What To Do When God Changes Your Plans

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How many times have we been there? We have a plan, we have a goal, we have an idea of where we will be and then a train hits us and everything changes.

If you had told me when I was in high school that I’d be a pastor on staff at a church getting to work with teens and edit videos, I would have laughed at you. I graduated high school with plans of becoming a big time movie director. I had stood in front of the mirror thousands of times preparing my acceptance speech for movie of the year. I knew who I was going to marry, where I was going to live, how much money I was going to have. I had it all planned out.

But then it changed. And I couldn’t figure out why. I was going to school to study what I thought was film but suddenly my interest changed. The relationship I was in ended and I couldn’t figure out why. Suddenly I went from knowing exactly where I’d be in 5 years to not knowing where I was going to be tomorrow.

The only question I could ask was why? Why God? Why did you take this away from me? Why have you changed my heart? Why have you left me here not knowing which way to go?

Sound familiar?

Six years later I can stand here today and honestly say that where I am now is better than where I was going. What I am doing today is more rewarding than any award I could get for a movie. And who I am married to I am more in love with than I have ever been.

Maybe you’re where I was 6 years ago and it feels like God has taken all your dreams and all your plans and tossed them. If that’s you, then I want to give you some things to think about to help you out.

1. Thank God. Why? Because even though you don’t know it yet, the plans He has for you are better than the plans you had for yourself.

2. Don’t focus on the future, focus on right now. Have you ever tried walking while staring really far off? Typically when you do that you end up losing balance and tripping over your own feet. Right now you need to be focused on right now. Get your feet back on the ground and take one step at a time.

3. Let go of what was and take hold of what is. Sounds like Yoda but it’s true. You’ve got to let go of what you once had or what you didn’t have. Why? Because if your hands are full with what’s in the past then you’ll never be able to take hold of what God has for you in your future.

It sucks when things don’t go the way you want. Especially when you’re as stubborn as I am. If you’re like me when God changed my plans chances are you’re trying to figure out a way to fix everything back to the way it was. DON’T. Accept where God has you and where he is taking you. It’s God. Do you really think your plans are better than His?

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11

6 Reason You Should Come To River City Worship Center This Easter Sunday

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Let me just first off say that this is NOT me saying “these are the things we do that other churches don’t do”. All I’m saying is that this is what I think is awesome about my church.

Our People: I started coming to River City about 2 years ago and I’ll never forget how on day 1 my wife and I felt so welcomed. Members of the church introduced themselves and wanted to know who we were and what our interests were. It was just so welcoming and allowed us to feel so comfortable.

Our Diverse Demographic: I love the variety of people we have in our congregation. There’s black people, white people, teenagers, college students, couples about to get married, couples who just got married, couples having kids, single moms/dads raising their kids, couples who are celebrating their 40th/50th/60th anniversary. It’s impossible not to find someone you have something in common with.

Our Children’s Church: I don’t have kids but if I did I know they’d have a blast with our children’s pastor Jennifer Choate. Her and her team work hard each and every week to provide a fun learning environment for kids of all ages. Just recently we installed an amazing check-in for kids so that way your kids are even safer and you can be made aware if at any time your child needs you.

Our Worship: Every week we kick our services off with 4 worship songs and in the middle have a calling for prayer. It’s such a powerful and emotional time where we get to worship God and pray for one another about things going on in our lives.

Our Pastors: Our Teaching Pastor, Jason Isaacs, and our Executive Pastor, Cecil Green, lead River City. Together they have led the church for 5 years and have done an outstanding job. They do such and an amazing job at helping you connect to God and have a relationship with Him. I truly believe that most of our congregation doesn’t just view them simply as their pastors but also as their friend. You can come to them at any time and they’re ready to help you in any way possible.

Our Mission: At River City if you ask anyone what our goal is it’s simple: Love God Help People. It’s short and to the point and it’s exactly what we do here at River City.

I could go on forever about all the amazing things we do at River City and in the community but I want to encourage you that if you don’t have a place to go this Sunday for Easter to come to River City and check it out. This Easter Sunday we will be having 3 services at 9:00am/10:15am/11:30am. Hope to see you there!

River City Worship Center
7515 3rd st rd
Louisville, KY 40214

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A Book Worth Checking Out

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I just finished reading Judah Smith’s book, “Jesus is ____”, and I thought I would share with you my opinion on it. I’m by no means an expert on books and for those who know me you know I’m picky when it comes to reading.

Anyways, my opinion of the book is that overall it’s good. I found it to be more of a book I would give to a new Christian. I’m not saying I wouldn’t recommend it to you if you’ve been a Christian your whole life though either. The book makes some very good points and one of my favorite parts was when it talked about how we as Christians can sometimes be like the pharisees we read about in the Bible. No way? You’ll be surprised at how Judah Smith nails it when he talks about how us Christians can be so judgmental and he’s right in every way when he describes how.

Again, I’m no expert on books but I give it a score of 7 out of 10.

