First of all, let me put out a disclaimer. I love my wife, my kids, my job, my church, my parents, my friends, and all kinds of other things that are important to my life. this blog entry is by no means an attempt to downgrade them. This is just a fun way to share a few other things that make my life easier - in no particular order.

1 - Coffee
My morning, almost every day, begins with coffee. I usually drink about 4-5 cups a day and in the winter I just keep on going into the evening with the coffee drinking. I have never really been affected by caffeine, so I don't think its that. I just really like coffee.

Get this....coffee is second in value, only to oil, as a commodity on the world markets. Over 20,000,000 people have jobs in the coffee business around the world. Pretty sweet.

There is a science to coffee - to good coffee atleast. There are only certain parts of the world where true arabica beans can be harvested, at certains altitudes, and at certain climates. Then there are different ways to process the beans. (wet or dry procesing) All in all, sets suffice it to say that if your best coffee experience is Starbucks, you are missing out on a world of yummy!

Most of what we are getting at Starbucks, Caribou, McDonalds, and in the containers at Wal-Mart are called "blends." Coffee companies take beans from several different countries and regions and blend them together to give us the basic "American" taste of coffee that most of us know. But if you want to take a little dive into coffee heaven, try some single-origin coffee from Guatemala, Kenya, or Honduras. It will rock your little coffee world.

Lucky for those of us that live in Northeast Ohio, we have some folks doing it right in Tallmadge. Top of the Mountain Coffee has a great story and great coffee. Try them out and you will soon understand why you can take Folgers and put it back on the shelf.


2 - ipod Touch
So, many of you know that I am a bit of a tech geek. this is true, but my reasoning for the ipod touch far outweighs the tech geek need for cool stuff. Lets see if I can convince you.

First of all, why not the iphone...why the touch? Well, because my friends, AT&T sucks and therefor the iphone sucks in its use as a phone. I am sorry, but the reason for a phone is to make calls. If I don't have service, I can't make calls, and therefore I keep my Verizone Wireless Droid (which is coming later) and rock the Touch for everything else.

So...whats the big deal about the ipod touch. Here are a few things.
- I can carry my itunes library, pictures, video, audiobooks, sermons, podcasts, and just about anything else that is recorded, with me all the time.

- Efficiency - My ipod syncs with my outlook exchange server to always keep my contacts, calendar, and email up to date. I like this. There are also several apps that I use to keep on top of things. Evernote is a great note taking program that syncs with my web account. If you use Franklin Covey, there is a greast tasks app for that. I kep storage of files, can read files, and can download from my online storage sites. It keeps me moving.

- Sweet games - angry birds - enough said. No really though, ipod touch has some incredible games no matter what you like and it runs almost everything super efficiently.

3 - Moleskin
Notes, schedules, dates, thoughts, ideas, brainstorming, poems, drawing, songwriting, etc. Moleskin has you covered - and they are way cool looking too. http://www.moleskineus.com/

More to come...

I can't get over this. This is sooo funny that I had to share it with you all. Enjoy

A few weeks ago we took out junior and senior students out to a farm in Ripley, New York. My boss (Rick) grew up there. the house that Rick grew up in has been there through 5 generations of his family and the church next door has been pastored by the same family for 3 generations. It is an awesome thing to see.

Lecrae - Rebel (Intro) from Evan Duncan on Vimeo.

I was in Barnes and Noble yesterday and there is so much Christian reading out there that it can be hard to know what we should be reading, what we should be cautious of, and how to tell the difference between the two. Well, I have developed a little system that I use, and I figured I would pass it on. This is by no means fail-proof, and this may weed out some good books, but if you are checking out an author for the first time, this might help you differ between God-honoring writing and theologically poor mumbo-jumbo.

Here it is

Look at the cover  - or the back of the book - or maybe a few pages from the front. There, you will usually find some critique from people who were given the book, prior to its publishing, to read through it and give their thumbs up.

Now - how does this help us? Well, I think it helps us filter out junk. People who have sound doctrine don't usually promote garbage, and if a book is crap you probably can't get anyone to promote it. So, here is the filter.

1 - Does anyone have anything to say about the book?
Sometimes you might run into a title that does not have any input for other authors or experts on the subject. This should be a warning. Now, I'm not saying that you should totally disregard this book, but if no one has commented on it, either they had no good things to say, or the author/publisher knew no one would have anything good to say, so they didn't let anyone comment on it.
Disclaimer - Again, this is not 100% full-proof. John Pipers new book has no such remarks and is awesome and theologically sound. 


2 - Are the people that are saying things about the book without name?
Often times there will be remarks on a book from a local magazine or newspaper. For instance, "Through Painted Deserts," by Donald Miller has only 2 remarks - one from a local Oregon newspaper, and Publishers Weekly. So that makes me think, "huh, do I really want what I reads validity to come from some no-name newspaper person in Oregon? Do we have any idea what they believe, what they think, or how they might align with our belief system? Those are good questions to ask. If no one is putting their name on it, they might be doing that for a reason.

