Tithing... Hermm

Tithing is undoubtedly a touchy subject in the church, I mean honestly, does the church just want our money?  I have met a handful of Christ followers that have admitted they don't feel comfortable tithing.  How could handing over 10 percent of your pay check make sense on paper, especially if you're in the same financial situation as most... borderline poor!  Let's face it, we never seem to have enough money to take care of financial obligations and desires.  There are two common themes that I've realized why people don't want to tithe:

One, they simply don't trust the church and the leadership in the church, and so, in return they do not want to tithe.  There's a simple solution to this... find a church you believe in.  As Christ followers, we have a tendency to stay in our comfort zones.  We feel that if we have attended a church for a long time, that there's a sense of obligation that comes alongside attending.  That obligation is tithing.  The thing is, is that tithing should NEVER be an act of obligation.  It should be a willingness to give back to God what is rightfully His.  In 2 Corinthians it says that "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."  There you go, it's laid out pretty plain and simple there.  I'd encourage anyone reading this to find a church they believe in and do what scripture calls us to do... tithe!


Another reason I've noticed why people don't want to give is because 10% of a paycheck is far too much money to just give away.  My simple answer to that comes from an amazing pastor named Perry Noble, when he says that that individual should then pray that they make less money so that their tithe will be less!  I loved that!  So often we get caught up in our finances that we forget about the fact that God's in the business of taking care of His people.  I love how Psalm 24 says that "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."  


We belong to God.  Our money belongs to God.  Scripture is clear about tithing, and how that as Christ followers it is an essential part of leaning on Him, especially with finances.  There are rewards to this act of tithing, because that's how our God works.  When we do as He commands, he takes care of us, so when in Malachi it says to "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it," He truly means that we won't have enough room for the rewards.  


Just something to think about :)

It Makes You Think...

So the other day I was writing an essay for school.  My scenario was laid out as such:

"You are the new pastor at a growing church, and a significant group in the church invites you to go to a blockade of a local abortion clinic.  It is against the law to physically stop someone from entering the building.  Would you be a part of this blockade, given the fact you may be arrested.  Why or why not?"

I was pretty excited to write this essay because I knew where I was on this subject, so I started looking for bible verses to support my argument against abortion and couldn't wait to explain why I would not be a part of the blockade.  As I searched online, I noticed a repetition of verses throughout Psalms and Proverbs.  I was on a roll with the essay, when I thought it might be a good idea to check the other side of the spectrum, so I typed in "Bible Verses that support abortion."  There, I stumbled upon an atheists' forum.  Most posts were as expected, people taking anti-abortion verses and calling Christians a stubborn, hypocritical group, until I found one post, and truthfully, this guy had a much better argument than most christian forums did. That's when I got completely off track.

Let me explain.  This got me thinking...

On this forum, the man was explaining how not only on the subject of abortion, but in many other subjects, Christians are quick to throw any bible verse that makes sense to support their argument.  Though the verse may make sense on its own, when surrounded by the rest of the scripture, or looking at whom the scripture was intended for and when it was written, or whatever the case, it no longer applied to the subject.  It blew me away.  He then pulled other scripture to prove his point, talking of how David wanted his enemies children to die.  Though this was an emotional conversation David was having, the verse on its own is clear.  It pretty much says to let our enemies' children be put to death, but when surrounded by everything else, it was clearly a conversation.

Crazy right?

Now, obviously this guy was also reaching way out in left field to prove his point, but it really got me thinking; so much to the point that I erased my entire essay!

I say all this to bring up a not-so-brougt-up point.  As Christ followers, we owe it to our Heavenly Father to get to know this book called the Bible.  And I mean really get to know it.  Know it to the point where we can quote scripture and stand confidently behind the fact that we aren't altering God's will and purpose for however the scripture was intended.  I for one believe God's Word was as relevant then as it is now, and as it will continue to be.  I want us to challenge ourselves and make sure we're representing God's word as it was intended to be, and not pull bible verses out of a bag to prove a point and sound like we know what we are talking about.  How cool would it be to use a verse to support an argument and have it be right on!  So right on in fact, that whoever was in the argument against you couldn't say anything other than God's Word was right on.  That seems like a pretty sweet scenario :)

Let's make it happen

Good to Be Home

So a lot has happened in the last few months.  It seems like God has pulled Mel and I in a billion different directions, all to say that we've been doing everything in our power to make Him happy.

Life in Oklahoma wasn't bad at all.  We didn't come back because we did anything wrong, made any poor moral decisions or anything like that, it was through daily prayer that we realized starting a family in Oklahoma was not something we felt like God was asking us to do.  It's not even the fact we didn't want to start a family in Oklahoma in particular, but that we wanted to start a family with our extended families who we love near to invest time in our future child's life, whenever that may be :]  Our prayers go out to New Community Church every day.  We know we left abruptly, but we are confident that God will move in that place whether we are there or not.  What NCC is doing is amazing... especially in the lives of the youth and the leaders there!  We love you guys!

