4 References in 3 Days are Enough to be Uncomfortable

Lately we have gotten a little behind on telling you what is going on in our lives. I will do a quick recap here and we will hopefully have a number of posts over the next week that are more in depth on what is going on in and around our journey.

The last few days Cassi and I have purchased a "For Sale By Owner" sign, which was suggested by our financial counselor. We have been moving some stuff in to storage that will subsequently be sold, thrown out, given away, loaned out, stored, or packed to go to Belgium. Paint has been purchased for touch up and the thought process of staging this house for sale has begun. We are "peeling back another layer" of what is keeping us from being mobile. Our dog has gone to stay with other family members as research shows it is easier to sell a house with no pets.

What has been a short-circuit in my brain as of late is the reference from 4 others about me being a pastor. 2 people have said that they would want me to be their pastor. 2 people have said that I "look" like a pastor. One of these people was a complete stranger that said I looked just like her pastor. We were not talking about religion in any of these cases already. These people brought it up out of the blue. If I can be honest, I am uncomfortable with being recognized as a pastor or someone having the desire of me pastoring them. I hold pastoral care on such a high regard that I don't feel I have the knowledge or skill set (yet) to be one. I do, however, trust that God sometimes uses someone seemingly unqualified to bring glory to himself. If that is the case here and I am called to be a pastor (which makes me sick to think about) I would have to fall on my face daily and ask God for guidance on what and how to do that. Maybe that is the point.

I am just an imperfect man. Totally incapable of anything extraordinary on my own ability. Why would God choose someone like that? Well, the bible is full of stories like that. More than likely I will be writing about some of these people over the next week or so. I think Abraham might be my first victim. Although if I write about him it will probably have a bit more of a twist.

Thanks for letting me air my fears honestly here. I am trying to get though this process in one piece but I am afraid metamorphosis must take place in some areas.

You Got-ta Know Your Roll

This past weekend Cassi and I were out with the Daniel Doss Band. It was great having Cassi out on this weekend. It was a youth rally for Providence Baptist Church in Pageland, SC. She helped us out first off by cooking some biscuits and making sure there was coffee for our 5 am departure from the Nashville area. Our guitar player had to leave an hour earlier to be here by 5 am. Yuck! Daniel had an hour drive to Chicago for a 6:40 am flight. Needless to say this was an EARLY morning for all of us.

The youth pastor, Brandon Smith, saw us on tour with Avalon and Michael English last year. He loved the DDB CD and thought we would be a good fit for what he wanted the event to be. The night had a local worship band named Fading Doubt. It was a four piece band led by 2 female voices and rounded out with a guitar player and a drummer. My initial reaction was that of surprise that you could have a band without a bass player. :-) Actually, the guitar player did a great job of setting his pedals to compensate for the lack of a bass player. The band was pretty good and reminded me of Evanescence. Very cool female harmonies.

After Fading Doubt, we went on to do a 40 minute praise set. This youth group was a little more familiar with our originals since Brandon was such a fan. We did a few covers also. Lately, we have been starting our set with Here I Am to Worship instead of a song that is up and in your face. It is such a cool way to set the tone for the evening. We started as a worship band and have tried to stay true to those roots.

Next, a very dynamic speaker came up. His name is Matt Pitt. His back story is pretty amazing. Six years ago this weekend he almost died from a drug overdose. That helped to trigger his transformation from a drug dealer to sold out Christ follower. His website will do a much better job of selling his story.

I will say this, I learned quite a lot about the importance of knowing your audience and message delivery. This was the first speaker I had experienced that had his own DJ. When I say speaker, it was only by title. It was more like a screamer. The DJs music was so loud that it was hard to understand about 40% of what Matt had to say. There were also slick videos that went along with the message with cool sound effects. Parts of the message were emotionally charged and, unfortunately, came across as contrived. This is not to say that Matt Pitt is not genuine, or that any part of his message was wrong. I do feel that he believes everything he said. He comes from a ministry that has up to 7,000 participants a week and is high energy. For him, this kind of presentation would be par for the course. It seemed out of place in rural South Carolina.

