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

Reading Is Fun

I recently just started reading Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy. I know I'm a bit behind everyone else but better late than never. The trilogy consists of three (duh) books, Black, Red, and White and obviously, I started with Black. Circle tells the story of Thomas Hunter. When Thomas falls asleep in one world, he wakes in the next and vice versa. One world is basically the world we live in today where Thomas Hunter finds himself in a conflict to stop a terrorist bio-weapon and the other world is a place much different. This place consists of two forests all created by this higher being called Elyon. I'll try to not give too much away but one forest is a forest for the humans and these white bats called Roush. This forest is a beautiful place without limits and is a place where Elyon fellowships with the people in such a way that you just have to read for yourself. The other forest is called the black forest. It's a forest full of death and is inhabited by black bats called the Shataiki and their leader, Teeleh. The Shataiki aren't allowed to leave the black forest and the only way they could leave and basically attack the colored forest is if a human commits the only thing that is forbidden of them and that is to drink the water of the black forest. Thomas can't really identify which world is a dream and which one is not, or even if any of them are dreams.

If you couldn't really tell by my general description of Elyon's world, the trilogy is an allegorical representation of the story of salvation. Kind of like Narnia but a little more direct. It's a great series and I'd recommend it to anyone. Much of Black is telling what happens in the colored forest prior to man's disobedience and you really get to see this wonderful utopian world where people live in love and live with this great and intimate relationship with their creator and then obviously Dekker goes on to describe the fall and uses such imagery of what happens as a result of it that I honestly felt convicted. I felt convicted of how I view sin. How God really desires the type of relationship he had with humans before original sin back in the Garden of Eden. How He wants to take us to places that we now could never dream of going, and how he still wants that kind of relationship with us now, but it's that sin that gets in the way of it. When we sin, we often look at it like when a parent is disappointed in us for doing something stupid like breaking a lamp, but we forget about how much it actually hurts our creator because we push ourselves away from Him. If we were really to look at it constantly from that perspective, we would be more ardent in our pursuit to have the same kind of fellowship with God that the humans in the colored forest had with Elyon and we wouldn't play games with sin or simply just respond with a half-sincere "sorry." Instead, we would submit ourselves, the good and the bad, so we can have that real and intimate relationship with our Father that he desired so much when He first even thought of us.

I'm pretty excited to read on and see how Dekker portrays salvation through this story.

Fun fact: I just found out today that Elyon is actually a Hebrew word that means "Most High."

G & E

A while ago, I read a book by Joel C. Rosenberg called The Last Jihad. It was the first in a 5 part fiction series about the end times up until the rapture. In it, the director of the FBI recalls a conversation he had with the head of the Mossad (kind of like the Israeli CIA) prior to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, where he was trying to convince the head of the Mossad that Hussein was just "flexing his muscles" and trying to scare people in order to raise the price of oil. There was no way he would actually invade Kuwait for no real reason. The Mossad director replied with the statement, "The problem with you Americans, is that you don't believe in evil." That we don't believe that there are supernatural forces driving men to do things we can't fathom. So I thought about this statement. Is it true? Do we really not believe that there are evil forces that cause men to do horrible acts? Look back to prior to World War II, where many nations tried to please Adolf Hitler by giving him some land here and there and looking the other way when he broke International Law. We didn't think he would start a full-out invasion and we certainly didn't think he would lead one of the largest acts of ethnic cleansing the world's ever seen. Even when we received reports of the mass killings from a Polish operative in Auschwitz, we dismissed the claims as an exaggeration. Did we believe in evil then? Did we believe that it could manifest itself in such a way? Obviously, we did when we saw it firsthand.

