Planning allows a destination.  There are many many many roads to walk on and many diversions to take so how do you know where to go?  The way I view planning is: How can you plan a trip or a destination accurately without planning either in the beginning of the trip or along the way?  If you drive through the country with no plan you drive aimlessly with no direction, goal and quite honestly a feeling of empty accomplishment – but that’s an accomplishment right!?!?  It is the same with your very own life!

One thing I’ve been questioning and churning in my head lately is when to plan and when to let God direct me.  I’ve always been a planner, however I have learned to leave space open for spontaneity, otherwise I will grow frustrated and disappointed that I am not able to be involved with certain things.  Also having space for spontaneous events allows time to reflect and experiment with things that are new to you in the now and weren’t ever considered for planning in the past.

All that wasn’t new for me but the big question on my mind was “Is it healthy, spiritually, for me to plan my life with such hope, desire and aspirations?”, because from talking with others I will mention I plan on – and later have the feeling that I NEED to say, “if it’s God’s will”, or “if God directs me to follow that plan”, etc.  When I get that feeling to say that I begin questioning why, naturally.  The question to answer the why is “What kind of planning is healthy?  Can I be at peace of mind and feel like I am allowing God to direct my life if I continue to plan?”.

After searching, I found a lot of scripture to help me figure this out, the main one I appreciated and that helped me answer this particular thought was Proverbs 16.

¹ To man belong the plans of the heart,
but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.

² All a man’s ways seem innocent to him,
but motives are weighed by the LORD.

³ Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.

⁴ The LORD works out everything for his own ends—
even the wicked for a day of disaster.

⁵ The LORD detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

⁶ Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.

⁷ When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,
he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

⁸ Better a little with righteousness
than much gain with injustice.

⁹ In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

¹⁰ The lips of a king speak as an oracle,
and his mouth should not betray justice.

¹¹ Honest scales and balances are from the LORD;
all the weights in the bag are of his making.

¹² Kings detest wrongdoing,
for a throne is established through righteousness.

¹³ Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
they value a man who speaks the truth.

¹⁴ A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
but a wise man will appease it.

¹⁵ When a king’s face brightens, it means life;
his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.

¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold,
to choose understanding rather than silver!

¹⁷ The highway of the upright avoids evil;
he who guards his way guards his life.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹ Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed
than to share plunder with the proud.

²⁰ Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

²¹ The wise in heart are called discerning,
and pleasant words promote instruction. ^[a]

²² Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it,
but folly brings punishment to fools.

²³ A wise man’s heart guides his mouth,
and his lips promote instruction. ^[b]

²⁴ Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

²⁵ There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.

²⁶ The laborer’s appetite works for him;
his hunger drives him on.

²⁷ A scoundrel plots evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸ A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends.

²⁹ A violent man entices his neighbor
and leads him down a path that is not good.

³⁰ He who winks with his eye is plotting perversity;
he who purses his lips is bent on evil.

³¹ Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained by a righteous life.

³² Better a patient man than a warrior,
a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

³³ The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the LORD.

Especially verse 9: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”  This made me see more clearly that planning IS good and healthy for you but planning doesn’t mean it’s set in stone and that’s what’s happening, there’s 2 pieces in planning in order to make it practical to your life, there’s planning and the determination of that plan.  The key is allowing God to determine your plans and have sovereignty over your plan.  The best way I understand this is, God doesn’t want to micromanage you and he is the creator of creativity, he wants you to be creative and have desires of your own and to use your creativity to plan ahead.  But just like a great father that he is, he desires to be involved in the decision of your plans, and again like a great father he is, he allows you to invite him into the decisions.  How awesome is it that he loves us so much that not only has he given us an excellent example of the relationship we have with him – father and son – but he allows US to decide.  HE hopes, desires and aspires that we love HIM so much and value HIM so much that we involve HIM.

That is simply amazing.

Ever thought how nice it would be to have a one line question to ask a close friend on a calm rainy day?  Not like we have any calm rainy days around here in saint louis -  Maybe for the fact to stimulate your mind or sounds smart or the big one – to grow in your relationship with that other person by discussing deeper topics other than how’s work?  I long for this every day and wanted to share something with you.

In the last month I’ve had numerous conversations with good friends, this time instigated by yours truly, about something that has been on my mind, a lot lately.  Let’s say it simply intrigues me to the ultimate and back.  Like a package of oreos, i can’t let a package of oreos just sit there and go untouched, and most the time, I have to eat the entire package!  So this intrigues me like a new package of oreos…

Notable: This would be most effective if you only read and processed one section at a time (they’re short and few).  I know it would be very tempting and easy to read the entire post or none of it but I challenge you to take a moment or a few moments throughout the next week and read bits of this post.  See what may happens.

I hope this post will be as intriguing to you as 20 hopeful oreos!  I would even go as far as recommend you to read the first section and walk away from this post so you can think about it and come back for the next section.

Let Us Begin! – I would really appreciate an email or text or comment if you wish about this cause I’m crazy curious about it.

Section 1

do not read section 2 until you’ve fully thought about this.  It may come as a shock to you for how short and initially comical it may seem to you:

If you were present and some random guy / girl walked up to your mother and punched her out, what would you do?

[ truly think about what you would do]

Section 2

Now that you’ve thought about it a bit and hopefully have an answer, do you think that’s right?  Meaning do you think it’s humane or based upon social standard or is it the culturally common thing to do?

Section 3

What do you think Jesus would do?  Was your answer anywhere close to what Jesus would do?  If not then why, if so then why did you not answer with a more cultural answer and why do you think the cultural answer, or in other words, the immediate instinctive answer is so barbaric?

