On Why God is Good, Oldies are Timeless, and Hope is Not Lost

I'm waiting for my car to get done at the auto shop and I forgot my Jewish Literature anthology at home, which I have about a hundred pages to shoot down by this afternoon. So, of course I decided to waste time until Art at Hawthorne auto calls me and tells me my Honda is good to go.

It's not all that bad for many reasons:

First, the coffee shop I am in is playing a ridiculously great oldies mix which has included "Run Around Sue" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." Have we all recognized the bridge to that last tune? There's no way Neil Diamond is not influenced by that. Thank you Phil Spector and the Righteous Brothers.

That's immediately on my mind. Secondly, and way more importantly, on Friday I had the extreme joy of asking my best friend and love, Ali Dugger, to marry me. And wouldn't you know it she said, "yes." So, we're now officially going for it and can officially talk about life together forever. She is simply remarkable. I could talk to her about anything for hours - maybe years - listen to her for longer. She lives a life I want to be a part of and through God's grace, a life I could compliment in some way. My future is all the more exciting.

I am incredibly thankful, and in praying and thinking about proposing to her, God has taught me amazing things that maybe I should share because it may be of help to you.

1) God redeems: Ali and I both come from what newspapers would call "broken" families. In other words, divorce has plagued both sides of our families as well as our immediate family. This, sadly, is a very common thing in the western world. You would think that we would have a scarred and perhaps bitter vision of marriage, but on the contrary, over the past years, God has redeemed marriage in our minds and by his grace and through prayer we are gaining the excitement for honoring him and each other by dedicating our WHOLE lives to him together and taking the vows seriously: This is for life, and it will be a joy.

2) God is serious about saving you: He'll do anything to save you from what you make ultimate. We all have something at number 1 in our priorities. God promises that if we put him there, we will have a life of joy. That doesn't mean we are without suffering, pain, loss, heartache, struggle, but rather that in those things (when they arrive...and they will) we have identity and belonging. We do not suffer in a vacuum.

But God wants this for you badly, and he will call to you constantly to drop whatever you put above him. You have to ditch your idols. Career? Your vision of a "good life?" Money? Marriage? If you want any of these things or anything else above Christ, you will not find life. "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desire of your heart." You do not know desire until you delight in God and God alone.

I put down many idols before and will be continually battling against them, but I know this is true: God is real, and he saves if you surrender.

3) God pulls through: This is difficult to stomach, because too many of use believe all we've done is suffer. But "the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." Claim that, don't just wish it will happen one day, but claim it.

I just realized I could go on and on. Please ask me about these thing, for they are objective truths that lead back to the Truth himself, Christ. I'd love to talk to you about how I learned this and am learning this.

"Sweet Little Sixteen" just came on and not "Surfin' USA," this guy knows what he's playing.

Half of Your Life is a Long Time

For those of you who do not know, my awesome Senior Pastor, Dale Ebel, is stepping down from the Senior Pastor position after 31 years of service to the church he planted. As with any major transition, there's a lot of gossip going around. Here's the email I wrote to my volunteers and ministry to clear to the air:

Hello all,

I have a lot to say, all of it is important, so please read.

If you did not already know, our Senior Pastor, Dale Ebel, has decided to move on from his role as Senior Pastor and into a new ministry outside of Rolling Hills that he will begin soon. This decision may seem immediate, but it is something he has been processing for a long time. We, as a staff, are very excited for his new season and we're looking forward to what God has for Rolling Hills as Dale moves on.

Dale is 62 and has served Rolling Hills for half of his life. He planted the church and now believes that in order to preserve the health of the body and his family, he must move on. I'm attaching a letter he personally sent out to all members and attenders.

I had the privilege of attending a very emotional and uplifting staff meeting on Tuesday where Dale spoke honestly about his time at Rolling Hills and his plans for the future. I can tell you in all with certainty that this is the best thing for everyone, and Dale is stepping down out of his own decision and discernment in the calling of God through the Holy Spirit. I trust Dale and am excited for the future.

I will say that you will hear rumors about why Dale stepped down. Please disregard gossip and slanderous talk. This is Dale's move, not a ploy to usurp power. Dale himself said this over and over and to say anything outside of this would be to label your pastor as a liar.

When something this shocking and emotional happens, people tend to freak out and say things that aren't true at all. Some say these things out of a good intention, but then use the worst method. Be watchful for people trying to create dissension among you and be in prayer.

Finally, know this is a good thing for our church. Our staff meeting today was incredible. Awesome prayers, confessions of personal sin, and repentance all happened. This is a defining moment for our staff and church but also a time of testing. The staff has been in more honest and deep prayer than I have ever seen. This is a good thing.

If you have any questions, the best thing to do is to email me.

I encourage you to attend this Sunday's service at 9am or 11am. Also, please read the letter to the congregation from Dale and the chairman of the elder board, Don Carter.

I love you all and I'll see you Sunday.

Be in prayer!

Pastor Chris Nye

Just in the Nick of Swine

"Ok, break," my professor said. That was a long lecture and there's probably another hour or so. I need to find the cookies. There are cookies somewhere that I need for a boost.

The girl sitting in front of me turns around before I could even move my legs after my brain thought of cookies.

"Would you mind emailing me the homework she assigns at the end of class?" she said as she slid her email address over my desk. Before I could even wonder why she would leave she told me, "I'm not feeling that well..." she said this line with much more drama than her previous. I decided to replace my skepticism with a joke to relieve both of us.

"Ah, swine flue huh?" I said with a little smirk.

Her face turned white with worry that had a tone that seemed to say, "That is a total possibility." Instead she said:

"You think?"

There was a pause and then I made a little noise before letting out, "No, gosh, sorry, joke," which really wasn't a sentence but I think I got my point across.

She looked at her shoes for a while and squinted as if to think about her symptoms. Instead of waiting for her to ask another question I would stammer at, I just told her I would email her.

She turned from me and walked away. It was right then when I thought, that was the worst joke I could have made, it should have went like this.

"Would you mind emailing me the homework she assigns at the end of class? I'm not feeling well..."

"Totally, but just make sure you swine your name on the swine-up sheet before you leave."

Wink.

HOLY WOW

YOU GUYS

I just had 15 minutes free before my next meeting and I check my blog homepage and saw this new option and I was like whoa what and so I totally clicked it and it was like do you wanna send text messages to update your blog and i was like whoa yea so I totally sent a text message and said testing and look down below it totally showed up all because I freaking sent a little text message wow technology LOLz

Testing