Soiled Saints

Wow.

I flew to Dallas via a Southwest buddy pass from my friend Susan.  Roberto picked me up and we went to Dallas Chinese Fellowship Church to meet with Rebekah, Gilbert, and some other members of the DCFC crew.

We then headed to Rebekah’s house (which she shares with Isaac, her husband, and is getting ready for the arrival of their soon-to-be-born twins, who will NOT be named Jacob and Esau) and then to CCCFC (Collin County Chinese Fellowship Church for the event, entitled “Reawaken.”

I talked about the pacemaker in front of about 110 students.  At first, it was a little….cold…in the room for some reason.  But by the time we got to Day 2 of the story, God was moving in the room.   Numerous students responded with repentance (at least so it seemed) and I was celebrating due to what I saw.

WHAT I LEARNED:  No matter what…drive people to the cross.  No matter how cold they are to you, no matter how they reject you.  Drive them to the cross.

Next:  A perfect day weather wise.  An imperfect day ministry wise.

Jason

Take this seriously.

I’m enjoying the blog. It has its perils to be sure, but the benefits can and do far outweigh the dangers.

But, I am a tad stuck in a rut. So here’s where you come in. The first Soiled Saints poll.

I’d love your feedback on this:

-What would you like to see me do more of in this blog? (examples could be: social commentary, personal reflection, great cutdowns I’ve learned over the years, etc.)

-What are the most helpful-to-you types of entries I do? (Sunday Summary, people who’ve meant a lot to me, etc.)

-What would you like me to stay away from in this blog?

That should help a lot. Thanks in advance!!

Jason

NEXT: Recaps galore. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. A weekend filled with “God-spotting TM.” (Used with permission. God-Spotting tm Rob Edwards INC)

Tell me dear reader, tell me a solution.

See, I have this friend. (And no, it’s not the “i’ve got-a-friend-when-really-it’s-me” scenario)

I love this friend. This friend means the world to me. I’ve had the privilege of being there for this friend during some scary-dark times. And this friend has never ceased to encourage me in similar times.

This friend, for whatever reason, has suddenly grown a tad cold (at least that’s how I perceive it) to me. COmmunication has grown short and terse. Once-common times of interaction have now grown sparse. I’m taking it not too well. I feel like I’m not needed. (And for whatever reason, I’ve got a need to be needed and I really don’t need that need.) Say that five times fast AND without looking.

Now don’t get me wrong, there could be a thousand different reasons why. This friend is busy, involved in many things that keep their calendars whirring at a brisk pace.

This friend is steeped in responsibilities and has newly acquired more responsibilities. So it could be busyness.
This time of year especially.

But I fear it’s not that. I fear that for whatever reason, something’s wrong.

So dear reader. How should I approach this friend? They’ve said nothing’s wrong, that I haven’t offended them, or anything like that.

They are very-much-committed Christian. They love Jesus.

I just want my friend back.

Here, dear reader, is where you come in. Do you have any advice to give me so I can put this to bed in my mind?

Fire away,
Jason

About to fly to Dallas to speak at an overnight youth retreat. I would appreciate prayers on my behalf, that I would proclaim the Gospel and that fruit would be seen.

I fly back (Lord willing) tomorrow early to be back at 8 a.m. for the Sprit Raiser/Craft Show. Then Sunday services.

Then…..she comes home. I can’t wait to see Mandy.

I miss the queen….what can I say?

Kansas.

No, not the prog-rock band that’s seriously underrated (Kerry Livgren is a BEAST)

I’m talking about the state.  Wichita in particular.

See, that’s where Dave Norris currently resides.  Who’s Dave Norris you say?

I’m glad you asked. Here are some great words to describe Dave:

Mizzou fan.  (He loves his Tigers)

Steady:  He’s in it for the long haul.

Firm:  He holds you accountable.  If you ask him to do it, he’ll do it.  (trust me)

Pointer:  He points you to Jesus with his words and deeds.

Faithful:  He’s been married more than 30 years and loves his wife.

Father:  He’s got five (I think) kids and has been a great role model of a dad.

He is my DIG leader from 20 years ago.  Dave Norris is a very Godly man.  I’m honored to know him, and to be taught by him.

He’s currently on staff at East Evangelical Free Church in Wichita, Kansas serving as Pastor of Children and Family.  Dave taught me that one doesn’t have to be sthe superstar, as he was the forerunner to Jeff, and got to see Jeff reap the harvest that he in some ways got to plant.

Dave is a good, godly man.  I have learned valuable lessons from him that only now am I more fully able to grasp.

May God continue to use men like Dave to expand His kingdom for His glory.

Jason

This past Sunday, we had ladies at……what else? Ladies Camp. Don’t know what they were learning, but I assumed they learned lady-like things in lady-riffic settings. I do hope they had a good time, but I suspect that as good a time as they may have had……they didn’t have it like we did Sunday.