3 - Are the people supporting the book people you know or are they at least sporting credentials?
I mean, lets be honest about it - some people just know people, and they often know people that think like they do. So their buddy reads the book, gives it 2 thumbs up, and they slap it on the cover. If I wrote a book, and put my bosses name on their, I would assume most people would have no idea who Rick Eimers is. So, ask yourself that question - who in the heck is this person?
And if you don't know the person, maybe look at who they are and what they bring to the table. If the guy has 2 masters and an M Div from universities that you agree with, maybe his praise is legit. If the person is actually a volunteer youth leader that they asked to write something out real quick, be a little skeptical.

Example - Brian McLarens new book, "A New Kind of Christianity," has 4 pieces of flare tied onto the back page.
           1 - Time Magazine  -1 point
           2 - Phyllis Tickle    - who?
           3 - Richard Rohr    -like a lion rohrs?
           4 - Adam Hamilon

Now, you may say, well Joe, you are just not versed in culture and who these upstanding and insightful people are. Well, you might be correct, but on this one I win cuz this book is full of crazy talk.



4 - A Good Example
Mark Driscoll has a new book out called "Doctrine." It is a guide to Christian Doctrine and belief. On the back, there are several quotes and these names and credentials follow:

Wayne Grudem, research professor of theological and biblical studies, Phoenix Seminary
Randy Alcorn, author of "If God is Good," and "Heaven."
James Macdonald, Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Chicago.
Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor; Lifechurch.tv
John Frame, Professor of Systematic theology and philosophy, reformed theological seminary.
Daniel Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary


Then, on the inside pages there are 8 pieces of feedback from other people in christian leadership, theology, academia, and  literature.

That is a very good example.

Be careful little eyes what you read!

I have been at my church in Cleveland Ohio for a little over 5 years. We have been through growth, pain, big decisions, and much more as a community. As I deal with the day to day grind of pastoral ministry, I have begun to see how the body and staff of a church functions, and there are just a few people that I want to mention and give some credit to.

Disclaimer - for all of you folks who are not mentioned, please know that I value every part of the staff both at our church and at other churches. This is not an attempt to snub leadership, rather an attempt to show how there are so many pieces that go into making leadership affective.

The Receptionist.
If you ever call our church, you are likely to hear something to this affect, "Good morning, Cuyahoga Valley Church, this is Lorrie; how may I help you?" A variation of those words come through many phone lines of many churches all over the world, and they make a world of difference. People who call our church feel warmth, they feel welcome, they don't feel like a nuisance. We live in a world where good customer service is of immense value to people, and even in ministry, good customer service is vital. I am thankful to Lorrie and all of the other receptionists out there who make so many feel the love of Jesus through the phones and at the front desks. This first impression allows ministry to happen because people feel welcome and come back, or come for the first time to hear about Christ.

The Building Crew
Churches can be quite the train wreck. I mean, think about it - you have people coming through from all walks of life, with different standards, kids missing the potty, coffee spilling all over the place, snow filling the parking lot, filters to be changed, clogs to be released, fire alarms to be tested, walls to be painted from 100's of tables and chairs ramming into them, cookie crumbs, left over bulletins, and whatever else might happen in the whirlwind that is church on Sunday and throughout the week. Our team here at CVC does an incredible job, and most of us don't even notice it. If things were dirty and not kept, we would notice it, but we don't cuz they're not. Will, Jim, Andrea, Mark, and Mike are the folks that keep things running at our church. Sure, it drives me nuts when I have to pee really bad and Jim won't let me into the bathroom because he just mopped, but I mean - the bathroom is always clean - you can't win em all. Again, its a matter of doing things with a goal in mind. People need to meet Jesus, and if they don't feel comfortable for themselves and their children, they are going to walk right out the back door. Our church is rarely - if ever - not clean. People like that!

In addition to these responsibilities, they also do all of the setup and organization. Greta takes care of all of the scheduling and organizing of the building, so that people are not running around here getting in fist fights over which room they are going to meet in. You all don't see it, but at most churches, people want to use something in that church. They need a room, a party, a shower for a new mom, a funeral, a funeral luncheon, a wedding, they need chairs, tables, coffee, lights, unlocked doors, and they usually want it now! Thanks to our building team for making this place run!

The Finance Team
There are roughly 2000 people in and out of our church every week. With them comes a ton of things - tithes and offerings, attendance, benevolence requests, event sales, fund raiser monies, book sales, in kind donations, and plenty of other things. I have complete confidence that our church is completely above board and God-honoring in all of our transactions and finances. That is a good place to be. In addition to the tasks, our finance team knows a lot about who gives what, who doesn't give, tax code, who was here, who was not here, and everything in between. I am glad that I don't have that kind of information because my mouth is too big. The ladies that work on that team, Darlene and Jackie at our church, not only keep us financially above board and in line, but also have a incredible task of keeping everything confidential - and I am thankful for their character and servant heart. There are a lot of churches out there, that if they were audited, would be in BIG, BIG trouble. I know that we would not be. This confidence allows people to give of their time, money, and goods freely. Knowing that everything is done in a way that honors God and keeps everyone safe. Thanks ladies!

