Budgets & Learning

I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but Jess and I are getting married!  This excites beyond comprehension, but Jess and I know that there are somethings that we need to take care if in the process of being engaged.  One of those things is getting on the same financial page.  We aren’t polar opposites by any means, but we decided to take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University together so that we could both have a plan and tell our money where it is going rather than have it tell us where it went.

Last night we watched the first lesson, about saving, and our “homework” for the week was to create a budget.  Since we will not be married for another year, we created side by side budgets that share some overlap in what gets taken care of without attempting to pay each other’s bills or anything.  For example, I buy most of our food, but we decided that the number for my food budget is too high, so we worked together so that the number for my food budget, which is where we eat most of our meals will go down.  This took planning on all sorts of levels.  We had to figure out how to lower it, and then once we decided that we would lower it, we had to figure out how to plan meals so that we could eat in more often.

Through this process, which is really only beginning, I have learned some things about Jess, and I want to share them with you.

1. She lets me lead:  This doesn’t mean that I’m the authoritative final word, and I get to call all the shots, and make all the decisions without input (that’s chauvinism).  It does mean that she comes alongside me and allows me to point things in a certain direction without doubting my ability to pull something off.  She let me decide how the budgets needed to be set up and how to find places to trim them so that we are both running balanced budgets while making sure that giving and saving take priority over spending.
2. She is an awesome companion:  I’m sure that not all money discussions will go like last night, but she and I legitimately had a good time looking at our finances and finding a way to build a system for our money that honors God and achieves the financial goals that we have as a couple.  There were no bad attitudes, there was no shrugging, there was no frustration.  She had a willingness and a focus for making this work that blew me away.
3. She cares about my overall being:  So this has nothing to do with the budget, but she made hamburgers that had spinach and blueberries blended into them so that we would have something healthy to eat for supper, she asks me what I am reading, and what God is teaching me.  We share our struggles, and the things that we are praying for.  We pray together, not only for ourselves and our relationship, but for our family, friends, community, and for the overall spread of the Gospel of Jesus.

I’m not usually really mushy on the blog, but I felt like this post was in order.  Jess, when you read this, know that I love you, and I pray for you constantly.  Thanks for being such an awesome fiance!

Gideons

Thursday night, I went to a meeting of the Gideons (the people that hand out Bibles on college campuses and put the Bibles in the night stands in hotel rooms).  Last fall I was getting off the bus to go to class and the Gideons were handing out Bibles on the sidewalk, I had heard a little bit about these guys, that they were an association of Christian businessmen that are passionate about seeing people meet Jesus through the sharing of God’s Word.  I’m down with that, so I stopped and asked one of the men a little bit more about the organization.  He and I have stayed in touch since then, and I was able to make it out to their monthly meeting this week.

I’m not going to lie, I had some serious expectations going into this.  I expected a room full of old dudes that are all about some KJV action, and wouldn’t know what to do if I started reading the Bible on my phone.  Not to shatter those expectations, but that was mostly the MO of the room.  There were a couple of young guys, and a couple of guys that were in their 40′s, but it was mostly what I was expecting (the meeting was in a retirement community for that matter).  The young guys seemed pretty cool, but the meeting itself was really hokey, everybody taking turns to stand up and read their part of the meeting from a script kind of deal.  Don’t get me wrong, these guys are genuine, they seem to really love Jesus, but their methods are old-school to say the least.

After the part of the meeting where people stand up and read their part from a script, we moved to another room, where we watched a video about the “women’s ministry” sector of the Gideons, called the Auxillary.  All the while, I’m doing my best to stick close to the other young guys, who are actually pretty cool.  The video might have been a little more cheesy than the first part of the meeting.  Then we prayed and finished up by getting in a circle, holding hands and singing a song that I’ve never heard before.  At this point, I’m not terribly weirded out because the other young guys seem to be politely going along, but not really feeling it, which is where I was on all of this.

The meeting wraps up, and the guy that I met back in the Fall gives me an application after telling me a little more about the organization.  I brought the application home, I’m looking at it as I type this, I have been praying about this, but I just don’t know what to do.  This organization does good work to advance the Gospel, but the methods and strategies are, like I said, old-school.  I think that the organization is about a generation away from whithering to nothing unless something happens, and I feel like I could be a part of that something, but I don’t know if I am supposed to be or not.  I know that God has called me to advance His Kingdom while I am here, and He has provided ways for me to do that, I just can’t tell if this is something that I’m supposed to pursue or not.  I don’t want to be a part of the organization as it is currently, but I think they are hungry for things to change and need someone to lead that change.  I don’t know if I have the time or calling to be that person though.

