Twelve Years and Counting...

How Will They Remember Me?

2011-03-04T10:12:00.001-06:00

The past couple of days, I saw something incredible happen. Between the visitation and funeral for Dennis Lowe, I saw a reflection of the type of legacy EVERY person should strive to leave. I read about big funerals, big visitations, etc, all the time. But for the first time I saw it play out in reality. The line for the visitation stretched way down the sidewalk and past at least a couple of buildings next to the funeral home. A two hour visitation turned into over four hours. The funeral packed our church, plus the foyers, plus overflow rooms in the choir room and across the street. I got home from a 2:00 funeral at 6:15 after going to the graveside and spending a little time with the family after that.

Time and time again, I heard people, including the funeral home director, say they had never seen anything like this, that they had known he knew a lot of people and had a lot of influence, but they were blown away and overwhelmed by what they saw. Many of my youth have already said they were challenged and were re-thinking their own lives a little bit, even at that young of an age. It was such a neat cross-section of life too...church, government, business, civic, and more. All coming together for one common cause, to celebrate a man these many people from many walks of life knew, loved, were impacted by and called friend.

He was far from perfect...but aren't we all? Don't we all struggle with our imperfections? In a way, though, I think that's a big part of what makes us, well, us. That's not an excuse to just go and live however want and not worry about the consequences. It is, however, a reminder to not allow ourselves to become clones of the expectations of and demands of others. A reminder to be who we are, who God has created us to be. A reminder to capture and embrace the life God has given to us, flaws and all, and to give ourselves fully to it. One of the saddest things is a life wasted, a life spent just going through the motions. Dennis Lowe lived the life he was given, and in the process impacted a ton of lives. Even when he knew his illness was terminal and his days were numbered, he accepted the cards he had been dealt and lived those final weeks and days to the fullest.

Before I started ministry life, I had been to maybe 5 or so funerals. In the past 13 years, I'm sure I've been to ten times that amount. A small few have been family, but most have been either people in our church or people related to those in our church. Thirteen years at the same church, you start getting attached to people in a big way. Some of my favorite people in my 36 years of life are people I've met at LFBC. Some of the people I'm closest to in my life are some of the amazing people God has given us at LFBC over the years, including former and current students. A long time ago, I figured out that I wasn't gonna be the best speaker, the most talented communicator, the most gifted energetic fun outgoing out there youth pastor. But I realized that I could make up for a lot of those things with a passion, a legitimate concern and care for people, and an investment in them, their lives, and lasting relationships with them that show them I care and love them and point them to Christ. My dad once made the statement "People won't care how much you know until they know how much you care," and one of my mentors in ministry said "Listening is so much like loving people can't tell a difference." Those statements both stuck with me in powerful ways and became mottos for me as a person and as a minister.

My hope, some day, down the road, is that my life, my legacy, my faith, results in a fraction of the influence I saw one man have this week. I think that's a noble and worthy goal we should all strive for. And lest we all forget we are mortals, as morbid as this sounds, live with an awareness that as you are living, you are dying...each breath wasted is one you can't gain back. Each moment spent on selfish gain or doing nothing is something you can't earn back. Tim McGraw and Kris Allen have songs called "Live Like You (We) Are Dying." Lecrae has a song called "Don't Waste Your Life." Nichole Nordeman has a song called "Legacy" that says, "I wanna leave a legacy, how will they remember me, did I choose to love, did I point to You enough to make a mark on things, I wanna leave an offering, a child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically, and leave that kind of legacy." I hope, I pray, we all live in that type of awareness, and we maximize the life and the potential God has given us in the time we have. We owe it to men like Dennis...and more importantly, we owe it to the God who gives us life and breath.

The Fingerprints of God...

2011-01-25T08:05:00.006-06:00

Each of us has a unique identity. There has never been and never will be anyone like you. Much like fingerprints, the 'soulprint' of God on each person's life is special and specific. Sadly, most of us spend far too much of our lives chasing everything but what God wants for us, instead of being ourselves and discovering our divine destiny.

In Soulprint, Mark Batterson unpacks this concept. He calls on each of us to live the life nobody else can, discovering our unique identity, the life God has given us. Sadly, most of us live as strangers to ourselves. We lose ourselves and our identities behind the lies we believe from others, and the mistakes we feel we cannot recover from. Through the story of David, using an opening and a closing and five 'scenes,' Batterson looks at discovering the person God created us to be and the identity and destiny God has for our lives.

Along the way, he discusses how perceived disadvantages can turn into blessings and create character and shape our destiny. God can use the unlikeliest of people with the unlikeliest skill sets and life circumstances to produce the unique storyline for our lives. We need to develop a holy confidence in God and His plan and all He has given us to become who He desires us to be and to fulfill our divine destiny. We also need to learn to see the past through the lens of God's eyes and see the purposes God has for us in our past experiences. Selfless integrity is another important part of finding and fulfilling our divine destiny, as is dying to ourselves and our alternate identities. We need to risk embarrassment and loss of dignity by embracing even the beautiful awkward moments of life. We also need to embrace our brokenness as a potential blessing in disguise and learn from those moments as we lean on God's holiness more deeply. We are defined by God's grace, not by our sin and our mistakes.

Ultimately, we must spend time with God. If we want to know our divine destiny, we will never find it outside of our relationship with our Designer. Otherwise, we will have a case of mistaken identity. Batterson's premise, the core of the book, comes back to this idea in the opening chapter, "I want you to experience the joy of discovering who you are and the freedom of discovering who you are not. It won't be easy. And there are no shortcuts. But if you are breathing, God hasn't given up on you yet. So don't give up on yourself. Let this promise soak into your spirit, because it will energize your reading: it's never too late to be who you might have been."

{FTC disclaimer: "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review"}

Music Worth Hearing from 2010...

2011-01-16T15:55:00.003-06:00

Most years, I do an entry of my favorite music of the year, ranking them in order of how much I like them, etc. This year, I have no clue when I will be able to actually think through and process last year's music well enough to give a ranking and so forth, so instead, I offer this entry, with music from the year I'd recommend, and a small blurb about each, listed in no particular order. Hopefully I won't leave anything out. Enjoy.
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*Gungor--Beautiful Things. I was already a Michael Gungor fan, but this album blows me away. It is one of the best 'worship' albums I've ever heard. Challenging, beautiful, haunting, moving, consistently good throughout, unlike a lot of worship stuff where I like a couple of songs and the rest runs together.

*House of Heroes--Suburba. I was already a big House of Heroes fan, but this album keeps coming back to me over and over. It is a look at God and life and relationships and growing up and materialism, themed around life in the suburbs. Quality rockin' tunes with a focus on Christ.

*Robert Randolph and the Family Band--We Walk This Road. Another amazing entry by an incredible band. This one is a little more laid back, but still showcases their bluesy and rockin' steel guitars and amazing musicianship, with a little bolder statement of faith than at times in the past. GREAT music.

*Shane and Shane--Unending Worship. The funny thing is this is advertised as their 'first worship album,' but I've always seen their stuff as leading people in worship. It's got a few previously released tracks, a few covers of congregational worship songs, and a few new originals. It's Shane and Shane at their best, and it's easy to worship God along with them on this.

*Arcade Fire--The Suburbs. Funny, this came out the same day as the House of Heroes Suburba album, with a similar theme, and a different style, and though somewhat spiritual, it is a mainstream album. I had heard of AF before, but with this album I became a big fan. The music is indie pop rock, and it is beautiful, at times quirky and haunting, and a statement on modern culture missing its heart and being disconnected. GOOD stuff.

*Jars of Clay--The Shelter. I've always been a huge JOC fan, and though nowhere near my favorite of their collection, this is them at their best, changing from album to album, this time with a theme of community, and guest artists on nearly every track. It showcases the idea of our need for each other and how we do life and faith best with others, with typical JOC acoustic guitars and harmony vocals.

*Mumford and Sons--Sigh No More. Acoustic folk from a British band, lyrics of searching and hope, sometimes pointing to God. I will caveat this though, one song, "Little Lion Man" has a profanity in it, which was disappointing, but doesn't ruin the whole batch for me. The album is amazing, and one I keep coming back to over and over.

*Anberlin--Dark is the Way, Light is a Place. Amped up a bit over their last album, and a little darker, Anberlin still offers hopeful rock that points to Someone and Something greater.

*Robbie Seay Band--Miracle. Another very solid worship focused album. Like Gungor, RSB goes a little outside the box of typical worship albums, and crafts a solid release.

She and Him--Volume 2. Wow, Zooey Deschanel can sing. Not just the bathroom scene on Elf either. She has an amazing voice, and I fell in love with the lo-fi indie pop of She and Him this year. Both Volume 1 (from 2008) and Volume 2 are beautiful, with songs of life and relationship and pop songs that cut across several generational stylings.

Ray Lamontagne and the Pariah Dogs--God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise. I guess you could say this is the year I fell in love with stripped back and laid bare acoustic folk. Organic sounds, with songs of bittersweet yet soothing optimism.

*The Rocket Summer--Of Men and Angels. I became a much bigger TRS fan after seeing them in concert this year. What can you say about Bryce Avary besides that he knows how to show his skills in FUN songs of pop/rock that ultimately point to the Creator.

*Third Day--Move. I am nowhere near the Third Day fan I used to be, but this is another solid entry that gets more back to what I used to love so much about them but that it seemed they had lost for a while before Revelation. In short, it rocks.

*Johnny Cash--American VI: Ain't No Grave. I'm a big JC fan, and though some see posthumous releases as silly, I'm glad Rick Rubin has released the last couple of installments because they show the rawness of Cash, lyrically and vocally, in the last days of his life.

*Sandra McCracken--In Feast or Fallow. Derek Webb's wife, who he has always said is more talented than he is, she is an acoustic singer/songwriter, and this is an awesome entry in her discography, with stripped back hymns and beautiful tunes.

*Jennifer Knapp--Letting Go. JK disappeared for a while, came back, outed herself and released new music. Though I don't agree with her lifestyle choices, she still makes solid music. Though some of the tunes are a little dark and angry, overall, it's a solid album and it's nice to have her back.

*Dave Barnes--What We Want, What We Get. I love DB's voice. Though I enjoyed his last album more than this one, it's still solid pop with a jazzy bent and fun stuff about relationships, with God and others.

*Andrew Peterson--Counting Stars. I had more trouble getting into this one than some of his past stuff, but Peterson continues to be one of THE master storytellers in Christian folk music. He never disappoints.

*Andrew Osenga--Choosing Sides. Another fantastic storyteller, Osenga has been someone I've enjoyed since his days in the Normals, in and out of solo music, and more recently as a part of Caedmon's call. Like Peterson above, he never disappoints, even if this wasn't my favorite of his music.

*Caedmon's Call--Waking the Dead. A bit of a step back from Overdressed, CC still knows how to take their individual parts and make a solid whole of an album. Acoustic pop, multiple instrumentalists, multiple vocalists, and good music.

*The Reign of Kindo--This is What Happens. These guys came out of a Christian rock band called This Day and Age, and now they make some amazing music. Indie piano jazz rock, and it's beautiful music.

*Flatfoot 56--Black Thorn. Christian Celtic Punk Rock. Fun stuff...an acquired taste, but fun stuff.

*Justin McRoberts--Through Songs I Became Undone. This is Justin's 'covers' album, a 10 track journey through songs that influenced his journey musically and otherwise. It's a solid album, and enjoyable, but I much prefer most of his other stuff.

*Showbread--Who Can Know It? Raw honest lyrics, a rawer and more stripped back rock sound than their past stuff, this album made me much more of a Showbread fan than I was before.

City Transformation...

2011-01-14T15:39:00.003-06:00

God is working in cities. That's not to say that He isn't working in rural settings and so forth, but people everywhere are finding that when we engage cities, taking the complete gospel to the whole city, lasting transformation for the Kingdom is taking place. That is the premise of To Transform a City by Eric Swanson and Sam Williams.

They begin by building 'a case for cities.' From defining cities, to historical evidence of what has aided cities, to models for cities, to reasons to engage the cities, they make a case for the importance of cities, sociologically and spiritually alike. It sets the tone for the rest of the book, which deals with city transformation, spiritually and otherwise. If cities are going to change, it starts with individual transformation, which leads to church transformation, which leads to community and cultural transformation. It is about big picture transformation that begins on the individual level and moves up to wider reaching and lasting change.

Chapter three looks at understanding the Kingdom of God, the message of the Kingdom, the values of the kingdom and engaging others in the Kingdom. Chapter four is a fascinating look at historical examples of transforming power, from the early Christians, through medieval and middle ages, to more modern examples, calling on believers to reverse the recent reversal and get back to fully living out the good news in our communities. Next comes a call for unity and the whole Church working together, rather than merely as individual units, in order to do more and to be more effective, and to incorporate the whole Gospel into the transforming Kingdom work. Advocating a 'thicker Gospel,' we turn goodwill into good works about the good news. This Gospel transformation should move across all sectors of the city, including business and social sectors and much more. We partner with others who care, even if they don't share all, or perhaps any, of our spiritual goals and beliefs, because we are doing it for the common good and for the common grace. We leverage 'social capital,' and as externally focused churches, we can turn the strength of our bonded capital into bridging capital, changing our scorecard to match God's standards for measurement and God's heart for our communities.

Finally, Swanson and Williams challenge leaders to rethink the future and to realize that what we can't move forward by continuing to do the same things that haven't worked. We must become transformed ourselves, and must yield ourselves to God's Kingdom work, His plan and His desire for our world to be transformed. Warning: don't read this if you are not prepared to be challenged deeply.

Hope for The Next Christians (a Book Review)

2011-01-10T08:24:00.006-06:00

As a youth pastor, I'm always interested in and intrigued by writings about the state of Christianity, what people feel about Christians, and what Christians can and should be doing about it. A couple of years ago I read three books around the same time that basically were people pouring out their hearts to the church about the current state of the church and the perceptions the world has about the church and Christians. Among those was Unchristian, by Gabe Lyons and David Kinnamon. It blew me away, honestly. So when I heard that Lyons has a new book, The Next Christians, I was excited. I tried to go into reading it without any real preconceptions as to what it was going to be about, and mostly succeeded as the book blew away my expectations.

Lyons begins by unpacking current perceptions of Christianity and how times have radically changed, likely in permanent ways. He creates the case that a "Christian America" is a definite thing of the past, and that there is a new normal in our society, where church and God and culture are no longer central to most people's lives and skepticism and uncertainty abounds. We as believers can respond in three general ways, as cultural separatists, cultural conformers or cultural restorers. It is this last group that Lyons spends the remainder of the book promoting, using general principles and specific real-world examples, as the true 'next Christians' who can still make an impact and swing the tide for our faith in the world around us as restorers.

The restorers are provoked to engage culture with grace without being so offended as to condemn it judgmentally. They are creators who use their creativity in positive ways instead of being overly critical of the negative uses of people's God-given creativity. They are called by God to do something to impact the world, not merely employed by a job or vocation simply to make ends meet. They are grounded in Christ without being distracted and pulled into sinful lifestyles while engaging culture. They live in the strength of community and relational intimacy rather than being loners. They are countercultural for the common good without being separatists, antagonistic or so overly concerned with relevance as to be absorbed by the culture.

He ends the book talking about the new era for Christianity. Historically, there have been huge historic changes, shifts, transformations, every 500 years or so, and this correlates to today's cultural changes. We must keep first things first...we must recover the Gospel and fall in love with it all over again. We must hold tightly to this 'first thing' and allow everything else to take care of itself, according to Lyons. There is a new hope as the followers of Christ fully engage culture while fully holding onto the core of our doctrine and use our lives, our gifts, our talents, and our faith to help restore and redeem and love the world to Christ.

(NOTE: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review)

God and Sports...

2011-01-06T22:40:00.000-06:00

“I don’t want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. “--Albert Pujols, SI, 2009

I am a sports fan. Fan is short for fanatic, in case you didn't realize that. For as long as I can remember, I've been pretty fanatical about sports. I was getting up and going to get the paper so I could read the sports section around age 5. I was blowing my dad and anyone else who would listen's mind with random statistics, rosters, and so forth for teams, local and professional alike, around that same age. I poured over programs and yearbooks for teams and sports. And all of this was in the days before you could look up anything you wanted to about anyone or any team you wanted to on Al Gore's famous invention. I played soccer for 5 years, and was good...i once scored 5 goals in a game we won 10-1...and played goalie in the second half. I played baseball for 10 years in city leagues...I was never the best but was one of those guys who was solid, could be counted on, and played just about everywhere...one season, I played every position but pitcher and catcher within that season. I played 3 years of football, and 4 years of basketball. I played intramurals in college, and on church league softball, basketball and volleyball teams.

I married a sports fan, and many of our vacations have included baseball games and other things like that, as have our last couple of youth mission trips. We watch a TON of sports on tv. I am good friends with some coaches, and a lot of my good friends are sports fanatics as well. I recently started playing fantasy football and have enjoyed the 2 seasons I've done that as well. New Year's eve Tracy and I spent a couple of hours at a Houston Rockets basketball game. The Rockets are a mediocre team and the team they played was worse. But it was fun nonetheless. The day after New Years, we went to a pretty awesome church that morning...and then to a Houston Texans/Jacksonville Jaguars football game. Again, the teams were fairly mediocre, but it was a great game and a ton of fun. If you've never been to a professional game, it is the height of fanaticism. Sure, local teams fans get a little crazy. Sure, Razorbacks fans are pretty nuts...especially this year during football season, and especially Tuesday night...facebook and twitter were riddled with statuses related to the game, etc, and people get very high and very low based on their performance. But professional sports events are filled with people giving themselves completely to their teams. They show it in their dress, in their emotions, in their words, in their excitement, in their enthusiasm, in their passion.

