Arise and Build

It’s hard to know how to begin a blog post sometimes. I feel like I’m always pulling out the “Wow, what an amazing weekend” approach. So, let me try again.

Wow, what an amazing weekend! On Friday, Tasha and I celebrated our 5th year of marriage. We stayed a night in Cary, NC at the Umstead Hotel and Spa. I highly recommend it. It was sweet. The kids were not with us. We dropped them off with our former pastor and good friends, Tim and Debbie Burgess in Henderson, NC. Awesome people.

Tasha and I had an incredible time together. That’s all you need to know.

Then, on Sunday we lead worship for New Sandy Creek Baptist Church, our home church in Henderson, both Sunday morning and evening.

NSC is beginning a new building program called “Arise and Build” as they will be constructing a new family life center. The educational and kids’ areas are all out of space – a good problem to have. So, Sunday night was a night of praise and worship at Vance Granville Community College to give praise to the Lord and thank Him for the incredible generosity of His people to give toward this new project.

I wish I could disclose the figure that was pledged by less than 50 families in a rural farming town – it would blow your mind. The Lord is definitely at work at NSC and Tasha and I were proud to be back there to celebrate that day with them.

Tasha and I were just a small part of the program that night, but it was a privilege for us just to be involved at all. Leading with us were my good friends Robbie Watson on guitar and Tim Norton on djembe. Thank you guys for helping to make it an unforgettable evening for everyone. I love you guys.

Here’s what was on our playlist both morning and evening:

-I’ll Fly Away
-All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
-Breathe
-Here I am to Worship

-Days of Elijah
-Come Thou Fount
-All in All

Five Years and Still Brewing

Today is an exciting day for the Via family. On this day five years ago, Tasha and I were united in marriage in Charleston, SC in the presence of God and witnesses. Now, five years later, we've started our own ministry, we have two beautiful children, and we are more unified in and committed to our marriage than ever before.

Everyone tells you how fast the years will start to go by after you’re married and begin to have children, and now I’m beginning to understand what they were talking about. I’m looking back now on five years and wondering where the heck they went. But more than that I’m wondering, “Have I made the most of the past five years?” “Does Tasha know that I love her more now than I did on this day five years ago when she made my heart stop beating when the back doors flew open?” I think she does. Because I tell her all the time. And I try to prove it through my actions. Like changing poopy diapers, for example. That speaks volumes of my love. At least, Tasha makes me think that.

I realize five years is not a long time comparatively speaking. My parents have been married for 30 years now. And Tasha’s parents well over that. We have friends who have celebrated more years of marriage than most people ever live. That’s something to brag about.

But five years still seems pretty good to me. But it’s just the beginning. For Hollywood marriages, five years is like an eternity. Five years is like the silver anniversary.

Here’s some marital wisdom to throw at you- not that I have much wisdom to offer here about marriage, but since this is my blog, I can basically say what I want. So, here’s the free bit of wisdom I’ll share about marriage. Tighten your fanny pack, because this will blow your guts right out. The two best words of council we ever received for maintaining a healthy marriage are: 1. Communicate, and 2. Regularly date your spouse.

We’re committed to those two things. We’re committed to continually getting to know each other. We’re committed to dating each other.

We’re committed to coffee. It brings us together like nothing else can. Next to faith in God, I think coffee will be what keeps our marriage ticking. I think it’s kept many a marriage from teetering on the brink of disaster. At the end of the day, there’s nothing like sipping on coffee and catching up on the little details of each other’s lives.

For us, a little time alone at Panera Bread or Starbucks or on our back porch is worth more than anything in the world. We’ve basically stopped going to movies anymore because we can’t talk in them. It’s a waste of time and money for us. We can’t connect when we see a movie. Not that we don’t enjoy a good movie now and then. But, as a general rule, we don’t count on movies to take our marriage to the next level. We count on coffee. Just kidding. But we do count on those times when we can connect emotionally and spiritually on a deeper level. And we count on those times when can just shoot the breeze and talk about whatever the heck we want to like we were 20 again when all we had to worry about was what we were going to wear to chapel the next day because we hadn’t washed clothes in 6 weeks. (Okay, so maybe that just happened to me. But you get the point).

