First Living Room Encounter

This weekend (Thurs. to Sunday) we are experiencing our first Living Room Marriage Encounter. We are entering the front lines to do battle for the hearts of marriages. The goal...to set hearts free in order to bring glory to our Great God. There is nothing like a married couple walking in freedom, intimacy, and hope.

So, ministry allies, we need you to join us in doing battle. You can be there in prayers and support. How can you join us in battle??
*Pray for Melody and I as we facilitate the experience. That God would protect our hearts and relationship. That we can honestly share our story and God's story of redemption. That we would grow through the Encounter.
*Pray for the 2 couples who will join us for this experience. That they would embrace brokenness, receive healing, and encounter God in new ways. That a fellowship of heart would form more deeply in their marriages.
*Pray for all of our children. Each couple has children who are being cared for by friends and family members. That God would protect them from sickness and fear.
*Pray with us against the enemy, Satan. He is and will come against these Encounters. He is one sorry dude and we can stand against him and his assaults.
*Finally, pray for the glory of God to be revealed through every element of the experience.

Thank you friends and allies for joining us in this God-endeavor to set hearts free and take the message of freedom to others.
To the battlefield we go...

Tent-Making

Encounter PressureWashing is now a tent-making subsidiary of Encounter Ministries. God has provided a commercial grade, pressure washing setup for the ministry. As we raise ongoing support for the work, this is going to be used to support the ministry and provide an avenue to share the message of freedom. We picked up the equipment last week. The cool thing is that several of our local Encounter Men have volunteered time to help clean driveways, houses, patios, decks, etc. So, this is truly a community effort.

I think I am learning that everything in life is an outflow of my relationship with God and the calling on our lives. There is an obvious "human" reason that we are doing pressure washing. We don't have enough financial support yet and we do have to live, pay bills, etc. But there is a much greater reason for this. Calling and assignment...

The calling that God placed upon us with Encounter was to partner with Him in a full-time endeavor to set hearts free. Full-time...so how does this "work" go with the ministry? Well, I am coming to see that God has a calling on every person's life. This is the over-arching drive/passion for why someone was put on this earth. Then God gives assignments to help establish and express that calling. So, Encounter PressureWashing is an assignment...

There must be some people, some couples who need to be reached...and this is how God wants to do it. Will this help provide for our needs? sure...but God could do that in other ways. So, he is choosing to give us this assignment as a way to share the message of freedom and hope. I remember the BellSouth guy (see blog about that)...there must be some people who God wants to reach. This is an assignment...another way to help set hearts free.

Where I sometimes miss it...to mistake the assignment for the calling. Our jobs are NOT our calling. So, my worth and identity are sealed in Jesus Christ. My calling/drive/passion in life is intact...partner with God in setting hearts free. The assignment...Encounter headquartered in Birmingham. The assignment...pressure washing. Now, I can view this "tent-making" process as a way to establish and express the calling. Sounds good on paper...or on a blog...a lot tougher to live out. But here we go...

Dad's pics...

Caleb's first golf outing with me on a real golf course. He is posing for the gallery of photographers from Golf Digest. He loves golf...it is probably a little bit addictive for him...he will one day need counseling. He thinks Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer...next to his DAD!!!

The official scorecard for the big tourney. A keepsake forever...

This is what life is all about. Thank you, Father, for allowing me to express Your love and grace to these little guys each day.

The Disturbing Drama

Exodus 10:20
"But the Lord hardened Pharoah's heart again, so he refused to let he people go."

Are there things about God and His ways that you don't understand? I sure hope so. If there isn't something disturbing about the ways of God then maybe we don't really know Him. I read in Exodus where God hardens Pharoah's heart in refusal to let the Israelites out of slavery. This is crazy. Here is God. Here is Moses. Here are the children in slavery. God desires to free the captive Israelites. He tells Moses to take a message to Pharoah: "Let my people go." And then what does God do...hardens Pharoah's heart. Not once or twice...several times. Go figure...

