Soul Surfing

Here on the Sunshine Coast one thing we have a lot of (as you could probably guess) is pretty beaches, and great waves.  So naturally I've taken up surfing while living here.  Many of my early mornings are spent out in the water, sitting on a board, waiting for the perfect wave to come through and to hopefully get the ride of my life, if I don't stuff it up (which usually happens).  Well today on the walk back to the car, as my friend Dave and I were talking about how good a morning it was, he said "surfing is good for the soul".  I first replied with a "yeah it's a good way to start the day Dave", not really thinking much about it.  As the day went on I thought about it and I think, knowing it or not, Dave is on to something.  Surfing is good for the soul.  What a great way to start a day, going out and sitting among one of the most miraculous things God ever did... the ocean.  Often as I'm sitting waiting on the next wave to come through I'm amazed at the glory of our Father, and the fact that a God who created 'all things" and holds everything together, calls me His own.  So may we be amazed at the beauty of God as we inhabit His creation daily, recognizing His greatness and yet His love for us.

Enjoy a creative video for a song called "Scenes" by Charlie Hall.... for the lyrics go here

things i really enjoy

As a response to my last post, I thought I would share some of the things I love about Australia... just so you don't think this is a mean, ugly place.  I actually love it here. Here are some of my favorite things:

- the beach
- surfing
- sweet chili sauce
- Church at the Riverwalk
- all of my beautiful friends (you know who you are)
- breakfast at The Attic Cafe
- kangaroos

- Hahti Indian restaurant
- Triple J radio
- monday night steak night at the Beach house
- mostly good weather
- my 1989 Holden Nova
- futsal
- rugby
- tea with milk and sugar
- tim tams

Australia, Home, and God.

I've now been in Australia for 5 months.  Some days it feels like a lifetime and other days if feels like I just arrived.  I'm not gonna lie, I miss home, family, and my friends, a lot.  However, I know that God has called me here for a specific purpose, and I must stay focused, and be diligent in surrendering daily to the call that God has placed in my heart. To say that I have learned a couple things since I've been here would be a drastic understatement.  He is re-shaping me altogether, stretching me, pushing me to my limits, challenging me, teaching me about how He has divinely created me and gifted me to do His work.  At times I feel like what's the purpose if I know I'm just going home in September, but I trust that God has me here to shape me for things to come in my life and ministry.  I trust in His sovereignty, or at least I'm trying.  So when life here gets tough and I just wanna run home, I pray (and I ask that you do the same) that I will persevere and praise God for where He has me, and serve Him here and now with a heart of gladness.  After all I am living on the Sunshine Coast, possibly one of the most beautiful places in the world, who am I to be disgruntle about where life has taken me.

Well enough serious talk for one day lets talk about a few things I wish I had from home (just in case you want to help make these things appear at my door step)

• Taco Bell
• hot n spicy from mcdonalds (the dollar menu in general really)
• sweet tea
• mexican food (especially nachos fajitas from Mi Pueblo)
• Josh and Jacob Moseley
• BBQ
• Michael Gallup and all his beauty
• homemade biscuits 
• deer hunting
• chili
• Allison Demott and her domestic goodness
• my Gary Fisher and riding with Jacob
• cold weather
• my momma

I finally made it!

as you can see the sunshine coast is a beautiful place

Why I'm Here: In case you don't know why I'm in Australia let me bring you up to date. I first came here two years ago to serve as a worship leader for the summer. My good friend and roomate from college is Australian, and his dad is the pastor of the church in which I serve. After visiting two years ago I really fell in love with the ministry and the people on the sunshine coast. I could feel that God was doing something great and extraordinary in the lives of the people here on the coast, and I felt called to be apart. So after finishing college and a long process with immigration offices I set out on this new journey. I'm serving again as the worship pastor for the church but this time for a bit longer.... like a year or two longer. I honestly don't know how long I will be here. I do know I want to be here long enough to build real relationships and authentic community, getting beside people in every day life as we grow in our relationships with Jesus.

What I've Been Up To: I've now been here for just over two weeks, and apart from preparing for Sunday services and leading worship, I've had a few other things happening as well. I've been concentrating on getting to know the people in the church so that I can begin to build those relationships. The people here have been tremendously welcoming and are making it real easy for me to transition into a new unfamiliar lifestyle. I'd say I've began to settle in quite nicely. John (the pastor) and I usually try to go for a surf in the mornings which has been a good way for us to get to know each other and begin to connect and share ideas so we can work better together. We've recently been looking at leasing a building to use as office space as well as a multi functional facility in order to reach the community. The church is still rather new and we meet in a cinema so the "church office" is currently located at John and Cami's house. Hopefully by having a building we can be in throughout the week, people will know where to find us if they need counseling, mentoring, or just a place to hang out.

