08.23.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:24 pm by Administrator
PEOPLE I LIKE TO READ
First, is Bob East, who inspired me to start this blog. He is the creator of Team Loft
His blogs are
Movin On , A Lofter’s Life, Scribbles , and finally Java Talk
Patrick Oden is the writer of a great book called “It’s a Dance: Moving with the Holy Spirit”.
I also enjoy his blog Dual Ravens.
Andy Nixon is my pastor at The Loft, which is a ministry of The Woodlands United Methodist Church.
I enjoy his blog to. Andy’s Blog.
Bard Letsinger was my former small groups pastor. He is a pastor at Parkway Baptist Church in Victoria, TX.
His blog, The Ride, is a good read as well.
Terence Hagens is a crazy cat. He’s the young adults pastor at The Loft, which is a ministry of The Woodlands United Methodist Church..
His blog, Terence’s Blog
GROUPS I LIKE TO SUPPORT
The Walk to Emmaus is a wonderful 3 day retreat that is consists of a short course on Christianity and experiences that assist those on the retreat to experience God in their lives.
My local Emmaus community is Houston North Emmaus Community.
Pregnancy Assistance Center North is a church supported assistance center for pregnant women and other womens’ services.
The Source for Women is another pregnancy assistance ministry I support.
Permalink
08.16.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:05 pm by Administrator
Left of Self Center was a group of words that I felt God press into my heart. I didn’t grow up in church in particular save for the once or twice a year pilgrimage to celebrate Easter or Christmas. I did go to twelve years of parochial to escape the local public schools however but that was a strange experience for a person who had been baptized as a Protestant but lived in a Catholic world. God intrigued me but in some ways I was a stranger in a strange land who was able to participate fully.
I came to true faith and relationship with God when I took the leadership of a small group that was meant to build up Christian families. What I saw was people being cast out and judged even though these were the people who needed to hear what was being said the most. I saw the hypocritical side of Christianity, the one I lived in my own life, face to face. It was not a pleasing sight to me. I stood up to these people saying that Jesus came for the sinner, not for the religious and that these people were being modern day Pharisees. Yet I was a Pharisee of the highest order myself in practice. Disillusioned I left the church.
Soon after, my life fell apart. I found myself in the proverbial pit, crushed by the pressure of the depths like Jonah experienced in Jonah 2. God found me there and he saved me. I began to realize that it wasn’t about the ritual, it was about the relationship. I wish I could say I got it right from there but God has had to continuously work on me, taking away the masks with which I hit myself with and breaking off the rough edges. I have had to learn many lessons that I now realize that many people struggle with: authority, rebelliousness, submission, self-centered versus God-centered life, the nature of relationship, humility, love, and many more.
Though I have always considered myself a Christian, I have only been a true Christian for 4 years. This blog is my attempt to share the lessons I have learned as I come to embrace my relationship with my God through Christ. I do not hold to any particular denomination stance as I believe that most of them have their strengths and weaknesses. I joke that I am a mutt Christian. Despite this you may see evidences of my past experiences in the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Pentacostal, Methodist, Prebyterian, Lutheran, and Non-Denominational style churches. I do embrace a missional stance especially in terms of building relationships with my fellow believer and I do agree with many of the ideas found in the Emergent Church movement as long as it doesn’t devolve into a Christianity Light mentality.
I am married and have 3 children and live in the Houston metropolitan area. Enjoy
Permalink
