It has been WAY too long since we blogged, so here goes: What have we been up to?

1. Prayer team- when Casey and I first got plugged into our church as Mr. & Mrs., we took some good marriage advice we'd heard to serve together at least for the first year. I think we are both people who are motivated by need, and there was a need in the kids' ministry, so we went to our volunteer meeting, got our Summit Kids t-shirts and nametags, filled out our volunteer app, and jumped in. When I say we jumped in, I mean we told the people in charge that we had very little kid experience, and we wouldn't mind being the "security", which meant we sat in the corners each week during one of the services making sure no one sketch was lurking around the kiddies. The most action that usually occurred was us directing someone to the bathroom, or making sure teachers taking kids to the bathroom had passed the criminal background check.

So...fast forward to sometime early this year---Casey had been wanting to be involved in prayer at our campus (northraleigh.summitrdu.com) and what do you know, a prayer team got started. He immediately got involved. I was still sitting in the corner for security, kind of hoping I could serve somewhere else soon, but not sure prayer team was the place. Well, about a week into prayer team existing, the leader of the prayer team was asked to be a campus pastor at a new campus of our church...hm...so, long story short, Casey is now leading the team with a group of guys and girls, including me (I finally gave in because I decided fear of praying with other people is not a legitimate excuse for not praying with other people---God, help me). It's been pretty exciting to see the prayers God is already answering for revival in our church. There's some cool stuff happening in this little group of faithful pray-ers.

2. Coupons- I bought $36.00 worth of groceries last week for $0.52 of sales tax. My favorite free thing was Honey Bunches of Oats Raisin Medley. I've decided that free cereal tastes at least twice as good as cereal you pay for.

3. March Sadness- Casey is in mourning over the Tarheels losing Sunday. I'm still excited 'cause I'm pulling for VCU all the way! (in spite of the fact that their mascot is a ram, which I'm not too fond of) Added bonus* I hear their coach has been contacted as a possible State coach option. So far, I'm pretty happy with that idea.

4. Pollen- we kept waking up with headaches, and constantly being thirsty and snotty and congested and whatever other symptoms you can have with allergies. I broke down and bought two different kinds of allergy medicine to cover every phase of allergy season. Our apartment is surrounded by pine trees full of those that nasty yellowness. It's a scary time.

5. Small group- our church is, one, pretty big numbers-wise, and two, pretty emphatic on really being part of a community, so we have small groups. Casey and I were in one for a few months, but we were all heading in different directions, so we amicably parted ways at the end of the year. Since then, we've tried out a couple new groups, and we think we have found the one. We'd been wanting an intergenerational group with couples and singles, and this fits the bill. Plus, we are really enjoying getting to know the people in the group. It's really sweet to be part of group that loves God, spends time in the word together seeking to know Jesus more, and is about praying for and serving each other. We're excited to see where we go from here.

My wife, in the words of King Lemuel

Proverbs 31:26

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and loving instruction is on her tongue.

Men, you do well to find a woman who loves the truth & is willing to wound you with it in love.  Cristina is like a sounding board to me; countless times I've been stressed or just plain foolish and Cristina has gently spoken truth from God's word that redirects me.  Wonderful listener--listening may even be her spiritual gift.  Love this girl and the woman God's molding her to be.  Cristina and I were engaged one year ago Monday:

You know that analogy about drinking from a fire hydrant? People use it a lot with some sort of training or maybe a sermon---like, "today's sermon will be a little like trying to drink water from a fire hydrant." I think that is happening to me this morning. I got up like normal, about 15 minutes after my alarm had gone off for the last time. I made coffee, drank some water, ironed Casey's shirt, ate some breakfast, drank some more water, peed about 10 times because my bladder is the size of a pea, finally sat down with my coffee and half a cookie leftover from work last night, prayed and wrote in my journal some, told Jesus I'd really like to get to know Him, and decided the Word would be a good place to go.

I'm reading Luke right now. I thought about reading one of Paul's letters because those are usually pretty good, and I've been reading a lot of Old Testament lately, so I thought I'd read some New to change it up a little. Then I remembered how I had just prayed (a few weeks ago) that I would get to know Jesus better---and it just made sense to go to the source---obviously Jesus is throughout the entire Bible, but the Gospels are kind of up close and personal. Not just ideas about Jesus, but Jesus Himself. Man, I just about can't type fast enough to get all these thoughts and excitement out. I am just seeing as I'm writing that these past few weeks God has been doing something big!

Okay, focus---so, this morning I picked up in Luke 6. I should mention here that at church this past Sunday the sermon was on Mark 8 (v. 31 through the end)---“34Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" This sermon was really good, really weighty, but also really frustrating for me. It felt unfinished at the end. There was some tension. And I think it's because God had more to say to me on it. It was really just the middle of the conversation. Yesterday I postponed reading Luke to re-read that section of Mark. Same feeling---good, weighty, frustrating, unfinished.

Okay, so back to this morning, Luke 6. About halfway through the chapter, Jesus prays all night and the next morning calls his disciples together and calls 12 of them to be his apostles. Then, he starts what is known as the sermon on the mount. He starts telling his disciples the difference between a disciple and an unbeliever. Basically, you could sum it up by thinking of everything you'd normally think about success and joy and your enemies and life, and then whatever the opposite is, that's what is actually true and required (and enjoyed by) of Jesus' disciples. You are supposed to love your enemies; you are not supposed to judge; you are supposed to gladly give away what 'belongs to you'--even when the person takes it without your permission; you will be hated by the world; you will be hungry; you will have sorrow. Because your reward is in Jesus. Your reward is in the God of the entire universe. These are light and momentary afflictions. Jesus said "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36) This is so counter-cultural. This is so counter-me. Ouch.

Then Jesus says something that broke me. "'Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house , who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck the house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." (Luke 6:46-49) This is me. Not the first one, the second one. Day after day, I read the Word, I "want to" do the things Jesus says and does, and, usually, I just go on with my day unchanged. I am like the man in James who looks in the mirror at my face, walks away, and immediately forgets what I look like. Absurd. And not discipleship.

I felt compelled to go pick up a book I got at a discipleship training kind of weekend in the 'Boro back in the fall. I picked up The Complete Book of Discipleship and started reading. There is an extended quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship (which, I will note, was also recommended in the sermon Sunday):

"Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ. With an abstract idea it is possible to enter into a relation of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps even to put it into practice; but it can never be followed in personal obedience. Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ."

Wow! Wow!!! This was me. At 7:30 drinking my coffee, this was me. Now, 11:17, and for however long it's been since I read the Word and read over some of this book, that is not me! I have been set free!!! I am a disciple of Christ. I cannot go back. I pray I will not go back. Lord keep me close to You. Please pray with me, for me, and I will pray for you---Jesus lead us, teach us, disciple us. May we never again fall into the trap, believing the lie that we could somehow be "Christians" without being your disciples. Jesus, show us what it looks like to follow You. You want us to. Amen.

I think, after reading this, you will either be really confused, or you will be like "Yeah! Me too!" This is just one of those things that is so groundbreaking to me, so potentially life-changing---to not share it, I think, would be disobedience. Or, at least, a bad idea. Really, the greatest part of this is God loves me! He didn't want me stuck where I was. He wants me to be a disciple of Jesus. To really live that. To actually understand what it means to 'take up my cross and follow Jesus.' He is so visibly making strides to show me this, to teach me what He wants. I love it! Everywhere I turn now, He is telling me. The sermon at church. The Word in the my morning time with Him. This book on discipleship that I got like 6 months ago. CNN (no kidding, I went to read an article on the belief blog, which led me to go check out the Mars Hill Church blog, which led me to watch a clip that "happened" to be on the front page from a sermon called "The Cost of Discipleship." It was pretty much word for word what I'd already heard from the sermon, the Word, and the book. AMAZING.) God knows that I love this kind of thing---where He bombards me with the same message in 50 different places. "What's next Papa?" (see Romans 8:15-17, The Message)