Trust Me I'm The Doctor

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Life has been cray. Thank God Scaremare is over and it was successful, the election has ended, and Levi has been born healthy! So, it's time to get back to blogging.

In the past few months the Lord has been teaching me a lot about trust. There have been times in my life where things have been bananas, but since I've been married nothing has compared to this season.

It all hit us at the same time. There were moments where I wasn't sure if the baby Allie had carried was going to live. Our finances, despite me working more, got tighter. Through all that I had to try and keep my school grades afloat. You've been there (maybe you are there), and you know what I'm talking about.

iOS 6 Maps: Trading Substance for Shiny

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I have an iPad, a Macbook, and I'm thinking about buying an iPhone. I really enjoy Apple products. But, I know this may be hard for you to all understand, Apple isn't perfect. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I'm crazy. What kind of lunatic would say something like that?

My case in point, who remembers Antennagate? When people held their iPhones in a pretty normal way their reception would face-plant. CNN ranked Antennagate as the top tech fail of 2010.

Well, there is a new controversy bubbling up in the soap opera that is the tech industry. Apple recently threw all Google's built in apps out of the proverbial window, and proceeded to kick Google out of the house of iOS. There is no more Youtube app on your iPhone, and worst of all there is no more Google Maps app in iOS 6.

A Call To Action For The Kinetic Festival

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First, I want to say thank you to everyone who has already sacrificially given to the Kinetic Festival.

Second, I'm going to be straight up with you. Kinetic Festival is in a tough spot financially. Originally we had a $10,000 goal. That was our dream amount. We didn't know if we could hit it by September 9th, but we were going to try. So far we've received $694 of our $10,000 goal. That's way below our need amount. And that hurt a little bit.

But, we're giving it one more try! Read the letter that Pastor Trey and I wrote in our effort to better express the vision for the Kinetic Festival.

If you're looking for a regular blog, I plan on having one up tomorrow. God bless!

A Jimmie Rustled Is A Jimmie Saved

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Recently a meme phrase was brought to my attention. I usually know these things, but this one slipped by. Do you want to know the phrase? I'll give it to you in it true meme form... a picture:

It derives from a 1950s phrase that means something has upset you

Well, that phrase has been going around in the circles where I hang. We joke and laugh about it all the time. It was in good fun until...

How To Be The Best Failure You Can Be

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This week has been full of bombs. I don't mean the kind that explode. I'm talking about Facebook and Battleship.

All over the web I'm seeing articles on what a disaster the Facebook IPO was. It lost something like 30% of it's value over the last few days. That's kind of a big deal. I mean, seriously, Mark Zuckerberg is only richer than the entire Gross Domestic Product of Jamaica. Poor lil' guy.

Also this week Paramount and Hasbro put a bet down on Battleship. Yeah, the movie based after the, wait for it, board game. The first time I heard about Battleship I knew it was going to be a stinker. Even the awesome shnoz of Liam Neeson couldn't save it.

Did Facebook set out to tumble downward in its first few days on the NASDAQ? No, of course not. Did Paramount and all those involved with Battleship set out to make a terrible movie? Maybe... Just kidding, of course they didn't! In both cases the goal was success.

Many times in life we have great dreams and big visions. You think it's the best idea and can't figure out why no one has thought of it before. Maybe you had a dream to be an entrepreneur and your business tanked. Or your dream was to be to be a brain surgeon, but you flunked out of med school. Those kind of failures are not only disheartening, they can also shake our faith in God.

Here are a few words of encouragement for you today. Just because you fail it doesn't mean that you aren't made for greatness. Some of the greatest people in history were serial failures.

• Lincoln
• Gates
• Isaac Newton
• Henry Ford
• Jobs
• Edison
• Beethoven

And that's just a few of them. They became great because they never gave up.

Use your failures as learning experiments. Never make the same mistake twice. Move on, do better, and grow. The truth is, as long as you're on God's side you're never a failure.

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Romans 8:31

We may lose battles. We may fail here and there, but if we're on God's side He is at ours. Ultimately will win the war.

A person’s steps are directed by the Lord, and the Lord delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be thrown down headfirst because the Lord holds on to his hand. Psalm 37:23-24

The best place to be is in God's will. If you're there and your dream is failing remember that life is full of growing moments. This is one of them and God is preparing you for something awesome. As long as you're following God you're not a failure. Don't give up!

