Let me lay to rest your nagging curiosity about why the company is named “Motate Media.” The word “motate” was something I heard often growing up. My mom would often tell us to “get motated,” meaning “get moving.” It was somehow related to the word “motivation” with the -ate suffix to emphasize action.
Later I found that others had adopted this word as well. An online dictionary defines motate as a verb that means to “move quickly with style.” I thought that this would be an appropriate name for a design agency, but mostly it is to honor my mom and her lifelong goal to get me to “motate.”
Often I have the student members of the worship team choose songs. In the beginning it surprised me that most of their song choices are hymns. Last night, three of the songs they chose were: “Standing on the Promises, “I’ll Fly Away,” and “When We All Get to Heaven.”
I’ve often considered some of the ways that newer worship songs differ from the hymns. Many of the differences are tied to culture and history, but I’ve also noticed that contemporary worship music doesn’t often include a longing for heaven as many, if not most, of the hymns do.
There could be many reasons for this lesser or lighter focus on heaven, but I am afraid it’s because we have become comfortable. Our grandparents and great grandparents lived much more challenging lives under much more challenging circumstances. Few of us in the younger generations have struggled with basic necessities of life. In our excess we have forgotten that we are not citizens of earth. Our home is in heaven.
Let us then be true and faithful,
trusting, serving every day;
just one glimpse of Him in glory
will the toils of life repay.
One of the most recent projects I have been working on is trainingchurchplanters.com. As we begin the rather large task of Servants Bible Institute, we wanted to create a way to share the concept and vision with others. This website is an effort to provide news, information, and updates about Tentmakers training resources.
If you haven’t visited the site, please take some time to look around.
We’ve also created a facebook page as well. Show your support and keep in touch with this aspect of our ministry by liking our Facebook page.
We are regularly writing new content for trainingchurchplanters.com. Some posts are specifically related to the training resources. Others are more generally about missions, culture and missiological education.
Business provides so many opportunities to make connections and friendships. I’m excited about the latest opportunity to be involved in a business networking group in Cheyenne.
I was able to join a similar group in Utah just after starting Motate Media and was part of that group for over a year. I could see during that time the way that God was opening doors to build relationships and share with other business owners.
After moving to Wyoming, I was a little let down to see that there was not such a group anywhere close by, but now I believe God was allowing us to transition and get plugged in to ministry here.
Over the next year and a half, I continued to search for a local networking group, and just recently found that there is a brand new one in Cheyenne. Perfect time for me to get in on the formation of this new group! And I come to it with experience from a very successful group of its kind in a bigger city.
It’s encouraging to see how God seems to be working it all out: that I found the group, that they need someone in web design, even that they meet only every other week at a time that fits my schedule!
In short, it seems God is leading me to participate and get to know some local business owners, so I would love your prayers for those growing relationships and for opportunities for outreach!
Here is a post that I created for trainingchurchplanters.com. It addresses the fact that definitions are important. We need clarity in our understanding of Mission and missions. If you have never thought about the difference, follow the link and see the way that all these concepts are connected.
I’m often surprised by what my students remember me saying. Last semester I briefly mentioned in a chapel message that we should “embrace the awkwardness.” After a (legitimately) funny post on Facebook I quickly have become a spokesperson for awkwardness.
It is helpful that I have numerous stories and illustrations from my own personal experience. I really do feel that I have a unique expertise when it comes to embracing the awkward.
Now, personalities are not sacred, and I am convinced we can and should change when our personalities hinder us from doing the work God has for us. However, there are aspects of our personality that we need to understand, chuckle at, and embrace as a part of who we are.
As we’ve been going through different passages in the New Testament I’ve realized that the Book of Acts is really a collection of awkward characters in awkward situations. Sometimes they respond well; often they don’t. It reminds me that in awkward, unsettling situations, our attitude and response is what is important.
Since I first mentioned this phrase it has become a running joke. It is my goal to embrace this honorific title and help my students see that God specializes in using those who are awkward.
It was such a blessing to be a part of KBC’s mission conference this past weekend. The theme of the conference was “Disciples Making Disciples”. It was neat to participate with other missionaries of our home/sending church, but as I left the conference I was thinking more of the church’s impact on me!
At the conference, I was on the panel for one of two panel discussions about discipleship. As I considered the other panel members, the moderating pastor, other church leaders – those who minister in AWANA, in youth group, in the sound booth, I was impressed by the significance of their part in discipling me!
Some of the people on these panels were:
– the camp director of a camp where I spent summers from age 8 to 19
– the church planter who started the church where I grew up (who also happens to be a personal mentor and the current director of our missions organization)
– a missionary pastor / church planter (who also happens to be my brother-in-law)
– the director of a pregnancy care center who’s personal support, along with her husband’s, has been invaluable over the years to me (and who also happened to help lead the youth group in my jr. high school years)
– a fellow TBM Missionary (who also happened to be a former camp counselor)
The impact of these people on my life didn’t just “happen to be.” God has pulled together all these strands of different people and woven them into my life at various times. I think we often consider discipleship in terms of one-on-one, but this conference helped me to see what a a cooperative / collaborative effort it truly is.
I’ve long defined the church as a disciple-making community. God confirmed that for me this weekend, with an emphasis on community .
Take some time and listen to Mark Vowels insightful and practical messages about discipleship.
Many of you are wondering about our progress regarding housing / property for our long-term arrangements here in LaGrange. We are excited about the prospect of buying a certain piece of land, but still have to finalize the details. We would aim to build on this land next spring/summer. In the meantime, it has a single-wide mobile home on the property that we can fix up and live in just for the coming year. This mobile home needs quite a bit of work, but we hope to be moved by the end of May.
Here are some pictures.
