I know that my postings have been missing for several months, and for that I apologize. I'm not going to make a lot of promises, but I do intend to resume writing at some point. In the meantime, you can keep up with what I'm doing by following me on twitter at www.twitter.com/marklunsford. Thanks for your patience!
Before I moved to Texas, I believed that all people who lived in Texas were obnoxious. There is no other state in the country whose flag is the primary decoration in most people's homes. I just could never figure it out. When I lived in Tennessee, a lot of the people I worked with had ties to Dallas, and that sealed it for me. I mean, I was from Florida, the best state in the union, but you didn't hear me whooping and hollering about how great it was. Well, I'm not sure what has happened to me, but I really do like it here. In fact, for my first year anniversary I even bought a shirt that says, "Everything's better in Texas"! I'm wearing it like a proud, obnoxious Texan. I'm still not sure why everyone thinks it's so great, but I'm not fighting it any longer...so count me a proud member of the obnoxious Texan club!
My daughters are growing up too fast. It's hard to believe that my girls are almost out of elementary school. I recently set them up with email addresses, and so now I get cute emails and instant messages from them throughout the day. It's amazing and a little scary to see them developing their personalities and independence. One thing that I'm enjoying observing is their growing relationship with God. I see them using the principles they have been taught at home and church in their interactions with their friends. One of my daughters is especially inquistive about how God works, and has been reading "The battlefied of the mind (for kids)" by Joyce Meyer. This is a really good book for her, as she has wrestled with fear and is learning how to ask God for strength and courage when she needs it. The other night as Anne and I were tucking her in, she asked a great question. She asked "How do I hear God's voice?" At first I wasn't sure if she was asking this deep, unsimple question to prolong our visit to her room, or if she really was curious. It became clear that she really wanted to know as she got out the book and began reading a passage that talked about hearing God. I savored the opportunity to share with her about my own journey, and talk about how I recognize His voice in my life. I am so glad that she is asking these questions and wants to not only learn about God, but to understand what it means to have a real relationship with Him.
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
When we only see with our natural eyes, we lose sight of God's power. He is with us no matter what it looks like on the outside.
3. If you feel like God has spoken to you, make sure that it doesn't contradict something God has already said in His word.- For instance, I told my daughter that since the bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7 that God has not given us a spirit of fear, she can be confident that any thought that causes her to be afraid is not from God. Since He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we must make sure that we don't attribute something to God that doesn't line up with scripture.
3. Finally, hear what God says and do it!- When God speaks, take action. James 1:22 says, "Don't just listen to God's word, you must do what it says, otherwise you are only fooling yourselves."
Open up the eyes of your heart today and hear what God speaks to you!
Okay, boycotts can't last forever right? This weekend I ended my ipod boycott by buying an iphone. Something of an early birthday present for me. I've been very vocal over the years in my support of the subscription model for music and have begged and pleaded with Apple to offer subscriptions as an option. (You can read more about it here and here.) I actually struggled with the decision for a while. I've been using a Samsung Blackjack for the last year, and I have been extremely happy with the phone. It offers everything needed in a smartphone-email, web access, and oh yeah...makes calls too. But I saw iphone owners doing all kinds of cool stuff with their phones, like playing games, using location based gps, watching movies, and I wanted my phone to do that too. So...I created some great rationalization for my purchase. :) My decision to purchase the iphone was made based on all of the things it offered in spite of the fact that it was also an ipod. In fact, I'm still using Rhapsody (although I'm switching to Napster because I like the interface better) for music so that I can download whatever I want, whenever I want for one set price per month. I just wish that I could use one device for everything. My trusty Dell DJ will still serve as my primary music player...for now. Maybe one day Apple will hear me and offer subscriptions as an option. But until then, I'll just keep playing tap tap revenge, cowabunga, labryinth, and all the other time wasting applications that are now available to me on the iphone!
As most of you know, I serve as Executive Pastor at Hope Fellowship in Frisco, Texas. I've been here over a year now, and I can tell you that I've never been more excited about the direction of our church and the potential we have for making an impact in our community. A lot of people ask me, "so what is it that you actually do?" I pretty much do whatever is needed. But more specifically, I work alongside our lead pastor, John McKinzie, in developing the vision and strategy for the future. On a daily basis, I oversee all the finance and business management, lead our life group ministry and weekend ministry teams (ushers, greeters, parkers, connect, and coffee). Since some of the readers of this blog are also involved in ministry, I thought I'd share some of the tools that we have implemented recently that have been a tremendous help in our ministry.
