It was God’s leading that brought us to Austin in July of 1999. It was also ultimately His plan for our family to find Lake Hills Church where we have served faithfully for the last 12 years (8 of those on staff). The blessings of God have been abundant and I’m convinced that our days at Lake Hills were ordained by God.

Through many months of prayer and Godly counsel we are convinced that God is asking us to travel down a new path, a path that leads us away from the LHC family. Pastor Mac has been more than gracious to us during this process, and has been more than accommodating in giving us the time and space to hear from God.

This decision is the most difficult one we’ve had to make up to this point in our ministry.  The difficulty comes not in saying “yes” to the Lord, but in saying goodbye to all the wonderful friends we’ve made at LHC over the years.  In our hearts we never thought this day would come. I guess that’s why God has reminded us lately of Proverbs 16:9. “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” 

In the pain of leaving, there is also joy in what lies ahead. The Lord has been stirring our hearts and we are excited about the new journey He is taking us on. We’ve been part of the Lakeway/Lake Travis community since 2004, and sense that God is leading us to plant a new church in this community that we so dearly love. The range of emotions are overwhelming as we are both excited and scared to death.

We will be sharing more information as God directs our steps. In the meantime, we covet your prayers for clarity as God reveals His vision, provision for our family, and the protection of unity in the body of Christ.

Check the blog for updates, or shoot us an email at alexanderalex@msn.com if you’d like.

Alex, Wendy, Caitlin and Parker

Our student ministry is in the midst of a series called Life Interrupted: A Christmas Story.  One of our student pastors shared a story last night during the service that my 16 yr old daughter had written about her recent experience.  Being the proud dad that I am, I wanted to share it with you. Please indulge me.

It began on a Sunday morning before church. I was standing in front of my closet just staring at all the clothes. They were literally everywhere; on the floor, out of the drawers, on the hangers, when I thought to myself, “I’m pretty sure I have too many clothes. I won’t even wear all of these by Christmas time.” I let the thought just sink in and continued with my day.

Mom and I went to bible study that night when I finally said something to her. Francis Chan, who wrote Crazy Love, had inspired us. He had said what if we all lived in community with each other. What if we shared money and food? What if we shared clothes? What if? I followed on the idea. I got in the car and told my mom that I didn’t want any Christmas presents. I wanted to use the money for something else, for someone else’s Christmas. Jesus gave to me didn’t he? So why should I take away from people, it seems unfair.

It was then that our plan sort of made itself. My mom and I raved on and on about it in the car. We got home that night and told my dad. Almost immediately we all started talking about doing this and doing that and giving money to this person and their family.Finally our Christmas plans had been set. Starting on the 13^th of December and ending on Christmas we vowed to do something of service everyday. Even Christmas day!

It did take a little getting used to… We told my brother the grand idea and he responded with “Yeahs and oh cools…” all in that monotone voice of a boy who wants an XBox for Christmas. Though it’s such an outrageous and unheard of idea it will probably be the most rewarding thing I’ll ever do. Already we have my cousins in on the idea, and as one big family we’re going Christmas caroling at an assisted living facility. We are excited to have adopted a family through LHC and are humbled to provide for a 19-year-old disabled boy and his caretaker. In addition we’re sending money to some of our favorite charities and a good friend in Seminary. I’m counting down the days!! Only 4 left!

Thank you God for making my family and I realize what giving means. Thank you God for humbling me. And most of all Thank You God for loving me and showing me what it means to love others.

To God be the glory, great things He has done.

