Getting Ready To Leave For Kenya

When Hero's Pass

    

Growing up in San Diego in the 80’s and 90’s and loving baseball it’s not hard to figure out who my hero would be, Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn.  It’s funny at 33 years old I can still remember every little interaction I had with him.  As a baseball player I studied how he hit and now as a father and coach I will teach my son how to hit off a tee, just like Tony. 

Life has a way of changing. None of us will live forever but the one choice we have is how we live today.

I want to be a man that my kids tell their grandkids about.

I want to be a man that my kids say this is how daddy did it.

I want to be a man that makes peoples lives better.

I want to be a man that makes a difference.

I want to be a man that is remembered for how I loved God.

I want to be a man that it could be said, “he gave all”.

What do you want to be remembered for?

As one boyhood hero passes I remember my history and take an inventory of my present.  I am blessed to have the roots that I do and I’m excited about the future. 

Thanks Mr. Gwynn for all the memories at the ballpark with my family.  You were the best hitter these eyes will ever see in person.  But more than that, thank you for being a great ambassador for my hometown, San Diego.

Only 2 Weeks Away

2 weeks from today I will board the first of many flights on my way back to East Africa.  Every time I get close to one of these trips I am filled with all different types of feelings.  I am excited to see my friends, and see what God has done and what He is going to do in the future.  I am always a little sad to leave my family behind.  This summer we will have 2 teams going, the first team is Chris Friend and myself.  Our primary purpose is to do a pastors conference for pastors from all over East Africa.  At this conference we will be discussing the Restoration Network, RHOPE, and the Restoration Training Institute.  I am still blown away that only 2 years in to our churches existence God is already opening doors to live out a dream He placed in my heart many years ago.

The 2^nd team that leaves the day after we return is a team of 11 and my wife Candice will be on this trip.  This is another dream that we didn’t think would be possible until the kids were older but God put it on our hearts to have her go and He provided the way.  You see Candice and I have always talked about the day when we get old and Restoration Church doesn’t want us anymore (haha) that we would love to devote our lives more to missions.  Up until this point it’s been me telling her what it’s like, now she will get to experience it for herself.

Gods timing is always interesting.  It seems like in some areas of my life God moves very slow then in others He moves quicker than I would’ve ever dreamed.  The key is to walk with Him at His pace.  I am at the point in my life where I don’t care about anyone knowing my name, or speaking at some big conference, I am consumed with living out the task God has placed before me.  The task is bigger than me, it’s scary, it’s intimidating, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We are all in different places in this journey called life.  Some of you might feel like God is late, or maybe he forgot you, others might feel like everything is happening too quickly and you’re losing control.  Where ever you are don’t miss the most important part of the journey “Walking With God”.  Letting Him lead you, letting Him grow you.  If you do this the journey is just as exciting as the destination. 

A 1/4 of an inch short

What happens when you’re a quarter inch to short?  We live in an interesting world.  A world not full of originals but copy cats.  Someone has had some success so now everyone has to be just like them.

I love sports and right now all the NFL draft hopefuls are in INDY getting weighed and measured.  Johnny Manziel is one of those being measured.  Johnny is a Heisman trophy winner and was an amazing quarterback at Texas A&M, but there’s a problem.  No it’s not his under age parting, or getting paid for his autograph, or flashing dollar signs after a touchdown.  The big issue is he’s a ¼ of an inch under 6ft.  Someone in some room has decided that if you’re under 6ft you can’t be an NFL quarterback.  Even though the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks quarterback is 5’10, hmmm.  That doesn’t matter though Johnny just doesn’t measure up. He doesn’t fit someone’s standard.

What do you do when someone says sorry you just don’t cut it?  You’re close but you’re not good enough.  We live in a culture where everyone has an opinion and social media has made it very easy to share it.  We live in a world full of experts but few of those so-called “experts” have achieved what you are trying to achieve. 

You have a choice, will you listen to what someone else says about you, or is what God says about you enough?  Are you going to listen to someone tell you that you can’t live your dream or are you going to fearlessly try to live out the dream God has placed in your heart.