Marriages thrive on open conversation and healthy dating. I believe that. I also believe the converse is true. Marriages dissipate when communication ceases to be a priority. Marriages disintegrate when the dating chapter comes to a close. That chapter should never end.

Happy Anniversary, Tasha.

Coaches for Lumberjacks

There's nothing like starting the day off right leading worship at 8:30 in the morning for 200 students at a Christian high school. That sounds sarcastic, but truthfully, it was an awesome day. The students at Gaston Christian are awesome. They sang out loud and proud like it was 1989 (Wes, again, thanks for the invite). The students and staff both were very welcoming to us newcomers, even those that look like they came straight from the lumberyard.

(By the way, Tasha says the beard has to go soon. Oh well, at least it was a cheap route toward the heating efficiency of my body for these winter months. But I don't think it did a whole lot for our electric bill.)

Later, I met a guy for lunch that I'm just starting to build a relationship with here in town - an awesome guy with a great heart and a huge vision to reach the city of Charlotte with the gospel. I'm realizing more and more how important it is to keep older, godly people in your life to challenge you, to sharpen you, to correct you, to expand and broaden the vision that God has birthed within you, and simply to be a friend.

Here's something that God convicted me of this week and then our lunch prompted me to write about.

God help me if I ever shun the voices of reason and direction in my life. God help me if I ever reach the point that I feel I don't need accountability - that I don't need sounding walls - that I don't need the guidance of older, more mature believers to help me up when I fall, to encourage me when I'm down or when I succeed, and to challenge me when I get lazy. This may be a shocker, but God help me when I shun even the voices of my critics.

I heard a statement this week from a pastor quoting Billy Graham that challenged me. He said that one of the statements that Billy has made over the years that has stuck with him is, "Let your critics become your coaches."

There's real wisdom there. Granted, much of the criticism we face should simply be moved to the deleted items folder and forgotten about. But Billy is right. We need to allow the criticism of others to become coaching mechanisms in our lives to sharpen where we are dull, stengthen where we are weak, and to be the eyes that we often think are in perfect focus but in reality are dimmed and blurred.

No doubt the Corinthian church felt attacked and belittled by Paul in his letters to them chastising them for how they had gotten everything wrong. But because they were eventually open to his criticism and rebuke, God used it in their midst to prove Himself powerful among them (2 Corinthians 13:1-4). Of course, looking at their situation with 20/20 hindsight, it's easy to say, "Well, Paul spoke from God. So, they would have been complete and absolute morons not to take his rebuke and criticism to heart. It was as if God was speaking to them." True. But his audience wasn't sure of that. In fact, Paul felt like he had to continually prove to them that his criticism was godly criticism spoken as God's mouthpiece (2 Cor. 13:3).

Point being: To a certain degree, we've got to hear out our critics. Maybe God has sent them to be His mouthpiece in our lives. Maybe not. But we should at least give the criticism an opportunity to be a coaching tool in our lives. And that's not easy for me. I'm attempting to learn the art.

A godly friend and professor of mine used to say, "Eat the chicken. Spit out the bones." That's key.

And for the record, this is not a commentary on my lunch buddy, because he was nothing but encouraging. It is simply thoughts that have been on my mind as of late and I figured now was a good time to rant.

"In Quotes"

Here's a freeing thought when we've come to the end of our striving and our doing and our planning and our systems:

"Doing right things can be the result of living within a right value system, but living righteously is the outcome of Christ expressing His divine virtues through us."

-Steve McVey, GraceWalk

50 Souls and a Test Drive

Tonight I witnessed a miracle of God. Over 50 souls committed their lives to Jesus Christ at Southbrook Church in Weddington, NC. God's hand is all over Clayton King, the evangelist in for this weekend of special services. The Lord is using his ministry in a mighty way all over the country as he sows the seeds of the gospel and reaps a tremendous harvest.

Tasha and I have known Clayton for many years, though we're only acquaintances. But we did get to talk just briefly before the service. We told him about our new ministry and this new direction and the new CD. I told him it was called "The End to Which I Strive" and with all the noise in the hallway he thought I said, "The End to a Test Drive." He looked puzzled and gave the courteous smile and nodd thing that you do when you don't know what to say, and you don't want to laugh in the person's face. It was pretty funny. I repeated the title to him, and then we had a hearty laugh. He said it would have made a good emo title. I agreed.

Speaking of a test drive, Clayton was really clear to communicate that the Christian life is not something you simply try out for a while to see if you like it. It's not something you take for a spin. It requires taking up your cross, taking up the electric chair - sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Not a seeker-friendly sermon, by any stretch, and yet God moved. Ironic, I guess. Not surprising though. God honors His Word and people want to hear the truth.

Tomorrow's gonna be awesome still with three more services to go and tons more lost people coming with their friends.

God Must Love Dora the Explorer

Last week we celebrated Areyna's 2-year birthday. It was awesome. Zeke thought it was awesome too. He got to blow bubbles the whole time.

Areyna got lots of presents - all things "Dora the Explorer." We had Dora napkins, Dora plates and Dora cake. She got Dora jammies, Dora dolls, and Dora's backpack. What you may not know that I do, is that Dora's backpack is not a bookbag. It's a backpack. They should not and must not be confused.

When you're the dad of two youngsters, you pick up on the little nuances of the stuff they like and love. I have started learning these things because I care for my children and I care about what they care about. I love what they love. Although it does help when, after endless hours of educational cartoonage, Pixar comes on the scene with something new that simultaneously entertains the parents and the kiddos. Pixar is God's gift to young parents. Thus, I've fallen in love with Lightening McQueen, and so has Rainy. But probably for different reasons. But we both love him.

I think God is like that. He probably looks down from heaven and sees poor Josh fumbling away at his guitar and his writing and his music and the little ordinary things that make up his day and thinks, "Hmm, in the grand scheme of life, those things don't matter, but they are important to him, so they're important to me." Don't misunderstand. God doesn't cater to our desires, but He does place desires within us that are completely within His sphere of granting. Of course, even as Christians we have desires that are unpleasing to Him because of the struggle we have with living like our old self is dead, which it is (see Romans 6). But He places godly desires inside of us. More than that, He places normal, human desires inside of us. The routine wants and desires of our day, He already knows about and actually cares about. He's the awesome Creator of our being, whose days can never be numbered and whose power will never be matched, and yet He cares about the little things of our lives.

In Matthew 6, Jesus made this statement,

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

God cares about the small details - the seemingly insignificant minutiae that we find ourselves forever trying to escape from in the routine of it all. And yet, He says, "Don't worry. I'll take care of you. Don't worry. You like movies? I like them too. Don't worry. You like those Dora jammies? I think those Dora jammies are a"Dora"ble. Don't worry. You enjoy playing the guitar? Well, I invented music. Don't worry. You like to write? I like to write too. I wrote 66 books.

God cares about you, so He cares about what you care about. Does that grant us a license to desire whatever we want? Absolutely not. But it does give us the assurance that God is not looking for superhuman Christians who read their Bibles 80 hours a day and help approximately 3.3 old ladies across the street per day. He's looking for ordinary people that He can love and know intimately. That He can use mightily. Not that those other efforts are bad. Sure, they're good when they are accompanied by the right motives. But, the point is, you're ordinary. I'm ordinary. And that's the kind of people God uses.

I love Rainy. I love Zeke. They're ordinary kids. And yet I know that they're going to do extraordinary things for the kingdom of God. Yes, even the kid in the picture that likes snot bubbles.

It's Out

Here's the update of the week. Our CD "The End to Which I Strive" is completed and arrived at our doorstep in 10 huge boxes this week. We're stoked about it and we hope that all of you will buy one to support the starving children that live in our home (That's a joke. Don't call Child Protective Services on me. They're not really starving. We feed them at least once a week). By Friday, you should be able to go on our website and download the songs for .99 cents each, or $10 for the whole album, compliments of DigStation.com and Smooth. If you'd like a hard copy, as soon as I figure out the shipping costs, I'll post some info about how you can do that. Or, just come pay us a visit in Indian Trail, NC.