Evidence

This is a powerful picture. 9 years ago when we came to Corpus Christi, Andrew Nycum was about 11 . . . I remember him riding to the Elementary School where we met on his bike . . . and pestering my daughters :)

This is Andrew leading worship this Summer at Laity Lodge in the hill country.

I'm so proud of Andrew. . . This is so cool!

Andrew is evidence that God is still up to something here. Now, don't hear me wrong, I'm not claiming credit for what God is doing in Andrew's life and it's not even just Creekers, many different folks have poured into Andrew. But his family - and this family - have impacted this young man and he is discovering who he is in Christ.

And so with new hope we press on with greater passion than ever before!

Whose the Andrew who you are helping discover who they are in Christ?

Planes, Trains and Trials

Trials don't just carve out character . . . they also reveal character.

Sometimes they occur over long seasons, sometimes in an instant.

Today I flew into Lubbock for a good friend's father's funeral. As my first flight got to Houston I noticed that we started to go towards, and then went by, the airport. Different.
Shortly there after the flight attendant came on and told us that there was a 'problem.' The flaps on the wings were not working and we couldn't land right now. . . It got quiet. REAL quiet.

"Consider it all joy when you encounter various (read: about to die in an airplane crash!) trials . . ."

The lady next to me was shaken. I just let her talk . . . and prayed. I asked her if she knew Jesus. I'm not sure what her faith was before then, but at the time she was an enthusiastic follower.

I'm thankful that I've been dwelling on the verses about trials. God was gracious. Yes, I had a few heart palpitations, but I knew that it was OK. No matter what, God was in control. What an encouragement . . . I fail so much of the time, but how encouraging to be able to focus on eternity in the midst of the problem.

If we hadn't known anything . . . you would have never thought anything was wrong from the landing. OK, except for the firetrucks and ambulances and police cars that were all streaking out towards our runway. [I took this pic is the few emergency vehicles remaining about 15 minutes after we landed and were finally able to exit on the tarmac.]

Whether it's exciting airplane rides or daily life, God wants to draw us closer to Himself and make us more like Jesus.

What's God revealing about your character? Where is He renewing you?

What's Gotten Into Your Life?

Garbage in - Garbage out. What goes in comes out. You are what you eat.

It's so true. Whatever we fill our life with, we become. If all we do is eat ice cream and Taco Bell, we grow to ice cream and Taco Bell proportions (and I confess I got some Taco Bell and ice cream in me!)

If all we fill our mind and soul with is worldly stuff, then that's how we begin (or continue) to think and live.
What are you filling your mind with?

This Summer as we go through the book of James I've invited everyone to read along with us each day. We've tried to make that easy by giving you an opportunity to sign up for a text everyday that encourages you to read and soak in a specific passage that day. Click here to check that out.

We also have another blog called Creek Living Water where everyday there is a passage to dwell on.

I just felt like God was telling me to encourage you today that it's God's Living Word that changes us. It changes us because when we allow it, it goes deep into our soul and through the Holy Spirit it speaks to our heart. If you are truly dwelling on it you CANNOT escape it's power!

The Bible is for NOW, today. Do you want your life to reflect a character of kindness and hope and confidence and love and peace? Do you want to be on THE journey, in THE game?
It begins on the inside of your life, not the outside.

What's gettin' in your life?

Sitting Still

Yesterday in Celebration I talked about preparing ourselves for success in following Jesus --- and the absolute necessity for us to continually hear from God through His Word.

Today I was reading Bob Roberts' The Multiplying Church and he hit a note that I knew was true in my spirit even though I sometimes struggle so much with it:

"Spiritual maturity is dependent on our ability to sit still and listen."


What do you think? What are you gonna do with it?

My Son

I love my son more than I can explain. This is Luke at his game tonight (Mom took some great pics!)

He's quickly growing into a young man.

And it's my responsibility to show him the way. No one else's, mine. That's huge. And it's not always easy.

