Child Sex Trafficking…

It breaks my heart that such a thing even exists on this earth…

If you are in Vegas then GO REGISTER for the “Stop Child Trafficking Now” Walk on Saturday, September 26th! The information is posted below. A close friend of ours who is a part of our Simple Church is heading up this initiative in Las Vegas. There are many ways you can be involved.

Click Here to join the group of FaceBook. Click Here to RSVP to the EVENT on FaceBook.

Please read below, and add any thoughts/comments…

Many of us are broken over these issues, but feel very helpless when it comes to doing anything about it. It seems so far away, and too difficult a problem to solve. Let me crush that mentality by first saying that it is NOT far away. Human trafficking is taking place all over OUR Country-yes, the UNITED STATES, on a daily basis. This is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Second, it is NOT too difficult a problem to solve-especially if you claim Christ as King. Each of us carries the keys to the kingdom of God if His Holy Spirit dwells inside of you. Our role as kingdom ambassadors is to USHER in the “kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven”. We do that by walking in confidence in the authority Christ has given us-things that do not match up with His Kingdom do not belong on this earth. Our job is to BRING that authority to the broken places of this earth that don’t align with the Kigdom-in Jesus’ name.

We MUST, as the Church of Jesus Christ, stand up against this injustice. There are many organizations you can partner with to make a difference. One of those is the above organization called “Stop Child Trafficking Now”. They host benefit “walks” in cities all over the country to raise awareness and funds to fight against this injustice. They work with governments and hire trained professionals to go into these brothels and rescue children out of sex slavery. You CAN play a part in ending child trafficking on this earth…

“Laughing With” – Regina Spektor

If you don’t listen to Regina Spektor’s music then you are missing out on an incredibly talented artist. My wife introduced me to Regina’s music a few years back and I thought it was really weird; I didn’t like it at first. Now I think it’s brilliant. Her latest album has an incredible song on it that you MUST hear….The video & lyrics are powerful, and posted below. (Regina does not profess to be a Christian that I know of, which makes this song even more touching)

Regina Spektor Laughing With lyrics

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one´s laughing at God when they´re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one´s laughing at God when it´s gotten real late
And their kid´s not back from the party yet
No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one´s laughing at God when they see the one they love
Hand in hand with someone else and they hope they´re mistaken

No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad

news sir
No one´s laughing at God when there´s a famine fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they´re ´bout to choke

God can be funny
When told he´ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one´s laughing at God when they´ve lost all they´ve got
And they don´t know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize that the last sight they´ll ever see
Is a pair of hateful eyes
No one´s laughing at God when they´re saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they´re ´bout to choke

God can be funny
When told he´ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughing at God in a hospital
No one´s laughing at God in a war

No one´s laughing at god when they´re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one´s laughing at God
No one´s laughing at God
No one´s laughing at God
No one´s laughing at God
We´re all laughing with God

More Laughs For Parent’s…

I promise this blog will not turn into a place to post funny videos about kids…primarily. However, I can’t help but share videos like this with everyone I know because they have truly become a source of great laughter around the Snow house. What makes this one so great is that the kid is British, and his accent makes the video all the more funny…

After a wonderful discussion with my wife this morning over bagel’s and coffee I have decided to write a second part to the “church, My Personal Lord & Savior” post. I started on it today, and will hopefully finish/post it soon. It will delve deeper into our tendency to always put things before Jesus…even good things like church. We replace the ONE true God who deserves all of our worship and dependency with idols. Those idols quickly become our drug, and we can NOT live without them. However, it seems tragically easy to live without Christ. We think those idols are what save us, and not Jesus Himself. Stay tuned…

Also, Morgan will hopefully be setting up a Snow Family Blog in the near future, which will be where you will find personal updates about our adventures in parenting, babies, travels, etc. I can’t promise, though, that I won’t take every opportunity to write about our new baby on this blog as well…

I Better Get Ready…

A lot has been going on since we have been in Texas. Right now we are in “waiting” mode; waiting for the baby to come, that is. Our due date was yesterday, and we still have no signs of active labor. Stay tuned…

While here we’ve stayed pretty busy catching up with friends, spending time with family, planning Student CPx in Austin, and taking care of some important things with our old I.G. Community in Ft. Worth. While I have had much time for deep thought & reading, I have NOT had the time or energy to get things out of my head into a blog post.

A friend showed me this video the other day, so I thought I would share it with you all. I am certain it will brighten your day with some MAJOR laughter. Morgan was in TEARS she was laughing so hard. I thought to myself, “I’m laughing now, but pretty soon our little baby girl will be this old and doing HILARIOUS things like this; I better get ready!” You gotta spend the 2 minutes it takes to watch this video…

Hopefully, the next blog you read here will include baby pics and info! Until then, keep us in your prayers that labor and delivery go smoothly.

Religious.

“I was cut deep to the heart as I read back over Mark 7 this morning. I was convicted of areas in my life that are still consumed by a religious, proud, and self-righteous spirit…”

In my “younger” days I used to describe my love, and devotion to God using the word “religious”. I’d say things like, “Oh, yes, I am VERY religious”, with a stern look on my face as if to make sure people knew how serious I was about this particular aspect of my life. I would also find myself pleased when I would get the opportunity to answer, “yes” to someone when asked, “Wow, you’re a pretty religious guy, huh?” Even as I type this I cringe at the thought that I actually used to be “proud” of the fact that I was religious. (Those two words are perfect partners)

These days I do everything in my power to tear down that false, or should I say OPPOSITE perception of what it means to be a passionate follower of Jesus. You see, Jesus DETESTED the religious; dare I say HE detests (present tense) a religious spirit? I get asked weekly about my “Religious Tattoos”. I used to hate it, but now I love every opportunity that I get to share about my love for Christ, and His lack of desire for me to be a religious person. I get to share about the freedom I have in Him, and the mission I get to be on FOR HIM that is birthed from my RESPONSE TO HIM for what He’s done for me. They hopefully walked away with a more clear understanding of the person of Jesus, and how HE ALSO seemed to have some “beef” with the religious people of His time.

I was cut deep to the heart as I read back over Mark 7 this morning. I was convicted of areas in my life that are still consumed by a religious, proud, and self-righteous spirit. It also caused me to think of the many ways I “just don’t get it” because religious tradition gets in my way. I am going to post some selected verses from chapter 7 of Mark that have been especially revealing, or got me thinking this morning. I would encourage you to read the entire chapter.

“…They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men…” (7:7-8)

“…And he said to them: ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions…!’” (7:9)

“…Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that…” (7:13)

My hope here is that we may allow the words of Jesus to cut us deep as we think about the things we do out of man made tradition, which may hinder or slow the spread of the Gospel. For most of us these religious traditions or not done out of self-righteous pride, but rather out of a Gospel deficiency that we suffer from in some area of our lives. If you are offended by any of this then the scriptures may be attempting to burn away a religious spirit somewhere deep in your soul. (This scripture offends me often, and the religiosity that exists in my life shrinks little by little-praise Christ.)

What man-made religious practices come to your mind when you read this scripture?

What are some “modern day equivalents” of the Pharisees questioning Jesus and His disciples for not washing their hands before they ate?

How do our religious traditions (That may not necessarily be BAD) dangerously affect some of the core sacred practices of our faith? (Communion, Baptism, etc.)

We’re So Vain…

I have been working out at Las Vegas Athletic Club for about 6 months now. I’ve noticed something since the first day I started working out, but it has become increasingly humorous the more I pay attention to it. Not to mention it has caused me to check my own heart, and make sure that I am not found guilty of the same particular act.

People think they’re sexy. Bottom line.

Do you ever notice how gyms are surrounded on all sides by mirrors? They are everywhere. At LVAC there is almost nowhere you can go where there aren’t mirrors. At the gym people check themselves out CONSTANTLY. Whether they’re walking in to go change for workout, in the middle of workout, or finished and leaving they are gawking at themselves in the mirrors. Now, every time I go I count how many people I see checking themselves out. This makes for quite the humorous workout. It also keeps me from slipping into the trap myself.

Let’s face it: we’re all vain. I watch guy after guy walk from the gym toward the locker room literally staring at themselves in the mirror for a solid minute; most of them almost collide with other guys in the process. Some of them even give themselves a little devlish grin as if to say, “damn, you are one sexy beast”. The funny thing is that it doesn’t matter how physically attractive the people actually are, they’re all still checking themselves out. It’s really kinda weird.

I’ve also noticed that people like to watch themselves work out. It has become such a weird thing to me that I intentionally face my back to the mirrors. I am the ONLY one in the gym NOT making goofy faces in the mirror as I lift far too much weight for my body while feeling really good inside about how much my veins are popping out of my arms. Yesterday a couple guys even looked at me puzzled like, “why are you facing your back to the mirror, dude?”

Bottom line: In America we care far too much about our appearance, our looks, our bodies, etc. which comes down to a root issue of our own insecurity in who we are. I’m quite certain there’s some level of wanting to impress, or get affirmation from others as well. I just thought it was funny, and wanted to share it with you all. I can now proudly say that I’m not a gym club mirror-monger. I refuse to look at myself in the mirror at the gym aside from maybe a random glance to make sure my fly is zipped. I do not watch myself workout. Instead, I watch others, and it’s freakin’ funny.

Are you, or anyone you know a gym club mirror-monger?

