Wild Goose Chase (Part Three)

Over the next week I will be posting some of my learning points from Mark Batterson's new book, Wild Goose Chase. Thanks again to Billy Chia for providing me with this new read.

"Sometimes God will provide a miraculous sign that will give you just enough faith to take the first step in the pursuit of your passion. But more often than not, faith doesn't follow signs. Signs follow faith. It is the biblical pattern." -- Chapter 2, Goose Bumps

I remember it very clearly. Kitten and I felt clearly led to help start Discovery Church. We had told the congregation at Olivet that we were resigning effective the end of May. We had placed our home for sale by owner. I had even circulated resumes looking for a job to provide for the financial needs of our family. Nothing. No real interest in the house. No real interest in me. Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

I was beginning to wonder if I had heard God's calling right. I had a conversation with my dad and he reminded me that God is an "on-time God." He often will not provide too far in advance and He is never late. He is on-time. With less than a month before our time at Olivet was set to end, God showed up. He sold our house (at a very fair price). He got me a job (with a great company).

It makes me wonder what might have been. What if I had given up on the calling instead of setting out in faith? The pursuit of God is worth everthing, like a treasure found in the field, like a pearl of great price. We should be willing to risk everything to discover and follow Him.

People of the Book (part one)

Just finished reading an article by John Ortberg entitled People of the Book. It caused a rush of thought and questions. Over the next four days, I'll unpack some of the ways that it knocked me around and the questions it raised.

First: the issue of passion for Scriptures within the church I serve starts with me. In our Student Ministry at Olivet, the middle school and high school students are not going to revere the Word unless they see that modeled in my life. At Discovery, the passion that I bring to my personal study of Scripture will be translated in the rest of the community. When my time with God is shallow, rushed or non-existent, how can I expect anything less from those in the pews (or in Discovery's case...the theater-seating). When I spend time in God's Word, it is a rush of exhiliration. I learn so much about who God is and what He has done throughout history and how He is moving in the future.

"By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity, a word that will not be revoked: before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear." -- Isaiah 45:23

Holy Week

This might be the busiest week in the life of most churches. Obviously, for us at Discovery, not so much yet. (But no promises on next year.)

At Olivet this week, we kicked off Holy Week with the Palm Sunday service and the Easter egg hunt. We do the Easter egg hunt the week before, because we do not want to miss the celebration point of Easter. On a side note, it creates two big weeks for visitors back-to-back.

Wednesday will feature the normal Wednesday evening programs. I'm excited because I'm up to teach in the Matrix. At the beginning of the school year we went to team teaching. The upside was that it made the ministry less dependent upon me. The downside is that I miss the opportunity to teach some of the best middle school and high school students in Evansville.

Thursday evening will be our Maundy Thursday service. We will be remembering (perhaps that is the key word for this week: "remember") Jesus' final moments with His disciples. We'll celebrate community through communion this night. The service begins at 6:30.

Friday evening will be our chance to focus on Good Friday. I'm really excited because I get to help teach and design this service. I think I'll be working with Jeff Kleinschmidt, one of the most gifted acoustic guitar players that I know. Can't wait for this evening.

Sunday will celebrate Life and Hope. Easter Sunday. He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

If you want to follow the Holy Week closely, check out In the Agora. They are observing this Holy Week on their blog day-by-day. Here are the previous days blogs.

• Palm Sunday


• Holy Week Monday


• Holy Week Tuesday

In the Presence of Greatness

I'm finishing my preparation for my part of the Christmas Eve service at Olivet right now. I'm excited about the service tonight because we are combining with two other churches, Westminster (Evansville) and New Hope (Chandler). I'm always excited when the church breaks down artificial walls and begins to demonstrate what heaven will be like, when the Church is united.

In preparation for tonight, I've been thinking about the impact of the truly great have on what they do. For example, James Naismith created basketball in 1891. For nearly a century the game was played with some truly excellent players in that period. However, when Michael Jordan began playing for the Chicago Bulls, he showed us what the game could truly be like. He changed how the game is played forever.

Others that I can think of with a similar impact include: Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, William Shakespeare, and Chick-Fil-A. What about you? Who do you think has completely reshaped how something is done?

I'm So Thankful

This past week featured Thanksgiving. During worship yesterday morning, our pastor spoke about the importance of developing a mindset of thankfulness. He mentioned that he was once challenged to write out 20 things for which he was thankful. In that spirit, I'm attempting to create a similar list. Please enjoy or feel free to comment with your own list.

• My wife, Kitten. You are the most amazing woman in the world. Thank you for your patience with me.
• My daughter Alyssa Grace. You made me laugh so hard yesterday walking around acting like Hannah Montana.
• My daughter Morgan Faith. I love it when you snuggle into my body and sleep. You have reminded me of the delight that the Father must have when we rest in Him.
• My nephews. It is so much fun to have you run up and jump in my arms and yell "Uncle Trey."
• My in-laws. You have taught me so much. Thank you for welcoming me into your family.
• My friends. (I'm not going to cheat the process and name you specifically just to get a number, but I am very thankful for each of you).
• New friends. I'm so glad that we've gotten to meet each other this year (especially Dan, Geoff, Kevin & Esther and Billy & Sarah).
• Our home. A lovely 3 BR, 2 BA ranch on Evansville's growing Northside. Want to buy it?
• Two well-operating vehicles that allow us to drive all over Evansville (at a mere $2.96/gallon).
• The past. You realize today's blessings so much easier when you look at where God has taken you in the past.
• The future. It is so exciting to look and see where God is taking us in the future as well.
• Olivet Presbyterian Church. I honestly could have never imagined staying in one place to serve for 8 years as a youth minister when I came. Yet you have become family. Kitten and I are so thankful for you. You bless us on a regular basis.
• The youth workers at Olivet. Wow! You truly are the youth ministers at Olivet. Thanks for not collecting a salary so that I can.
• Discovery Church. (Can you be thankful for a church that hasn't even had a service yet?) I look forward to growing and serving alongside you in the future.
• Discovery's Launch team. Thank you for committing to serve those who will come to check us out over the next seven months.
• Discovery's Board of Directors. Thank you for saying "yes." You have already provided so much to the process. I look forward to learning so much more from each of you.
• Tim Tebow. If he doesn't win the Heisman, they should change the name of the award to "Heist-man." You can vote for Tim to win here.

• God's sovereignty. I find it very comforting to know that God is in control.
• Microsoft's generosity. They're fixing my XBox 360 for free and extending the warranty. Now if I could just get the process to happen quicker.
• Evansville. I remember growing up thinking that I would want to live anywhere but Evansville. Now I realize just how great Evansville is. I hope that 2008 sees continued growth and development happening within the city/county.