The messy deep end

My wife and I were recently discussing following Jesus. She commented that many want to follow Him as long as it's either safe, easy, or most importantly - predictable. "Give me the life, God, that lacks unpredictability - one that I can control." We secretly want this...even when we don't realize we want it. Losing control the of the outcome is scary...it's the deep end of the Christian faith.

I sometimes feel like I'm approaching the spiritual deep end...the place whereby my life could become much less controllable or predictable. Lindsey and I are contemplating a couple of rather radical outside-the-box things to do. We are excited, humbled, and even at times scared. These are not things that people would do who are hoping to live life in the shallow end of the pool.

But I think that true miracles and radical kingdom impact happen in the deep end. Who knows what could happen down there?

May more Christians swim with Jesus over to the deep end of the pool.

Preseason College Football Rankings

Here are the official college football rankings for the top 10 going into the preseason, according to this official website.
1) Oklahoma
2) Stanford
3) Wisconsin
4) Georgia
5) FSU
6) Boise State
7) Oregon
8) Nebraska
9) TCU
10) Virginia Tech

Now all y'all Georgia fans can get excited! Top 5 ranking!

No retirement...

The magazine put out by Voice of the Martyrs has been really encouraging to my faith. When I read about those in countries like Algeria, India, and Pakistan that are facing challenges to sharing the Gospel, it really blesses my heart.

I was thinking about May's issue concerning the church in Algeria. These courageous Christians are continuing to be exceedinly bold in their witness. They are leaving it out on the line every single day.

These sisters and brothers don't have time to worry about 401(K)s and pension plans. Financial security isn't on their radar, and I believe that's because they don't think they'll make it that long. They expect to die in the line of duty following Jesus, at least that was one of my takeaways from reading the article.

Heaven truly is their great reward; may it be mine also.

Miracle Baby

I met what I believe to be a miracle baby this past weekend at our church. The mother's water broke at 20 weeks and for fourteen weeks, the baby remained in the womb without any amniotic fluid. Doctors said that this child would probably not have use of arms or legs and probably only live 1-2 days outside the womb if at all. They said she would probably have severe brain retardation.

Mom and Dad continued to pray and to go in for ultrasounds, with the ultrasounds amazing the doctors. "Your baby looks to be moving its arms!" they would say, and then they would add "and we don't understand why, given that we see no sign of amniotic fluid." The baby girl also moved her legs in the womb several times as well.

At 34 weeks, mom delivered Tamea into the world. At the time, Tamea weighed 3 lbs, 7 ounces. Doctors said she would need to be in the neo-natal ICU for 6-8 weeks. She was in the hospital less than 10 days.

She was named Tamea for a special reason - it means "Palm Tree". Mom explained to me that "palm trees don't need a lot of water, and our miracle baby didn't need much water in the womb!"

Tamea is very interactive now. I touched her vibrantly moving arm and felt the touch of God. She's up to eight pounds (!)...still not gaining weight quite like the doctors would like, but they are hoping that she'll be off the ventilator soon also.

I praise God for the miracle that I saw at church on Sunday. Make God continue to form this little one in a way that mystifies doctors and brings glory to His Name. Praise God!

Reflections on HBO's The Pacific

As I wept my way through The Pacific, I found myself falling closer and closer to the Cross. I wept tears for John Basilone and his heroic death at Iwo Jima. I cried tears for Eugene Sledge and his return home to Alabama, which reminded me of Frodo's return to the Shire.

And all the while, I became ever more thankful for My Jesus and His Death on the Cross. I'm so thankful for this cinematic moments that provided a poor reflection of the ultimate sacrifice that Christ made on my behalf.

Thank you, John Basilone, Leckie, and Eugene. And thank you, Jesus. I hope I get to see all of you someday soon.

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while

In the last 3 months, I have:
- gotten married
- gotten connected to a new church
- had the house re-plumbed (new inflow and outflow piping; big job)

and lots of other things. It's been wild.

I'm trying to read the Bible through in a year. I'm about 14 days behind on the daily reading schedule, but at least I'm all the way to Joshua already. About to start Judges.

Work has been somewhat of a zoo recently.

OL is launching this month!

I know that many of you are burdened for the trafficking of humans for sexual exploitation. It's become more and more apparent throughout the world that slavery is still alive, and sadly, it's still growing.

Almost two years ago, the small organization for which I am involved had a dream to get involved with the liberating of women and children from sex slavery. But could we really make a difference? Weren't a lot of groups already doing this?

We discovered that many groups are raising awareness of the present reality that is sex slavery and exploitation, but that there were only a couple of organizations seeking to actually liberate women and children from slavery, and that none of them were operating in Latin America! In great faith, we decided to launch a mission to free women and children from slavery.

God has brought several wonderful team members on board - men with both legal and investigative experience. The goal of what we are doing is to empower and work with local law enforcement in the country we've selected to do the following:
1) To ensure that appropriate legislation is in place to protect victims and prosecute the traffickers. If no such legislation exists, to be a part of lobbying for and drafting strong laws in this area.
2) To investigate potential areas where humans have been enslaved, and once sufficient evidence has been uncovered that humans are being exploited,
3) To conduct raids alongside local law enforcement whereby the women and children are rescued and placed into safe aftercare facilities, while the criminals are justly prosecuted.

We are excited to announce that God has raised up enough money and resources to do our 1st mission! We are going to Latin America for 2 months where we hope to do all 3 of the items above. A small team comprised of men with investigative and legal experience will be going there to liberate women and children. Let's pray that we have great results!

Please pray for our team as they are down there, and please also pray about getting involved in our work. For example, we are in the process of applying for some government grants. Did you know that when we apply for a grant, that they sometimes ask for a list of donors that have contributed? Did you know that by simply giving $5 a month, that you are helping us secure grants by making our donor list longer? I'm serious - I wish every one of my facebook friends would simply make a $5/month donation to Operation Liberate. If we had 300 more people on our donor list, our chances of security grants greater than $10,000 (!) would be greatly enhanced. Please consider giving $5-$20 (or more!) to this cause.

Thanks and God Bless!