Ever been in a situation like this?  What did you do?  How do you process this type of decision?

What Does This Have To Do With Jesus?

What does this have to do with Jesus?

Some friends and I are reading through the Bible together this year, and as we come across some of the stranger stories in the Old Testament, I feel like this is a question that is coming up a lot within our circle of discussion. Some of the stories in the Old Testament don’t seem to make a lot of sense for how they apply to New Testament believers. However, those stories often teach us something about the character of God that if we look closely, we can see, and we can learn from. Take for example the story that is recorded in Judges chapter 19 where the concubine of a Levite is raped and murdered by the wicked men of the Benjaminite city of Gibeah. The Levite and his concubine were traveling through town, and a kind gentleman took them into his house for the night. When they had gone into the man’s house, the men of the city came beating on the door in order to have the man brought out to them so that they could have sexual relations with him. The gentlemen whose house they were staying in refused to send out the traveler, and instead sent out the man’s concubine to the men of the city. They raped her and left her for dead. In the morning when the Levite woke up and discovered what had happened overnight, he took his concubines body and cut it up into twelve pieces and sent them throughout the territories of Israel.

This isn’t exactly the kind of Biblical story that you put on a felt board for kids. I have been wrestling with this passage for several days. The more I consider it, the more I see the consequences of sin, and the more I am burdened by the wickedness in the world. Wickedness that none of us are exempt from. As I study this story and why it would have been included in the book of Judges, I am beginning to see how it points to Jesus. The Levite was not consumed by the sinful acts of the city because the owner of the house sent the concubine out to the men instead. The concubine endured the abuse that was meant for the Levite because the owner of the house sent her to take his place. The concubine endured something that was not hers to endure, and because of it, the Levite was allowed to live, by no merit of his own.

Much like the concubine, Jesus endured the punishment that we deserved, and we have been given life because of the sacrifice that He made. Jesus died in our place, just like the concubine was raped and murdered in the place of the Levite. Jesus didn’t deserve to die, the concubine didn’t deserve to be raped and murdered. The sinful people of the city came to the house for the Levite. The wages of our sin is death. Real death, death that is spiritual as well as physical. We deserve separation from the God, but Jesus’s sacrificial atoning death on the cross and His resurrection from death, we have life. We don’t deserve life, but we get it because He paid the penalty for our sin, we only have to turn from our sin and follow Him.

This story is terrible, but it points to a much more beautiful story, the story of our rescue from the wickedness of our sin, and the death that follows. This story has everything to do with Jesus.

Water Revisited

As baseball season and Spring begin, I owe you guys an update on something that we did as a group throughout the last part of the Winter. I wrote in a previous post that I wanted to raise money to help build wells and provide clean water to people that do not have access to it through Charity:water. The idea was to raise enough money to help provide 23 people with clean water for my 23rd birthday.  According to Charity:water it costs about $20 to provide clean water to one person through well-digging efforts. You guys weren’t cool with the goal that I set, and that’s ok.

We raised $1,000 and gave clean water to 50 people!

That’s more than double the original goal of 23!

Because you guys took the time to care, the lives of 50 people will be dramatically altered forever. I can’t thank you enough for helping make my 23rd birthday memorable. We should have details about the actual well that we helped build in about a year, I will make sure that you guys have access to that information as soon as I do.

Why Water?

As some of you may have seen on my Facebook and Twitter statuses recently, I am asking for people to give to Charity:water instead of buying me a birthday present.  This could lead to a plethora of questions: “Why should I give anything to you for your birthday?”,  ”What would make you want to give up your birthday?”, “Why water?”.  All of these are good questions, and I hope to be able to answer them in such a way that you would not only understand why I think this is important, but in a way that you might also think it is important.

“Why should I give anything to you for your birthday?”:  Out of the questions listed, I think this is the best question, because the answer is, you shouldn’t.  If you wouldn’t normally buy me a birthday present, I don’t think that you should buy me a present just because I am asking you to.  This is much bigger than a birthday present.  This is an opportunity to change the life of someone that you have never met, this is an opportunity to offer hope to a community, this is a way to change the world!

