Set Apart... what does that mean?

Original Post:  August 2006

Well, it is official...or am I official?  I'm not really sure which one.  On August 13th, I was ordained.  That means set apart to do something for God.  Well, here is what I want to do for God.  I want to love Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind, body, and strength.  That is not easy to do by no means.  Much of my life has been tormented by the sins that I so rampently let run in control of myself.  To be the man that God wants me to be means letting go of all those things and sins that so easily ensnare us with guilt and burdens.  They slow our life to a hilt and make our heart feel as though it may burst from the struggles.  I don't mean just the ten commandment sins either.  I know that I have broken my share of those, but I also mean the sins that I have allowed in my life that begin the path towards breaking the heart of God and the hearts of others.  The same sins that are made popular by the 90's movie "Seven."  I've been reading a book about these.  If you don't know them, they are Pride, Anger, Envy, Slothfulness, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed.  You see, over the past year God has been getting my serious attention and I am more different then i was a year ago, 8 months ago, heck even from 4 weeks ago.  Those dates were not chosen for any particular reason except to say that God has been making me face the fact that even if I have been "set apart" I myself am able to accomplish no good thing...certainly no great thing.  Sure I may be able to do "something,"  but without Him, it is not what would be considered a good thing.  I want my life to be different!  Please God!

I want to Love my Jesus with my all, somthing that I know I haven't done in a long, long time.  I'm thankful He forgives us when we allow ourselves to be forgetful of who He is.  Pray for me as I continue to grow in Him.

I want my wife to know that I love her with a new grace and affection that pours not out of myself, but from the relationship I'm building with the God who has blessed us so abundantly.  I'm thankful for new beginnings in which each day looks to what it brings and not to what the past has held.  I love you Melinda and I will strive to be the man God meant for you to have by your side.  Thank you for always sticking with me even in struggles.  I want to be your knight in shining armor because you are the beautiful damsel of my dreams that has made my heart soar for a greater love.

I want my daughter to know that she is "Daddy's Little Angel."  When I say that I mean that she has brought so much inspiration to overcome in my life.  I want to be her guardian, her father, her hero, and the model of what a man should look like.  Because of her she should have no fear of whether her daddy loves her because I will give up all I can in order to protect the relationship we have and the family we come together under.

I want my church to know that I love them.  Thank you for encouraging me when I have been really stupid and absent-minded.  I want more than anything not for you to see another leader that is stepping up to something more, but a man that hopefully shows you more of the hope of God and the heart of God than the actions of myself. 

I know that I began by saying that I was officially set-apart on a certain date, but to me, being set apart means that I'm set-apart from my old self, from the ordinary life, from a purposeless existence, to a new place that is amazingly extraordinary because of Christ Jesus whose grace is so incredibly sufficient.  "He is able to do abundantly and exceedingly more than we could ever imagine"...or accomplish on our own.