Three Months Married and Ministry

I am now reflecting back on three months of marriage to Mrs. Jones and rejoicing in God for this new season. We are growing in our relationship to which I can thank God for His foresight and wisdom in selecting my helpmate. Marilyn is my best friend and I am so glad, for the short time we have here on this earth, to grow and learn with her. I am learning a lot from her such as: how to make homemade pizza in thirty minutes and how to decorate using whatever one can find at one's own house. She is an industrious and creative woman. I have lots more to say of this fine specimen, but I will stop here. I love the woman dearly.

Ministry is going well and I am learning a lot as I work as a youth pastor. I love the young humans here on this island and I am praying for God to do God-sized things through me while I am here. I am watching some young people really step up in their faith, which is highly encouraging. I am learning that my own relationship with God is the most important ministry to maintain. Seeking first His kingdom is a must. I am also learning that, as a friend recently told me, of how important it is for the kids and youth-leaders to know that I love them. And converse of that, it is not important that I know I am loved back. I think this reflects the heart of Christ. We have a wonderful leadership team that I am privileged to shepherd. Morgan, Heather, Chelsea, and Jon make a great team. We will dearly miss the ladies over the holidays as they head to the mainland. I pray that this strong base of youth leaders grows even more strong. We are having fun and hopeful for lots of good fruit to come in the coming months.

My work at Scotty Beachside BBQ presents such a dichotomy of monotony and spontaneity as I buss tables some days and do a wide-range of administrative tasks other days. I prefer the latter due to its diversity. And the former....well, I buss tables. I have great bosses and managers and love the ocean-view office I sit at regularly. It sort of pays the bills and I am so grateful to provide for my needs here on Kauai. Marilyn is working at the High School as a lunch lady and one or two days a week she works at Vitamin World. I can thankfully say that she really likes both jobs. This is a huge answer to prayer.

It is an odd thing still for me to live on Kauai. I didn't ever want to particularly live here. It is a blessed little island is so many ways and yet riddled with problems. I feel as a missionary adjusting to the weird environment of a quasi-american, behind-in-the-times, tropical-vacation hot-spot. It is a mix of deep hawaiian culture covered by a thin veneer of commercialism; A mix of aloha and globalism. I pray that God would help me to best help the people of Kauai as long as Marilyn and I stay here. I pray that I would go harder, die deader, and yield fuller to Christ's leading as I stay here. It may be ten months or thirty years, but for now I want to trust Christ with everything.

Married in under forty days

I haven't posted on my blog in about ten months. I have a lot to be thankful for over the past ten months. I am still growing in learning what it means to pastor as I volunteer at Calvary Chapel Kauai. I work at a sweet restaurant (Scotty's BBQ) and live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I have a ton of reasons to give God thanks and praise. The biggest reason to thank God at the moment is the gift of a wife. "He who finds a wife finds a good thing." She is an amazing gift from God!!!! God is bringing me into the second biggest transition of my entire life: marriage. The wedding day is approaching fast. It feels as if the hourglass as gotten to that last little bit of sand, but continues to surprise you with how it keeps going. I haven't seen my fiancee in over seventy days and the distance is agonizing. It will be here soon enough, but the fact that she is still 6000 miles away makes it ever so hard. The distance has been a great opportunity to stay pure, focus on personal preparations, and as they say, "make the heart grow fonder."

I am learning a lot about the subject of marriage and I am prepared to be rocked to the core. I have read a few books on marriage, gone through biblical, pre-marital counseling, and prayed through a lot regarding my future with Marilyn Huelskamp (soon to be Jones). God has recently led us to find a place to live and this Sunday I can rightly say, "I am going to prepare a place for her." Being a Godly spiritual leader and a loving husband is going to be a great challenge, but all I can say is that "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Only with Jesus will I become the spiritual head God has designed me to be. I praise God for this calling and I can only cry out for His enabling as we take this venture of faith.

I have a myriad of thoughts I would like to continue with. I think I will just stop so blogging won't be a mountain to tackle. Maybe just some quick thoughts....

Hawaii Update: God's Calling

God has called me to pastor His church and I have been so blessed to lead a youth group here at Kauai Calvary Chapel. A timely quote from Pastor Chuck Smith crossed my path one day as I was praying where he said, "just get in and go do what God has called you to do." It was almost too simple, but refreshing to hear God speak to me and give me permission to do what was right. As a pastor, I give you permission today to go do what is right and to go do what God has called you to do.

God has been challenging me with learning to have a healthy and balanced life. I have juggled lots of responsibilities in the past and so this is nothing new to me, but it is all very new at the same time. With ministry, a girlfriend, full-time Bible college, and a part-time job I am learning to establish priorities and be faithful to the little that God has called me to do here. God says that to those who are faithful in the little things, He will make them faithful in much. I urge you to be completely faithful in everything God has put in your path this day. Nothing is little in God's eyes and He is pleased with faithfulness. God is so faithful to us and we get to emulate Him in showing similar faithfulness to the little He has called us to do.

Studying God's word has been amazing as well. God has been revealing so much of His love and character to me that it has driven me to a more meaningful and vibrant relationship with Him. I encourage any person reading this to pursue God through the reading of the scripture and through prayer. God desires a connection with His children more than His children will ever desire that connection. I also encourage you to confess your sins to God daily, remembering the cross and blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all sin. Lastly, I encourage you to offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving and practice telling God all that you have to be thankful for. This will lift up your soul and produce great joy to practice thanking God.