Where's Waldo, Geo Caching, and Lost and Found

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Almost every week Oceanside provides me with Monday as a day off. It's a family day where we can recover from the weekend's ruckus and relax. The funny thing about having kids is relaxation rarely comes by sitting around. A day inside leads to parents driven to insanity. So we try to bring the kids to a park, Chuck E. Cheese's, or something fun outside the house. This week we went geocaching!

You may wonder what geocaching is. Here is a video that will explain it better than I can.

Allie has acutely trained eyes (It must be all those years of playing Where's Waldo). She can spot almost anything. While walking down an oak shaded path on the edge of Daniel Island Allie honed in on a small black book bag under some thorns and fallen branches leaning up against a young oak. She screamed, "Ivey, I found the geocache!" I sauntered over disbelieving she could have found it that quickly. I was right, she hadn't found the geocache, but she had found a bag belonging to a woman named Amy.

We eventually found the geocache under a walking bridge. It was filled with old Burger King toys and halves of discarded Family Circle Cup tennis balls. Searching for the geocache was the fun part, but the real find of the day was that little black backpack.

When we got home I quickly examined the contents of the bag. I found a check book, a wallet filled with everything except a phone number, a biography, and a spiral bound college rule notebook. I was glad the box hadn't fallen into the wrong hands. Because I didn't find a phone number I went to Google for help. I entered the name on the license into the search bar and within minutes I had her phone number. By 8:15 PM that night she had her six month lost bag in her hands. She told me she had given up hope. She gave us a small gift to say thanks, but the most rewarding thing was seeing the joy on her face when she got her bag back.

iPad Is Crushed, But I'm Still Alive

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This is my sad face

Sunday I preached about Greed. It was a sermon that had a real impact on my life, and I felt like the Lord wanted me to share it. So... I did. In it I gave the illustration below about my iPad.



It was a Sunday afternoon like any other. I was over at my dad's house (Pastor Trey) getting ready to indulge in an excellent meal prepared by my mother. I was asked by someone if they could use my iPad. At the risk of seeming like I preach one thing and do another, I said, "Sure." Everyone had fun playing around with it, but the time came for me to go home. I collected my children, iPad, and random other items. After much coxing we walked out the front door.

It had been a weird day. Maggie seemed to be a bit emotionally unstable, Quentin was about to fall asleep on my shoulder, and my arms were full of stuff. When putting Quentin into his carseat I must have set my iPad on top of my car. I never realized it. We drove off.

Once home I was going to do my normal iPadding, but I couldn't find it anywhere. PANIC! I realized at that moment that I had left it somewhere, but I didn't know where. I called over to my parents house to see if it was there. They searched to no avail. HORROR! Immediately I bolted downstairs, jumped in my car, and with all vigor sped off Daniel Island. My eyes were searching for any sign of my ten inch ipad.

Finally I saw it. It was laying in the middle of the road where Hungryneck Blvd. and the Isle of Palms Connector cross. To the frustration of all the drivers behind me I stopped in the middle of the road. Flayling my arms with wild gesticulation I stopped traffic hoping to save my iPad. As I picked it up, still standing in the middle of the road, I prayed a fervent, but incomplete prayer, "Oh, dear Lord..." Then I thought, "Maybe, maybe, maybe... Oh no." The screen looked as if a small bomb had exploded inside the iPad. I was devastated.

At that moment I remembered these verses from Matthew 6:19-21 (And I'm not telling a preacher story, I actually thought about these verses. I mean, I hope I would have... I just preached on them that day.) Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Moments after picking it up off the road

iPads are great, but they're just earthly treasures. That was a costly and difficult reminder for me. Don't base your life on any thing. Stuff is going to break... that's what stuff does. In everything we do we must base our lives on the Kingdom of God not our own. When God's done with His iPad he can throw it off a car. I trust Him. I also think it was a test to see how I would react. I sure hope I passed.

Keep this in mind this week. Stop building your kingdom and start building up God's kingdom. You never worry about the stuff you give away, you only worry about the stuff you keep. Let's start a movement to give it all away to God.

