Life

Life right now is great. My family is great. My wife is still the love of my life and my best friend. She is healthy and 26 weeks into her pregnancy with Jarren. Both baby and momma are healthy and doing great. Dreyson absolutely makes my day, every day. He's such a blessing. We found a place to live in Dallas and a great doctor. God just continues to bless us as we continue to follow Him and do our best to live for Him.

Tonight, we had lifegroup. Only one left before our move. We didn't know it, but it was a surprise going away party for Steph, Dreyson, and I. I've always known it, but our lifegroup is amazing. We had a blast. We ate, too much, and just hung out for a few hours and then they presented us with a gift. So unexpected, but what a blessing. James, Amy, Dave, Stacey, Bryant, Lisa, Daniel, Jennifer, Oksana, Jeff, Hernan, Marilyn, Jason, and Jayne...thank you so much. You are all, and your kids, such a blessing to our lives. We've loved getting know you and doing life with you. Living in Florida, away from our family, you were our family and for that we are greatful. Thank you for loving us, accepting us, and choosing to meet together as often as we did. You all will be missed so much.

Church today was great. God, I love worshiping You with such a great group of people. We only have two Sunday's left at New Day. One Sunday and then Christmas eve is our last service. Our time here has been amazing. We've shared laughter, tears, and transformation. You will never be forgotten. New Day was not a stepping stone, but it has prepared us well for the next phase of our journey. Thank you for that.

We love New Day Christian Church!!

To One End

New Day

Today was a much anticipated day by my wife and I, and not because it was fun. Today, we announced that we are leaving Florida and New Day Christian Church for Texas and Compass Christian Church. We are so excited about this new adventure and service opportunity, but leaving a great situation for another is never easy. We have loved the two and a half years we've been at New Day and this place will always hold a special place in our hearts. We have seen God work in so many lives and we've made so many friends. Our first son, Dreyson, was born here. We bought our first home here. This is a special place and I believe so much in the ministry that I've been a part of and that will continue. Not every minister has the privilege of seeing so much fruit, and that's what makes this decision so hard.

I've had the privilege and honor of working with an amazing group of people. From the worship team, to the tech team, to the video team. Thank you for loving the Lord and for being so willing to serve Him.

Jamie, you've been an amazing friend, boss, and example in my life. Even though I'm older (by 5 days) and 100 lbs heavier like you so eloquently put it this morning, I look up to you and respect you as a leader. It has been the privilege of my life to be on the frontlines right beside you.

Riggs, thank you for being such a good example of what it looks like to strive for holiness. You are an amazing friend, an amazing leader, and one of the godliest men I've ever met. Thank you for challenging me and being such an amazing example.

Burkett, Corey, Angie, Kim, and the rest of the amazing staff that I have been impacted by so much in so many ways, thank you. I could go on and on about the people at New Day who have impacted my life, but for the sake of time and the fear of carpel tunnel I won't. I will simply say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

However, we are certain that this is what God has planned for us and we are so excited about it. For reasons yet to realize but already dreamed about, God has lead us to Texas. We don't always know why He leads where He does, and sometimes we fail, but the goal for me and my family is to be obedient to Him always...no matter how hard.

So, Florida...New Day, sadly we leave but always we will love!

Texas...Compass, excited we come!

To One End

Excitement In The Air

For the first time, last night I got to feel Jarren kick in Stephanie's belly. WOW! It's absolutely incredible that in her belly is my son, Jarren Andrew, due to be with us March 21st. It's fun to play with Dreyson, our 20 month old, and think that not too long ago he was no bigger than Jarren and in Stephanie's belly. Now he's this never-stopping, fun, full of personality little guy. It just makes you wonder: What's Jarren going to be like? What's he going to look like? Will he look and act like the picture of Dreyson?

Is he going to sleep for us? Ok, that's a selfish one, but if you've had a kid then you've thought it too. I know that I will, but I still wonder how it is possible to love another child as much as I love Dreyson. Will he be healthy and smart and strong?

Having a child is an amazing experience for so many obvious reasons, but I didn't know that it would increase my faith like it has. We have little control, if any, over our lives, but in asking all these questions about an unborn child; in wondering about his health and traits and personality, you come face to face with the fact that God, and only God, is in control. He's the one knitting, not us. He will bless us with the perfect little baby boy and no matter what we will love Him. Sounds familiar doesn't it?

To One End

It's A Boy!!

Steph and I are blessed with a wonderful 19 month old little boy, Dreyson. Those of you who know him know that he just lights up a room. Now, after our ultra sound this morning, we know that we have another one on the way.

We were convinced that we were having a girl this time. Convinced? I'm not sure why, but we just felt that it was a girl. Disappointment should never be a word associated with finding out the sex of a baby and it most definitely was not our emotion, but we were excited about the idea of having a girl. Maybe one day.

