Community

This seems to be the key word for me right now. Our men's Bible study meets on Monday mornings and we are going through the incredible book of Galatians. However, on this past Monday morning we met we ended up discussing in general. It was neat to hear a lot of different hearts and views on where we all are in general. One of the main things I took away from this morning was the community we all need and desire. We are all walking on this walk and as we try to walk more like Jesus, I firmly believe God brings our brothers and sisters in to our life to strengthen us, challenge us, hurt with us, and basically live life with us. Jesus did not live life alone, as He surrounded Himself with brothers that would walk and learn and be there for Him. This is what the Lord has blessed me with - brothers that our living life with me. I am so very thankful for all of my brothers (you know who you are!). This is what church is for me! I desire to continue to grow this to include families as I know there are many families out there that are not having this community. Whether this means not going to church together or not even being involved in church. This is community and I know we all need it! I look forward to where the Lord is growing us as I know it is going to be amazing! Talk to you soon.

Merry Christmas

Good afternoon! I probably will not post tomorrow or on Christmas, so I wanted to go ahead and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I pray it is a blessed family time for everyone. I am so excited. I love Christmas! I cannot wait to watch the boys on Christmas morning.
I know this time of year is very difficult for a lot of people. I pray that all of you remember how much Jesus loves us and as I posted a few days back we are the reason for the season. He loved us enough to become His creation and die for everyone - those that love Him and serve Him and also those that reject and hate Him. Please remember that love and count on Him to provide His peace, love, and mercy. May each and everyone of you remember His love and have a blessed Christmas because of Jesus and for no other reason.

Its the Little Things

Last night we lost power for around 2 1/2 hours. So the family is sitting in the living room eating PB&J's by candlelight. The boys after dinner were banging cars and playing with flashlights. Will, my 7 year old, shined the light and said "follow the light to Jesus". Now I know a couple of posts ago I wrote about shadows, but what a lesson this was. Here it was dark and windy and rainy. We are safe in the house - cozy (my 3 year olds favorite word). At first I was kind of upset. No power means no college basketball. Then as I watched the boys and heard what Will said it became a great evening. Will knew the light is Jesus. He has prayed to accept Jesus as his Savior and I got the incredible privilege to baptize him on Father's Day this past year. It is neat to hear the faith of a child and the lessons they teach us. Stay in the light and follow the light! Easy to talk about, but we know how tough it is to practice.

Also I did get to watch the second half of the Pitt- dook game and dook got beat! So the night ended on a great note!

One more quick thing. I love egg nog so this time of the year I usually have some Barber's Egg Nog in the fridge. Now I have passed this love on to the boys. What I love is when Brooks wants it - "I want some noggin please". Cracks me up. He loves the noggin.

Happy Birthday!

Today is someone's birthday that is an extremely important person in my life. He is a mentor to me. He is a great friend to me. He is a fellow brother on this journey we are on to grow more like Christ. He has pointed the way to Christ for over 30 years. He teaches a Bible study. He is a true man of his word. He is a husband to his wife for close to 40 years now. He is a role model. He is an entrepreneur. He loves to nap on Sunday afternoons. He will do anything for anyone - a very unselfish man. He loves to read. I found out he loves the Celtic Women singing group (kind of alarmed me a little bit!). He is someone I know I can talk to and go to about anything. He is a grandfather to 5 and the father to 3. He is my Dad, my Paw! He turns 58 today and I love him more than I could ever write down. Happy Birthday Paw!

Also today is one of my beautiful nieces birthday - Gracie. She turns one today! Happy Birthday Gracie from your Uncle Shane. I love you and you are absolutely beautiful!