The Go To Person
If there is something in our church that nobody knows about - we all know to ask Verna. Rick, one of our youth pastors, knows that at his church back home in Ripley NY, his mom is the go to person. There are all these little things that often fall through the cracks at church and other business. Who is going to get all the stuff we need for an event? Who is going to make sure that everything for Sunday morning children's ministry gets into the correct room? Plates, cups, table clothes, DVD's, VCR's, coffee, food, snacks, craft materials, curriculum, decorations, flowers, volunteers,  - these are just a few things that fall onto Verna's plate. If there is one person at our church that I always want on my team - its Verna. And I know that all of you out there can think of who that person is at your church. Its that person that thinks of all of the things that us mere mortals forget about, and at the last minute you say, "oh no, I forgot the...." And like magic, they pull it out of their hat because THEY DID remember that - and whatever you are doing is a success. We are lucky to have these people working and serving in our churches and ministries. Verna not only does all of this, but she saves the church thousands of dollars by being a good steward of these responsibilities as well.

So, if you go to a small church or a big church, regardless of the denomination - take a step back today and think about all that needs to go into pastors being able to do what they do. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that allows a church to function and ultimately give people safe, secure, clean, and comfortable access to good teaching and loving community!

In our middle school program we have been dealing with the topic of tempation, sin, and satan. Many questions have come up and they have pushed me to pursue answers to these questions. I have found that we often don't talk about satan, demons, and their origin. We just take the stories that have been told to us over the years and put them in our back pocket. So I want to take a look at what the Bible has to say about where satan come from and take a look a few different views on what those scriptures actually say.

Oddly enough, Genesis does not explain any of the details about how Satan came into being. All of the sudden he is just there in the form of a serpent, tempting Eve. So - lets look to a couple of scripture references that can help us get some answers.

Job 1 begins the story that we all now about Job and his persecution. We can glean a few things from these first few chapters.

1 - Satan somehow has access to heaven and can communicate with God. (Job 1:6-7)
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before theLord, and l Satan [2] also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From m going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”


2 - Satan and God know one another and don't get along very well - Satan obviously believes that the reason Job love God so much is because he has been given so much. He incites God against Job (Job 2:3) God and Satan go back and forth like brothers almost. They're conversation is not that of people who do not know one another. 


3 - God has power of satan - Job 1:10-12 - Have you not put q a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have r blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But s stretch out your hand and t touch all that he has, and he will u curse you v to your face.” 12 And theLord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
God has the power to control how much and how far satan is able to go with his temptation of Job. Later in Job 2, satan comes back, before pushing Job farther, to ask permission from God to do so. 


So...we know these few things. 


What else can we glean from scripture that is clean cut and plain to us? 
We can see that satan is the leader of a group of other evil beings called evil spirits, demons, or his angels throughout the new testament. Matthew 25:41; Rev 12:9;Luke 7:21; Mark 3:22-23; Acts 19:11-18  and many others)


Now. To the heart of my question for this post. My next post will deal with what satan and demons do right now and tempation on earth. But I want to talk briefly about how satan came into being. We know a little bit about who he is, but not much about how he got here. 


Lets begin with this truth. God created satan and He did so for himself. We can dig into the theology of that at another point, but Colossians confirms this.
Colossians 1:16 For by[1] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.


It is also true that everything was created good. God didn't make anything bad, so satan was good - to begin with. (Gen 1:31) 


So, God created satan, and he was good -  What then?
Thats a good question, and the answer is somewhat split. Some scholars would say that the Bible is quite clear on what happened next, and others would say that we still really don't know, and that God has chosen to keep that information from us. 


There are 2 main passages in the Old Testament that are debated over.
Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. In both of these passages prophecy is being laid out on 2 different kings; the King of Babylon and the King of Tyre. In both of these oracles there is reference to "shining star" or in the Hebrew heylel, which is translated today as Lucifer - sound familiar.


I won't go into the debate about whether or not these passages contain reference to satan or not because that is a lonk argument, but I encourage you to do some research. 


To read more on this debate, my suggestion would be "Sense and Nonesense About Angels and Demons" by Kenneth D. Boa. He makes great arguments and uses scripture, not his own ideas, to draw well thought out conclusions on this debate. 


David Jeremiah, another well-know scholar, lands on the other side of the argument, and you can read his thoughts in "What The Bible Says About Angels"


Enjoy!


  

This past week I had the opportunity to perform the funeral services of a my father-in-law and good friend, Doug Naymik. This is the message that I gave at his funeral 4-26-2010. My prayer is that when we experience death in our lives and families that it would ignite fire in our hearts for people who need to know Christ. I know that it has for me.

I grew up in an AG church in Ashtabula County. My dad was the director of a Christian camp, and I spend the majority of my first 12 years of life in one of those 2 places, very clueless to the world. I accepted Christ at 6 in Super Church. I spent the next 10 years of my life riding the fence. I tried for a long time to live in both arenas, and we all know that this didn’t work. I always knew Christ and would go through spurts, but never really sold my life out to him all those years.