Finally, the iPad does turn on. I'm going to see if it can be fixed... I would like to get it back and be able to again use it to God's glory. Seriously.

Do you have any crazy stories of losing a valuable item?

UPDATE 2/2/12: I brought my iPad to L2 technologies here in Mt. Pleasant. They told me the iPad would cost about $500 to repair. So, basically it's totaled. That's a bummer.

Christianity is For Those Willing to Die

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Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and his son

Do you have what it takes? How far are you willing to go? Are you willing to act in a way that people are going to think you're out of your mind? I've heard it said that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. I understand what people are getting at when they say that, but I think many people who hear that misunderstand. Being in God's will is not safe for the temporary. It is only safe for the eternal.

There is a man in Iran who is scheduled to be executed at any time. Today he will be asked for the third time to deny his faith. He won't do it. And because of that Iran will be able to execute him. The execution may happen today. If I told you he was a, "Christian terrorist" you may understand his execution. But he's not. The only crime Yousef Nadarkhani is guilty of is changing his faith from Islam to Christianity. Please pray for Rev. Yousef, his family, and the congregation to whom he is pastor.

Is Pastor Yousef in God's will? Yes. Then why is he being executed? Because being in God's will is not safe in this life. Asking Jesus to be the leader and forgiver of your life only gives you safety in eternity.

Please write a letter to the Iranian embassy here and plead with them to not execute Pastor Yousef.

In Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were set to be thrown into a blazing furnace. But before they were thrown in they looked the king in the eye and said these words,

If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn't, it wouldn't make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn't serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up."

In other words, we trust our God and no matter if we aren't saved from the furnace He is still God. Standing in the middle of God's will can be a dangerous place. But it is the perfect place to be. You will never be more complete than when you are exactly where God wants you.

Our new series Sun Stand Still has been invaluable to me. The only other study that has impacted how I view finding and following the will of God would be a study called Experiencing God. I encourage you to read Sun Stand Still, digest it, and act on it. Following God isn't always safe, but it's good. Are you willing to give it all? Buy the Book Here

7.5 Steps to Starting a New Ministry in Your Church

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If there is one thing I've found over my few years as a fulltime pastor it's that there are a lot of people who want to start up their own ministry. Everyone has their passions and knows the ministry they wish their church had. So I'm going to give you a few suggestions to starting up a new ministry in a church. Be aware this list may not be comprehensive and is more or less a general guideline to getting one started.

STEP 1: Find a church that fits you. Not every church is for everyone. And most of that comes down to worship style preference. I also encourage you to do research into the church and make sure they are Bible believing and that your beliefs match up with theirs. It would be a terrible thing to start up a ministry and find out you can't stay at a church because of their beliefs. So be sure this is a church you are willing to stay at for years. And just a note- if that church's vision and mission matches up with what God has called you to, but their music isn't your preference... just put up with it and listen to your favorite style in the car on the way to church. Matching up with beliefs, vision, and mission is far more important than the style of music a church plays.

STEP 2: Join that church! Some people call it becoming an owner, and others call it being a member. Whatever it is called let the people know you have a serious commitment to that church and their vision.

STEP 3: Get involved in a ministry. You need to find a place to serve. And I encourage you to serve in that ministry for at least a year before even considering starting up a new ministry. Serving helps you with a couple of things. 1) You'll get to know other ministers in the church. 2) It will orient you to a church's mission and vision. You'll be able to see more clearly what the church's goals are and who they are trying to reach. It would be a bad idea to start up a ministry without knowing those things.

STEP 4: Look where God is at work in your church. Ask these types of questions:

• What type of person is being reached by my church? If your church is reaching a lot of singles and young marrieds, but has no seniors, you probably don't want to start up a monthly breakfast for the elderly (unless of course you see a need where there are seniors who don't have an outlet, then you would have a great ministry opportunity.)
• Does this ministry fit in with the strategy of my Church?
• What are the church's strengths and how can I use those to help me?

STEP 4.5: Talk With Your Pastor about the ministry... You'll have a lot more respect from him if you're an actively serving and consistently attending member that he knows he can trust. And with his blessing and support move on to step 5.


