I truly believe one of the hardest things in life is transitions. It doesn't matter if an "easy" transition or a difficult one, it's never easy. A few years ago, we made a "easy" transition when we moved to Elk City, OK to be the youth pastors at Gateway Church. I say it was easy because we knew God was opening the doors and paving the way for us. Even though we were leaving a place we loved and lived in for 8 years, creating an amazing family and getting to travel the world see God do some awesome stuff, it was still "easy" in the most difficult way. I know that doesn't make sense, but when you know you're doing the right thing, it makes the sadness and difficult transition a little easier.
Come August 7th, we'll have yet another one of those transitions in that we'll be moving back to Waxahachie, TX. This transition is a VERY tough one but yet another "easy" transition. For some time now, Val and I have felt like our season at Gateway was coming to an end, which wasn't a surprise. We knew coming into this that this as going to be a short season but never knew what that meant nor what it would look like. Our last Sunday at Gateway will be this Sunday, August 2nd, and our last Wednesday night will be next Wednesday, August 5th. We cannot express how much we love our Gateway family and all our friends we've made when in Elk City. One of the biggest parts we'll miss from Gateway is our students! We have the BEST students in the world!! We started with a small group of 8 students and will be leaving a very healthy student ministry avg 50 students, amazing student leaders and impacting 7 different school districts! Not saying that to "brag" but show that God has moved and changed lives in Western Oklahoma and we're honored to be a part of it for the last 2 years!! Some of been asking what we will be doing when we move back and the answer is simply this, I'm finishing Bible College at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. We have not taken a new ministry position but plan on getting involved in one as soon as we can. I will be traveling and speaking when I can. We truly love Gateway and our family will miss our church family, our friends, and most of our my family. That alone has been an amazing part of the 2 years of living in Elk City. We will always remember these last 2 years and just hope we made a positive impact while doing what God has laid on our heart...Equipping/Encouraging/Empowering.
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I have a VERY busy mind. I tend to be OCD about my work and life really. I am constantly planning, thinking what's on my to-do list or at times analyzing different situations and trying to figure out how to make things better or even just take them to another level. This is not a bad thing to be like, I just strive for perfection in all I do and it causes me to focus too much or as my wife calls it "obsess" until I believe perfection in the situation is reached. So one of my "new years resolutions" was to "disconnect" or "turn off my brain" when I'm praying and when I go home. I wouldn't say I've done splendid on this new goal of mine but never the less, making big strides at it.
In turning my focus completely to The Bible when studying and not allowing myself to be sucked into my strive for perfection in my daily work I've been able to see and learn things that I probably wouldn't have unless I was disconnected and not preoccupied. The other day I was doing some reading and studying, I came to John 21 (a story that I've heard a million times) and something different jumped out at me. John 21:1-7 NIV - Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus ), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” I've heard and read this story many times and thought, "wow, that's cool that they caught that many fish" and even "this is why you listen to Jesus, He'll bring in the haul". But as I was reading the story this time, a thought came to me - you could consider these guys as pro fishermen (it was their job) before following Jesus, so why wouldn't be know where to cast especially when they haven't caught anything all night? So as any OCD person would do, I sat there thinking about this, analyzing their situation and the subsequent outcome. A story I've read and heard many times before became something new to me. See, these guys were out doing what they knew and loved but came up short on catching anything. It wasn't due to the lack of time or effort fishing because the Bible said they were out at night and by early morning they still hadn't caught a thing. It wasn't due to the lack of knowledge because they were fishermen by trade. It wasn't until Jesus (on the shore, not on the boat with them) directed them to cast on the other side that they caught what they been working for all night. It's all about STRATEGIC CASTING. The ONE thing I learned in this story and about strategic casting: "Just because you're casting doesn't mean you're catching." These guys were casting and casting and not catching a single fish. They burnt through so much time and energy casting into empty waters. Too many times as Christians, we get use to doing what we know to do and stay in that groove. This is not a bad thing until the groove turns into a rut. We find what works for us and is successful and by nature we stay there, especially when it's successful. But once we allow the groove to turn into a rut, religious routines or traditions we become blind to the outcome or end product. There's times when we must tweak or even (the most dreaded) change something to get back into the God groove instead of the self made ruts. Not only do we as individuals do this, but the church as a whole. The church gets into these religious traditions and routines that were very successful for a season, but as the times and seasons change, we must adapt to those changes. Just like in any situation, there's 3 different ways we look at this topic. On one hand we have those that go too extreme on being too "relevant" and lose the standard and sight of the message and purpose. On the other hand, we have those that go in the totally different direction and doing church as they did way back when because "that's what we were founded on and brought up on". Which brings us to the third different way, a mix and blend of both sides. Finding the identity for the church and purpose that God has for the church is key. There's more than just traditions or fads that we must take into consideration. You have to know the area and lifestyle of the community you're ministering to. Just because you're "casting" to a more modern and younger generation (by having all the next level lighting and technology, sing all the newest modern worship songs, the best graphics and top of the line facility) doesn't