My family has always been close. I had some difficult years with my mom when I was in 8-9 grade because she was not willing top compromise righteousness in our home, so we butted heads. I often felt guilty because my little brother followed in a lot of my bad choices. I honestly feel like a lot of my life was wasted on myself instead of making it count for God.

The timeline from the end of college is crazy, and I feel like this is kind of when my life started. I was working part time for Brian when I graduated. Nate Migal was on the phone with a friend who was not able to use his ticket for El Salvador. I butted in, and said “I’ll go.” So I met Linda in July, went on our first date in August, were engaged in Septemer, and married in December of 05 at the same time Chris Walker left and I came on full time with the youth. So, I had a wife and a job!

Grace came in March 2006 and Logan in December of 2006, and my life has never been the same since.

So, there is the life, but where is the faith. I got very angry in my teen years when my church of over 1000 fell apart because of poor leadership. In my sophomore year of HS we left that church, and I never REALLY plugged in again until CVC.

Brian had a significant affect on my life when I came to CVC. Brian was one of the first people in a long time to really challenge me in my walk with Christ. Then Dan came along and added much to that over the next few years, and I am eternally thankful to both of them for showing me how to be a man.

I am not taking my dad out of the equasion, but it was difficult for him to pour into me from 70 miles away. My dad is a man who has always loved the Lord with all his heart, as does my mom, and they have spent their lives showing Jesus to me, and raising me to love him the best they could. I am so excited when I watch them with Grace and Logan now, because I know that they will teach them about Jesus too.

I married WAY up, and at our wedding Rick challenged us to be on mission, and so I took that challenge seriously. I feel like that was somewhat the beginning of my spiritual journey. Like I opened up the door for Christ to finally take me over. There was an immense sense of responsibility to be a man of God, and that was made greater when Grace and Logan came.

I think that I am a testament to coming just as you are. I learned to lead worship as I was leading worship. I learned to shepherd kids as I was shepherding kids. God continued to teach me as I was trying to catch up to the learning curve. And I am still learning to be a husband and a dad as I do those things. The power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of Jesus is all I have to account for anything. I am blessed beyond anything I deserve. I often step back and think about my life, and am humbled that God chose me. I am poorly under qualified for the responsibilities I have, and am glad of it, because it allows my story to shine glory on Christ.

My life over the past month or so has been some of the best days of my life. I won't go into all of the details, but I have experienced a closeness with God that has spread into the other areas of my life in noticeable ways.

One of the failures that I have had throughout my life is that I have not had a disciplined time of prayer, Bible intake, reading of other spiritual books, and fasting. I have gone through many a spurts where I would do these things and then back out again, and the one thing that I have noticed is the common denominator in the times of spiritual health is someone keeping me accountable.

My life is a pretty busy one. I work as a youth pastor, try to make enough time for my wife and 2 toddlers, run another music ministry that keeps me out of town atleast once a month, and I try and be a friend on top of this. not too bad, but enough to spread out my passion so that each things is not getting enough attention.

My walk with the Lord has been strong over the past month thanks to the program I mentioned in a previous email called "The Lords Table." It is a very intense program that consists of a rigerous eating plan, accountability, and a daily online lesson steeped in scripture.

Here is the thing....I have noticed that by taking time with the Lord every morning and every evening, I have been better able to accomplish the other things in my life, and not only accmplish them but do them with excellence and zeal. I have noticed that thought time and time again I have made the excuse that I am too busy to spend unhurried time in God word and in prayer, that I am actually too busy NOT to spend time with God. God Word brings focus, and and prayer brings a compassion for people that allows you to set your own agenda aside. Fasting breaks the hold of satan in so many areas, and rfeminds us regularly that our depandance is on the Lord.

So, I encourage you to stop and spend some time in the Word today. Spend some time praying or reading a book (I suggest starting with one by John Piper) And maybe even read up on and practice a day of fasting, and see how it changes the way you live.

For as long as I can remember I have been a big guy. I think that since I was in middle school, the smallest I have ever been was about 180 lbs, which was my sophomore year in college. The reason for this was that I was playing competitive racquetball, and I was in the court several times a day. Since then I have gone back and forth between 210 and 245, and once again I am up at the 245 mark. The pants are a little tight and uncomfortable and some of my shirts are starting not to fit, so usually that is a sign that it is time to slim down.

I was thinking about all this as I drove to work this morning, thinking about a strategy to lose some weight, and I remembered talking to a friend a while back about a program called "The Lords Table. The idea behind the whole thing is that God commands us to do everything for His glory.

1 Corinthians 10:30 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

It is a 60 week Bible study that goes along with a strict eating plan that will help change your motivations and tame your mind to bring God glory instead of self-gratifying with food. I am excited in one sense, and on the other hand, I have thought about forgetting the whole thing about 4 or 5 times today because I am looking forward to thanksgiving.

