I have found that when I criticize others, it always comes back to bite me, generally with me doing the same thing I criticized others about. I guess this is just one way God keeps us humble, and teaches us not to judge a fellow servant. After all, to our own master we stand or fall (Rom 14:4).

I have so many examples of my criticism coming back to bite me, but let me just share one. Last year at this time, I remember talking with a fellow student at Dallas Theological Seminary who was graduating. He was two weeks away from graduation, and when I asked him what he would be doing after graduation, he said he didn’t know.

I remember thinking, “How could you not know? You’ve known graduation was coming! Why weren’t you looking for a job!? How can you allow your wife and kids to live with such uncertainty? Why didn’t you try harder to make simple life decision about a career?” I remember going home and telling my wife about this silly seminary student who was two weeks away from graduation and had no clue what he would be doing afterwards.

Well….now I am in the same boat. I’ve been frantically looking, applying, and praying for a job for well over a year (I started looking even before I had talked with that student). I can’t count the number of applications I have filled out and the number of places I have sent my resume in to. And so far…nothing. I am ten days away from graduation, and have no idea what I will be doing afterwards. My current job (which follows the school year) ends on May 9. I graduate on May 10. I will preach on Sunday, May 11. I have no job as of May 12. I remember that when I came to seminary, I thought it would open a lot more doors for me. Well it has, but so far, all of them have also slammed shut in my face.

I’m sure I could get a job “flipping burgers” but those sorts of jobs won’t provide enough to even pay off my school loan.

It’s a scary place to be, but also a great place, because I am learning to not depend on my degree or my education, but solely on God. He is growing my faith. If/when I get a job, He’ll get all the glory.

I’ll keep you informed!

I just got back from the Exposed Church Planting conference put on by Square1 Church Planting. It was incredible! I cannot say enough good about it. It was unlike any conference I have ever been to before. I met a group of the most incredible church planters ever, and really got to know several of them. I hope we can maintain contact with them.

There will probably be another Square1 conference next October, so begin to think about attending now.

I wish I could say more, but I’m soooo tired right now. Some of what I learned and am thinking will come out on future blog posts.

Yesterday I mentioned that for the final round of the blogging tournament at PlantingSpace.com, I wrote two articles and then submitted the one that I thought was best. That’s not actually true.

I only wrote one, which is the one you find below. I showed it to my wife for her input. She liked it, made some suggestions, and then said that it didn’t sound quite right. It seemed too…aggressive. Too bloody. So she and I talked about a few other ideas. She came up with an idea I thought was so good, I invited her to write it. So she did. That is the post I submitted yesterday. So, if I “win,” it is actually my wife, Wendy, who wrote the “winning” post. But hey, since we’re married, the two have become one, right?

Anyway, here is what I was going to submit until she came up with something better. If you still want to go vote for me (Wendy, actually), you can do so here.

When Jesus says He will build His church (Matt 16:18), He also implies where He will build it. He says that as He builds His church, the “gates of Hell will not overcome it.” Since gates are defensive, apparently Jesus and His church are camped right outside.

Jesus has Hell under siege!

And church planters are the ones who are advancing the kingdom. They look around their communities, find the most hellish places, and armed with weapons of grace, kindness, compassion, mercy, faith, hope, and love, hurl themselves headlong at the gates. With full abandon, in blinding bloodlust and with cries of holy rage, they swing fiercely with their swords, cry out desperately for aid, risking all, …just so that one more might be saved. And one more. And one more.

Now is not the time for fatigue. Now is not the time for rest. Now is not the time to pursue happiness. We must swing, and swing again, until our biceps burn and our breath comes in ragged gasps. And if our sword breaks and we are left with nothing but our bloody fists, we must continue swinging.

Those gates must come down. Those people must be freed.

There’s the trumpet call! “Forward! Forward!” is the cry.

And when the battle is done, and the gates of Hell have fallen, Jesus, the Victorious King, will rise above the cheering throng, and with tears in His eyes, raise His sword in salute, and shout for all to hear, “Well done, My Mighty Men of Valor! Together, we have built My church.”