mean you're catching. But "casting" to traditions, routines and having "church with the oldies" doesn't mean you're catching either. This isn't a blog or rant about changing how we do church in the aspect of modern vs. traditional but why we do what we do. The debate on modern vs. traditional will always be a debate because like it or not, our world is daily evolving and changing...moving forward. What we consider traditional was once considered "modern" and they debated about it back then. In 15-20 years, what is known as modern will start turning into traditional and the debate will continue. But lets all move from this debate and talk about what really matters at STRATEGIC CASTING! Like I mentioned before, just because you have all the elements of a modern, a traditional or even a blended church doesn't mean YOU ARE CATCHING when you're casting. The bottom line is, are we listening to God? Are we willing to do what God is telling us, directing us, showing us to do to win the COMMUNITY that we're in? Are we willing to put aside personal agendas to walk with our God agendas? Just like the disciples, we have a choice to stop and listen to God and act upon what he's telling us or just listen with good intentions but still do it the way we always did it or even be so clouded with finding the next fad that we miss the mark? It's time for the CHURCH to stop and listen to what God is telling us and be open to do what we are CALLED to do, not what we WANT to do. All I want is to be part of a movement that lifts the name of God without personal agenda and do what we're all called to do and that is to go unto all the world preaching the gospel, being Jesus' hands and feet and point others to the ONE that can save them instead of a program, a tradition, a personal opinion or agenda. It's time to take a backseat and actually do what Carry Underwood sings...Jesus take the wheel and start STRATEGICALLY CASTING rather than doing it to impress a younger generation or appeases an older generation. We only need to worry is we're impressing and appeasing God. Are you strategically casting? "The grace gospel is over preached from todays churches!" I've heard this statement from many different people on social media, radio shows, blogs, and even people I know. But one thing a lot of people are forgetting is GRACE plays a major role in the Bible and salvation.
The "grace gospel", along with other "movements" like the "prosperity gospel" or even the "feel-good gospel", is being critizied and looked down upon by some many preachers, evangilist and "religious" people in the churches today. To take it a step further, there's certain pastors, churches and evangilist being accused or pointed out being apart of these "movements" in the christian world. But here one thing I don't understand, why are other pastors, evangilist and "religious" people speaking out and even preaching against the "grace gospel"? Is GRACE not an important role in salvation...the Bible? Yes I know, just like anything, people take things too far, obsses about it and take things out of context, but what makes it better to be the polar opposite and campaign against it? In the topic of the "grace gospel", does it do any good for us to talk against the "grace gospel"? Does it do any good to use other pastors or evangelists name as we judge which message or style they choose to minister with, which I'm sure is God directed if they are truly a life giving pastor or evangelist. To be honest, I know there's some pastors and evangelist that do take advantage of different "movements" to gain whatever it is that they want to gain or achieve. Do I agree with it? Absolutely not. Do I think it's wrong? Absolutely yes. Am I going to put them on blast on social media, small talk with other ministers or even during a sermon to the church body? Absolutely not! It's not my place to judge what someones doing (side note: but it is my job to pray for them if I feel they are doing that). Will I speak against the "grace gospel"? Absolutely not. In fact, I will never stop preaching GRACE. I truly believe that if it wasn't for God's grace, we'd all be destined for an eternity in hell. One thing to thing about, is grace not love? And if grace is love, that means God's grace is God's love. So to say that the grace gospel is being over preached is like saying God's love is being over preached. Since I've traveled around, my eyes have been opened to may different things. I've noticed that the difference in culture doesn't just effect the way of life but the way of ministering. One thing I've noticed is the bulk of people criticizing the grace gospel is in the southern states also known as the Bible Belt. Being born and raised in the Bible Belt by Pentecostal, Bible believing family, I understand this way of ministering. After traveling around the US and the world, God opened my eyes to the different cultures of ministering as well as the way of life. Saying all that, the culture of ministering is going to be way different in Seattle than it's going to be in Oklahoma City, Boston is going to be different than in Dallas, New York City is going to be different that Little Rock, and L.A. is going to be different than Nashville. The ways of ministering will not reflect each other if all states or countries. In saying that, we should not judge what another pastor is doing or what "movement" or method he/she used to reach the area God placed them in. Just like those criticizing about the grace gospel, we shouldn't criticize that "hell, fire and brimstone gospel" either. If someone is ministering, speaking truth through God's Word and leading people to Jesus...then who cares if it's through the grace gospel, feel good gospel or even the hell, fire and brimstone gospel...rejoice with them instead of criticize them. So the question remains, is the grace gospel over preached in todays churches? Think about it and decide for yourself. One way it was put by another person with the same stance as I have on it..."the grace gospel is over preached until you need it". Don't be quick to judge and lose your grace for others. We are all human and will always fail...we will always need God's grace so it will need to be preached ALOT from the churches today if we want to see the world changed for God. One thing that most kids (if not every kid...at sometime) likes to do play in the dirt or mud. If you're a parent, you are always telling them to stop playing in the dirt or mud and always having to constantly give them an overhaul in the bath to clean every part of them because they are amazing at getting the dirt or mud in/on EVERY part of their body (at least my son does). After awhile, as a parent, you finally give up and let them play, have fun and then take them home to give them a detailed washing.
