Want More of Me?!!!!!!

Hey all, in case you are wondering why I haven't blogged in this lately, is because Trailhead now has it's own staff blog. I'm on Wednesday so start anticipating!

Trailhead Connect

Twitter Rules

Recently, I've embraced this new phenomenon called Twitter and I'm a fan. You may even see my twitter updates to the right of the screen. This is my way of giving you updates on my life as it happens! It's kind of like The Real World without all the swearing, drunkenness, and racial slurs! Shortly after I embraced this marvel of mini-blogging, more and more people started hopping on the band-wagon (keep in mind I was also a band-wagon hopper), but some people just simply use this tool for updates horribly. I mean, you just look at your Facebook status updates and see all the via twitter updates that you wish were not there. So this blog is for those status updates. They can be MySpace, Facebook, but I want to go ahead and put them all in the category of twitter because now twitter is sort of taking over this so with one text, all of your social networking sites will let the whole world know what you're doing. So I've decided to make my own little Twitter rule book that I hope everyone decides to follow. I think this will make both mine and your social networking experience that much more enjoyable.

1. No More Drama
Now this is going to sound a little insensitive but it's the truth. If you are having a bad day or rough patch in your life, Twitter is not the place to vent it. Don't get me wrong, as much as I love looking on Facebook to hear you talk about how much life sucks, social networking sites just aren't the place to heal. So let's keep the negativity away from my text inbox please.

2. Yes, You Can In Fact Twitter Too Much
At first I loved to hear my catchy little text ringer and look down to see "Twitter." Notice the words, "at first." But when I look and see 23 new messages with only two different people, it's time to put a limit. You're twitter should be something that either a) Informs of something significant going on, b) Makes people think, or c) Makes people laugh. No one cares about stuff you regularly do every day. You're going to work, that's fantastic but unless it's your first day, no one gives a rip and doesn't want your message to the world flooding their inbox, and quite frankly, unless you are putting a funny spin on it, I don't care about you eating at Wendy's for lunch. I'm just sayin'. So here's what I'm proposing. A limit to one twitter a day. I'll give you two if your second twitter makes me laugh or involves a natural disaster.

3. @No Reply
I'm just going to say it, I hate @replies. No more @replies are allowed. They are a waste of the world's time and all they do is fill my phone with your conversation that you seem to forget is easier to have by just simply texting the individual!

4. So your wife is hot, congratulations......now shut up!
To all the married twitterers. I think it's fantastic you think your spouse is hot. That's great, and I'm happy that you two find the time to go on "hot dates" but to be honest, I really don't care. I don't need a constant update about how you think we should drool over your spouse and give you high fives for being so lucky, and quite frankly I don't need to know about your hot dates. Just go on them and keep quiet and leave twitter out of it. The union you made was between you and your wife, not you, your wife, and your status update.

So that's just a start to my Twitter Rulebook. I hope you all abide by this rules and keep our Facebook Friends Updates safe.

A Thought Before I Fall Asleep

I know that it's been a long time since I've had a real blog post. I've been quite busy as of recently. Finally just finished unpacking my stuff in the house and can finally sit at my computer and type something. I just have a few thoughts and I think I would like to share them with you all in the blogging world. As some of you new, Pastor Josh has kicked the 30 Day Worship Challenge where you are challenged to take an hour out of your day for 30 days to just worship God. I'll be honest, that even I when we first discussed it in a meeting thought "Wow, I hope I have time to do that" but in all reality, should it really be that difficult to have time just to praise God? Is it really that hard to find time just to tell God how much you love Him? While you have plenty of time to watch your favorite show, play X-Box, or spend hours on Facebook/MySpace trying to figure out if this person and that person would be cute together? Worship should never just be an activity on Sunday before a sermon, it should be our lives! Anyway, that was just my thought on that.

Another thought, as I unpacked my stuff yesterday, I started to feel homesick. I would pull out stuff I hadn't seen since college and start feeling reminiscent of where I lived prior to Burlington. Now, I love Burlington and I know God has me here, but I can't have those moments where I miss my family and friends. Following the call God has on your life often requires sacrifice. My sacrifice is puny compared to what others have sacrificed but I do consider it a sacrifice, but I must go where God wants me and I know that that is where my reward will be and I see that everyday with my life and with Trailhead and that excites me but I can't help but have those moments of nostalgia. I told myself that I wouldn't but sure enough it only took a few photos to bring back some great memories. Well my God has a great journey for me as well as everyone reading this that wants to embark on that journey. These moments only make me realize that there is still some amazing memories to be made and I can't wait to live them.




Also, if you have been a reader of mine for a while, you'll be happy to know I got my cavities filled. Sorry to leave you on a cliff-hanger.

This Update Is Lame

I know, I have not updated in a while despite some big changes going on with me...but that's basically because I've had some big changes going on with me. I got a new job, thus a new location, and thus a new more active role with Trailhead Church so it's been hard to find the time, thought, inspiration, and creativity for an entry. In fact, right now this is all I have for an actual entry. Just this. So take it and enjoy.

Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

Today is my last day as a West Virginian and tomorrow I finally make the full-time move to Burlington, NC. This entire past couple of weeks after getting a job has basically been a big farewell to friends, families, my home church, and restaurants from WV.

SIDE NOTE: If any of you Burlington people happen to know of any good Mexican restaurants, please inform me. The only two I've tried resulted in me being sick and this just can't be.