So I've been thinking about this whole concept of "Good vs. Evil" and it seems like anything I've taken an interest in as of late has reflected it. I've been watching Lord of the Rings to pick up the symbolism, reading Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy, studying on things like the Holocaust, looking back on my final capstone project in college on the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, and of course, focusing on Pastor Josh's Heaven and hell series at Trailhead Church. I can't help but ask myself, would someone ever make the statement, "You know the problem with you Christians? It's that you don't believe in evil." I mean, if you were to ask Americans prior to WWII, whether or not they believed in evil, almost all would answer yes, but it wasn't until we saw it manifest into such a way as Adolf Hitler, that we finally took notice. I'm sure many of us wish that America got involved in the war much sooner as opposed to taking an isolationist stance in the beginning. Had we not taking such a stance, maybe the outcome would have been a bit more positive for the Jewish race, but that's something we'll never know. We learned that hoping evil will just go away and that maybe the problem will work itself out or someone else will handle it, does not work. So, if we really believe evil is capable of such things, do we really believe in evil? Do we believe that evil manifests itself today? Do we really believe that there is a war between good and evil, angels and demons, and God and Satan?

Evil exists and it manifests itself constantly. It may not be in the form of dictator but the warring is more crucial. The world is full of abuse, pain, and suffering. You see hunger and hate. Teenage suicide and self-mutilation is at an all time high. People turn to needles and alcohol just to numb themselves and will do anything just to get that numbness. Children younger and younger are having their innocence stolen by the Internet everyday with images reflecting brokenness and pain. Ethnic cleansing and wars still rage on in third-world countries, while we still think that that all died with the Nazis. Starvation and drought runs rampant, as well as fear. People walk the streets everyday with a fear of a 9/11 on their mind. There are countries where children and people are being traded and sold like livestock. So, as Christians, do we believe in evil? If so, can we really take an isolationist stance? We learned with Hitler what happens when you do that and the same principle applies. Do we really believe that Jesus was telling us the truth that He was the way to Heaven? That He was the way to freedom, to redemption, and to hope? Again, how can we take an isolationist view? If we know that evil exists and runs rampant, how can we sit by when we know what will change that?

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing

- Sir Edmund Burke

New Year's Slogan Bank

I am a fan of New Year's slogans. Every year, churches produce this slogans as an optimistic view on the new year. Some may be prophetic, some may provide hope, and others may simply be gas.

Note: This is not me making fun of churches that use these to expect big things in the year to come, it's just me being an idiot. I'm all about and encourage believing for big things in the year to come.

But, we have many years ahead and we don't have that kind of time to sit and labor on potential slogans for the new years to come. So why dont' we go ahead and get some of these out of the way now. Some of us at Trailhead (mainly myself, Hillary, and Ashley) have already started this process and I encourage you to participate and add your own. So through my own creativity and the help of an online rhyming dictionary, I think we can know future slogans for years to come without having to spend too much time in the future worrying ourselves (because I know it keeps me up at night).

I know 2007 has passed, but a friend of mine reminded me of one he had a couple of years ago and it made me laugh......again: Our engines will be revvin' in 2007

2009
Gonna read more books by R. L. Stine in 2009
I'm gonna get mine in 2009
We're gonna grow a spine in 2009
I'll walk the line in 2009
I won't whine...it's 2009!
Let's dine in 2009
Doing just fine in 2009
Bad times, we decline in 2009
Gonna wear more Calvin Klein in 2009
2009: A year divine!
Lookin' for a sign in 2009
I think I may get a new phone line in 2009!
Gonna move up to the scrimmage line in 2009
My favorite tree is pine in 2009!
I won't be in the unemployment line in 2009!

2010
Maybe I'll go to Japan and spend some yen in 2010
I want to take skiing lessons from a Swede named Sven in 2010!
Maybe I'll do some more writing involving a pen in 2010
Amen...it's 2010!
I hope TV DVD releases include "Gentle Ben" in 2010!
I'm going to remodel the den in 2010
Running on adrenaline in 2010
It's going to be good time and time again in 2010
I like to dance every now and then in 2010
Maybe I'll watch more CNN in 2010
My favorite pepper will be cayenne in 2010

2011
Our engines will be revvin' like they did in 2007 in 2011
I hope we see the return of Seventh Heaven in 2011
I hope I make a new friend named Kevin in 2011

