Last night our family went to a great concert. Christy Nockels is one of Angie's favorite female voices and, because of that, Bree loves Christy. Whenever we are in the car making requests for the mp3 player, Bree asks for Christy Nockels. :) Plus, we all sing Chris Tomlin songs at church - so last night was a special treat for our family.
We got to the concert at 5:30 and thought we'd be near the front, but there was already a line. Thankfully my dad and his friends were in the very front, and they invited us to join them. So when the doors opened we ended up getting 4th row seats!
We loved the whole concert. What is so clear about the Passion movement is their absolute desire and focus to give God all glory and praise. That was completely evident last night. We enjoyed hearing all the best Tomlin songs and especially a couple of numbers by Christy. Louie Giglio had an amazing message from Psalm 148. He showed how God had designed all of creation to worship him and how he invites our voice to be a part of that. He had sounds from stars and whales. It was pretty amazing to hear those sounds that they are making all around us, and how God desires us to join in.
The kids faded and were tired the last 45 minutes but it was well worth it.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Moody Here I Come
Tomorrow I will leave for 4 days of recruiting at Moody's Mission Conference. This is always one of the highlights of the year for me. I absolutely love all things Chicago!! The buildings, the food (Pizza and Italian Beef), being on campus at Moody and staying with my good buddy Dave Palleson.
Moody has held a special place in my heart as I had great memories with Phil there. Then with his passing a few years ago, it became even more special to be in Chicago.
This time I am taking my colleague, Andy Entz. He has never been to Chicago or on a recruiting trip with me, so I am looking forward to introducing him to the list mentioned above!
During the days of the conference I will talk with students and teach in two different classes. Every night around 9, the students come by our booth after the last session and we talk and talk sharing about World Impact and urban missions.
I truly love meeting new people and sharing what God is doing in the city and with World Impact.
Please pray that God would lead me to talk with the right students.
Also pray for Angie as she is home alone with the kids.
Moody has held a special place in my heart as I had great memories with Phil there. Then with his passing a few years ago, it became even more special to be in Chicago.
This time I am taking my colleague, Andy Entz. He has never been to Chicago or on a recruiting trip with me, so I am looking forward to introducing him to the list mentioned above!
During the days of the conference I will talk with students and teach in two different classes. Every night around 9, the students come by our booth after the last session and we talk and talk sharing about World Impact and urban missions.
I truly love meeting new people and sharing what God is doing in the city and with World Impact.
Please pray that God would lead me to talk with the right students.
Also pray for Angie as she is home alone with the kids.
Monday, September 5, 2011
13
Today, Angie and I have been married 13 years. As I reflect on that number, at times it feels like we've been married forever and yet it's hard to believe it's already been that many years.
In these past years we've grown up a lot together and experienced a lot.......
In these past years we've grown up a lot together and experienced a lot.......
- births of Ethan and Bree
- planting a church and ups and downs in ministry
- incredible friendships
- death of a mom
- death of a brother
- 4 months in Costa Rica
- burnout
- spiritual and emotional healing
- weight gain and loss :)
- lots of laughter and inside jokes
- music and concerts
I am very aware that I married up. Right before our wedding, my mom told Angie, "I tried, he's yours now." I don't think she fully knew what my mom meant until a few years into marriage. Recently at a staff gathering, when they heard it was our anniversary coming up, they all congratulated Angie in her perseverance! Even though we all shared a great laugh, I knew there was some truth in that.
In this day of age where so many marriages fail even among Christians, I am so grateful we are still together, in love, growing close to Christ and each other.
I am more excited than ever about our family, our life, and where God has us in our marriage. I can't wait to see what is in store for us.
I am more excited than ever about our family, our life, and where God has us in our marriage. I can't wait to see what is in store for us.
Thanks, Angie, for your perseverance!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Why Angie is Recording Music?
In the last two months, Angie has set up a studio in our basement and taken over my office. (no I am not bitter about this, really, I'm not. )
She is in the process of learning the ins and outs of the software and working out all of the bugs. She will hopefully start to actually record music in the next couple of weeks.
The purpose of the music is for our church planting. In Wichita, our vision as a staff is to plant many churches among the poor. We are working on developing resources that will assist in the planting of the churches. One of those resources will be the music Angie is producing.
As we plant a church, if there isn't someone gifted to lead worship in the church, anybody can lead with the CD. Below is a few pictures of Angie in her studio.
Please pray for her as she records the music. The project at times feels enormous and overwhelming to her. Pray that this CD project would be truly used to help us plant churches here in Wichita and that through it people will be lead into the presence of God.
She is in the process of learning the ins and outs of the software and working out all of the bugs. She will hopefully start to actually record music in the next couple of weeks.
The purpose of the music is for our church planting. In Wichita, our vision as a staff is to plant many churches among the poor. We are working on developing resources that will assist in the planting of the churches. One of those resources will be the music Angie is producing.
As we plant a church, if there isn't someone gifted to lead worship in the church, anybody can lead with the CD. Below is a few pictures of Angie in her studio.
Please pray for her as she records the music. The project at times feels enormous and overwhelming to her. Pray that this CD project would be truly used to help us plant churches here in Wichita and that through it people will be lead into the presence of God.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Why I "Tri"?
This past Sunday, I completed my first triathlon. For the past 6 years, I have wanted to do one but only in the past year have I gotten serious about getting in shape.