It got me thinking, a lot, about how we as Christians, far too often, especially in our churches, don't show nearly the fanaticism towards the things of God that sports fans show for their teams. 18,000 people crammed the Toyota Center to see a mediocre basketball team win on New Years Eve. 71,000 crowded into Reliant Stadium 2 days later to see the home team end a disappointing season by knocking their division rivals out of the playoff chase. What if we had that type of passion for Christ? What if we were that committed to Him? What if we cared that much about Jesus and following Him and the Church and the local church and its ministries and living out our faith? What if we got as 'rowdy' for Jesus as fans get for their teams? What if we were that enthusiastic and excited about God, about church, about being His hands and feet? What if we enjoyed our faith as much as we enjoy our sports teams? What if...? In the NIV there are something like 241 verses that deal with 'joy' in some capacity. Paul spent a lot of time in Philippians talking about joy. We need to live like our faith excites us. We need to show the world the joy of Christ and living for Him, instead of living like it's just another part of our lives, or worse, like practical atheists who may have made a decision we 'regret' because it sucked the life out of us instead of giving us joy and live as Jesus intends it to.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly (NASB and ESV)..." "I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of..." (Message) "I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest..." (Common English Bible) {JOHN 10:10)

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE: "YOU ARE MY JOY" and "WE'VE ALREADY WON" BY DAVID CROWDER BAND

God and The Fine Art of Friendship...

2010-12-22T14:24:00.004-06:00

Jackie Robinson was the first black guy to play major league baseball. Breaking baseball's color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. The fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans jeered. Then, shortstop Pee Wee Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.

I love that story. As I have gotten older, I have become more and more thankful for the amazing friends God has given me in my life. More than once they have 'saved my career,' in the sense of picking me up when I am down and helping me take the next step forward knowing someone cared and was there for me and with me. When I was younger, I had a group of friends that I was pretty close to and played sports with and went to church with many of them. As we grew into Jr High and beyond, we grew apart somewhat, at least in part due to my commitment to Christ and church and things like that. God almost immediately replaced those friends with an even better group of friends...friends who were already there but who I became best friends with. God used that group of friends to start a Christian organization that met EVERY morning before school on our high school campus and that became a leadership group within our pretty large church youth group. Among that group of friends is a lifelong close friend who was the best man at my wedding and who is still a close friend to this day and another who was also in my wedding.

When I got into college, God drew me to involvement with the BSU (now called BCM) on my campus, after a fairly miserable first semester. I got involved there the second semester, made tons of new friends and some really good friends through that, and God used that group of friends to be leaders in our college ministry, both at the BSU and some of them at our church as the college ministry there grew as well. One of those was in my wedding and is still one of my closest friends to this day as well and several others are still pretty good friends, some of them becoming roommates and more. Another, who became one of my best friends later in the college experience, almost single-handedly helped me through one of the darkest toughest times I had been through to that point. When I saw this friend recently it was an awesome reconnection and I'm super thankful for her to this day.

When I left college, I left home really for the first time and moved 3 hours away to a place I knew almost nobody. Almost immediately I connected with one of the older students in the ministry I was working in...he would later become a roommate, was also in my wedding, and we are still pretty close to this day as well. Also among those friends was my best friend...my wife...who started out as merely as a good friend, and God took that and made it into much more for so long. Several other people in that ministry experience God used to get me through that first year and to show me that I could do what I felt He was calling me to do.

Fast forward to my current job and current life. I was a 23 year old raw rookie not long out of college when God brought me to a smallish rural Southern Baptist church that looking back on it seemed so not how I was for so many reasons. From day one, however, they loved and accepted and supported me, and for 12 years befriended me. Ministry life is so so different than most people's lives at this age and stage. Every time I have needed it, however, God has brought the encouragement and friendship from both within (adult, student, former student) and outside of our church that I have needed to keep plugging away. Without that support and friendship, I'm not sure I could have made it this long, through the ups and downs of ministry life. In the past few years, God has given me two extremely good friends in two other youth pastors in the area who I can hang out with, talk to, spend time with, and relate to. They have at times been life-savers. SEVERAL people within this church have become the type of close friends I have needed at certain times and some are to this day among my very best friends after my wife. Without them, at times, doing this job would be next to impossible. In fact, this very day, God used three of them to be a listening ear at a time I needed, a time of frustration and discouragement, and their willingness, along with my wife's, to simply be there to talk to/listen to me has carried me through this day in some ways.

I owe an extreme debt of gratitude to all of these people in so many ways and on so many levels. They wouldn't want to be named or singled out. They wouldn't want the accolades. They would tell you they are frail, fragile, imperfect human beings just doing what they know best. And honestly, that is why I hold them dear. In Ecclesiastes 4, and several times in Proverbs, it makes it so clear the value of true, genuine, real relationship and friendship and the incredible thing it is to find the friend who is more like family. The older I get, the more I know that, and the more I need and value that. Maybe I'm just more needy than I used to be. But more than anything I realize there is no price tag on the value and treasure of a good friend, of and at any age and stage of life, and I'm so thankful to God for each of them, past and present that God has used and continues to use in my life and my ministry. You are my heroes and a big part of who I am and why I am who I am. And for that, thanks never seems like a big enough word.

Soundtrack for a Note: U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind album; She and Him Volume One album

God and Others...

2010-12-21T08:45:00.000-06:00

During the American Revolution a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, "Sir, I am a corporal!" The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. The job done, he turned to the corporal and said, "Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." It was none other than George Washington.

Story has it that William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, once was supposed to speak at a convention and was unable to make it at the last minute because of illness. So he wired his message through telegraph, a single word, "OTHERS." The Salvation Army is founded on the principle of giving a heart to God and a hand to man. It is, at its core, based on service for God because of God's love for us and God's love for the world around us. Recently my youth group got to experience a little of what that means...we took a 9 hour shift ringing bells on a COLD December Saturday at a local department store, as a part of their kettle drives, during which something like 2/3 of all of their funding for the course of a year is raised. We raised about $500, which they said was really good. It was a joy helping them out, and watching our 20 or so LFBC youth and youth workers who helped that day, brought joy to my heart. I love watching, and being with, students as they serve. See, if you didn't realize it...students are labeled typically as apathetic, lazy, self-centered, concerned only with temporary happiness for themselves without much thought to God or others around them. A lot of that stereotype is justified...although it's really only a microcosm of the selfishness and apathy of adults and society as a whole, right?

Over the past 5 years or so, we have slowly worked towards becoming a more others-centered group. We have a long ways to go, but several times a year, we get to experience some incredible service opportunities. The biggies have been our youth mission trips...to Monroe, Nashville, Waco, Baltimore, Arlington and (2011) Houston. There have been state ministry opportunities in Jonesboro, Pine Bluff and Helena. There have been summer week-long local community missions experiences at the Salvation Army, Main Street Mission, a retirement home, and passing out water bottles at local parks and walking trails, as well as service projects raking leaves and doing other outside things for mostly elderly people in our church. Our church has started a "Hands Ministry" where Sunday school classes and other groups of church members find needs and go out and meet them. It is wonderful to be a part of all of this and to see a group get excited about getting outside of their own box and their own selves and doing something for God and for others.

Rick Warren once said, "We are never more like Jesus than when we are serving others." I believe it was he who also said that a non-serving Christian is an oxymoron. Jesus said that the most important thing in the world is to fall madly crazy in love with God, and the second is that from that love, we learn to love our neighbor as ourselves. From my bell-ringing a couple of weeks ago, and from our experiences with them over the past two summers and also on a couple of out of state mission trips, I know the men and women of the Salvation Army have taken Mr Booth's words to heart, and truly live with a heart to God and a hand to man and for others. As we head towards Christmas and into beginning a new year, may we determine in our hearts to see the world through Jesus' eyes. May we look expectantly for opportunities to serve Him, in big and small ways alike. And may we become more consumed with Him, and with others, than with the little bubble of self-importance we place around ourselves.

Soundtrack for a note: Mumford and Sons Sigh No More album, and The Hotshot Freight Train The Devil Pays in Counterfeit album

God and Mortality...

2010-12-19T21:18:00.003-06:00

(This is the 4th in an ongoing series I've had in my head called "God and _____")

When I was younger, I, like most of us, never thought about death or the fact that any of our lives could end at literally any moment. A series of events over the past few years has caused me to rethink that. It's not that I sit around thinking "Hmm, when am I gonna die," but I am much more aware of my, and all of our, mortality, and the fact that none of us is promised even our next breath, much less tomorrow, or next month, or next year, or whatever else.

2006 was a hard year for my family. I lost a grandma and a grandpa on opposite sides of my family, and my wife also lost her last remaining grandparent. Her grandmother, and my grandmother who passed were both in very poor health. My grandfather who died was more unexpected...he had a heart attack while out walking, just around the corner from his front door. Later that same year, my dad...who like most dads to most of us, to that point, seemed fairly immortal...was surprisingly diagnosed with prostate cancer (he has fought it successfully by the way). Later that same summer, shortly after my younger son was born, my pastor, who is a mentor and father figure for me, had a bout with some fairly serious heart issues. Again, for the second time that summer, a Superman, a John Wayne in my life, was battling fairly serious health issues.

In 2009, we lost a student in our ministry to a freak drowning accident. Tracy also had an aunt have a stroke, and she is doing ok but is not the same as she was before. And a former student of mine lost her husband in a very tragic manner also. In 2010, another nearby youth ministry lost a student in a similar fashion to how we did in the sense of it being an out of nowhere freak incident. Another local school lost a student after losing a battle with health issues related to collapsing from heat during a summer football practice. And a friend from college lost her husband tragically in a car accident.

Before I entered ministry, I had been to maybe 5 or 6 funerals...in nearly 13 years of ministry, I bet I've been to 10 times that many now. We've lost some key men and women in our church in recent years, too many to recount. In the past year or so, we've had a couple of men diagnosed with terminal cancer, and just recently were blindsided by another slightly younger church member's terminal cancer diagnosis, a man who has been a huge supporter and encourager for me in my time here. And recently we found out another close friend and church member may have lupus.

Where am I going with all of this? A few quick thoughts. First, the sooner we get through our heads that we literally have NO idea how much time we have left, the sooner we can fully and truly live. From the moment we are born, we are, literally, like it or not, dying. We have a 1 in 1 chance of dying, unless Jesus comes back...that's 100%. Second, we need to learn to truly, as Kris Allen and Tim McGraw say, "Live like we are dying." We need to treat every moment and every opportunity and every time with someone as if it could be the last...because, well, it could be...right? As Chris Rice says, "Life means so much...every day is a fit that you've been given make the most of your time every minute you''re living." My wife and I have a thing, and have since early in our relationship, where EVERY time we leave, go to bed, hang up the phone, or whatever else, we say "I love you," because it truly could be the last time. We do the same with our kids. I do the same with my parents. I do the same with many of my close friends and with many of my students. I want to truly live and leave life with no regrets.

Finally, because we honestly have no idea how long we have or those around us have, we need to maximize the time we have with everyone, the impact we have on people, the opportunities we have to serve and make a difference and share our faith by actions and words. We need to stop living for selfish and trivial things and start living for the things that make a difference that lasts. We need to invest in people. We need to love. We need to fully live. We need to give ourselves to something that will outlast our lives. Live...and outlive your life...leave a legacy...be remembered far beyond this life because of what you do in this life and because you live for a purpose much greater, much bigger and much more lasting than yourself. Someday, it will all end...how will they remember you? Will we live with no regrets? None of us is immortal...what will we do with the time we have been given?

Soundtrack for a Note: The Hotshot Freight Train--Poetic Devices and Personal Vices album 

ps...The Bucket List movie, and Andrew Peterson's "Alaska or Bust" song keep running through my head too.

God and My Son's School...

2010-12-18T18:36:00.003-06:00

(This is actually not something on my original 'God and ______' list, but it keeps coming to mind over the past 24 hours so here it is...)

One of the awesome things about my job and the church I'm serving at right now is that I've been able to be pretty involved in my son's school life. This is something I have NEVER taken for granted because I know most fathers (and for that matter these days most parents period) aren't able to be at a lot of their kids' stuff at school and so forth these days. Since he was in kindergarten (now in 2nd grade), I've been very fortunate to be able to make it to most of the awards assemblies, class parties, programs, and other activities. I also get to eat in the cafeteria with him several times a year as well, and sometimes that also includes playing out on the playground for part of recess with him and his friends. I also get to take him a lot and pick him up most days. I've been able to connect with a lot of the kids his age, and over time a lot of them have grown to really like having me around.

The past two weeks, I've been able to be at both performances of his 2nd grade class play (A.M. for the school, P.M. for the parents), subbed in his class for 90 minutes while the school honored all the teachers, and made it to his class Christmas party. The last two were 2 days apart. In the hour and a half I had them on Wednesday, I had a little bit of stuff the teacher left us to do while she was out, and had to be a little more authoritative than I had hoped for in order to show them they couldn't get by with just anything. Ultimately, as usually happens in youth group as well, it earned respect, even if they may not have liked it at first.

On Friday, when I was there for the Christmas party, all the kids knew me and were like "you again?" and were picking at me, and I at them as well. Here's the crux of this entry...one little boy, one of the few I didn't know before Wednesday, told my son, over and over again, "Your dad is so cool," which brought a smile to my face. A few minutes later, he made this statement, "I wish you were my dad." I don't know this kid's family situation at all, but hearing that brought with it a jumbled maze of emotions. It reminded me, yet again, that kids are watching me, and that I have a tremendous responsibility and a tremendous opportunity. It also humbled me. I'm far from perfect, but this kid obviously saw something he wished he had. It reminded me that we all have the potential to make an impact on really everyone we encounter because people are watching us.

The question is this: what kind of impact are we making...as believers, as role models, as husbands, as fathers, as ministers, as students, as family members? In that moment, that simple statement from a kid I barely knew, humbled me, and gave me joy and heartache both. It is by far not the first time something like that has been said around me...in fact I had a student in my youth group say something similar even today...and I don't always know exactly what to do with it. But I do know this: it is my job, and each of ours, to do the best we can, in every moment and every situation we are alive in, to impact others in a positive way rather than a negative one, because we never know who is watching or what type of lasting, and perhaps even eternal, impact God could choose to use us to have on them.

Soundtrack for a note: "Volume I" by She and Him

God and Fishing...

2010-12-14T12:37:00.005-06:00

(This is #2 in a series of "God and _________" blog entries that have been swimming around in my head for a while)

When I was a lot younger, I went fishing a lot. For one reason or another, I didn't go for a long time after that. Until recently. Having two young sons, who all of a sudden decided fishing seemed cool and asked for fishing poles for their 7th and 4th birthdays last summer, changed all of that. I don't know why exactly I got away from fishing when I was younger, or why it took me a long time to return to doing it. I'm probably never gonna get into it like I do some other things, some other hobbies and outlets in my life. But the boys got into it, so I gave it a chance again, and have enjoyed it, or did until the cold weather hit and we quit getting to go. Those four or five times we went were enjoyable though, and I can see it as something that hopefully down the road will become a neat father/son thing for us potentially.

We live in an area with a lot of natural beauty, including a pretty major lake and a pretty major river, at least for our state. There is a very nice state park that has undergone renovations and upgrades in the past five years or so. National fishing tournaments come here. When warmer weather hits, boats line the lake as we drive across it (my boys love to count and see how many are out each of their sides of the car, making it into a competition). Many of these people are super dedicated. I think there are a couple of analogies I've learned from fishing lately.

First off, fishing, like reaching people and growing churches and ministries, takes patience, and time. The first four or so times we went fishing, the boys were beginning to get a little frustrated because we literally caught nothing, and had only a few bites. The last time we went, however, we had some success, and it reinvigorated them. In ministry it's often the same way. They feed us some crazy statistics...for instance, it takes on average seven attempts for someone to receive the Gospel...meaning even if we don't 'win someone for the Lord,' or even get them to come to our church or youth group or whatever, we cannot get frustrated and lose hope. We instead must have patience, and work on building, developing, and maintaining authentic relationships with the people, being careful to not make it seem as if there is always an agenda or as if we are manipulating them for our own gain or for a notch on our belts. Being a career church staff person, there is a frightening statistic that on average, pastors and youth leaders only stay somewhere 18 months to 3 years. There are a myriad of reasons for that, but some of it is a lack of patience and a lack of allowing God to do His work on His timetable, and a failure to realize that as we wait and work, God is working on and in us even as He is working through us. I have been at my church for 12 1/2 years...that's an eternity at one church as a youth pastor, especially a relatively small one. It would have been easy to give up early on and move on, and people still try to get me to...but the greatest rewards have come in the last couple of years.