This along with some technical difficulties made me realize that what ever you bring to a service needs to be able to stand on its own merits and not be so heavily leveraged on presentation. When Cassi, I, and the rest of the team are in Belgium, we will not have the ability to present a message or service in such a slick manner. We need to make sure that we bring the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. I have nothing wrong with bringing your best, but you need to know your audience. Belgians are typically reserved. We need to minister to them in a way that they can "get it".

Pray for us that we can connect in a real way with with the people of Brussels.

Peace

“Until the Whole World Hears”

It has been a couple of weeks since I have blogged, but I have come to terms that this is how life is going to be for the next 12 months. I promise I will try to get better at fitting blogging into this crazy life of mine. J I am more than happy to walk this road God is leading us down. Becoming a missionary and joining a church planting team is an enormous commitment, but I couldn’t be more thankful. We have to make the most of everyday from sun up till sun down. The days of relaxation are going to have to be over for the next 12 months to give this our all. I have recently changed my ringtone (lol) to a song that really inspires me. It is on Casting Crowns’ new album and really touches me. It is actually the title of their new album and my blog it is called “Until the Whole World Hears”. Here is the chorus just to show you why it inspires me during this time.

ready yourselves
ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
ready yourselves
ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out
as the day draws near
we'll sing until the whole world hears

I am currently taking an Old Testament class in college, and it has been an amazing blessing. During this time when life is turned upside down and you are preparing to leave everyone and everything you know, it is a comforting feeling to be reminded of the sacrifices God has made for us. It makes what we feel like is a major life change seems ill in comparison to what God has sacrificed for us. I sit in class each week with 20 other students and a facilitator. I get to hear their thoughts, beliefs and hear about their relationship with the Lord if they have one, and see their eyes light up when they learn things that they did not know about our savior. I thought this is just a taste of what we will experience in an area where God is not often spoken of. To go to an area where people are not sure what to believe in and walking around with an agonizing emptiness inside, it will be amazing to see the changes in their lives when they accept Christ. Once we realize it is not about us it is about him it is an amazing feeling.

If you have been keeping up with our blog you already know that we are working in so many areas of our lives that our heads are spinning. We are meeting with ministry partners, learning French, constantly seeking God and praying, cleaning out clutter, selling unneeded items, meeting with a financial counselor, plus everyday normal life. Our biggest plan for the coming weeks is to get our house on the market by next weekend. We have been advised from our financial counselor to try the for sale by owner thing for a couple of months. If that doesn’t work then we will seek the help of a realtor. Please pray for us as there is so much to do to have the house ready.

Thinking of leaving my family is one of the hardest things I will do in my life. I have amazing Grandparents, Parents, and siblings who I will leave behind. I also have amazing in laws, nieces, and nephews who we will leave as well. This is a sacrifice we are willing to make. We have families who love us so much and we are so thankful, and we are lucky enough to have families who love the Lord so I know they will understand why we have to do this. When God is calling you to something it would be easier to look the other way and go on about your normal life, but answering that call is the right thing to do as Christ followers. My main goal is to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength and be obedient to him. I ask you to pray for our families during this time. I pray that God will give them understanding. I know they will be a constant support in our lives no matter where we are at. To our Mothers we will be home once per year and you can come visit whenever you like. J We love you all.

I was reading a team members blog and it was talking about how we started this process 7 months ago. I cannot believe how these months have flown by. I cannot believe that I have had the blessing of visiting this country to help make plans for the coming year. It is scary and exciting all rolled into one. Even though I got to spend a week there I still cannot imagine what all God has in store for when we get there. We are trusting God through it all. Please join with us in praying for the missionaries serving in Belgium now and for the people of Belgium, please pray for us along with our teammates as we work harder than ever before to answer the call.

Matthew 28:18-20 (New International Version)

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Welfare? No way, learn to feed yourself!

I just spent one of the MOST difficult weekends on the road that I have ever had. It was physically, mentally, and spiritually tough. I was texting or calling Cassi throughout the weekend telling her how much I wanted to be home immediately. This rarely, if ever, happens. I was out with friends from our home church. We played 4 services at 3 different places in 2 days, but with travel we were got back on the fourth day.

We had less than 9 total hours of sleep over the 2 days we played and those days were packed from when we rose to when we fell. Even though I was on the road with friends in a band called Jacob's Road, I felt like there were barriers around me. It felt very closed off. It forced me to have a heart that sought God for answers. I had to find out if God put these barriers there or if I did.

