What does it mean to become a Missing Person?  Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Paul is essentially teaching us that the life Christ has called us to live is life that is lived dead.  That is to say that “we must decrease and He must increase.” We must go missing.  We must become the missing person.  Join us during the month of March as we discuss what it means to go missing.

By the way, you can check out the thoughts of our executive staff by reading our blogs at www.becomingfools.com

I am both worn out and beaming.  It has been an honor to minister with such an awesome group of Christ followers.  The love and compassion of Christ shined through them as strong as I’ve ever seen.  Adam has done an incredible job blogging to you his experiences so I thought I would just canvas the battlefield and give you a simple summary report of what all went down.  Numerous people were talked to personally and told how much God loved them.  Me and Nick both get cussed out.  One man tells Nick just how in love with him he is.  We give over 30 homeless and gutter punks meals.  Three people give away shirts and jackets.  We give away a blanket.  We give away one pair of socks and a pair of gloves.  Derrick gives away a hat.  Me and Jeb give away our shoes.  Adam gives away his pants (check out his blog for explanation).  We help one drunk guy get a ride.  Three of our people pray with a guy who is released from demonic spiritual bondage.  I meet a girl who is possessed and she leaves as I start to pray the names of God to her (jehovah jira, jehovah shalom, Jesus).  We give Moma Rose(the oldest homeless person on the street) a pack of cough drops.  We pass out numerous tracks.  One of our girls gets shoved by a mocker.  We meet many new brothers and sisters in Christ.  We personally pray over at least 10 people for deliverance from the strongholds in their lives.  We shine Christ’s light.  We experience new things and our eyes are opened to deeper things.  We go tommorrow morning to drive by one more time in hopes of picking up the first guy we talked to.  Michael was out there everyday and God just kept working on his heart.  We are bringing him to Alabama and getting him into Stepping Ahead so he can learn to live life again.  I pray he is at the corner waiting as we drive up.  To God be the glory for all we accomplised and all we learned.  Thanks for your prayers.  They were much needed and much appreciated.  I Can’t wait to see my family and my church family again. 

Love Ya’ll
Q

Day 2- I gave someone my pants Sunday night. As odd as that my sound that’s what I did. Her name was Alex. She is homeless in New Orleans. I’m not sure how old she is but I would put her age somewhere around 25. Jeb and I were talking to an older man, he called himself Hippie, about God and drugs. Man he really hated God. He hated drugs too but only because they’re not as good now as in the 70’s; well that’s what he told us. The only thing I was really able to say to him was that I would pray for him and that I knew God loved him. Jeb and I walked down the street further and found a man dressed in a devil costume trying to preach to the people of Mardi Gras. “It was me when you took that drink!” he would yell, “It was me sitting next to you!” It just made people angry, it made me angry too. He was doing more harm than good; it did afford me another opportunity to talk to someone though. Sitting in the midst of this was some dude on the curb writing furiously in a small note pad. I ask him if he was writing about all this. He said yes and we sat down to talk to him. His name was David and his friends were on the other side of town with a hooker and some dope. I’m glad David wasn’t interested. We began to talk to him about everything- Mardi Gras, God, New Orleans, Jesus, street preachers, all of it. Enter Alex. She walked in front of us and kind of stood there. Very small girl, no pants, socks hanging off her feet. She was wearing a hat comparable to an Egyptian Pharaoh. I ask her where her shoes were. She replied, “My shoes? Aren’t you going to ask me about my pants?” Turns out someone stole her pants. I ask if there was anything we could do for her. She shook her head no but asked if she could sit down. We had the best conversation. I ask her if my pants would help. She seemed stunned that someone would do that. She said yes and the next thing I knew I was standing in my boxers in New Orleans. Nothing weird about that except I was sober. We left her soon after but I gave her all my contact info. Maybe she’ll get in touch with me one day. Jeb and I were able to help two other people before the night was over. I kept all my other clothes though. God just kept sending people our way. It’s great to be used. How many times do you hear that and not feel sorry for the person saying? God using you makes you feel good.