Why such drama? Why not let the people go...set up an evacuation plan, execute, and let's go. Why all the plagues? Why all the tragedy and drama? It is almost like the stage is being set, the plot is thickening, and characters are being set in motion. Why do things this way?? I just don't understand God. There are times when He makes sense. Seems to add up in my mind. But a lot of times there is this disturbing element about God. Plague after plague hit my life. I get a little reprieve and then another battle. I sometimes think "can't I just be in a normal storyline?" I just want a nice and easy story where everyone walks into the sunset and lives happily ever after. Well, actually, do i really want that? Kind of boring. Who is the hero of that story...that would be ME. No, that is not what I want.

As much as I don't understand God--I trust Him. With all of my heart and misunderstandings, I trust Him. I really do. He has come through and been the hero of my story too many times.

So, as much as I hate the plagues...I love the Hero!

Lil' B's first haircut

Welcome to Brennan's first haircut...June 12, 2007!!!
He was 2 years old on June 10.












The before pic...also known as "rat tail pic".

















Bye-bye Curls...











The after pic...he now looks like a little boy.
















Our good friend and hair stylist...Tanya.

15%

This month we are giving time and efforts to creating a base of support for the ministry...both prayer and financial. The call that God put on us was to "partner with Him in a full-time endeavor to set hearts free". So, that can only happen through a community of friends/allies who will gather around us with encouragement and support. (I prefer the term "ministry allies" over "partners". It reminds me that we are doing battle daily for the hearts of people. We are not able to fight alone.)


I must confess that it is really stretching me to be this dependent. My American/male spirit wants to come through and be independent. I want to provide for my family. Yet, I realize that everything comes from God and that it is actually biblical for those "called out" to be dependent on others to meet needs (easy to write that...hard to live). So, needless to say, this is really growing my faith and dependency.

So, as of today, we have 15% of our monthly support raised. I am quite excited. We are early in the process, so I am pleased that we already have friends gathering around us. Our goal is to reach 100% support within the next month or two so that we can focus all energies and time toward Encounter. We are already seeing the pressing need to work with couples and bring the message of restoration to hearts. Prayerfully, we will continue trusting God as we move forward.

Discouragement

"So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery." Exodus 6:9

Discouragement is such a tool of the enemy. Satan loves to use the "brutalities" of jobs and life circumstances to cause us to doubt and be discouraged. The discouragement typically leads to questioning what God has revealed.

I go back to Genesis 3, where serpent Satan comes to Adam and Eve. He begins to question what God had already revealed about the tree and its fruit. And he questions God's motives. The discouragement then works hand in hand with the doubts to cause sin. When sin enters the picture, which is Satan's forte, the result is hiddenness, shame, and guilt. For Satan...that is mission accomplished. (Let me just say...Satan, you are one sorry dude.)

In this passage in Exodus, God had already revealed to Moses and to His people that He would deliver them from slavery. But then Satan uses the brutality of slavery/jobs to breed discouragement and then doubt. Amazing how much our jobs can be a source of discouragement!

But then, it is interesting what God says...Exodus 7:3..."But I will make Pharoah's heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt." So, God increases the opportunity for job-brutality. He lets the enemy increase opportunity for discouragement and doubt. What?? Go figure...

Why does God sometimes do this?? Honestly, I think God loves story and drama...He loves breaking through to reveal His glory. That's it. Our God is a breakthrough God. He comes through for the purpose of multiplied glory...that others may know.

So, God wants to use the brutality of my circumstances/job today to further His glory. It may even get worse for a season. But breakthrough will come...promises will be fulfilled...His glory will be revealed.

The Subversive Pastor

I read an article in Leadership Journal recently that continues to trouble me. The article was an interview with Andy Stanley, pastor of Northpoint Church in Atlanta. Northpoint has experienced phenomenal growth in the last several years and is literally reaching thousands of people. What troubled me in the article was the way that Andy described the role of a pastor. Basically, he described a pastor as a CEO. He said that the role of a pastor as shepherd is antiquated and not efficient for the church. I got to the end of the article and felt nauseous (is that the right spelling? i guess i'm not being efficient with spell-check.) If this is what being a pastor is all about, then count me out.

I embrace and seek to live the life of a shepherd/pastor. I choose what is subsersive to the "religious" culture of our day. Call it antiquated...call it inefficient...I call it biblical and right. It is not about numbers, programs, or business goals. It is about setting hearts free, restoring broken marriages/relationships...one heart at a time. It is about journey, more than goal. It is about recovery, more than arriving. It is about honesty, more than getting it right. It is about trust, more than efficiency.

