A bit of financial freakout....

While we are super excited about all that is happening in our lives right now - there is also a lot of faith and sometimes some freaking out that occurs in the Tyler household!

We are in the final days of pregnancy (I say "we" like I have been a part of the hard work - when we all know it has been Katie) and I can't wait to meet our daughter on Tuesday morning!

And very soon after that, we will begin packing and preparing to move to Colorado to start Waypoint Church in the city of Loveland.  I can't tell you how much I find myself dreaming of Colorado, praying for the people of the city and thinking through how we are going to join in what God is doing to see a city transformed.

Last night at work, it was brought to my attention that some people may not know what it means to "start a church" - and I would like to take a moment and explain...we are moving there with some friends of ours, and our 2 families are going to literally START a gathering of local believers and unbelievers to worship Jesus and change a city.

This is not a small goal or task.  Where we are going - there is no church building or church people.  This is not the Bible belt.  This is not the South where the Gospel is tolerated and assumed.  This is out West, where the culture is about beer, marijuana, and making money while you can cause the good life is only for today!

This is a city that has experienced a bunch of new families moving in, and a lot of growth and yet, something is missing in the city - and we believe that something is Jesus.

It takes a lot of faith, a lot of work, and unfortunately - a lot of cash to make this realization come to be.

Just this week, Katie and I sat down and calculated our expenses in the next 6 weeks, and after spending about $2,500 on my daughter (totally worth it!!!) we will still have to be prepared to spend:

$2,000 on a rental truck
$3,500 for all the expenses of moving into a new home and city
$1,200 in fuel and hotel expenses to get to Colorado from North Carolina (30hr drive)

That's a total of $6,700 that we need to raise, JUST FOR OUR FAMILY!!!  Our good friends, the Sanders need the same level of support and financial aid as well...

Up to this point, I have hesitated asking directly for money...

But, I want to boldly ask those who read this and care about what God is doing in Colorado and where He has clearly called my family - to please pray about how you can financially support our journey to Colorado.  I believe that there are men and women out there who will read this, who could write a check, or give online and take care of the rental truck expense. I know that there are those who could give us the $40 it would cost for a 1/2 tank of gas (ridiculous - remember when it was only $10 to fill up a car).  I believe that there are those who could take care of one or two nights in a hotel on our drive across the country.  No gift is too small, and all is needed and greatly appreciated.

I believe that God wants to, and is going to do AMAZING things in Loveland - and He has given us the great honor to be invited into this story.

Now, I am extending the invitation to you.  Will you give and help us get to where God is moving so we can see a city changed?

If so, please visit http://www.waypointonline.org/partner/ to give online

or you can write a check to:

Longs Peak Baptist Association (write "Waypoint Church" in the memo line)
P.O. Box 755
Loveland, CO 80539

Legacy...

How often do you think about your heritage?

Probably not a whole lot, right?

Neither do I.

Most of the time I just go about my day, really not thinking about a whole lot of anything (I think thats called being a "man"), but this morning I was struck by something as I started reading the Gospel of Matthew...

The first words

The VERY FIRST WORDS

of the New Testament

after over 400 years of silence

are about

LEGACY

Do you find it odd that after all that time of silence the way the Spirit would begin talking to people again would be to have them look back?

I know I do

Or, rather, I did

But, if you slow down and think about it - we all should start by looking back at where we came from.  Our history plays a HUGE role in who we are and where we are going.

You are someone's son

You are someone's daughter

What does this thought stir in you?

Anger
Love
Bitterness
Joy
Sadness
Peace
Frustration
Excitement

Here is the reality that struck me this morning -

I am a part of a legacy that goes far beyond what I could ever imagine.  My heritage leads all the way back to the beginning, and while I may not be able to (or really want to do all the work) to trace it back that far

God knows

He has always known

When He begins the New Testament with a story of lineage and legacy - He is speaking to us

He is reminding us that this story is about one family

One legacy

His family

His legacy


And we get to play a part of it, because Jesus is making the leap into that legacy

No longer is He simply the Creator of humanity

He is adding to His story the legacy of humanity

He is jumping into the line of David, and Abraham

And inviting us to jump in as well

Does that stir something in you?

It should...

17 days and counting....

The countdown to our journey has begun!!

Check out our website at: www.waypointonline.org

FITNESS FRIDAY!!

While I readily recognize that I by no means am going to be gracing the cover of a Men's Health magazine anytime I soon; I do greatly value fitness, eating healthy and strive to take care of myself as best as I can.  So, with that in mind, I am setting aside Friday's on our blog to talk about things related to health and fitness; not because I am an expert but because it is something I care about and wish someone would have clued me in on earlier in life.

For those who may not know some of my story, when I got married almost 9 years ago, I weighed in at roughly 320 lbs (I am not 7'4" so that's not a healthy weight).  It hurt when I walked, I got out of breath going up stairs, I wouldn't go to the beach because I was embarrassed, and I greatly lacked confidence in who I was.  I walked around ashamed of who I was, and so to escape that shame, I ate.  And ate. And ate some more.

Me back in the day...yikes!!!!!

Than, one day, soon after my wife and I got hitched, I stepped on a scale, and it was like God peeled back the scales on my eyes and I saw who I had become.  I decided than and there that I was going to do something about it.  I started making better nutritional decisions; and getting active.  I immediately eliminated all fast food, fried food, soda, and began walking.  This dropped me down to 280 lbs in about 2 months.  I lost weight quickly and with the weight loss came immediate confidence and a desire to see more weight come off.

