Dream!

Gen 37:4-5 but when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more.

I woke up this morning thinking about this passage of scripture. It’s a famous passage of scripture and has been preached in pulpits across the world by way more articulate communicators than me. In the margin of my bible I have this written:


“Joseph should have been able to share his dream with his brothers and family”.

This is dated February 15 2009. I didn’t realize that I had written this until I came into the office and opened up to this passage.

You know life is tough, unfair at times, hard, difficult and with many sufferings. It’s the dream that is in our hearts that gives us the ability many times to believe God and put our trust in Christ. Knowing this, I want to be a husband, father, friend and pastor that let’s people dream and dream out loud. Who am I to say that God is not showing a certain person things or speaking to them? In wanting to help guide people and help them make the right choices I don’t want to become one of Joseph’s brothers. Some of you may know the end of the story; when Joseph says years and years later to his brothers after they sold him into slavery “So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He is saying this perhaps while his brothers are still kneeling before him.



Joseph didn’t know the end of the story-neither do we. Let’s not be the voice of Joseph brothers to our brothers and sisters. I am not saying we don’t help guide and challenge but we shouldn’t try to destroy the dream in someone’s heart because we don’t see it or don’t understand it. Let people dream. Dreams are powerful, dreams are awesome, and dreams can change people’s lives for eternity. When our dreams are intertwined with God’s purpose for His people-He has a way of making dreams come true…..



Live in Grace,

Jared

talk

Just had a great talk with a good friend and I was thinking, life is to short not to have great friends around you. As we are in this process of preparing to move to Miami and not so much to plant a church but plant our lives in a new city and new community, I am looking forward to meeting new people who we will become friends and share our lives with. Who are you sharing your life with? That's a pretty good question to ponder.
Live in Grace!

The Logo

Well, we are a few days into the logo design. We are using 99designs.com to design our logo, thanks to the tip from my good friend Bryan Rees. It’s a pretty sweet concept. If you want you can go there and check out what’s being offered to us so far. Just to the web site click on browse contest and then do a search with the word “church” and our listing will pop up. You will figure it out from there. So far we have like 250+ logo designs to choose from. Any suggestions would be great.

I will write more soooon… peace peace.
JH

Wow, 18 years today we got hitched on 2/1/92

Just sitting in my office doing some studying and praying. Thinking about my wife Angie. I remember the day we got married. I was 21 and she was 18. We had two young sons, Anthony was a big 2yrs and Niko was 5 months old. My brother Daniel was my best man. We decided to get married a week prior. My brother was home on leave from the Marines and his leave was cut short. We went and had a little house wedding in Seattle with my brother 2 boys and my grandparents. Married by my grandfather.
No honeymoon, no big gathering, no pomp and all of that-shoot, nothing wrong with that at all..we just didn't have the money or the time.

We were doomed from the beginning if you look at all the statistics. Teen-parents, high school drop outs, no job skills, no real future. 18 years later I look back and scratch my fresh shaven bald head and think...whoa God, you pretty awesome.

I think how Ang (that's what we call her for years) has turned into this mighty women of God, an awesome wife, tremendous mother, hard worker, caring and loving pastor. There is not to many women that could handle me the way she does. My driven personality and ADD qualities. I am as quirky as they come. Though Ang, she really is amazing. One of her favorite sayings is "Babe, what can you do about it?"...usually over something that has ticked me off and really bothering me. I remember just the other week when we were talking about this move to Miami to plant churches. She said to me "dude, God is speaking to you. I am with you, lets do it." I hope every man reading this can have a wife that looks you in the eye and says "dude, I am with you." Scary and exciting all at the same time.

As I sit and look back over the last 18 years and this marriage that has been graced and redeemed by Jesus. I would not change a thing. Sure there are things that I wish we didn't do or things that I wish I didn't say. But, I have learned in my young 39 years. What doesn't kill ya, just makes stronger and if God is with you, who can be against you. I am looking forward to the 18 years. We will have trials, sufferings and pain I am sure. But I think there is no one else I would rather go thru the next seasons of life then with Ang!

Good Talk and some thoughts

Just had a great talk with my friend Eric Peoples who is a great pastor on the east coast. You can check him out at http://www.mergeahead.com/.

Anyways, we were just chatting on fb about the book simple church (which if you haven't read you should) and he was talking about recruiting people and this was a question: "Am I looking for the best players or the right players. What is the difference?" We came to the conclusion that we want the right people in the right places that are called of God. If we have that, you have the best people.

This really got me thinking even more about the future and the call of God to plant churches. Or whatever a person may want to do in their life. Are you moving forward on mission for your life? You can be the right person that God needs.

Ultimately we will be accountable to God for what He has placed in our hearts. Many people have asked me this question: "why Miami" and I love this question. I am sure the response is not what they have in mind. I am sure they are expecting some type of "supernatural" explanation. My answer has been "why not" I usually get a strange look and another type of question "oh, um, so did God call you to Miami?" My answer is "we chose Miami" and as we started walking towards Miami God has confirmed our steps. One of the most powerful scriptures to me is the following:

Mat 28:19-20
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Man, what a powerful passage of scripture out of this scripture and much prayer and much reading and more prayer I realized that this is for us. That God was telling us to GO. Go...make...baptize...teach.. And He will be with us always.

With all seriousness I didn't choose Miami. Miami has chosen us. I loved what I heard years ago from Pastor Bill Wilson about why he went to NY he said "the need preceded the call" there are so many needs in our country, so many people that need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. The need for the "right people, to be in the right place, to have the right things to say at the right time" we can be the Christ-followers that the Holy Spirit uses to reap the harvest in our nation.

John 4:35 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Hey!

Well, I finally sat down and started a blog. This blog will be about all kinds of stuff but mostly the journey we are on as we step out in faith and sell all we have to move 3400 miles away from home to plant a church in the great city of Miami, fl.

We are having a great time in this process and its crazy how God is helping us along the way. We have made some great contacts with people in Florida. I look at life as a big journey of faith. You can't be afraid to step out in faith. A friend told me recently " when you don't know what to do walk in wisdom but when you know what to do walk by faith". That has been a very impacting statement to me. The bible say's that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. God has been so good to us and I believe that there is a great harvest in Miami and we going to get in on the sowing of many faithful to reap the harvest.

Well, I just wanted to write a little...talk at ya later!
Jared