The other thing I've seen related to the local fishermen is their level of dedication and commitment. On any given Sunday, driving to our church, you will pass people out on the lake...often even in cold and rainy conditions. Or one night last week, it was pitch black, clod and windy and i saw a truck pulling their boat out of the water. Talk about dedication. The first instinct is to think 'wow those people are idiots.' But these days, instead, I think, "Wow, those guys are super committed and refuse to allow anything to stop them." I mean, any given Sunday there are a million excuses people give for not being a part of a church. On a daily basis, there are that many or more excuses we give for not fully following Christ in total surrender. If we had the dedication and determination and commitment of the crazy, insane fishermen, what could we see happen for the Kingdom?

If you fail to have patience, you're not likely to get into fishing. If you aren't committed to it, you won't give yourself to it and won't get into it. Don't the same principles apply to following Christ, to church and ministry situations? What would happen if we had the patience and dedication of the fishermen?

Soundtrack for a note: "Volume II" by She and Him

God and Starbucks

2010-12-14T09:53:00.003-06:00

For several days I've had this concept for an ongoing series of blog entries mulling around in my head. So I'm gonna get on that...and maybe I'll get them all done...perhaps even in the same day...Here begins my "God and ___________" blog series...

I've spent a lot of time in coffee shops lately. Unfortunately in our smallish town, we have just Starbucks and Hard Back Cafe (the coffee shop affiliated with Hastings), so it's been alternating between those two. Those places have, in a very real sense, become something of a getaway, a refuge, a sanctuary of sorts for me, a place to get out of the office, away from the church, and think, write, read, listen to music, etc. In recent months I've thought a lot about why coffee shops appeal so much to so many people, myself included. I mean, you pay way more than you should for drinks, whether it is regular coffee or one of the fancier drinks. So what exactly is the appeal, and what can we learn from it that helps us as believers and churches? I think there are a few things that draw people to Starbucks.

Starbucks excels in customer service and creating a sense of community. They are warm and friendly. They want to make your drink your way. They make you feel not like just another body paying them a little bit of money, but rather like an important part of their day. They call you by name when your drink is ready, made exactly the way you want it. While the church shouldn't be tailored to every individual's wishes, the idea that every person matters and that every person that graces our doorways should be made to feel important, is so huge in church circles. It is something we in churches tend to believe we are doing a lot better than we usually are. if people don't feel important and wanted, it won't matter much how good your music or preaching or youth group or children's ministry or whatever else is. If they don't have a sense of belonging, of being a part, of being significant to the Body, they won't stick.

A huge part of what keeps bringing people back to places like Starbucks over and over is the fact that they know they are wanted. They know they are accepted there. They know they belong there. They know they matter to the people in charge. They know they will usually get quality customer service and will feel like they are in a place of community. The early church in Acts did a phenomenal job at this. The modern church could learn a lot from it. Why don't we purposefully commit to making an intentional effort to make every person who chooses (because it really is a choice most of the time, a choice among many options) to be a part of our ministries feel as if they matter, as if they are important, as if they are a significant part of the community. The church as a whole could do a lot better job, like the coffee shops (or for that matter Chick-Fil-A, and even bars) do at making people feel warm, accepted, loved, and needed. We need to be, as the church used to be known, the most loving place in town.

Soundtrack for a Note: Sufjan Stevens Christmas boxed set

The Long Fall Back to Earth...

2010-11-17T22:21:00.004-06:00

I guess I'm on a Jars of Clay song blog entry title kick tonight, eh? You know how you hear people talk about dreams (the kind when you are actually asleep, not like the kind when you wonder what you're gonna do with your life) and the 'oh, what could it mean/what do you think it means?' type things? You know how some people obsess about what their dreams might mean, etc, in other words? I don't do that, never really have. But I had a dream the other night that I keep thinking about, keep coming back to, etc, and sort of see as a symbolic story on some levels. Bear with me, it's brutal.

In the dream, we (Tracy and I, and some other friends, who I think I remember, but not sure honestly) were standing outside of a football stadium (maybe U of Arkansas, maybe ASU, in dreams you never know and they usually wind up a hodge-podge of several), getting our tickets, and then going on into the stadium. As we were literally walking through the gate, a little ways down from where we were standing someone had been goofing off, horsing around...I THINK it was on like a carnival ride, like a Ferris wheel or something like that, and they fell from the top of it, to the ground. I remember, in the dream, turning around as I heard the scream, knowing there was nothing I could really do, seeing the person falling, and quickly turning back to the people I was with in line, and herding them on into the stadium. I think it was well-intentioned, in that I really did not want them to see the horrific scene. But I also remember thinking about how guilty I felt to just go on into the stadium like nothing had happened.

Here's the deal...as I woke up later, several thoughts about this dream came to my mind. I don't want it to sound trite or like some cheesy or goofy analogy, but I saw several aspects of this dream as indicative of and symbolic of how so many people go through life. First, the guy up on the Ferris wheel was a picture of, sadly, how many people in the world are. They are enjoying life, the whole 'eat, drink and be merry' crowd, but they are playing with danger, and ultimately are spiraling out of control and in danger of a great fall, a hard crash, the extent of which could be devastating and then some. Second, me and my friends are, sadly, symbolic of how too many of us "Christians" treat the world around us. Much like the priest and Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan, we are too busy, or too consumed with the things we enjoy, or too scared to get messy, to help someone in need. We would rather turn a blind eye and a deaf ear and pretend nothing happened at all. If we are honest, we'd rather ignore the problems and issues and sins exist. We'd rather go on with life as we know it and not be bothered...and that's a shame, isn't it, if we think about it...

By the way, the guy survived the fall, in the dream. He was in pretty bad shape, but he didn't die, amazingly. He was, in a sense, given a second chance at life. Isn't that, too, symbolic of life and God? We are, until the moment we literally die, given a second chance, a new leash on life, a predetermined by God amount of time to stake our claim with Him and make our mark for Him. What we do with that chance is mostly up to us. I'd like to believe the guy in my dream would make a full recovery, although he'd have scars and memories and bumps and bruises...and that those scars and marks would serve as a reminder and a push and a motivational tool to help him live like he was dying, because he had seen what that literally was like and had been so changed by it and so blown away by the second chance that he couldn't help but make the most out of it, beaten and broken though he was. Isn't that how God works?

Take My Worlds Apart...

2010-11-17T21:38:00.005-06:00

The summer between my sophomore and junior years of college, I moved out of my parents' house and into a trailer for the summer with my best friend from high school and college and my youth group. That summer, I staffed a camp called Super Summer Arkansas for the first of three times ('95, '96, '98). It honestly changed my life, because though I had been wrestling with a call to student ministry for a while, it was the first time I realized I could actually do it. In that week, I learned so much about my potential to lead a group of students and minister to and help and listen and encourage them. On the way home, I was about 10 minutes from home, and the song "Worlds Apart" by Jars of Clay came on my little portable plug into the cigarette lighter cd player. I had heard it before, and liked it a lot. But in that moment, for the first time I remember, God broke me with a song. I was bawling as I drove that last few minutes as I reflected on what I had experienced and what I had learned. I was blown away. It was as if the words of that song became my prayer..."God whatever it takes, I'm yours, take my worlds apart, do what You wish." Looking back, I think it not only became my favorite song (and has remained that way for 15 years, even as I now have 8200+ songs in my iTunes), it also triggered and set into motion the journey that ultimately led me to surrender to ministry, and to the place I am today.

Last week, for the 11th time, I saw Jars of Clay in concert, and for about the 7th time of those, I heard them play "Worlds Apart," and it has been on my mind since. Tonight, I used it for the invitation song in youth group, and invited them to ask God to take their worlds apart, and to release themselves fully in surrender to Him. The prayer of "Worlds Apart" should be the prayer of all of us. It still to this day is my favorite song, and I'm not sure a more powerful song has ever been written. You're free to disagree, but I do ask you to give the song, and it's lyrics a listen/watch/read. Thanks for reading.
_________________________________________________________
"Worlds Apart"

I am the only one to blame for this, Somehow it all ends up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride, I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind, To rid myself of all but love, to give and die

To turn away and not become, Another nail to pierce the skin of one who loves
more deeply than the oceans, more abundant than the tears Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice, Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love you - take my world apart. To need you - I am on my knees; To love you - take my world apart; To need you - broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone, Amongst remains of a life I should not own
It takes all I am to believe In the mercy that covers me

Did you really have to die for me?All I am for all you are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

[Bridge]

I look beyond the empty cross, forgetting what my life has cost,and wipe away the crimson stains, and dull the nails that still remain. More and more I need you now, I owe you more each passing hour, the battle between grace and pride, I gave up not so long ago.
So steal my heart and take the pain, and wash the feet and cleanse my pride,
take the selfish, take the weak, and all the things I cannot hide.
take the beauty, take my tears, the sin-soaked heart and make it yours
take my world all apart, take it now, take it now,
and serve the ones that I despise, speak the words I can't deny,
watch the world I used to love, fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross, forgetting what my life has cost,
so wipe away the crimson stains, and dull the nails that still remain
so steal my heart and take the pain, take the selfish, take the weak,
and all the things I cannot hide, take the beauty, take my tears
take my world apart, take my world apart,
I pray, I pray, I pray, take my world apart

A Parent's Greatest Joy...

2010-10-15T09:16:00.003-05:00

There are a lot of amazing things that happen in parenting. There are a lot of amazing things that happen in ministry. Sunday night, I got to experience the intersection of the two. My older son, age 7, when it was bed-time, out of the blue, told his mom "I want to become a Christian and get baptized." She came in and got me from the living room, told me what was going on, and we went back into his room. We talked for a little bit, making sure he knew what it meant, and that he wasn't just doing it to do it or because of a fascination with baptism (he likes to walk up and see our baptistry when we fill it for youth baptisms and so forth). It was super clear to me that he understood what it was all about, so he got down from his top bunk and we prayed and he gave his life to Jesus. This Sunday, I will have the amazing privilege of baptizing my firstborn, in front of my parents, my in-laws, my best friend, my pastor, his Sunday school teacher, his previous Sunday school teacher, many others in the church, most of his closest friends from church and their parents, and most of my youth, who he adores.

As a youth pastor, I've had the chance to do probably close to 30 baptisms, and in my life I've had the chance to lead probably 40-50 people to Christ, at least. But there is nothing that remotely compares to that experience with your own son. As he has gotten a little older, we started recognizing that he was getting more and more curious and that God was moving in his life. I had even bought a small book about praying over and preparing for your child's salvation just because it's a bit more intimidating on one level than with youth and/or other people in your life. He caught us a little off guard that night, but obviously in a good way. We just had gotten no indication right then that he was that close. But God's timing is amazing, and it was (and is) an incredible experience for all of us.

One of the neatest things has been the outpouring of love and congratulations directed at him. After we came back into the living room and he lay down for bed, I started texting people and got amazing replies back almost immediately from friends and students. So many people have asked us about it, seeing it on my facebook or my wife's or hearing it otherwise, asking or congratulating about it in person or via the 'net. People at school and church both have come up and hugged him and told him how excited they are for him. They are excited for us and for him. I honestly believe it will ultimately help trigger some other kids at church towards a holy curiosity and exploring their own need for Christ in their lives.

Childlike faith is amazing. He was incredible to talk to that night and since then has talked about it non-stop, making sure I have told certain people, asking constantly if we had set up the baptism date yet, asking other questions, etc. I have always believed God has an amazing plan for my sons and their lives, and I am super excited about this new beginning for him now. It is, without a doubt, a parent's greatest joy, and Sunday morning will be a morning to remember. It also makes me look forward to the same experience with my 4 year old, and I believe he's honestly not too terribly far away from it himself. Thanks, God.

Music for a Note: "Salvation Song" by the Avett Brothers

Fearless!

2010-08-07T11:15:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I received a copy of Max Lucado's next to latest book, Fearless, to review. I was a huge Lucado fan when I first started really reading Christian literature, and had kinda gotten away from reading him a little bit recently, until receiving his last two books within a short time of each other. They are two of his best, which is saying a lot for someone who has written a ton of books like Lucado has. Fearless is a challenge to 'imagine your life without fear.' Lucado sets things up with a chapter called "Why Are We Afraid," ends with a chapter that is simply a conclusion, and in the middle addresses 13 (humorously ironic, eh?) common human fears with a chapter devoted to each and to God's response to each.

As someone in ministry, especially someone working with students, I can definitely appreciate many of the fears addressed, as they are common ones we all face, but definitely ones that students deal with on an enormous level, things like 'fear of disappointing God,' 'Fear of Overwhelming Challenges,' ' Fear of Worst-Case Scenarios,' 'Fear of What's Next,' 'Fear of Life's Final Moments,' and 'Fear That God is Not Real,' among others.

In the opening chapter, Lucado addresses many of the daily things that people fear in our world today while introducing Jesus and faith into the equation of overcoming fear. He also points out that there are 21 admonishments of Jesus that relate directly to not being afraid. He states, "Fear may fill our world but it doesn't have to fill our hearts." He then turns to addressing the common fears with a chapter each devoted to 13 of them.

In the chapter on the fear of not mattering, he reminds the reader that we are God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). In the chapter on the fear of disappointing God, he reminds us that God's forgiveness is greater than our fear. In the chapter on worry and anxiety, he reminds us to seek God first (Matthew 6:33) and gives an acronym on being "PEACEFUL." The next chapter addresses the fear of not protecting our kids, he reminds us that God gave up His only Son so He knows what it's like to love and lose a child. Chapter six addresses overwhelming challenges, and encourages us to take courage knowing God is with us. Chapter seven addresses worst-case scenario fears, we are reminded to trust the Father completely. The fear of violence chapter reminds us that God is on our side and can use even bad stuff. The next chapter reminds us that God owns everything and we are to trust Him and not our stuff.

Chapter 10 reminds us that death and the grave need not be feared by the one who belongs to Christ, while chapter 11 offers the reminder that our daily troubles and fear of what's next are preparing us for eternal glory. The 12th chapter reminds us that when we doubt God, our questions are ok, and He will show Himself in a very real way. Chapter 13 reminds us to trust our heavenly Father that things will work out in the end, while Chapter 14 addresses the fear of allowing God out of the box, and us seeing Him in a different light and Him doing amazing things because of His vastness and glory. Finally Lucado concludes by reminding us to turn to the Maker in order to fear less, by praying more, listening to God more deeply and trusting Him more fully.

What a great reminder that fear only entangles us when we allow it and when we take our eyes off the One who is greater than our fear. What a great challenge to trust more and fear less.

You Were Meant for Amazing Things...

2010-08-06T23:27:00.001-05:00

Sleeping at Last has a song called "Umbrellas" that includes the line above in the title in it. In context, it's about a couple deciding to start a family and telling that child "You were meant for amazing things." My wife got me a Sleeping at Last shirt with that quote on it right before our mission trip in July, and from that, it kinda took off as one of our 'themes' during the mission trip week. It keeps coming back to me since, as well.

Over the past 13 years, I've had hundreds of youth and college students come across the church and BSU ministries I've been involved in. Over and over, a common theme seems to pop up among teenagers especially, the idea that they believe they aren't good enough, they think they've blown it too much, they don't think they are worth much, don't see much purpose in their lives, don't know how God could possibly use them in their ordinariness, etc. To a degree it is somewhat natural and normal for humanity. But it can become an all-consuming thought and lead to vast insecurities that hold us back spiritually, relationally, and in other ways as well.

I'm not the world's best youth pastor at a lot of things. I struggled early on in my time in ministry with comparing myself to others, and with the reality that I'm not the coolest, funniest, best speaker, most talented, etc. Pretty quickly, however, I discovered I can make up for those perceived shortcomings with passion and investment in the lives of those God has placed in my past. One of my handful of real goals as a youth pastor is to help make EVERY student feel valued, cared about and loved, by God primarily but also by at least one human, me.

Lately, an extension of that has been to push students into doing and being more in their faith. I don't mean that in a legalistic, overly religious type manner. I mean simply not settling for average, casual, apathetic, normal faith as so many people tend to, not simply going through the motions and being content to take up space on a pew in a church from time to time and to claim that as the extent of our faith and what it means to be a Christian. Being a Christian, a Christ-follower, is SO much more.

Every person has a purpose and a role in the Kingdom work of God. We all can and are meant to be a part of something much greater and much bigger than ourselves. If there is one thing I want to tell you and wish I could get through to you right now it's simply this: "You were meant for amazing things." Don't ever forget, and don't settle for less. The only thing that can really hold that back is ourselves.

What If We Decide Everyone Matters?

2010-08-06T22:44:00.000-05:00

I wore a shirt yesterday that is one of my favorites. You have to understand, while I don't think I'm that into clothes, I'm a bit of a t-shirt junkie, constantly having to retool my closet and give away shirts to make room for new ones. Thankfully, my job allows me to get my money's worth on most of them. The shirt I have on right now has become one of my favorites, one I wear a lot. On the front, in English and Spanish both, it says "What If We Decide Everyone Matters?" It was the motto for a new church plant in Baltimore a couple of years ago. Before launch, the church took out billboards and signs on city transportation with that simple statement, "What If We Decide Everyone Matters?" When I ran across it in a newsletter i was reading a couple of years ago, it really intrigued me. I got in contact with the church and purchased a shirt from them. I love wearing it in public because it always attracts people's interest, as it well should. I think it is something that should be the motto of every church and every Christ follower, the idea of conveying and living out the truth that EVERY person matters, or as Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, "Everybody is somebody because he is a child of God." There is intrinsic value in every created person. Only humanity is created in the image of the Creator. Only we bear His image. God took incredible care to fashion and to shape each one of us as part of His Masterpiece creation.