We had an absolute TON of core folks out this week. I did a survey, and counted 45 core folks out between being out of town, sick, on vacation (see out of town), or at the aforementioned celebrational weekend-de-lady. However, we were able to maintain momentum, largely due to my man Daniel Davis.

I’ve had the privilege of a growing friendship with Daniel. Daniel’s brother David, has been a friend of mine for nearly 4 years, as he was a youth minister at FUMC Pearland (pronounced FHUM-kah Pearland). David is also a music artist, having released two albums with more to come I’m sure.

After David journeyed to the other side of Houston, he called me about his brother Daniel. Daniel, a recent seminary graduate of Southern Seminary in Louisville, was getting ready to plant a church in Pearland.

I got to meet Daniel and members of his core team in the summer of ‘08, and we spent a few minutes eating and scanting about Pearland. As we parted then, I looked forward to the day we would be able to serve in the same town together. (This is pre-SCC)

Fast forward to summer ‘09. Daniel and his wife Joy and their two children Reid and Annalise (Sp?), moved to P-land, and some of their core team were in process. We began to meet, and discuss the (non) hostile (spiritual) takeover of the city.

Daniel and his crew would grace us by meeting at SCC for a couple of meetings during the late summer and early fall. And it was then that I hatched my (non-diabolical) plan.

I asked Daniel to preach for me during the “Hello” series, and he chose to pick the topic of the cross.

And he absolutely nailed it. I’ll post notes from his sermon later, but suffice to say, Daniel is a guy who brings heat and unlike Astros pitching…..throws strikes!

More to come,

Jason

Today’s chronicling will happen tomorrow.

Tuesday-Thursday: going back to the series I started many months ago.

Friday: I’m going on my first speaking trip where I’ll have to fly to get there.

Saturday: The trip results

Sunday: Summarizing the 3rd week of 2 services.

Did I ever say I’d be less busy as a lead pastor?

If I did. I’d be wrong.

Love,
Jason

From the previous post:

“Now….what would be next?

The weekend wasn’t over.”

And it wasn’t.  After wrapping up some things that needed to be taken care of, I went home to try and sleep.  Having left my trusty alarm-watch at the office, and not wanting to oversleep, I dozed for a few minutes, even though I was so very tired.

At around 4 p.m. I left home to travel to Crosspoint Church. My friend Bryan Shippey is the student pastor there, and is doing a bang-up job.  Having come from the corporate world with Abercrombie and Sweet Leaf Tea, Bryan combines cultural savvy with white-hot passion for Jesus Christ.

I remember having lunch with Bryan at the original Pearland Subway (there are now five)  in the spring of 2008.  He simply oozed passion for his ministry.  He actually was a catalyst God used to let me know my student ministry days were coming to an end.  I walked away from that meeting thankful for a new friend, and troubled that I didn’t have that same passion anymore.

Bryan and I became fast friends, and now more than ever, I so appreciate his heart for Jesus, his family, and the kids God has placed him over to guide and shepherd.  I filled in for Bryan during the summer as he was out at a staff retreat.  It’s one thing to get a sub when you’re gone.

It’s another to get one while you are there and are listening to them alongside your kids.

Bryan was going to be there.  Oh boy…here we go.

The student ministry at Crosspoint is called “The Gate,” drawing from Jesus’ words in the Gospels.  Their set up is way cool and I was drooling over their stuff.  But more than the stuff (lights, an actual chicken-wire gate and more), the adults who care and the students who show love are the things that stand out.  They’re serious about Jesus.

The current Gate series is a vision/core value series called “G5″ and helps the kids understand what’s expected AND how they have potential.  It’s both an “Imagine if we would be able to by God’s grace become these types of people” with a “hey, it’s time to become this person by God’s grace” type of series.

I was week 3, “Glue.”  Bryan’s vision is that his students would be “sticky” helping people glue themselves to Jesus. This was my topic, and he and I exchanged emails throughout the week to ping pong ideas back and forth, and we also met in person 3 days out to confirm stuff.  After he left my office that day, I remembered our first joint ministry venture together…..

I remember in September ‘08, we were at a Saw You At The Pole event at Crosspoint, and I sat next to Bryan as me and another guy were supposed to share 20 minutes for the talk, kind of a 10/10 deal.  He went 35.  (And by the way, he’s a super nice guy, and a lover of Christ so I’m NOT mad at him)  I kept getting ancy, slicing what I was going to say and trying to re-calibrate, muttering for him to “land his plane.”    (completely oblivious to any possibility that this was God’s activity and not my planning)  Bryan joked with me and kept me loose.  We had a laugh about it later…especially since it all worked out anyway.  But the guy went 35 minutes.  This is a key note to the rest of this blog.