One of the things that I have realized is that I really really love food and I really love to eat. 2 separate things I think. I enjoy cooking and using food as an art, but on the other hand I like to eat cookies. Does that make sense? I think that the really enjoying food is okay, but my passion to eat is not.

Anyway, I think that I often want food more than I want God, and I think that is a problem. So, off I go onto this 60 day journey of finding out how and why I have put food above God, and how I can move food down the priority list where it should be. Pray for me because this is going to be a tough one.

It has been almost a year since we released our last Album, "Who Is Like Our God." about a month ago we started tracking our first song, and we will start the next 2 on Monday down at Lava Room Studios in Cleveland. We are really excited to get to work with the guys down there on a piece of this project. We are also working with Stephanie Strong from Ellis Design on the graphic design of the CD cover and accompanying merchandise. We have also put together a new Promo Pic from our good friend Nathan Migal at Imagen Photography.

I have been doing a good load of the writing, and have been getting a lot of inspiration from the current state of our country. I wrote a song, which the album will be named after, called "Lamentations of the 21st Century," that basically talks about how we are dying as a nation and as a people.

We also have been working on a new worship anthem called "He is Here," which is probably going to be our new opener for a lot of our stuff.

So, if you have supported us in the past, heard us at CVC, 707, or somewhere else, or are just interested in what we are doing, check out the website for updates and such.

We may also be sneaking out a little Christmas tune this lovey time of the year!

Many of you may have had the opportunity to go out to the polls on Tuesday and vote for the miriad of important issues that were on the ballot in this years election. But this call to the left is not just for election day. This call to the left is an everyday event. This challenge is a challenge that I am asking to you incorporate into your everyday life on a consistent basis. Here it is...

When people are trying to merge onto the freeway, especially during rush hour...move over!!

I honestly believe that traffic is a perfect example of who we are as a nation. We want what we want, and we want it on our terms, and forget everyone else. Well, here is the truth of the matter. That attitude causes traffic jams, and causes me to fly into extreme fits of road rage. If you are ever stuck on route 77 and you see a little rusted out Dodge Dakota with an overweight man beating up his stearing wheel while mouthing the words "move over, " its probably me.

If we would just slow down a little bit, move over, and let people merge, no one would have to slam on their brakes, which would not cause the person behind them to slam on their brakes, which would, in turn, not cause the person behind that person to slam on their brakes and so on and so on, and TADA - no traffic jams. The trade off is a beautiful thing. Sacrifice a few MPH, and your love affair with the right lane, and we can all get to work faster.

On the other side of the coin, there is a group that needs to move right as well. When it snows or rains in Ohio, which tends to be a total of 6 months out of the year, it doesn't mean that you have to drive 10 PMH under the speed limit. There is no law that says you must do this. However, I do understand your need for safety and I respect that choice. SO GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE!! If you need to pass someone who is going 2 MPH faster than you are, then speed up a little bit to get around them instead of making your 1 car pass a 10 minute affair while the cars pile up behind you. You are the people who make other people mad and then they get so upset that they won't let people in, and round and round we go!

If you all heed my few little suggestions, we can all have a better driving experience in rush hour, normal driving time, snow, sleet, rain, construction, and any other driving conditions.

On a side note. We lost a great and brilliant author in Michael Crighton yesterday. I have been a fan for several years, and am greatly saddened for his family and fans. God Bless.

If there is one thing that I have seen politics do to the body of Christ it is this - divide it. If I were given the opportunity to name another thing that politics has done to the body of Christ, it would be this - alienate people.

As is the case with the rest of you, the country that we live in has been littered with propaganda for the past several months encouraging us to vote for one candidate or the other. Our 2 main choices being John McCain and Barack Obama. Two very different candidates with 2 very different sets of ideas on how to fix America.

This election has drawn me to Christ, to community, and to the Bible more than any other time I have voted (which is not that many times). My walk with Christ over the past 2 years has drawn me to a place where I am always asking the question, as cliche' as it might sound, "what would Jesus do in this situation?" I believe that Jesus was and is the ultimate example of how we should be conducting our lives while we are here on earth. You can argue relevanct of the times, translation of the Bible, or the context of his actions and words, but all that aside, Jesus is our example of true Christian living.

In the old testament, God set up the first King of Israel in the book of 1 Samuel. Israel had a desire to have a king to rule over them, because this was the trend among the other nations. so Samuel asks God if he should appoint a King, and God answers him with 3 points.

1 - the reason that the people want a king is because they rejected God and no longer wanted God to reign over them.

2 - Listen to what the people want, but warn them about what appointing a king will look like.

3 - Here are the things to know up front about what the king will be like. He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

So Samuel told this to all the people, but they persisted in their want for a king, so God gave Samuel permission to appoint a king.

If you know the story of the Israelites, you know that from this point on in their history is quite the downward spiral. A few books later in the Bible, a prophet named Jeremiah is looking over the city and here is what he writes.

How deserted lies the city,
once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.

Bitterly she weeps at night,
tears are upon her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
there is none to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.

After affliction and harsh labor,
Judah has gone into exile.
She dwells among the nations;
she finds no resting place.
All who pursue her have overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.

