I look forward to sharing more details of the summer in the next week.
A few highlights: Jamaica mission trip was incredible – my first international mission trip and a few camps with some incredible students and an amazing encounters with God.
So….more to come.
All I can say right now is that I’m so thankful for God’s fresh work in my life and your life daily. He’s working and shaping even when we’re not aware.
I pray that you are hanging on to at least a “mustard-seed” of faith in God today. Just that much can move mountains – God’s promise.
Let’s welcome God to have His way in our lives by accepting His love – praising His greatness for innumerable reasons – and expecting His fresh work….hungering for His fresh revelation in our hearts.
Blessings to you all!

Roger
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” – St. Augustine

I am so thankful for His mercy and grace that HE pours on me…and you daily.
I’ve been resting, praying, seeking, rebuilding, listening, tearing down, sharpening, questioning – you name it – …for over two months now.
My conclusion: I need to be still more.
Sounds familiar huh? I can’t even begin to summarize the things that God has been showing me about Himself – His greatness….and then in turn about me: my depravity …yet my worth in Him and His huge love for me.
Its very sobering yet inspiring to be still long enough to see that God’s greatness and love are MUCH more massive than I ever imagined. Equally sobering is that I feel like God has put my life on a map and showed me an overview of my life so far…good stretches and where I took wrong turns – damaging turns…. that I though were a good idea some of the time, turns I knew were wrong, and others that I didn’t even realize I was taking. Those can’t be taken back…but God is a miraculous redeemer. When I see this snapshot, I see how needy I am not only for His direction but most of all the relationship with Him.
Yes, direction is a blessing from Him, but He is the real prize.
I’m sad that I don’t always see Him that way. I’m trying to re-train my eyes to stay focused on His glory and goodness so that I won’t be distracted by the joy killers that make themselves so readily available in this world – begging to capture the attention of my heart, and leave me starving.

Seeing these things from the Lord have caused lots of tears and literal shouts of joy.
Its an experience that I believe is only just beginning. My life trajectory is being reset – yes I’ve made some big decisions about my future recently – but now God is molding my heart and allowing me to stare at Him for a bit. The heart leads the life. My heart is changing and I have no clue what the details look like – except that its God’s work and He is an amazing Creator and He knows every single detail of every day of my life already.
My mind and heart are so full of truths and thoughts about all of this…but I feel like I’m driving towards the mountains from far away. You know when you’ve been driving across the plains for – forever and you finally see the peaks far off – you get really excited, yet the best views and breath-taking moments are still to come…and so much better. Yeah…I’m just now seeing the faint outline far off…..heading there at the speed and route God so chooses.

Ok. Thats a lot. enough for now.
Logistics:
So…I’m still loving and clinging to this time of rest, but I am beginning to lead worship here and there. Check out the “events” to see details. I have been totally focused on this rest time, so we’ve not even started intentionally booking and getting the word out, but we will be doing that very soon. If you’re interested in having us partner with you – check out “contact”.

Dallas: I’m loving being there…great people, loving Gateway – Gateway Connect Worship Conference was amazing!
Its been cold. need warmer weather. Still searching for the right job situation during the week.
Again – great place for me to be still.

thats it for now.
blessings to you! Don’t be afraid of that still small voice. behind it is a huge God that loves YOU.
roj

I want you to know about some exciting and big news in my life. I am going to be leaving my family here at HFBC to pursue traveling and leading worship – concentrating on writing and recording songs. I’ve been praying about this for several years, and God has made it very clear that this is what He is calling me to for this next season. I am so thankful, humbled, honored, …. to have had these 5+ years here with this amazing family. Thanks to Pastor Gregg, Tom and Stephen for allowing me the opportunity to serve in the capacity that I have. What a privilege! This has been a place where I have learned and grown in so many ways. Of course, the relationships are the part I’ll miss the most. Not only do I love you – I really LIKE you guys! However, there is no reason great enough to ignore God’s call on my life.
The best place for each of us to be is a place where we hear God’s clear voice and are walking in obedience to it. This is my best attempt at following God with all my heart at this time.

A few details: I’ll be moving to the DFW area and probably attending Gateway Church when I’m not traveling. I’ll also be looking for a weekday job to help pay the bills while momentum is building for this new ministry.
My last Sunday leading worship at HFBC will be Dec. 27th.
I will be officially submitting my resignation the beginning of January, but will be busy transitioning to the DFW area – so you won’t see me much at church.
You can stay up to date and in touch with me here: www.rogercullins.com.