I heard Donald Miller for the first time about three years ago at the Catalyst Conference. I was really impressed with his conversational style of speaking, and his ability to break subjects down to their core. After hearing him that first time, I read his book, Blue Like Jazz. That book really made me reconsider some of my core beliefs about what it means to be a Christ follower. It was a really good stretch for me. I still have a very different outlook than he does on a number of issues, but I appreciate the perspective that he brings.
Last week at the Echo conference, I had an opportunity to hear him speak again. He talked about how he has been studying writing for movies and television, and that his study of developing a story has changed his perspective on life. When he looked at his own life, he realized that his story wouldn't make a compelling movie. He talked about how the bible is full of compelling stories, and that all great stories have some common elements. The first element is a character; a character who wants something and is willing to overcome conflict to get it. He then talked about the fact that we are all characters in our own stories that are yet to be written.
There are some characteristics of a character that will cause us to cheer for him or boo him. One is that the character is not what he thinks or feels, but what he does. He gave an example from the latest Rocky movie, where Rocky starts off by befriending a single mom, rescuing a dog, and basically showing that he is a good human being. In a good story, the hero can't think more of himself than others, if he does he will cease to be the hero. In a good story, the hero always wants something. But it's not very satisfying unless what he or she wants is impressive. For instance, a movie about a guy who wants a new car wouldn't be that great. In fact, the best stories are the ones where the hero wants something, and if he doesn't get it, people will die. In our own life story, we should ask the question...what are we living for and what will happen if we don't get it?
Once the hero's motives are clear, and we know what he is going after, that's when the conflict usually begins. The moment when conflict gets so bad that the character thinks they're not going to make it, that's when the story is just starting to get good. As Christians, we have implied for a long time that if you are living for Christ, your life will be happy and carefree. But the truth is, that doesn't really line up with the stories of the bible. As I look back on my own life, I realize that the times that I have changed for the better have come through pain. When we go through periods where it seems like we're not going to make it, we need to remember that our story is just starting to get good. Maybe the pain or conflict in our own stories is just paving the way for us to achieve what we're striving for. In the bible, James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." As we write the stories of our lives, we need to understand that pain and conflict will come. But if we keep in mind what we are trying to accomplish, and trust God to be the source of our strength, then God will use our lives to create a powerful story that will speak of His character.
Have you ever had the feeling that no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to get caught up? Lately I've been feeling that way. Like a greyhound chasing a fake rabbit around a circle. Well, that's the best excuse I can come up with for not posting in a month. I've been nudged by the only two people who read this blog to get with it, so here's what's been going on in my life recently.
Back on July 31, two significant things happened. My parents celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary (Yay!!!) and my daughter Samantha got her tonsils out (boo!!!). My parents are still together so I think the anniversary went well. The surgery went well too, and Samantha was a real trooper. When we got home that afternoon, Anne started to get a fever. I checked her temperature and it was almost 102! The next day, she went to the doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia! Sami's recovery went well, but she was in a lot of pain. Her doctor told us that he doesn't know why some kids experience pain and others don't, but that it happens. Anne's recovery has been slow. It has taken a long time to get her energy back and is still suffering through coughing fits. She is beginning to feel better, but still isn't 100%.
We got another bit of unexpected news when we learned that my mom (who had a double mastectomy last year) had a small lump removed and it was shown to have cancer. We were really unprepared to hear this. As a family, we have been so glad that my mom's recovery has gone so well. Even though it's been a long process, she has been feeling better and looking forward to living cancer free. We weren't sure what this was going to mean. Was she going to have more treatments and start all over again? A PET scan was scheduled to see if there was any more cancer in her body. When the results came back there was good news, NO CANCER! We were very relieved and were so glad to hear the news. We don't know if she will have to do any preventative treatments or not, but at least we know that she is cancer free! Thank God!
One more bit of craziness to add...the girls had to go to the dentist on Monday. The dentist came out and told Anne that Samantha (poor girl) needed to have EIGHT teeth pulled! For some reason, they were not coming out on their own and her permanent teeth didn't have room to come in. But the dentist said that he couldn't do that many at once. We figured if we didn't do them all at once, we may not get her back to the dentist to get the others out. :) He said he would see how it goes and how she was feeling. After he took the first four out, he gave her the option to come back later, or get the others out. She told him to go ahead and take them out, so he did. The dentist had never taken out that many teeth at once on a child before. Samantha came through it with no problems and didn't really have any pain either. I think she was glad to get it over with!
That's a little bit of what the last month has been like, and I didn't even mention what has been going on at the church (which has continued to grow and do well). Maybe I'll give an update on that later.
Just remember...even if you don't hear from me every day, we're still friends!