If you are reading this and you have NO IDEA what I am talking about and have NO EXPERIENCE with knowing God like I described, then please be reconciled to God through receiving Jesus Christ and the gift of eternal life made possible through His substitutionary death and resurrection. Enter into a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, God's only mediator between God and man.

Morning Devotional- 9-22-09

Luke 18:15-17

"Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when they saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the dingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."

Jesus says we all must come as a little child. What character traits does an infant possess that is necessary for the Christian to rightly approach Almighty God. The infant expresses utter dependence for his or her every need. We are to cloth our every need in prayer recognizing that everything we have including our next breath is given by God. The attitude of self-sufficiency denies that God knows our needs and denies that God supplies us with our needs in His own timing. Unless one always brings their needs before the Father they cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Another aspect of the infant related to the first is humility of position. The first may be called humility in provision. Humility of position, however, is where the young child clearly reognizes their weakness, smallness, and frailty when compared to the parent. We must see ourselves as we truly are if we are to rightly approach God. We are weak- God supplies us with power and strength via His Holy Spirit and apart from Him we can do nothing good in the Kingdom of God. Coming to God as an infant includes humility of one's position in recognizing we are weak on our own to do God's will. Our smallness also needs to be recognized. When compared to God we are the tiniest of creatures. Our pride would tell us that we are large and in charge of our lives, but Jesus says we must come as an infant- knowing our small stature and weak nature before an all powerful God. We must also, if we are to come to the kingdom of God, recognize like an infant does is our frailty. Even if we are capable of roundhouse-kicks to the face when facing other men; before Almighty God we could be crushed under the weight of His nose hair. God is big and you are not. Last but not least is the infant trusts and can do nothing but trust their lives into their Father's care. Self-willed individuals reject God by making their own plans and refusing to bring them to God in humble prayer. This individual also refuses to line up their plans with God's written revelation found in the Word of God. To recap:

Let God supply our needs

Recognize apart from God you can do nothing

Know that God is big and you are not.

Know that God is strong and you are not

Trust your life into the care of God. He knows better than you do.

Rather than growing up in your own pride, grow down and approach God as a little child. You will by no means enter the kingdom of God unless you do so.

The Island and God's Call

You wouldn't believe it if I told you... I am writing this from the local Starbucks in Kapaa, HI on Kauai. I am back studying the Holy Word of God on one of God's masterpieces of creation. I am both excited and frightened of the new horizons that have quickly developed.

For a little background: God called me to be a pastor in the fall of 2006 one Saturday night as I sat alone in a pew. I have been taking Bible College classes since as I have been growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Today, almost three years later, it looks as if God's call will become reality. Kauai Calvary Chapel has presented an open door to which God is calling me to walk through. Their youth leader had to leave the island and it looks as if I will be the pastor to fill his shoes. I will be the High School pastor here at Kauai Calvary Chapel and I will be officially, for the first time, stepping into what God has created me to do.

I feel a little apprehensive about such a responsibility, but I am confident in my God - knowing that He provides everything necessary to fulfill the callings He places upon His children. God will grant the wisdom, strength, knowledge, and grace for me to shepherd His kids. I take this responsibility with great reverence and fear. I know that I will be held to a stricter judgment, yet I pray that in humility I can allow God to powerfully work through me as His tool.

I love you all and please pray for me in this new season.

Kauai: Get Ready!!!

I am closing in on two weeks till I return to the lush isle of Kauai to suffer for Jesus Christ. I say that partly as a joke, but in all reality my quality of life does jump down a bit from life here in San Luis Obispo. Cold showers, no electricity, and camping in a goat field don't make for that luxurious of a lifestyle. Those things aside- it is a beautiful place with an amazing climate and I cannot wait to be there.

I can't wait to spend hours and hours studying the word of God again and putting all this work aside for a time. I can't wait to see all my friends again and to see Marilyn (g/f). I cannot wait for what the Lord may do in this season to come.

I was able a few weeks ago to visit Missouri and see Marilyn and her family. It was an extremely blessed time where I got to meet a lot of her family. We went to the lake of the Ozarks, spent time at the zoo, and had a sweet picnic. I really loved time with her and getting to meet everybody.

Also...this last week Daniel Hemenway and I went to the Mid-state fair and had a gloriously mediocre time with the carnies and farm animals. I fondled a few pig snouts, which was cool, but gross. I learned how to judge heifers (female cows). I sat next to a congressman and saw his expensive smile up close. I got to pet some weird animals: an endagered Lemur, a porcupine, and a big fat frog. We ended the day with the worst carnival ride ever. This twirling, ferris-wheel of death left us in pain and very nauseous. I was laughing uncontrollably at how dramatic my roommate was during the whole ride- loud exclamations berating the ride in all its awfulness. That aside we had an okay time.

San Luis Obispo Summer Time

The Slo life is not so slow. I have juxtaposed in my mind the serenity of the garden isle (Kauai) with the "SLO" life and am realizing how environments cater to one's desired lifestyle. I thank God that today I was able to slow down and paint this picture of a San Luis Obispoesque landscape. The fog that frequently sits upon the base of our green, rocky peaks are one of the things that give San Luis its special character.

I am having a good time delivering pizzas as a part-time job and the internship through Shoreline Calvary Chapel has been delightful thus far. I spent some time this morning taking care of an older man from my church named Doug. He and I have a lot in common. I love reading, praying, and chatting with him. I taught him some watercolor techniques today. He loves to paint with acrylic and oils. I hope to save enough money to go back to Kauai in late August. In the meantime I will have to remember to SLO things down.