Peace started to settle in the last day of services and especially during the last service we did. I forgot my bible on this trip so I had to find other ways to connect with God. The only thing that kept popping in to my head was, "Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within me." When I got home I read that passage in Psalm 51. This passage is my prayer right now and is what I intended for this blog post to be about. I thought I would let you in on my realness and struggles instead.

Over the past month or so I have heard 4 different sources talk about feeding yourself spiritually. One that stayed with me was from this weekend's trip. The pastor said that it is not the churches or the pastors responsibility to feed you. The pastor and church should be concerned with teaching you how to eat. This would include teaching you how to read the bible, how to reach out in prayer, and how to reach out for wise council.

This weekend taught me (reminded me) how to eat. I did not have the option to be spoon fed. I had to rely on God. You have to learn how to feed yourself. I did and now it has made me even more hungry. The body can't do it for you forever. Luckily the table is set and there is abundance.

Peace

Life In the Fast Lane!!!

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it has once again been a while, but our life has been in the fast lane since I have returned from Belgium. Bryan was out on the road with Casting Crowns, and I have been swamped trying to catch up at work, help my mom move, and I am still working toward my degree. We had a family reunion last weekend which was lots of fun and Bryan is on the road with Jacobs Road this weekend.

In the midst of normal everyday life we are constantly praying, preparing, and having weekly small group meetings with Team Belgium. I have recently started a new devotional book by Beth Moore called Voices of the Faithful, and I am loving it. It is so inspirational and starts my day off right with some words of encouragement, scripture, and prayer. It is written by 300 IMB missionaries who are currently working in the field. Since we are all called to be missionaries I would recommend it to anyone even if your mission field is not overseas. In the evenings I have been reading a book called Sister Freaks by Rebecca St.James which is about women who risked it all for God. I guess you can tell what is on my mind. The truth is I am taking the advice we received from the missionaries while we were in Belgium. One thing we heard from all of the missionaries was to know how to feed yourself, and I don’t mean food I mean spiritually. When you are in an area where Christians are literally nonexistent it can be easy to get knocked down. By keeping ourselves in the word and uplifted we will be focused and ready for the constant challenges we will be facing daily. Sometimes it can be hard in the US to stay immersed in the word, but in the US we have our church(LifePoint), Christian friends, Christian radio, and tons of Christian organizations to be a part of. We have resources and support all around us. When we are an ocean away from everyone and everything we know I want be as ready as I can be so that nothing will distract me from the work I will be there (Belgium) to do. My husband constantly says you are what you eat and he is referring to spirituality as well. It really does make sense if you know how to feed yourself then you maintain a strong relationship with our Father. When I feel closest to God no other feeling can compare. I am so blessed to have grown up in an area where I can join with others and worship our Perfect God. I can’t wait to get to Belgium to share the good news. I can’t wait to start a church where hopefully everyone will feel free to worship and get involved and build that personal relationship with God and eachother that I know so many are longing for and just do not have the resources or the knowledge on how to start it.

I also want to thank ALL of our ministry partners. Without you this would not be happening. So thank you, thank you, and thank you! If you are or are not joining us in this ministry please know when we move to Belgium our door will always be open. You will always be welcome to come and visit and get your hands dirty with some of the mission work we will be doing there. The financial support is huge, but if Belgium is tugging at your heart you are welcome to get on the ground once we get there and help out. I also want to say a special thanks to our friends Keith and Kerri who gave us Rosetta Stone French Version, a book on Belgium, and a heating blanket that will work overseas. Since Kerri just moved back from Luxemburg she is an amazing resource. We have so many friends that are stepping up to help in many ways so just know how much we appreciate you.

As we continue to prepare we are looking at apartments online to figure out budgets, getting our house on the market, paying off debt, getting prepared spiritually, raising support, learning French, and much more. I ask that you pray for us and the rest of our team during this intense time. It is very exciting and we are trusting God to get us there. We have an amazing Team that God has put in place. Everyone brings something different to the table, and including children we have 19 people going and one more college student who will be joining us a few months after we get there for a total of 20. I am so happy to be going with such an awesome group of adults and children.

