just the motivation i needed!

feeling a little tired this morning and needed some motivation to get my mind in gear and keep my seat in my seat. working on the curriculum for our "systematic theology" course for B.I.L.T. (Bible institute for leadership training) @ our church. well, i got my motivation. don't know why i keep getting drawn to book reviews on The Shack, but this morning's was from dr. mohler @ southern. i pay attention to his stuff because he speaks with a bold, clear, Biblical voice on issues involving Christ's Church and our culture. and his review of this pulp-fiction/theology book was inspiring! seriously, take a couple minutes and read it: albertmohler.com

he argues that the overwhelming response of so many Christians embracing The Shack may reveal that "theological discernment is now a lost art among American evangelicals." obviously there are theological questions that The Shack raises (and should raise the alarm in our minds and hearts as believers in Biblical theology). his conclusion: "our real task is to reacquaint evangelicals with the Bible's teachings on these very questions and to foster a doctrinal rearmament of Christian believers."

that's my task today, and gets me excited to develop this curriculum...and excited to pursue further education in theology studies. what an important endeavor. my generation must rise to the occasion and grab the torch from those who have gone before us holding fast to the truth of God's Word and boldly proclaiming Biblical theology! we must continue to teach Christ's Church that we are called to be discerning. and as dr. mohler so wisely put it, "discernment cannot survive without doctrine."

pastor to parents meeting

had a great opportunity to talk to some of our parents at church about how to help their children handle death. great to see parents who really care and want to encourage their kids through difficult times in life!

started with the reality of spiritual warfare, and our enemy who is the father of lies. he wants us to think UNtruth, which leads to worries and fears and ultimately not trusting in God. we combat worry and fear with TRUTH! and Philippians 4:4-9 tells us to present our requests to God with thanksgiving...then think about truth. not the "what if's" or "what might's", but "what IS". what is true!

and what is true is that God is in control and He is good (read Psalm 135:6 and then 119:68...awesome!) and those 2 truths are never in conflict with one another. incredible to think about and trust in.

truth is what our church needs. truth is what our families need. truth is what i need. Your Word is wonderful LORD! help me strap on my belt of truth and use the sword of the Spirit!

kurt's legacy: love God, love people.

i don't know how many times i've started this post this week and just wasn't able to keep my mind engaged long enough to finish it. it's been a roller-coaster week. almost like we crammed a month into the span of 6 days. i feel older. and a little tired. but i also sense that God has impressed on my heart a simple lesson:

love God. love people.

that's what pastor kurt taught me. he was my pastor, my teammate, my friend, and my brother, and he went home to be with the LORD unexpectedly on monday morning. it set in motion a host of crazy emotions and events this week that have been life-shaping. just thinking about the lives that his life touched...wow! even in passing from death to life he was touching others' lives! words can't express what he meant to our church family, and what he meant to people personally because he just genuinely cared about them.

probably the most important lesson i've ever learned about ministry: it's about loving God and loving people.

i'll never forget that lesson, buddy! thank you! can't wait to see you again!

praise God for the hope and peace and joy and grace and healing and comfort (etc., etc.) that we have in HIM!! my heart is full. i sing with joy to the LORD! and i'm anticipating His work in and through this experience.

thank you, GOD!

a week winding down...

Had a great morning speaking at the Men of HABITS breakfast @ church. Spoke on "remodling closets" (not hiding any sin in the dark closets of your heart & life). Hope it's impactful for men to commit their whole loves to Christ and walk in the light!

Can't believe it, but tomorrow is 1 month from our target date to move to NC! Wow! So much still to do! Biggest hurdle is finding a job...still praying hard for that one. And we've been enjoying these last days of hanging out with friends. It's bitter-sweet to think about leaving good friends and building all new relationships. You don't realize how close you become...but we're praising God for all these friendships and how He's blessed this season of our lives!

I know this post is a little choppy, but that's how this week has been. Tomorrow is "commitment Sunday". We're all bring our own rock to church, and we'll be challenged to recommit our lives to God and to His body. Looking forward to a powerful challenge and experience as we worship the LORD together!


- Posted from my iPod

psalm 136:1-4

give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever.


i just can't get over the sovereignty and love of a good God. absolutely blown away...

it's official...we're having a....

BOY!!! praise God! i'm so excited and so scared out of my mind. it only took them about 4 seconds after they started the ultrasound to find him...and we heard those words, "it's a boy!" all that joy and excitement hit...and then all of sudden i had this crazy thought, i've never had one of those...what am i gonna do?

good to know God's in control.

so we're rejoicing and trusting in Him. o God, keep our little man strong and healthy, and raise him up to be a godly man that You can use mightily for Your kingdom!

our little "Judah" is on his way!