As Christians, we are told/commissioned to go to the world and tell the good news. For a few Bible references: Matthew 28:18-20 says "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Mark 16:15 & 16 says "Then He said, "Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all. Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned" (MSG) Sin is dirty. Theres no denying that. Theres two different extremes so many christians tend to sway with it come to sin. The first one is the "germaphobe" christians. They see sin as dirty, messy, germy and avoid that person like they have leprosy. The reason some of the struggles and sins christian face everyday is because we tend to avoid certain topics in church. The church talks about people having excuses on commitment and other issues...but the church tends to have their own excuses when it comes to topics we WANT to avoid. Some of the many MUDDY topics we tend to avoid from the pulpit for whatever reason are pornography, social drinking, homosexuality and gambling. The second extreme is when we come into contact with a dirty, muddy person, instead of just offering them a way to get clean, we think we have to clean them the way WE see they need to clean. And if they don't get clean enough (and stay clean forever) you don't give them the stamp of approval and throw them to the way side. We tend to try and do Jesus and the Holy Spirit's job when it comes to this extreme. We think we see where they struggle and tell them what they have to do to get better and give them a 5 steps to recovery and a checklist and if they skip a step or do the steps out of order or not check off one of the things on the checklist or they're doomed to they muddy sinful pit they came from. One example that comes to mind is when the religious people brought Jesus a women that was caught committing adultery (pretty muddy, sinful thing) and Jesus forgave her and set her on her way. Now the law said she was to be stoned (which the religious people was trying to see is Jesus would obey the law and then Jesus put them on blast and said the one that perfect and doesn't have any dirt, mud, sin cast the first stone and they all bolted) but yet Jesus said where are your accusers, I don't accuse you. GO AND SIN NOMORE! If we're suppose to be like Jesus, then why do we either avoid the sin like it's an incurable disease or try and cleanup they person with the sin before giving them the stamp of approve to be a christian? Something I've challenged myself with is to be more like Jesus everyday. Does that mean I'm acting or thinking I'm going to be like Jesus...perfect and sinless??? Are you kidding?!?! Not a chance! I know me better than that and I'm 100% human and can and will fail many times at trying to be live a life of love, grace and mercy like Jesus. But what I do know is that I will try every day to live life with consistency in living a life of love, grace and mercy. Which means when I see someone that is a hot mess, covered with mud from head to toe with sin, I will love them til they're clean...I will show them grace when they get dirt on them again and when they're getting clean...I will have mercy on them when they push away when I'm being there for them. It's time for us as JESUS FOLLOWERS to not just have the "christian" title but do as Jesus did and get down in the dirt. It does nobody any good to be a germaphobe and avoid the topics that are dividing and splitting the church. But at the same time don't try and do a job that's not in our job description...let the Holy Spirt be the one that cleans. It's not our job. But it is our job to love, show grace and have mercy on the sinner. Challenge: Don't be afraid of getting dirty ourselves. Living life down in the dirt. Not being accusers but being an advocate. It's been AWHILE since my last blog. I'll blog next time on what 's been going on but I felt to blog about this.
