Shelly and I have the awesome privilege of celebrating a 4 day weekend for Memorial Day. I know what you are thinking, "Doesn't everyone get a 4 day weekend for Memorial Day?" Well the answer is no. Pastors rarely get a 4 day weekend and for myself and Shelly, it has been a really long time since we have been able to enjoy a 4 day weekend. I am so thankful for my team at Georgetown. They enable me to take time off and the organization never skips a beat. I do not take that for granted. A great team gives you the opportunity to blow off some steam. Corny I know. But anyway, Shelly and I are going to make the trek to  a remote town in WV for a few days with the family. Its an annual family reunion trip that has gone on since way before I arrived. Excited to pop up the tent and kick back for a bit with the guitar, a cornhole set, and possibly a fire. Should be a good times and great relaxation in preparation for the busy week ahead filled with moving, weddings, and surgery. Via Con Dios!!

You have heard the term before and it mostly resonates with a bad connotation. However, I wonder if it's exactly the place where God wants us to get to. As I read through the Bible I do not see people or situations in control. On the contrary! It is to our advantage to be "out of control" even though it goes against everything inside of us. It is when we are "out of control", that God is in control and quit frankly I cannot imagine a better place to be in. I do understand however that this is easier said than done. Recently I received some news that shook my control. A few months ago while getting my wisdom teeth removed my oral surgeon removed a cyst that was wrapped around the root of my right wisdom tooth. It turns out the cyst was a rare dental tumor that deteriorates bone. The good new is that it is benign and will remain that way. The bad news is that the only resolution to the problem is to remove the bone a centimeter in each direction to eradicate the tumor from ever coming back again. So.....I will have to undergo two surgeries. During the first surgery the doctors will remove a portion of my jaw bone and replace it with a titanium rod. Then 3-4 months later I will undergo another surgery where they will take bone from my hip and graft it in place where they removed my original jaw bone. Yes, this is going to be a bit of a journey and yes I am going to be ok! My movement and facial structure will remain exactly the same. The only side effects will be numbness on the bottom right half of my lip and I will loose my back two teeth but they will get replaced in the end. Now, I would not be honest if I said I was not nervous. However, I know in my heart that this news did not come as a surprise to God. In this case I have no other option than to turn over the control to Him and trust Him with my life. So yes...I am out of control right now and it seems like the right place to be. In other words, "I am out of control and proud of it!" I am humbled and honored that God would trust me with this journey. I will do my best to keep you updated on the process. Shelly and I appreciate your prayers for us. Can I encourage you today to pray and ask God if there are any areas in your life that He would like you to release control? I can tell you this...it may not be easy...But it is the best question you can ask!

I am reading through 2 Kings for our LXVI Reading Plan and I came across this portion of scripture that made me stop in my tracks and evaluate my life. I wanted to encourage you to do the same. OUCH! How does your life match up with this passage? 2 Kings 17:


 ^32-33 They honored and worshiped God, but not exclusively—they also appointed all sorts of priests, regardless of qualification, to conduct a variety of rites at the local fertility shrines. They honored and worshiped God, but they also kept up their devotions to the old gods of the places they had come from.
 ^34-39 And they're still doing it, still worshiping any old god that has nostalgic appeal to them. They don't really worship God—they don't take seriously what he says regarding how to behave and what to believe, what he revealed to the children of Jacob whom he named Israel. God made a covenant with his people and ordered them, "Don't honor other gods: Don't worship them, don't serve them, don't offer sacrifices to them. Worship God, the God who delivered you from Egypt in great and personal power. Reverence and fear him. Worship him. Sacrifice to him. And only him! All the things he had written down for you, directing you in what to believe and how to behave—well, do them for as long as you live. And whatever you do, don't worship other gods! And the covenant he made with you, don't forget your part in that. And don't worship other gods! Worship God, and God only—he's the one who will save you from enemy oppression."
 ^40-41 But they didn't pay any attention. They kept doing what they'd always done. As it turned out, all the time these people were putting on a front of worshiping God, they were at the same time involved with their local idols. And they're still doing it. Like father, like son.

