Resurrection

Amena Brown speaks from the scriptures about the resurrection. Thinking about using this clip at the next Veritas.

Why Veritas?

An intro video about Veritas, our new alternative Saturday night worship gathering @ GraceDestin.

Rhino mating dance?

Maybe I should have asked a Kenyan, but I'm not sure if these are testosterone filled teenage rhinos trying to prove their superiority or a rhino mating dance. You decide!

Bird Lovers Be Ware

We chased Pelicans (or whatever kind of birds these are) at the Nakuru Wildlife Preserve (and were scolded for it). If you are a bird lover, please don't watch us disturb their natural habitat!

Just in time

Josue, part of our 2008 Kenya Church Plant Team, shares a story from His experiences in Kenya about getting to share the gospel with a man who trusted Christ, and then died within the next 36 hours!

Value of a soul

Kerry Copple, part of our 2008 Kenya Church Plant Team, shares about his experiences in Kenya and reflects on the value God places on a soul.

Nairobi Prison story

Jason Gross, part of our 2008 Kenya Church Plant Team, getting ready to go to the Nairobi Prison shares about the experience!

God makes a way!

My good friend Anna, part of our 2008 Kenya Church Plant Team, almost didn't make it into the country for our Kenya mission trip. Obviously, God wanted her in b/c according to the law ... she should have been sent back home!

A tribute to Phil!

WB, delirious on the backside of the summer 08 Kenya church planting trip, offers a tribute to our fearless leader Bishop Phil Norby :)

God, give us young men that love you!!!

Each year that God gives me the opportunity to travel to Africa, He seemingly raises one specific issue of prayer in my heart over all others. This year that prayer was that God would raise up godly young men to be leaders in the church.

In my experience planting churches in Africa, not unlike America in this respect, we see many more woman trust Christ than men. This year, God turned the tide!

75% of the people I was privileged to see trust Christ were men! God kept leading me to more and more men to share the gospel with, and they were receptive!

Sometimes, God even works by multiplication instead of simple addition! I was in the cornfields talking with a woman named Joan who was already a believer. She asked if I could pray for her husband who suffered from seizures, so we prayed healing for her husband.

We went on down the road talking to several people. At the end of one encounter with an elderly man, a young man named David walked up. He was very intently listening to the message of the gospel I was sharing with the elderly man. The elderly man did not trust Christ, but David started walking down the road with me. He was Joan’s husband and he is an evangelist.

He invited us into his home to share with him and answer some questions he had. We spent an hour together going through the “You Can Tell It” Evangelism Training Seminar so that he could help train neighbors and friends to share the gospel!

Several days later, another one of our team members ran into 8 men on the road. She asked a diagnostic question to find out where the men where spiritually. 7 were definitely lost. The 8th was David … and he step-by-step, as I had trained him, shared the gospel with the scriptures and illustrations! Our team member didn’t have to do any of the work … David did it for her!

Pure Joy

A couple of weeks ago we instituted a new favorite bedtime tradition at our house. Granted, this is not a nightly occurrence!

We want to encourage our kids to have fun and find joy in the small things of life. That is pretty easy to do as a kid, but can get much harder as we get older. So, we want to work at giving them opportunities to just enjoy being a kid!

If you want to see a picture of pure joy, check out these little 5 second videos!

We got our kids bathed, in their pajamas, and ready for story time and bed. Holly and I got into our pajamas too, and then we gave our kids 3 options. 1) Go to bed now. 2) Read books. 3) Go to the Donut Hole in our pajamas and have donuts and chocolate milk!

It is a pretty safe guess as to what they picked! Holly and I had a blast too! We got some pretty hilarious looks as a family, and we felt like kids too sitting around the restaurant table in our pajamas eating chocolate milk and donuts at bedtime! (The kids were both asleep by 8:45 that night!)

If you are a parent of little kids ... I dare you to break the routine every once in a while, jump in your pajamas, and have a childlike adventure on the town! You just might enjoy it more than your kids!

FYI - Bella enjoyed the trip as well, but she said "No Comment"!

Journey snapshot

So ... our adventure is about to begin.

Unfortunately ... that meant shots for me today!!! Me and needles don't get along well, but I'm sure it is better than contracting the actual diseases!

