, and then when it presented itself I would back down or turn the other way. Not always but I Regret it and wish I hadnt.

So my wish for you all today is that you would live life with no Reserve, no Retreat, and no Regret.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Magnitude of what you Say

Magnitude: Extent of dimensions; size;

Yesterday morning at Church was a bittersweet time. It was the commissioning service for my friend and mentor Durl. Hes moving for at least a year and we had a commissioning service for him. During the first service I was given the liberty of sharing a 3 minute testimony of how Durl impacted my life. This was a very hard thing to do because he had done so much in the past 10 years hes been here at Mt. Calvary.

As I was sitting towards the back I started to get a little nervous, which is weird for me because I never get nervous when talking to people really. If you know me I like to talk and I'm not very bashful. But for some reason my gut was just wrenching. I didnt know why I felt this way and then it hit me. I fully understood the Magnitude of what I had to say. I was trying to compress 10 years of impact into a 3 minute mini-testimony.

I delivered my testimony after we prayed for Durl and Jaime, and it went fine. I hit very quickly on the big things that were very evident in what Durl had done in my life and for me. Of course with limited time comes the "Oh I should have said" or "I could have said" or "I wish I had said"s but the more I thought about it giving my testimony about Durl's impact was a lot like Giving my testimony about how God shaped and changed my life. That sick to my stomach feeling I had when getting ready to talk about Durl was the same feeling I used to get when I talked about Christ just on a lower level.

I started thinking shouldnt I always get that feeling when sharing about Christ with others? And the answer to that question by the way is yes. But how? I think that I should treat every opportunity with the urgency that I treated yesterdays situation. But first and foremost I should understand the Magnitude of what I am trying to say and the message I am trying to convey.

The Message of God is one that shouldnt be taken lightly. The Magnitude of the Gospel is so high that we should carry it out with the utmost urgency and care.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Share Your Father

Many years ago a buddy of mines Father passed away. My friend and I were both still quite young and I had about 2 years on him and I couldnt be much older than 7 or 8. Well a week or so after the funeral as you could imagine my friend was pretty bummed being very young and now without a Father.

That is when I woke up one Saturday morning to my Dad saying, "Brett get up we're gonna go out in a bit so get dressed." I got up and ready and then we set out to pick up my friend. I had no idea this was coming but we then went to Fun'n'Wheels which if you dont know what it is. It is a place where you can race go karts and such.

Well we spent a good hour or so racing. I drove my own car and Dad drove with my friend riding with him. It was a really nice day and we all had a lot of fun. It really took my friends mind of the situation for a bit I think. After we rode go karts for a bit we stopped then we went back home.

We dropped my friend off at his house with his Mom who thanked my Dad and I for taking him out. After we got back in the car and drove a little Dad turned to me and said. "Thanks for Sharing your Dad today, it was a really good thing you did and I'm really proud of you. You helped your friend out a lot by doing this." Now, no going to Fun'n'Wheels wasnt my idea and no I didnt feel like I did anything special but I did share my Dad when I could have spent the day alone with him I shared him with somebody who desperately needed a strong male figure in their life at that point in time.

You might be wondering why I wrote out this story. well to be honest I was driving tonight and I remembered what my Dad said to me when we had gotten back into the car and driven a little bit.

"Thanks for Sharing your Dad today, it was a really good thing you did and I'm really proud of you. You helped your friend out a lot by doing this."

It kind of made me think about what I would want God to say to me, and how I would want him to be proud of me. I started thinking about how I could go about giving God reason to say that to me and it reminded me of the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20). If I want God to say "Thanks for sharing me with somebody today." Then I need to be telling people about him in the first place! If I want to achieve this then I need to be living out the Great Commission.

If you're like me and want God to be pleased with you and say. "Thanks for Sharing your Dad today, it was a really good thing you did and I'm really proud of you. You helped your friend out a lot by doing this." Then you need to start living out The Great Commission as well. Take this nugget for what its worth but personally I'd like to share my Father with my friends who need him in their lives.

Friday, June 5, 2009

He Must Increase I must Decrease.

Theres something I've been running into over the past week over and over. Its best summed up in the verse John 3:30.

"He must Increase, and I must Decrease."
American Standard Bible

Another Translation Reads:

"He must become
More Important, and I must become Less Important."

International Standard Version

Yesterday I was weedeating for a friend, and while I was weedeating I started thinking. What are some ways that I can Decrease and allow for God to Increase in my life? I think thats a pretty valid question everyone should ask themselves every day. It keeps you in check and can help you in bettering your life.

For me This might look like being a better steward of my time and resources. If you would let me, I could sleep 15 hours then wake up and eat and play video games for the remaining 9 hours every day for the rest of my life I think. That would be silly and there would be no glorifying God in it. So even though I dont play THAT much and sleep That long I should still monitor how long I sleep and not "sleep the day away". And I should take into moderation my gaming. That would leave more open time for things such as going to an 8th grade graduation for some of the youth from the youth group I work with. Or being able to wake up early and lead a discipleship group because I got enough sleep and didnt stay up all night playing video games.

We as humans have this instilled desire to promote "Self" and make "Self" Happy so we tend to leverage our time and resources to benefit ourselves. But like John 3:30 says I must decrease but at the same time He must increase. Evaltuate your life see what needs changing and then invest what you need to where you need to. God gave you Gifts and a desire, put them to work. Don't waste them.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Goals

In life you can do one of two things....

You can Progress or you can Digress.

I'm not the same person now that I was two years ago. Heck I'm not the same person today that I was 2 weeks ago and as a matter of fact I dont want to be the same person in 10 years that I am now. You will always be progressing your life or digressing your life in some manner.

I had the opportunity to sit in on a lunch meeting today with my friend and Mentor Durl and one of the Elders of our church Ernie. A little background on Ernie, he has been in sales all his life and currently does a lot of work with The Haggai Institute founded by Doctor John Edmund Haggai. The meeting was to talk about Durl and his moving plans but I got a little bit of info out of it for myself as well.

Ernie made the comment "In life you have to set goals. If you don't you will digress." he also made the comment, "How much passion is in your life?" I started thinking about people I admire and hold in high reguard and evaluated their lives a little. They all are very successful and its because they work very hard at the things they want and set goals and reflect on them daily.

Ernie asked "Do you review your goals daily?" well in my case no not really cause I suck and to date I havent set many goals. And then I think to people like John Bishop, Caroline, and Durl. Eveyday John goes to Elevations church office and reviews his goals as he begins the day. Every day Caroline thinks and dreams of the day shes going to be a Radio City Rockette, Every day Durl is taking steps toward raising money and gaining support to reach his destination in July. All these people set goals, reflect on these goals and take steps to carry out these goals which is evident to me in their everyday lives.

So if you're like me and you suck (that is in not having many if any goals and you fail at reflecting on them.) then evaluate your life and set some goals to start off with. Then review your goals daily. After that start asking yourself questions like "What are you doing better this week than you did last week."

Be bold in your goal making too. I'll end on this quote that I hope will encourage you in your goal making.

"Attempt something so great for God it's doomed to failure unless God be in it."
-John Edmund Haggai