Please remember that even though so many view Belgium and Europe as a country with everything it is one of the hardest mission fields out there. There aren't as many physical needs to be met in Belgium as in some countries, but the spritual need there is endless! We have been told this by many. People are so closed off from one another that they are a tough country to get through to. Please pray for God to start working and preparing their hearts now. Please pray for the missionaries who are currently serving in Belgium. We thank all of you for your support!

We are going to be in the hall of fame!

Time is just flying by. Cassi and I have been so busy since her trip to Belgium and my stint with Casting Crowns. This weekend is the first time we are really going to have to debrief and spend some time together. We plan on taking in a tourist attraction this weekend. We are going to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

So we will be in the Hall of Fame; as visitors, not inductees.

Meet the people who are making it happen

Hey guys,

I am still out on the road with Casting Crowns. Yesterday we were at a Provident Records dinner and performed with Brandon Heath, Matt Maher, Chynna and Vaughan, Phil Stacey, and Leeland. It was really neat spending time with all these artists back stage. Admittedly, I was one of those guys who had a bit of a Junior High crush on Chynna Phillips when she was with Wilson Phillips. I ended up not talking with her, fearing that I might come across as a gurm.

The tour rehearsals earlier this week were in Nashville at the Sommet Center with Casting Crowns and Matt Redman. His band sounded so good in rehearsal. Especially the opener. The keyboard player is a guy named Nathan Nockels. He was one of the guys who almost produced the DDB record for us. He does quite a bit of producing in Nashville, especially for his wife Christy Nockels. He and his wife were a group called Watermark for years.

It has been cool to meet and hang out with a lot of the artists that have been writing the lion's share of worship songs of the modern church. This is all just over the past 8 days I have been with Casting Crowns.

We are staying at a nice resort style hotel called Lowes Portofino Bay Hotel. Free tickets to the Universal theme parks. I am staying in the room today though. I have to realize that this is work for me. I need to make sure the music I play tomorrow is right on the money. If I get done later I might venture out to the park.

Chris and Amanda had their baby last night. This morning Hannah seems to be doing well. I should know soon how much longer I am on the road with Crowns. Their tour for the new album starts this coming Thursday in Albuquerque and Friday in Phoenix. By the way this new album, for me, is the Casting Crowns I fell in love with in the beginning. There is quite a bit of worship on this particular album. I have had moments of "church" sitting there learning the tunes. I find myself going between work and worship. This album drops in November and I suggest you OWN IT!

Well, gotta run. I think Cassi said she was going to try to do an update on her trip to Belgium. Not sure about when, but keep looking here for it.

Peace

A Trip With Casting Crowns

I just got back in town from a weekend with Provident recording artist, Casting Crowns. For most people who read our blog they need no introduction, but for those who are just starting to check out this Jesus thing, Casting Crowns has 4 platinum records and 2 gold records. They also have a new record being released in November I believe. They are partners with World Vision and over a year ago they had directly helped to get over 19,000+ children sponsored on a monthly basis. I am sure that number is so much higher now. Like I said this was over a year ago when I was at a World Vision night in Nashville and CC was recognized for their help.

I ended up filling in for them because their bass player and his wife are expecting a child any day. They just needed me to fill in on some dates and help them get ready for the upcoming tour. We start tour rehearsals in Nashville tomorrow, Sunday the 6th. I need to be learning 8 additional Casting Crowns songs from the new album. I like what I have heard from it so far.

So, I will post a few picture from my trip.

Waiting on bus

Bus waiting on me

Back stage area

Crew setting up

Empty seats

Getting some of the details worked out

On stage

Peace!

Belgium Mission Trip Update#1

I am so sorry I am just now getting the chance to post a blog. We have had limited access to the internet because the wireless isn’t free unless we are at a café that has it. We have been incredibly busy and it has been amazing journey thus far. It definitely involves a huge amount of walking which is nice but tiring. We have literally fallen asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow which is another reason I am just now blogging.

Although it is so beautiful here you can definitely tell something is missing. While on public transportation (Tram, Train, or Bus) no one makes eye contact. Everyone is quiet and very guarded. Lots of people have IPODs with Earphones or are staring at their phones as a barrier. We have had a chance to speak with a couple of people none of which are true Belgian, but do live here. We Were lucky enough to have a great conversation with one lady and she told us that she believes Belgians are so guarded due to being used as a battle ground in past years. She said that most conversations are very general on the surface conversations. They typically do not invite you into their homes unless you are family or a very close friend. She said it may be a couple of years before it would be appropriate to have a conversation with a Belgian about politics or religion. We have been trying to communicate and observe as many people as we possibly can.