Several nights recently, I've laid awake a majority of the night with this nervous excitement propelling me to pray for our upcoming trip. It is hard to believe that in a matter of days we will leave behind life as we know it and enter into another world! I love the simplicity of life, beauty of the land, and the friendliness of the people. The unrest in Kenya over political issues earlier this year were a bit unsettling, but the tribal fighting has settled down and the opposing political parties were forced by the UN to come to an agreement. That helped set the stage for our arrival.

On July 4, our team of 18 will fly out from Houston to Chicago to London to Nairobi. We will spend the evening of July 5 in Nairobi and then travel cross country through the Rift Valley to the city of Kitale in western Kenya.

Beginning Monday, July 7, we will be on the ground in a small village outside of Kitale where our work will begin. Before we arrive, a pastor has gone through years of preparation, a church building and pastor's house has been built, and a team of interpreters (local dialect of Swahili) has been gathered to join our mission.

Monday through Saturday, our team will do basically the same thing. We will meet at the church in the morning, team up with our interpreters and head out down the red dirt trails in search for people to talk with. We will go mud hut to mud hut sharing the gospel with families. A handful of our members each morning will head out for schools where they will perform at assemblies ... singing songs, sharing their personal God stories, and the message about Jesus. Another few from our group will head out to prisons and do the same thing. Then in the evenings, there will be a stage setup in the local marketplace where we will have huge gatherings. Nationals will sing for a while, then members of our team will share their God stories, and one of our team members will preach.

I will be preaching at the first crusade on Monday night, and I'm already getting nervous. I did one three years ago and it was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Unless you've seen something like that with your own two eyes, I don't think my words can't adequately paint for you the power of that experience. I'm definitely praying God does great things again.

My schedule for the week will look like this ...

Monday, 7th - hut to hut evangelism & preach at the crusade in the evening

Tuesday, 8th - hut to hut evangelism

Wednesday, 9th - lead a group doing school assemblies & preach at schools

Thursday, 10th - teach our team in the morning & hut to hut evangelism

Friday, 11th - hut to hut evangelism & share my God story at the crusade in the evening

Saturday, 12th - lead a team doing a youth conference for teens & preach much of the day

Sunday, 13th - preach for the men at the church dedication

On Monday, July 14, we will head for Nakuru where we will stay for the night and go on a jeep safari. We'll see some pretty amazing things, but I'm sure nothing will top what we saw the week in the field in Kitale!

On Tuesday, July 15, we fly out from Nairobi back to London to Chicago to Houston!

On Wednesday, July 16, I get to see my bride and kids again!!! On the 17th or 18th I will get to crash in my own bed again!

That is a snapshot of our journey. Thanks for praying with us that God does great things through us!

Central in Life

I was up most of the night last night, not really voluntarily but because my spirit was so stirred up. I had some really good God time last night thinking about the future and being reminded about how the Christ's Cross is really central to everything we are and everything we do.

Christ's Cross definitively communicated and demonstrated God's amazing, unconditional love for us. I can somewhat understand giving your life up for someone who has pledged their undying allegiance to you ... but to die for your enemies ... that is something wholly different. I would say this is unbelievable, and actually it is without the drawing of God's Spirit empowering you to believe.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Christ's Cross removes the penalty for our sins if we are willing to turn to Him and receive His forgiveness. The penalty for your sins, God's wrath (His intense anger and determination to execute justice), no longer falls on you. Instead, Jesus took it upon Himself!

You were dead because of your sins because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

Christ's Cross offers God's gift of salvation to us through His grace. Grace is a word that simply means you get something great that you don't deserve. Because of our words, our thoughts, and our deeds we could never earn salvation and God's favor.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Christ's Cross secures eternal life for us now and in heaven.

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)

Christ's Cross starts a new identity for us in Christ. As you begin to grow in your relationship with Christ, you will experience God's power bringing about Christlike changes in your thoughts, attitudes, and actions. You will also begin to experience a passion to now live to make God's name look great instead of your own.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Christ's Cross demands a decision of you. Embrace or Reject. An amazing offer with eternal consequence. What will it be?

Be a Rebel

If you can't catch the captions on the pictures, it says this ...

Apathy ... Kills ... The ... Soul

Is there a tougher fight out there?

I was listening to a friend, Rob Morris, quote Bono of U2 who said this ...

"If you are going to rebel, rebel against your own apathy!"

Where has apathy crept into your life & stolen vitality and passion from you?

BTW, if you haven't checked out Love146.org ... go there now and check out this quick video that will both break your heart and inspire your soul (http://www.love146.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=21772).

The Story of Love146 is Rob sharing the brief story of how they were inspired to give their lives to this cause.

Imagine is what Love146 is doing about the issue. It is not visually graphic, but it does put you in the mindset of the children they work to rescue.

Some pictures from my 2005 Kenya Trip

Going to Kenya!!!

In about a month I will be heading to Kenya again for my third church planting trip. I want to let you know how God hooked me into this.

Looking back, I can see God began working on me a long time ago. When I was eight years old (by my closest estimation), I can distinctly remember standing in a pew in the back of Calvary Baptist Church in Rosenberg, Texas during an alter call with my family. At that time, I do not believe I was a Christian, though I had been in and around the church all my life. I can remember, as best I know how to describe it, God compelling or urging to go down to the front of the church to talk with the pastor about Jesus. Fear paralyzed me. Not fear of the pastor or of what people would think, but fear that God would make me a pastor or missionary. I wanted NO part of that, so I stubbornly refused and stayed put.

Fast forward to my college years. I am now a believer in Jesus Christ. Through divine appointment, God connected me with some radically passionate believers and I begin to experience the realities of the things I’ve learned about in the scriptures. The only way I know how to describe it is that Jesus came alive to me. The scriptures jumped of the pages like 3-D. I could really sense God began talking to me at that time and I felt like a bubble that would burst at any moment. I couldn’t keep all the cool stuff God was showing me in. I had to let it out! God really began giving me a passion for sharing both Jesus and His word with other people. This was a dramatic shift in my life beginning to take place.

If I wasn’t a believer, I’d preface this statement with “I don’t know why, but …”; however, I do know why. Since I was a little kid, I’ve always felt compassion for the people of Africa. Now, God has united that compassion for people with a passion for Jesus along with an opportunity to go to Africa for the third time.

On July 4-16, I will be joining a team of people headed for a small village outside of Kitale, Kenya to plant a church. A church building has already been built. A pastor has been trained. People are praying, both stateside and in Kenya for this church that is about to be birthed. We will go mud hut to mud hut, alongside interpreters, to share the great news about Jesus – that we can be made right with God by believing that Jesus took our guilt and punishment upon Himself by dying in our stead. We will also go to schools, prisons, and marketplaces sharing testimonies of how God has impacted our lives. There will be large open-air crusades in marketplaces. They will setup a stage and PA system. Some Kenyans will sing and play music for a long time, gathering a large crowd. Then, several from our team will share testimonies and one of us will get to share the gospel.

I had an opportunity to do this in 2005 and it was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. For the first time in my life, I could literally hear God speaking to me as I was talking to people. I was looking out at a sea of faces of over a thousand people and was just filled with God’s compassion for people. At the end, we saw both young and old people come to know Jesus.

God is absolutely amazing and can use anyone to accomplish His work … even a person like me that stubbornly vowed to never ever be a missionary!!!

Turning the Corner!!!

Man, this has been a long process!

I know God has provided strength, hope and healing through the last month and my bride, family and friends have been absolutely fantastic. However, I would be lying if I told you I didn't have a lot of long, dark nights laying awake wondering if things were really going to get better.

I had expectations, based on my previous surgery experience 11 months ago, of how this thing was supposed to work. I really believe God allows things to happen that disappoint our expectations to cause us to really seek Him out and trust Him.

About 10 days ago, God really began to talk with me and reveal Himself through His word. I was reading in Isaiah (again) and discovered this ...

I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are my people.' (51.16)

That just renewed my confidence that God is going to heal me ... both for His fame and glory ... and to allow me to walk out the plans that He has for me. One of those plans, at the forefront of my mind, is the looming church planting trip to Kenya.

I've never doubted that I would be on the plane going to Kenya in a month, despite all the complications, I just wondered what kind of shape I'd be in!

About 5 days ago, I believe God very distinctly and miraculously gave me a breakthrough in my recovery!

How do I know?

First, I've been praying with a whole team of people for God to heal me.

Second, the physical therapy process has been pretty brutal for me, normally resulting in me going directly home, icing down, and laying low in bed for 24-36 hours. Late last week after a physical therapy session, I felt stronger. The crippling pain was no longer there. I did not have to retreat to bed. I was able to begin to really engage my kids!

At church on Sunday, I was able to energetically engage people. That is a huge change, because all of my energy has been focused toward pain management and I haven't really had anything left to interact with people.

I had physical therapy on Monday, and instead of going home, icing down and going to bed ... I was able to go to work for the remainder of the day!

I'm excited that I can know focus on taking care of my family, investing Christ into students' lives, and get ready to take the awesome news about Jesus to Kenya!

A Word

This morning I took some time read the scriptures. I wasn't bringing an agenda with me.

Not taking time to study to teach others. Not intentionally reading through books. Just taking time to prayerfully listen to God.

Here is what I found ...

The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.

He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient,
Nor did I turn back.

Thought this was a pretty profound word (Isaiah 50.4-5) and I think it will be my mental chewing gum for the next week and my continual prayer.

On the recovery front ... I've discovered that I hate deep tissue massages! The muscles in my shoulders, neck and upper mid back have been a mess & going to physical therapy means considerably more pain ... not less. At least I know that know and am getting mentally adjusted to that fact.

We are still continually praying with faith that God ... by the power of His word will straighten out the mess in my muscles. 'Til then, I trust and wait.

God is always faithful and good!

Big Baby Bella!!!

Bella-babes takes her first steps!

Patience

As is with pretty much every spiritual principle, you can't grow by simply learning ... you've got to take what you've learned and put it into practice.

Patience is not one of those things I'd often pray for because to learn patience through experience can be a painful thing ... sometimes, in my case, literally.

I now sit over three weeks removed from surgery and had one of the most painful nights of my life yesterday. In spite of having heavy meds and muscle relaxers, I was ready to cry "uncle" or "mercy" or whatever! I think it was my perseverance (Holly would call it stubbornness) that kept me from going to the ER last night. I was very, very close to breaking.

The good news is the surgical site is healing up well and signs of infection are pretty much cleared up, but I am experiencing a phenomenal amount of acute muscular pain in the back of my neck, shoulders (trap muscle), and in between my shoulder blades. I never knew muscle spasms could be so painful or last so long. It has been about 2 weeks, and last night it came to a head. I had a deep tissue massage on Monday to try to work out some of the muscle cramping, and apparently I wasn't ready to deal with the consequences of that.

I was unable to get in touch with my Dr last night, but got in touch with him this morning and he upped my pain meds and gave me something to help me sleep. Man, can I use that!

Please pray for a couple of things for me over the next couple days ...

1) that I would grow in patience

2) muscle cramping would cease and desist!

3) that meds wouldn't make me so groggy so I will still be able to hear God speaking clearly to me

4) that I will be able to get back to the office, at least a couple hours/day soon. I tried to go on Monday morning (after the massage). I didn't last long and really couldn't focus b/c I was in so much pain.

5) that God would grow my taste buds for eternal things and deaden my taste buds for worldly things that sidetrack me from pursuing God.

Food for thought ...

1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

God, please use this journey to refine my hope ... that it would be set squarely on you and not on fleeting worldly stuff!

Finally, praise God for my bride. Holly rocks!!!

Peace.

Eyes to see

Just a quickie update. After talking on the phone with my nurse today, she got me in with the neurosurgeon on call tomorrow afternoon (my dr is on vacation this week).

Last night as I was laying in bed, Holly reminded me about an incident about a week ago which I heard a distinct pop in between my neck and shoulder on the left side followed by intense pain. I had been trying to stretch my left trap muscle in my shoulder b/c it was cramping badly. At that point, I was doing very well in my recovery and that is the moment I can point back to and think that something went wrong.

Since then, I've had very strong pain in my shoulder and upper back and had to get back on hard meds and heavy muscle relaxers. I thought it was just complications with my neck b/c it was intensely painful to get in and out of bed ... even having to manually support my head to get out of bed (just like immediately after having neck surgery).

Please pray for my appointment on Thursday @ 1:30, that God would give Dr. Johns eyes to see what's happening inside my body!

Thank you my friends!!!

COOL note

Over the last few days, I've been fighting off infection and consistently monitoring my body temperature per doctor's orders.

We've had a large group of people pray specifically that God would keep my body temperature low and regulated. A fever (in conjunction with my elevated white blood cell count) would not have been good news.

As, I've monitored my temp ... it has consistently been 96-97 degrees, topping out at 98.1. I just think it is cool in response to people's prayers that God has kept me cool ... literally!

Rewind

Do you ever wish you could rewind time and go relive specific moments or days of your life?


I've felt like that sometimes today, as I sit 2 weeks removed from surgery.


Last Monday & Tuesday, pain levels were subsiding, I was off hard meds and beginning to feel like myself. It definitely seemed like the worst of the recovery was over.


Thursday through today has been a whole different story.


I visited the Dr on Thursday (first followup after surgery), and I was just beginning to have some intense pain in my shoulders, back of the neck, and upper to mid back. He didn't find that very unusual, except that the surgical site was still significantly swollen.


By Thursday night, the pain level was over my head and Holly called the Dr for help.


Went back in to the Dr office on Friday, then wound up heading down to the hospital for blood tests and a CT scan to check on the swelling. The Dr sent me home with new meds and told me to monitor my body temperature and the swelling in my neck.


Sunday, I briefly got up to the church to see Michael and Josh baptized. Very exciting morning and I'm glad I made it for that, but that was the extent of my outing. Back to the house and back to bed.


Today, the swelling seems to be subsiding in my neck some which the Dr is excited about ... but still no pain relief for my shoulders, neck, and back ... which is what I will be excited about!


So we are waiting ... patiently, as best we know how. I did get up and walk for a few minutes outside which was nice, atleast to clear my head. Haven't been out of bed a whole lot the last few days b/c pretty much every movement is accompanied by sharp pains. Kinda felt like a pregnant lady on bed rest, except that I'm not a lady and I'm not pregnant!


It has been exciting, but tough, to hear the prayers of my kids. I hear, "God please heal daddy's owies so he can pick me up ... so we can wrestle ... so he can tickle me ... etc." It is exciting seeing our kids call out to God, but it makes me sad to hear them verbalize some of the things they miss doing together with me.


I saw Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark today. Pretty gruesome, but interesting seen toward the end when the Germans open the Ark and God's presence goes out from the Ark and slays them. I'm sure that's not what it would look like, but interesting nonetheless to see man's depication of holiness in the midst of unholiness.


I saw Charlie Wilson's War last night. Holly fell asleep halfway through it. I'd have to do some research to find out about how accurate to history that was, but doesn't seem important enough to do so. Wouldn't watch that one again.


I saw 27 Wedding Dresses two days ago (because I love my bride a whole bunch!) Two words - chick flick.


Please continue to pray with us specifically over these issues:

- swelling would completely go away at the surgical site in my neck.
- any infection in my neck would go away
- pain in my shoulders, neck and upper-mid back would go away
- we have eyes that can see & ears that can hear God during this crazy time

Thanks!!!

Reason to smile!

This past Sunday and Monday were two great days.

I don't really know how to quantify what life was like last week, but it wasn't living!

The last two days, pain has subsided considerably & nausea has completely gone away! Man, it is absolutely no fun to walk around all day feeling like your stomach is going to eject at any moment. I've been off the heavy pain pills completely for at least 48 hours, and I think that definitely had something to do with it.

I've still got significant swelling at the surgical site, so please pray for continued patience to stay horizontal and keep ice on this thing!

I go to the Dr on Thursday for the first time. I think it takes 3 months for the fusion to take place, so I've got to continue to take it easy ... but I think I can SLOWLY begin increasing activity soon.

We took a family outing yesterday ... boy, do I cherish opportunities to get out of the house! We drove over to Fort Walton Beach to get snow cones, but the place was closed. So we drove over to a Chic-Fil-A and let the kids play and had dinner. Needless to say, the kids weren't too disappointed.

I took a brief walk last night and saw an incredible sunset. While walking, I was plugged into my ipod and heard this ... "the biggest problem you and I have isn't moral failure ... it is a failure to honor God". If we tell people God doesn't like people that sleep around or do drugs, then people will try to refrain from those behaviors to make them presentable to God. Because we can see behaviors, we often focus on correcting behaviors instead of dealing with matters of the heart. We are in need of a regenerated heart in order to love and honor God. Then, obedience becomes delight instead of duty.

In process

When Holly and I sat in the neurosurgeon's office exactly one week ago and he told me we need to do surgery and that would happen on Monday, I think my initial response was to get myself psyched up for the actual surgery. Over the weekend, I think I was able to get myself prepared for the actual surgery. What I don't think I was able to do was to get myself ready for recovery.

Surgery is over in a few hours, but recovery is a pretty grueling mental & physical process.

My trust and my hope are in Jesus, that somehow through this process, people would see His sufficiency and power displayed even when I am at my weakest.

My plan of attack (and how you can support me in prayer) is this ...

- spiritual rehab.

I've got to keep Jesus center-stage in my head and my heart right now. I'm still having some vision/focus problems so reading isn't really an option right now, but man am I thankful for the infusion of God's Word preached through godly guys that I can pickup on itunes for free! Pray that God talks to me, literally!

I've got to keep our church body updated and around me in prayer. This has been difficult thus far, as it is difficult for me to speak right now and I've had focus problems which make looking at a computer screen tough at times. And, well ... I'm not really up to seeing a bunch of people face to face right now. Either through my own efforts, or through Holly, we will keep you guys up to date on how you can pray for us!

- physical rehab.

I think I've found that I fear being lazy. Resting is different than being lazy, but sometimes your mind can get confused and they feel like the same thing. That makes me antsy, to get out and want to do something that I probably shouldn't ... so please pray for peace and wisdom and rest.

I do want to actively engage in recovery. I got the approval of my doctor to walk around the block (did it twice yesterday). That seems like a pretty small goal, but it felt pretty significant! I think I work well when I have tangible goals set out in front of me ... helps me feel like I'm accomplishing something. Pray that I could accomplish goals without setbacks.

My family and our church family has been great!

Holly is an absolute all-star of a wife. We all already knew that, but she is the bomb.com. My kids are so cool. At different times last night, Kirsten and Isaac both came up to me and prayed for God to heal daddy's owie on his neck. Bella, she can't talk yet, but she did stand up for about 5 sec without holding on to anything this morning, and that was pretty cool as well. My mom had been in town and left yesterday. She was awesome to have around ... both for encouragement and an extra set of hands around the house.

Families within our church are helping out by praying for us (which helps so much!!!) and by providing meals for our family which has been great. I know it is so nice for Holly, who is busy taking care of 3 little ones and me, not to have to worry about cooking dinner all the time.

Thanks for walking beside me through this time. I am, and will always be until Jesus returns, a work in process.

the Fam

Prayer Preparation

Tomorrow is the big day!

Holly and I will be at the Sacred Heart Hospital in SanDestin on Monday @ 6 am to report for duty. I should go in for surgery around 7 am and be out by 11-noon.

God has given us great peace and confidence and trust in Him through this process! We have literally felt people's prayers in a very supernatural way over the last week. May we continue to walk inebriated by God's Spirit ... impacting the way we see life, talk about life, and live life!

We'd like for you to partner up with us in prayer ... b/c we believe this thing is ultimately in God's hands whether God chooses to heal me supernaturally sometime between now and Monday morning or whether God chooses to use the hands of a man that he has created for this very purpose and time.

We want to be clear that our overarching prayer request is that we would trust God and that God would receive much glory and fame through whatever happens because we KNOW that is His will!

Beyond that, here are some specific requests we'd like you to join us in calling out to God ...

- Pray for skill & wisdom for my neurosurgeon, Dr. Arriola, as he performs the surgery.

- Pray that the numbness/tingling/loss of strength I'm experiencing in my abdomen (from my ribcage down to my hip bones) and around to my back would be healed tomorrow. My doctor said those symptoms are not associated with the issue in the neck, but b/c of the severity of the herniated disc it could be causing my whole body to go haywire!

- Pray that the numbness/loss of strength in my hands/arms will be healed tomorrow.

- Pray that the pain in my neck and shoulders will be healed tomorrow, but due to the extent of the compression on my spinal chord, it could take a while for the pain to subside.

- Pray that I will be able to breathe without hindrance after surgery. I had this same procedure done 1 level higher in my neck last year and had breathing problems for 2 days afterward because of the breathing tube and irritation in my esophagus (surgery is through the front of the neck & they have to move stuff around to get to the disc).

- Pray for Holly, for sustaining grace to strengthen her as she takes care of our family over the coming weeks!

- Pray for wisdom in retooling the student ministry over the next few weeks & that we don't lose connections with especially fringe kids.

- Pray for patience in recovery. Actually, pray for me to press into God and that I could hear God well during this recovery time. I spent a lot of time studying and preparing series to teach last year when I was down. It was an incredibly productive time. If I can really connect with God during this time, it could prove to be a great gift!!!

Thanks for your prayers and for being part of our family!

Robbing God's Glory

Pride is an ugly thing.

I see my pride exposed in a desire to hide physical weaknesses. Growing up with a competitive spirit and loving sports, I never wanted to expose injuries or weaknesses to the opposition.

As we grow older, the trend is to continue to privatize our lives ... pulling more and more back from public view ... only wanting to show others our strengths.

In that regard, many of our "relationships" more resemble a perpetual first date or job interview than biblical community!

About two weeks ago, I started to gather a group of people together whom I felt were connected to God and connected to me, to pray alongside our family as I dealt with my latest neck/back issues. As I emailed out invitations, friends and family were very receptive and excited to jump on board with us for this adventure where they can peer into our lives through regular email updates.

One of my good friends from back in Texas wrote this to me last week in response to the invitation I sent out: "I must just say thank you so much for being so open about what's going on with your back. Perhaps it was because it wasn't as severe 5 years ago, but I think you used to keep your daily dealings with chronic pain kinda quiet. You have wholeheartedly served and prayed for so many, and it's our joy to support and pray for you as you deal with your back issues."

As I began to reflect on why I kept quiet about these struggles in the past, this is what I dredged up ... the WHAT IFS ... what if I make this public and God doesn't miraculously heal me ... if God doesn't do something immediate and obvious, would it hinder people's faith?

One of the things that I've learned is that it is not my job to protect God's reputation, just to trust in Him and provide Him opportunities to display His greatness (even by being willing to boast in my weaknesses).

What is at stake here is God's glory, which God intends to be displayed through me and every other believer that walks the face of this earth! That is God's focal purpose for the life of His people!

Growing up I learned that God opposes (stands against) the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I think I'm beginning to realize why. Pride can steal God's glory. What I mean is this ... if I keep quiet and private about my weaknesses and don't give God's people an opportunity to pray and see God move ... then I'm robbing God of an opportunity to show His glory and increase His sway and influence over people's hearts.

Thus, the community experiment in my life was birthed this week. (If you'd like to join us on this journey, let me know).

Anticipation

I don't often look forward with anticipation to an event for long. My anticipation often falls prey to my short attention span. I've never been tested for ADD or ADHD ... but I think we've all got a bit of that!

Tomorrow is a day I have looked forward to with anticipation since my birthday. After knocking out a 14 hour work day on my bday, I got home and Holly led me on a treasure hunt around the house with Easter eggs ... each egg containing a clue leading to the next egg.

The "booty" at the end of the treasure hunt was a night at the Sandestin Hilton, ALONE with my bride that would come in 2 1/2 weeks. Let's see ... my wife, the beach, & night with no kids. I love my 3 kids, but a night of single-married fun sounds pretty sweet!

So now, 2 1/2 weeks later, I sit on the eve of an awesome bday celebration with my bride! Yeah!

I could handle 2 1/2 weeks of anticipation, but how do you sustain a lifetime of anticipation ... of urgency? The apostle Paul had this to say at the end of his life ...

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also
to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 timothy 4.7-8)

My personal prayer right now is that God would cause me to treasure Jesus, and all His promises that will be fulfilled when He returns, so much that it causes a sense of sustained anticipation and passionate living until that day comes.

The tough question I get to wrestle with is this ... what is the trivial stuff in my life that quenches my sense of passion and anticipation for Jesus' return?