The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to her appointed feasts.
All her gateways are desolate,
her priests groan,
her maidens grieve,
and she is in bitter anguish.

So as you can see, things under the rule of a king haven't really worked out like they planned.

If you move to the new testament, Jesus comes along - God only son - the Messiah - our perfect example of how to live here on earth, and he sets up his rule. Isaiah the prophet talked about the coming of Jesus in the old testament, and he said that "the government would be upon His shoulders." Meaning that Jesus would be the ultimate ruler and even the highest of government would have no power over Him.

And one of the first things that Jesus does after he calls his disciples in the book of Matthew is to lay out one of the most incredible, and some believe the most important, instruction to his disciples. It goes something like this.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


These are Jesus commands on how we should live, and on who we should be.

Later in Matthew some of the first and only questions about government are brought up to Jesus. He is asked about paying the temple tax, and commands Peter to go and catch a fish and take the money out of its mouth to pay the temple tax. No big deal.

He is later asked if, as Jewish people, they should have to pay taxes to Caesar, and he pretty much haphazardly answers them by saying "Give to Caesar was is Caesars and give to God what is Gods." and then Jesus goes on his way. He never goes into detail, never tells a parable, or mentions it again. The next mention of such things is in Romans and the government is described as "God's servants."

When Jesus stands before Pilate to be sentenced to death, he gives his final thoughts on government before he dies in this exchange found in the book of John.

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"

"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."

"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him

Jesus plainly explains the lack of authority that the govenment has on spiritual things.


This blog has gotten crazy long, so I will go ahead and end it with my thoughts, and I'll tell you how I voted.

There is no time in Jesus life that he ever puts any stock in the government. If the Kingdom of God could be advanced by government, Jesus would have used those means, but He didn't. We never see any record if Him caring even in the slightest about any government rulers. Jesus lived in one of the most oppressive and gruesome governments that the world has ever seen. The Romans Empire ruled with an iron hand and was full of corruption and sin. Why would God choose to put Jesus in this place at this time. I think it is to show that the Kingdom of God will advance reguardless of who is in charge, because ultimatly all we need to worry about is our answer to God when we die. We are blessed when we are persecuted, we are blessed when peoplesay all kinds of things about us. We feed Jesus when we feed the least of these. We are blessed when we are poor in spirit and meek.

Jesus' desire is for us to be focused on things that are worth being focused on. We are to store up our trasures in heaven, and have our minds focused on things of His kingdom, not this world.

So who did I vote for this year? I didn't vote, because I want to make a statement that the way I live my life, the way I seek Christ, and the way that I seek to advance the kingdom has nothing to do with who is in the oval office. Gods kingdom will advance, and the church needs to be unified and needs to love one another as Christ loves us. This world will know us by one thing. Not our vote, not how much money we make, not party affiliation, and not even what country we live in or how much freedom we have. This world will know us by our love, so don't let this election divide. If you're brother voted for McCain and you don't agree, join arms with him and win souls for Christ. If your sister voted for Obama, and you don't agree, join arms with her and go serve the least of these. If your mother or father voted opposite your views, lift your hands together and worship. If you are oppsed to the war, or if you support the war, remember that the war we fight is not against flesh and blood. And as the world continues to unravel before our eyes reguardless of who is leading this country, remember that we are getting cloer to glory, and people need to know about Jesus and his saving grace.

Just to warn you, there is not a religious or sappy lesson to be learned from this blog, so don't come looking for one. This is just a quick little note about the fun that I had this morning. I have to stay late at my job tonight to get ready for our halloween alternative called Nerd Prom. So I had a little extra time at home this morning. Logan got up early, so we went downstairs, had coffee (and of course rice cereal), and then after some playing and throwing little toys around the room (which he can now do) he crashed back out. So I was thinking, maybe I can take some time while they are both sleeping and get ready for work....not so. Grace woke up almost immediately, and we went down stairs and got some food for her. Of course,the last time that we had snow, she was only a year old and was unable to really appreciate it. So I couldn't help myself, and I got her all bundled up in her snow suit, and once my mom got there to watch Logan, Grace and I headed out to the 2 inches of snow that covered Streetsboro this morning. We rolled around in the snow, Grace smiled her wonderful smile, and then we built a snowman. It was an aweosme time together in the first snow of the year!

It is an awesome thing to know people who really excel at their art. Some of us might know someone who is a good painter, or a person who is a really good actor or singer. We might know someone who played football at the college level or baseball in the minor leagues, but it is rare to know people whoa re really great at what they do.

I met Nathan Migal about 4 years ago when we worked together for about 6 months at my church. Nate has since gone on to realize his dream of being a professional photographer. Nate isn't one of those guys who is pretty good at taking pictures, Nate is one of the best, and you can ask anyone who has ever worked with him and they will tell you the same.

