Because you say so, I will. (Luke 5:5)

If I could only describe the things that are happening to Beth and I, it would freak most of you out. I guess this sums it up....If you know Beth, she is not a morning person to say the least. Actually, most mornings, Beth isn't even a person, more like some sort of snarling animal that should be better off left alone swimming in a swamp in the middle of the Nation of Kazakhstan growling at Borat. (baby, that is just a joke) Anyway, at 4:30am this morning Beth wakes me up because she can't sleep because of all of the thoughts that are going through her head about moving to Boston and getting ready to plant. Let me repeat....it was 4:30am. We talked in bed for a while and finally got up at about 5:15 to go downstairs to write down some of our thoughts and get in the Word.

I came across Luke 5. Please allow me to share:

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, Jesus said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men."

God spoke to me through this scripture. In this, it is clear that no matter what your experience is, when Jesus speaks and tells you to do something, and you do it, you will see great success. If you notice, Jesus told Peter to cast his net and Peter (who is the professional fisherman) must be thinking, "we've been here all day fishing and have caught nothing, and now you tell me to cast my net and you think the outcome will be different?" None the less, Peter cast the net and caught so many fish that the boat began to sink. Then, Peter freaks out because he knows Jesus knew of his lack of faith and Peter confesses his sin.

Here's my point. Just about everyone that I talk to mentions the spiritual deadness of the Boston area. They talk about how the Catholic Church is incumbent and failing to have influence. They talk about the liturgical boringness of church in that area and how no churches have been able to to be successful or have a real impact in the Boston area. It would be natural to be like Peter and say, "Lord, People have been trying to plant churches in Boston for years and none have had any great success. Why in the world do you want someone else to try? This is a dumb idea." But like Peter, I wanna say "But because you say so, I will let down the nets." The worst thing that I can imagine would be, not casting my net and missing the opportunity to see God place an amount of people in our net that would blow our mind.

Dream w/ me:

Maybe God really is telling us to move, build a team, and plant a church. What if we are obedient and God gave us a "Peter" experience. It would be the greatest thing that we could ever be a part of; it would be our legacy.

God, Please dont move on.

I read this blog from Elevation Church pastor Steven Furtick. Talk about hitting home. The last thing that I want is to miss what God wants to do through us. I was almost brought to tears in thinking that it is possible to miss out on the timing of God because of fear or a lack of courage. I am asking anyone who will read this to pray for Beth and I as we begin to make decisions for our future. Pray that we will always be reminded of Joshua 1:8 "Be strong and courageous, dont be terrified, dont be discouraged, for the Lord our God will be with us wherever we go."

here was the blog.

The lifetime of the opportunityJuly 30th, 2008
“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.”
Leonard Ravenhill

Every opportunity has an expiration date. Exceptional people, churches, and businesses possess the agility to move at the speed of God. This usually means merging into oncoming traffic at breakneck speed.

A lot of people I know are more fearful of making a wrong move than making no move at all. Not me. I’ve been alive long enough to know that if I just sit at the intersection after God has given a green light, He’ll only honk a few times before He passes me by in the other lane. Doesn’t mean He’ll stop loving me or stop using me. It just means that that opportunity is gone. Forever.
If you are currently considering an great, godly, risky opportunity, consider this:The cost of missing out can be greater than the cost of messing up.The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.

Being on Mission "Fishers of Men"

I have been trying so hard lately to live a life on mission. The other day I posed the question to Beth, "What are we intentionally doing, in order for lost people to come to faith in Jesus?" I was really convicted of this the other day while listening to a sermon titled "Dwelling w/ Unbelievers" The point of the message was to share the importance of living intentionally missional lives. They asked the question, "where are you hanging out so that you are intentionally hanging out with unbelievers, in order to see the people far from God, filled with life in Christ?" They also, asked "Do you have influence w/ any unbelievers right now?" and Why are you afraid to chill w/ unbelievers?" Those are some tough questions?

Hanging around lost people is not very difficult for me because I work a secular job that puts me in touch with many different people, I play basketball at the YMCA 3 days a week, and my personality is one which engages people all of the time. The conviction came when I asked myself, "Am I utilizing these opportunities to see people far from Christ, draw near to Christ?" I need to start looking very careful everyday at how God wants to use me to be a missionary who is intentional about these things everywhere I go.

Matthew 4, Jesus says, I will make you fishers of men. Notice he didn't say hunters. Sometimes I want to be a hunter rather than a fisherman. A fisherman, throws out his line, and when he hooks something, slowly reels it in. A hunter, sees its target and shoots it. Jesus was a fisherman, he would throw his line out with compassion, love, truth, etc and when one would take the bate, he would be right there to guide them in. I at times can be a hunter where I see someone who is lost and want to kill them with the gospel rather than loving them and slowly walk them into this love story with Jesus. There is a huge difference.

Examples:

If you read back a few blogs ago, if I would have shot Starr w/ the gospel rather than having love and compassion on her situation, she would have been uninterested. But because I threw out a little Jesus, she bit the bate and my family is growing a close relationship with her and watching Jesus work in her life.

Last week, at the YMCA, one of the guys I play ball with was going to go in for surgery on his knee and it was his last day to play for 6 months. After we were done playing, I pulled him to the side, and just asked him if I could pray for his surgery. In a moment of shock that I would ask such a question, he accepted. So I prayed and was done. Afterwards, he looked at me and was amazed that someone would actually do that, he gave me a hug, (A man hug may I add, one that starts with a dap, then is brought in like dudes do after scoring a touchdown). He looked at me and said with as much sincerely I have ever seen from him, "Thank You". That was missional. I didn't tell him about his sin, or hell, or outside of a relationship w/ Jesus , you have no business coming to the throne of the Father in prayer. Instead, I loved him like Jesus would have if he were here.

I (we) need to live missional, we need to love like Jesus did. We need to surround ourselves with lost people like Jesus and show them what it looks like to follow Christ and not be religious fundamentals., like the ones who nailed Jesus to the cross.

Friends and Family pop-in.

This past week was so cool. First my Grandparents popped in from NY to visit. They are awesome. My grandparents were the first people in my life who prayed for me. They say that when I was little, they knew how I was being raised from a "Religious" perspective and how the family baggage was effecting me and they would consistently pray for me. I never knew about this until I a few years ago. Then we had our friends from college, Heather and Carlos, come and visit us with their little baby girl. She was so cute. It was so awesome to see them. They are the type of friends that you can go years without seeing them and when you finally get together, it's as if you were never apart. I had a chance to share with them my heart for Boston and what God is doing. They were so encouraging and I will definitely be calling them when it is time to move and invite them on the journey with us.

Prayer Room "Go into your room and close your door"

We have this over sized closet under our stairs that has been used for everything you can think of. It has been a clothes storage room, Shoe closet, office, computer room, scrapbook room, junk room, etc. I came home the other day and Beth has turned it into my own personal prayer closet. It has rocking chair, bookshelves, speakers for my Ipod, and a fresh coat of paint. I have had the sweetest time in there the past few days. I can go in shut my door, read, pray, study, etc. Its been awesome.

Matthew 6:5-6

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.