Now that we know it's a boy, it just feels right. God is so good! We just pray that he's healthy and thus far, even though he's still a little alien, Jarren is looking great. That's right. His name is Jarren Andrew Crynes. See ya soon little buddy.

To One End

310 ce...Gone!

For those of you who aren't guitar lovers like I am a Taylor 310 ce is a guitar. In fact, it is a very nice, beautiful sounding, expensive guitar...and I had one.

My uncle Paul, about 8 years ago or so took me into a music store in small town Indiana and told me to pick any guitar, and so I did. His stipulation was that I pay him back, which I willingly and eagerly accepted. One of the reasons this guitar was so special to me was that when I felt the calling on my life to go into full-time ministry my uncle wiped my debt clean. I paid half and the rest was eliminated...gone...history. That was a very special gesture from a very special uncle. If you ever read this uncle Paul, thank you.

I've had that guitar since that time, and a few others that never could compare, until a few nights ago. It was stolen out of my car. You never leave guitars in your car by the way. Not for the fear of them getting stolen, well, until now, but because the humidity and heat aren't good for them so I never, ever leave my guitar in the car. Well, once I guess, and now it's gone. Thankfully I have a back up but that was my Taylor, my precious Taylor.

Here's the bright side of the story. I found out Sunday morning about 10 minutes before rehearsal, when I needed it, that it had been stolen. Needless to say, I was frustrated. I was mad. I was sick to my stomach. My guitar was gone. So, I told my team about it, shared some of my frustrations and disappointment, and put a smile on my face and acted like nothing was wrong. I mean, that's what we're supposed to do at church right? Here's the cool thing though, and a way that I can see God working in my life, it was real. The smile, the "oh well, it's ok" attitude. It was all real. I felt so close to God during worship that morning. I just realized that no matter how much I love that guitar or how special it was to me, I can't take it with me when I go home. Also, I don't know who took it, obviously, but I would love to meet them for two reasons: 1) Because I would get my guitar back, but 2) and most importantly I would tell that person that I love them and that I forgive them.

I guess something my pastor Jamie once said has stuck with me. He said that we need to know that people like this (in my case the thief) are not the enemy. They are the victim of the enemy and if we believed that we would treat them differently, or lets say...appropriately.

To One End

Soooooooo Big

186,000 miles per second...anyone know what that is? That is how fast light travels. In the time that it takes you to snap your fingers just once, a ray of light can circle the globe seven times. Wow! Now that's fast.

Did you know that the sun is about 93 million miles away from the earth and the farthest galaxy ever discovered from the earth is 13 billion light years away? Wow! Now that's far.

Now I just said that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, so in a year that equals 5.88 trillion miles, or if it helps 5,880,000,000,000 miles. That number doesn't even make sense to us. This is all fascinating to learn and overwhelming to try to understand, but it's so revealing of our God Who is sooooooooo big!

I'm reading a book right now by Louie Giglio called, "i am not but i know I AM." It's a great read and so far Louie is painting a picture of just how tiny we are and how big God is. The known universe is so big, but it's only the "known" universe. It seems as though every time a new and more powerful telescope is created, the more we find. It is simply amazing to think of how big this universe is and then to realize that God spoke it into existence.

Psalm 33:6, 9 says, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm."

Isaiah 40:22-25 says, "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all of these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

Louie says in his book, "Though we are transient dust particles in a universe that is expanding faster than the speed of light, the unexplainable mystery of mysteries is that you and I are loved and prized by the God of all Creation."

Is that amazing? God, Who created everything out of nothing, Who knows the billions and trillions of stars by name, knows our names too. He knows everything about us because He chooses to. He loves us and demonstrated that to us through the atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.

Life piles up doesn't it? Life gets hard, people get frustrating, tragedy strikes, jobs are lost, cancer is found, and what we need to remember is that we have a big, huge God Who loves us and cares for us and Who is in control. There's no problem or circumstance that is too big for Him if we would just give it to Him. Whatever it is as you read this post, give it to Him.

Let me leave you with this thought...the smaller we become, the bigger He gets.

To One End

Get-a-Way...from Atlanta

I know, I know, I know. I need to get better at writing more often, but I'm trying.

This past week my wife and I had the privilege of leading worship for a conference at Ozark Christian College, where we both attended. Get-a-Way is a yearly Jr. High conference held at OCC and this year we were called to lead. Thank You, God, for an amazing opportunity. It was so great leading those kids into the presence of God and witnessing the passion and zeal that is so often found in kids that age. There were great.

We (Steph, Dreyson, and I) flew into Arkansas where some great people from our last ministry picked us up. Thanks Jim and Gail. We love you! We got in pretty late so we were excited to go to bed and get rested up for an exciting week so we did.