Dad's, our sons need us. We must show them what it means to follow God. Or who will?

More than almost anything I've ever done, I want to get this one right.

Community Driven

"You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another." (Prov 27:17 Message)

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (Jesus in John 17)

On Sunday I talked about the necessity of Community/Team if we are going to move further in this journey with Jesus. Us Before Me.

The Bible doesn't just talk about relationship, it IS relationship. It's the word(s) of God, through His Son, to us. And it's in relationship that we are transformed. Man, I know. I know what it's like to separate myself from others who push me further spiritually (and the emptiness I have) - and what it's like to be engaged with people encouraging me and to be encouraging others.

One of the passages that came to mind as I was thinking about it this week is the story of the rich young man (Matthew 19:16-25 - click and check it out). The point of that story is that this young dude chose his wealth/things over a relationship with God. And he was a good guy!
But any time we choose things/jobs/self/distractions over relationship with God and others - we immediately stifle our Christian life. Period.

Why do we emphasize so passionately everyone being in Life Groups? Because it is through those relationships where we are real with others about God, that we will grow in this Christian journey. And that's the whole point! That's the reason we exist as a church! We don't want you just to occupy space on Sunday, but to be a world changer for the Kingdom of God!

And sadly, when we allow anything to get in the way of being in life transforming relationships with others, then we're no different from this young guy.
Jesus told him to come back when he was willing to invest in eternal relationships instead of earthly stuff.

It's your move. Do you need to engage deeper in community? Or to draw someone else in with you?

Mature or Immature? Or Both?

What is a mature church? What does it look like to be a group of believers who are living out following Jesus in a way that brings new life? Mark Beeson - Pastor of Granger Community Church - had an awesome post on this.

Read below and ask God to help us follow Him with all our being!

Three days ago Rick Warren proffered this question for me to mull over. What is the mature church?

I knew immediately how I would respond: "The 'mature church' is the church filled with immaturity."

Anywhere in the world, whether plant or animal, the clear delineation of maturity is the ability to reproduce. Immature animals can't reproduce. Immature plants can't replicate themselves. The definition of maturity is being fully ripe, fully aged, so the connotation of maturity is obvious. Where you see maturity you'll observe new life, babies and immaturity all over the place.

Maturity desires reproduction. Maturity tolerates juvenile behavior (from juveniles) while training its progeny for success in life. Maturity means little [babies] running all over the place.

If you attend a mature church, be prepared for immaturity. Where you find mature Christians you'll find little babes in Christ running all over the place. In fact, if you have been looking for a church where everyone tithes and everyone serves--you're not looking for a mature church, you are looking for a dying church - aged, impotent and bereft of spiritual newborns because everyone is mature.

Few things are more disturbing than a flock of adult believers standing around complaining that no one has come to Christ while refusing to do something that might result in new life. So when you bump into someone who acts immature at one of our services, don't complain, and don't be surprised. Instead, thank God the mature in Christ are busy delivering newborn babies to the family of God.

Basketball . . . and Growing Up

I haven't talked much about my basketball team at YCA of late, but a couple of things have stood out lately.

We kind of went into a funk during the holidays, and then right after. Coaching a sport gets much tougher as the season wears on - practice can get monotonous, nerves can get fragile (especially mine!).

And then early last week I starting really loosening up practice and having fun . . . and then I put in a new offense that is much more free and open (think NBA) than the offense we were running. And the kids responded awesomely. Last week we pounded two teams . . . and I must note that my Luke set his personal best by scoring 24 points in one game we won 40-23!

The principal here is, when you get in a rut, try something new! (More later in another post.)

The second thing, and the thing I was most proud of was at practice yesterday. I was running behind and got there 15 minutes late. But instead of just goofing off, a couple of the older players had organized everyone, gone through their warmups, and were doing some drills . . . all on their own!!! I was so proud of them. I didn't do anything but sit and watch for about 15 more minutes and let them do it!

It's awesome to see growth in young lives! (Or, old lives for that matter!)