God is that really you?

Something interesting is happening in this season.

People seem to be making a deliberate decision to make being part of the church part of the fabric of their life and family — even if they don't have it all together. I love it when we don't all look and act like "religious people." The look and feel of Lighthouse is shifting — not because of new colors or banners or LEDs, but because of new faces and shifting heart attitudes.

What if Jesus is for sinners? What if He wants us to truly serve the people around us in our community? What if being part of His body means I have to be vulnerable and depend on Jesus and my brother or sister?

These are some of the questions that have been challenging us lately. Good ones to sit with.

But if I'm being honest, the thing that has really made me want to ask God, are you actually in this? is the recent passing of Pastor Bret Allen.

Pastor Bret was a mentor to me, a friend of Lighthouse Church, and our former District Superintendent. He was a pastor to pastors. I can't begin to tell you the impact he had on me and the life of our church — through every phone call he took, every lunch, every senior pastor cohort meeting, every time he sat with our Board. He wasn't just a good leader. He made the people around him better. He was a good teacher and mentor, but the truth is he just genuinely loved people and wanted to help you if he could.

He's left a huge hole. But in the Kingdom of God, that doesn't look like emptiness.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, He left behind assignments. Dr. Sam Huddleston said it well: "We are his legacy." We are meant to step in and step up where he left off. Love the person in front of you. Listen curiously and love generously. Lead wherever you are called. Serve everyone. Give people the benefit of the doubt and encourage them into their potential. Walk with them along the way.

If you allow the Holy Spirit to use you that way, you won't just be filling someone's shoes — you'll be multiplying the Kingdom of God.

It's hard knowing I won't have Pastor Bret on speed dial anymore. But I'm thankful that with me is the same Spirit of power and love that was with him. I'm so grateful for the life he lived and how much of it he shared with me, with Kristin, and with our church family.

Mother's Day is complicated.

It's complicated because of the gap between the potential blessing of motherhood and the reality of what many of us have actually experienced. For some, the hopes and dreams of being a mother were never realized. For some, mothering has been a difficult burden. And some have been victims of abuse or neglect, or never knew their birth mother at all.

There is hope in all of this.

We all carry an unfulfilled longing — to be perfectly loved, nurtured, and known completely by someone who loves us anyway. The fulfillment of that longing is found in the heart of God. In the beginning His Spirit hovered over the waters like a womb about to be teeming with life. He thought about you and knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb. He knows the number of hairs on your head. And Jesus sacrificed His body — not in battle, but in surrender — because you were condemned to die and He took your place.

Doesn't all of that sound like a mother's love?

God is love. Motherhood is meant to be a reflection of His heart — even with all of the complexity involved. I hope you sense His pride over you and how much He adores you this Mother's Day.

This Sunday I get to hear God speak through someone I know personally to be real and authentic — my wife, Kristin.

There's no such thing as a super mom or a super Christian. You can't look at Mary as the mother of Jesus without recognizing she was young and unmarried in ancient eastern culture. She went through morning sickness and labor. Then she had to navigate every human temptation — to worry, to get angry, to feel shame, and ultimately to grieve the loss of her firstborn son.

From Moses to Gideon, from John the Baptist to Paul — they weren't celebrities. They were people who had encounters with God and chose to obey when it was extremely difficult and costly. Under that pressure their character formed into something God could use to do great things.

I've observed up close how God is forming Kristin into a humble vessel that His power can flow through.

God could actually be in this.

You don't want to miss it.

Sunday, May 10 — 10:30am — Lighthouse Church

Grace and peace,

Pastor Sam