I know following God is supposed to be full of faith, but I think I experience as much fear as I do great moments of faith. I know that I should be better and a great pillar of faith (as a pastor, for many, it’s the expectation), but I am a Christ follower just like so many of you. I have moments of faith, followed my moments of fear, followed by fear or faith…

The great thing is that the Bible is full of people who have the same struggle. I relate more to Abraham and understand his journey when I am trying to follow God in something he has called me to. You see Abraham having moments of great faith, followed by moments in which he trying to take things into his own hands, followed by another moment of faith, followed by another failure. Through all of it, you see God’s constant presence with a man who is doing his best to be faithful to what God has called him to.

What I am learning more and more is that when you are actively living out what God has called you to, the Scriptures make more sense. It’s easy to be critical of people who are trying to live by faith, when we aren’t living by faith. When we are walking in a life of faith, we understand their struggle and can find comfort that God met them in that as well. I am constantly learning that God wants me to struggle with diligence in times of faith and fear. It's in the struggle that I will be faithful to His calling in my life and have to trust that He will actually show up and meet me there.

20 days into the New Year and here we are. Is the year becoming what I want it to be? I’m amazed how quickly all my New Year resolutions change back to the old habits. Even the things that are changing seem to be holding on by a string. Most of us have this problem, don’t we? We all want to change but we don’t. Paul, one of the main authors of the New Testament, understood. He said, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” Isn’t that what we all say this time of year? Now the question for all of us is, “Do we give up or do we hang in there?” What if we just took one step today toward the dreams we had 20 days ago? The momentum it creates in our lives may shock us and ultimately be the one simple step that creates change. Let’s take a step.

"To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind."
 Jerome Drayton

I am off to Washington D.C. this weekend to run the Marine Corp Marathon. In reality, it’s more about surviving then running. At the pace I move, the majority of people in the race will be in front of me. My marathon is more like a jogging/walking tour of DC.

This is my second marathon. The last marathon was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I almost died at least three times (joking), and the last 8 miles were absolutely brutal. I hope that isn’t the story for this one. Hopefully, I beat my 4:54 marathon in Charlotte.

This week the most common question I got asked is, “Are you excited about the marathon?” The answer, “Not really.” So I asked the question, why in the world do I do this? The crazy thing is that’s an easy question to answer, “Because I love what it does for me.”

You see I have always struggled with my weight (since about 9^th grade) so I know what it means not to be able to run and play with your kids (or friends). I know what it feels like to be the one who is always referred to as “big guy.” Running marathons is something that gives me freedom from the constant struggle of my weight. I don’t know why, it just seems to motivate me to watch what I eat and exercise, which are two important things for weight management.

Now what happens after the marathon, you never know. I wish I could say, “Of course I will not gain any weight back.” But we all know that is foolish talk. Life is full of struggles. The crazy thing is one of my life struggles will be sitting there waiting for me on Monday.

This weekend, however, it’s a celebration of the accomplishment of making it to the starting line lighter than I have been in 20 years. Next week is a celebration of crossing the finish line.

How to Discover Your Core Values and Why it Matters

I had the privilege of teaching Luke 14 a few weeks ago and I can’t get the passage out of my head. The passage starts with a man who has a disease and he gets invited to a party with Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees are bringing him in as a prop in order to set up Jesus to heal on the Sabbath (which they don’t like). Jesus is happy to heal the guy and basically says, “wouldn’t you do the same?”(Knowing their answer is actually no.)

What stuck out to me more than anything is how the whole story of this dinner ends Basically, Jesus tells the people at the party that heaven is going to be full of people who are lame, broken, and sick; not the perfect people like the ones sitting with him at dinner. What strikes me is that we are called to be the ones who are “poor in spirit,” we are called to be the broken ones.

Until we understand that we are the broken and lame, we will never have a pure passion to help the poor, not just the poor financially but also the poor spiritually. God has a great passion for all of us to experience the fullness of life and He will do everything He can to help as many people as He can experience this abundant life. Our calling is to have the same passion as God and to be constantly reaching out to people and helping them experience God.

The final thing that strikes me about Luke 14 is that the one person who should not have been at the party was the one who actually got to experience a new life. The sick man, the man who was brought as a prop, is the only person at the party who leaves having been restored to new life. This is a great picture for us to understand. When we realize we should not be there (on our own accord) and despite that God restores us and gives us a new life, we will realize out of deep satisfaction that God want us all to help the poor of all kinds.

What if the Church became a place that was concerned for the poor? What if we were a place that was passionate about helping the needy, the sick, and the lame? What would happen if the church was a safe haven for people to have a life changing experience with God? What if the Church would decide to actually make a difference in the many social issues of the day? I wonder if then the Church would have the same reputation as Jesus.