We landed in Brussels around 8:00am (Belgium time) after flying for nearly 9 hours. We were all exhausted, but really wanted to have a productive day. We needed to keep ourselves busy to stay awake and get acclimated to the time difference. They are seven hours ahead of us(Central Standard time). We checked into our hotel, grabbed breakfast, and started our day. We mainly just got our bearings and attended a church service. We have been using a method that consists of prayer walking, observing and connecting. We are trying to use every minute of daylight to get as much done as possible. No doubt the scenery is beautiful in some areas and you can’t help but snap a picture we have a much bigger mission in and on our minds constantly. Although we would love to spend many hours doing only mission work while we are on this trip, the fact is we also have to make time to see different areas and scout out potential areas we may need to live. We want to be in the area we feel we could really have good opportunities to connect with and meet many people and share God’s word. We want to be in his will 100 percent!

On Monday we were able to visit an area called Stockel. It was very much a suburban feel and family friendly. It was a nicer area of Brussels. We walked around most of the city and were able to view an apartment. Tuesday we went to an area called Gribaumont which personally I loved. There were a couple of great parks where meeting people would be easy. They have walking trails, exercise equipment; skate park areas with concrete hills, and lots of shady sitting areas for reading. People have dogs everywhere in Brussels. It is not uncommon to see dogs walking through the mall or any building. Lots of people are at the parks walking dogs or playing with their children. There are lots of bike riders as well. Any of these would be a great way to make friends. They have lots of mom and pop owned shops which a nice change. Wednesday we will be traveling to Namur to do more research and mission work.

I cannot tell you how thankful and blessed I am to be on this trip. I will admit when I first started feeling like God was leading us towards Brussels I thought of the glamour and beauty of this place and most importantly a huge population of people that do not have a personal relationship with our Father. They are walking through life not even realizing they have a savior who is ready to step up to bat for them and do amazing work in their lives if they will just let him in. Through speaking with the British lady that I mentioned earlier we learned that a lot of people claim Catholicism through status not practice. Meaning they baptize their children because it is the popular thing to do for your friends and family not out of love and obedience.
Many people cannot fathom why we would do such a thing as to move to a foreign country with all of the beautiful historic art, rich chocolate, diamonds, and lace. The truth is they have many things, but God is not one of them. The British lady also said something that really touched me and made my desire to be here even stronger. She said that although has lived in Belgium for a while and although she was married to a Belgian, life here can be lonely. Everyone is so guarded that they are not only missing out on a relationship with God they are missing out on relationships with eachother. Our job as Christians is to love, to encourage, and to be missionaries (in your area or an area you may be called to). Most Belgians do not even acknowledge others presence. It is sad to think in such a beautiful area full of people there are many people who are walking around sad and lonely. There is so much I want to share from this trip already. I will try to post again in the next day or so depending on how busy we are and what access to internet we have. If you have questions please feel free to email me or post them on here. We are trying to learn ourselves. Please pray for Team Belgium as we continue this trip that God will use us as his hands and feet and show us his ultimate plans. We are praying for everyone at home as well. We miss you and we love you all.

Cassi

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all of the earth.
Isaiah 12:5

Tuesday in Brussels and Home Base

Cassi and the team are going on a prayer-walk today through Brussels. They also plan on surveying more of the city to find out more of where we can move and make an impact. They also plan to engage people today by starting conversations. They hope to find out about society, the community, their spirituality (as we call it in America). I hope that today will be a fruitful day there. They are 7 hours ahead of us here in the central time zone so there day is mostly over by now.

At home: This past Friday was our first meeting with LifePoint members to talk about being financial partners. That went well. Sean and Shonna Harrison, and another LifePoint couple (name withheld-I did not ask them if they cared if people new they were sponsoring us) have come on board. I have also had 2 conversations in the last two days and had interest from both of those. So, in the last five days it looks like we have gotten our first 4 monthly sponsors. God can work fast.

Please continue to pray for the team in Belgium for safety and clarity. Also, pray for me. I am putting the finishing touches on the Casting Crowns music I am learning. I leave tomorrow afternoon for a stint with them.

Peace