One thing that we always want to strive to do is make an impression on someone somewhere at sometime. But do we really think about what kind of impression or impact we leave? I know that there are 3 types of impressions people leave wither they meant to or not. 1. Good or Positive - Some of us actually want to make a difference in the world that we live in and the people close to us. 2. Bad or Negative - Some of us really could care less what about themselves or people around them. 3. "This is your world, I'm just living here" or Numbness - Some of us just don't care at all and will do whatever to just stay in our comfort zone or where we fill most welcomed. I know for myself, I want to be the 1st type...I really want to be a positive influence to people around me and people that are close to me. Not only that, but do what I can to leave a positive impression on the world. But at times, just like others, I catch myself "flirting" with the 3rd type. There are some days that I wake up and I could care less and want to just survive the day, avoid any and all conflicts and just stay where I fell comfortable. And there are other days where I am excited to help where I'm needed and try to leave a positive impression on someone and/or somewhere that day. That's not bad, except even though we are human and go through different situations some days, when we get to that 3rd type of numb feeling, we need to push past that and achieve to be positive. Even though we may be going through "hell" and it's been 2 or 3 days, 2 or 3 weeks, or even a month or two, we must push to be positive during those times. When we don't push pass the numb feelings, we catch our self falling into the 2nd type.....the negative and disruptive feelings. When we get to that point, we catch ourselves being us such a negative mood that we could care less who we hurt and what we say to anyone. Deep down, we want everyone around us to feel the low that we're in. People that are happy and cheery get on your nerves and all you want to do is think of the worse thing you could do or say to them to reverse their mood. "I have a questions, they title of this blog is "Leaving our footprints...." and you're talking about our moods and how they effect the people around us. Where do the footprints come into play?" Thank you Billy Bob for that question.... Guys, the way we feel determines how we act and the act we act determines our impressions or our "footprints" we leave on the people around us. So, yes, our feelings/moods and the way we handle the "tough" times will determine which type of print you will leave. My challenge to you and myself: strive to be that positive influence to someone daily and when you do encounter something negative in your life, you'll be in the habit of being positive and that "someone" that you've been a positive influence to will see you struggling and they can return the favor and help you past the bump in the road. Being in the desert, to me, is not an enjoyable place. It's hot, dry, sandy (duh)...but being in the desert physically and being in the desert spiritually are 2 completely different things. I've never actually been to the desert but living in Oklahoma and Texas my whole life, I know how it feels being in middle of an open red dirt field with no wind and it's 110 degrees. That's not fun and I can only imagine what the desert feels like physically.
I can tell you how it feels to be in a desert spiritually but I believe everyone's spiritual desert place and experience is different from each other and different everytime. I know that right now the transition that me and my wife are in is put me in a desert place. I know that God has called my wife and I to work with Network 21 Missions in Culture Shock but that's all we've known for the last 6 months. Our next step has been a mystery to us but not to God. I know we have to wait on His timing and not our timing to make it work. In order to work like God wants it to and to work to glorify Him, it has to be done right and in His time. The desert place I'm at right now is frustrating me I've been there for awhile. I know that when God places you there it's for a purpose, but sometimes it's like the desert gets to you and messes with your mind. You start hearing things that you think is God and you follow those things because they're "leading you out" of the desert when really you're getting further away from getting out. Sometimes your mind will even play trick on you and you see things that will make you believe it's real or the way. Daily I have to remember to clear my mind and spiritually "clean my ears out" so I can hear God talking to me and leading me. Sometimes you will think you've become deaf or have a ear full of sand because you can't hear God's voice. In saying all that...the desert place sucks both physically and spiritually but the reward for fighting through it and the lessons learned are sweeter then giving up and getting nothing out of it to help you. One thing about giving up is (sometimes we don't think about this) if God's next step for us is to go through the learning experience in a desert place and we give up...we still have that step to go through to get where God wants us at. When we run from it, it gets tougher to go through it later than it would when God first brought us to that place. We just need to have clarity daily and have people praying with us to keep us encouraged to be able to finish the dreaded desert. Hebrews 13:5 & 6 says (The Message): "Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?" if you like more traditional versions... Hebrews 13:5 & 6 says (NKJV): "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Since this is my first blog, this maybe a little short...or not. Here is the purpose of this blog and where the name "Self Ignition" came from.
The name "Self Ignition" is something that came to me the other day during my quite time with God. Growing up in church all my life, I went to youth camps, youth conventions, youth rallies, discipleship camps...anything that my youth pastor and/or my family thought was going to help me and challenge me as a christian teenager. Not only did I grow up in church but grow up around ministers and pastors. When going to those youth events you would always come back excited about God and "on fire". But just as you get settled and the "high" is worn off...your once burning fire is now no longer the light you started with. Sometimes, your fire turns into a pile of ashes. I'm not saying the camps and conventions were a bad thing or are a bad thing, but sometimes we don't understand why we have those to attend. God didn't intend for us to go and just get a "religious high" and have experiences that would forget about in a month or two. The one thing that I finally understood was, the fire burned out simply because I allowed mySELF to do so. I let the things that God was trying to drag me away from suck me back in and suffocate the new life that God gave me. We have to learn that as Christians, we have to put self aside allow God to direct our life story. God puts the fire out there but if we allow ourSELF to continue to put the fire out that God gives us, we will never get to where God intends us to be or do what He intended us to do. We must be willing to prepare ourSELF for the fire that God gives us. The definition of "Ignition" is the process of setting something on fire. We need to want the fire to start the process. Once the process is started in ourSELF...God will continue to fuel the fire that He started. We can't fuel the fire ourselves with "artificial fuel" or we'll kill the fire. That's another blog on another day. The purpose of this blog is to share a journey that God is taking me and my family on and to somehow encourage someone that needs it. Also, to remind us that everyday that we have to kill SELF for the fire that God has for us to take and ignite our life. |
Chad & Valerie TrinkleGod loves you more than you think he does. Archives
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