2012
Get more use out of my one shelve in 2012
The only other thing I found that rhymed is delve in 2012

2013 - 2019
I'm gonna get lean in 2013
2014: It's gonna be mean!
2015: It's gonna be real mean
2016: I ain't kiddin', it's gonna be mean!
Maybe I'll get a date with a girl named Arlene in 2017
I'll watch more movies that star Charlie Sheen in 2018
Since things didn't work our with Arlene, maybe I can date someone named Christine in 2019
I'm gonna put up a smoke screen in 2013
Gonna see something serene in 2014
I hope I get to ride in a submarine in 2015!
Let's get a trampoline in 2016!
My favorite color is aquamarine in 2017!
More caffeine in 2018!
Hopefully things won't be obscene in 2019!
I'm gonna be the dean of 2013!
It's gonna be like a new scene in 2014!

2020
2020: It's gonna be great, honey!
Life'll be good, Sonny in 2020!
I wish Hugh downs was still on 20/20 in 2020

So I just figure we just yank one of those for the next 11 years and we move on with making it happen! If anyone else has some excellent suggestions for the future new years, please be sure to add!

There's Gotta Be a First Time For Everything

I made my pastoral debut at ministering this past Sunday at Trailhead Church. I titled my message "Pivot Point" and we talked about how useless "New Year's Resolutions" are because of the half-heartedness that goes into it and instead looked to heart-filled commitments that cause pivot points in our lives where real change occurs.

Overall, I think it went pretty well but in all honesty, I'm my own worst critic. I start thinking about the "Should have saids" and the "should haven't said" and the "I sounded like I was preaching Mormonism here" and so on and so forth. Now, if you've ever ministered before, you know what I'm talking about. You feel like the entire audience is disecting every word you said and keeping a tally sheet for everything you could've done better, when that's nowhere near the case. Ultimately, if you seek God and let Him speak, He'll say what needs to be said and sure, there are things I could've done better but you learn and improve and realize that the things you could've done better was not what made the message (I think I may have heard that from somewhere).

Anyway, that was just my thoughts on Sunday. This weekend, Pastor Josh is finally starting his series on "Heaven and hell." We've been anticipating and planning for this for some time and to be honest, I think I speak for much of the Trailhead Staff when I say that this is the most excited we've been for a series since our launch back in September. We're going to talk about Heaven and yes, even hell for four weeks so be sure to be there and be sure to be inviting people out! I know that the first initial thoughts of a series with "hell" in the title is a bit frightening but don't worry, we're going to have a real and honest look at eternity. Why? Because Jesus gave us a real and honest look at eternity and we at Trailhead are not afraid to talk about it because of two reasons. #1 - We want you and your loved ones to go to Heaven and #2 We really don't want you or loved ones to go to hell. So we're going to talk about this sensitive but important subject to inform, to help people understand, and to motivate others. God's got something big planned for this series and you don't want to miss out!

Greater is He

This past fall, I started a new trend that I never thought I would ever start. I actually started reading for fun. I know, I still can't believe it, but seriously, I really enjoy it. It all started when I read The Shack and then moved onto Joel C. Rosenberg's 5 part fiction series about the end of the world and then it just continued on from there.

I was blessed with some more books this Christmas and I'm a big fan, but anyway, to the point of this blog, I just finished reading House by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti and I'm a fan. It is a supernatural thriller involving a killer, a house, demonic activity, four unlucky strangers, and rules to a game that has to end at dawn. It's pretty intense. I'd say it's kind of like a supernatural version of Saw almost (not that I'd recommend you going to watch Saw but you get the idea).

I won't give away much but there's one part of the very end of the book that made me laugh out loud. Let's just say it was an example of the verse:

You, dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the one that is in you is greater than the one that is in the world

1 John 4:4

So I laughed at this scene but also just sort of stopped and thought about how true it is that God is greater than anything we may face. Every circumstance, every problem, and every demon of hell can come after us but that doesn't change the fact that they are powerless to He that dwells in us.

In other news, I've been working quite a bit on my message for Sunday. I won't tell too much about it other then it's called "Pivot Point" and we're taking the whole concept of "New Year's Resolutions" and kicking them to the curb! We'll talk about how worthless they really are and look at a better alternative!