Our first experience was hiring Nate for our wedding. We did this long before he had a business, a website, or even really good equipment. He was just getting going, and we were on a tight budget, so we asked Nate to do our wedding. Every photographer is going to capture the things that they need to capture...the kiss.....the walk down the isle....the ring.....the first dance....etc. But Nate captured moments in our wedding that happened within seconds, and the pictures that he took have captured those looks and laughes for us to have forever.

So of course, we started telling everyone that we know about him, and he got a few more weddings, then he staretd really pushing his business, and he's blowing up big time. I call him now and then and he's in Baltimore or in Florida doing a shoot. Not too shabby.

Nathan also did a shoot with my band, Ward 9, and the shots that he got are incredible. You can see them on his blog.

But the reason for this blog, is that a few weeks ago, Nathan came to our home and did pictures of our children. He made a link to them last night, and I was floored.....again, he just gets better and better. So I wanted to take this opportunity for all of you who read my blog, to introduce you to Imagen Photography. You can find out all about him and his team at http://www.imagenphotos.com. You can see samples of their work, and most importantly link to his blog where you can keep up to date on everything that is going on with their company. I have posted a few pictures here just to give you a taste. I hope you are okay with that Nate. He now is also providing family shoots at your home and is working with families to create their holiday greetings, so ask about that too.

Last weekend I went and visited my brother, his wife, and my new niece Leah. He and his wife are both youth pastors at a church in a really cool little town in Michigan called Williamston. It actually reminds me a lot of our hometown of Rome Ohio.

I was driving home from work today, and I happen to be playing against my brother today in our fantasy football league. Of course there was a smack talk phone call, and several text messages daunting the other, but it got me to thinking about the relationship that my brother and I have. I think that compared to a lot of people I know, we have something pretty cool. My brother and I genuinly love one another, and on top of that, we like each other. I once heard a commedian say that there are a lot of people that we have to love that we don't like. I'm lucky enough to have a brother that I both love and like.

We grew up in different stages. When I was in middle school, he was in elementary, and was much too cool for my little brother. Once I got into high school, and was interested in him again, he was in middle school, and was way too cool for me. We had one year of high school together, when I was a senior and he was a freshman. We started to bond a little bit in that time, but I really think it was once I went off to college that Micah and I really became friends. I worried about choices he was making in high school, regreted some of the examples I had set for him, but most of all we really were finally on the same playing field...we were both growing up.

Some of my favorite times are when we are able to spend time together, whether it be at Holidays or on a visit...I think I probably laugh harder with my brother than with anyone else, and that is saying a lot, because I do a lot of laughing.

For a long time I was uncertain of my brothers faith, and honestly that scared me a lot. I think it was actually his wife, when they started dating, that reintroduced him to his faith, and helped him grow. I'll always be thankful to her for that. Now, I'm in a place where I've not only been able to see him become and good husband, but also to see how my he loves his little girl, and what a great dad he is.

Linda and I often talk about how blessed we are to have the family that we do, and for them to get along the way that they do. Unlike many a horrible sitcom, I love my mother-in-law. She is so stinking fun I can't stand it, and Linda loves my mom as well. How often does that ever happen. My dad and I have a great relationship that keeps us on the golf course, watching the big game, and hanging out together often. My parents are a couple of my best freinds these days. They live pretty close, and there is never a time when I don't look forward to them visiting.

Its pretty rare to look forward to seeing everyone at the holidays. Usually, in families I have engaged with, there is the one member of the family that nobody likes, or that one argument that has yet to be resolved. Do we have our issues, sure. But when it's all said and done, my family is pretty special, and I'm so thankful that my wife gets the opportunity to do life with them, and that I have the opportunity to do life with mny wifes family. And I'm even more thankful that my kids will get to see such beautiful and strong love in action as they grow up.

A few days ago a co-worker and myself were talking about the pace that our wives keep....FAST! He mentioned that even when they take a walk together, she is moving at the speed of sound. Our constant chant as husbands is "please slow down."

Over the past months my walks along the sidewalk of our little community with my 18 month old daughter have been somewhat therapeutic for me. When Grace walks down the sidewalk, she doesn't have a goal in mind. She's just excited to be out walking with Dad. She takes her time. She will stop and watch cars go by, and wave to people that she doesn't even know. Yesterday she stopped for probably 5 or 6 minutes and just watched a cat walk around in a yard. One of my favorite things that she will do is stop and smell the flowers that are in flowerbeds at the end of people's driveways. Now and again, she'll find a crack that warrants jumping over, and she'll jump back and forth over it. People will drive by and smile at her. I love to watch people drive by because she makes them smile....if only for those few seconds. She loves to stop and examine the halloween decorations at the house at the end of the street.

Yesterday we spent about a half hour searching for the mysterious little pods that have suddenly appeared in our front flower bed. Of course, pine cones never meant much to me, but to Grace they are a new discovery....something special....and she found so much joy in finding a new one as she searched through the mulch.

I remember a moment a while back when I realized the mistake I was making. I was always pushing Grace to "come on" or "lets go." There was always a goal for me.....to get the walk done, and get home. That makes sense right?

