the waiting game...

So, i feel like every month of this year God has given me some reminder or lesson in waiting. Waiting is something that everyone experiences in life but the real challenge is your attitude and response in the waiting. This waiting season for me has been one of the hardest in my life. Its a weird feeling to finally know your calling of middle school ministry, be in the city that you are called to be, and have to wait to start. I'm thankful for this season of building partners and being able to let God truly shape his vision in me and let my character grow more, but its still super hard.
In the past few days, I was reminded again about the waiting seasons of life and today I read a blog from my old pastor that was perfectly fitting. I thought I would share it with you all:

I read a quote some time ago from a man named Lou Smeads.  He says, “Waiting is our destiny.  A creature who cannot, by themselves, bring about something.  We wait in darkness for a flame we cannot light; we wait in fear for a happy ending we cannot write; we wait for a ‘not yet’ that feels like a ‘not ever’.  Waiting is the hardest work of hope; waiting is the land between where things were and where things will be; and you don’t get to choose when you get to a waiting room, but you certainly get to choose how you will respond to waiting.”   No one really likes to wait, but waiting is very much a part of the rhythm of life.  It’s part of the journey of faith.  What should we do, and how should we respond, when we find ourselves in a waiting room?  How do we navigate in the season of waiting?     I want to give you four things that God put on my heart because I think the natural thing while waiting is to complain.  It’s hard to be content in a season of waiting, but God wants us to be content with where we are.  I know it’s really easy to say “just trust God for today”, but it’s a much harder thing to actually live out.  It’s hard because we want the whole story, but  God is always more about the journey than the destination.  There is an acronym for W.A.I.T. that I think will help us navigate the waiting room.   W = WORSHIP Complaining is normal and natural, but worship is supernatural and not normal in terms of waiting.  Hebrews 12:28 says this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful…” Worship is a posturing of surrender and humility.  When I worship, it’s me saying, “God, You’re God and I’m not.  You’re in control and I’m not.”  What is it for you right now?  What’s the thing you are waiting for?  Is it for restoration in your marriage?  Is it financial breakthrough?  Are you waiting for a child to come home?  I think we quit far too soon and we miss the blessing that God has.  If you quit in the middle of the waiting room, then the waiting room defines you.  Worship is the place our strength comes from when we’re waiting on God.   A = ASK We need to be people that will ask.  All through the Bible we’re told to ask God if we want something.  The Bible says in James, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:2)  We need to become a people that are not afraid to ask God.  While you’re waiting, tell Him what you want, tell Him what you need.  He loves to give us the desires of our heart.  Then James goes on to say, “When you do ask and you don’t receive, it’s because you ask with the wrong motives!” (v.3)  Our motives must line up with the character of God.  It’s not about demanding God to show up and do what we want, or using God like a genie in a bottle.  Jesus said, “Take this cup from me, but not My will but Yours be done.” (Mark 14:36)  Our posture should always be one of humility, trusting Him to be God.   I = INVITE Invite God into the story.  I think so often when we’re in the waiting room, we find ourselves either in this awkward place where we want to be alone and we think we can handle it, or we’re embarrassed to share.   In Revelation it talks about this Church at Laodicea, and Jesus speaks saying…”Here I am, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me;”(Revelation 3:2)  That is a statement of intimacy!  Jesus is saying, “Hey!  Here I am!”  He doesn’t break the door down.  He doesn’t use a master key; He wants us to invite Him into our story.   This church in Laodicea had discovered an eye salve that put them at the center of affluence, but they were also the ones that God called “lukewarm”.  God is looking into their lives, knocking on the door saying, “I want to be a part of your situation.  I know you guys are really busy and you look like you’ve got it all together, but I would love to have intimacy with you.”  Invite God into the story.  Let’s not be so busy thinking we can figure it out.  He already knows the end of the story we are waiting on.   T = TRUST Trust God.  When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, He gave them guardrails for life from all His wisdom and knowledge.  But just days later they’re forgetting God and they want to go back to bondage.  In just a few days, they are getting impatient and they want to go back to Egypt and be slaves.  Their faith – their trust –so quickly faded, but when you’re in the waiting room trusting God is the currency of the journey.  Too often we take matters in to our own hands and do what we think is right.  Trust God, do the next one right thing you know to do as defined by God’s word, and allow Him to speak into your situation.  Don’t be in a hurry.  God is not in a hurry.  God was more about forming the Israelites’ character in the desert, than He was about getting them to the Promised Land.

I would loved to have known someone in the last few months who could have dropped five million bucks in the offering, so we could just roll in and buy the K-mart building.  But God is not in a hurry – God is in the trust business.   The challenge for all of us is the tendency to trust our own hearts above God.  But the Bible says in Proverbs 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord, with all of your heart and don’t lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways, submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” The Hebrew term for “make your paths straight” is better translated “He will bless your lifestyle”.  He will bless your life.  If you will trust Him financially, if you’ll trust Him relationally, He will bless your life.   You don’t choose the waiting room, but you do choose how you respond while you’re there.   I don’t know for sure right now, but I choose to trust God as we wait for this building to become ours.  God has got this.  It seems Living Hope has been in a season of waiting for almost 2 years.  My faith has never been more stretched, but at the same time, in waiting, I have found God stronger in my life than ever.  Not because my prayer has been answered, but because my heart has been transformed along the way.   What is the event in your life right now that has you in a waiting room?  What is the one thing that you’re in right now that you want to be out of?  Don’t quit yet.  Don’t leave the waiting room.  Maybe this is the thing God will use to transform your life. See you all this weekend, Pastor John