CHRIST IS ALL

powerful prayer i've been reading and contemplating from "valley of vision" p.18:

Christ is All

o Lover to the uttermost,
may i read the meltings of Thy heart to me
in the manger of Thy birth,
in the garden of Thy agony,
in the cross of Thy suffering,
in the tomb of Thy resurrection,
in the heaven of Thy intercession.
bold in this thought i defy my adversary,
tread down his temptations
resist his schemings
renounce the world,
am valiant for truth
deepen in me a sense of my holy relationship to Thee,
as spiritual bridegroom,
as Jehovah's fellow,
as sinner's friend.
i think of Thy glory and my vileness,
Thy majesty and my meanness,
Thy beauty and my deformity,
Thy purity and my faith,
Thy righteousness and my iniquity.
Thou has loved me everlastingly, unchangeably,
may i love Thee as i am loved;
Thou has given Thyself for me,
may i give myself to Thee;
Thou hast died for me,
may i live to Thee
in every moment of my time,
in every movement of my mind,
in every pulse of my heart.
may i never dally with the world and its allurements,
but walk by Thy side,
listen to Thy voice,
be clothed with Thy graces,
and adorned with Thy righteousness.

a month out...and trusting

we're a week and a half into 2010. crazy to think about how time flies. and there's so much going on. dad's been with us for almost a week now and will soon be returning to massachusetts...tuesday we find out if our baby's a boy or a girl (depending on a few factors)...and we're just over a month away from our target date for moving to north carolina! that's the one that gets me the most. i really can't believe it! and for the first time i'm starting to feel a little scared.

Lord, i really need a job! i want to trust You. You are Jehovah-Jireh. please provide for my family. may we bring You glory through this adventure in trusting You!

the delightful spirit of sherlock holmes

enjoying time with my father-in-law this week. he's staying with us for a week for a little vacation and grandpa time. i had been hoping to lose a little after-Christmas weight, but i'm afraid that little dream is post-poned until after dad's departure...he's been very generous in wanting to eat out a little more than our usual schedule!

but tonight was a special treat: a movie night. and not just our typical redbox run (with whom i'm currently waging a war over a scratched dvd, a frozen machine and a pair of rejected requests...another story for another time), no, dad took us to the movies to see the new sherlock holmes flick. and i feel like it's worth reviewing.

first, the personal context. i was completely torn between excitement over the idea of a sherlock holmes movie and appalled at the seemingly blasphemous trailer i had seen weeks ago. i wasn't even sure that i really wanted to see it. you see, one of my favorite books as a kid was the children's illustrated classic's version of "sherlock holmes and the hound of the baskervilles". i vividly remember consuming it for the first time on family vacation, and i was instantly hooked on sir arthur conan doyle's master of mystery. so i was intrigued but very hesitant to get too excited over the thought of a new interpretation of a childhood hero. especially after the trailer portrayed robert downey jr.'s version of sherlock as some sort of turn-of-the-twentieth century james bond. and as we entered the cinema, i almost suggested seeing something else.

i'm glad we didn't.

as we emerged from watching i told carissa that i was pleasantly surprised, which prompted an earned "told ya you'd like it". she had been right. i loved it! and it's still growing on me. i'll definitely be waiting for the dvd release to watch it again.

downey jr.'s sherlock was the perfect blend of arrogance, wit, humor, intrigue and brilliance i remember, and the team chemistry and friendly banter with jude law's dr. watson was even more endearing (if it's not too bold to say) than conan doyle's duo. a few of the fight scenes (which i had skeptically assumed would ruin the spirit of the character) actually served to enhance the character and lore of sherlock holmes. the scenes would pause just before holmes would physically attack an enemy, and then predict, in slow-mo, each move while listening to his logical contemplation and planning. brain over...er, uh...with brawn. a good touch to action. and it was full of witty dialogue and timely humor which made it enjoyable to follow even with some pretty gross and disturbing images (the director or story writer seemed to have a thing with death). there were a few times i had to make sure my wife's eyes were blocked to prevent any nightmares...and i took a strategic and extremely necessary restroom run (after succumbing to the theater's ploy to upgrade my medium sized soda to a large for just 25 cents more) to avoid watching a completely inappropriate and unnecessary sexually suggestive scene (which we knew was coming from previews and planned accordingly). i hate it when they throw that in there.