Unfortunately, and sadly, we spend far too much of our time living just the opposite of this. We spend our time, energy, words and effort trying to build ourselves up and put others down. We step on people to get to the top. We mistreat others to get our own way. Somehow, somewhere, between young childhood and teen years, something changes and we quit believing everyone matters. We become race-minded, class-minded, ethnicity-minded, belief-minded, and more, and we forget that most basic of values, the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have done to you." We spend our time trying to put others in their place at our own expense and we become selfish. Though we wouldn't dare say it, we live as if WE are the only ones that matter. I saw this play out in a very painful way recently while we were on vacation. I was wearing this same shirt, and when I went downstairs in our hotel to get food from the lobby to take back up to our room, an already tipsy lady was gazing at my shirt trying to read it. She read it out loud, to nobody in particular, and as soon as she said, "What if we decide everyone matters," she followed without stopping by saying "Well, we're not gonna do that, are we?" and then, perhaps realizing how harsh it sounded, tried to play it off as if she were joking. But you can't really take something like that back, can you? It broke my heart...how do you respond to that. Inside I rolled my eyes, but on the outside, I just smiled a weak, fake smile and carried on with getting my food.

I've reflected a lot on that for the past few days. Usually it's not THAT vividly expressed, but don't we live like that, subconsciously at least, far too frequently? I mean, if we REALLY decided everyone matters, wouldn't it change us, motivate us to move outside of ourselves and to help others a lot more, instead of acting as if they somehow did something to deserve it, at least compared to us? Maybe in some cases they did...but in many instances, it simply is the luck of the draw, the family they were born into, the place they were born, the life situations they inherited beyond their control. Wouldn't it be much more world-changing for us to really live with a 'there but for the grace of God go I' attitude, realizing each of us is merely a few choices or life circumstances from being in the same place? Didn't Jesus decide everyone mattered to Him, no matter their situation or status? What IF we decided, and lived out, the same? Lord, give us YOUR eyes, and your heart...

But You're Gonna Have to Serve Somebody...

2010-07-09T21:41:00.002-05:00

When I was younger, I, like most people, was pretty self-centered. I still am, like most of us, I guess I should say that up front. But as I've gotten older, I've realized more and more that some of my greatest joys come from doing things for others. This summer has really pounded that home, that it's a blast to serve others, to serve WITH others, and to just do simple things for people.

A few examples are in order to illustrate. First, on the idea of simple service with and for others, this summer we've had a number of opportunities to serve with our students. We do a community missions week with our kids during our church's VBS week. This year, between 17-22 people went each night and passed out water bottles for free with no strings attached, collected 7 boxes of canned food for a local mission, helped put together food boxes for the Salvation Army, wrote follow-up letters to people who came to our church's block party and played BINGO with retirees at a local retirement home. It was a blast each night and I enjoyed leading the students to those experiences. Today, me, one of my youth leaders, a couple of college students and a couple of senior highers, all males, gave time to help a new neighbor across from the church move in. It seemed to blow the couple away that young men from a church would do that for them. It was cool. In just over a week, we leave for Mission Arlington with 30 from our ministry. There is nothing like that experience each year, our summer student ministry mission trip, and I fully enjoy leading students in serving away from home as well as close by.

A couple of other examples. Over time, I've discovered that a few very simple things can mean a LOT to students (or people in general for that matter), things like simply showing you care or will listen or truly genuinely love them. In the past few weeks, we've had several students and parents tell us that's one of the big things that has drawn them to our youth ministry. Most people have few, if any, people they truly and fully trust, that they truly believe are there for them, and it's mind-boggling how a simple act like that can make an impact. More recently, a couple of examples have really blown me away, where simple acts of thoughtfulness have impacted people we love and are close to. In one case, some friends moved away, then moved again, and when they moved the second time, they were incredibly thankful and told us that other than one of their mom's, we were the ones by far who had both kept up with and also visited them the most during that first year away. And another family in our lives was involved in an extracurricular activity that we came to see twice, and for that family, it blew them away that we cared enough to come twice to see them in what they were doing. They even told us that we might as well be part of their family.

What is my point? I'm certainly not meaning to sound conceited or prideful in sharing these things, nor am I trying to say we are better than others at selflessness or service. I'm simply sharing how amazing it is to realize that serving, caring, loving and doing for others is truly a joyful experience, and I firmly believe it is something that moves us towards more Christlikeness and a fuller experience of life with Him.

My Apology to God...

2010-06-30T23:00:00.003-05:00

I have a confession to make. I owe God an apology. I nearly shortchanged Him. Which is fairly common for humans to do, even Christ-followers, but tonight, it hit me, hard. What is the goofy youth pastor talking about? Well, let me explain.

We've been in a stretch unlike anything I've ever experienced, for most of well over a year, things that just build off of each other, and while not perfect by any means, more ups than downs and a lot of exciting and neat stuff. The spring was the best spring we've ever had, numberswise, series-wise, what happened in people-wise, etc. And I nearly shortchanged God coming off of it. After a 20 week series that was a ton of fun to put together and to do, but took a lot out of me. I'm my own worst critic and push myself harder and harder with the messages God gives me. That's a good thing, because I don't want to settle, and I want each week to be worth it...for God, for me, for the church, for the youth, etc. I want it to be better than the previous week, both in the sense of fun and in the sense of challenge. I want every week for people to walk away knowing they met God and were challenged to transformation and Christlikeness...and had fun along the way, while also getting their toes stepped on and being forced to a decision. So a LOT of hours go into each week.

Looking at the summer, we had a lot on the calendar. We had a block party the weekend school got out, which went straight into VBS/Community missions week, which went straight into church camp week, and when we got back from that, we had to start moving all our attention towards our summer missions experience. Add to that family responsibilities, and that I'm way behind in seminary work, and that I have a TON of books I want to read, and it was really appealing for me to make the summer easy on myself. Unlike an ever-increasing number of churches in our area and elsewhere, we do summer youth group almost every week in the summer. The temptation was not to cancel it...that is not an option nor do I think it ever will be. The temptation was to make it easy on myself by doing a video type series or something else I've done before or something like that. It would have been a TON less work, stress, responsibility, etc, on my shoulders. After all, it is the summer, right, and they shouldn't have to think as much, etc? I'm discovering, however, that summer is the ideal time to hit things hard and capture and carry momentum forward and challenge students to not settle.

For nearly a month I struggled with this decision. Even the week before I had to know for sure what we were doing, I was unsure. But something clicked at church camp, and God started pouring ideas at me, enough for at least four weeks of a brand new series, and it may (probably will) go longer than that. We tweaked our format a little, and did things a little differently, and made a challenging couple of weeks to start the summer and the series. And the result has been two consecutive incredible weeks where it's very obvious God has been moving in ways that we don't even know exactly what they are or mean. It's been two of the more visibly powerful Wednesdays of my 12 years of youth ministry, which is saying a lot. And I almost shortchanged God, and those students, by making it 'easy' on myself. I might have even 'deserved' to do so...but I'm glad I didn't and I'm sorry I even considered it because who knows what we might have missed.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)

Excuses, Excuses...

2010-06-28T13:14:00.002-05:00

One of the popular things to hear people talk about in Christian circles is the idea of 'I just wish I knew what God's will for me was.' This is a universal concern, to a degree, for anyone who wants to follow Christ with their lives, and to a degree, this is a good thing. However, sometimes it becomes an excuse to postpone doing certain things that we already are called to do and should already be doing for the cause of Christ. While some things are specific to individual believers, many things that are spelled out in the Scriptures are God's universal will for all of His people, and things we don't even have to wonder about or pray about. Too many of those things, however, are ignored too frequently by the ones who claim to be His followers.

God's will for all believers includes loving Him completely and fully and putting Him in first place in our lives (Matthew 22:37-40, 6:33). However well-intentioned we may be, if anything takes the place that belongs to God, the place of first importance in our lives, it is an idol in our lives. Even really good things like family, friends, security, and more can become idols. We don't like to think of them as such, but anything that becomes more important to us than the will and purposes and mission of God in our lives, is an idol. Yet, we justify our actions by saying things like "God wouldn't want me to be unhappy," or "God would want me financially secure," or "God would want me to have a good family," or "God would want me to have a house (car, tv, etc) I feel good about." And the pursuit of those things often interferes with our faith put into action (James 1:22-25) and obedience (see John 14:15, John 15:14) to the things God desires for His followers.

Another part of God's will for all of His followers is for us to "go into all the world and make disciples...baptizing...teaching..." (Matthew 28:18-20). This involves both showing and sharing the Good News with those we encounter, and also caring deeply about those we may not even know because statistically, about 4.5 billion people in the world would go to hell of they died today. How can we not care? How can we think we have the right to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear? Again, we come up with all manner of 'justifiable excuses.'

But in the Scriptures, God got massively fed up with excuses. In Moses' call in Exodus 3-4, Moses really threw all the excuses in the book at God, and God destroyed them all...ultimately it says in Exodus 4 that the LORD burned with anger against Moses' excuses...yikes. When it is God's will, and what God desires from His people, no excuse is 'good enough.' It is, in fact, merely an excuse to remain in comfort and security, a selfish action on our part. Most of the time, we have no idea (and please realize, I'm including MYSELF in this as well) how self-centered our lives are. We care about our rights, our feelings, our 'needs,' our desires, and think very little of much beyond that. But the way of Jesus was first of all God-centered, and secondly others-centered. We must become a people willing to put away all excuses and live lives that are so radically different than most that they begin to make a dent, an impact, a difference, in a real, authentic, tangible manner. Doesn't He deserve it? Isn't it the least we can do for the One who gave it all of us? And when we rid ourselves of all of our (self-focused) excuses and begin to do His will, both His universal will and call to ALL who follow Him as well as that which is specific to our individual lives, perhaps, as with Peter and John (Acts 4:19-20), people will sit up and notice and want what we have because it is so real, so different, so lasting, and so life-changing.

Optimism

2010-06-28T12:55:00.002-05:00

I haven't always been an optimist. In fact, I've had to fight consistently in my life to BE that way, and often even more so in ministry life because it's very easy to get discouraged and to be a glass half empty person. But over time, I've discovered that I'm much more an optimist than I used to be, and often much more so than a LOT of people I'm around. I tend to want to believe the best in people, until they show and prove otherwise, and then after that it gets harder, but I still tend to give them a chance, at least from the start. Right now, I have a lot of hope, and optimism, in a world where pessimism and doubt and negativity seem to abound (or maybe it's just listening to too darn much happy music like Robert Randolph and the Family Band lately!)

There are a lot of people with the glass half empty approach to things of God, church, etc, these days. I read a lot of negativity and pessimism, and I see and hear it in people I'm around far too frequently. But I personally lean right now towards extreme excitement about the potential for the people of God, especially in my youth group and faith community, to do greater things than what is often expected of them, and than what we are currently seeing. We have seen some amazing things happen so far in our youth group and in our church this summer. We've had a block party, an awesome VBS, a youth community missions week, and a church camp already, and we're preparing hardcore for our summer missions experience in a couple of weeks. We've seen a girl saved and baptized in the youth ministry, and several others moved towards deeper commitment and personal transformation and conformity to the image of Christ, both through these things a well as through our normal youth activities, including this past Wednesday night, one of the most memorable I ever remember. Some of those are the 'good kids,' while others may be ones that some choose to take a 'let's wait and see' attitude with. I personally am taking the attitude that God is up to something, and we have no idea what all that entails.

And I want to ride those coattails and see where He takes us, individually and corporately alike. I want to believe that God can, and will, choose to change at least a portion of the world through students and adults at FBC London. I want to believe that if Jesus could change the world through a handful of committed disciples, people He invested in and left His mission, and commission, in the hands of, then why can't He do the same thing through us if we allow Him to do so in His strength instead of our own? Why can't we become a radically committed people, not content with casual, run of the mill, lazy, apathetic Christianity as it plays out far too frequently around us? As Margaret Mead said, "“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.” Why can't we be that group? Why not? Let's show them something worth living for. Let's show them something that is real, authentic, relevant and life-changing. Let's give them something to talk about, as God takes ordinary (Acts 4:13) and foolish (1 Corinthians 1) people and shakes the world around us. Why not us? Why not now?

Exponential Challenges...

2010-06-11T13:38:00.002-05:00

Ah, math days...you remember, right? The days of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, trig, calculus, geometry, and exponents? What, you don't remember what exponents are? Well, according to one definition, they are 'shorthand for repeated multiplication of the same thing by itself.' They are used in a variety of fields like economics, biology, physics and chemistry. And if a church and ministry knows what's good for them, they should strive for exponential growth as well. That is the premise of Dave and Jon Ferguson's book Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement.

The Ferguson brothers share stories from their own experiences as church planters over a number of years, injecting real-world experiences and examples, insights they have learned and applied through their church (Community Christian Church in the Chicago area) and network of church plants (New Thing), biblical principles, and humor to challenge ministry leaders and churches to think exponentially about growth, church plants and reproducing. The way they divide the book into sections that start small (Movements begin with 1) and grow progressively bigger and more visionary (all the way to Reproducing Movements of 10,000s) makes for an easy read whether you are already ingrained in church planting or merely curious about it.

They begin with a challenge that it begins with you, the reader and a vision from God. They progress through chapters on leadership and apprenticeship, into the remaining chapters all having to do with reproducing in various ways (leaders, artists, groups, sites, churches, networks, movement, etc.). Along the way, they share their stories, and the principles they have learned and applied in their own setting and taught and trained others to use as well.

The results speak for themselves...Community Christian Church and its network are models of reproduction and they live out the principles shared in these pages. The Fergusons end with a challenge to the reader, that wherever he or she is along the process, it's time to get moving and doing what God has called, and a reminder that it can be done, and you can be the one to see it happen, so get out there and do it.

I Have Decided To Follow Jesus...

2010-06-06T18:00:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately. I guess a lot of what I've read and listened to and experienced recently has got me to thinking about the sad state of much of what passes for Americanized Christianity. It's so vastly different than the mission and dream and practice of Jesus. It's so contrary to how Jesus lived. It's so different than how it plays out in a lot of other places where they show clearly that they DEEPLY and DESPERATELY need Jesus, often because He's all they have. David Platt says our Christianity is basically a "Christianized version of the American Dream." The way of Jesus was so 'un-American-dream-ish.'

Shaun Groves last night challenged our church to think about things such as this. He shared a story of a girl who lived (with her family) in a 4x6 house. That's right, I said 4 x 6. And he said that she was so proud of her house and had to show it to him. He told of another kid who had a tongue problem to where she couldn't really speak, but whose message was about how much Jesus loves her and he's all she needs.

David Platt asks the question, "What is Jesus worth to you?" Though nobody would SAY this, I think for most American Christians, the answer, based on our choices and how we live our lives and our commitment or lack thereof is 'not much.' We're not willing to sacrifice a life of comfort, ease and self-promotion and self-interest for Him, much less sacrifice our very lives, as so many who have gone before us have done. We're not willing to give Him all of us, all the time, for all of what He wants from us. Why? Because for MOST of us, deep down, it's all about us. Because we care much more about ourselves, and comfort, and safety, than about Him. And most of the time, we don't even realize it. If it wasn't true, we'd do so much more for so many more, here and far beyond. We cannot turn a deaf ear and a blind eye, and feel good about TRULY and FULLY following Jesus.

If the mission of the church is only about what happens on Sundays and Wednesdays, we fail. If it's only about what happens in our facilities and between our walls, we fail. If it's about what we FEEL like doing or not, we fail. If it's about what we are comfortable doing, we fail. If it's about US, we fail.

Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." He said, "If you've done to the least of these, you've done it to me." He said, "Go into all the world and make disciples." He said, "be my witnesses {by the way, that word is very similar to the word for martyr} in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth {basically, anywhere and everywhere you go, as you are going}." I guess the question for us, is will we do it? Will we leave a life of luxury, as the wealthiest believers in the history of the world, follow Him completely, give of ourselves, our time, our money, our resources, our energy, our commitment, our love, our faith, to reach those who need Jesus...corporate and business types, prostitutes, religious types, educators, strippers, criminals, beautiful, ugly, rich, poor, every race...and if we are unwilling to do so, can we really authentically claim we belong to Him?

"I surrender it all, I lay it before You, for all of my days, I'll give You the glory. You caused me to see my heart is divided, Lord take all of me 'cuz I have decided...Lord, whatever it takes, I'll trust You completely, I'm here in Your hands if You need to break me...All I've got, all I am, all my dreams, all my plans, I'm holding back, I'm holding NOTHING back from You."

It Seems, It's Always the Craaaazy Tiiiimes...