Feeling the itch to hit the road again for a Worship Experience Tour. I miss it and it's been too long. You know that feeling that you were created to do that one thing and you don't feel like you are doing it. Well i am getting that nudge to get back on the wagon. It's been a good season of rest but it's time! I am in the process of making some old and new contacts, putting a band together, and writing some songs. I love the journey of leading others in lifting up our Creator God. There is nothing else like it. There will be a new site up soon. Look for it! Send me an email if you have a venue and would like to host an experience!

Shelly and I have been on a housing search since January. It has been a trying season for sure. We bid on one house twice and lost it both times. We received a contract one one house, moved in our belongings and then lost the entire deal due to the lack of diligence on the sellers part. We have experienced every kind of emotion in the past 5 months. Though it has not been easy, it has been a good journey of testing our character and our faith. What do I mean by testing our faith? For the past month we have been homeless to a point. Our belongings are packed up in storage and we have been staying with family and friends with no comfort or security of a home. This situation has drawn us closer to God and challenged both of us in making sure that our 100% security is found in Jesus, not in safety, a comfortable home, logic, finances, or anything else but God himself. When the act submission comes, then His timing follows. Recently our Realtor e,ailed us out of the blue and said he found what looks to be a diamond in the rough. It was an older home, newly renovated, right off of RT50, and on half an acre of land with a gorgeous backyard. It also happened to be eighty thousand dollars less than the homes we were previously looking at. After viewing the home Shelly and I both agreed to putting a contract on the home and after competing with four other offers, they accepted ours! It's not over yet. With our previous experience we know that anything can happen between now and then but we are one more step closer to securing a home and establishing a family. My feet are tapping but I will not dance until the keys are in my hands:) 

I love reading. The more reading the more 2nd hand experience you receive from the author. One can acquire a whole lot of experiences through reading. I remember when I first started to enjoy reading. It was in elementary school I think. I found out that the more books I read the more free pizza I got from pizza hut. What a deal! The program was called Book It! I wonder if that started the trend? Who knows. Anyway, in case you car here is a list of the book I am currently reading for May. Mo Money Mo Knowledge!

Everybody Communicates Few Connect- John Maxwell
Christian Atheist- Craig Groeschel
From Garden to City Reading Plan

One of my favorite people to read about in the scriptures (besides Jesus of course) is Joshua. I love his courage and leadership in times of uncertainty. His faith is so inspiring. Yesterday, I read a portion of scripture in the last chapter of Joshua that stood out to me like a 3D TV made by LG. Joshua gathers the people together, the old generation and the new, to steward the story of God and pass on the leadership to the next generation. You may have heard the speech before, it ends with, "choose this day whom you will serve. For me and my house we will serve the Lord". What stood out to me was the paragraphs before when he shared the story of God and how He delivered them and provided for them and never once let them go. Joshua was stewarding the story of God for the next generation. He was really asking them who they would serve. In a sense he was being sarcastic and laying it all on the table to Glorify God above. That challenges me on how I am stewarding the story that God is writing in my life. What am I capturing for my kids to see God? How am I slowing down to write or collect artifacts that reveal God's story and his faithfulness in my life? How am I stewarding God's story for my family, my peers, and total strangers? Shelly and I are in the process of buying a house. Last night we talked about the importance of placing around artifacts that we have collected from trips and/or different times in our lives so we can share the story of God with our guests. We also are thinking about tailoring our personal stories into children's stories for our kids before they go to bed at night to instill in them God's faithfulness to them and their family at an early age. There are so many ways to steward the story. Get creative and do it today. People are waiting with anticipation to hear your story.

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.
 ² Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River ^[a] and worshiped other gods. ³ But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, ⁴ and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
 ⁵ " 'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. ⁶ When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. ⁷ But they cried to the LORD for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.
 ⁸ " 'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. ⁹ When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. ¹⁰ But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.
 ¹¹ " 'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. ¹² I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. ¹³ So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.'
 ¹⁴ "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."