A New Adventure

For the last two years I have been at Evangel Assembly of God in Orlando, FL as the youth and children's pastor; what a journey. I think I could fill up a book with the life experiences I have had for the past two years. The joy, pain, disappointment, moves of God, life lessons and the confidence you only get when you fail and pick your self up to try again. I would say God has been taking all I knew about who I am, holding me upside down, shaking me and saying "Let go of your junk and let me use you!" I always thought I knew better, that God needed me, and I was responsible to allow God to speak to people. I was prideful and arrogant to think that I was the one who made "the ministry happen." I left college full of idea's and ambition that I was somebody. I would be the guy who had transformational, relevant idea's who would make an impact on this world. I found out the hard way it is only God who allows anything to happen and He definitely doesn't need me to do ANYTHING. I am only encouraged that God didn't let me rot in my pride, because in Hebrews 12 it says that God disciplines those He loves and just like we were annoyed at our parents for setting us straight (even though we knew later it was for our good), we became better for it. God broke me down, only to build me up for my good. If only we could look at all of life's challenges as moments to grow!

Today, I'm packing up my office and starting a new adventure with my Wife. I never knew how much I needed someone until I married her. She is my best friend, the person I'm madly in love with and my ally to the ministry. She is a breath of fresh air to my life, because of her gifts and talents. I have almost been married a whole year and what a year it has been. I wish I could tell all you un married people that your first year of marriage is sweetful bliss, but I would only be looking at you and laughing because I know that you will be squirming when you have the first fights with your new spouse and you won't know how to handle yourself. Don't get me wrong, I love my marriage, but you don't understand true love until you get married, and you come to realize what commitment really means. When God says husbands love your wife like Christ loves the church He means "husbands, lay your life down for your bride like I did for mine." As I'm writing this I'm thinking who I am to say such things? Let me be married 25 years before I start acting like I know something. Now when I'm around older couples I bask in the glory of the commitment and really honor them because no matter how much you love someone there will be stress, hard times and a devil that desires to destroy the amazing blessing that marriage is.

Enough about the past! We are moving to Mobile, Al and I'm excited. I'm excited because I have a renewed passion to tell people about Jesus. To no longer keep my mouth shut, but to live as an example and lead people to the reality of the cross! I get the honor of doing that! I'm so excited to see what God is going to do! This will truly be an adventure and that's what we need now. We need to not be sure of the future, to need God, to embrace the unknown and go for it. Who doesn't love adventure? I only feel sorry that I did now view life as journey filled with excitement, passion and villians to beat. I say that because I want to the hero in a action movie. I want to blow something up and say some cheesey line as I'm walking away from the mushroom cloud, covered in dirt and bullets over my shoulder. If I could only make that happen for real! I can only hear people now, "Who's that guy? What's his powers, blind me with his white pale chest?!?"
All joking aside, I start a journey today that only God can determine. I have a peace that only God can provides and a destiny waiting to be fulfilled. It's time to stop worrying about the past and embrace the destiny God has set before us.
 I always used to question how God moves,  but today it's clear how he moves if we only let our guard down, be patient and quit trying so hard to make things happen.