Grace has shown me how to literally stop and smell the roses. In those 40 or so minutes in my walk with Grace, I am able to slow down, and see a little piece of true joy, and true excitement at Gods creation. She helps me to stroll instead of walk. She points out all the things I have taken for granted for so long. Grace....as impatient as she is at 18 months, is teaching me patience, and I'm thankful.

One of my favorite songs by Shane and Shane is called "Beauty for Ashes." The lyrics from this song comes from Isaiah 61, which is an awesome passage, but my recent reading in Jeremiah has drawn me back to the truth of this song.

Jeremiah 2:32 says this "Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number."

This passage started to make me thing about what it is that makes us beautiful. What is it that gives us worth? God compares himself to a young woman's jewelry or the wedding ornaments of a bride....things that set them apart, and add luster to what might be plain without the ornaments.

More and more I look around at the world (when the Lord blesses me with those slim opportunities to step outside of my selfishness and see the world just slighty through His eyes) and I see how much stock people put into making themselves look good. I do it myself with the phone I carry, the clothes I wear, even the way that I form my facial expressions. I....we....are constantly trying to draw peoples attention to ourselves and gain approval, when the truth of the matter is that I am grossly sinful and the only thing good in me at all is Jesus. He is my ornament, He is my jewelry, and the one thing that sets me apart, and makes my plainness something special.

Unfortunatly I think that as a church, we have followed where our flesh would lead in many of these areas. Please don't get me wrong. I am not a church-basher. Nothing makes me more angry then people who continuously write about what a joke the church is. I passionatly love the church, but I love it like a friend that needs to hear truth from me at times, and I impart that truth because I love them.

The church has entered into an arms race (to coin a Bryan Karas term) with the culture that we simply cannot ever win. To be plain about it, the world will always have more money, more inovation, and more people who care only about furthering their own fame to carry out their new ideas. You all know what I mean. I don't have to spell out all the detaila about how churches have taken the cross out of the building to make people more comfortable, or put of giant screens like a football stadium, or time their worship services to laser light shows. We have all read the articles and seen the news.

The question I would like to pose both to Christians and to the church, is what makes us beautiful? Do we really understand that all we have to bring to the table is ashes, and that Christ is the only one who can trade those ashes for His beauty? This is a call to trade. Trade the ashes that come in the form of money, houses, cars, clothes, accessories, facial expressions, food, lights, couches, cool flyers, music, movies, and anything else that you think makes you special or that makes your church special, and trade them for the true beauty of Jesus Christ living in us.

Beauty for ashes, and a garment of praise for my heaviness. Take this heart of stone and make it Yours. I delight myself in the richest of fare, trading all that I have, for all that is better.
-Shane and Shane

There is a great song by Derek Webb called "tshirts." The idea of the song is that there are things that we do in our workplaces, homes, churches, and lives that speak much louder than our words do. I just got finished having a talk with our pastor about this very thing, and the song came to mind. Here are the lyrics.

They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
At anyone who's sin looks worse than our, who cannot hide the scars
of this curse that we all bear.

And they'll know us by our picket lines and signs.
They'll know us by the pride we hide behind
Like anyone in living right, isn't that why Jesus died
Not to make us think we're right.

When love, love, love is what we should be known for.
Love, love, love, it's the how and it's the why
We live and breathe and we die.

They'll know us by the reasons we divide
And how we can't seem to unify
Because we've gotta sing songs a certain style, or we'll walk right down that aisle
And leave 'em all behind

They'll know us by the billboards that we make
Just turning God's words to cheap cliche's
Says, "what part of murder don't you understand, bu we hate our fellow man
And point a finger at his grave

When love, love, love is what we should be known for.
Love, love, love, it's the how and it's the why
We live and breathe and we die.


What are the things in our life, family, church, and workplace that we are doing that cause people to not be able to look past our lives to even get a glimpse of Christ?

Okay, so I am going to go ahead and review a couple albums. There, I warned you, so if you continue to read, you read at your own risk!!

I got two new albums yesterday. The first one happens to be the new Caedmons Call album, Overdressed. I used to be a huge Caedmons Call fan and have all their old music. A couple of yeasrs ago, however, they lost one of their best members in Derek Webb, and really never did a whole lot worth my ear or money after that point. Derek did go out on his own and with the aid of his wife, Sandra McCracken (incredible singer/songwriter) put out several albums that just got better and better as they came. While Derek was enjoying success and actually making music that challenged people, there was Caedmons Call, out on a limb, writing snoozer music with 1,4, and 5 chords. Well, they finally got wise, and not only asked Derek to come and help on their latest album, but they also asked his wife to come and help as well. GOOD IDEA, I thought. Well, I listened through the album last night in my car, and oddly enough, I was not very impressed. There were about 4 songs that I really enjoyed, and guess what, 3 of those 4 were written by Derek and Sandra. Go figure!! Anyway, you can go buy the album if you like, but I would suggest spending $4 on itunes for the 4 good tracks on the album
1.Trouble
6.Share the Blame
10.All accross the western world
4.Expectations

Review #2....you know what...this one is so important, I am going to put it in a seperate post so people don't miss it.