I am living in a new season of what it means to pastor and shepherd people. My calling to pastor is more real than ever. God has given me various assigments over the years to live out that calling. Some have been in the local church. Other assignments have been outside of the established church. This current assignment with Encounter is taking me to new levels of ministry and life-calling. I am learning so much right now about what it means to be a pastor...subversive to culture.

A few quotes from Eugene Peterson (my heart so connects with Peterson in his writings)...
"The biggest enemy to the Church is the development and proliferation of programs to meet people's needs. Everyone has a hunger for God, but our tastes (needs) are screwed up. We've been raised on junk food, so what we ask for is often wrong or twisted. The art of spiritual leadership is not to tell people that they can't have what they want, but to give them something of what they've asked for and not let it go at that. You try to shift the dimensions of their lives slowly towards what God wants."

"We are artists, not CEO's. The true pastorate is a work of art -- the art of life and spirit."

Bellsouth "Merger"

I guess marriage encounters can happen at any time and at any place. Earlier this week, we were having our home phone/internet hooked up with a Bellsouth technician. We were talking about phones, the bellsouth/AT&T merger, and life stuff. I was able to share with him what brought us to Birmingham and how God had redeemed our lives and our story. Somewhere between the phone hookup and DSL, he began to share more of his story. He opened up about wanting to be closer with his wife and yet feeling like they were worlds apart.

So, as we were walking outside, I asked him if I could pray for him and his marriage. On the front porch, our home became ministry headquarters. As I prayed, I was thinking about the whole Bellsouth/AT&T merger...two completely different and unique companies becoming one. And I prayed for a holy merger to happen in their marriage. It was a very real moment...where another marriage encounter took place. I must admit...I did not plan for that to happen. Isn't it awesome, though, when God interrupts our day.

8 Men, 8 Candles, 1 House

8 men gathered last tuesday night at the new house/ministry headquarters with 8 candles to do battle...more about that in a minute...

So, let me first digress or upgress (is that a word?) about ministry headquarters. This house that God has provided has truly been a miracle and blessing to our family. God miraculously sold our house in Florida prior to moving and now He has provided a place for our family. Melody and I are intentional about saying that this house belongs to God...that perspective is so important to us. God owns it...we are simply stewards. We live in such a culture of "ownership" that finds worth and value through stuff. Houses are used to arrange for stability and security. Look at my house, look at my yard, look at my stuff...the one word connecting all of this is..."my". Basically, we are saying "look at me". We want to be noticed and affirmed...so we use our surrounding and material things to validate our worth. All of that to say...these "trappings" exist for us too. So, that is why I fight to say this house does not belong to us.

This week, though, has been a celebration of community and servants. Each day, friends have come over to help clean, paint, pray, and serve. I can honestly say that I've never felt this welcome and affirmed in moving to a new place...even though Birmingham is not entirely new to us. Growing up in a pastor's home...we constantly moved and had to get adjusted. So, this week has been refreshing to have others gather around us and help out.

Back to the candles...So, last tuesday night was powerful and quite a blessing. 8 men/friends gathered at our house for a time of sharing and blessing over the new home. We ate pizza, heard various noises that men make when gathered in close quarters, and celebrated story. I was able to share about the last few years and how God brought us here. Then, the house went black. All lights were turned out representing the darkness and shadows. We lit a candle in the center of the room and talked about Christ being the only source of light. Then each man was given a candle. After lighting from the central candle, men began to move through the house carrying the light. It was quite an amazing picture...light moving into all corners of the house. As they walked, they prayed and interceded on our behalf. Battle was taking place. We prayed against the enemy's desire to bring darkness and shadows into this home. We prayed for the light of Jesus Christ to fill this place and cover our lives. As we prayed, the Light chased away the darkness and provided a covering/blessing over the home. What a picture of brothers surrounding a brother and a family.

Father, we commit this home and headquarters to You. This place is yours. More importantly, we are yours. So, use this home and use us for whatever...really, whatever You want to do. Thanks for 8 men. Thanks for 8 candles. Thanks for being the Light.