Shadows

While running this morning, I had several deep thoughts. OK, maybe more like I thought a little while I was running. It was very dark, but not as cold this morning. I am trying to get over a cough that I seem to get this time every year. So the fact it was not as cold as it has been was fine with me. Anyway I have a few different loops I run that vary in distances. On Wednesdays (like today), I typically run one of my 3 or 4 mile loops. I decided on the one I wanted and headed out. As I was on my way back I ran into a pool of light that one of the few streetlights on this loop was putting out. I noticed as I ran out of the light that my shadow became larger and larger and that it blended in more and more with the surrounding darkness until there was no shadow left only darkness. Now bear with me here. When I am in centered in the light, there is no shadow. However, when I move away from the center there is a shadow but it is not very big. The further I move from the center, the bigger my shadow gets until everything is shadows and there is very little light left. Wow! Now for the application that I know everyone already sees. If I stay centered in Christ, there is no me. I am one with Him and God sees Jesus when He looks at me! However, if I move away from Christ there is a lot more of me and less of Christ until I am no different from the world.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." John 8:12

What this taught me is to stay focused on walking with Christ - staying in the light so that when people see me they see light (Jesus).

Lunch

Just had lunch with a brother and I was too excited to wait and post tomorrow (so you get 2 for the price of 1 today). We talked about this whole church thing and what the Lord is teaching us. The whole house church model and the community it builds has been a passion of this brother for a while. We both shared back and forth about how and what the Lord is teaching us. We also shared about the number of people that seem to share the way we are feeling. I know the Lord is getting ready to show us all something amazing! I cannot wait to see what He does through His children once we are obedient to what He desires for His bride. I know that we are on the verge of something that will blow us all away.

Wait

I have been getting feedback from a lot of different people and their input really means a lot to me. I am really trying to be obedient to what the Lord wants me to do in this. As easy as that sounds, I am struggling with it. I would really like to know where this is going and know what I am supposed to be doing right now. However, the Lord is leading me and I need to trust and wait on the Lord. What a novel concept - waiting on the Lord!

Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:31

I am really thinking about this verse this morning. This verse promises that if I wait on the Lord ( if I expect Him, patiently wait for Him, look, and hope for Him) I will gain or renew my strength. I will not get tired and weary of what I am doing if I do it with the Lord. This is a great verse for where the Lord has me and is taking me. I want to run with the Lord!

Quick side note; a couple of changes have been made to the blog. You can now subscribe to my blog with a feed subscription. This way once I post something you will know it. This is still a work in progress though, so please bear with me and check back on the blog regularly. We will wait and see how well it works!

The reason for this season

Good morning out there! I hope everyone had a great weekend. As we rapidly approach Christmas, I pray that we all focus on Jesus. I heard a pastor this weekend say something I had not heard before that really stuck with me. He said Jesus is not the reason for the season. How about that? You know the reason for the season?

Us! We are the reason for the season. The reason Jesus humbled Himself and became a man, a man bound for death. Us! Think about that one for a while. He loved me and you enough to come down here, become His creation, live, die, and rise again for us. How amazing is that love! That thought alone should make this Christmas the best ever.

Now an update on what is happening in the mind of Shane. Wow what a scary trip! Buckle up and hold on! I received an email from a brother on this journey with me that was the right email at the right time - God continues to work and move in ways that only He can. This brother and I have been talking a lot about the whole church thing and he knows where I am on the house church idea. He put his thoughts down and a lot of his thoughts are the same as mine (I know what you are thinking, scary that someone else out there thinks like me). What I took from his email and where I am sitting right now is that after the holidays I want to get some people together, sit down and talk through what I am thinking. I am leaning towards starting something not as a replacement for church, but in combination with the church (a supplement if you will). Something that will create the community that I feel is missing in the church as I have talked about before. Something that will allow people who feel called and committed to a church to still attend and get plugged into. Something that will fill the gaps a lot of people are feeling. I ask you to please continue to pray about this as the Lord continues to reveal His direction and show His leadership. I am so excited about what is happening and where we are going.

