I think that it's essential to our faith that we are real with one another and real before God.  I think there are 3 levels of being real.  The first is level involves masks.  It's about pretending to be something we're not.  It's about image and self-esteem.

The second level is blank.  We've taken off the masks but we're lacking in vulnerability.  We're not really showing people who we are.

The third level is transparency, allowing people to see our insides.  It's having the boldness to share our testimony and what Christ has done in our weaknesses.  Worship naturally flows out of this state of realness.

One thing I love about Blessed Hope is that the people are real.  They're down to earth.  They're transparent.  This gives God a lot of room to work in people's lives.  Real is contagious.  It's hard to wear a mask in a church full of real people.

As a pastor, I always try to be real with people.

Two weeks from today, my life is really going to change.  And that's exciting and scary and mysterious all at the same time.  I know a lot about marriage from observing married couples and reading about what God intends for marriage in the Bible.  But I'm still far from experiencing it.  There's a lot going on.  Not only are we having a wedding, but we're merging lives.  She's moving into  my  our house.  We are combing bank accounts.  We're going from seeing each other a couple times each week to spending every second together.  And the closest things I have to compare that to are... dating and having a college roommate?  Marriage is totally different.

I know everything is working out according to God's plan and I'm very excited about that.  I'm glad the God has given us both loving parents to guide us as we grow together in marriage.