“Thoughts From The Desert”

Yep, I spent the night in the desert last night. I’m sitting out here at Red Rock at my campsite. Of course, this makes me more of a man, right? Haha! I mean, come on, I haven’t washed my hands since I got here, and I’ve cooked all my meals with the same dirty dishes. (I’ve got my pup here with me; she’s my “dishwasher”-no lie) I’m sitting here in my camping chair with my laptop out-haha, again. I’m been thinking about how this may be one of the last times that I camp alone, or with my wife alone. The next time we camp we will most likely have a little girl with us, our little girl. I am still humbled that the Lord would count me worthy to have such a life as this. I am reminded as I sit here of His grace and healing power in my life. I beg the Lord to continue to heal my brokenness even as I sit here.

“Lord heal and sanctify me that I might be the husband and father that you desire me to be. Teach me how to point my wife and little girl to YOU as their TRUE Father.”

Being in the “wilderness” with Jesus has definitely brought me closer to “being a man”. For example, I didn’t get any sleep last night because I laid in my tent on the hard, rocky ground. Halfway through the night by toes were numb, and I was literally freezing my ass off. How, you ask, does this make me more of a man? Well, it doesn’t other than the fact that I have shown my stubbornness and stupidity like most men do. Silly little things like this remind me of my need for Jesus’ activity in my life. One of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning, is known for his yearly trips to a random cave where he goes to be alone with the Father. I am kicking myself for not taking more opportunities to do this before I become a daddy. However, I hear the Holy Spirit whisper gently that it will be “ok”. If all goes as it should I will do my best to be a responsible parent, but the life of my little girl lies completely in the hands of her creator, and hope-to-be Savior. All I can do is model for her the deep need we all have for a Savior, and trust the Spirit to draw her to Himself.

In about 48 hours I’ll get on a plane for Texas, where I’ll reconnect with my wife, who’s belly will have probably doubled in size since the last time I saw her. In that belly is the second girl (Morgan being the first) on either side of our immediate family. I have only one girl cousin on either side of my parent’s family as well. This excites me, however, it may excite our future baby’s grandparents even more! From Dallas we’ll head to Austin to reconnect with some friends, and do a short training with some college-aged world changers. After that I’ll fly into St. Louis, load up a truck, and drive to Orlando with one of my mentors to help facilitate the “missional track” of the annual “exponential church planter’s conference” I nearly wet myself when I think about sitting in front of pastors from all over the country, and share about how our lives have been changed through more organic expressions of the ecclesia. I am humbled to even think about this opportunity. I am sent to my knees in desperate pursuit of Jesus, and the leading of the Holy Spirit for guidance. I beg for the ability to exalt Christ above anyone/anything else. I question my ability to pursue such a task in my broken state. I praise you Christ for using such broken, jacked up people to usher in your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Lord Jesus have your way.

(In the midst of NOT sleeping well all night I did get to see the sunrise coming up from behind the mountains this morning-it was beautiful, and worth a lack of sleep=)

Don’t Miss It…

There’s a great video interview with Neil Cole posted up at www.shapevine.com right now. It’s been up all week, so it may not stay up for too much longer. Make sure you go take some time to check it out. The video is on the home page of shapevine. Click Here to go watch it.

Too Long For Twitter…

I wanted to post this wonderful quote by Neil Cole as a Twitter update, but it’s over the maximum 140 characters allowed by Twitter. I just couldn’t pass up sharing this short, but powerful sentence. It’s from a blog that Neil posted today in a series of blogs he’s posting called “False Ideas“.

“…The way we try and remove ourselves from the “secular” world for fear of losing our spiritual power demonstrates that we actually believe more in the power of the darkness than we do in the light of Jesus Christ. Ouch!”   -Neil Cole-

I would encourage you to go read the entire post. I believe it is hitting the root of why Christianity is on a decline in the West.

Daddy’s Little Girl!

Yep, you read it right. Morgan and I are having a baby girl in July! We have had a weird feeling all along that we were having a girl, not to mention several “prophetic words” spoken that it would be so. (Thanks Leslie! I mean…Lollie!=) We did several “gender prediction” tests and they all pointed towards the absence of man parts. We went in Tuesday for our second ultrasound at 16 weeks…

(The top picture is her little foot)

(This is a beautiful profile shot…look at her little nose!)

I know what you’re thinking: “It’s too soon to be able to tell the sex, and it could change”. (At least that’s what I have been saying) However, our ultrasound technician, who happens to be a good friend, assured us that there is NO way we are having a boy. She pointed out three little lines in between the babies thighs, and explained that these are her “girl parts”. We were told not base it off the absence of “man parts”, but the presence of these three folds of skin.

(The bottom picture is a picture of her thighs, and bum pressed up against the belly. There are three little white lines in between the thighs…GIRL PARTS=)

Anyhow, if it’s wrong then we’ll have freakin’ awesome little baby boy. We are so excited to be parents, and appreciate all of your prayers as we prepare to raise this baby to be a little disciple of Christ.