“What would make you want to give up your birthday?”:  Last fall, I was at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, and one of the speakers was Scott Harrison, the founder of Charity:water.  Listening to his story and the story of Charity:water tore me to pieces, I felt like God was telling me that I needed to find a way to get involved in this cause.  The best way I could think of to get involved was to run a birthday campaign, where I use my birthday as a tool to raise awareness of the clean water crisis in the world, and to ask my friends, and their friends to help do something about it.  Never has there been a better time to do something like this.  I can send a message on Facebook or Twitter, and immediately 400 people have a chance to respond to it!  That provides an amazing opportunity to educate people about what life is like without clean water, something that we take for granted most of the days of our lives.  So, giving up my birthday is a tool to help educate people and inspire them to action on behalf of the least of these.

“Why water?”:  There are 1 billion people on Earth without access to clean water.  I never think about whether or not my water is clean, I never have had to.  There are children all over the world that drink water that we wouldn’t let our dogs drink.  I think this is a problem.  Providing people with clean water provides them with a source of life.  Jesus told us that He is the living water and that if we come to Him, we will never thirst again.  I have been filled with the Living Water, and it is my desire to make sure as many people as possible meet Him.  Without clean water, people don’t care to hear the good news that Jesus offers us life, because they don’t know what it means to have a life that is worth living.  Water transforms communities, it is the key to many other problems plaguing the least of these, and it creates a fertile ground for the Gospel to go forth.  That is why I chose water.

It is my hope that you will join me in helping people get access to clean water this year.  If you want to do something about what you have read, you can go to http://www.mycharitywater.org/joshis23 and help transform lives.

Christmas in Greenville

Wow. Christmas in Greenville was epic tonight. Jesus was glorified!  As Derek said, we didn’t give Him anything tonight, but our worship was a response to what He has done for us.  If you didn’t get a chance to come out tonight, don’t worry, we will be at J.H. Rose tomorrow night at 7p.m. as well.  Come out and spend the evening praising the King of Kings, the eternal Creator, who became a man to reconcile us to Himself in spite of our wickedness.  The band rocks, the good news will be delivered clearly, and ultimately, Jesus will be worshipped.

Catalyst 2010

I’m on the way to Catalyst 2010, right now. It is a conference for next generation leaders in the Church and industry. I went last year, and really loved it, I’m praying that God challenges and encourages me over the next couple of days. If you want to follow along, you can check out my twitter feed, either at the bottom of the blog or at www.twitter.com/joshamorgan. Much love, see you guys in a few days!

Statement of Faith

I recently was challenged to write out a statement of faith, things that I believe to be true about God, people, and how we interact with Him.  It was a refreshing task, and in a generation where people cannot clearly articulate their beliefs, I think it is a task that is beneficial for all followers of Jesus.  So, here is my statement of faith, please don’t just read the things that I wrote, grab your Bible, open it up and read the Scripture that I draw my conclusions from.

The Bible
I believe that the Bible is God’s Word, given to us through the Biblical authors as directed by the Holy Spirit, and as such is God-breathed.  I believe that His Word is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that His people may be fully equipped for the good works that He has prepared for us. (1 Timothy 3:16-17)

Sin
I believe that we are all sinful, and that the penalty for our sin is eternal separation from God and damnation.  I believe that on our own, no one lives up to God’s standard, and as such we are all condemned to hell.  (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 53:6, Romans 6:23)

The Triune God
I believe that God is one God eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, just, merciful, and perfect.  I believe that He is ever present in the three persons of the Godhead. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and The Holy Spirit.  God is all three and one at the same time, He is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of everything that we know, and He is drawing this sinful world back to Himself through the mediating work of Jesus, and the filling of the saints with the Holy Spirit, all to the glory of God the Father.  (Matthew 28:19, John 1:1-14, John 10:30, Deuteronomy 6:4)

God the Father
I believe that God the Father is the Creator God depicted in the Bible and throughout His work in history.  We see Him through His invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature, He shows Himself to us through His handiwork.  He is holy and just, and therefore cannot tolerate sin without atonement.  He provided atonement for our sin in His Son Jesus, in order to glorify Himself by redeeming us from our fallen state.  (Romans 1:20, Jeremiah 10:10)

