Pursuing endurance

"But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness." - 1 Timothy 6:11 ESV

We don't really use the word steadfast anymore, but endurance relates most of the message of that word. The problem with pursuing endurance is you have to endure something unpleasant in order to accomplish that. Right now, my family is traveling a difficult road for the Lord, and with God's grace, we will endure!

To our Parkhills family, thank you for praying for us. Each kind word and thoughtful prayer gives us more encouragement and hope than you can imagine. Please understand that we love the people of Parkhills, and we do not bear any ill will toward the church.

I know there are concerns about the way my leave was handled. Make sure you share with the pastor any concerns you have, and follow the guidelines in Scripture to avoid gossip and dissension. Go to the ones who have offended you and tell them. Then prayerfully seek reconciliation. If you act according to the will of God and instruction of the Bible, God can be glorified even in the midst of this difficult time!

I am just now able to put my thoughts down because I needed some time to refocus and listen to the Lord. The last three weeks have been emotionally taxing.

Last week, Jennifer and I sat down at Starbucks while the kids were in school. Jennifer picked up a book by Jerry Bridges called Trusting God. As she read one of the chapter’s on adversity, I could see her spirit lifting. One of the things it said was that when you are in the midst of adversity, focus on the positive consequences. We started listing off a few together while we sat there. First, we needed this break. The last 12 months of dealing with the church budget was like an ever increasing burden (keep in mind that the rest of the staff and church still feel this burden). Second, we needed family time. Between my ministry responsibilities and extra jobs, Jennifer and the boys don’t get to spend enough time with me.

Ever since that moment at Starbuck’s, Jennifer and I have been looking for the positive, and praying for God’s grace to ignore the negative. Next thing you know, God started moving.

Last October, Jennifer and I got to spend some time in Prague with my sister and brother-in-law. While we were there, we enjoyed participating at their church plant called Bridge Community. This visit planted a seed in my mind about church planting back in Texas.

Once we got back, I planned to continue serving at Parkhills until God made it clear that He wanted us to step out and start a church. As usual, God’s timing was not the same as mine and now we find ourselves at a crossroads. Jennifer and I have visited churches in the area that are looking for a Student Pastor, and we believe that God has something else in store for us. Then God started pounding church planting into our hearts through godly people, Scripture, and amazing circumstances. As a result, Jennifer and I have decided that we want to become church planters.

This week I sat down with a local Pastor who started a church 20 years ago. He gave me some valuable insight and challenged me to sit down and develop a vision for the church that I wanted to Pastor. As I prayed and worked through that process I have found several opportunities to partner with other churches who have a similar vision. Right now, Jennifer and I are praying about those opportunities and that God would open the right door and close the wrong door for us.

We would greatly appreciate your continued prayer for our family. We have some big decisions ahead of us, and we need clear direction on how to move forward. I’ll keep you all posted as things develop.

Thanks again for your prayers and support!

Until the nets are full,


Brian, Jennifer, Siler and Caleb

My Testimony

I guess I should have started my blog with my testimony, but it's better late than never. Here is a little about me and my journey to the Lord!

I grew up in Houston, Texas, and when I was around two years old my Mom and Dad divorced. So I spent most of my childhood with my Mom. She took me to church nearly every Sunday, where I would hear the message that Jesus died for you, and that you should believe in Him if you want to go to heaven. For some reason, I never could understand how I was supposed to make myself believe? It's not something you can make yourself do right, either you believe or you don't? One day, my cousin went down the aisle after the service and told the Pastor that he wanted to accept Christ and be baptized. Just a short time after that, so did I. The only problem was I didn't fully understand what I was doing. I believed what the Pastor was saying, I just didn’t know what it meant to put my faith in Christ.

Just before my eighth grade year we moved out to a suburb on the outskirts of town. We also started attending a different church, with a Pastor and Youth Pastor who preached like I had never heard before. They made this 2,000 year old “story book” relevant and meaningful to my life and struggles. It was during my second youth camp with the new church that I figured out what it meant to really believe in Jesus. It wasn’t enough for me to know who Jesus was, and that He died and rose from the dead to pay for my sins. I had to put my faith and trust in Him. How did I do that? Well, if you really believe in something you follow up your words with actions. Saying “I believe” doesn’t cut it, you have to prove it by stepping out and following Jesus. You have to make Him the most important person in your life. You can’t say you believe in someone and then ignore what they say?

At that camp, God claimed me as His child. I started to hate sin and care more about lifting up Christ than myself. I grew closer to my youth group and started leaning on God for direction and guidance. Some of my friends who were bad influences had to go, and others had to start going to church with me. I wish I could say that I’ve never looked back since that day, but there were times when I strayed. In my last two years of high school and my college career I stopped trying to grow closer to Christ, and I began to do whatever I wanted. My own desires and plans for my life got me in more trouble than I care to remember, but God never gave up on me. He kept calling me back to Him, reminding me that I was His possession.

Thankfully, God sent me an awesome wife who was also a Christian. After Jennifer and I were married and the responsibility of leading a family hit me, I was broken before the Lord. I couldn’t do this on my own, I needed Him guide me. So, I re-committed my life to Him, and began to pour myself into the Bible, and the church. God speaks to us in many ways, but the most powerful method He uses today is the Bible. He spoke to me by making passages stick out, and by giving me the exact words I needed at just the right time. After a year and a half of pursuing God, I began to feel that He wanted me to serve His people full-time, which meant He wanted me to be a Minister of the Gospel. My wife and I have been serving God’s people since 2001, and we’ve never looked back or regretted our decision to give God everything we’ve got. Our lives aren’t perfect, but no matter how rough our road gets we are perfectly content to serve our Savior! If you are like I was, and you’ve never “made yourself believe”, I would love to talk to you about Christ, and help you come to the point where you can put your trust in Him. Please feel free to email me so that we can talk.