Speaking of family, we have been welcomed back with open arms at IHC.  I recently was hired as the Associate Junior High Director, and Mel and I are SO SO excited to be a part of the IHSM family.  God's opened doors to start school at Vanguard University in September and am receiving encouragement from everyone along the way.  Dave and Carol Steck have shown Mel and I just how much they love us and that, like family, they are going to be there for us along the way... Its so cool.  Yes, it'll get tough, but God's bigger than full schedules, money, and where you live :)

I live a life to please God, and like it says in Philippians, "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death... If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me."

Fruitful labor is a big reality in my future, but to have fruitful labor while being a part of the IHSM team, having family around, and a wife that loves me... I figure God will get me through it :)

There's Really Not That Much to It

So another month has passed, and it seems like things are pretty good.  A lot has gone on in a month.  Mel and I made a promise to ourselves that we were going to do what we felt like God was telling us no matter what it was and no matter how much it didn't make sense.  But see, the thing is, is that's a lot easier said than done most times.

I drove to Tulsa this morning at 5:30am and it's funny how much God can do with a simple 45 minute car ride.  As a thunder storm was brewing to the west, there was a beautiful sunrise to the east.  On top of THAT (which was more than enough of a comfort for me) my iPod decided to throw on Hillsong's "Oh You Bring."  If you haven't heard that song I suggest you follow this link real fast.  Anyways, let's just say I was brought back exactly where I needed to be.  The lyrics of this song are SO powerful, so much that I was driving there bawling like a three-year-old on the hi-way :)

Oh You bring hope to the hopeless

And light to those in the darkness

And death to life

Now I'm alive

Oh You give peace to the restless

And joy to homes that are broken

I see You now

In You I'm found

And You opened the door for me
And You laid down
Your life to set me free
All that I am will serve You Lord
And You opened my eyes to see
All the wonder and awe of Christ in me
Jesus You're everything I need

Oh You fill those who are empty
And rescue those in the valley
And through it all You calm my soul
Oh You find me in my weakness
And heal the wounds of my heartache
I worship You in spirit and truth

I am a devout follower of Christ.  God has opened the door for Mel and I and we are going to continue to walk through them as long as they remain open.  Where has our wonder and awe of God been?  Has it been shining through us?  Have we been living a life that shouts that Jesus is everything we need?  I try and fall short every day.  But as Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."  He is all-powerful, all loving, a craftsman of our lives and overall, AMAZING.  

I suggest we take chances.  If those chances are faith based, God will show us some pretty rad things.

Family Time Rocks

So, my family came out last week.  We had such a good time.  My mom and sister flew out on a Tuesday and we grabbed lunch at a place called Cheddar's as soon as we picked them up.  We HAD to go there because Cheddar's is amazing.  All of you back in Cali should be jealous you don't have them out there.  After that, we gave them a tour of Muskogee.

The next day we went to the water park here in Muskogee.  Yes, we have one, but don't get too excited... it's quite small.  That was a blast.  It was nice to just take a day and relax.

Friday rolled around and we headed back to Tulsa to get my dad.  It was great seeing him again too because it had been a few months since we had all seen each other.  Early Saturday my dad and I woke up and went to our elder's property where he has like 4 ponds.  We fished for a good four hours.  I had been looking forward to that father/son time for a while.  I'll remember it for a long time because we both kept commenting on how cool it was to be there at that moment.

Sunday rolled around and I got an opportunity to speak for our main service.  Oddly enough it was Father's Day, my dad was there, and I was talking about how to be a better father.  Service went great!  We all grabbed lunch and after that my wife wanted to go fishing again with my dad.  Here are a few pictures of our little excursion.  Anyways, again we had a blast.  We caught a fish every time the bait hit the water.


Monday rolled around and we had to take them back to the airport.  It was a total bummer.  Hanging out with my family was much needed at this time in mine and Mel's life.  We were really sad to have them go.

My family means everything to me.  I loved that they were able to come out.  I hope we can make it a point to hang out more.  We love it out here, don't get me wrong.  Having family close helps a lot, and we are still adjusting to the fact that they are far away, but God's big and God's good!

Camp!!

Ok, so we are at camp and are in the middle of our third day. God has been doing some cool things out here. Not only has this been a sweet experience for a lot of our students, but God is totally speaking to a decent handful of them. One of our students accepted Christ last night as I was praying they would and at one point of the night I was able to share my testimony in detail with our students and they totally responded to it. So cool.



There was a point during the youth minister meeting where we all gave our prayer requests for our groups. We all went around in a circle giving ours. No joke I was the only one with a "praise prayer request". Everyone else seemed like they had been dreading camp because of their student situations. It made me pretty proud. I'm so proud of our students. I'm so proud of our leaders. And I'm so proud to be able to be a part of New Community Church. God is good!



We come back Friday, and I pray that our students remember this week, and that this doesn't become a trip where they get on a "camp high" and have what God has done fade. Pray for that :) I miss my wife a lot too... I surely cannot wait to see her beautiful self. Love you babe!

