New Direction....or just a need for direction...?

How many of you can tell me what your preacher spoke about yesterday? I'll be the last to raise my hand, because my mind had gone on a journey about 20 miles south of Lakeshore. I do remember that Randy was talking about how kids these days are so bored and feel that they have no reason to get up and do anything. He talked about how they ask what they are living for...and that's when my mind got up, walked to my car, and went for a drive....

The drive took me to MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University), and for the next 30 minutes or so the Lord filled my journey with all kinds of ideas about campus ministry at MTSU. Currently, there is no Christian Church campus ministry at MTSU. About 5 years ago Impact Ministries International began a campus ministry plant, but about 2 or 3 years later, the plant was over. I feel this is largely due to very little local church support...but, back to the journey.

It started with ideas about a series of prayer walks on campus as an outreach project for the college-age minstry that I lead called Floor 27. We would meet on the campus of MTSU for 4 weeks in a row on Saturday mornings to spend a couple hours praying for the student body, professors, activities, etc. This would all cullminate in an early morning acoustic gathering on the Sunday after the fourth prayer walk. But then the journey broadened and I was asked "Why stop there?"

Why would we spend all this time praying and meeting to just go back to our regular meetings at Lakeshore? Why not use this as a spring board to expand our ministry? Why not begin a small group meeting on the campus of MTSU? Why not now? Why not us????? When I first moved to Nashville and was ask to continue the college ministry at Lakeshore, I was asked to head up the campus ministry at MTSU, but I was new and was not interested in spreading myself too thin. I was also moving to Nashville to become a music star, not a college minister....??

MTSU is one of the largest undergraduate universities in TN. Murfreesboro is one of (if not the #1) fastest growing communities in TN. Murfreesboro is known as "The Athens of the South" because of the different places of learning and culture. Why not MTSU?

Needless to say, I am asking for lots of prayer. Prayer for direction, wisdom, advise, courage, strength, guts, but most of all for GOD'S PURPOSE. Pray for the campus that God would begin to ripen the soil. Pray that God would tear down the walls of doubt that I have if this is the direction that He is wanting. Pray for the surrounding churches to begin reaching out to the campus on their own. Pray that God would be God and that we would step aside and let Him be God!!! hope and peace....

8 months and counting.......

Tomorrow morning marks the first day of the last month of pregnancy for my baby!! She is doing great and has been amazing this whole time. No morning sickness, no moping, no backaches, no foot rubs!! She has been incredible. I am thankful every day for how amazing she has been. I can only pray that this last month will be as great. Please continue to pray for her. I know that the pain is only going to get worse, so pray that she will be given strength! i LOVE you Jayme!! hope and peace....


Jayme and her sister are due two days apart!!

The ending of an era...

Last week at work, we received our last printed copy of CCM the magazine. After 30 years of publication, April marks the last "printed" issue of CCM. The magazine will now be 100% online. I was not only shocked to get the news, but was a little sad. I remember the first copy of CCM that I laid eyes on. I was at church camp, and the dean's son Jason had a copy. I was so in love with music, but being from a very remote part of North Missouri we not only had very limited Christian music retailers (0) but had only 1 Christian Radio station that eventually became all talk. It was like finding gold! I envied him for so long because I wanted to get my copy of CCM. I eventually subscribed to the magazine through college, but soon worked at companies that subscribed so I stopped my personal subscription.
I think part of my sadness also comes from the fact that I spend very little time reading anything online! Whether it's Fox News, Blogs, or CCM Magazine, I tend to flip through looking for quick photos or headlines. That probably explains why I blog so rarely. My time on the computer is usually very abrupt. I check my email, check myspace, check my fantasy baseball score, and then go back to whatever I was doing. I guess I know myself well enough to know that unless a printed copy of CCM, with flashy pictures and cool hooks is thrown in front of me, I will most likely miss out on CCM for the rest of my life...and I guess I'm ok with that. Hope and peace.... www.ccmmagazine.com

It's Just My Opinion

Tonight we had Floor 27 at our house. I grilled some burgers, we shared food, and then began sharing opinions. While sitting comfortably on my couch engaging in opinionated conversations about the church, government, iPhones, cell phone companies, movies, TV, and any other time-wasting subject that could be imagined in the brains of 6 young adult males. Opinion after opinion just seemed to raise more opinionated questions and opinionated answers. As I sit here now, I realize that without opinions, we wouldn't have truth. Or should I say, without truth we wouldn't have opinions. Let me opinionatedly explain.

Last Sunday, our preacher show a short film clip about a man who, like many, was going through his everyday routine wondering if this was "as good as it gets". You've all been there. You wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, come home from work, spend a few short moments with your wife or family or roommates, check your email, go to bed and wake up the next morning only to do the same thing. As he contemplated life in his finite mind, he came to the realization that we wouldn't seek after something better or more purposeful if we weren't stuck in our blah existence in the first place. He realized that we wouldn't know what darkness was without light (an visa versa). We wouldn't realize happiness without sorrow or success without failure.

Back to my opinions. Tonight made me realize that if we didn't have some kind of knowledge of what truth was/is, we wouldn't have our opinions. Had we lived in a world without absolute truths, would we be so opinionated about tiny insignificant things like the outcome of this season of Lost, or the political ramifications of the war on terror, etc. And likewise...if we didn't have our opinions, would we realize what truth is/was/will be?

In John 8:32 Jesus says "...Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." The people that He was speaking to didn't understand this because they weren't physically "enslaved" to anyone or anything at the time. They were thinking that Jesus meant they would literally be set free. I think (and this is just my opinion) that setting us free means that we clearly see the lack of truth in our lives and the need for that truth. By seeing a glimpse of truth, it initiates a craving for truth within us. A great friend of mine has a disease that has kept him from eating or drinking anything that contains protein. I know what you are thinking, but yes, you can survive this way. He has never had the pleasure of tasting steak, hamburgers, chocolate, milk, and about any other delicacy that you can name. But, since he has never tasted any of these items, he doesn't have a craving for any. I guess you could say, he doesn't know what he's missing. Without a glimpse of truth, we wouldn't have the "craving" for opinionated conversations. We wouldn't know what truth is and so we would not spend time seeking it.

I hope that you have enjoyed the first session of my ramblings. Hope and peace!