Anyway, day two of Mardi Gras was worse than day one. The people were drunker and more promiscuous even though Bourbon St. had less people than the first night.  Street preachers were in full force, all passing their judgments.  As annoying as they are they provide a great conversation starter for talking to people on bourbon who dislike them more than you do. God has a way of using people, even people who don’t know their being used necessarily.  God used a student that doesn’t really even believe in Him to give me hope just last week. It’s amazing. I’ve got so many thoughts running through my head. This place causes sensory overload. I think if you were here you would be very proud of your people. The people from Lifepoint have represented Jesus well.

Again, if you are reading this please pray for New Orleans and us. Pray that God would use us however he sees fit. That’s a scary thought as I write it. Maybe you’ve never prayed before, what better day to start?

Adam

I spent my first night in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. I don’t think I can put down in words what I experienced. Everything I thought I knew about the celebration and the city was wrong or misguided. I honestly don’t know what I expected, but I definately wasn’t ready for it. I saw the people dancing in the streets, I saw the girls showing everything to the guys, I saw the alcohol and the drugs, and the homeless. I saw everything I expected to see. What I didn’t expect were the young people. I didn’t expect to see high school students and younger there. I thought this was a college and adult party. I saw girls that couldn’t have been more than sixteen so drunk they couldn’t walk getting swept into clubs with guys twice their age and older. Completely incapable of denfending themselves. I saw dudes sitting in a puddle of their own vommit not know where they were or how to get home.We helped a man like that get a cab last night. We tried to tell the cabbie where his home was. I pray the guy made it. It’s in God’s hands. I saw the look on some teenage guys as they got their first real taste of excess, of lust, and of “fun”. Some of them had no idea what they had got themselves into.

Here’s the worst part- I didn’t know how to help. There was so much going on; so many people moving, breathing, sinning that the whole city moved. It’s loud and it’s ugly. You get caught in a whirlwind and all you can do is watch. Several of us guys just sat around and cried at the end of the night. Watching people partying on one side of the block and freezing and starving on the other side. And you’re powerless. All we can do is pray for and serve whoever we can and let God be in control which he is anyway.

If you read this pray for New Orleans most importantly and for us secondly. Pray that God would show us how to serve and that we would have the passion for God to carry out his commands.

God bless,
Adam

This is the month we begin to fill up our Community Groups.  So I figured it would be fitting to list a number of the reasons why you should join up with a Community Group.  First off, it provides a place where you can go and study more about God, His word, and His ways.  This in itself is pretty important.  You get a chance to ask all those questions that you never get to ask Matt when he is on stage preaching about quadratic equations and such.  Or like why Kyle is still single.  Or exactly how much Nick paid Brandi to marry him.  Or...well you get the point.

You also get a chance to meet people who have the potential of becoming life long friends.  We all need someone we can share our experiences with.  We all desire to be fully known and fully loved, but most of us are too scared to really open up.  In Community Groups, we are family.  You can be honest about your struggles and find people who have been there.  Also, instead of playing x-box alone on Saturday you can have some of your group over and play 4-player on x-box.  You can’t beat that.

In Community Groups you will get a chance to minister together.  Once per semester each group will participate in a mission’s project.  Eighteen people will be able to complete more than just one could on their own.  We are better together.  Maybe it is your first time to actually minister in some way.  Now you can have people who help walk you through the project.

Ultimately, I hope you understand that we were meant to live in community.  When we begin to encourage each other and hold each other accountable and even challenge each other, then we begin to become more like Christ. 