2010-06-04T13:26:00.005-05:00

Whew, what a flurry of activity it has been around here lately. School ended (I am now the father of a 2nd grader-to-be and another only a year from starting kindergarten, yikes, how does that happen!?), our 'biggest loser fundraiser' ended (I lost 35 pounds and our pastor 14, and when all the money is in, we will have made a TON of money for our youth mission trip off of it!), our spring semester (20 week) youth series called "True Believers" ended (and our best school year numberswise and activity wise ended as well, averaging 45 or so for the school year in youth group, amazing!). We had to get new tires on our van, have a major water leak fixed under our house, lined up new windows (a MUCH needed outside repair) for our house, had to replace my iPod transmitter which broke, almost had to replace my car battery, and have to set up hooking up to our community's new sewer system. We were gone every weekend in May...a mini-vacation (exploring our missions site plus going to a Rangers game and The Village Church), a zoo trip with the church, a visit to my family that was planned, another that was unplanned because of a good friend's father's funeral. (Not to mention finding out a couple of really incredible life-changingly awesome things happening to good friends of mine in the past few days, things we are SUPER excited for both families about!)

And now things REALLY heat up (not just in the temperature, which by the way has been pushing 100 degrees already the past week and has felt that or more every day). Tomorrow our church celebrates its 130th anniversary, which is a pretty awesome thing. We are having a HUGE block party/community event which is so exciting and hopefully will steamroll things from there moving forward into the summer and the future to help take us to the next level, which I'm at a point of longing desperately to see and to not see us settle for good at the expense of great. We will have food, live music, inflatables and other games, a FREE yard sale (I saw much of the stuff a little while ago, some pretty cool stuff to get for free), a competition bow shoot, and it all wraps up with a FREE concert with Christian artist Shaun Groves. We've been planning and publicizing it for so long that with the anticipation comes a little bit of the 'oh dear God PLEAAAAAAAAAASE let it go beyond what we can hope for and dream of!" I'm looking forward to all of it, to meeting new people, to hopefully getting new people for the church for the future, and to meeting Shaun and hanging out with him and seeing people blown away by what God does through him.

Immediately after that, we hit the ground running with Vacation Bible School. We spend Sunday afternoon and evening decorating BIG-time, then it runs Monday through Friday, with a carnival on Saturday and a commencement on Sunday. Our church puts so much into it, and we will draw a ton of kids from outside. Along with all of that, we will be doing a second annual youth community missions project emphasis. We will be meeting with everyone else, and then while the younger kids are in their classes, we will go out and do things like pass out water bottles, collect cans for a local mission, help the Salvation Army pack food boxes, play bingo with the elderly at a retirement home, and help our own church do some follow-up from the block party events. Last year it went far beyond our expectations and gave our kids a great chance to do missions in our own area while preparing to go off to Arlington later in the summer. AND, I'm doing a wedding in the middle of that week for a good friend as well.

And immediately after VBS, we go to our annual church camp. 30+ youth and children and adults will go to a fairly primitive but fun place to be challenged and moved spiritually while having a blast with kids from across our association. My biggest excitement for it this year is that my almost 7 year old will be going for the first time. I expect the combination of all of this to be absolutely life-changing for him, as for all of us. Oh, and a month or so later, comes our largest youth mission trip ever, to Arlington and Mission Arlington/Metroplex with 30 LFBCers. We fully expect this summer to be the best ever and for 'greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city' to become a reality for LFBC.

PS...I'm currently reading two awesome books on vision/leadership/church mission: Chazown by Craig Groeschel, and Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement, by Dave and Jon Ferguson. The latter is the 4th or 5th 'free' book I've gotten advance copies of to read and review. PRETTY COOL.

Living in the Dash...

2010-05-04T12:18:00.003-05:00

For the past month or so I've been starving myself. Ok, not literally. But we have an ongoing two month weight loss challenge fundraiser where I, and our pastor, are seeing how much weight we can lose over a two month period, the students are getting people to pledge per pound, and all of the money is going towards our youth missions experience this summer in the Dallas area with Mission Arlington. Today, I went walking for nearly an hour, exploring some areas of London I hadn't really been in much. As I was walking down a pretty busy street, I noticed a cemetery across the street. I've seen that cemetery before, but I had never been to it, so I decided to cross over and walk the small loop that takes one through that cemetery. On the way back, I did the same thing, from the reverse side. I don't remember a lot else about this morning's walk, but I do remember vividly the cemetery part of it. Here's why...

Within the small cemetery were 87 graves (I didn't count, I found the number online), some of which were from the early part of the 1900's, meaning the people had been born in the 1800's, one going all the way back to 1843. Most of them seemingly lived very long and full lives, although there were a handful under 40, one about 19, and another apparently a stillbirth because the birth date and death date were the same. I got to thinking, and perhaps you'll think I'm weird for thinking this, but that's ok..."What would these voices tell us if they could cry out to us from the grave? What would they say to us, what would they tell us, what would they want us to know?" Undoubtedly some of them likely lived wonderful and long lives, committed to family and to others and even to God, but it's equally likely that some of them wasted their lives.

The reality is this...we can't control everything in our lives. When we are born, to whom we are born, and the circumstances within which we are born, are things we cannot control. Similarly, for the most part, when we die, and how, we have very little control over (with a few obvious and sad exceptions). We don't have a lot of control over our birth date, nor over our dying date. But on a gravestone, or in an obituary, or in the program at a funeral, usually it is written (Born XXXXX-died XXXXX). There is, in the middle, a dash. And the dash is what we have a lot of control over. What happens between the birthing and the dying, we have a lot of say in. We make decisions, and those decisions affect other decisions, which in turn affect other decisions, and all of those combine to form who we are and how our lives are lived. The question then is this...what will do in the dash? How will we fill in the gap, the dash of our lives? Forget about the things we have no control over...those are really not worth worrying about. What will we do with the time we have, with the moments with family and friends, with our relationship to our Maker and Creator and Savior? Will we waste it and look back at the end with regrets, or will we live to the fullest, making every moment matter, making every day count, making the most of what we are given, not just for ourselves but for others and ultimately for God? The reality is this...we spend most of our lives living in the dash...what are we gonna do with that time? Think about it. Last night, in one of my dreams just before I awakened, someone very near to me had died. Combining that with the cemetery walking experience, it hit me, hard, again, that, as Chris Rice sings, "Has anybody ever lived who knew the value of a life? And don't you think giving is all What proves the worth of yours and mine. Teach us to count the days, Teach us to make the days count, Lead us in better ways, That somehow our souls forgot Life means so much, life means so much. Every day is a gift that you've been given, make the most of the time, every minute your given..."

Eyes Wide Open

2010-04-19T14:37:00.004-05:00

I love when God's sense of humor includes common threads, common themes, common ideas coming across our lives. Recently, for me, it's been the idea of how good we have it here in the US. Statistics are eye-opening when we compare even most of the 'worst' of situations in America to most of the rest of the world, but the danger becomes the impersonality of statistics when we don't see every stat as a real person, in the real world, with real issues. Several things recently have helped me see these needs as more personal.

First, our youth group is doing a six week Sunday night study, as part of our mission trip preparation, based on the founder of World Vision, Rich Stearns, book The Hole in Our Gospel. The book is incredible...I read it last year about this time and used some of the stuff, but the video curriculum they've put together with it is perfect for what we wanted to do with our students for our mission trip prep work. Two weeks in, I have gotten a ton of feedback from students who have said it has really opened their eyes and made them think. We are going to the Dallas area to work with kids and others at Mission Arlington in July, and my goal is to have these rural-ish kids from Arkansas really ready when that happens. The Six Week Quest, as the video stuff is called, is doing a tremendous job of setting that into motion.

Second, about 10 days ago, 9 of us from our church got to spend a couple of days doing missions work and 'living' in the poorest area of our own state, about 2 1/2 hours from us, the Delta area, Phillips County, the Helena area. It is an area still ravaged by poverty and racism, and I came back heartbroken for the pastors I connected with there and the very difficult work they have there as an entire culture must be changed for God to really move. I came back really wanting our church to go back and help however we can, whenever we can, and I hope this happens.

Third, last week, our family sponsored a second child in need. About 4 years ago, we took on Hamza, from Tanzania, through Compassion International, a young boy from Africa who is close to my older son's age. I've been thinking for several months that we needed to take on another one, and after a lot of thought and prayer, last week, we sponsored Mendelky, a boy from Haiti (my heart has been there since the earthquake honestly), who is close to my younger son's age, through World Vision. Both Compassion and World Vision are doing amazing work in representing Christ, meeting needs, taking the whole gospel to the world in need, and fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

Finally, our church is putting on a massive community outreach and block party in June to celebrate our 130th anniversary. I'm super excited about all aspects of this, but one of the most exciting is that we have gotten the unbelievable privilege of bringing in Christian artist, singer, songwriter, blogger, activist, Compassion International spokesman Shaun Groves for a concert that will be FREE to the public. Shaun is a hilarious, sarcastic, phenomenal storyteller as well as a great singer, and his heart beats to help the impoverished and to show the church its need to help the least. He will be promoting Compassion and child sponsorship as well, and the whole experience is so exciting. I love reading Shaun's blogs, tweets, etc, and look forward to getting to know him and the whole experience.

God has also used some books I've read recently to keep this concept fresh on my mind, as well as a lot of interaction with potential missions partners for our youth and for our church, which is a big part of where my heart is right now, expanding our emphasis on and involvement with missions locally and beyond. Where all this takes me, I have no idea. All I know is that I want to live my life with a love for God and others that does whatever I can to make a difference in as many lives God places in my path as possible. I don't want to be the same as everyone else. I don't want to be the same as I have been before. I want to see through His eyes, and I want to be full of His love for a world that knows no other hope. I want to see with eyes wide open.

Steering Through Chaos

2010-03-18T22:27:00.006-05:00

Recently I was chosen to participate in a blog tour for a book called Steering Through Chaos by Scott Wilson. I'm still relatively new to stuff like this, but it's an incredible experience and honor to get to do this. I didn't know a lot about Scott or his church except that it was where one of my favorite musicians help lead worship, Shane and Shane. The book was perfect for me at this point in my life and ministry, as I'm moving into more of an overall leadership position rather than JUST a youth pastor, and the book is all about leadership and transition and change. It gave me a much fuller picture of the role of a God-ordained leader through whatever comes.

Wilson begins the book with the question, "What price am I willing to pay to see the Kingdom of God advance and lives change?" He also quotes a speaker who impacted his life by stating, "Your church will grow only to the level of your pain threshold." These two thoughts form the basis for the book. The book takes an awesome look at many aspects of the messiness of change and growth and transition. It deals with turning points and transitions, the messiness of those times, and the necessity of caring much more about God's calling than our own personal comfort. He speaks of discovering our God-sized vision and clearly communicating that to others. He spends a chapter on the concept of being ahead of the curve, of choosing the point of change by preparing for transitions ahead of time and taking advantage of momentum as it is occurring, rather than waiting until it's too late. He talks about connecting to the people in real, meaningful and authentic ways. He champions corporate prayer, with the goal of moving forward in an environment of trusting God together by getting on our knees and seeking God together. He challenges leaders to see and take advantage of opportunities, even those that seem like obstacles and walls.

The latter part of the book touches on some interesting ideas. Wilson spends a chapter on the importance of celebration, of recognizing victories of all sizes along the pathway of growth. Celebration stimulates further growth and energizes people towards the bigger picture of the vision He has given. He also devotes a chapter to the importance of finding a mentor or a life coach. Wilson endorses this concept more strongly than anyone I have ever read and makes a compelling case for the importance of having one. The last two chapters shift gears to a sense of encouragement for staying focused and sticking with it. One deals with keeping the vision fresh, while the other is about endurance. As leaders, we need to keep the vision fresh for ourselves, our staff and our people as well. And when times get hard, and they will, we must stick with it and remain focused, pushing aside the distractions around us and knowing it is God who has called us and He who will sustain us.

Perhaps it's just the age and stage I am at in my life and ministry, but Wilson's take on leadership and vision was perfect for me. As I read, I found myself thanking God over and over for this book at this time in my life. Christian leadership is often taxing, but when we are called by God, He continues to transform us into the leader He desires us to be and we can achieve the vision He has given us, through transition and change, moving closer to the heart of God as a person and as His body of believers.

www.zondervan.com/church

Gotta Be More...

2010-03-08T22:41:00.001-06:00

Today brought a couple of VERY vivid reminders that the meaning of life is far bigger than money, sex, power, popularity, fame and all of the other stuff most of us are constantly chasing. Two more very big names in the sporting world are under fire for some pretty significant issues. "Big Ben" Rothleisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers has been accused, for a second time in a few months, of a sexual assault type issue. One time, you can blow it off, but a second time this quickly, there's probably some fire where the smoke is evident. At the VERY least, he's very guilty of poor judgment, immaturity and bad decisions. And yet, he will likely get it dismissed, like last time, for a 'lack of evidence,' and his slick lawyer is already addressing all the P.R. issues and making it clear to people that he is 'absolutely innocent, blah blah.' At this point, honestly, it doesn't really even matter if it's true or not. I'm not condemning him for it before knowing the facts, but I have already lost a TON of respect for a man who publicly claims at least some semblance of faith in Christ yet twice finds himself in situations to where something like this can happen. The eternal optimist in me longs to be able to believe him and believe he is being framed, but as a huge sports fan who has now lived 35 years old, I've seen enough of these things in my life to be cynical at best when they come up. He needs to grow up, man up, and treat women with respect rather than as playtoys for him to do whatever he wishes with, especially if his faith in Christ is real.

The other example is Allen Iverson, he of the infamous "We talkin' about practice" rant. Trouble seems to have followed AI for most of his career...most of his life even. He left the 76ers a couple of weeks ago, for 'family issues,' which at the time was presented as if it was his daughter's health, which probably was part of it. And tonight, it was reported that he has major alcohol and gambling issues that threaten his life far beyond whatever may be left of his playing career. They are already taking his family..his wife, who was his high school or college sweetheart, and the mother of his FIVE kids. He needs serious help, and we can only hope he can get it.

This is an age old human problem, that of trying to find meaning and purpose in things that were never meant to give us our ultimate meaning. They are, for the most part, even good things, but they are good things that get in the way of great, God's best. There is a void, a vacuum, inside every person, and when we try to fill it up with money, power, sex, popularity or even family, we may find temporary fulfillment, but it will not last and will not satisfy our ultimate dreams. Solomon's search in Ecclesiastes led him to experiment in just about everything imaginable. Time after time, about each of these things, he said, "Vanity" or "Meaningless." It got him nowhere, at least in the long-term, big picture scheme of things. Only at the end of the book did he realize that the quest he was on led him back to the conclusion he had always known..."fear God and keep His commands, for this is the whole duty of man."
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Music for a Note:
"Hallelujah" by Elevation Worship Band; "Done Living" by Justin McRoberts; "The Mirror" by Cool Hand Luke; "Love Song" by Victory Worship; "Cement Shoes" by Project 86

The Forgotten

2010-02-25T23:40:00.002-06:00

I learned a lot today from a couple of surprising sources and people. It's easy to say we are Christians, and to say our faith matters to us, and to say we show it by our lives and in how we treat others. When push comes to shove, if we are honest, does it? It's easy to give 'oh yeah, i'd do that,' to hypothetical and theoretical situations, but when real life situations put that to the test, how do we come out? Two weeks ago I preached on the Great Commandment..."love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." Are we selfless enough to help others when push comes to shove? When REAL needs arise? Does our faith show in action? Do we obey to show we love him?

Why am I rambling about this? Because tonight, I had two incredible opportunities to show Christ-like love and help to people I know who are facing tough life circumstances. I had a chance to help a 20 year old I know who I will call Wes. He smelled bad, of body odor and nicotine. He has battled disabilities, a tough family life, poverty, and other much more difficult but confidential hardships,and is trying to find hope and meaning and purpose and enough faith to believe in God despite life circumstances. His family had their electricity cut off and won't get it back on until the turn of the month. Between myself and the church, we have provided them with a decent amount of food and drink, some temporary light, and a clean shower among other things. I could tell that it meant a lot to him that I would provide him those things, as well as a ride two separate times tonight. Honestly, with each thing I was able to provide him, it seemed to impact him more and help more. And perhaps "Wes" will find what he is looking for in Christ because of my actions and our church's ability to help him.

After I dropped him at his house a second time, I had to drop by a local store to pick up just one thing, and while in there, another obvious God-sighting occurred. Because I went too far into the store and passed the aisle I needed to go down, I ran into a man I barely knew indirectly through our church because his son had come to our youth group some. I went back to talk to him because I had heard just yesterday that their house had burned down and had spent some time trying to find out some details and trying to figure out how we as a church could help. So I was able to talk with him and offer whatever help our church can give and also gave him a business card and said 'seriously, whatever we can do, that's what a church is for.' Then, on the way out, I ran into his son, who I'll call "Chase" and nephew, who have both been to our church and was able to talk to them and offer help as well, including collecting clothes from the guys in the church youth group, etc for them. I even offered to buy the son a shirt right then but he wouldn't take me up on it, and promised to make sure the nephew got a new bible either from the church or from me personally because he informed me that his had burned in the fire. I left with yet another plug to get them to allow us to help them however we can when they sort through and figure things out.