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23 Questions Every Parent Should Ask

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Over the past few weeks we have been doing a series at LiveLoud called “Best Sex Ever”. Recently I wrote a blog, “Something I Have To Talk About”, discussing the importance of parents speaking to theirs kids about sex. As we finish the series this week  have posted questions that I feel parents should ask their kids that have to do with sex.

I know it can get awkward and I know your kids may not want to talk about it, but, don’t think that they themselves don’t have questions.

I hope this help…

  1. How is sex misused in our culture?
  2. What is it about sex that confuses you?
  3. If God created sex and he loves you, why would he not want you to experience sex any time you want?
  4. How might an understanding and experience of God’s love impact your feeling about yourself?
  5. What are some of the differences between guys & girls?
  6. Why are those differences significant?
  7. Currently, what guides your sexual decisions? Culture? Friends? God’s Word?
  8. What does the Bible say about sex outside of marriage?
  9. How do you know when you’re ready for sex? [when you’re married]
  10. What’s the difference between an urge and a temptation? Is sex essential for survival?
  11. What’s the deal with the mind? Why is the mind considered a sexual organ? Why can’t you forget your sexual experiences?
  12. Is self-control possible?
  13. How important are standards? When should you set them and communicate them?
  14. What is the deal about sex being more than physical? How do the other life dimensions mix with sex? Social? Mental? Spiritual?
  15. How far is too far?
  16. What did Corey mean when he talked about the mental part of sex never leaving you?
  17. How might pornography sear one’s mind and create unrealistic expectations of what sex is like? And, how might that impact a future marriage?
  18. What do you want for your future marriage and intimate relationship?
  19. Do you believe that you can be completely honest about your past? If not with me/us, is there someone in your life who you know cares about you?
  20. Has there ever been anything that has happened to you in a sexual and/or inappropriate way that you’ve kept a secret?
  21. Do you feel like this sex series has helped you? What is one thing you’ve learned that feels “new” to you?
  22. Do you see how your sexual decisions today might impact you life in the future?
  23. Is there anything that I can do as a parent to help you better understand what they’ve been talking about at church?
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Day 2: Guatemala

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Before coming down I was very worried as to if the kids would be receptive to Jason and I. For whatever reason, I had this picture in my mind that I’d be around kids with a camera and would receive dirty looks with thoughts somewhere in the area of, “Who’s this guy? Why is he taking my picture? Get out of here.”

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

This morning when I went to the cafeteria to get breakfast one of the first things this little girl did was come walking up to me with a smile on her face and just gave me the biggest hug. It wasn’t just her though. One after another kids were wanting to cling to me. They wanted to know my name. They wanted to speak to me even though I know very little spanish.

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After breakfast, I decided to go shoot some footage of the area and as I did I came across one of the areas the young boys stay at. They all came out curiously while waving at me and shouting, “Hola!”

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I sat down next to them and pulled out my iPhone. Now, I want you to think back to the most exciting moment in your life, times that by a thousand, and just maybe you’ll experience the excitement these kids had. I began to show them pictures of my wife, my dog, a couple of my youth students. I showed them some funny apps such as Fatbooth and Baldbooth which blew their minds away.

Playing soccer with them was also fun for them. These kids weren’t good. They were amazing. One after another they were showing off their skills and tricks they could do with the ball. Jason could keep up somewhat. Me, not so much.

Today though, aside from shooting video and editing, was a day I really wanted to get to spend time with the kids and I got to do that. Each one is unique in their own little way. I’ve gotten to hear about some of their backgrounds and it just makes me so grateful for the home I was raised in and how much God has blessed me.

Day 3 will be exciting because we will be heading to Honduras but it’ll be hard saying goodbye to these kids. Not because I’ve bonded with them like insanely or anything but because being around these kids makes you want to stay. To them you are their hero and when you see the excitement in their eyes as you walk into the room your heart aches at the thought of saying goodbye.

2 Things I Learned In Guatemala On Day 1

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1) “We’re not in Kansas anymore”

When traveling from the airport to the orphanage my eyes were opened. The way people interact, work, and move about is so different than what I’m used to seeing. It’s 7:38pm right now and kids are still in school. People are driving around on buses that are worn down and beaten up. 10 year old kids are lifting bricks and doing manual labor. Young girls are cooking and cleaning for their families. The culture is so different and nothing at all what I’m used to.

2) I serve a pastor who has a passion for helping others.

This is actually something I knew already but got to see it in action like never before. We sat down in one of the offices here at the orphanage and I watched my pastor, Jason Isaacs, as he listened to what was being needed here. One of the things that is needed is $5,000 to help fix a van that is driving 45 kids to school. Immediately leaving the office I asked my pastor what he thought and he looked at me and said, “We’re getting that $5,000 today.” There was determination in his eyes. No joke. No cocky attitude. Just a determination to help out with something that he believes we at River City can do so that the leaders here can sleep better here at night.

Day 1 was a long but awesome day. I’ll do what I can to keep posting what all is going on here as the week goes on.