The past 10 weeks, I took a tri class at our YMCA. I had already been swimming, biking, and running, but in the class I was able to learn more about the sport and take my fitness to another level. I have so much to learn and will need to increase my fitness a lot more in the future. But I feel great about where I am at now.
I am not sure what first attracted me to triathlons. I often like to read stories about humans doing incredible feats and I think I was just intrigued with the thought of being in great shape and doing all three sports.
A couple of years ago, Lisa Entz, one of my leaders and co-missionaries suggested to me that I needed to be more competitive. Growing up and all through college, I competed regularly in sports and mostly in tennis. But in these last years, I haven't done much competing. She suggested for my personality and overall health, that I need to compete. She thought as I find something to compete in, that it will help me in other areas of my life.
I am seeing if triathlons are something that I can get into that can be my competitive outlet. This past Sunday I finally did my first one. It was a very small one and as I was finishing it, there were inner thoughts that were whispering, "Why in the world are you doing this?'
But I kept plugging away and was able to finish. This summer, I plan to do a couple of tri's outside. The first distance will be a Sprint, and the 2nd is a shorter version of an Olympic. My goal someday is to think about doing a half Ironman, but for now I am taking it one race at a time and seeing how I enjoy it.
Here is a link to some pictures I posted on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=341766&id=534216971&l=eb364e3ff3
The past 10 weeks, I took a tri class at our YMCA. I had already been swimming, biking, and running, but in the class I was able to learn more about the sport and take my fitness to another level. I have so much to learn and will need to increase my fitness a lot more in the future. But I feel great about where I am at now.
I am not sure what first attracted me to triathlons. I often like to read stories about humans doing incredible feats and I think I was just intrigued with the thought of being in great shape and doing all three sports.
A couple of years ago, Lisa Entz, one of my leaders and co-missionaries suggested to me that I needed to be more competitive. Growing up and all through college, I competed regularly in sports and mostly in tennis. But in these last years, I haven't done much competing. She suggested for my personality and overall health, that I need to compete. She thought as I find something to compete in, that it will help me in other areas of my life.
I am seeing if triathlons are something that I can get into that can be my competitive outlet. This past Sunday I finally did my first one. It was a very small one and as I was finishing it, there were inner thoughts that were whispering, "Why in the world are you doing this?'
But I kept plugging away and was able to finish. This summer, I plan to do a couple of tri's outside. The first distance will be a Sprint, and the 2nd is a shorter version of an Olympic. My goal someday is to think about doing a half Ironman, but for now I am taking it one race at a time and seeing how I enjoy it.
Here is a link to some pictures I posted on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=341766&id=534216971&l=eb364e3ff3
Friday, March 25, 2011
Why we love serving with World Impact?
This September, we will complete 12 years of service with World Impact.
Angie and I are more excited than ever about serving. Here are some reasons why we love ministering with World Impact.
Angie and I are more excited than ever about serving. Here are some reasons why we love ministering with World Impact.
- Their commitment to empowering the urban poor. (James 2:5)
- Their commitment to starting churches in some of the hardest communities in the city, often where the church is currently not thriving
- We love all of the staff we serve with in Wichita and in other cities. Because Wichita hosts many conferences, we have had the privilege of getting to know many staff in other other cities. We feel like we serve with the finest missionaries.
- We have great leadership.
- Our staff has become our family and they have truly embraced our kids as "Aunts" and "Uncles".
- Serving with World Impact allows us to do many different jobs and roles. Our days are never dull or boring. Whether we are trying to use our broken Spanish in helping a church plant, or hosting college students, or interacting with different leaders who are in for training with TUMI, we are blessed to meet a wide variety of amazing people who love the Lord.
- Best of all we get to serve God and give Him glory everyday in all of those roles!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Moody Students!!!
Instead of answering a WHY question this week, here is an update on our week with Moody Students.
The past two years I have made 5 recruiting trips to Moody. They have a great urban missions program there led by Professor Clive Craigen. He really loves World Impact because of our emphasis on church planting. So in the last year, we talked about having students come for a learning trip with us here in Wichita and with our ministry in St. Louis.
The past week, we had 5 students visit Wichita for 3 full days. Part of the time was spent in the classroom doing different teachings on culture, the city, and church planting. Then the rest of the time was visiting different church plant services, or just learning from various church plant pastors that I know.
On Tuesday afternoon, we spent two hours doing door to door evangelism in our old community of Oaklawn. The students enjoyed partnering with Lighthouse Community Church and putting into practice their faith.
The last evening, Angie and I hosted them in our house and we led them in prayer and worship.
Below are a few pictures.
The past two years I have made 5 recruiting trips to Moody. They have a great urban missions program there led by Professor Clive Craigen. He really loves World Impact because of our emphasis on church planting. So in the last year, we talked about having students come for a learning trip with us here in Wichita and with our ministry in St. Louis.
The past week, we had 5 students visit Wichita for 3 full days. Part of the time was spent in the classroom doing different teachings on culture, the city, and church planting. Then the rest of the time was visiting different church plant services, or just learning from various church plant pastors that I know.
On Tuesday afternoon, we spent two hours doing door to door evangelism in our old community of Oaklawn. The students enjoyed partnering with Lighthouse Community Church and putting into practice their faith.
The last evening, Angie and I hosted them in our house and we led them in prayer and worship.
Below are a few pictures.
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