Embrace Beauty

     One of my heroes is a man I have never and will never meet, well at least not in this world. This gentleman was a man of God, and has touched my life with just his words. I strive to live like he did. If I get even close to this walk I strive for, I will die a fulfilled life. Yes, this gentleman can be manifested and is manifested in Jesus Christ, however this is not the gentleman I referring. The gentleman I am referring to is Mr. Kyle Lake. If you know who Kyle Lake is already hold tight and I will come back in a min. For those of you who do not know who Kyle Lake is I will tell you his story.
      Kyle Lake was a native of Tyler,Texas, but I won't hold that against him.  He graduated from Robert E. Lee High. Soon after he attended and graduated from Baylor University. Kyle followed with a Master's of Divinity from George W. Truett Theological Seminary. After which he became a pastor at University Baptist Church in Waco,Texas. He remained there until his death on October 30, 2005. Kyle was preparing for a baptism service that morning, and as he stepped into the baptismal, he adjusted his microphone which accidentally made contact with the water and, electrocuted Kyle in front of congregation of 800. Doctors in the congregation rushed to the aid of Kyle, however Kyle was pronounced dead at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center at 11:30 am. Kyle was survived by his wife Jenifer, and their daughter and twin boys.
     God has a way to show his light, glory, and power even through tragedy. Sitting on the podium was Kyle's sermon that he planned to preach, later that day. This sermon was read during his funereal. Here is a excerpt from this sermon:

"Live. And Live Well.
BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.
On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.
Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed.
If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old’s nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.
If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well.
At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift."   
     
     WOW!!!!! when I read that the first time I wanted that urge, and hunger for life. This is what I loved about Kyle Lake. He did not waste life, he embraced it. Life is messy, and for most of us we want to close ourselves off to the world, and live in our own little planet. On this planet everything is fits our wants and desires. However, Kyle saw life as a God given gift, which is most certainly is, in all seriousness of the word. It is only by God's grace that we have the air in our lungs at this very second. Every time we awake in the morning, is just another way God shows his love for us. That's way Kyle Lake is my hero. He fully grasped that every day is a gift, so live it like so.
     Which is why I named my blog, this tool for my ministry, "Beauty Authenticated". I strive, and search for the true beauty every day the Lord allows me to live in it. I have several hurdles I need to jump over to full achieve that desire. I hope that Lord allows me to live long enough to do so, but I know I have a finite number of days on this planet. Just today, 1/13/11, my girlfriend Heather pointed out that I shut myself off, emotionally. Which is probably why I do not have a best friend. I'm just not good at that aspect of my life. However, for me to truly understand authenticated beauty, I have to open myself up to the emotional side of life. I ask for her favor and patience on this subject. Heather is so good at emotion, which is one of the many things I love her for. We make a great team. I learn emotion from her, she receives logic from me. She is such a blessing in my life, and I hope it last for a long time.
     In closing, Kyle Lake always closed his sermons in a benediction of, "Love God, Embrace Beauty, and Live Life to the Fullest" I love this phrase. I need to hear it over and over and over again. Its such a call to enjoy every ounce, every second, every aspect of life. So, I hope you all have a better understanding of what I want in my walk with Jesus Christ. Fell free to comment, disagree, agree, or just shoot the smoke. So, in the tradition of Kyle Lake,