• JACKED about attending NewSpring Church tomorrow.
• SUPER JACKED about having the opportunity to spend Monday at the Masters in Augusta, GA.
• NOT JACKED that there is a chance of thunderstorms on Monday.
• NOT JACKED about leaving my family for 3 days.
• JACKED about it being Passover week. 
• JACKED about the new series, Soulmate, coming after Easter.
• JACKED about www.examen.me. not bragging, but i’ve spent time in God’s Word for 13 straight days thanks to this new tool.
•  NOT JACKED about missing services at LHC tomorrow.  Wish we had an online campus

i do believe that we should be compassionate and extend a loving hand to everyone we come in contact with  – not just the least of these.  however, let’s admit it, it’s easier to be compassionate to somebody who is poorer or less fortunate. extend that same compassion to your next door neighbor, coworker, or colleague. go ahead try it. i dare you. it ain’t easy. 

so to make ourselves feel better, we work at the local soup kitchen for an hour, or write a check to an organization that provides clean water or clothes people we don’t know. and we fool ourselves by thinking we’ve made the world a better place. but we haven’t  because we have focused on the temporal (hunger, thirst, nakedness) and not the eternal (salvation). 

in John 6 we hear about a story in which Jesus and his disciples feed a bunch of people. who knows how many exactly, but it was several thousand (more than five thousand to be sure). most of the time the story stops there.  it’s what comes after that i find most interesting.

the day after this miraculous event, Jesus tells the thousands of people who now have a full stomach that they are following Him for the wrong reason. see, they were hungry and he gave them food and now they are not hungry. but they know they will be hungry again soon and he can do magic and make food – so they must follow Him around in case they get hungry again.  Jesus is just a meal ticket.

here’s what He says to them:

47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

see I believe Jesus was not just interested in being a nice guy by turning 5 loaves and 2 fish into a meal for thousands. He was not just interested in keeping people from starving. He was concerned about their well being, but more importantly their eternity. the miracle he performed was about earning the right to be heard. about creating an opportunity in which He could share the gospel and tell them about eternal life with the Father.

so, if all we do is feed and clothe people, then all we have is fewer starving and naked. again, not a bad thing.  just not necessarily a God thing.

if we are not telling people about Jesus and the eternal life that He offers when meeting the needs of others, i would suggest to you that we are not following the example set forth by Christ.

am i wrong?

not sure why (maybe because i’m appreciate the bold faith of Mark Driscoll), but i am excited about watching the “Does Satan Exist?” debate on ABC New Nightline Face-Off tonight.  the face-off pits Pastor Mark Driscoll and  Annie Lobert vs. philosopher Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton Pearson.

you can watch the debate online here if you don’t want to wait.

what do you think? do you think Satan exists?

so, about a month ago, our staff held our annual performance reviews. about 10 days in advance, i sent the following questions to my team in an effort to become a better learner/leader. 

1. What do I do in my roll that leverages you personally and/or your area of ministry focus the most?
2. What do I do in my roll that stifles or frustrates you personally and/or in your area of focus?
3. What is it that I do that you wish I did more of… and what should I stop doing?
4. If tomorrow you were directing the Family Life Ministry at LHC, what are the first changes you would begin to make? Methodology… Structure… Program… etc….

rather than list all the feedback verbatim, here’s what i took away from this time that i need to be working on:

• more purposeful and intentional prayer time with team
• continue to develop team environment in student ministry
• lead team to do ministry out of the overflow/excess
• gather team for fellowship more frequently
• increased presence at weekly ministry events
• more feedback on weekly ministry performance

what are you learning from those you lead?

this is a simple-to-use web site that fosters your personal interaction with God. the site guides you to “examine” your life as you meditate on scripture, pray, and journal your reflections. you can choose from several different options, including a Gospel, NT, OT, or Psalm devotional. I have yet to tinker with the prayer or journal options, but look forward to experimenting with them this week.

you should take it for a test drive. would love to know what you think.

admit it your jealous.

1. Maui, Hawaii (A-MA-ZING)
2. Zermatt, Switzerland (i ate fondue at the base of the Matterhorn – heavenly)
3. Evian, France (drinking water is excellent – just kidding. just beautiful)
4. Disney World (the happiest place on earth – literally)
5. Asheville, NC (just like Austin, but east of the Mississippi)

What are your top 5?