STEP 5: Partner with people and get them excited about your dream. Tell people where you want the ministry to go, who you want it to reach, and how they can be a part of it. People want to know where you're going. They don't want to jump on a ship that has no destination. People will invest time and money into a vision not a fancily named ministry.

STEP 6: Raise your funding. Ministry takes money. Some churches may have the financial means to support whatever ministry you feel God telling you to start, but even so, raising your own funding will help you and your team members take ownership of the ministry. Once the church sees your dedication and success they'll be more willing to throw a few dollars your way. Again, when trying to raise money, be sure to get people invested in the vision of the ministry. You can tell them all day long how much money you need, but connecting those dollars to actual people will get the money flowing.

STEP 7: Pick a start date, advertise, and kick it off!!! You will have worked hard to get here, but you should know the hard work is just beginning, but so are the great rewards. Make sure you are celebrating God's victory in people's lives. If someone becomes a follower of Christ tell people how God is using the ministry! Give God the glory.

A few closing points-

• Your ministry will not be the savior of any church, big or small. Jesus saved the church. Your ministry is a tool that God can use.
• Your ministry has the potential to make a real difference when you start thinking about other people's needs.
• Don't start a ministry that you wish your church had. Start the ministry your church needs.
• Ministry is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared for a very rough road of non-attendance and half-heartedness in the beginning, but fight through it! It takes time to grow a great ministry. Having a strong vision for your ministry will help get people's hearts into it and get people to attend and/or support it.

Find Out Why I'm So Happy I Got a $300 ticket! :-D

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Getting Ready to Leave for New York

Sorry I didn't blog last week. I was on a little thing I like to call vacation. I vacated to the metropolis of New York City. What an amazing city with incredible wonders. Time square, Freedom Tower, Toys R Us, and the Statue of Liberty are only some of the amazing sites I was able to see. All those things were great, but I was treated to the real New York experience. I had my car towed.

Me in front of Freedom Tower Which is on the WTC site

I can read. In fact you may say I'm quite good at reading. So when a sign says, "No Parking" I read it and know not to park there. But when a sign says, "No Standing" I figure it means not to stand there. HA! Was I wrong.

That is exactly what the sign said...

What I found was No Standing is actually a more severe warning than No Parking. It basically means that no body, car, or thing can be standing still in this area at anytime or it will be towed and ticketed. I parked my car in a No Standing zone at 10:45 PM and it was towed by 12:15 AM, barely an hour later. It was an expensive lesson that cost me an entire day of my vacation and $300. I'll never park in a No Standing zone EVER again. And I'll never forget the experience.

I was reminded in all this that even in the most annoying situations I should stay joyful. James explains it to us this way, Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.


This is another Biblical paradox. We are supposed to be happy when times are most sad. We rejoice in the trials of life not because it's fun, but because God is making us into the people He wants us to be. After we face a trial, if we react to it the right way by counting it all joy, we are closer to that final product that God wants us to be.

So what difficulty are you going through right now (If you're not going through anything yet, hang on, it's coming)? Stare it down and tell it that it's not going to get the best of you. Because you understand this challenge is only making you stronger and more like Christ. What an amazing thing it is when we can take the terrible events of our life, as minor or major as they might be, and put it in the joy column because we know God has it under control.

In Closing:
Halloween Scare House: As Halloween jets towards us we are working hard at getting our scary house together. We need help, your help. We need people to help build sets, props, sue costumes, and paint makeup. There will be another interest meeting this Sunday morning after church.

Oceanside Saturday Night: We have a mission at Oceanside to reach every man, woman, and child in our 2 mile radius. So in order to reach a new demographic we're going to start a Saturday night service. It will be very similar to the Sunday morning service except more technology driven (Twitter, Four-Square, Facebook, and so much more). We think it will appeal to a those who have challenging schedules, like to sleep, single, young & married, or all the above. Beta Service September 17th 8PM.

How Tiny Tower Changed My Life

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Floors 10-23 of my Tiny Tower

Addiction is a problem, and I'm an addict. It's not the normal culprits like drugs, alcohol, or smoking. I'm addicted to a little game called Tiny Tower. You can play Tiny Tower on a number of Apple devices, but if you have an addictive personality you might want to stay away.