You aren’t a ¼ inch to short.  God made you on purpose, for a purpose and you can live out that purpose no matter what anyone says.  It’s time to mute the experts, it’s time to face your fears, and it’s time to live your dreams.  I know it’s scary, but you aren’t alone God will help you; He placed the dream inside you.

No more excuses, JUST LIVE IT, BE IT, DO IT!

Blended Families

Justice

For the past 5 weeks I have been preaching through the book of Ecclesiastes @ Restoration.  At times it has been a kick in the teeth, not for everyone else but for me.  As I look at my life and what I fill it up with, the author of Ecclesiastes does a great job of putting everything into perspective.  If your looking for a good kick in the teeth you can check out the messages @ the church website www.restorationchurchwichita.com, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, make sure to have your mouthpiece in.  HAHA

Yesterday was again one of those messages as we discussed Justice.  Justice is something we all want for someone else.  We want to see the person that hurt us get what they deserve.  If we were really honest we want front row seats to see it happen.  The interesting part of justice though is we only want it one-way, we want justice for others but grace for us.  We don’t want what we “really” deserve, we want forgiveness, and we want grace. 

That’s the Gospel, that’s the good news.  We deserve hell, that’s what we’ve earned but God loved us in spite of us, Jesus died for us when we didn’t deserve it.  We are forgiven, we are loved, and we have hope, even though we don’t deserve it. 

We like all of that but yet we still struggle to extend grace to others.  We want justice for them.

What we don’t realize is when we are consumed by what someone has done to us, when we refuse to forgive him or her, when we refuse to show them grace we shackle ourselves to that hurt.  We are now slaves to what they have done.  Every time we see them our blood boils, every time we hear their name our mood changes.  We are enslaved to them and the hurt they inflicted on us.

But when we forgive it’s not about setting them free as much as we are setting ourselves free.  We are taking back control of our lives and emotions.  No longer do they dominate our thoughts, no longer does our blood pressure rise, no longer do we lose sleep, we are free!

The Gospel is freedom, forgiveness is freedom, and who are we who have been forgiven so much not to extend that same grace to others.

The gospel frees us to forgive much because we have been forgiven much.

It’s up to you.  You can live enslaved to what has happened to you or you can live free.  I choose freedom. I choose grace. 

What I learned from watching the Ken Ham & Bill Nye (The Science Guy) debate

I have to start off by saying that I LOVE a good discussion.  I love seeing two people passionately present their point of view to one another.  I love having these discussions especially when I am well-versed on the topic, and lets be honest if I’m not well-versed I will still argue with you because (if we’re being honest) I like to win. 

With that being said the past year I have tried to debate different.  For years my goal wasn’t to convince of something it was to be right.  I have been pulled (or jumped) into way to many conversations over the years where I wanted to show you how wrong you were and how right I was.  I would paint a picture to walk you down a road only to ambush you with some information I knew you weren’t aware of.  I had you, I had won.  What I have found is there aren’t very many people that I have ambushed in our debate that still talk to me about BIG issues.  Why?  Because I made them look bad, I made them feel low, and I enjoyed it because I had won.

I am so over the format of the debate last night, where 2 people have their slides don’t listen to each other but only to ask a question that is sure to be ignored and the debate just keeps rolling along.  Please hear me I am not at all trying to be critical of  Ken or Bill, it takes tremendous preparation and courage to get up in front of people and share what you believe and allow it to be challenged. 

I believe there needs to be conversations had and views expressed, I welcome those with opposing views to come into my office or meet me for a coffee and have a conversation but I know longer want to WIN.  I want to be a better listener and help you see my perspective not so that I can get a gold star for reading more books, or being better prepared, or a better speaker.  But to truly help you to see truth that I believe will transform your life forever. 

If you don’t believe in Jesus or the Bible let’s talk, let’s have a conversation.  This time my goal is not to win but to show you love and let you see God in me.  Will I do it perfectly?  No, I’m sure I will stumble and fall especially when I see you walking down the road in the conversation where I can ambush you, but I will repent for my tone and motive and continue the dialogue trying to love you trying to show you truth and not win.  When my goal is to win it makes you my opponent and the Bible teachers me you aren’t my adversary and I am sorry to those in the past that I have made feel like you were.