Vertical and Horizontal

If you have read my blogs for some time, you are well aware that I am a pretty active member of my local church.  If you are new to reading my blog, then you may think I just went through a great awakening.  I would say the former is the more accurate statement, but as one goes on in his daily walk there are going to be times of awakening to new things in Christ.  I feel the need at this point to tell some of my history.

Well, I came to Christ, if you are Armenian, or I was saved by God, if you are a Calvinist, way back in January of 1988.  I used to be very into the martial arts and had an instructor who took me under his wing.  Through this I was exposed, and to some extent practiced eastern religions.  Well, one day a friend met a girl.  Funny, most mens testimony is that they met a girl, but in this case it was my friend.  He wanted to do everything to gain her, and that included me.  How??? Easy, I got my license in the fall of my senior year and he didn't have his.  (NOTE:  I was wrong on some dates in my life but writing this has helped me remember.  I had to get my license because in October my boss wouldn't let me park my bike inside our Bob Evans.)  So anyway, we started going to church.  A ton of events happened that I don't have time to write about right now, but in the end, somewhere I decided I needed to know what was true.  I had remembered a Pastor coming to visit me and show me love when I was a kid (because of some really bad stuff), and that pastor was the same man that was leading this church that my buddy had me going to.  I was getting this eastern stuff in Karate, and we also had a Muslim girl in our school. 

In my quest to know what was true  I read a number of writings including the Koran and the Bible.  To my young 17 year old mind, Jesus made sense.  To my 17 year old heart Jesus loved me.  Well, I had an exciting plane ride in Texas, that was very similar to flight 255.  When I came home I was invited to see a comedian at this church.  He gave a salvation message and here I am.

I met Andrea later in 1988 at Wayne State University.  I was arguing with God about my future.  I was just being real with him.  I was hurting, lost, alone, and didn't know what I was there for.  As I walked into the music building I saw Andrea and God said, this is what you are here for.  We met and were engaged not long after.

Of course, though Andrea was following the Lord, she was not a member of the church I was attending.  This caused some of the in crowd to have hurt feelings.  Through a series of events I left that church in favor of her church.  I her church there was a genuine desire to build me in what I was becoming; a man, a husband, and a father.  This church got in my face about sin.  This church got in my face about my addiction to bike racing.  This church did this in a loving way of pointing me to the Father.  Never was there the, "You idiot!  What are you doing?", but a genuine love for me and a desire to see Him glorified.

1997, I am strapped to a backboard in a hospital with a broken neck.  Andrea is going into labor with our pumpkin.  Pastors and friends are there not with an I told you so, but a caring hand.  The church pulled together and met our needs.  Sixty days later I am sitting with our associate pastor on my porch and he is challenging me.  I wanted to earn my state number plate.  He wanted me to move on.  Well, move on we did.  Later that year he planted a church and we followed.  It took about a month to hear the word from Father on this, but I did and we went.

In 1998 I was pulled into the pastors office.  I didn't understand the meeting.  There was a feeling that I didn't respect one of the leaders.  This wasn't the case.  It did something, though.  I was confronted and challenged to move from "nephew" to son.  I had remembered what it was like to give my heart to Jesus, and at that moment, something clicked and I had  a new understanding of His love for me. 

Somewhere around 2001 I had another encounter and experience with Jesus.  This centered around multi-culturalism.  We are a multi-cultural church.  Our pastor had brought an African American pastor in to give us some pointers on being culturally sensitive.  The core group learned a lot about having a lot to learn.  Some of us were offended.  This was Jesus pulling weeds.  I was hurt for a young boy who has never come back to our church because of this guy.  The guy made a joke about this kid and it crushed him.  Well, since everyone else was going to the pastors office to get dealt with, I had a trip, too.  We had a knock down drag out brawl.  I was not being heard about what really was the matter.  I think the pastor  lumped me in with everyone else.  As we fought, pastor and I, it became evident that I had a little problem with authority.  Today I think people understand what I was truly upset about as the guy who made the comment and I have become friends, but there was a bigger picture God wanted to deal with.  He wanted me to learn how to be under authority.

In 2004 I went back to the pastors office.  This time it was to deal with rejection.  I had moved into a leadership position and felt that people were against me.  Pastor Oz and I had a sitdown and dealt with the matter.  I took a 20 week course and changed jobs all around that time period.  This helped me see the Lord in a way that I had not before.  I was learning to be unoffended.  The cross is the ultimate act of a man unoffended.  When Jesus hung there and said "forgive them Father" it showed me that I needed to let Him work in my life.

Shortly there after I was named as the "youth pastor."  I really have learned a lot about ministering in love and compassion.  Seeing the youth has helped me see Jesus.  Through the last couple of years Andrea and I have learned a lot.  We have always done a lot in the church, but we have grown in how we do it.  We have been doing a lot more administration.  We have worked with the youth in our region.  We have started networking youth ministries together in an effort to see the whole body of Christ move to change Michigan.  We have been on missions trips.  In all of this we have seen Jesus. 

Today I am just continuing a longer journey.  My heart is to plant a church.  My heart is to replicate the work we are currently a part of.  I want to see Jesus glorified in our community.  I want to see families as whole as they can be and moving together as one body.  I want to see the poor reached as they are now in a different area.  I want to see MLK's vision acted out in our congregation.  I want to see more of the Father and be open to His vision. 

I hope you can see that through all of my life there have been two major lines drawn.  There has been a vertical line.  This line has been the one Father uses to pull me closer to Him.  There has also been the horizontal line.  This is another line Father has used to pull me closer to Him.  These horizontal lines are mandatory.  If I did not have them I would not know Him as I do.  The horizontal lines have not always been perfect, but they have been beneficial.