Jesus
I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, that He was born of a virgin, by the Spirit of God, that He lived a perfect and sinless life, as only He could.  I believe that He is both fully God and fully man, that in His time on Earth, He felt pain, emotion, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and love as we do, and even more so because He is the glorious creator of all of these things.  I believe that Jesus took our sins upon Himself and was falsely tried and murdered by sinful men, not so different from myself.  I believe that as the perfect sinless man, the Son of God provided the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, satisfying the wrath of God, and providing redemption for fallen man.  I believe that He was dead for 3 days, and that on the 3rd day, He was resurrected from the dead, and that He showed Himself to His followers.  I believe that because He bore our sins, that if we have faith in Him, as the Son of God, confess Him as our Lord and Savior, repent, and are baptized into His name, we are new creations, His Holy Spirit dwells within us, and all of our sins, past, present and future are forgiven.  We are given a new life in Him, a life that is propelled and guided by the Holy Spirit.  (Colossians 1:15-23, John 1:1-18, John 1:29, Luke 23:44-48, John 20:1-31)

The Holy Spirit
I believe that the Holy Spirit of God dwells within all of the followers of Christ, He guides us into all truth, convicts us of sin, directs our lives, and empowers us to live the lives that God has called us to live.  He gives each of us spiritual gifts and the Fruit of the Spirit.  The gifts and fruit that He gives us are a part of us when He dwells with us, we only have to walk in step with Him and let them be visible in our lives.  (John 14:16-20, John 14:26, John 16:8-15, Galatians 5:16-18)

The Church
I believe that the Church is the body of Christ on Earth, with Jesus himself as the Head.  The Church is the global family of God, expressed in local congregations.  The local Church is a group of baptized believers in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and redeemer of mankind, that gather together for fellowship, prayer, worship, education in the Scriptures, service, edification, and to proclaim the gospel to the world. (Hebrews 10:24-25, Acts 2:42-47, Ephesians 4:11-16)

Healthy discussion is welcome.

As Simple As Faith and Obedience

I recently heard it said in a sermon “A simple act of faith and obedience gives God room to work mightily through you”  I was really hit by this statement, but I couldn’t figure out why.  So often, I try to over-complicate following Jesus.  He has given me his Holy Spirit, I am led by him, I am directed by him, I am refreshed by him, and yet I try in my power to follow Jesus, and not in his.

This seems backwards.  Jesus told his disciples on the night before his crucifixion ”I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16.12-15.  Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit, will guide and direct us into truth.

Our call to follow Jesus will be difficult at times, but it will not be complicated.  Our call to follow Jesus is as simple as taking every day as an act of faith and obedience.  Faith that God has a plan for us, faith that he will use us, faith that he will glorify himself through us.  Obedience to his Word, obedience, to the Holy Spirit in our lives, obedience to the systems of leadership that he has set over us.  The disciples followed him in faith that he was the Christ, and obedience to the things he taught.  I think that should be good enough for us too.

Praying on God’s Terms

“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.  At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness” – Psalm 69:13

David doesn’t pray on his terms, he prays on God’s terms (at an acceptable time)!  David knows that God’s terms of abundant, steadfast love are perfect, and our terms are not.  David does not shy away from asking God to comfort and deliver him.  All too often I don’t pray this kind of prayer when I need to.  Instead, I try to fix it on my own, or worry to myself about something rather than bringing it to Him in prayer and trusting that out of the abundance of His steadfast love, He will comfort and deliver me.  When I trust God enough to pray big, direct, passionate prayers, He is glorified even through my struggles.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  - Philippians 4:6-7

Right now for me, that kind of prayer means confessing to God that I am stressed out over closing on the condo, and finishing up exams, and all of the furniture and stuff that we have to buy.  I have to trust that He will answer me in faithfulness out of the abundance of His steadfast love at an acceptable time.  I’m good with that, because I know, like David knew, that God’s timing and His terms are perfect, and that He will provide in the ways that He knows will bring the most glory to His name.

What kind of big, direct, passionate prayers to you need to bring to God right now and let Him be glorified by calming your heart and mind and taking care of it?  Post them here and I will pray for them with you.