I walked out of that store with my head spinning from these experiences. I've gotten to experience God in some amazing ways in my life and in my youth ministry. And in recent days I have realized more than ever how all of us come at life, and faith, and God, from different angles and perspectives. I realize more than ever that there are so many obstacles to life and faith for so many people. And if they don't see authenticity, love, and faith in action in us, why will they believe it will make a lasting, hopeful difference in their lives? When push comes to shove, love IS faith in action, and if we love God we WILL love our neighbors and meet their needs. If we don't, is our faith real, does it matter, does it show a God who is real? I'm continuously haunted by the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 , where some people helped those in need and it was said that they helped Jesus when they helped 'the least of these.' And the flip side was those who didn't help the least, didn't help Jesus, and Jesus said, "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." John similarly says in 1 John 3:17 , "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"

I'm haunted by the thought that, though most people live as if they are never aware of it, in reality, if we don't help other people, how can we really even say we love Jesus? The needs are all around us, all the time, everywhere...they're in Haiti, they're in Uganda, they're in India, they're in Rwanda (where our Compassion kid is), they're in Waco (two years ago our mission trip), they're in Baltimore (last year's mission trip), they're in Arlington (this year's site). But they're also right here...in our town, in our community, in our neighborhood. And we miss so so so many of them. And now that we know about it...what are we gonna do about it? If He is real, we cannot be apathetic, we don't have the right. And yet, honestly, I think most people are, even most church people and most Christians. And it's messy, and risky, and uncomfortable. But it is the true way of the One we claim to follow.

(PS...i know this is long, and rambly, mostly because i couldn't get my thoughts in order as they were spinning around, but thank you sooooo much if you read it all, that means a LOT to me!)

God and Tiger Woods...

2010-02-19T12:07:00.001-06:00

I've watched the Tiger Woods 13 1/2 minute press conference (can you really even call it that?) three times now. It's pretty surreal, and it's making my mind race to a billion different places. Here are a few thoughts...

First, we see it all the time, but it's amazing the pedestals we put our 'heroes' and athletes and celebrities up on. I suppose we do it because we are somewhat vicariously living our lives through them. We see in them a glimmer of hope for what we used to be and used to think we were capable of. We see in them the fulfillment of our longings and dreams. And we tend to forget they are not mortals. They are merely humans who are a little (or a LOT) better than most of us are at something that gets public attention and a spotlight on them. Sometimes they tend to think the rules don't apply to them, and sometimes we hold them to higher standards than the average person. Neither of those is right in and of itself. We need to realize that the brighter the spotlight, the increasingly more difficult it becomes to stay true to yourself, your values, etc. It often is a slow fade, a gradual slippage without even realizing it is heading in that direction. While in one sense I believe it IS fair to expect more of them, in another sense, we must remain realistic and realize they are humans just like us, with flaws and sins and failures just like us, only with a much more magnified spotlight that I, for one, have no desire to have on my life. And ultimately, we need to seriously pray for them, that they find what they are looking for in God, not in fame, fortune, sex, money, stuff, or anything else.

Second, while I think Tiger seemed contrite, I hate the whole spectacle of a canned apology and everything being so controlled. While I think Tiger legitimately wants to learn, grow and change from this, the only way that is going to happen is for him to let go of the wheel, let go of control, surrender his desire to totally control everything and be the god of his own life. Unfortunately, if he remains true to his Buddhist upbringing, that probably won't happen because, as a friend pointed out on twitter, "Buddhism is learning to control your behavior and atone for your mistakes, while the Gospel is that atonement has been made for us because we can't modify our behavior on our own." Tiger, I admire you if you really desire to change, but you can't do it on your own, by self-assessment or self-improvement techniques, or by simply believing in yourself. Only by surrendering control and letting go can he find what he is really looking for.

Finally, I'm really glad that my mistakes are not played out publicly for all the world, and I'm even more glad that the grace of God covers those mistakes. Though she had trouble looking at him during the statement (it must be hard for a mom to hear, right?), Tiger's mom showed grace, at least in her public words, telling a reporter that what she told Tiger was, "I'm so proud of you never think you stand alone mom will always be there for you and i love you." We need to hope and pray that Tiger comes to grasp what Philip Yancey calls 'the last best word,' grace. We learn that there is nothing we can do to make God love us any less or any more. We realize that He loves us as we are, but too much to leave us there. We learn that we are loved, but told to go and sin no more. If Tiger is, as he stated, truly sorry for his irresponsible and foolish and unacceptable behavior, God's grace is big enough to cover those mistakes and move him into a life he has never known. What a joy that would be for him to experience. "My Chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood, his mercy brings unending love, amazing grace."

God and the Olympics...

2010-02-18T22:01:00.003-06:00

I've watched a decent amount of the Olympics this year, more than I thought I would really. It's such a neat event, even if it has seemingly lost a lot of its luster over the years in our society. What a thrill it must be to get to represent an entire nation in an activity you are good at and love to do. What an honor to be recognized as one of the best of the best in the entire world, whether you medal or not. What a neat act of unity among the nations of the world, as we all come together as one under the umbrella of the five rings for a competition showcasing our best athletes in a wide variety of sports. And the Olympics, while imperfect, do showcase a wide range of types of athletic events...in other words, those who are good at one thing in it are not necessarily going to be good at something else. And the amount of training and work the athletes put in to prepare for the competition is amazing to think about. It is a hardcore commitment, a surrender of sorts to give everything one has to showcase their talents on the highest stage on the entire planet. And to medal, especially a gold medal, what an awe-inspiring, intense, emotional, incredible moment for those people as they accept being crowned as the best in the world, and to hear your country's national anthem played in honor of you, what an incredible experience.

A couple of thoughts keep coming to mind from a spiritual analogy sense as I watch, though. First, what if we put that much into what we do for God? What if we trained like they do, gave our all like they do, got as excited about it as they do, and united as one like they do? What an amazing impact we would have on the world. What if we treated life, especially life with God, as if it were the Olympics, and gave it our all as if every moment were our 'one moment in time,' our 'don't waste your life' moment?

The other thought is a feeling of deep sympathy for those who make it that far and then shoot themselves in the foot...the fall during a figure skating routine, the misstep on a snowboard run, the 12 (yes TWELVE) people who fell on the hard ice in the downhill ski competition at the Whistler yesterday, etc. I mean these people have trained for this for their whole lives, and have ONE chance, and then something happens like that. And over and over this singular thought crosses my mind...I'm really glad Christianity is not a performance-based thing. We don't have to worry about blowing our one chance, or how much we can impress 'the Judge,' or whatever. One misstep doesn't throw out a lifetime of 'training' when it comes to God and spiritual matters. And for that, I'm incredibly thankful, because the only medal I desire is the one that comes with a crown and a 'well done, good and faithful one, enter in.'

My Top 20 of 2009 Music Releases

2010-02-16T14:44:00.002-06:00

I don't pretend to be a music critic, I just love music. So, when I say 'top,' I really just mean the ones that i keep coming back to over and over, that moved me greatly, that impacted me the most.

1. Needtobreathe--The Outsiders ..I've always loved this band, but this album showed so much maturity and blew me away in unexpected ways. It is one of the few albums I own where the back end, meaning the last 4 or so songs, is as strong or stronger than the rest of the album. Awesome stuff, and I debated between this and #2 for the #1 spot but settled on this.

2. Flyleaf--Memento Mori ..I liked their debut album a lot, and it took a long time for the followup. for me, it was well worth the wait. Musically diverse, lyrically challenging, and tons of fun. Maybe not quite as 'heavy' as the debut, but shows a lot more talent and diversity and a band that just gels together.

3. Sleeping at Last--Storyboards...I'm a HUGE SAL fan, and every album shows a lot of talent and ingenuity. This is no exception. I don't like it quite as much as the last one (that one hit #1 on my board that year), but it is yet another fine example from a band that I wish more people knew about.

4. Shane and Shane--Everything is Different...I'm a Shane and Shane fanboy, so they can almost do no wrong in my eyes. This one didn't grab me as much as some of their previous work, but over time it has challenged me as all of their music does, with beautiful acoustic-driven melodies of adoration for a Savior.

5. David Crowder Band--Church Music ...this one took a while to grow on me. It is such a drastic change for DCB, and with people I've talked to, it's been hit and miss for them. DCB is never one to settle, and this shows their quirkiness, their humor and their incredible talent.

6. MewithoutYou--It's All Crazy......this is a pretty drastic change for MWY, but it is oh so catchy and fun, poppy rock music, with plenty of quirkiness and fun lyrics.

7. Project 86--Picket Fence Cartel ...P86 has become one of my favorite Christian rock bands. This album blew me away and continues to do so. Heavy music, driving rhythms, and straightforward and challenging lyrics. It is my favorite album of theirs and was a favorite of 2009 and will be far beyond.

8. The Avett Brothers--I and Love and You ...I'm not a country music fan, and technically the Avetts are 'folk' i guess, but this album, and their stuff in general, I have fallen in love with. I owe 2 or 3 friends a huge debt of gratitude for introducing me to this band that is all wrong for me musically, yet I have fallen in love with.

9. Thrice--Beggars ...this one took a bit to grow on me, but it shows a maturing Thrice while maintaining their rock edge. And the lyrics have a ton of depth to them.

10. U2--No Line On the Horizon ..I finally got to see U2 this year, and it was incredible. This album is good, but won't make my top U2 albums because in some ways it is hit and miss. But the songs I like, I like a lot, and it shows a band unwilling to settle and willing to try new and diverse things.

11. Jars of Clay--The Long Fall Back to Earth ...what I appreciate about this long-time favorite of mine is that they are never willing to rehash a previous album's thoughts and sounds. Once again, they go a different direction, with a pop feel and 80's sound that while at times is hit and miss for me, is still a ton of fun.

12. Switchfoot--Hello Hurricane Switchfoot albums tend to blow me away at first and then sorta fade on me over time. That's unfortunately the case again here. While I would put it as my second favorite SF album, and some of the songs are among their best and catchiest, it didn't captivate me like I wanted it to, but it is still a solid album.

13. Seabird--Rocks into Rivers ...a great leap forward from their first album, and a solid pop/rock entry into the Christian music industry. I like this album a lot and it is only growing on me.

14. Paper Route--Absence ...It was late in the year that I discovered them, but this album is catchy and fun with something of a retro feel. It is very artsy and creative and enjoyable.

15. Steven Curtis Chapman--Beauty Will Rise I was a big SCC fan in the past, then had gotten very much away from him as a singer, yet drawn to the individual. This album is so touching and moving and challenging. it's not for the faint of heart, though, as each song chronicles the family's struggles and doubts and faith and trust in Christ through their loss. It's tough but very solid stuff.

16. Derek Webb--Stockholm Syndrome ...very different from his previous stuff, and somewhat controversial in subject matter and lyrics, but it is a creative and challenging album.

17. Relient K--Forget and Not Slow Down ...I wanted to like this so much more than I do. I love RK, and this would be a great album, if I hadn't heard all of their other stuff. It's still a solid rock album, but it just seems to lack some of what has made RK so great over time.

18. Manic Drive--Blue ...diverse rock styles, fun and catchy music, this one is still growing on me a lot.

19. Joel Hanson--What if It Is ...Joel was the lead singer of PFR, one of the most underappreciated bands in Christian rock history in my opinion. His solo stuff isn't quite as good as PFR's was, but it's a solid album of worship and adoration with Joel's signature all over it.

20. Kendall Payne--Wounds to Scars ...she continues to make solid, underappreciated, independent music that too many people don't know about. Soothing, challenging, raw, solid music and lyrics.

Five for Fun, Songs of 2009 Edition...

2010-01-11T13:23:00.000-06:00

My brain is too tired from dealing with a burst pipe in our youth house and the accompanying flooding/water sucking (multiple uses of that word, eh?)/mopping/sweeping/ etc yesterday and trying to get it taken care of today, so instead of my normal format, i'm gonna do something that requires less 'deep thinking' on my part. I'm pretty close to finalizing my 'best of 2009' album list, but before I get to that one, I'm gonna list the songs of the year, the ones that most hit with me and moved me. So the five will become more than that today...haha. These are not necessarily in any order, just the twelve or so new songs that most moved me this past year. With apologies to my youth group, though they are both fun songs, there is no "Monster" by Skillet nor "Fireflies" by Owl City, sorry...haha.
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* "Beautiful Bride" by Flyleaf. Straightforward rockin' encouragement for and to the Body of Christ as the diverse, important, Body of Christ that needs to come together in a united front and make an impact on our world.

* "Something Beautiful" by Needtobreathe. This song alternates between slow and more uptempo, stating a desire to be consumed like a fire and touched by something beautiful. It could be seen on a God/human relationship level or a human/human one. Either way it's a beautiful song of encouragement and beauty and even worship on one level.

* "How He Loves" by David Crowder Band. I MUCH prefer the John Mark McMillan original version and its story, but it's a couple of years old while the Crowder one came out this year and mostly put the song on the map. What an incredible song of worship and realizing the amazing love of God through anything life brings and being blown away by that love.

* "Worthy of Affection" by Shane and Shane...powerful song of worship by one of my favorites. I'm trying to get our worship band at church to play it. It simply stands the singer/listener in awe of God and how He is worthy of our worship and affection because of who He is and how incredible He is.

* "Uprising" by Muse...When I saw them open for U2, this was one of the only songs of theirs I had heard. It's an anthemic song about not being put down by those who say we can't do something, etc. It was an incredible opening song for that whole night, and the huge pounding drum sounds and wailing guitars absolutely filled the House that Jerry Built for those first 6 minutes of that show at Cowboys Stadium.

* "Magnificent" by U2 ...the new U2 album is pretty uneven, pretty hit and miss for me...the songs I really like, I love. Others, I honestly forget about. But this is the best, and to hear a band of this caliber do a song that is flat-out worship to God, song that says basically 'i sing b/c You gave me the voice to lift you up,' is an incredible experience, especially live. I love the bouncy intro, and how the song builds into this massive song of worship.

* "Every Thought A Thought of You" by MeWithoutYou. They are weird, and quirky, sold out followers of Jesus Christ, and in this bouncy song, they sing about everything pointing back to God. It's hard to describe, but it's just flat out fun.

* "Free" by Switchfoot. I like the new Switchfoot cd, but it keeps falling lower on my list of albums of the year because songs don't stick with me. This one is the major exception. It is a cry for Christ to set us free from the prisons of guilt and sin, and it has a super catchy guitar riff.

* "Cement Shoes" by Project 86 I'm a rock music fan, but not a big fan of most heavier stuff. Project 86 is one of the 'heavier' type bands I absolutely love, and their latest disc blew me away musically and lyrically alike. This is a straight forward song of honor to God, of being unashamed to cry out in worship of and to Him. It's a great song.

* "I And Love And You" by the Avett Brothers...I have lately fallen in love with this band. They are all wrong for me, b/c they are, at least borderline, country-ish. But I prefer to think of it as more folk, which more fits one of my music interest categories. This song about leaving behind those he loves, and the difficulty at times of truly saying and meaning the words I Love You is just enjoyable music.

* "Two Hands" by Jars of Clay ...a powerful song about the constant struggle of getting our lives to match up to our faith, of having both hands doing the same thing, of being in the world but not of it, of getting on the same page and the right page, etc. Probably the first song of the year that really moved me.

* "Heaven is the Face" by Steven Curtis Chapman...SCC has been through a horrific tragedy of losing a child, and his entire new album is about that. This song is about seeing and knowing heaven through this child and her life. As we lost a member of our youth group this year in a similar tragedy, and my son's elementary lost a girl suddenly with no real warning who was the same age as SCC's daughter was, it just really connects to me in a powerful way.

Five for Fun Freezing Cold Edition 1/8

2010-01-08T12:19:00.000-06:00

Haven't had a chance to write in a few days, but I've had a lot on the mind. It's been freezing cold and crazy weather around here...11 with a -5 windchill when I woke up today. I've been fighting headaches and cold type conditions, tired, cold, crazy week. We also had our first 'real youth group' of the year and first real one in a while if you count all the breaks, etc, with the Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years holidays. Anyways, staying inside and warm this morning, watching Phineas and Ferb with littler man, reading a couple of books, working on youth stuff, and writing the five things on my mind right now.

1. Colt McCoy showed tremendous character and class last night in the face of one of the most difficult nights of his life I'm sure. The guy who was a 4 year starter, had more wins and a higher completion percentage than anyone else ever has in college football, came back for his senior year to have the chance at a national title, was knocked out of the game after like 5 plays, and he was in a groove. His arm went numb and he didn't get to return. He was emotional afterwards in his interview with Lisa Salters, but he showed his faith strongly by stating, " "I always give God the glory, I never question why things happen the way they do, God is in control of my life and I know if nothing else, I'm standing on the Rock." THAT is real faith and class and character and why I'm a Colt McCoy fan and wish him the best moving forward. He deserved better, in my mind, but God will be glorified no matter what. You can see that interview here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVsSvx3UQOY). (By the way, tough year for Christian top-notch college QB's...McCoy, Bradford and Tebow all had injuries and they all had tough seasons, as did fellow Christian QB Matt Barkley, the Freshman starter for USC).