Blessed

I just got done reading my sister's blog and she wrote about her kids (see the picture labeled cousins - if they have a thing they are my kids, if they don't they are hers). I love my sister and she has 3 of the most beautiful girls in the world. Of course I am partial to them as they are my nieces! I have the link to her blog on the left, but she wrote about a long night. A night that all of us with kids have had and can appreciate! A night she did a lot of thinking.
It got me to thinking of course! Anyone reading this knows I am not good for a lot - but thinking and giving an opinion are two things I am always good for. Wow am I blessed! When I say that what do you think of? What do you equate blessing to?
For me, I am not talking about homes, cars, jobs, money, etc. Not about material anything. I am not talking about health. I am not talking about friends (I have several that are a lot more than friends to me - they are brothers on this journey). I am not even talking about family. Don't get me wrong - I have a wonderful family. A wife I love more than I could ever type here. She is a wonderful person, spouse, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin - two sons that I love to the moon and back. Parents that have always been there for me and who I have never thanked and loved enough for raising me to love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A sister who I mentioned above is a great friend to me as well. A brother who I love and I am very proud of. Cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws; I have a great family. However, this is not why I am blessed. If all of this was taken away, I am still blessed. Why? Why would I say I am still blessed if all I had was me - nothing else, broken down lying on the floor?

Jesus.

Only because of Jesus am I blessed. I have to realize that all it takes is Jesus. I cannot add anything. I praise the name of Jesus right now, and as Christmas gets here, it should not be cliche to say He is the reason for the season. He is the reason for all seasons and He is the reason I am here.

Saint?

Is it not incredible how God works?! I have been blown away by how many different things are converging right now from every different direction and a lot of different people. God continues to move and direct and guide, even though I am still not sure what is going on!
I was reading a couple of different books (Velvet Elvis and Wild at Heart - so I am borrowing from both) and the question came up - as a believer in Jesus Christ, am I just a sinner saved by grace or a saint - a new creation in Christ?
I had believed, in the past, that I was just a sinner saved by grace. However, now I believe I am so much more than that. Paul in Col. 3:3 says, "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Also in Col. 3:1, "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." I am raised in Christ, hidden in Christ. In 2 Cor. 5:17 Paul states, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he[8][Or there is a new creation ] is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." I am being remade in Christ. I am a new creation that is in Christ. When God looks at me, you know who He sees? God sees Christ because I am in Him. Paul once again in Col. 3:12 states, "So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience[I.e. forbearance toward others];". This verse says I am Holy chosen of God! Remember Romans 8:1, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus." We are holy right now! This does not mean I will not have struggles, I just have to remember I am not who I was. I am a saint. Rob Bell says:
"Often communities of believers in the New Testament are identified as "saints". The word saints is a translation of the Greek word hagios, which means "holy or set apart ones". Those who are "in Christ". Not because of what they have done, but because of what God has done. There is nothing we can do, and there is nothing we ever could have done, to earn God's favor. We already have it." How awesome is this! I hope this makes sense and blesses you like it had blessed me. I am a new creation and God sees Jesus when He looks at me! Jesus paid it all, once and for all, for everyone in every time! I choose Jesus and love Jesus, because He first chose and loved me! I hope everyone who reads this today has a blessed day.

Trails

This past Sunday I went to one of my favorite places in the world, Oak Mountain State Park. This is a beautiful place with miles and miles of trails - some very easy, some bust your you know what tough. I love to run at Oak Mt. year round. The different seasons present different beauties and challenges.
Anyway I am training for my next marathon, so I like to go do some long runs on the trails. This time of year the leaves are mostly off of the trees. The sound of running and crunching is a great sound! I was thinking about my run this morning when a couple of things hit me. I was running a part of the way on the red trail which is the mountain bike trail. I started up one of the sections and I heard a strange sound. The further I ran, the sound grew louder and louder. Then I was able to place the sound - it was a leaf blower. There was a guy who was blowing off a section of the trail for the bikers. The trail was very clean and it made all the obstacles (roots, rocks, etc) very easy to see. Then I got to a less used trail and the leaves were completely covering the trail. The only way to see the trail at times were the markers on the trees. It was very difficult to run fast, not that I am fast, and not trip on the rocks and roots. All the obstacles were hidden. It was very easy also to get off of the trail.
Now you know what I am fixing to say, but I have to say it anyway. I am praying for the Lord to reveal what He desires for us and make it clear the way we need to go, to reveal the obstacles to us. I want to stay on the path he has marked for us - not run ahead, or trip, or get off of the path He has in store for us. He is the trail guide and I want to follow Him. His Word is the trail I want to stay on. I want to run the pace He desires for me.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalms 119:105
"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:12-14
Let's press on together and run the trails He has before us!

Why or why not?