Thanks and sign up,
Q

It’s that time of year again.  Isn’t it interesting how those words illicit different emotions depending on who’s reading it.  for some of you, you read those words with utter dread.  Most children would read those words with extreme jubilation.  Some are so excited about the season is seems like it was barely November before they had their inflatable snow globes and icicle lights in the front yard.  Others view Christmas with about as much anticipation and excitement as they do a root canal or an audit from the Internal revenue service.  Then there are the majority of us.  We haven’t changed the ring tone on our cell phone to Jingle Bells or Rock around the Christmas Tree, but neither are we wishing the season would hurry and come and go so life could just get back to normalcy.  If we’re honest, most of us have just kind of gotten numb to Christmas.  It has become just another time of the year and just another reason to get together with family and maybe exchange a few gifts.  And that got me thinking.  See I love Christmas.  I love the smiles and excitement on Jaylon and Jaron’s face on Christmas morning when they open their gifts.  I know.  I know.  That’s not what Christmas is really about.  I agree.  But I still enjoy it.  I still enjoy knowing that sometime this Christmas I’ll get out in the yard with Andrew-my little brother-and throw football.  I still enjoy that somebody this year will burn the rolls and talk about how every year somebody burns the rolls.  I still enjoy how JoAnna-my little sister- will still puff her lip out and pout when the last gift is opened.  I still enjoy Christmas.

I am in no way implying that we should perpetuate the materialistic mentality that has become Christmas.  But I am saying that I think you should enjoy Christmas.  Here’s my reason for thinking this.  Christmas is all about God becoming flesh and dwelling among us.  Hence the name of our current Christmas Series-He Came.  Then I think about a cool passage where Jesus talked about one of His reasons for coming.  He said, “I come to give you life, and life abundant.” One translation says “life to the full.” Now that seems to me to mean that Jesus came so we could enjoy life.  So it would seem to me that we should enjoy the season that celebrates His coming to give us life to enjoy.  Therefore, without diluting the real meaning of the Christmas season, I am going to enjoy it.  I’m going to do my best to enjoy it as much as my kids do.  I’m going to enjoy the fact that HE CAME.  He came.  God came.  The undeniable, unequivocal, irreplaceable, sovereign, King of the Universe came.  That’s reason enough to enjoy.

Merry Christmas

I suppose it’s time for my routine monthly post.  One day I am going to remember to put something on here on a more regular schedule.  I was just at the church early this morning (8:00 isn’t really early) thinking about thanksgiving.  The psalmist said “...come before His presence with thanksgiving.” I was just meditating on that and thought I would share a couple of thoughts about thanksgiving and then share a few of things I’m thankful for.

1.  Thanksgiving-gratitude- is the only logical response to the immeasurable grace that God displays to us through salvation.  We too often view God as our benefactor.  That’s to say, we serve God, not necessarily out of gratitude, but from the perspective that we can somehow “pay Him back.” God forbid.  Our ability to serve is only possible by His provision.  Therefore, gratitude is the only logical response when considering what God has done for us.

2.  Thanksgiving is the attitude that God desires in His presence.  I am convince that this isn’t really that difficult or surprising.  If you have a problem being grateful to God then you either don’t know Him or you don’t have a very good perspective of Him.  If you don’t have a very good perspective of Him, chances are you don’t know Him.  We tend to base our thankfulness on the things we don’t have or the circumstances we do have.  Let me explain.  IF I had more of the things I want or had less frustrating circumstance, I could be more grateful.  While that ma seem logically possible, it is spiritually adolescent.  Our culture and humanity tells us that we deserve everything we want.  The Bible teaches we deserve death, bondage, and Hell.  Therefore, whatever you are experiencing right now-regardless of it’s frustration, difficulty, or hardship-is more than you deserve.  If you are getting more than you deserve, then you should be displaying gratitude.  We are innately selfish that we often fail to realize just how much we have.  There are at least 3 billion people in the world who like to have it as bad as the poverty-stricken in America.  The richest 200 people are wealthier that the poorest 250 countries.  Spiritually, Jesus Christ gave His life that you may be free from sin, bondage, and Hell.  That one thought alone should elicit thanksgiving.

Now a few of the many things I am thankful for:
I am thankful for a God who loved me so much that He would rather murder His son than spend eternity without me.
I am thankful for a Savior who was happy to oblige.
I am thankful for a wife who is more than I deserve, just what I need, and make me better than I would be alone.
I am thankful two little boys who just make life fun and worth living.
I am thankful for a church that doesn’t settle for status quo, but is committed to impacting our culture.
I am thankful for a staff that makes me look good.
I am thankful that I have the privilege to preach God’s Word.
I am thankful that I get to witness God changing people’s lives.
I am thankful.