The next couple of days consisted of eating, spending time with friends, eating and rehearsal. On vacations, even if they're really not vacations, it seems like there is so much eating involved. Anyways, it was great and we hit all the restaurants that we had intended to.

Rehearsals went great. Steph and I were so excited about the band after the first five minutes or so. There were amazing. All of them. I knew two of them, but two of them I did not so I was a little nervous, but they were great, amazing musicians. What really made the week for me, though, was not how talented they were, but the kind of people they were. Great guys who love God and love serving Him. Sometimes, musicians can have attitudes and egos, but you couldn't find either one in this group. Doubt any of them will read this, but if you do, thank you so much.

The event itself went fantastic. We had a session on Friday night and two on Saturday. I just pray that the kids attending had as much fun as we did, but more than that I pray that those who needed to find Jesus found Him, and those who needed a reminder of who they are in Christ were reminded. Mark, the speaker for the weekend was amazing. It was a great week! After the event was over on Saturday, we had another day and a half to spend with family and friends and then...dum dum dum dum...our flight home.

In Psalm 118 where it says, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." I wonder, is that talking about days like we had on Monday and even Tuesday morning? We were stuck in the Atlanta airport for over 12 hours. Rejoice? If you've ever been to Atlanta's airport, you probably still know nothing about how big it is compared to us. We literally probably walked a good two miles around the airport that day. My wife pushing bubs in the stroller, with the diaper bag hanging on the back. Me, pulling our carry on, wearing a heavy back pack, and carrying my guitar. From terminal D, to A, to E, and back to A. Dreyson enjoyed all the train rides, but it made for a long, long day. We were supposed to be home at around 4:30 pm on Monday evening, but instead arrived at home at 4:30 am...on Tuesday. It makes me tired even talking about it.

After all we had been through during the day, and by the way so had thousands of other people so we're not exclusive to the pity, we wound up sitting in first class on the flight home. Steph and I got on the plane, looked at the seats that we normally just walk on by, checked the tickets two or three times, and just starting laughing. It was great. The seats were perfect for Dreyson to sleep on us and so comfortable. After a day of feeling like we didn't matter and being told that we weren't priority, there we were sitting in first class. The challenge that I took from this, besides practicing patience, was to teach my kids that although in the worlds eyes, at times, we might seem insignificant, unimportant, and not priority, in God's eyes we are all those things. We are so important to Him that He sent His Son to die for us. We are so significant in the Kingdom of God that He chose, in advance, good works for us to do. We are a priority to God. We are not an after thought or an inconvenience. We are His children that He loves and adores so much. We are such a priority to Him that He knit us together in our mother's womb. He knows us intimately and wants us to know Him that way.

The greatest part of the day was spending it with my wife and son. They were great. I already knew this, but was reminded of how amazing of a wife I have. She was great. Pushing one baby all day and carrying another (3 1/2 months pregnant) confirmed that she's also an amazing mom. She was never concerned about how tired she was, but only took care of our babies. Dreyson, the most amazing little guy every, spent his entire day brightening up every terminal that we struggled through and bringing smiles to people who, well...had not been. I'm so proud of my family! Thank you God for blessing me with a wonderful wife and healthy, beautiful baby boy, and for the one You are forming even as I write.

To One End

Who Is It That We Worship?

Who is it that we worship? I want to challenge those of you who read this blog with this question. Who is it that you worship? We meet together once a week (or two or three depending on the church) and sing some songs, we listen to a sermon, take communion, and spend some time in fellowship with one another. Why? For those who may struggle with the question of who we worship this might seem odd, and rightfully so. That's why I want to encourage you to know Who it is you worship!

In John chapter 4 Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well. She is unaware, at first, who it is she's talking to, but when she realizes that there is something special about this man she asks a question about worship. Jesus responded to her question by telling her that she and her people (the Samaritans) worship what they do not know. In that same passage Jesus says that the kind of worshipers that the Father seeks are those who worship in spirit and in truth.

We will never even scratch the service of all there is to know about God and His greatness and splendor. All the books in the world could not contain all there is to know about Him, but we must seek to know Him more. His holiness and majesty and strength and glory and power. He placed the stars in the sky and knows them each by name, yet still cares for us and loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place. He didn't wait for us to get clean first, Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Wow! We serve and worship such an amazing God! Know Him. Love Him. Worship Him. May it never be said of us that we worship what we do not know.