There are SO many things and ideas that can spawn off of where we are now, when do you think anger is an OK emotion, do you think it’s right to allow someone else to control your emotions, if God created anger for a purpose what is that purpose and how do we control ourselves to using anger for only what it is designed for?  I could write pages of things we could talk spawning from where we are on a conversation topic level!

I encourage you to bring this up to a close friend.  When discussing this, it IS very important to pause and talk about each section naturally like it’s not a process.  Reason I say close friend is because I think this is something that could open up a very deep conversation to allow quite a bit of growth between two people.  It allows a lot of inward thinking and reflection which I think is a great way to grow.  One of my deep desires is to grow in my relationships with other people through Christ and his word.  Need I say more?  I love how simple this is too!

More and more good discussions have been coming up about how God works through us in astonishing ways, more specifically through our non christ like experiences.

When I was younger I used to party a lot and was apart of a lot of things that I do not allow to be in my life anymore, such as drinking, girls, language, distasteful jokes, etc.  I’ve gone through series of phases in my life where I was a christian during those experiences, to choosing to no longer take part in those activities but still wanting to, to seeing my friends and others live that life and saying to myself “Man, they are totally missing out and they don’t even know it!”.  Others may look at people who party till they puke and smoke and sleep around and will judge, disrespect or totally miss the fact that they ARE our brothers and sisters and they simply are lost.

I feel God has given me those experiences so that I have a deep desire in my heart to lead them to the voice of truth and love.  I could have easily gotten into deep trouble when I was living that life, like being arrested, injured, addicted, or getting myself into a situation of getting someone pregnant or worse!  Yet I was protected through it all!  God protected me so that I can be the man I am today, freed with the only truth and love that satisfies that emptiness I, and so many others, searched for.  We search for them in all the wrong places only to find ourselves to continue to search in what seems to be a never ending labyrinth.

Does anyone else feel this way?  That God may have allowed us to experience what we did and protected us so that we can have a deep longing to later look at others and desire to show them how they can finally fill that emptiness?

I pray; God give us the strength and control to be in this world but not of it, to act upon the desires in our hearts to search for those who are lost and lead them to you!  Give me the understanding and help me be humble in that I am NOT better than those who are lost.

God is doing some incredible things in and around the city of Saint Louis.  I never thought that I would be living in Saint Louis, a little over a year ago I never would have thought that I would be in the position I am now.  Owning a house, working from home doing something I am totally passionate about, and best of all being a part of a community / family which has exploded at Windsor.

Quarterlife = A ministry at Windsor Crossing for 18 – 20’somethings

Last August of ‘08 I remember very vividly going to the Tuesday night lab (learning and belonging) group which would later become Quarterlife.  We would occasionally meet at a small Chinese restaurant and fit at no more than 2 tables get our food then head over to the church to do our study on the previous weekend service.  There was an average of 6 people who attended and it was a trying and growing experience for us all to stick with it with the hope and trust that God had a plan for our tiny group.

Not more than a year went by and this small group of awesome people turned in to a huge awesome family.  Now, an average of roughly 100 people attend the Tuesday night ‘quarterlife midweek’.  The leaders and core members of this group all have fascinating stories and it is incredibly clear that God has directed each of our lives to meet at this midweek and be a part of this family.  A year ago, I was 98% for sure moving back to Chicago because I had abandoned the hope of establishing a community here, God told me to be patient and WOW does he have a plan in store.

I am very excited about what is to come in the next months and coming year.  Knowing that this family has a passion and heart to make God’s Kingdom expand in ways that we could never imagine and knowing that this could never have become what it is without God simply blows my mind.

Yay God!  I pray that we become a community, a family, not just to build relationships but to do your work wherever you call us, that we get our hands dirty and share the truth of Jesus and restore this city.  I pray you give us the strength, courage, peace and trust to follow your plan and your direction.

Amen, So be it!  For it is Your will, not mine.

Pray for these young people of Quarterlife and that we may do whatever God asks of us.

Had an awesome house warming party tonight.  Roughly 55 friends came to help warm the house and break it in to be a house of God.  Thank you all for coming, it was truly another night to remember and looking forward to having many many more get togethers at the house.

You all rock!

Tonight I hosted the first House of Worship at mi casa.  Invited a few close friends who I knew were very interested in this and although if no one showed up it would still be amazing yet there were 13 of us praising Jesus, the only one who deserves our praise.  Earlier this week, it was tough for me to imagine how to even begin this night and I just laid it in God’s hands because he is in control of this vision I have, and it was more amazing and truly a memorable night.  Thanks for all of you who shared this experience with me, I am looking forward to more of these nights.

I pray that these nights create a stronger community and deeper relationships with each other and with our Lord and Savior.  I pray that the community and relationships we build from this grow with the desire to go out in the world and illuminate God’s Glory onto the world, and that these nights will light a fire in our hearts to share Jesus with everyone we connect with at any level.

I heard somewhere, don’t quite remember where but it goes something like:

How have we become so afraid to share Jesus with others that we often times crawl into our corner and completely ignore the topic around others all together.  If there were someone standing in the street and I saw a car coming toward him, but he didn’t see the car, I would do everything I could to scream out to him and tell him about the car blazing to hit him.  Why are we not like this when it comes to something far more important than a car coming after you, Jesus is there for us always yet we so often forget or refuse to let others know of his gift.

How true and profane is that?!?  We should want to tell someone about our Savior Jesus like a car is coming to hit them and they don’t know it and more!

Take that and chew on it for a bit.