Q Crashing

Mountains  by Quinton Williams I built a mountain today just so I could play but winds and rains  came crashing in a blaze. Winds of unrest and waves of shame. People wanting to know why it's falling and whose to blame. It's not their mountain, but it gives them something to watch that had more meaning than the hills they seem to botch. I'm learning that the mountains that I build are not the best there is. Dreams have been killed. So today I found a bigger mountain, to big for me to make. There is much to fear and much to love, so I'll see what I can take.

Me and Audrey are joining in on a thing some bloggers are doing called Marriage Letter Mondays.  This is in a hopes to shed transparency on marriages and encourage others in their own marital experiences. Audge, Sometimes I'm afraid our story doesn't look very much like a traditional love story and I think I'm okay with that.  It has had many twist and turns through out the 13 years we have been together.  But honestly, It has been so much better than I could have hoped for.  I had expectations about marriage.  That I would marry one woman and be with her forever.  That I would have a family.  That we would serve God together.  That we would have fun.  All of these have happened.  Though what I so love about our story is the things I didn't expect.  That I would have a wife who gets my sense of humor and makes me laugh all the time.  That I worry about finances and you call me out on it.  That we would have dance parties with two amazing little girls.  That we wo

Matthew 18:1-4 says this, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?   And Calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, Truly, I say unto you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Many of you have met my oldest daughter December.  I want to explore her journey with God and her pursuit of the Kingdom.  The purity in which she talks of Jesus, retells Bible stories, and prays has much to teach me about God.  She is an amazing gift that God is using to shape me everyday.  Periodically I will have post about her view on things.  Enjoy. One of the things she said to my wife recently was, "Did you know God has superpowers?  He can see the whole world in his hands." So true.  Our God holds it and sees it all.  No matter how crazy life gets, let u

So I started blogging a month ago and to my surprise 5% of the readership of the blog comes from Russia.  Somehow this has made me want to go to Russia.  Maybe it's because I love traveling or maybe it's because I want to get over my aversion of Russian authors.  The dislike for Russian literature can be traced back to Senior English, when Mrs. Blanks made us read Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.  I almost gave up reading all together.  But more realistically, I believe it is because there are real people over in Russia whom God loves and wants to be in relationship with.  I really want to meet those people and tell them of the great love that is available through Jesus.  I get so excited when I hear about missions.  There are so many different culutures and people and God is wanting to show himself to all of them and we are his conduit for the message.  If you haven't been on a mission trip to another culture please go.  Russia is added to the list of places peo

So I wrote on hope once, but it is becoming so obvious it is what people are in desperate need of.  Working at the Eugene Mission I see men and women everyday who are struggling to hang on to hope.  But even as I type that I believe that many of us are struggling with hope.  Romans 15:13 says that God is the source of hope yet many of the things we hope for are not God centered.  And so when they don't happen we begin to give up hope.  God has created us for more than worldly aspirations.  Do not let your hope swim in such shallow waters as money and fame.  God has made us to be free men and women changing the world for his Glory.  We can affect homelessness and hunger.  We can preach the Gospel around the world.  We can adopt orphans and care for widows.  Why?  Not because we are special, but because we have hope in the God who loves us and empowers us to make a difference.  We are free men and women on a long journey.  I hope you are excited. Red on Hope

So this is going to be a bit informational.  The last half of 2011 we started working with a church called The Shift in Albany, OR.  This is the church that Neal McKinney, one of the founding pastors from Lifepoint, moved to plant a church with Brad Duncan.  These names may not mean a whole lot to you, but I'm getting to the point. We began talking about Neal moving down to Eugene and pastoring the plant that the Crash would be partnering with here in Eugene.  As some of you know, Neal's youngest son Knox has major heart issues and at this point is having to look at the possibility of a heart transplant.  Needless to say, Eugene is not part of the equation and rightfully so.  The McKinney's are now fighting for their son and doing all they can to be good parents and protectors of their kids.  I'm so proud of how they have handled all this. Where does that leave the Crash.  To be honest, I'm not sure.  We are all still minstering here in Eugene in amazing ways an

So I've heard some people lately talking about how moving out to Eugene is the cool thing to do now.  I really don't like the language.  Let me say right off the bat, this is not easy and please don't move here just because you think it is cool. Secondly, please pray for this area as an option if God is dealing with your heart about being on the mission field.  We need more people taking the Gospel to the city of Eugene.  God is at work here and we are excited to be a part of it, but we do need more people in the battlefield with us. If you take a look at 2 Timothy chapter 2 I think we can see why coming out here or following Christ is not the "cool" or easy or fun thing to do.  It is fulfilling and brings glory to God and obedient.  Check this scripture out.   Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he compet

This week I had a sobering realization.  One of the guys who has been staying at the mission decided to take his life.  He threw himself in front of a train.  This incident reminded me of one of my brothers childhood friends who did the same.  I sat at my desk after I heard the news and asked myself what I could have done different.  He was one of 300 men using our facilities.  Ultimately I feel like God was just challenging me to show more hope to the guys.  When someone gets to that point it is because they have lost all hope. I think we all should be showing hope to the world around us by living out the hope we have in Christ.  God talks about hope throughout the Bible.  Here are a few examples: "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you." Psalm 39:7 "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."   Psalm 43:5 "Let us hold fast the co

If I'm honest, I've always struggled with insecurities.  I always feel this pressure to preform at a certain level because in my mind everyone is watching and waiting.  Even being her in Eugene I feel like everyone is waiting to see what takes place.  This has caused me to many times focus my life around how I can best utilize my skills, abilities, and gifts to make things happen.  Many time to "make things happen" for God's glory.  Even as I type that it feels ridiculous in light of what God has been teaching me.  In the last couple of months, God has been showing me my real part to play in all of this is simple.  It is to believe.  Not believe with some head knowledge, but to believe with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  God is moving in this world and he is bringing glory to himself and spreading His love to His people.  We get to be a part of this when we believe him and trust him.  The Bible reiterates this throughout. Matthew 13:58 says, " And

So one of the things that has happened since I moved out to Oregon is that I've began writing again and in a different way.  Many people who know me remember the fact that I have written poetry for much of my life.  I always enjoy the complexity of putting emotion on paper.  The time spent as a pastor at Lifepoint was a time when I wrote less.  Partly because I was so busy and partly because I just got away from it.  When we moved out here I started talking with one of my coworkers and he shared how he was part of a group that wrote short stories.  I wanted to make some friends and I was interested in challenging myself as well.  I've loved it.  I'm not great at it, but I have loved writing short stories.  At this point I've wrote three and am working on two more right now.  I am also working on a graphic novel.  It is a great creative exercise and so much fun.  On top of that, I get to meet amazing people who write amazing stories. I've also picked up the pencil