Of course, I am super excited and sad at the same time. A big part of my heart will always be here with you all. I am so thrilled to be a type of “missionary” – one of the many this church is constantly preparing and sending out – and I know our paths will cross in the future. I pray that you can rejoice with me for this exciting new journey. Blessings to you!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Thankful,
Roger

Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love

2. reunion with my brother, Chris at Denver International -the one with the mountainroof

3. drive into the rockies…letting them minister to me

4. greeted by two random golden retrievers (my favorite dog) upon parking – official sign of the Lord’s blessing

5. re-learn how to build a fire in the fireplace

6. buy new ski pants that fit – those things shrink :0

7. hit the slopes – literally. and witness the grandest crash by my brother
(the aftermath – http://youtube.com/watch?v=nR_af03Gg3Q )

8. experience multiple slope catastrophes and slight collisions
(by the way, its good to try everything on the slopes that you were able to do in high school and college…..for the rst of your life…..your body can still do it

9. leave the slopes early. drive through a blizzard and sliding semis for boarding at Keystone.

10. put boots on and – oh! what…..they just turned the lights out

11. hike the dark mountain to board anyway

12. solitude time. cry out. listen. peace. refreshment.
good stuff.

13. phone call – i have a new boss! exciting announcement this Sunday at church – glorious

14. arrive in L.A. – fail to change watch to Pacific time – decide that its ok….you got it in your head

15. witness L.A.ers freak out about rain

16. Wayne time – L.A. highlights

17. volunteer at Passion conference – Louie, Chan, Tomlin, Crowder, Redman

18. receive a Tom hug. quality.

19. calculate time for departure schedule during worship time…including faithful watch bearing Central time

20. walk into airport…proud of a masterminded itinerary. check in to a flight thats already gone. no more flights until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon

21. humility dose for the holistic experience: begging, must be at church tomorrow morning, desperate phone calls, dad and travel agent to the rescue…..$400 one-way ticket to Houston. mom and dad…er, can you please take my car to another airport??? – yes, the one real far away.

22. dinner in Phoenix airport – the unfortunate, yet required stop

23. touchdown in Houston: 2:15 am – joyous ride on “car spot” bus through parking lot – attempting to find my graciously delivered car

24. 3:30 am….crawl in bed. vacation a success!

late foreword: friend gives me $500 just before I left….”God told me to give this to you…not sure what you’ll need it for….but you’re supposed to have this. have a great time!”
Now I see.
well? …wait, did I mess that up, or was that provision for something that God knew would happen?

hurts my brain – I’ll thank him and Him either way

Just 24 hours into some solitude time…I’m about ready to climb the walls.

Reality is, I probably need a week alone with God, just to be still – to listen – process – be.

Even in the attempting to be still, its amazing the places my mind has attempted to go in order to fight being still. anxieties, what if’s, why nots, what now….you name it.

Its like stripping gears – slamming on the brakes from the pace life has taken this past year.

I attempted to mentally and emotionally process – take account of the events since a year ago.

pretty amazing the direction changes, provisions, challenges, adventures, miracles….all in a whirlwind of 365 days.

A few things began to surface today:

1> I am not in control -

how boring would it be if God let me map out my life? I would never intentionally plan a dark valley for a season in my life…too hard. I’d plan a ton of mountain top experiences….that I ultimately wouldn’t cherish as much because I wouldn’t have the contrast of the valley….the impossible task, deep hurt, etc. make for the perfect backdrop of God’s amazing intervention and provision…always over the top

2> Be

Who could’ve guessed at all that would happen this past year? I would’ve never dreamed!

I reflect on those things, hoping that I’ve been a good steward of each opportunity and challenge.

with a “grab bag” of events in the past and future – the only thing that I can always control is my heart and attitude in the journey. The way this or that happened probably won’t matter 20 years from now, but the things I let in my heart to shape who I am…those seeds of what I dwell on will grow into something big (good or bad) in 20 years…..

my view of God, attitude towards life, view of others….

I can choose to “be” who God has called me to be – in whatever circumstance to be assured of who He is and who I am – living life to the full without regret

3> God is massive and I’m amazed that He not only is aware of me, but is more in touch with the thoughts and emotions in me than even I am.

Crazy thing is that its true with every person on the planet.

this evening I was sitting on top of a mountain in Colorado (my favorite place) soaking in God’s creation as I watched the sun set over the rockies – the picture above hardly captures it. Huge beautiful mountains! I looked down into the valley and saw these tiny houses and cars…..the people were too small to see – and it just struck me that every single thing that was happening in that tiny town, God knew and cared about. Every person, every situation He was aware of and actively involved too!

A God that spoke the mountains and all of creation into existence, yet is actively involved with my life – so blessed!

So….being still shows me how fragile I am….how fragile and crazy life is

yet how exciting and fulfilling it is to spend that life in the pursuit of knowing and loving my Creator so that I can discover and grow into what I’m called to be, wherever I’m called to go -with a mind-blowing, powerful, gracious and loving God who is guiding every step.

I think I’ll stay here ’til I run out of money.