a work in progress.

I woke up early one morning in January with this statement on my heart:

“Do not fear what God will do to you if you don’t follow His will.  Instead, eagerly desire the fullness of life He has planned for you by stepping into His story.”

Up until a few years ago my view of following Jesus and His Will was more about punishment and consequences than experiencing fullness and life.  The fear of what God would do to me if I didn’t do His “thing” was always prevalent in the way I lived my life and the choices I made.  When I would “hear” from God, my obedient response would be that of timidity like, “walking on egg shells”.  I was always afraid that if I took one wrong step–Hell would break loose and I’d be forever condemned.

More recently, my Theology on obedience and God’s sovereignty has expanded from fear and punishment to freedom and fullness of life.  Sure, there are consequences for the wrong decisions I make but there are also consequences for the right decisions I make.

Think back to the Garden of Eden for a second.  When God created Adam and Eve, He told them, “You are FREE to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”  Originally, they could live life to the fullness, abundantly, with only one “do not”.  God gave them freedom, power and rulership to rule over creation by taking care of it and even naming the animals.  Pretty crazy that God would trust a human being with such a big task!

Then there’s the only rule, boundary and “do not”.  And the consequence?

Death.

Eventually, they gave into the temptation.  They ate from the tree and the rest is history.

If they thought that one rule was bad to stay in “right” standing with God–613 more rules came down the pipe from what they can and cannot eat to how to groom their beard.

Talk about micromanagement.

And those rules didn’t even bring life…If I felt like I was “walking on eggshells,” I can’t imagine life in their shoes.

So, that’s just the background of where I’m going.

When we make it to the New Testament and Jesus comes, dies and comes back to life it puts to death the old law (all 613).

There are a lot of things that were accomplished in the Easter event.  One of the bi-products is life.

Jesus died to bring us life.

For me, this means I can enjoy life.  I used to focus so much on the consequences that I forgot to enjoy the journey.  When God calls and I listen I can run and jump into His story.  I can look forward to the life His story brings.  I can enjoy the fulfillment I experience in serving His cause.

There are so many places in Scripture where this is talked about but apparently, for the first 25 years or so of my life I missed them or perhaps was not taught about this kind of freedom in life.

I want to live life to its fullest by eagerly desiring the enjoyment and fulfillment He has planned.

I’m no longer dead but have been brought back to life…and to enjoy it.

I’m looking for people to join me.

You in?

Whether said or unsaid, I think everybody has some sort of philosophy they live by when it comes to their trade, skill, hobby, occupation or lifestyle.  Recently, I’ve been trying to define my philosophy as an artist.  I think when I have a statement that defines who I am as a designer, photographer, writer and musician–everything will become a bit more clear and focused in my work.

So my working statement is, “When necessary, use words.”  If you’re a church history guru, you probably know who I’ve thieved this statement from.  But this statement is who I want to be as an artist.  When people see, hear and read my work–I want my work to evoke emotion, give a feeling, connect in a real way, change opinions, lead to understanding–in as few words as possible.  I guess that could be considered user experience.  People tend to respond better and take more ownership over something they’ve experienced, rather than been told.

Now that I think about it, maybe that can be my life philosophy.

Recently, I received a letter asking me to make a financial donation to the university I graduated from.  This brought up a multitude of emotions and questions that I’ve wrestled with for some time.  First of all, I’m still paying back multiple loans that I had to take out  to attend your school and will be for another ten years…at least.  How can I give you anymore money?  Second, ministry is a “profession” or a lifestyle that isn’t pursued for it’s pay scale but the call God has put on one’s life.  While I believe it’s necessary to gain an academic understanding of ministry and Biblical knowledge–I also think institutional tuition rates for somebody going into ministry are setting one up for failure before they even hit the ground running.

Consider this, a high school student senses an intense call from God to pursue ministry.  Very few churches will accept somebody without a piece of paper (a degree).  Therefore, this student has to attend a private college for a ministry degree.  Private colleges/universities are very expensive resulting in this student coming out with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt.  This student finds their first ministry job (usually as a youth pastor because apparently that’s entry level).  This full-time ministry job pays this new “professional,” $18,000, $25,000 (if you’re lucky $30,000) a year.  This professional is now on their own providing their own housing, food, insurance, etc.  Oh wait, six months later their first bill arrives in the mail demanding pay back for student loans.  So, what does this young professional cut from their budget in order to live?  Food?  Housing?  Insurance?

I know this is all a matter of choice and there are many different ways to pursue a career in ministry but here’s the point:  There has to be another way! Why cut off the legs of a person wanting desperately to follow God’s call on their life before they even hit the ground running?