My wife and I moved to New Orleans soon after we got married and we decided that instead of cable, we would invest in our health, which is when I went from walking to running (thank you elliptical machines for helping me transition) and shed another 30 lbs.  When Katrina hit and we lost everything and relocated back to Tampa, FL - that was where I began plateauing some, even though my fitness level increased.  I started running all the time, but I allowed some of the bad food back in my life - and so it was a bit of a push.  I would run hard in the morning, but eat less than stellar throughout the day and see little to no progress in my waistline.

I have never dropped below 200 lbs healthily (I have in the past been below that number, but it was due to fasting - which is not about weight and never a good way to lose poundage) and that is my new goal.

Since my family relocated to North Carolina, I have made excuse after excuse about why I am not working out, and I am back to feeling like each day I live in guilt about how I ate and behaved the day before.  No more excuses and no more laziness.  Today, as I went to the gym for the first time in awhile, I remembered something I believe God taught me a long time ago;  if our bodies are truly TEMPLES (which the Bible says that they are) and we are to care for them (which it encourages us to do) than of course Satan would try and attack our bodies through food and self-indulgence.  He would try and make us feel lazy, guilty, ashamed and embarrassed about who we are.  He would whisper lies into our ears about how we can't, won't, or shouldn't get out and get active  He would make that ice cream, or pizza look so much better than it ever tastes.  And we are all too eager to allow ourselves to be deceived and we become worshippers of our stomachs, just like the Corinthians.

Here's me and my lovely bride today!!

So, today - I repented of worshiping my stomach, and for laziness - and I am done with excuses!!

I have decided that because of some knee pain I have had from a slip at work, I am going to run a little, but not push that too much, so my knee can recover, but I am going to begin swimming!  We pay a bunch of money every month for a membership at the YMCA - and I am going to begin swimming. It is a full body exercise, and super difficult and something I have never really tried to do for healthy reasons.

Today I swam 250 meters, it took me about 8 1/2 minutes and between each 50m lap, I had to stop and breathe.  My hope is by next "Fitness Friday" I will be able to say it took me less time, and I was able to go a little further!

My encouragement for everyone reading this, is to do two things this week:

1 - PRAY before you eat - and I am not talking about a recited prayer or "thanking God" for this food.  That's fine, but I mean search the heart of the Lord and see if what you are about to put into your body will benefit and help, or destroy?  Slow down and make food choices carefully and don't allow what tempts the eye or nose to lead you down the wrong path.

2 - GET OUT and do something - whether it is walking, jogging, riding a bike, swimming, sit-ups, pilates, or even stretching - just try to do SOMETHING active for a set amount of time each day!

Pastor, stop focusing on things that AREN'T your job!!!!

   A few weeks ago, we were having an issue with our minivan (I swear I am way too cool and too young to drive one, but with kids they are super-helpful) and so we did the natural thing that those of us who have no clue what happens under the hood of a car would do; we took it to the mechanic and let him tell us what was wrong and fix the issues.  After looking the van over, and because of his 20+ years in the auto industry, he was able to tell us what was wrong and than able to help us get our vehicle fixed so we could get back to riding in "style".

   Just for a second, lets imagine what it would have looked like if I had taken my van to the mechanic, and rather than helping me diagnose the problem with my vehicle - he started talking to me about my credit score and what I need to do to boost my score in a tough economy and how I should be planning for retirement.  It goes without saying, that halfway through the conversation I would take my keys back from the crazy man and find a guy who KNOWS cars and is EAGER to discuss cars and their problems, so he can help me with my issues.

     Similarly, sometimes I believes pastors, myself included, try to be like the fictitious car mechanic who advises on financial things when it is not his job or area of "expertise".  I think we get sidetracked with all the minor issues in life and consumed with secondary things and we forget what our main job/call/task is.  So often as pastors, we focus on the physical and temporal things that end up in front of us that we forget our job is primarily the spiritual.  It is easier to ask whether or not the programs got proofread, the web design is relevant and "cutting edge", or if the technology of the church is up-to-date. The tougher question to answer (and I would argue the reason pastors are CALLED to a people/place) is whether people are falling more in love with Jesus, following Him more closely and burdened for those who don't yet grasp His love.  The spiritual element to our job should always be the primary focus.  Yes, the physical and temporal need to be handled, but isn't it far more important to invest in the spiritual aspects of peoples lives (the things that don't burn up and get destroyed) than the physical?

   I have a concern that the church is moving to quickly past the spiritual and focusing so much on the needs and concerns of this life, that we are sacrificing the spiritual elements (aka the PRIMARY element) of our job

   So, while I recognize that Waypoint Church has needs that are real and physical - I would ask first, that you would commit to help us with the spiritual aspect of our calling.  Will you please pray for our endeavor?

1.  Pray that God would move in the lives of the people of Loveland, Colorado.
2,  Pray that we are changed as we step out in obedience.
3.  Pray that God would bring families to step out in reckless abandon and relocate with us to Loveland.
4.  Pray that finances would pour out, not so that we can get rich, but that we can get active in the community and bless some people who, statistically, see no need for God in their lives.
5.  Pray that the grace and power of Jesus would change a city, form a people and ignite a fire in the lives of His Children that would inspire others to be radically obedient.

Will you help us address the spiritual, not the physical - and pray with us??  If so, you can commit and receive more information at www.waypointonline.org


Confused as to what Waypoint Church is?

                  Click http://thetylers04.blogspot.com/2013/04/big-news.html to find out!!!