the story was still the same mystery format. just when you thought the case was nearing an end a new twist would seemingly blindside the famous detective, but deep down you never doubt his master plan in solving the mystery and saving the day. so other than a few disturbing and inappropriate images, the movie was overall an incredible flick. my hero is still intact, and i can't get over how much i actually enjoyed watching downey jr. portray him. the best part of it all...i believe they got the spirit of sherlock holmes right.

and we just had a fun-filled evening together. thanks dad!

naming 'baby j'

next week we will hopefully and officially find out if our new baby is a boy or a girl. so exciting! i praise God for LIFE! and i praise God for the privilege of being a dad...a great joy! but as we wait to find out, we've already been thinking of names.

we're settled for a boy on the name, Judah. just a strong name with great significance. although we're working on a middle name still (carissa won't let me call him Judah Maximus...bummer). but we're thinking of something that starts with "L" maybe? at least that's the direction we're thinking right now...mainly because those are my initials (and then i can proudly pass along any possessions marked 'JLH').

and for a girl, we keep coming back to the name, Jacey [pronounced 'jay-see']. but we're again struggling to identify the right middle name to go with it. we love that name for a girl because of its uniqueness (and yet not too weird), and that it can fit both the 'cute' and 'beautiful' criteria...much like Jolie has for our first beautiful little red-head. and again similar to Jolie Alanna, we would like a middle name that makes it roll off the tongue, and gives it a touch of elegance.

what a joy it is to anticipate the birth of another baby! and it's a blast to sit around and dream up just the right name.

Lord, may this little one ultimately bring glory to Your name!

the first sunday of dedication

awesome first sunday in the new facility! and a surprisingly smooth soft-launch...we really didn't have any hiccups worth recognizing. and from what i'm told, for a first sunday in a new building that's an incredible feat. praise God! and a big thanks to (and for) all the people whose service made that possible!

it was tremendously impacting to me to have the service so focused on the Word of God. we had one of our older members bring the Bible into the auditorium as the congregation stood out of respect...wow! thank You for Your Word, Lord! and then our only remaining charter member, lucille ronk, read the last few verses of revelation out loud (finishing our read-through of the whole Bible to dedicate the new facility). impacting.

reminded me of when i fell in love with God's Word. it started for me at an early age in a solid Bible-preaching church...but really started to take deep root in my heart during my year at Word of Life Bible institute. that's when i experienced the Word of God changing me the clearest, and i had no doubt that i wanted to spend the rest of my life studying Its truths and sharing them with others.

so i'm excited to make this the year of the Bible. it's a resolution of mine for this year: to read through the whole Bible with my wife. Lord, do it again...continue to use your Word to change me...i want to be holy and pleasing to You!

rock point's first weekend

busy saturday...it's the day before our first sunday in the new facility. we have a 3 hour worship practice scheduled, but judging by our wednesday rehearsal, i'd say it's entirely possible for this practice to stretch even longer. got to get accustomed to a new sound system, new lights, new room, etc. but it should be exciting!

then @ 4pm we're asking our people to come by the new building for a PRAYER WALK! we want to bathe this new ministry tool in prayer asking God to specifically use each session for His glory! this is a big weeked in the life of our church...getting into a brand new facility and officially changing our name to Rock Point Baptist Church. i praise God for the chance to be a part of it!

some ask me why i personally get excited since carissa and i are heading back to school very soon (hopefully as early as february) and we really won't be around to enjoy all the change, but they don't seem to understand what's going on. this is a God-thing. not a comfort-thing. this facility has been built for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom...and that i get excited about. it was not built for my own pleasure or comfort, which makes it easier to hold with an open hand. this is about Christ's Church (emphasis on the capitalization), not just one local church...so the whole body of Christ can rejoice at the work of God!

and this is a weekend for celebration! GLORY TO GOD!!

- Posted from my iPod

rose bowl champs!!!

made the choice to just enjoy the game whatever the outcome (as opposed to fretting, worrying and silently begging God to be on our side...as sacreligious as that is), but my buckeyes made it easy to enjoy! pryor was a beast. definitely reveling in the moment...and yet i can't help but anticipate the future after that performance!! great way to kick off the decade!

and wow...that sounds good: rose bowl champs!

- Posted from my iPod

O-H...

just enjoying listening to the rose bowl. after 3 consecutive BCS losses i have little expectations today. which is actually a nice change of pace. of course i believe my buckeyes will win...and i'm hoping. but i'm not hoping in desperation. some might say that's an actual sign of disbelief, but it's simply a decision.

i'm deciding to just enjoy the game. we're playing well. pryor's playing well. we're leading at half 16-10. so at least we've shown up to play, which makes a fan proud.

now it's time to sit back and enjoy the second half...waiting to hear it: "ohio state wins!!!"

go bucks!