This week we are having a prayer labyrinth in the unfinished children’s building (below the youth room). It will be open Tuesday through Thursday, from 9am to 9pm. I encourage everyone who can to try out this prayer experience.

A prayer labyrinth is usually in the shape of a labyrinth (hence the name), which looks like a really easy maze, with one way to the center and one way out. Along the way, different stations are set up to take you on a journey to let go of the things that hinder you from God. It is a really interesting, spiritual experience. I hope you can make it.

Last sunday we were going to sleep in(the shift meets on sunday nights). Around 8am April wakes me up and says that there is a problem. She is pregnant and is not supposed to be bleeding in that way.( I know that this is personal but I want you to understand) We go to the hospital here in Albany and after a sereies of events and tests we know that she had miscarried. We make arrangements for Mandi to keep Rae and I call Brad(the other pastor of the shift) and tell him that I will not be preaching tonight, and we begin to drive south on I5. Our converstions are emotional and our mood is different every minute. We ask each other not why, but what is God saying to us in all of this? I ask if I have put my family through too much in the last few months? We wonder aloud if our baby ever had a soul or if God in his infinite wisdom never sent that part knowing the outcome? What was his plan in all of this and what lesson was there to be gained in all of this? These questions and a lot more were the topics for 24 hours of driving through the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. We stopped and spent the night at the base of crater lake and rested. The next day we drove and talked some more. I am not sure that we figured it all out. I do know that God spoke to April and I. One thing that we learned is that our child will never have to experience a bad day or a broken heart. This child will never be made fun of or be disappointed. This child will always be in the presence of the one and only father of the universe, not a frustrated short tempered church palnter for a dad. This child is and will always be better off than us. Another thing that God is showing us is the value of His grace. Grace is what saves us, covers us, and sustaines us. The message of grace is the driving force that brought us out here and will always give us something to be doing. Also it is by God’s grace that we will get through this time of loss and trial. It is impossible to write all that God has been saying and all that we have been pondering. I do know that this time has been difficult. I think that it is even harder when you are away from family and friends. Brad and his wife have been great, they have been through this a couple of times. The last thing that I know we have decided in all of this is that April is not going to work anymore. We feel that this event has further shown us the how short this life is. We want Rae to be with mom all day and we both want to have more children that are brought up with mom at home. I ask you to pray for us, we need to replace over half of our income and medical insurance by December. We do not know how this will happen. We are going to trust that God will show us. The question is not why, but what is God doing to glorify himself?

I was at Jamoka’s yesterday having our weekly college Bible Study with Snead State students when we got off on the topic of light.  We were studying John chapter one where it talks about how Jesus is the light.  I just wanted to share some of the statements and conclusions that were reached.  I thought they were very interesting.  I’ll just list them as statements mainly because I can’t remember everyone’s name(sorry guys).

1.  Light is reflective just as Christ is to be reflected by us.
2.  The very first thing God spoke into existence was light.
3.  In Quantum physics properties of photons when you split a photon it doesn’t matter how far you separate it when you change the property of one piece it changes the other.  Photons are light particles.  One student stated this proves that God is a constant.
4.  Ecclesiastes chapter eight talks about men trying to make their shadows longer and how futile it was.  This represents how futile it is for us to try to play god.
5.  The light of God’s glory was so bright it physically affected Moses.  His own face shined.
6.  Heaven has no darkness.
7.  Jesus states that he is the light.  Also the Bible states that darkness cannot exist in light.  Is it any wonder that the hypocritical pharisees hated Jesus.  Jesus threatened to expose all that they were.
8.  Light is measured in three forms waves, heat, and brightness.  Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
9.  Sometimes it is comfortable in the light and we want to sit in it and soak it in and other times we are looking for shade.  Sometimes it is comfortable to be in God’s presence, but sometimes it is hard.  We need to do what ever it takes to stay in his presence.
10.  The intensity of reflected light is determined by how close the source is.

This was a very cool conversation.  I hope you enjoyed some of these insights as much as I did.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light.

Q