Face in the Crowd- Superman inspired

"Lois Lane: There are three million people living in Metropolis. They are background players in your life, keeping your "set" alive with noise and bodies and smells and traffic and yells. If one day, one of the regulars simply wasn't there, you probably wouldn't notice. Who would? There are three million people living in Metropolis, and YOU are a background player in THEIR lives. If one day, you simply weren't there...Who could notice?
As the emergency personnel and squad cars descended on Pier Three that bitter afternoon, the same question bounced from radio to radio. "What is Superman doing here?" Why had the Man of Steel taken time to recover the body of a fifty-year-old Costa Rican Newspaper Man who had never been anywhere or done anything important? 
Because not a single one of us is background noise. Because when one of us disappears...someone should notice. Every person is star. A life. A heart. A voice. And when a voice is silenced in the darkness...another must rise to see that justice is done."
~Action Comics #792


I love Superman. Most of you already are aware of this but just in case you didn't, I love Superman. I was reading this and loved it so much. I always grew up in pretty small towns. I could walk anywhere and it was pretty much a guarantee that I would bump into someone I know. Since I've been in L.A., it's crazy to me how lost in the crowd and busyness you can get. Within the day you can cross paths with thousands of people yet still feel completely alone. I love that even though I am just a random background person... I'm not. 
There is value in my life. Although Lois Lane talks about Superman placing value on each life he saves, Jesus gives me that value. 
Thats my goal as I begin working with the youth down here. I want to speak value into people lives, inspire them, tell them that each one of them is a star, a life, a heart, a voice, they don't have to feel lonely. That's what Jesus can do for them. I love that this is what I get to do. I love encouraging people. And I love that Lois Lane gets it. hahaha


Anyways, just wanted to share.
Happy Friday everyone!!!!

The Church Body

Many of you guys are aware of Morning Star Valley, the church I am a part of here in L.A. but not a few of you may not know about Living Hope Church. Living Hope was a church that I was a part of back in WA. God has been doing some crazy things and really has impacted thousands of lives through this church. Although, I haven't been a part of it for a couple of years now, my heart will still always be in the Washington Oregon area. Well recently, Living Hope moved into an abandoned Kmart building located in one of the worst areas of Vancouver. I believe it has one of the highest homeless and crime rates in town. I truly believe God is going to use them to make a greater impact in the area. I wanted to attach a link for a 40 day challenge they are doing. They are still in need of money and are hoping that people can partner with them in support. I know many of you are prayer and financial partners with me but I just wanted to share this with you, if any of you would be willing to pray for Living Hope and be a unified Body of Christ and support each other. Also, to pass this along to other people you may know.
Love you all and I love seeing everyone come together to support a greater need.
http://fortyfirstday.com/

Great Week

This week started off with an amazing day at the beach. Our church had our annual Labor Day picnic at Zuma Beach over in Malibu and we had about 11 people get baptized in the ocean.
It was fun hanging out with my church family and just relaxing.
This week has also been crazy in the car hunting department. I got pretty close to buying a car Wednesday night, but it ended up not working out. I know God has that perfect car out there. Hopefully I find it sooner than later.
Well tonight we are starting a new series at our ONE student service called Engage. It will be focused on discipleship and what a disciple truly is. Im pretty excited to start this series.

Here I go Again...

So after several suggestions of a blog, I have decided to officially start blogging again. I can't promise the frequency of these blogs but it will be more frequent than my monthly newsletters. I figured this will also be a great way for you to get more updates on me personally as well as updates on everything going on here in L.A. or wherever I might be.

These past couple of months have been interesting ones. Its been a season of waiting and truly choosing to hold onto God. I don't know if you have ever experience a season like this but in my life I have always been in stormy seasons or awesome seasons but never in this flat season. God has definitely been teaching me a lot. I spent a while struggling with feeling like a failure and focusing on things I should have been doing. It wasn't fun. haha. Anyways, in FL a speaker said something that spoke so deeply to me I have been sharing it with everyone. He talked about how the 3 things American's want to hear the most are: I forgive you, I love you, and Dinner is ready. Then, he said how that is pretty much the gospel. Jesus forgives us, loves us, and just wants to eat with us and have a relationship with us. He doesn't care about mistakes we have done. I LOVE THAT!

Then I started to really think about failure. Its viewed as such a negative thing. Really, it's not the failure thats bad, it's the way we respond from it. If you know me you know that Jesus speaks to me through Disney references 95% of the time. He reminded me of the movie Meet the Robinsons. He uses this movie a lot with me. haha. Basically, in the movie, Lewis gives himself a hard time for his failures but is reminded by everyone to keep moving forward. The line that I was reminded of was from aunt Billie. I don't remember the exact words but she said "from failure you learn from success no so much."
I just wanted to encourage everyone by letting you all know that we are all bound to make mistakes, but try not to get so caught up on them. Keep Moving Forward!

Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. - Walt Disney