I Miss My Wife

You definitely know you have it good when you miss someone as much as I have missed my wife. Let's put it this way, I was nervous for her to go back to California only because I was worried Mel might miss it so much that coming back to Oklahoma would seem like a nightmare. Well, come to find out, it wasn't necessarily Okie she missed, it was me. Her words to me were "I don't care where I am, as long as I have you with me, I'm good." You have no idea how much that meant to me. Again, if you know my wife, that's totally something she would say. That girl has been by my side since day 1.

When you spend every day with someone, there is a tendency to get tired of them, but that's not the case with Mel. Since we have been married I have had the honor and privilege of spending every day with her. When she left this week, I literally didn't know what to do with myself! I was luckily kept busy with a community outreach project with our youth group and 3 other groups in town, and like I said, if that all wasn't going on, I'd have been bored out of my mind!

Mel arrives at Tulsa International Airport at 2:40 and I can't wait to give her the biggest hug, and here's a fun fact for you all... my wife fits perfectly in my arms. I can't wait. Yes, it's only been a week but you know what... I'm allowed to miss my wife and my best friend.

So lay off :)

It's Been a While

Why yes it has. It seems like you get into a routine of posting and then all of a sudden you have a billion things on your plate. That's kind of been the story of my life lately. Things have been great. Mel and I are loving it each and every day. Yes, we get homesick at times, but it's nothing a Starbucks trip in Tulsa can't fix!

The transition has been difficult. We made it past our first month out here and honestly, we couldn't ask for more. Last night as we were going to bed, my wife leaned over to me and said "Babe, we're living God's dream." It took me back a second because just earlier that day I remember thinking to myself, "We're living our dream", since last night we talked about dreams and aspirations in the youth. Once again, without even knowing it, my wife called me out.

As life goes on, and I realize a lot of people my age are making life choices, it gets really easy to get caught up in what's going on in our lives that we forget that our dream and goal should be first and foremost to make God happy. When we focus on making God happy, everything else in our lives will fall into place, because that's the way He works.

A verse that stuck out to me this week was Psalm 37:4-6 where it says:

⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

⁵ Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.

⁶ He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

How cool is that? If we take delight in Him, our desires will be God's desires. If we commit to Him, He will help us. And the imagery of our innocence radiating like the dawn and the justice of our cause shining like the noonday sun means that our God will allow us to thrive in Him.

It's amazing.

My brother asked me yesterday how my quiet time was going, and for the first time in a long time I was able to confidently say it was going awesome. So I guess I can ask you all the same thing:

How's your quiet time going? Are your heart's desires God's heart desires?

Just a thought :) Love you all!

No Sleep+Rain Outside=Good Combo

So here I am, 4:30 in the morning and for the first time in a long time, I couldn't sleep. I don't know why really. I'm not stressed, there's nothing bugging me, and to be quite honest I haven't been this happy and stress free in a long time.

I owe it all to God.

The thing about being the only one awake is that you are if anything, more aware of your surroundings since you are doing your best to make sure you don't wake anyone. A time like that it's easy to feel alone, and distant. But for some reason when I woke up at 2 am, I felt safe. Comfortable. And if anything well rested, even though I fell asleep at midnight. I woke up and I started thinking of all the things I wanted to do for the ministry and how nervous I am for the upcoming weeks. But in all that noise and commotion going on inside my head, God basically yelled at me through thunder in the distance saying:

"STOP THINKING! TALK TO ME!"

I stopped and I thought... when's the last time I legitimately got on my knees and talked to God? Right then and there the spirit came over me overwhelmingly so and I had to leave the room so my crying wouldn't wake up my wife. I walked out, got on my knees and prayed.

It was awesome. God is so good.

I tell you this because I just can't help but stress the importance of a constant prayer life. We shouldn't have to let our minds go crazy and try to figure everything out on our own. That's where Satan creeps in and makes the good thing God started seem like it's not within your abilities. And on top of that, God shouldn't have to "yell" at us as loud as thunder for us to remember that He wants us to come to Him for everything.

One thing my dad said to me before he boarded the plane to go back home, was that "God's worked like crazy to get you guys here, don't you dare think He's gonna stop working now that He has you where He wants you."

True that father of mine... true that.

It says in Philippians 4:6:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Let's go back to the basics people. I take it for granted as much as anyone else does.

Trust Him.

Pray to Him.

Thank Him.

It's that simple.

Blessed is an understatement

You know in life when you have big moments that you'll remember forever? New school, first love, wedding, moving and whatever else. Well I believe I had one of those "I'll remember forever..." moments yesterday with my wife

IT WASN'T AS BIG THO...

We were packing and the stress of it started taking over, so we decided to take a break from the packing stuff. For whatever reason we decided to take a nap, and when we laid down my mind started racing. Is this the right choice, am I being a good husband, does Mel REALLY want to follow me to OKLAHOMA!!

Literally as soon as I started thinking all these things my wife leaned over to me, kissed me and said "I love you so much babe" and rested her hand on my arm.

EVERY STRESS WENT AWAY INSTANTLY

God's been doing stuff like that a lot lately, and I thank Him every day that I have a wife who's behind me no matter what, and because of her reassuring self, I'll remember yesterday until the day I die.

I love you babe :)