So...What's going on?

One question we get asked a lot is “Are you guys still planning to move to North Carolina?”, or some variation like, “I thought you were moving to North Carolina?” The simple answer is we still are planning to move. The hold-up is, and has been, selling our house. When we tell people that, we usually get some version of, “God can do it, even in this market”. I couldn’t agree more, I tell them. Then I mention that we have taken our house off of the market for a while. That’s where the fun begins. To understand where I’m coming from, we have to agree on a couple of things…

1) Nothing is impossible for or with God. I know—“Duh”. But seriously, this is very important to remember.
2) Nothing is harder or easier for God to do. To God, there are no “big” miracles. Raising someone from the dead is no more difficult for God than healing someone’s cold. It just isn’t. God is all-powerful.

We are trying to move to North Carolina, believing that is where God wants us to be. To do it, there are several things that need to happen, and selling our house is the biggest, but not the only, issue. There are foreclosures and short-sales in my neighborhood that have significantly driven down home prices. To sell our house for what we owe on it, we would have to sell it for about $30,000 - $40,000 above "the market". I don’t doubt that God can make our house sell for what we owe, even if that price is that much more than similar houses in our neighborhood. Of course, once our house sells, we will have moving expenses, maybe about $10,000 between moving, getting up there, and getting settled. Selling our house for $40,000 - $50,000 above the market price is no harder for God than $30,000 - $40,000, right? We will also need to raise support so that we are not a burden on the church. If we were able to sell our house for $100,000 over the average market price, we would be able to begin working in the ministry right away. God can make that happen.

Okay, at some point while reading that last paragraph you said something like, “Uh…yeah God can do it, but that’s a little ridiculous”. The problem is, someone else will read the same information and pick a different “ridiculous” point. Maybe yours is at the $30,000 mark and someone else’s is at the $50,000 mark. Who is right? I’m willing to bet almost everyone bailed at the $100,000 mark. And yet we will all still agree that nothing is impossible and nothing is hard for God. Keep in mind that we are not trying to be selfish—these additional monetary obstacles (moving expenses, raising support) are real and need to be addressed. They can be overcome with the sale or without the sale of the house. It’s all a matter of timing.

So, why did we take the house (temporarily) off the market? We looked at the circumstances (the housing market) and after praying about it, we felt that ringing up what the realtors refer to as “days on market” was not a good plan. Is that a lack of faith? We don’t think so. We are trying to use discernment, and at this point we believe this is the right thing to do. Frankly, it hurts to feel like we are not moving forward. We just want to make sure that we do this the way we are supposed to. We are working with our mortgage company. We are trying to pay down existing debt and not take on any new debt. We considered renting our house, but believe it is not the right thing for us to do. In the meantime we are trying to stay faithful and to be ready for when we are supposed to put the house back on the market. I hope it’s soon, but I hope even more that I don’t try to run ahead of God’s timing.

There you have it. What’s changed? Nothing. A lot. I hope this explains things a little more clearly. Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Rough Week

I realize I'm pretty much just writing this for myself; I don't think anyone else reads this. Blogging this infrequently will cause that. That's okay, I suppose.

Rough week. Wednesday was my brother's birthday. Had he not died last year, he would have been 45. It was going to be difficult anyway, but then I saw a post by one of his kids on facebook, and that made it even harder. Even more than myself, mom, or (remaining) sister, they are going to have to deal with his death, and how it happened.

Today was the one year anniversary of my sister Andrea's death. It hit me harder than I thought. Maybe it's because it came right after my brother's birthday. More likely, it's because I never really dealt with it. I mean, I cried and grieved, but never really let go as completely as I should have. Instead, I just packed the emotions down like I usually do. I suppose one day the the lid's going to blow off, but I guess not today.

God is good. Completely, and all the time. I know that, but even when you know that someone has gone on to heaven, you still miss the phone calls you can't make to talk about stuff, the memories you can't share, and all of the "stupid stuff" we take for granted.

I miss my brother and sister. And it hurts.

A Point That Sometimes Gets Missed

Someone I know recently referenced Matthew 7:1-5. Now, I don't know whether this person was saying that they were the person with the plank in their eye, or whether they had someone come at their speck while that person had not taken care of their own plank. Either way, it reminded me that there is a point that often gets missed in these verses.

The main point is to make sure you are taking care of your own business before you go jumping into someone else's. Many times, however, these verses are quoted by the people being rebuked as a way of deflecting the correction. In the verses, Jesus does not say that the first person doesn't have a speck in their eye, only that the person coming to them needs to make sure they are looking at themselves and fixing that first. Whether or not they do that doesn't change the condition of the person with the "speck".

If we are wrong (or doing wrong) the condition of the person pointing it out doesn't excuse us.

Especially For Claude And Jason

Watch it twice—once for the main video, and the second time for the stuff scrolling at the bottom of the screen.


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Can't Think Of Anything To Blog About

Big Numbers

For the last 22 years, Kings Avenue Baptist Church has put on a "Walk Thru Bethlehem"; a free event that is designed to give people an idea of what it was like in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Everyone that goes through hears the Gospel, and it has been used to lead many to Christ. It takes a lot to put it on, and every year it seems we wonder if it's worth it. Every year we decide it is. I was thinking about it this year and came to the conclusion that even though it is by no means a perfect event, at least we are doing something. In the first 3 days, 35 people had accepted Christ, and 180 had rededicated themselves to Him.That doesn't mean we get to stop spreading the Gospel now that it's over, or that we couldn't be doing it some other way, but people are being reached, and souls are being saved.

There is something really cool about seeing a couple of hundred (or less!) people coming together to put on a event like this. God has a track record of making a lot out of a little.

Whether it's the economy or what, I don't know, but it appears this was our biggest year yet. The crowds got bigger everyday, and on Friday and Saturday we even had to stop letting people in for a while because we ran out of parking.

So, how many people got to hear the gospel message over a four-day period?

7,078

God is good.

Not As Thankful As I Should Be

I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a wife and daughter that love me, and family and friends that are better than I deserve. More than anything else, God loves me, has saved me, and even wants to use me to serve Him. I am really thankful for that.

But I'm not as thankful as I should be. I know that I have been given more blessings than I could ever deserve and I have received more than I've lost, but this year the losses hit hard. I've had a sister and a brother die less than four months apart, and I'm feeling that loss a lot right now. It's not that I didn't feel it initially, but it's the holidays, and well...you know. The fact that how I'm feeling is considered "normal" or "understandable" is really little comfort. I try to not let all of this effect Shanna or Abbey, but that doesn't always work out. I'm probably also still holding on to some resentment or hurt feelings toward others that were created during that time. I shouldn't be, and I understand that, but I'm just being honest. I need to do a better job of forgiving others even when they don't ask for it, want it, or even realize the need for it. I need to show the mercy, forgiveness, and understanding God (and many, many others) have shown me.

I owe God more thanks than I could ever give Him, but He loves me anyway. I have so much to be thankful for, and I am truly thankful. If it doesn't always show, I apologize.