Changing Direction

Let me tell you my Religious and physical background:

1. I grew up in the Baptist Church

2. Joined the church and was baptized around the age of nine.

3. Somewhere around the 10th or 11th grade I truly knew what it meant to be saved.

4. Became a knuckle-head around the second semester of my Senior year in high school (alcohol, women, bad horror movies).

5. Pledged a fraternity my second semester of collage; thus taking my knuckle-headness-ness (I don't think that's a word) to the next level.

6. Nearly got expelled from school the following semester

7. Transferred to a collage closer to my home town and proceeded to graduate with honors.

8. Two DWI's and a near suicide three months before I was supposed to graduate.

9. Still Graduated with honors with a Marketing degree.

10. Moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1997. Realized a calling to the Ministry in 2001

11. Licensed to preach in July of 2001. Been working in the church as an associate minister while maintaining a secular job every since.

12. No formal seminary training.

13. Have witnessed the love, patience, and providence of God throughout my life.

14. Still learning and praying that I will have an opportunity to do full-time ministry.

Why am I telling you this? Recent events have reminded me that I need to search the scriptures more diligently so that I can properly explain why I believe what I believe and why the church does what it does. I recognize that there are others out there that have studied both formally and informally and have a wonderful knowledge of the scriptures. These people also understand the history of the church and can quote the Bible backwards and forwards. And although I value education, I have seen God work through many different types of people. I have seen uneducated pastors lead churches for many years without one misstep. And I have also watched as churches fell into civil war under the leadership of the most educated seminarians. For the record I do see myself attending seminary in the future. Just not in the immediate future (mainly due to finances).

Again, what's the point of this? I am admitting that I don't know everything. It was not this blog's intention to be a Christian reference; just this particular Christian's reference. But part of "Getting Dangerous" for God means following God's lead as He takes you in the direction that He needs you to go. So the direction of this blog has changed. I will continue to tell you about my experiences. But I will also try to educate you on what it truly means to be a Christian. With that in mind, I need your help. Your questions and your input will challenge me to learn more so that I can put more complete information on the blog. Future posts will include:

-Baptism
-The observance of the Lord's Supper
-What does it truly mean to be "saved"
-Other meaty bits of information

Don't worry; I'll still be my same charming self :). But understand that the intensity level is going to go up around here every once in a while. That may be good for some of you; or maybe not. But I feel this is the direction that God is taking the blog. And I am not the pilot of this ship. So if you are still okay with that, then have a seat and buckle up. Let's find out where we are going together.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike





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How Often Are You Going To Post?

It is my intention to put out approximately five to ten posts as soon as possible. Once I reach what I feel is a good group of posts, then I will probably slow down to once or twice a week. This will depend primarily on my energy level, seeing as how I have a full time job in sales. I have also decided to embark on a "Read the Bible in a Year" program. I promise that I will do my best to let you know how that is going. By the way, Did you know that both Abraham and his son Isaac lied about their wives? Check out Genesis 12:14-20, and Genesis 26:7-11. I am currently on the 41st chapter of Genesis, and I am discovering again that God is revealing different things to me at the age of thirty-four, then when I was younger. I would encourage you to read your Bible on a regular basis as well. Together, we can keep each other honest.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike

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Why The Name?

In this, my first post, I would like to let you know how the name of this blog came about and the reasons why I have decided to begin it. The answer is actually quite simple. The Bible states in Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well"(niv). I am finding that these words ring true more and more each day for me and my family. I truly believe that God has provided (and will continue to provide) all of our needs. Those needs include food, clothing, shelter, peace of mind, and whatever else I think I need. But more importantly, I am working on myself to allow God to work in my life and show me the way that He will provide. Does that make sense? The reason the blog address is spelled "alltheezthingz" is because I wanted to keep it real and represent for tha streets!! Just kidding. It took a long time to find a blog title that was not already taken.

So who am I? I am, for now, going to leave my name, face, and likeness as a poorly hidden secret. This is mainly because I want the words of my mouth (or the typing of my computer), to be larger than my physical face. I'm not in this for the fame, although I would love to be rich! I truly believe that I have something important to say. I also believe that my experiences in life can be related to by a lot of people. I hope that this proves to be true. I have been many things in life. I have been the alcoholic, a crazy collage kid, and the lonely depressed guy that tried to kill himself. I was almost an officer in the Marine Corps. I was the man you wanted your daughter to marry, and the guy you wanted to kill because of the way he treated your sister. I have had a lot of money, and I have been dead broke. I have been happy, sad, influential, and embarrassing. How, you ask? Stay tuned...

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike




Rev Who?




I wanted to give you a bit of background information on who I am, where I come from, and some of what I am about. I am originally from Louisiana; but I have lived in South Texas since 1997. "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could!" I have a BS in Marketing from GSU (figure that one out), and my secular job is in the sales industry. I am a licensed minister at my church, and my wife S. and I work together with the children in a program called Superchurch. This is when we take the little kids down to the basement of our church and teach them a Bible lesson while the adults are in "Big People's" church. We have been married for six years and we have a five year old son. I received my calling into the ministry in 2001 and preached my first sermon on July 18, 2001. Our church has been blessed in the fact that we have twelve associate ministers to assist our pastor in the Sunday morning worship, as well as with the congregation. Our congregation a diverse group of people, representing many different races, backgrounds, and situations. We have members that have attended our church for generations, and members that have attended our church for a couple of weeks.
I have grown a lot in the past eleven years that I have attended our church. When I first arrived there, I was single, angry, and didn't have a driver's license. I will tell you that story later. I met my wife at church, got married at my church, and continue to work in my church. And I have grown closer to God in spirit, and in truth. Am I perfect? Ha! Ha! Most certainly not. Am I the man that I should be? Not even close. Am I better off than I was. Certainly. My goal with this blog is to let you know that I am not perfect, as I am sure that you are not perfect. But I am going to attempt to tell you the things that I have learned in the hopes that you will gain some insight to me as a person, as well as some insight to what God has done in my life. And together, we can grow even closer to God together. Let the journey continue.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike