It’s been a long time coming. When I left my former church there were a lot of questions that I had to deal with and many that I will never get answered. It wasn’t long before my friend Chris invited me and Kristie to become part of the volunteer staff with The Rock Student Ministries at Trinity UMC in Anderson, SC.

It was scary, but Trinity has loved us genuinely and has treated us as though we were had been members of the congregation for years. Through great leadership and the love shown to us by the bride of Christ, Kristie and I have come a long way from the lack of direction we felt last spring.

The past 8 months have been amazing. From the mission trip to St. Louis to standing in an elevator with two toilets for Toilet Night Kristie and I feel back in love with youth ministry and the students of Trinity UMC.

I’ve applied at many churches for a position as a youth minister, but have had no luck. A friend contacted me to tell me about Lexington UMC in South Carolina in the beginning of September. They had an opening, but I wasn’t moving to Lexington. 4 more friends contacted me, but I wasn’t moving to Lexington. Paul Frey and Chris Lynch told me about Lexington, but I wasn’t moving.

Funny what takes place when you tell God “No” and he says “Go”.

Jonah told God no… and he still ended up in Nineveh.

You guessed it… after interviewing, speaking, worshipping, and spending time in prayer with the congregation at Lexington UMC I’ve been invited to join the staff as the Youth Pastor.

It’s exhilarating, but hard. But God rarely blesses us in the easy times, and has poured out His amazing blessings and Kristie and me for the past 8 months, and has clearly directed us to Lexington.

To LUMC… get ready, November 30th will be here soon. To The Rock and Trinty… you’re all amazing and you will always have a place in my heart that surpasses understanding. Thank you.

Coming tomorrow you’ll be let in on a little known fact taking place in mine and Kristie’s life… but you’ll have to wait until 10pm tomorrow night

As a matter of fact it is… yes she has a better record (5-3) than me (4-4). But come on she has a great team.

She even stopped flipping through next top chef, and project runway to watch Richard Petty crawl into a Pontiac Superbird being auctioned off on Barrett-Jackson for The Darrell Gwynn Foundation (DGF). The Superbird brought in over $500,000 “to prevent, provide for and ultimately cure spinal cord injuries and other debilitating illnesses” (DGF mission statement).

She pretty much amazing.

Myth: Going to church to set an example for others around me is a good reason to go to church.

False

While going to church is a good example it should not be the primary reason that we go to church. Attending solely to set an example for someone else may be one of the main reasons that people don’t go to church… because they find hypocrites.

Think with me for a moment. Why did the Pharisees go to the Synagogue? Was it worship God? Or was it to be an example to all those that weren’t good enough to wear the religious clothes of the day? The Pharisees went to church to “set an example” they prayed so that they might “set an example”. The fact of the matter is people who attend church only to set an example are people who think of themselves to highly and lack humility.

In Matthew 6 Jesus speaks about the how and why of the Christian life. He uses the Pharisees (hypocritets) as an example of exactly how NOT to act. See the Pharisees thought they had it figured out, they did what they could to show people that the way that they did church was the right way. Not by living in a way that reflected Christ, but in a way that brought attention to themselves.

My first semester of college I remember my RD Mike Jones (yes that really was his name) sitting everyone down in the balcony bleachers of Spartanburg Methodist’s gym and saying “do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, do not… DO NOT break the following rules.” I knew that he had placed emphasis on those rules. There were some that if you broke you were doomed and others that were more hall based rules of courtesy.

In Matt 6 Jesus uses the phrase (NIV) “Do not” 15 times. He takes it further than the 10 Commandments which just list, he says do not be like the hypocrites that give, pray, and fast. Why? Because they are only doing so to be an example and be looked up to by others. They Only desired power.

Many times I have tried to demonstrate how to do something and failed miserably. That is why I will often give a disclaimer before I do something… especially cooking. The problem with doing something SOLELY to be an example is that no one is perfect, we will fail, but if we are doing this in a church only to be seen and fail then we ourselves have become the very hypocrites that opposed Christ.

So, why do you go to church?

College football, the World Series, and the NFL… what a great time of year!!

Simply put, I love college football. If it’s an Autumn Saturday afternoon I am near a tv or radio voicing my opinion about one of multiple games. While on the retreat we desperately exhausted our options trying to get coverage of any game. Unfortunately, we were not able to watch or listen to any games

I’m disappointed about Florida’s Brandon Spikes eye gouging the Georgia running back. I heard about it this morning when Mike Golic took off on a rant on ESPN radio.

The Phillies have hung in there to cut the Yankess lead in the World Series 3-2. I have to admit that I’m not watching the series as I have in past years. I lost interest after the Red Sox got knocked out of the playoffs, but was glad to see my Braves get so close to the wild card.

Zach and I have been debating about the Heisman race. I’m so sick of hearing people talk about how CJ Spiller (Clemson) should get the Heisman. I realize that I am only minutes from Clemson, but seriously Mark Ingram (Alabama) is clearly a better running back. Spiller is nothing more than a strong fish in a weak pond with a weak ACC schedule… and a weaker offensive line. He’s definitely the ACC’s MVP, but he’s no Heisman trophy winner.

Shocked at how the Carolina Panthers pulled off a great win. Maybe this is the beginning of a turn around.

I’ve enjoyed my first season of Fantasy Football. We’ve been playing within a league with the youth group. Adrain Peterson and Reggie Wayne have been great for me! So far I’m 4-4, but I see more wins in the future.

This weekend was great! I was able to spend the weekend on a youth retreat that was incredible. Always great to see God’s hand at work in the lives of youth.

• The theme was “The Masquerade: Unveiling the Life Under the Mask”. We had 5 sessions covering:
  • Why We Wear Masks
  • The Masks We Wear (Sessions 2 & 3)
  • Performing a Mask-ectomy
  • Unleashing the Life Behind the Mask

Chris gave a brief overview and then the youth counselors used the camp notebooks to lead discussion groups. After family group discussions we joined as one group to discuss our findings. Chris would tie this information together launching the idea that all of us wear masks, but only when we join our identity to Christ are we able to live authentically and attain the abundant life.

• We arrived Friday evening to a very wet and dark Asbury Hills Camp. Though the weather did not cooperate… the facilities were amazing! Earlier this year the United Methodist Conference South Carolina worked hard to bring the facilities up to date. We used the dining lodge for meals and the sessions, and slept in the Waccamaw, Trillium, and Santee cabins. The food was surprisingly good and even more surprising… healthy. If you’re in Upstate SC or Methodist and looking for a great camp you should contact A.H.

• Just off of highway 11, and not far from NC and Table Rock. Here is the route from Anderson:

• Thousand Foot Krutch released their newest cd Welcome to the Masquerade (irony?) on September 8. We used the title track as a countdown to launch the sessions. One of the great things about TFK are their well thought out lyrics:

I’m not afraid, I’m not ashamed
I’m not to blame
Welcome to the masquerade
I’m not ashamed, I’m not afraid
I’m not ok
Welcome to the masquerade

• It seems like the youth from The Rock get better as I get to know each of them.

• Special Happy Birthday to the one and only, Jason Williams.

After this weekend I realize that we all wear masks. Some of us may seem like we only wear one rarely, but everyone puts on a face every once in a while. The key is to accept Christ and allow the master surgeon to remove the mask… carefully. Sometimes the surgery and/or recovery time may be longer than we like, but in the end the results of removing the mask shows the beauty that God never meant for us to cover. Like Adam and Eve many of us are ashamed of what we have become. We never meant to end up in a state where we feel the need to hide from God and those closest to us, but in the end it’s the ones that are closest to us that will be waiting when we leave surgery. They are waiting in the room after our Mask-ectomy, and are there to help us get use to not wearing a mask… and to help us to not go back to wearing a mask.

And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory,

are being transformed into his image

with ever-increasing glory,

which comes from the Lord,

who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

I’ve cropped this picture to make my current header. I wish I had a higher quality camera. To be honest, I never expected to see this view last Monday. This is just outside of someone’s home office and I had to take a quick shot with my camera phone. I wish there was a way to describe how amazing this mountain view was in context. To say “it took my breath away” would be to cliche, but would get the point across. I think it would be hard to get any work done with a view like this in front of me. It was absolutely gorgeous.

As I looked at this mountain I couldn’t help but reflect on the awesomeness of God. I could see the shadows of the clouds rolling across the valley. Sometimes our lives seem to be covered in the shadows. We can’t see the sun and wonder if it will ever shine, but from God’s view he can see the direction of those shadows. He can see that they will pass to reveal light on His creation.

There are different shadows that cloud our lives. Some of those shadows are brought on by ourselves. They are our sins. We have fallen. Because of this we experience darkness and must seek the Light. Then there are the shadows of life that we might call hard times. They are the times when we cannot see clearly. To those of us that are a little OCD… this drives us crazy. We want to see further, but we can’t see the hand in front of our face. We must trust that God will guide us through these dark times. We must trust that an infinite creator is greater than our finite minds.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:5-10

These are a few signs that caught my eye this summer. Title’s above, captions are below. Enjoy.

Is That How You Spell Squeeegeee?

This was from the Workcamp in St. Louis. We had a blast while we were there. I think that The Room of the Nun was the only room that actually squeeegeeed after showering.

Why Is Everyone Yelling?

While at Breeze I lived in Judd residence hall 2nd floor with some awesome guys. Even more awesome was hearing the guys figure out why this sign was so important.

I Suddenly Feel Self-Conscience

On a Carowinds trip with the youth group, Chris pointed out this sign. If you can’t make it out it reads, “Due to the design of this ride, guests with unusual body proportions may be unable to participate.” One of the guys was almost too tall to ride.

I recently read this article about why the Cash for Clunkers program works. There are a few problems that I see thus far.

What are the goals?

1. To save American automakers
2. To boast the economy
3. To be more “green”

There are a few things that I would love to see changed about this program:

1. There needs to be something that helps boost the American automakers specifically. With the cash for clunkers 55% of people are buying imported cars. I understand that they are assembled in the US. However, the profits are still going towards companies overseas.
2. There needs to be an incentive that will help push for bio-diesel and hybrid vehicles. There are numerous people that still haven’t embraced the idea of buying a hybrid.

These are the changes I would have liked to have seen implemented:

1. $2,500 towards any vehicle
2. $1,500 added to any hybrid
3. $2,000 for purchasing a vehicle manufactured by Ford, GM, or Chrysler
4. Add a clause adding motorcycles of all makes in the program. Most bikes will get around 40mpg. People could trade in their gas guzzling clunker for that space and gas saving motorcycle.

That means that if you bought a hybrid car manufactured by one of the big three that you would receive a $6,000 credit. Assuming that the dealers are matching these offers you would be getting nearly 12k towards your new car.

I have also thought about only being able to trade in your clunker for another vehicle of the same make. Ford products for Fords, Honda for other Honda products. I would be curious to see how many people are being loyal to the companies of their clunker and how many people are jumping ship.

What are your thoughts or suggestions?

I’ve been amazed at how God has continued to show His hand in mine and Kristie’s life. In a family group session at Breeze I was able to share with a group of teens about faithfulness as a fruit of the Spirit. One of the teens brought up the subject of tithing and how it was a tangible display of faithfulness to God. I was very impressed that a teen would have already grasped this concept. They continued to say that they have heard you should tithe because God will always give you back more than what you put in. To some degree this is true, but it is not for free. I told a story about some married friends of ours that not long ago had a hard choice to make. They had just enough money to pay their rent and electric bill and have some room financially, or they could tithe and things would be tight for them after they had paid rent. They made the decision to tithe.

Later that Sunday after worship both of them received phone calls. The husband was given the opportunity to work with the friend of a friend running insulation and wife was given the opportunity to fill in for a receptionist at a locally owned company. They ended up bringing in more than double what they tithed. Now, this is not to say that they tithed because they knew that they would get something out of it; they did it out of faithfulness… out of obedience. God didn’t drop a check in their lap with the exact amount of money that they needed or with a large excess, but he did open up an avenue for them to be blessed.

It was a great lesson in faithfulness, but also learning that the call to being obedient, and accepting a blessing also costs something. I know people that have said that they are waiting on God, yet all they do is wait. Then I have friends like these that are waiting on God, but they are faithful to look for the ways that he can provide. I want to search for God and be obedient. I want to be more faithful. And I want for my faith to increase.

On a non-spiritual note I created a to-do list for the F-100. They aren’t expensive projects, but some are time consuming and fairly new to me. Some are more important than others. I did add a driver’s side mirror. WooHoo!! Now I can actually see behind me! Here is the list so far (I’m sure that I’ll discover more as I tear into this project):

• New brake pads (also need to turn the rotors)
• New bearings on the front axle
• New tires all around
• Shocks on the front, check out leaf springs on the rear
• Check wiring on the rear turn signals (both currently blink like an ambulance when I flip the switch)
• Change fuses for the dash lights
• Recharge the air conditioning
• Add a coolant flush kit
• Get the play out of the steering wheel
• Change the filter on the transmission
• Change fuses to get dash lights up and running
• Stereo and speakers need to be replaced
• Calibrate the speedometer (it’s between 5-20mph off)