It's not much different from a multitude of other simulation games like The Sims, Simcity, Farmville, Fishville, Cityville, Villville (Ok, I made that last one up... I think). In Tiny Tower you are the owner of a sky scraper. This is your tower. Your tower starts off humbly with a lobby and an apartment place. You collect rent from people who move into your apartment. That rent is used to build up your tower with stores like a laundromat (Exciting), a comedy club where you serve up LOLs, and a coffee house. There isn't an end to the game. The tower could stretch as high as a thousand stories if you kept playing. All this sounds really compelling doesn't it? Yeah, I didn't think so either until I started playing.

Say hello to a Bitizen

The tower is inhabited by "Bitizens" who are tiny pixilated people. Each bitizen has a dream job, strengths, and weaknesses. You, as the tower manager place these people in jobs all over your tower. By far the most enjoyable part of the game is placing one of the bitizens in their dream job. When they are placed in their dream job their happy meter reads, and I quote, ":-D". Which makes me happy that they are happy.

This bitizen is happy!

This got me thinking about how God has a big plan for us. He has given us desires, talents, and dreams. He placed those in us before we were even born! In Jeremiah 1:5 God says, "Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you..."  He gave us those dreams to glorify Him.

We all have a choice: How will we use what He has given us? It's our selfish desires verses His heavenly desires. When we act selfishly our life will never be fulfilling, death will be scary, and happiness will be out of reach.

God gets joy out of placing us in the jobs where we excel. He wants nothing but the best for everything He owns. Isaiah 43:1 tells us that we are owned by God. "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine." Sometimes life gets tough, but we have to look forward to our future lives in Heaven. There may be temporary suffering, but as James says, this life is just a, "Vapor." (James 4:14)

We should be encouraged in two ways, 1) suffering is temporary and 2) we have to get moving because life is short. It's essential that we grab on to God's plan today! Remember that you are at Oceanside for a reason. God has made you a vital part of this church. Will you choose to get to work where God is moving. God doesn't want you in a job that you hate. He wants you exactly where you fit best.

A closer view

In encourage you to look at your spiritual gifts and your God-given talents. See where God wants you to be. There is a perfect place for you. Now, I have to get back to my tower. The Video Rental Store needs to restock New Arrivals.

I Wander What To Do... (This week it is a play on words)

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The family and I went on an epic journey this past Sunday after church. I'm a bit of an explorer at heart, and I saw a bridge. It wasn't just any bridge, but a bridge to nowhere. This was a big bridge the kind that  could be driven over. When I looked it up on Google it led to a little island that was completely uninhabited. The explorer in me wanted to see what was on this small island and why there was a bridge leading to it.

The "Bridge to Nowhere"

So we packed some water, grabbed the stroller, and commenced the journey in ninety degree weather. Along the way we made some stops and a few wrong turns. What I had told Allie was going to be a one and a half mile trip turned into a five mile trek. Two hours in and we had not made it to the elusive bridge to nowhere. We could see it but we couldn't figure out how to get there. Creeks and miles still separated us. Quentin was getting grumpy, Maggie was getting loopy, and Allie was losing the italian explorer within. We decided to turn back and try again another day. Hopefully a little more experienced and a lot more prepared.

While walking miles in that heat I could not help but think of the Israelites wandering in the desert for forty years! I was losing hope after only two hours. I never lost faith in God in those two hours, but I was able to glimpse how quickly you could. You start to feel like you're never going to make it to the promised land.

We had the choice to turn around and head home, but imagine being Moses and having to convince the people that wandering the desert was God's plan. It's difficult for me to comprehend following for only one year, but can you imagine forty years of wandering?! It took a huge amount of faith for Moses to continue. Hebrews 11 pummels us with the words "By faith Moses..." I encourage you to head over to Hebrews and read the whole chapter on faith. It will encourage you that our God is faithful.

Lego Moses... I thought that was really cool.

My walk illustrated two things to me. 1) I have far too little faith. Moses' faith was beyond what I'll probably ever achieve. 2) I'm not thankful enough for what God has provided. We look down on those Israelites as they complained and questioned, but I guarantee most of us would join them.

Let's learn to be thankful for what we have. Let's learn to trust God in the tough times, and not forget Him on the good days. Let's learn to, by faith, follow God even if it's into the fire. Let's back up what we say by actually living it out.

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