To One End

American Idol

I'm probably guilty of several things, but one thing most definately is watching to much TV. My wife and I love to sit down, after Dreyson goes to sleep of course, and watch a good movie. We also, like most avid TV viewers have our favorite shows. Some of our favorites include "Everybody Loves Raymond," "King Of Queens," "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," and "Friends." Probably our favorite ever, though, is American Idol. We get so excited when each new season is about to begin and disappointed when it's over. We talk about each week's show like we are the judges (If you're laughing about that it's because you do it too and you know it). At all times we know who is staying and who is going, or so we think. We have our favorites on each season and the ones, well, we'll just say aren't. We love American Idol!

Well, I think we'll be watching this season through a little different lense than seasons past. My wife and I both auditioned this past week for American Idol, season 9. Let me just add this note...I did not want to audition. I went to support my wife and she talked me into it at the last minute, but nevertheless, I did it. I can write you this post because neither of us made it past the first of many rounds. It was an experience, however.

We sat out all night in line 2 different times to be a part of this show. We saw some "interesting" people and met some friends that were crazy enough to wait all night as well. All in all it was a pretty good experience. Exhausting, and one that we would never do again, but it was fun.

The best part of this whole experience took place the first morning we were in line. It was about 4 am (yes, I said am) and we had already been in line for about an hour. There were already thousands of people in line. People started getting brave and singing aloud in line for people to hear. We heard some great voices. The bravest, however, came from a group of people behind us. They were far enough away that we couldn't make out any faces, and at first, couldn't even tell what they were singing. There were a couple guys playing guitars and several people singing with them. Steph and I kept listening carefully to hear what they were singing when, finally, we made out the song. It was "Mighty To Save." We saw hands raised and heard voices singing, so loud, praises to our King. The group began to get a little bigger and louder as time went on. Probably around 20 or 30 people made up this group of worshippers, American Idol hopefuls, and no doubt followers of Jesus. They worshiped for at least an hour as they sang song after song. What a beautiful sound so early in the morning amidst so many people trying to "make it" and get rich and famous. No question that morning, while most of America was sleeping, that Jesus was made just that much more famous.

This whole experince challenged me and reminded me of Romans 1:16 which says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." I wish I knew the people who were worshipping that morning so I could shake their hands, thank them, and tell them, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel either." I suspect one day when we all join in one song I will have that opportunity.

To One End

Count It All Joy

July 3rd, Jamie, the Lead Pastor at New Day, and I were finishing up having dinner with our families. We had a great dinner and were getting ready to head over to another staff member's house for a poker night with the guys when we got the call. A wonderful family in our church experienced a tragedy. The husband passed away, and not by natural causes, leaving behind a beautiful wife and two beautiful little kids. The knots began to build in our stomachs and we knew what the next step was. We were heading over to the family's home. You know, I love being a pastor, but at moments like this it gets really hard.

A verse popped in my head from Romans chapter 12 verse 15 and it says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn." This verse has never been so real to me. This isn't really a verse that stands out to you too much until you're in a situation like this. I've mourned with people before, but never over a death, and especially one that occurred only a few hours before. What do you do? What do you say? Is there anything you can do or say? I don't know.

For the family, there are so many questions and so few answers. The grief and frustration and guilt and sadness and anger...so many emotions I'm sure they will have to eventually process. I know there is nothing that I can say or do to bring comfort to a family who is experiencing such a horriffic tragedy, but I do know that there is a peace that surpasses all understanding that can be found in the loving arms of Christ. Will they ever understand why? Probably not, but in His love they will find rest, and in His arms they will find comfort.

Psalm 119:76 says, "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant." That is my prayer for this family today. That they would find comfort in the unfailing love of Christ. And for me, Jamie, and all of New Day, may we embrace this family, be the church, and mourn with them.

In James chapter 1 it talks about facing trials and how we should consider it pure joy because it produces perseverance. Pure joy? This, in light of yesterday's loss, is another verse that just got a little harder. No less true, but never more real. This particular verse came to mind because on a shelf in this family's home was a book, written by the wife, titled, "Count It All Joy."

God, be with this family. Surrnound them with your love and peace and comfort. Give them strength enough to make it through this loss. Let your presence be felt like never before in their home and in their hearts.

To One End

Entering the World of Blogging!!

Well, if you're reading this blog, then you probably found the link on our new, and amazing I might add, website. I have to be honest, this is my first ever post, on any blog, ever! I'm excited to let you into my life a little bit and hopefully post some challenging thoughts for you to think about. "To One End" is the name of my site and if you're curious why I named it that, well, let me tell you. In my life, every aspect of it (husband, father, servant of Jesus, pastor, son, friend, brother, etc.), I want to live in such a way that everything points To One End. That one end is to bring glory to God. Whether I'm at home or at the office, by myself or in community, I want my life to be all about Jesus.

I really do look forward to sharing my thoughts, my family (I have a 15 month old son be ready), and just some ways that God is working in my life.

To One End