In a New York Minute...

Lindsay and I just got back from New York yesterday. It was definitely a hopping place. We have had the blessing of traveling through many countries in Europe and Asia, but I had never been to New York. In some ways I would describe New York as a way cooler, cleaner, nicer version of China. The one unique prevailing similarity that made me think this is the crowds. People everywhere, which is what I expected. People always seeming to be in a huge rush, with the exception of Central Park. I kept asking Lindsay, what would make someone want to live here? I mean, sure, it is a pretty cool place, but is it worth it? Yet our tour guides on the big red buses that roll through town from stop to stop, kept insisting that this was the place everyone wanted to be. And I have to agree, it did seem that way due to the overcrowding I saw around every corner. But I found myself pondering the same question all weekend, why live life in a rush. James reminds us that our life is but a mist, so why make it seem even shorter. I don't think God intended for us to be so busy. I think we see this in the model of Christ. He often withdrew to quiet places. How ridiculous is it that if you want to withdraw to a quiet place in Manhatten, your only option is Central Park. Part of the problem was that we spent almost all of our time in Manhatten alone, but busyness seemed to be a pillar of culture there no matter where you were. Needless to say, it was nice to come back to the slower pace here in Burleson. Unfortunately, it's not quite slow enough. We don't have the skyscrapers and the subways, but we still have the time crunches, some of the traffic, lots of the same misguided commitments to extra-curricular activities, and the end result is we too are living life in a rush with barely any time for the one who gave us life. Oh, we have more of the quiet places to withdraw to, but how often do we take advantage of them? God wants us to make time for him. After all, if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. May we learn to prioritize our lives, and to place God at the top. May we withdraw to quiet places and simply be with God.

Launch Sequence and Blog Name

Well, here I am attempting to launch another blog. I will be attempting to make this a weekly habit. This will be a place for me to throw out ideas on faith, thoughts about my life, and thoughts about ministry. I hope that this will come to be a place where my students can find solace, laughs, and conversation about faith. I hope that it can become an outlet for me to bounce my thoughts out here on the web and see people's thoughts in return. The idea for the title of my blog came from thinking about our youth ministry logo. The idea of the logo and the wording I have used to describe it, is hopefully what is going in in each one of us. In a lot of ways, I see our faith as atomic. With an atom, there is a nucleus of protons and neutrons that make up its core while electrons are constantly circling. There is an energy represented in an atom that is the kind of model that our lives should look like. With Christ and the cross at our core, we have a constant source of energy and strength that should be driving our lives and our faith. An atom is the fundamental building block of matter, just as faith is the fundamental building block of our spiritual journey. Without the atom there would be no matter, without faith their would be no journey. We are all on a spiritual journey that is driven by an atomic faith. May we walk this journey with the energy and joy that comes from Christ in the center of our lives.