It seems to me that there are a lot of reasons why this whole idea of doing church different cannot work (i.e. where can it be done? how can it be financed? what about the kids programs? who is going to pastor it? etc). My main question is why not?
What prevents us from doing church the way that the Acts church did church? Living life together. Walking, mentoring, discipling - truly just living life together. Suffering when another brother or sister is suffering, or celebrating when a celebration is called for.
I believe that once we become a Christian, we are not told what to expect. How many people were told once they became a believer that they were now entering into war? Or that we are now going to have problems we never would have had? Please do not misread me. I know that being a Christian is so much more and is so much better than living life apart from Christ. All I am saying is that I believe we the church need to show people how to accept Christ, and then how to live life. Example: We have a new man that joined our Monday Morning Men's group. He said he is a new believer and is struggling on understanding the walk he is on. It is our job to come along beside him and train him out of love. Not give him a list of rules - do's and don'ts, but truly show him how to follow Jesus and to show him that he is going to struggle and suffer. If we do this thing the way God designed it and desires us to, we are going to be noticed by satan and his army. We have to understand how to fight back and understand how to train others.
I believe this is church, and I know this is the kind of church I want to be a part of. If we work together and walk together, Hell will not be able to stand against us. We have hope in Christ! As Rob Bell said; "Ultimately our gift to the world around us is hope. Not blind hope that pretends everything is fine and refuses to acknowledge how things are. But the kind of hope that comes from staring pain and suffering right in the eyes and refusing to believe that this is all there is. It is what we all need - hope that comes not from going around suffering but from going through it."
Peter in 1 Peter 1:3 said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". We have to share this hope!

Ekklesia

I wish I could see into the future and see where the Lord is taking me on this journey. I am so excited! One of my closest brothers has a friend that is starting a Bible study in his home - a kind of precursor to a home church. He emailed me yesterday and as I read his comments and thought some more about what is in my heart, I am once more getting excited about church. He feels a strong leading from the Lord to do something, but is not exactly sure what. Sounds familiar huh?
I was reading Velvet Elvis this morning and several points literally jumped off the page. I am going to quote a couple of key lines from the book as food for thought:
"And so these first Christians passed on the faith to the next generation who passed it on to the next.....until it got to...us. Here. Today. Those who follow Jesus and belong to His ekklesia (church). And now it is our turn. It is our turn to step up and take responsibility for who the church is going to be for a new generation. It is our turn to rediscover the beautiful, dangerous, compelling idea that a group of people, surrendered to God and to each other, really can change the world."
Wow! This is what church needs to be and what I am craving! I will keep reading and keep praying and see what else He shows me. All I want to do is what, where, and how He wants - the whole obedience thing.

I was running....

As I put in my profile, I love the movie Forrest Gump. I like a lot of lines out of the movie as my blog will continue to show you. My family and I all traveled last night to my wife's parents. They live near the beach so it is nice and warm! I am drinking some good coffee here at Mojo's (no gas station coffee for this coffee snob) and typing my entry for today. Early this morning I was running (make sure you say it like Forrest), and I was thinking and praying about all the Lord is showing me and teaching me. I will continue to learn and listen, but all I can say is that I am excited about where this journey is going. I have been asked about the House church and what about the people with kids. "Kids need programs", I have been told. My answer.....I don't know! I really don't have a clue. However, I am serving the God who has all the answers. It truly is all about obedience. So please continue to ask questions and we will continue to press on.
I really feel I am right on the edge of a huge cliff, and God is telling me to jump (not in a morbid way). So as I said yesterday, "Lord here I am, take all of me". I will see where this journey takes us, and as a marathon runner believe me I am not afraid of a long journey!
"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." Lao Tzu

Here I am, all of me

I know the first post was a lot to take in for some of you. I have had mostly good comments and I appreciate all input. Please keep the emails and comments coming. I feel that if I do not do this, what the Lord is birthing in me, than I am not obeying Him. This is not about success as I stated in yesterday's post. As simply as I can state it, I want to be involved in something that is exciting, real, and refreshing - just like the gospel is! I want to do this with other families that want this same thing!
Ready for some more ramblings? Wow! I have so many thoughts running through my brain right now. The Lord is working and speaking and making me really listen and wait on Him. I am so excited as I have voiced to several of you. I do not know what any of this looks like which is scary yet cool because I am not driving. I am along for the ride like the rest of you. I will update more as I can!
On the way into work this morning I was jamming to David Crowder and his song - Wholly Yours. Wow what a song, especially where God is taking me right now. Here are the lyrics:

I am full of earth
You are heaven’s worth
I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity
You are everything that is bright and clean
The antonym of me
You are divinity
But a certain sign of grace is this
From a broken earth flowers come up
Pushing through the dirt

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I wanna be holy like You are

You are everything that is bright and clean
And You’re covering me with Your majesty
And the truest sign of grace was this
From wounded hands redemption fell down
Liberating man

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy like You are

But the harder I try the more clearly can I feel
The depth of our fall and the weight of it all
And so this might could be the most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean

Glory, hallelujah
Glory, glory, hallelujah
You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy, holy God

So here I am, all of me
Finally everything
Wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly Yours

I am wholly Yours

I am full of earth and dirt and You



What can I add to that! I just am going to continue to relentlessly pursue and see where this takes us.
Lord, I am here to be used by you. So here I am, all of me. Please help me to listen and to be obedient to you in whatever and however that means.

Why this title for a blog? Why another blog?

The Lord hit me a like a brick wall today. I have been, over the last 6 weeks or so (maybe more), in a strange walk with Jesus. My wife, Jenn, told me about a book several weeks back entitled Velvet Elvis, authored by Rob Bell. I have been reading it over the last 3 days and man has it hit right where I am. This book along with a lot of discussions with several of my brothers around tables and campfires is blowing me away.
Quick testimony - I have been a follower of Jesus Christ for a long while now, but I had become extremely legalistic in my way of thinking. My definition of this meaning, I felt there were things I had to do and things I could do to help my faith. I felt I had to be involved for this whole Christianity thing to work. Now I am getting smoked by realizing there is nothing I can do! God loves me and I cannot change that! Whether I believe I can hurt his love or gain more of his love - it does not happen! He loves me! I just have to be obedient.
Now back to where I am right now. My family attended and was very involved in a church for around 6 years. We have left this church and have been attending another one. However, for the first time ever in writing I wanted to share my heart. That is the answer to the second question I asked - why another blog!
I am not sure where or why God has me here right now - but I know I have to realize that I am in the way of what He has been trying to accomplish in me and maybe through me. I have to kill me (my superman - not that I am superman - far from it, but all that I see myself to be) and allow Him to be all of me - a relentless pursuit. I am praying through this whole thing right now as I type. I have been stuck in a rut for quite a while. I have been non- compassionate, showing a lack of patience, and short fused. I am confessing these things now and asking God to continue to reveal in me His desires not mine.
Now for what He is birthing in me (no not that - something good- if you don't get the birthing thing its OK, you will as you get to know me) - drum roll please, drum roll. I want to start a "House Church".
What does this mean? I do not have a fat clue! Over the next posts I will hammer out what I think and I look for feedback! A few things it means to me; I want to do church together with families. I know that some of you that are reading this right now feel the exact same way I do because we have talked about it. I am tired of church - the way we have made it. I want to experience church in such a way that we are all in it (life) together. Living life together. Men helping other men live the life we are called to live - warriors for Christ, letting each man and growing man (a.k.a. boy) know they have what it takes. Families living life with other families so that on family goes through troubles alone (spiritual, health, financial, etc). True discipleship and mentorship. Children seeing their parents excited and chasing after a living God so they can see how to do it. Also seeing it is OK to struggle. Wow I put all of that out on "paper"!
I need prayer on this as I enter into this relentless pursuit of who God made me to be. I want you to please pray as to how God wants you to be involved with this. I want to lead my family the way He designed it. I want to do church the way He wants it. All of this is a blank canvas He is just now starting to draw on. I want to be where He wants and I want to do what He desires. This blog will help me to put thoughts down (ramblings). I do not care if what I am trying to do is "successful", I just have to be obedient to what He is showing and teaching me. I will see you on the trail.