this is how i’m doing: in case you were wondering…

Taking a 3-day break.  E-mails, comments etc will be responded to again on Sunday!

I’m out.

gets better each time we hear it. The Gospel - 2/25/07

Wednesday night is “signing night” at the Village which marks the completion of the month long membership class. So after Wednesday I’ll be Baptist - I wonder if I get a ring or something with that… or at LEAST a t-shirt… I doubt it but I’ll let you know. I think I got a coffee cup when I became Methodist.

Tomorrow I’m also trying out on bass for the worship team. Everybody up there is phenomenal so I feel a bit out of place even trying out (seeing as how I’m only decent and not phenomenal) but there aren’t a lot of bass players so maybe I’ve got a shot. If not I’m completely fine with remaining on THIS side of worship.

Speaking of phenomenal (not really), today at our staff meeting we did a Myers-Briggs personality test and I’m an INTJ. I know! Can you believe that?! Oh, well here’s the profile for INTJ’s. Famous INTJ’s include: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Peter Jennings, C.S. Lewis and JFK. Famous fictional INTJ’s (how they know I’m not sure. Did they test them?) Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs), Gandalf the Grey (Lord of the Rings) and Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice). What the heck do C.S. Lewis and Hannibal Lecter have in common?? Apparently more than we think…

I’m out.

Going to a wedding this weekend.  My friend Felipe is getting married!  I love Felipe (not enough to marry him though). He’s got a beautiful story filled with grace and mercy, love and obedience to Christ. He knows Him, and being around him makes me want to know Christ even more. I don’t know if you’ve ever been around this kind of person; people who know Christ so well that just being around them spurs on a desire, a passion inside of you for Christ.

Imagine what it would be like to sit with “the beloved disciple”, John. The same John who in the book of Revelation, upon seeing Christ fell at his feet as if he were dead. I think he’d dig coffee houses, even the overly commercialized ones. We’d be sitting at Starbucks sipping on a latte and I’d say “tell me about Jesus”. He’d look at me, then to his cup and just stare for more than just a few moments of awkward silence before bursting into tears. I want to know Jesus like that; where just at the very thought of Him I’d break into tears uncontrollably because of what He’s done for me. I want that kind of passion.

“Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Saviour. He who has stood before his God, convicted and condemned, with the rope about his neck, is the man to weep for joy when he is pardoned, to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and to live to the honour of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed.” - Charles Spurgeon

When my sin was small, my savior was small. Saved? Saved from what? When sin became real my need for a Savior became real and what a mighty Savior I have in Christ!

“My name is Paul and my story is kinda like the Galatians. I came to know Christ at an early age but somewhere along the way I bought into this lie that I had to earn God’s love. This led me to a life of legalism, secret sin and this belief, this attitude that I had to “do better”. I was trying to earn what God had already given to me.In 2001* at a Metro Bible study I felt the presence of God and I felt Him say “I Love You”. 5* year later in December of 2006 He led me to this body of believers and a program called Celebrate Recovery where He began to show my how Great and how Mighty He is, and how very very small and desperately in need of Him I was.” -Me, like this morning right before I got dipped!

* I actually said 2002 and 4 years later but upon further inspection it was 2001 and 5 years later so I corrected it here

I went with a friend from my home group to see “Amazing Grace” last night (In High Def, totally the way to go) - it was, well, amazing. It’s always amazing to hear the stories of how God changes people’s lives in the midst of their sin, not after we repent or even come to a full understanding of Him. He chose me, He saved me and THEN He filled me in on the details. Such amazing grace that loved us even before we knew we needed Him!