How You Can Be Apart: I ask that you begin to pray for the work of the Holy Spirit in peoples lives as we continue to minister to them. Many people we come in contact with are very apathetic and turned off to the idea of Christianity or God at all. Pray that as we make these people apart of our lives showing them authentic love and compassion, and sharing with them the gospel of Jesus, that they come to know the Lord as the King of their life. We can do a lot... but without a movement of the Holy Spirit our work will be worthless.

Also, if you would like to give financially I would gladly accept the blessing. I am very fortunate to be getting paid by the church but as you can imagine, as a new church, finances are limited. However, I am confident that the Lord will supply and provide for me. All contributions can be sent to my home address in the states at 7101 Tulane Rd. N Apt #74 Horn Lake, MS 38637. Thank you and may the Lord bless you.

"Me with Church at the Riverwalk"

Movie Night Feature: Marley and Me?

So I don't have cable t.v.... (we use the ole antenna)... which is usually not a problem at all. However, the government, or whoever it was, decided to make an ole switcharoo with how the tv works, and i'm sure you've guessed by now, we didn't prepare ourselves by buying the new converter box. So now every night is a movie night, which is fun. I think I've cleaned out the whole RedBox machine at wal - mart, ( which is a brilliant invention ), but somehow i skipped over the movie Marley and Me. Tonight was the night I decided, I'm gonna watch this dumb movie about a dog. Man am I glad I did. This so thought "dumb dog movie" got me excited about one day having a family, building a future together, and living life. I guess Owen Wilson (love him or hate him), Jennifer Anniston, and labadors make a dynamic heart-wrenching trio that somehow seems to find a way to sneak into your heart and stir it up a bit. Not sure.

Oh and the movie was real sad. the dog dies. i should have cried.

Bikers Beware

I really can't imagine a better way to spend a beautiful afternoon these days than on my bike. Lately it's really all I've wanted to do. Something about riding countless miles on those curvy narrow single track trails keeps me coming back for more every time. I'm usually not the one who is all about some cardio activity. Running... I hate it... riding 20 miles through the woods... can't get enough of it.

I seem to be a bit addicted to this new found love.... it's also hurting my pocket book some... but who cares. Is it so bad to spend a little extra cash on something you love. Nah... prob not.

Funny biking story:
I was riding the other day hustling down the trail, as always, when outta nowhere a buzzing begins to sound from the inside of my helmet. Unfortunately, the furious buzz was followed by a torturing sting to the head. In panic, I threw myself from my bike and began to (for some unknown reason) run down the trail hitting my helmet and yelling a few blatant cuss words. Eventually the "unknown" stinging attacker escaped from my helmet and flew off with a feeling of conquer. From much observation and study I have come to believe that my attacker was that of the yellow jacket descent. These vile creatures apparently commonly nest on the ground in dirt and leaves which happens to be the exact terrain I was biking on which leads me to believe I apparently disrupted a happy yellow jacket home. Unfortunately for me, yellow jackets are very territorial, defensive, and will attack when disrupted.

After the sting began to calm, I began to laugh about the whole incident and decided I needed to call a friend to share this rare experience with.... we laughed... I cried... the pain slowly went away after some temporary swelling.

Moral of story: Watch for yellow jacket nests while riding down dirt trails... and if you hit one...ride like the wind and never look back.

get involved.

I had a discussion with my mom earlier tonight. It was about church. Is it not terrible that people actually have to go through the thought process of... "man i really don't want to be that person who goes to church only on Easter Sunday".... b/c they are afraid that people will think they don't really love the Lord, they are just coming because it's Easter (even if that is the case).

Mom said, "I want to be a part of a church where my friends who drink and cuss are welcome there too". I think a lot of churches say we are about community and openness, but the reality is... when we see something or someone that seems to be "out of place" in church today it makes us feel a little uncomfortable or maybe just raises a special awareness to that someone or something. We should expect to see people in our churches who are different minded than that of our Christian values... and even furthermore, embrace them with love.

I understand my mom's concern with the modern church, but does that mean that just because many of the churches around us may have this problem with true acceptance, that we can just sit at home and not be involved in an active fellowship of believers simply because they don't do church the way we think it needs to be done. I think not. Maybe God is wanting to use people like my mom, who has a heart for the "un-accepted" in today's church, to step-up and lead in the revolutionizing of the way we do church. I don't think it does us any good to sit back and say... "well they're not doing it exactly right, so I'm not gonna be apart of church at all." Get involved. Get plugged-in. Step up and lead. Step up and serve. Step up and LOVE.