Living a Story...

I do not want to just write a story that captivates readers and audiences. How boring is that? Living a story that impacts and influences people making their lives better, now that is a journey worth going down. My wife and I are about to begin a brand new chapter in our living story. We are moving to Chicago (from the nation of Texas) to plant a church. We want to live a story in such a way that by serving and loving our new community people are drawn into a bigger story than one we could ever imagine. You see God told us to live a story. All of us. He even calls us "living stones" in Peter's letter to the church. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians he says that all people who follow God are to use their lives to "build" the body of Christ up. We are to use our life's story in such a way that it makes others lives better in Christ and it builds His church. God actually wants to use our story as we live as "living stones" to build His church in Chicago. We are very excited to be on this journey, but we are anxious as well. We are moving September 1 and neither one of us have jobs yet. We have not sold our house yet in Texas. There are so many unresolved issues in this story that we are living and yet, God continues to take us down this journey with peace and provision. If we were able to conquer all of these conflicts and issues (and there will be many more as journey on) then we would not need God to build His story, we would be building our own. How boring is that? We want to be a part of a bigger story than that. Living a story that engages and changes a city. Living a story that as we meet with world leaders from the Middle East in D.C., NYC and around the world, that we help engage and change their cities. All of this from us being obedient and living our little story in Chicago. I have no idea the climax or conclusion of this story. But that doesn't really matter. I do not even know the next conflicts around the corner. That doesn't matter either. If I knew all of that already, how boring would that story be? But living the story, as unknown as it may be, as God's living stones using our story as a stone to build up His church, now thats a story worth living. What story are you going to live?

A NEW JOURNEY...

I am excited to be finally starting a blog! As I transition from the College Pastor at First Baptist Church Denton TX and into being the Pastor of Mosaic Church in Chicago, IL (a brand new church plant at www.mosaicchicago.com), i hope this blog not only serves the people in Chicago but the people I come in contact with along this journey. My travels take me many places and I pray that these humble thoughts that are revealed to me on the words of Jesus (and the occasional rant on random things!) will serve as food and energy for your own journey as you strive to follow Christ or discover His teachings for the first time.

know the Truth. walk the journey. be free.