I made it to the final round of the blogging tournament over at PlantingSpace.com. Thank you voting for me in the previous rounds. I also want to thank Mark Doebler who has also made it to the final round. His posts have been excellent. He pastors The Grove in Peoria, IL, so if you are near his church, go check him out.

In this final round, we were supposed to encourage church planters to keep planting churches. Just like last week, I came up with two possible submissions, and then submitted the one that I thought was best. I will give you the other one tomorrow. I chose this one for a very special reason, which I will also share with you tomorrow. (I hope it doesn’t disqualify me!) If you want to vote for Mark or me, you can do so here.

Faces. We see them everywhere and every day. Some faces are recognizable and incite feelings of love, passion, tenderness, and happiness. Other faces give rise to feelings of anger, wrath, jealousy, or fear. It’s these faces that must push us forward, these faces that must motivate us to reach out with the love of Jesus.

You know the faces you need to reach. We all have them in our lives. They are the faces of God’s children, many of whom are far away from Him. Others don’t even know His name except in a curse. A handful of these faces knew God once, but no longer believe He cares about them any more. Still others feel that God couldn’t possibly love them after what they’ve done.

They are the faces of divorce, lust, abortion, drugs, abuse, violence, death, heartache, heartbreak, loneliness, fatigue, rejection, and pride.

They are the faces of your grocery clerk, your mailman, your boss, your neighbor, the homeless person you’ve walked by for years on your way to work, the pregnant teen whom you believe is just reaping what she’s sown, the bitter widow, the ex-con.

The list goes on and on, and it includes you and me.

Yet somehow, we think we don’t belong on this list. We know the truth. We are different.

But if that is so, it’s only because someone in your life answered God’s call to reach out to you, and help you out of the muck you were dwelling in.

God is calling again for people to go out and be His hands in the world; hands of love, grace, kindness, friendship, and truth.

Are you going to see the faces in your life for what they are, or for who they can be? It’s your move.

I wish I could be at Exponential this week. Instead, I’m going to Exposed, which I am actually a bit more excited about. Why? For three reasons. First, Exposed is more “grassroots” which fits me better. Second, since it’s smaller, It will be more intimate and relational. There will only be about 30 of us, so I’m hoping to make some life-long church-planting friends. This would be nearly impossible at Exponential. Finally, Exposed is closer to me, and therefore, cheaper, which also allows my wife to come. Yay!

Of course, as the title of this post indicates, I’m also feeling a bit exposed right now. I’m changing, in a lot of ways, and it’s somewhat scary and embarrassing, while at the same time exciting and exhilarating. One thing is for sure, I’m closer to Jesus than I’ve ever been before.

Anyway, I was reading Scott Hodge’s blog today, and he is going to Exponential, and he attended a pre-conference session in which the following questions were asked:

    What is the Missio Dei?

    What is the Gospel?

    What is the message of Jesus?

    What makes a church a church?

    What is evangelism?

    How does it happen?

    What is the relationship between Christ and culture?

    Does activity guarantee maturity?

    What can numbers tell us?  What can’t they tell us?   

    What does it mean to lead?

    What does it mean to go?

    What does it mean to gather?

    What does it mean to be faithful?

    What is hope?

As I read this list, it hit me that nearly all my answers to these questions have changed over the past 12-18 months. It really startled me. I thought about doing a blog post on each question to explain what I used to believe 2+ years ago, and contrast it with what I believe now, and why I think I am experiencing the changes that I am, but probably nobody would be interested in this but me. So I won’t bore you.

Instead, you might want to ask yourself the questions above, why you answer them the way you do, and how those answers lead you to live your life. My changes and current views on these questions are causing me to be more concerned about following Jesus, making disciples, caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, loosing the captives, living on less, loving others, and making friends with people on the fringes than ever before.

Where do your answers to those questions lead you?