I'll be honest, I'd thought it'd be easier than this. Saying goodbye is a tough thing to do. When you've spent 23 years of your life in one place and have developed relationships and what not, it takes something out of you. I guess that's just what it takes to follow God. Sometimes you it requires saying goodbye to those you love and pursue the call and the adventure before you. It takes sacrifice, boldness, and of course, the faith that God will get you to your destination. I don't really know what else to say other than that. I don't necessarily like doing this for myself but one song does come to mind that reflects such a transition that I've been big on:

After today I'll get me out of this place
Into the world so I can set a new pace
Seems I'm on my own from here
I've gotta face so many fears
Won't You lay me in Your hands of grace

I've got a funny feeling that
I'm gonna go away
Gonna face my future, gonna try to make the grade
I've got a ways to go from here and vision doesn't seem so clear
But praise God He's got a plan and understanding isn't my place

After today I'm gonna come face to face
With a new world who knows I'm feeling this way
I've got a ways to go from here
I'm gonna overcome these fears
Still I'm gonna need Your hands of grace

After Today by Sanctus Real

It's Like Drilling Teeth

3 blogs in one week? Oh yes I think it may be true. So I finally got a job in the big NC which means I can move from the big WV but one thing I may not have immediately is dental insurance and since I still have dental insurance, I thought I might as well go ahead and use it. I'm figuring just a simple cleaning, I mean, I brush twice a day, floss every now and then, and haven't had a drink of soda in almost a year, so of course, I'm going to have a decent report! I mean, I was just there a year ago and had a perfect report so it couldn't be that bad. Wrong! 4, count 'em 4 cavities! How the heck did I get 4 cavities?! It's not like I randomly take a hammer to my teeth! So of course, I'm sitting there in the dentist's chair.....alone and ashamed, wondering where do I go from here. Just a shell of a man. And now I gotta make two trips to the dentist next week to get these holes patched up.

Another thought crossed my mind during this ordeal, I could never be friends with my dental hygienist. Not because of her personally, but because she's my dental hygienist. I could never hang out with someone that spent 30 minutes staring at my teeth, thinking Lord knows what about how much of a failure I am at proper dental hygiene. Like we would be out at a restaurant and she would just be staring at me in disgust as I dirty up my teeth for her to clean. Then again, if she made me mad, I could always get back at her by loading up on stuff like roast beef, popcorn, and kool-aid right before my visit (Note: I do not promote vengeance...I'm just sayin' for comedic purposes)

To Give or Not to Give

We at Trailhead Church, believe that God wants us to prosper (even you). That God wants to bless us and take care of us, including our financial world. Jesus told in Matthew that the same way God provides food for the birds and sunshine for the plants, so will he provide you with what you need and as long as you are walking in the will of God, there's no need to worry about such things. Even when it seems like, you are running on empty, you can trust that God'll make a way, and one of these facets of walking in His will is through your tithes and offering. Now before I "Christianeze" this up, let me explain the two.

Tithe - 10% of your gross income (normally should go to your church)
Offering - Anything you want to give above your tithe

Now before you completely discredit this blog and write this off as another "preacher trying to get my money" type thing, just hear me out and I may surprise you. Don't worry, I won't ask for any money at the end of this blog or tell you God told me to tell you that you should give me your credit card number or give me $31 in honor of my 31st blog. It almost seems like you're cussing if you talk about offering anymore in many Christian circles. After the scandals of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart in the 1980's, it seems like any type of church that talks about the importance of giving is given the stigma that they're trying to scam you, and I'll be honest with you, sometimes when I watch Christian television or listen to a radio program, I feel that way as well. I mean, let's face it, we've all had times when we turned on the TV and watched as someone took up an hour of time telling us to give while using every gimmick they could think of to get our checks. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's well intended and can even be legit. I'm not about to point out anyone and say he or she's not hearing from God, but sometimes I can't help but feel like I need to take a shower after listening to some of these speeches. I guess it's just too much to ask what exactly my money will be going to, other than God giving me a new yacht.

First off, I'd like to say that we at Trailhead want you to be blessed and we want you to be educated on giving to help further your walk with God, your maturity at handling money, and your finances. Now with that said, let me go on to say this. God is not a slot machine. You don't put your money in and hope that the return will be greater. That shouldn't be your motive behind your giving. Now when you give, you should trust and have faith that God is going to provide for you and bless you, but there's a fine line between faith and manipulation and the ability to tell the difference between the two can be found in the motives.

The path to a blessed and prosperous life starts with the heart and not the wallet. Why are you giving? What's the reasons for it? Is it because you want something in return? Are you putting in $50 and demanding you get back $500. If so, I got news for you, you're not a follower of Christ, you are a wannabe loan shark. What's next? Threatening God that you'll break his knee caps if he doesn't make the return sooner? You're giving should be a fruit of your character. When you give, you should expect God to provide and bless you. That's called faith, which is another word for trust, but your first reason for giving is simply because He said so. Not because He can bless you or give you more, but because He wants you to give. He wants you to be genrous with what He gave you. When you are giving out of obedience to God, that shows that you are trusting in Him and you are showing how much you need Him. That's why he asks us to do something that makes no sense in the business world. In Malachi, God accused the Israelites of stealing from Him when they didn't give their tithes, because that money already belonged to Him. When you act out of rebellion by not tithing, you are stealing from God and not trusting in Him to do what He said He would do: That even when it seems like times are tough, He will still be in control and will not leave or forsake you. Also, when you give, you give because you love God and you want to see his kingdom grow and that means by seeing lives change. It's about seeing hope restored and the gospel of Jesus Christ being able to put out there because of your obedience and generosity. That's what your money goes to and when you start to possess those characteristics of a Godly giver: obedience, generosity, cheerfulness, and love, then that's when you'll start to see the blessing God has for you, but when you give the sole purpose of trying to shake God of any loose change He may have in his pockets, you'll find in the end, that's the reward you'll have: loose change. When you don't give for the sake of getting, ironically that's when you'll start to see what God really has for you. And if He does bless you financially, it's so you can serve as a blessings to others.

A greedy man stirs up dissension but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper

Proverbs 28:25