Love God, Embrace Beauty, and Live Life to the Fullest

-The Nashvillian

Beauty: Masculinity

     If you know me personally, meaning if I'm not just some words on a computer, you know or at least heard something about my trip to Kansas City for New Years. I drove 9 hours to be apart of an amazing time of prayer, worship, and teaching. This event was held by the International House Of Prayer, and they called it "onething". 29,000+ attended this event, and probably millions more streamed it over the internet. I would love to take more about my experiences there, but I have to stay on track. However, the reason I bring "onething" up is because of what I heard there.
     Corey Russell, is on the Senior Leadership Team at IHOP, kicked off "onething" with a message named "Declaration of Dependence" (Video: http://bit.ly/hL4tRM). The message was powerful, and I think the best message out of the four days. What I took away from this message was a unprecedented rising up of this generation must and will occur. However, the Devil has placed several destructive stumbling blocks for this generation. These include materialism, selfishness, idleness, etc... Once again, I would love to keep going on this awesome message, but watch the video because Corey Russell explains it better then I can.
     As I strive for authentication in my life, I must start to things I know as FACTS! One of those facts is that I am a male. I bring this us because I feel Godly urge in what Russell said that we live in a world of " extended adolescence". Children strive to obtain adulthood, however somewhere in the middle we settle for the middle ground. I fell this is because of the absence of true masculinity. If we look at the society's view of masculinity we see a dumb down, weak, feminine and passive men. GOD has step up men, husbands to become head of the household. (Eph. 5:24). If a revival is on the verge, then We, MEN!!!! need to wake up and step up to the plate, and be men; become the head of the household, and head of the church. Find beauty in masculinity.
     AHH!!!!! Men step out of artificiality, and into authenticity. Get out of the "I will's" and step into the "I did". Take your proper role as a male. God has placed tons of responsibility into the male gender, and it must start with us. However, we must first submit ourselves to the husband of all, Jesus. The Bible describes the church, in the book of Revelation, as the bride of Christ. We must learn from him on how to become a true man.
     My brain is so scattered right now, I want to go into 1,000 different directions all at once. I wish I can explain the vital roll of the male. Satan knows this so, he attacks the masculinity image. Let me tell you something he has overwhelming became the victor. Men must become men of knowledge,valor,honor but, at last show humbleness. I'm working at it myself, I'm speaking to the choir. However, God has filled my soul with the spirit of a mighty warrior, a true masculine spirit. A spirit that will fight to capture the won that he loves. One that battles day in and day out. A restless spirit who will not settle for mediocrity but, strive for greatness.

                                                                                                                             -The Nashvillian 

Beauty Authenticated

Hello,


     Due to the time elapsed, I would like to re-launch, and re-introduce myself. As I grow as a Christian, and read more into the daily application of this walk, and not alone I might add, I come to the realization that I'm tired of the invalidating, and contradicting Americanized Christianity. America has come to a point of artificiality. We eat, drink, and enjoy artificiality. When it comes authentication, Americans has pushed it away. We want the easy, nice, orderly, etc... and authentication is messy, ugly, and chaos. Let me illustrate this for you. I would say that most Americans would prefer driving in their car, then to walk outside in the regardless of weather. We drive to some fast food place to buy a burger and fries, even if we have the ingredients in our fridges. We return in our cars to our nice, warm houses to recline in our large comfortable chairs to watch some artificial television show.
     We live in our artificial little worlds, and American's find this acceptable. Well, the reason for this re-launch is to allow me to have a instrument in this experiment of Authentication. I want to pull the veil of Americanism off my head, and strive for Godly authentication. I want to experience the fullness of the life God planned originally when God created Adam and Eve. This urge of mine is all consuming fire. This urge is a God given urge. I want authentication not for my own knowledge, but for the knowledge of God. I want to encounter him more, and more. I know that God is not in the nice, neat, and orderly category. HE IS GOD!!!! he makes up is own category. God did not make us for the orderly. According to Genesis, "The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed" (Gen 2:8) God placed us into the nice and neat, so we can better understand his grace but, after the fall of man, we returned to the world. Adam and Eve became comfortable in the garden. So, God cast them out to obtain to authentication of his love once more.
     What I said might not have made sense, and its not my goal for it to become clear and defined right now. It probably never will become clear, and consist of orderly thought. But, if you just hold on to what I have to say, you might at lest understand. Much like our Christian walk, We don't know where God is leading us to, we don't know if it will be pain or pleasure involved, but what we do know is that we have faith that GOD IS GOD!!!!!! So, as I pour our my soul and my thoughts onto this blog, which trust me is messier, then Jersey Shore, I ask you to open up and become involved in my experiment. Let us not grow comfortable in our couches watching artificial television, while we eat out processed food, let us engaged in one of the greatest creations by God, Authentication.