2. A few days ago, the very busy Newark airport was closed down while they searched for a man who slipped past security for one last kiss for his lover. Stuck in one terminal with scores of other passengers was musician Josh Wilson. What do you do when you're a musician stuck in an airport terminal with strangers? Pull out your guitar and sing, in this case "Hey Jude" by the Beatles. The obviously distraught passengers had a moment of joy and smiles on their faces as Josh's spontaneous reaction brought them something to be happy about as they worried over the situation. What an awesome reaction to a tough, not fun situation. As Pete Wilson points out in the blog in the link at the end here, Mark Batterson says in the book Primal, "In my experience, it’s much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Anyone can put on an act. But your reactions reveal what is really in your heart." Pete says, "How do you react when you’re caught in less than ideal circumstances? Like everyone else around you, or can you rise above the circumstances and react with joy, love, and maybe even a song." Good stuff. (http://withoutwax.tv/2010/01/07/its-easier-to-act-than-react/) Oh, and by the way, Wilson and his friends were on their way to India for a mission trip at the time, and are there right now, I believe. (PS, I just found out Josh is actually from El Dorado, AR...cool)

3. I have always heard this is true, but it seems more true right now than I remember in a while. The periods right before and right after the 'big holidays' (Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years) are some of the most enjoyable for most people, but for others they are some of the most trying times. It seems very much that way right now. I know of marriages struggling, financial struggles, job changes and possible job changes, families who've experienced lost loved ones (one in our church, another a soldier who committed suicide, and I was told that the local funeral homes were overrun this week), a family dealing with brain cancer in a 5 year old daughter, a pastor my age undergoing treatment (chemo AND radiation both) for six weeks for a malignant brain tumor, and much more. Just remember, there are always people struggling, and life is about much more than just us. We cannot ignore the problems, whatever they are, of those around us. In 2010, be a friend, a listening ear, a compassionate helper, a dedicated prayer, for those you know.

4. I'm reading a book called "This Beautiful Mess" by Rick McKinley. The chapter I'm on right now begins with Rick talking about how the way our society is set up, on EVERY level, including spiritually, it's all about 'the next level.' He says, "We're like salmon swimming upstream to spawn, trying to get up the next rapids, the next fish ladder. Each time we beat the current and jump to the next level, another level is waiting." He points out that we do that spiritually as well. The problem with that, as McKinley says, is that it puts way too much emphasis on us and what we are DOING rather than who we are BECOMING as we join Christ in advancing the Kingdom work that is already in place inviting us to partner with and join Him along the way. When we put too much emphasis on ourselves, it is much like Adam and Eve trying to be god and in control rather than walking WITH God as He is inviting us to do. Good stuff.

5. We announced Wednesday night that our youth mission trip is to the Dallas area...with an amazing organization called Mission Arlington (www.missionarlington.org). I'm super excited about it. There has been a ton of incredible stuff done by Mission Arlington over the last 25-30 years, and I'm excited about our group getting to join them in their Kingdom work in the Dallas/Arlington area.

Music for a Note:
Joel Hanson's "What if it Is" album

PS...I'm SUPER glad to have Intern Boy back...he spent much of his break from college back home, but we sure missed him around here and we are excited about what God has for our youth group in 2010 and his part in that.

Five for Fun, Christmas Eve/Christmas songs edition...

2009-12-24T15:38:00.000-06:00

In honor of Christmas, here, in no particular order, are my five favorite Christmas songs, all originals for the most part.

1. "Celebrate the Day" by Relient K (Youtube video with clips from The Nativity Story here...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUjfN7cpv3o) What an awesome, straightforward, even evangelistic song about celebrating the birth of Christ and how it changes the world for all who accept it, including us..."Did You realize that You would be my Savior?" "I celebrate the day that You were born to die so I could one day pray for You to save my life, pray for You to save my life, pray for You to save my life." (Lyrics here...http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/I-Celebrate-The-Day-lyrics-Relient-K/0823EB6669E1F31948256DD5002611EF)

2. "How Many Kings" by Downhere (Youtube live video version here...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeRPcDKSvSg). What an amazing song about the fact that what God did was a one of it's kind type thing. "Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least for me? How many Gods have poured out their hearts To romance a world that has torn all apart? How many fathers gave up their sons for me?" (Lyrics here... http://www.lyrics-celebrities.anekatips.com/how-many-kings-lyrics-downhere )

3. "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant . (Youtube video with Nativity Story clips here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPbV_HTpyx0) The first 'non-traditional' Christmas song that really moved me. Wow. What a powerful look at the birth of Jesus from Mary's perspective. "Breath of heaven, hold me together, be forever near me, breath of heaven. Breath of heaven, lighten my darkness, pour over me Your holiness, for You are holy, breath of heaven."(Lyrics can be found here...http://www.metrolyrics.com/breath-of-heaven-lyrics-amy-grant.html)

4. "I Choose You" by Rachael Lampa...(haven't been able to find a video of it but I found this place to listen to clips from the album it is on, including that song... http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B00004Z3S8/ref=pd_krex_listen_dp_img?ie=UTF8&refTagSuffix=dp_img) another powerful and underrated look at God choosing an ordinary person to bring the Savior of the Universe into the world. POWERFUL song about how God uses us in His plans. "I choose you, To bring the world a Savior. I choose you, To bring the world a king I choose you, To be the arms of love that hold the answer. For the world to see my promises come true I choose you." (Lyrics here... http://www.lyrics007.com/Rachel%20Lampa%20Lyrics/I%20Choose%20You%20Lyrics.html)

5. "Labor of Love" by Jill Phillips and Andrew Peterson. (Youtube video with clips from The Nativity Story found here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4xY175ZYo). And one final look at Jesus parents, and the labor of love of bringing Jesus into the world in messy conditions, not the peaceful, calm, silent night often portrayed. Blows me away every time. It was a labor of pain, It was a cold sky above. But for the girl on the ground in the dark, With every beat of her beautiful heart, It was a labor of love." (lyrics can be found here... http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/andrew_peterson_lyrics_8347/behold_the_lamb_of_god_lyrics_27949/labor_of_love_lyrics_305950.html)

Five for Fun, Christmas Eve Eve Edition...

2009-12-23T14:05:00.001-06:00

Quick hits two days before Christmas...

1. I'm super disappointed in what I've heard so far from this past season's American Idol albums. I thought it was the best season ever, as far as what happened on the show, and while I don't watch AI thinking I'm gonna find mind-blowing music, I did think it would be better than most years as far as the albums go. So far, I'm unbelievably disappointed. Kris Allen, as great of a guy as he is and as much as I would really love to support him, his album is bland and generic and lacking in much of anything memorable...lyrically, musically, spiritually, any of that. It's not that I care a lot about whether or not it has Christian content as much as it's just very blah music and lyrics. And Adam's is equally forgettable...the ONLY thing keeping him more in the media spotlight is his extremism and desire to push the envelope and push buttons. Honestly, other than Kelly C and Carrie U, what AI winners have had much of any success? None, right? And outside of those two, really only Daughtry and Clay Aiken have had much success AT ALL. It's great entertainment, just doesn't produce great product.

2. I watched about half of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. I was moved by a couple of things in the early part of the movie. One, Charlie has an almost unrealistic expectation and hope of finding the 'golden ticket,' and refuses to lose that hope and that belief, even when his only supporter is his cooky bed-ridden grandfather. Even his own mom tried to dissuade him. But he believed and was willing to hold that belief even when it seemed ludicrous and to take steps towards making his dream a reality. What if we did that in Christian circles, with our faith? Two, the aforementioned cooky grandfather has been bed-ridden for 20 years. For TWENTY YEARS, he, his wife, and Charlie's other two grandparents have apparently been confined to a small bed and not gotten out of it at all, apparently because of health issues. It affected the whole family, but when Charlie gets the golden ticket, it changes everything for Grandpa Joe. He gets up, gets a bounce in his step, and enjoys the experience with Charlie. Again, i wonder how much of a spiritual analogy this is...are we bed-ridden, held down by our fears and limitations, awaiting something to put a bounce in our step, not fully enjoying life, chained and bound by our past and our fears?

3. Compassion International ranked 3rd, and World Vision ranked 10th, in a recent study of most fiscally responsible charities. This covered charities of ANY type, and for those two amazing Christian organizations to beat out all but a few of the charities is a heck of a statement for them. My family sponsors Hamza Juba Shabani, a 7 year old boy from Tanzania, and our youth group sponsors Abinayah Muniyandi, a tweenager from India, both through Compassion. Because of a very small sacrifice on our parts, they have a hope and a future they would not otherwise have. Both organizations do phenomenal work in the areas of social justice as well as evangelism. They do what they do because of, and in the name of, Jesus Christ. They do what ALL of us as His Church should be doing, and there are a ton of ways to be involved with them. This year, we as a youth group have given a fully stocked fishing pond in a third world country in memory of one of our students who died, and also a variety of school supplies and other things in memory of a kindergartner at the local elementary school who died and who none of them actually knew her or her family at all. We as a family have given a number of gifts (from animals, to school supplies, to healthcare, to sports balls, to music and bible education and much more) for Christmas as well, through World Vision's gift catalog and have also received some as gifts from others. We also have helped another person or two decide to sponsor a child through one or the other of those organizations. Find a way to do something like this for the new year.

4. It's pretty cool to ask your 6 year old first grader what Christmas is about and he says "the birth of the baby Jesus." I love seeing my sons beginning to REALLY learn about God and things related to Him.

5. A new friend of mine who is a youth pastor in Central Arkansas is organizing a "Save Christmas" for a certain specific family they know who lost everything in a house fire this week. Their church is encouraging people to give gifts, money, gift cards, anything else, to help this family get back on their feet and to help them have a decent Christmas all things considered. Props to them for being what a church is supposed to be. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhXgW_ijjCE)

Music for a note: U2's "No Line on the Horizon" album

Five for Fun, 12/22 Edition...

2009-12-22T23:37:00.000-06:00

I haven't had a chance to do this for a couple of days, so I'm gonna try to get back on track with this one today.

1. Our church did its Choir/drama Christmas musical last night and Sunday night. It was called God Speaking and was about how God speaks to us in a variety of ways, often when we least expect it. The three main characters were a divorced dad spending Christmas alone without his two daughters as they would be with mom and their 'other dad,' a newlywed who has racked up a lot of debt and is struggling financially, and a lady who has lost her husband to military fighting. It was a powerful reminder that not everyone is able to fully enjoy this season because of a variety of life circumstances and so forth that hit hard especially during this time. I know there are a number of them in our lives, our friends, even our church right now...families struggling with each other, with finances, with losses, etc. Just take a moment to remember those people this year at Christmas and pray that God truly speaks to them and reveals Himself as the true message of Christmas and the true hope for their lives.

2. The other day I posted it as a facebook status, but I keep thinking about this letter to the editor in the Arkansas Baptist newsmagazine where this lady was seriously blaming the fact that a lot of 'church people' are getting tattoos on churches doing face and body painting at like VBS, Fall Fest, carnivals, block parties, etc. SERIOUSLY?! Forget the debate over whether or not tattoos are a good thing, that's irrelevant to this discussion...but to blame it on churches doing face painting, etc is ludicrous, and yet another example of how we major on minor things and stir up and fight over STUPID stuff that distracts from the stuff WORTH FIGHTING FOR. I mean aren't there enough problems and enough people out there in need of God and His love and hope than to call face painting at CHURCH EVENTS a wrong and a cause of 'evil' in society?! No wonder people mock, laugh at and scoff at us. Let's focus on what really matters, that there is a great big God who created it all and who desperately and deeply loves everyone and desires a relationship (not a religion with a bunch of rules) with EVERY person, so much so that He sent, and then killed, His own son as a token of that love and as a payment for our sins. THAT is life-changing and world-changing.

3. I'm super thankful for amazing friends and family, more and more the older I get. Last weekend, we took our Jr High class ice skating and two separate families, one a part of our family, the other a couple who is close enough friends that they may as well be family, met up with us and spent an hour and a half or so with Tracy and I and our kids and 13 of our youth and youth leaders, rather than any of a zillion other things they could have been doing on a Saturday afternoon that was cold and snow flurry weather, six days before Christmas and all of the crazy busy-ness that goes with these days. That's awesome, and shows a lot of love and friendship, and I don't take that for granted at all. Thanks, God, for giving us some amazing people in our lives.

4. I think the older I get, and the longer I do ministry, the more I value commitment and people who are faithful, trustworthy and stick to commitments, etc. I know I'm not perfect in that regard myself, but it seems lately I've seen a lot of commitments not being upheld... a wide variety of types of commitments, ministry related and non-ministry related. That puts a lot of people in a bind, and often reflects poorly on a lot more people than we think it does. I think we need to value commitment a lot more in our society than we do. I've said it for years, but it seems like in our societies, in our families, in our churches, the dirtiest 'dirty word' is not even a profanity, it's "the C word," commitment.

5. There is a lot more joy in doing something for others than most of us realize. From mission trips, to our "Hands ministry" at church doing a lot of things for people, to hearing from missionaries, to Angel Tree gifts at Christmas, to helping a family this very day through our church because they have gone through a tremendous hardship and wouldn't have much of a Christmas without it, to giving gifts with a purpose through World Vision, to sponsoring a child through Compassion (actually 2...one with our youth group and one in our family), and much more, I constantly see the truth that doing for others is actually so much more joyful and fun than doing for ourselves, yet most of the time we are so self-focused that we don't even realize that at all. Again, I'm far from perfect in this area, but it just does something special when you know you get to be a part of doing something for someone else in any way, even if they can't give back or don't come to your church or never even know it was you that did it. The reward is ultimately spiritual and in heaven rather than here on earth anyways, although there is a tremendous joy in your spirit and a smile on your face when you do it.

Music for a Note: Jars of Clay's "Long Fall Back to Earth" album

Primal Christianity (A Book Review)

2009-12-21T14:37:00.008-06:00

I became a huge Mark Batterson fan this summer from reading In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day and also Wild Goose Chase. Both challenged me and hit me hard as a follower of Christ and as a youth pastor. I was excited about Primal when I heard about it. Primal explores the core of Christianity, seeking its "lost soul" in the Great Commandment, something that has been far too frequently lost in modern Christianity.

In chapter one, he speaks of stripping away the superficialities and traditions that have unintentionally obscured the core message of our faith. He says that when everything else is peeled back, what is left is the Great Commandment, to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." The next eight chapters dive into the heart, soul, mind and strength of Christianity, with two chapters about each. He reminds us that when we give our hearts TO Christ, we take on the heart OF Christ, and our hearts break for what breaks His heart. He reminds us that our actions matter, but our reactions show what is really in our heart. In the second chapter on the heart, Batterson challenges us to put our money where our heart is. He also asks the question, "What if we saw compassion as a form of worship? Worship without words. Worship beyond words."

Next, Batterson talks about the soul of Christianity. He talks about having a sense of primal wonder and amazement at God and at His creation. He says, "loving God with all our soul means a soul full of wonder, a soul flooded with the glory of God, a soul awed by beauty and mystery, a soul that hallows God above all else." He challenges us to see the wonder and mystery of God, to be aware of the miracles going on around us all the time, and to be amazed by God again. He dares us to dig into the wonder of the Scriptures and to tune our lives to the frequency of God so we can hear Him more clearly. God wants to speak into our lives and write out His story through our lives using Scripture as the script, so we need to read it, pray it, meditate on it, and live it out.

He then turns to the mind of Christianity. We are challenged to constantly grow by having a holy curiosity about things. We must have a deep desire and drive to know Him more and to never settle.This helps us to worship Him at a greater capacity. He also states that creativity is something God gives to be used for His purposes, and calls it an act of obedience, faith and love when we use our creativity for God. He calls on the church to be the most creative place on earth, as a new way of discipleship and growth. He tells us to find our God ideas and value and run with them. He also mentions prayer as a way to see things from God's view and to find and cultivate God ideas and run with them.

The next two chapters deal with the strength of Christianity. He speaks of the value of expending energy for God, getting out and working for God, serving others for God, and just doing something, instead of waiting on when you are 'ready.' Faith is not really faith until it is proven by being put into action. We are challenged to risk, to get out of laziness and apathy, to obey and exert extreme effort and energy for the work God has given us to do. We desperately need to quit playing it safe just to arrive at death when there is plenty of Kingdom work for us to do. We do this in His power and in His strength in and through us. WITH His power, there is nothing we cannot do, but without it, we cannot accomplish His purposes. He also mentions our often limited and small view of God and challenges us to let God be a bigger God than we often make Him out to be by the way we live our lives. It must be all about Him...His purposes, His strength, His Kingdom.

In the conclusion, Batterson calls us to be a part of a new reformation with actions that show a God and a people of compassion, courage, creativity, wonder, curiosity, energy and love. It is our calling and our privilege to glorify God by truly loving Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, what Batterson calls "love to the fourth power." After all the Great Commandment IS truly primal, of first importance. What would happen if His followers would really do that? What if, instead of complicating everything, we would, instead, learn to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength? I have a feeling it would change the world.

(Primal is available here)

Five for Fun, Friday Edition

2009-12-18T15:56:00.001-06:00

Today's has less to do with the news than yesterday's, but here goes...

1. If I hear one more kids Christmas show talk about discovering the true meaning, or real spirit, or whatever, of Christmas, I'm gonna scream. While none of them is particularly dangerous as such, it just frustrates me to no end that 'family' or decorations or gifts or warm fuzzy happy feelings or whatever else is presented as the true meaning or real spirit of Christmas. However, at the same time, I refuse to get on a tangent about it and go overboard like some and start some type of movement, because as a wise pastor pointed out in a book I recently read, what do we expect from people 'in the world.' I mean, if we are getting mad at 'them' for not saying Merry Christmas or not showing what Christmas is really about, aren't we abdicating our own role and depending on people who, when you think about it, why WOULD they present the Gospel aspects? It's OUR job to make sure our kids and those closest to us know what it's all about, not the department stores, or tv stations, or nickelodeon, or Disney, or Dora, or Phineas and Ferb or whomever else. Christmas, and its real meaning, are not really being stolen unless WE fail to represent and present the real message when we have the opportunity. It's our responsibility, not theirs.