That night, one of his students stepped up to lead worship and just absolutely nailed it.  You could tell he was nervous, but more than his nervousness, his heart for Christ shone through.  And the kids responded.  Would they respond to the Spirit working through me like they did to the Spirit working through him?  And….how am I going to have any energy due to being so tired?

Well, by God’s grace they did respond.  They laughed.  They listened.  They responded, some in tears, some with bowed heads.  Now I know that outward showings of emotion are not necessarily the work of the Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 7).  However, after getting background on some of them, and talking to others, I (think I) saw some Spirit-driven workings in their lives.  And I was grateful.

And the funny thing was:  The second I walked on stage, all my “tired-ness” vanished.

Completely.

Gone.

In a non-TBN TV way, it was like a jolt of the Spirit’s energy.

After some students left, I asked Bryan how he thought it went.  He was quite kind and gracious, affirming that the talk was what was needed, and that students were tracking.  What he said next made me cringe….

“You know, it’s hard enough to get a guest speaker who can hold their attention.  It’s even harder to hold ‘em for 45 minutes.  Good job bro!”

Holy crap.

45 minutes?

And I’m telling a guy to land the plane at 35?

Geez…….a good jolt of energy was had, and an even greater dose of humility was given:)!!!

I picked up some pizza on the way home, and promptly ate half of it forgetting that I hadn’t really eaten much save breakfast tacos all day.

What a weekend.

NEXT:  Maybe, just perhaps, a return to the 10….no 15 people series?  A Kansas guy (not the band, a guy who lived/s in Kansas shows me that steadfastness is indeed good and godly.

Jason

“But the weekend was not over yet……….”

And no it wasn’t.

I went to bed before 1230 a.m. Sunday morning.  I even took some sleeping meds to make sure I went down.  But I wouldn’t stay down.  I woke up at 445, and tossed and turned for about 30 minutes.  Finally, at about 515, I tapped out to awake-ness.

So I went to the church campus and arrived at 615 a.m., insuring that I would be the first one on the scene.  I prayed, put up some signs directionally for people, and waited.

And waited…

And waited…

And the sun didn’t come out….at least a lot.

And it was killing me.  Some folks showed up and things started getting ready to roll.

First service started at 830 a.m.  And she was there. With her sister.  And her grandmother.  My daughter came through again.  I am not sure why, but I get more amped up to speak/teach/preach when she’s there.

We did a new song, from the Village Church called “In My Place.”  I enjoy singing that song because the lyrics point to the substitutionary atonement of Christ.

And we kicked off the new series “Hello, My Name is Jesus.”  I hope it landed well.

During the in-between of Sunday School, I had a major energy crash.  Not sure why, but I was wiped out.  Thankfully, energy returned by the start of second service due to some timely breakfast tacos supplied by the good man Adam Casteneda.

Also, we got to show love by praying for a band mate who received some bad news.  It was sad, but at the same time, we hope he saw Christ’s love through us as we prayed.

At the end of the day, we were missing nearly 50 people between members, regular attenders, and guests who are more-than-likely coming back.  yet, we had nearly 170 people in attendance!!

But God was there.  He calmed my fears.  And He did a mighty work.  And I’m so glad I saw it.

Now….what would be next?

The weekend wasn’t over.

NEXT:  A dog-tired guy gets a jolt at the Gate…

Jason

“And then just as soon as it was starting, it was over…and it was time to switch gears yet again.”

I left the wedding and made sure things were okay with stuff at church. I then switched gears yet again to gear up for the man.

The man? Yes.

David Crowder.

Or more accurately, The David Crowder*Band.

The crew was concerting at Grace Community Church that night. And not only would I get to hang out with Adam Sampson and Ian Fleming, I would also get to hang out with some new friends I met a few months back.

Brad and Lindsey Bridges are missionaries with CAM International (Central American Missions) hoping to go overseas soon. They were in town, and after meeting up with them the day before, I asked if they’d want to go to the DC*B show. They agreed.

So the five of us marched into GCC and got ready for the show.

And what a show it was. From 17 songs of sheer Crowder-Greatness, to the debut of Steve3PO (had to be there) to the rarity of an onstage mess up by the man himself, the show was phenomenal.

I got to meet up with Don and Roni Bush, who are former FBC’ers now in Waco being close to their son Jeremy (better known as B-whack).

We went to the meet and greet with the band, Don’s all access pass seemingly rendered not sufficient. We talked, and I got to meet Jeremy’s wife as we waited through the line.

Get this: Security tried to kick Don out….until he name-dropped in the most ultimate way:

“See that guy over there? You know, with the big hair and beard? Yeah…he’s my son. I’m with him.”

Suddenly, security wasn’t so mad that he didn’t have a meet and greet sticker.

It just goes to show: It’s all in who you know….or who’s your daddy.

Great show. Great time. A seemingly awesome way to end a jumbled day.

But the weekend was not over yet……….

NEXT: Rain, drizzle, surprise guests, and a pretty-cool chance to be there for a brother.

Jason