2. My son's class had their Christmas party today. I blogged about it the last time I was at his school, but I was reminded again that kids just want attention and love and to know someone cares. Roughly half that class, most of whom barely know me at all, wanted me to push them on the swings at the playground, or to show me what gift they got in the exchange, or to show me what they made and were gonna take home, or whatever else. And Andrew was every one of them's little brother in their minds and in the way they treated them. It reminded me how much a solid Christian lifestyle and a family oriented display of love can make a difference in a life. Honestly, I want to help every kid I've met at his school, and would love for all of them to be a part of our children's ministry and later our youth ministry at our church. It's really amazing to see how attached they get and how much they just want to see love, care, family, etc.

3. If you want to give with a purpose this year, check out World Vision's gift catalog. Instead of just giving some trinket that winds up eaten or in the trash in a short period of time, instead of giving something someone doesn't want or need, why not give something that has a lasting impact in someone's name? We did it for the second year in a row for our staff gifts and for some of our friends' gifts. We gave things like "Youth Bible Curriculum" in honor of our youth workers, where money goes towards providing youth in a foreign country a Christian youth curriculum, which was super neat to do for our youth team. We gave a Bible in our pastor's family's name. We gave music education in our music minister's name and school supplies in our children's director's name. We even gave 2 soccer balls in a friend's name who in addition to being a football coach was made an assistant soccer coach but knows nothing about soccer. HAHA. It's such a neat thing to do, more than just a good feeling type thing, something that has purpose and meaning and lasting impact. (http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?go=gift&xxwvCampaign=105418200&section=10389)

4. In a couple of weeks, I'll post my favorite albums of the year. I'm a music junkie with over 7100 songs on my iPod, and buy waaaay too much, (yes, Tracy agrees, haha) of it. But God uses so much of it in my life. I'm not a musician myself, but I'm a big fan (by the way, as big of a fan as I am, I only ranked 3rd out of the 4 of us that lived together in college in quantity of cd's owned...and it wasn't even close to the other two...haha). God uses music to speak to me, and gives me a chance to share it with my youth as well. Just to give a sneak preview of this year's top albums, I'll mention that there are some definite surprises, along with some familiar faces, some in positions 'normal' for them, and others a bit lower than in past years, partly because their albums didn't stick as well as some of their past ones with me, and partly because there were a lot of great discs released in the latter part of the year. I'll also mention that though I'm getting older, I skewed a bit towards 'rock' type stuff in the list this year as well.

5. I'll be blogging a review in the next day or so, but I read Mark Batterson's newest book Primal over the past 10 days or so. I've read 3 Batterson books and they are in my upper echelon of books that challenge me spiritually and are excellent. He is the pastor of National Community Church in the DC area and they are doing some incredible and creative and innovative things. The basis of the book is a return to the core of Christianity...The Great Commandment, to 'love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength,' and the importance of ALL FOUR aspects to be there. It's a fascinating and challenging read, and my question for you is this: What if we REALLY did that...if we REALLY loved Him with our hearts, with our minds, with our souls, and with our strength? Think about it, it would be very world-changing.

MUSIC FOR A NOTE: David Crowder Band's "Church Music" album

Five For Fun...Day 1

2009-12-17T16:09:00.004-06:00

So, I'm gonna start a new thing, but I don't want to make a whole separate blog for it, so here it goes. Basically I'm gonna pick five things on my mind...news links, thoughts, etc, and do a quick summary of thoughts on them, etc.

Bengals wideout Chris Henry died a tragic death this morning. It is a very sad case, as he had been in trouble with the league and was tanking his life, then seemingly got it in order, only to die a senseless death related to a 'domestic dispute,' with a lot of questions still open. It is big news because he is a pretty good NFL Wide receiver, and that makes it newsworthy, but I hate how we overhype celebrity stuff and make those cases larger than life. Fact is, someone dies in America every 14 seconds! That's over 6000 in a day, and nearly 190,000 in a month. Most don't get the coverage one like this does. Hear me out, it's tragic, and it's a human interest story, I just hate that because of our celebrity culture, the average person gets little or no notice, but a celebrity gets tons of press. Which brings me to number 2...
Speaking of celebrity press coverage, am I the only one tired of all of the Tiger Woods coverage? Today's news is that Elin is going to file for divorce. Surprise, surprise. There are, depending on legitimacy, anywhere from half a dozen to 12 or 14 'mistresses' who have come forward with stories about his infidelity. It is yet another story of celebrity 'scandal.' It is a story of humanity, and of sin, and a story that needs reconciliation and redemption. We make our celebrities superhuman, and they are not. Sometimes they seem to want to believe they are, but as this case shows, none of them are. When Tiger said he was gonna take a leave of absence, the media jumped on one of two thoughts...one, how sad for golf, because they need their biggest name (what a sad commentary on our society and consumerism, eh?) or two, 'how great that he realizes he needs to get his priorities in order and take care of family.' While that sounds noble, he needs more than that...he needs help and ultimately he needs a Savior, the ULTIMATE priority for anyone, and he needs the God-shaped hole that he has tried to fill with celebrity, fame, money, sports, women, sex, and more to be filled by Jesus. Instead of hammering him, how many of us pray for him?

Matt Chandler, an amazing man of God who is close to my age and pastors a megachurch just north of Dallas, had a seizure Thanksgiving week and fell and they discovered a lump on his frontal lobe. Yesterday, doctors informed Matt and Lauren that pathology showed a malignant tumor. They are meeting with doctors this week to figure out what is next. Pray for them for wisdom and for God to be glorified no matter what. Matt and Lauren both have blogged and tweeted frequently and shown a sense of humor and a desire to glorify God and please Him throughout this ordeal. It's definitely a trial for them and their small children and their church, so pray that God would use this in an incredible way.
Matt Thiessen, lead singer of Relient K, took a leave of absence because his mom had a severe heart attack earlier this week. They are finishing their Christmas tour without him, so he could be with his mom. He tweeted today that he feels good about it (actually his words are" Pretty sure the Dr. fixed my mommy. My heart feels better now too. ") Another situation where people get blindsided by health and other issues...another reminder that you just never know. Looks like she'll be ok, but it's a serious wake-up call. I had a year's worth of those in 2006, when my grandfather on my mom's side had a heart attack and died suddenly, my grandma on my dad's side died, my wife's only living grandparent died, my dad went through prostate cancer surgery, and my pastor wound up in the heart hospital with heart problems at age 47. We've had plenty of reminders of that this year as well. Keep in mind that we have to live every moment with no regrets and as if it could be our last.
Finally, USA Today had an interesting front-page article about multi-site churches today. It's an interesting read, and a subject that is heavily debated in many circles. Some argue it's too impersonal or that it takes away from some of the other pastoral roles of a pastor besides just preaching. While I can see that argument to a degree, the people I know of who have been doing this model and doing it well are doing it with the right motivation, with a lot of prayer and organization, etc. The article cites Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll and Craig Groeschel, who are each amazing men of God doing a lot of great things. Keller says, "The core of the multisite concept is that a church must 'reverse the flow.' Instead of drawing people to the church, take the church into their world." Bro. Danny and I have had some conversations recently about this approach compared to the old 'mission church' concept. It's got a lot of complications, but if done right I think it can be much more than a fad, and can reach a LOT of people in ways traditional church might not. Instead of criticizing it, perhaps it's best if we pray for those employing this model.

Blogging music (albums of choice): MeWithoutYou "It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright!" and U2 "No Line on the Horizon"

Have Yourself a...uh..."Fancy Yancy Christmas?"

2009-12-17T09:57:00.004-06:00

Yancy is a singer/songwriter and worship leader. According to her bio, she has worked with such people as Avalon, Nichole Nordeman, Newsboys and Jaci Velasquez and shared the stage with some of my personal favorites like Mute Math and Plumb. She has written devotionals for musicians and worship leaders and worked as a worship leader at a church in Tulsa, among other things. So how come I hadn't heard of her until recently, when I discovered her from one of my best friends, who also happens to be one of her managers?

I will admit I was a little uncertain when I first popped her "Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas" cd in, as much as anything because I had no preconceptions at all and no idea what to expect. Color me impressed for the most part. Though relatively short at 10 songs and 37 minutes, it is one of the better Christmas albums I have heard in a while. Working with Producer Stephen Leiweke who also did a lot of the instrumentation, she has crafted a very enjoyable Christmas album. Combining fun arrangements of traditional Christmas songs with three originals, it is definitely a repeat listen for me as we count down to Christmas day.

The album opens with a fun, uptempo version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Like most of the songs on the album, originals and classics alike, it's easy to find yourself with toes tapping and head bopping to the infectious, catchy sounds. Next is "Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas," a somewhat quirky original that, while fun, is my least favorite of the three originals. It's easy to imagine this as a fun live song, however. Next is a bouncy version of "Wonderful Christmastime," followed by a poppy arrangement of "Joy to the World." "Christmastime" follows, and it is the first really slowed down song on the album but it is a powerful look at what Christmas is really all about and about sharing and spreading that message as the real reason for the season. This is followed by another slower song, this time "The First Noel." It is a decent song but is not one of my favorites.

The tempo picks back up for a really fun medley of "Jingle Bells, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Feliz Navidad, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas." It is one of the most fun and enjoyable songs on the album and displays the simplicity combined with complexity that make Yancy who she is as an artist. "Angels We Have Heard on High" is the next song on the album, and it starts out pretty basic, but has a bit of a twist on the "Gloria" part in the chorus, which makes it more memorable than most versions of this song. A fairly uptempo version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" follows, with another slight variation in the chorus that makes it a little unique compared to many versions. The final track on the album is the third Yancy original, "The Greatest Gift." Its message mirrors that of "Christmastime" somewhat, but it may be my favorite song on the album. It is a mid-tempo song that kinda builds throughout, with a message that "God loved us all so much He gave us His only Son to save us and angels sang and shepherds saw and wise men came to bow. God knew everything we needed and so He sent us Jesus, the greatest gift in all the world is with us." The key change in the bridge adds to the message and I find myself smiling when listening to that song in particular.

In summary, Yancy is flat out fun, infectious, and catchy. Simple yet complex, enjoyable, worshipful, hopeful, and fun, this album crosses over in appeal to many different styles, and would definitely make a great addition to anyone looking for something new for their Christmas collection this year.

Available here and here

Let's Give 'Em Somethin' to Think About...

2009-12-04T21:41:00.000-06:00

My heart aches a little. My head has been spinning a little bit lately. As a youth pastor, I've always held out hope that some of what I see in how younger people treat each other is just youthfulness, immaturity and age that eventually will be grown out of as they get older. I'm no longer as convinced of that as I used to be. Don't get me wrong, in saying that, I'm not meaning that I think there is no hope for people to outgrow these things as they get older, please don't misunderstand me. What I AM saying is that I'm no longer convinced it's just a youth thing or whatever. Lately, it seems to me, I'm seeing or hearing about as many adults as youth mistreating each other. And I'm gonna bet it's not even always in ways that they realize, but as an outside observer, it's in ways that are unnecessary, selfish, and Un-Christlike. At the heart of the matter is a loss of heart in people who claim to have given their hearts and their lives to Christ. Instead of taking on the heart of Christ, in something of a spiritual transplant that brings the heart and attitudes and emotions of Christ into the life of the person who claims to be a follower of Christ.

The things we say, the things we do, the ways we treat others, should be always mindful of Christ. They should represent Him to the people we encounter. When we put off people, don't have time for them, or flat out mistreat them, what does it say about our relationship to the One who had time for everyone, never found Himself too overly inconvenienced to give someone the encounter they needed and to make them feel important and meaningful to Him. For most of us, most of the time, the only one really that important to us, is ourselves. And whether we realize it or not, that shows more than we want it to. And what a shame, since we are called to take the attitude of Christ, and instead take a heartless, uncompassionate, uncaring and unloving attitude far too frequently. What a shame to the cause and Name of Christ. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The heart of what it means to be a Christian is to love God and others. Out of our love for God flows a deep love for others. Why doesn't that happen more often? Why does the opposite tend to happen so frequently? How can we ever make a dent in the world around us if we can't do the most basic of commands, the one that Jesus said was the most important? How will they know, why would they care, if His Body isn't doing what it was called to do? If instead of being known as loving and compassionate, we mistreat each other and are hateful and ugly and unloving? They will continue to be more drawn to the clubs and bars and social groups rather than the place they should feel the most love, compassion and kindness. But ultimately, it's our decision...we have the right to choose not to live in a manner loving and kind and compassionate and caring, but if we do, can we really, truly, claim the name of Christ? "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
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It's crowded in worship today, As she slips in, Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know, Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body, Why aren't His arms reaching, Why aren't His hands healing, Why aren't His words teaching, And if we are the Body, Why aren't His feet going, Why is His love not showing them there is a way, There is a way

A traveler is far away from home, He sheds his coat, And quietly sinks into the back row. The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances Are better out on the road

CHORUS
But if we are the Body, Why aren't His arms reaching, Why aren't His hands healing, Why aren't His words teaching, And if we are the Body, Why aren't His feet going, Why is His love not showing them there is a way, There is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price, For us to pick and choose who should come. And we are the Body of Christ

Train Tracks, Astonishing the World and Time Investments...

2009-11-16T23:16:00.000-06:00

I got an interesting email today about 'the world's largest train set.' It was begun in 2000, and isn't expected to be finished until 2014. Right now, it covers over 12,000 square feet and almost 6 miles of track, and will eventually have 13 miles of track and 19,000 square feet. It has six regions, and within the American region are giant models of Mount Rushmore, the Everglades and the Grand Canyon. It has 700+ trains with 10,000 + cars. It has 900 signals, 2800 buildings and 4000 cars, including some with headlights, as well as over 160,000 individually designed figures. It has 250,000 lights rigged to mimic day and night with automatic on and off. The whole thing is controlled by a massive high-tech nerve center. It has taken about 500,000 man hours and about 8 million dollars. When asked about it, the designers said, "Our idea was to build a world that men, women and children can be equally astonished and amazed in."

Now I'm a fan of cool train sets. In fact, that is one thing I remember from my childhood that I always would say i wanted and never got. My kids are into trains too...they have both LOVED Thomas the Tank Engine stuff and have both really gotten into playing with those trains and the accompanying train track sets. And I'm all about doing something mind-blowing and investing a lot in a project. But this particular one got my attention from a spiritual perspective, for a couple of reasons.

First, what if we invested that amount of time, energy, effort and passion on the things of God, the things of the Kingdom, the work God desires us to invest in? What if we gave ourselves as fully to God as these guys have to their train project? I'm not trying to be ugly, but most of us do not have anywhere near that type of investment in and passion for the things of God. If we are honest, God is often an afterthought at worst, or just one part of our lives at best. What if we truly let Him be God and lived our lives with Him as the truest part of who we are, as the priority of our lives? As Charlie Hall sings, "Oh Christ, be the center of our lives, be the place we fix our eyes..." What difference might it make if even one of us who claims the name of Jesus Christ did that, much less if the whole Army of God did? What if we invested as much in Him as we do in other things, virtues and vices alike, in our lives? What if we truly lived as if he were the singular passion of our lives?

The other thought that crossed my mind is in response to the answer the designer gave of wanting to 'astonish and amaze the world.' When I read the story earlier today, and saw that response, the first thing that came to my mind was "that's awesome, but honestly, God already did that, didn't he?" I mean, if we truly pay attention, aren't we prone to be constantly and consistently in awe, astonished, amazed? The problem is that we are not focused enough most of the time. We miss the amazing in the midst of the ordinary and mundane. But God created a world that is truly amazing. It is mind-blowing. It is astonishing and amazing. It should drive us to absolute awe and gratitude before Him. It should silence us..."Be still and know that I am God..." "Guard your steps when you come to the house of God....let your words be few." Allow Him to "take great delight in you...quiet you with his love...rejoice over you with singing.' Be so amazed and in awe of God and His creation that you say, with Andrew Peterson,
"And I don't believe that I believed in You as deeply as today,
I reckon what I'm saying is there's nothing more, nothing more to say.
And the mountains sing Your glory hallelujah, The canyons echo sweet amazing grace, My spirit sails, The mighty gales are bellowing Your name And I've gotten nothing to say, No, I've got nothing to say."

Grace and Defensive Football TD's

2009-11-16T10:09:00.001-06:00

I was watching Monday Night Football earlier and something caught my eye. For at least the second time in a couple of weeks, I observed something interesting with a defensive touchdown score. Lately, it seems whenever I see a defensive score, I see a slew of teammates running with the person who has made the interception or fumble and is running it back. They form something of a wall, a support group, a big help for the person in getting to where they are trying to get to. It is an amazing thing to see all of these guys, some fast and small, some huge and lumbering, running together, blocking for each other, protecting their teammate, helping the teammate get to his goal at whatever cost, celebrating as a team.

It made me think about the church, and the journey of following Christ. Shouldn't we be like that? Shouldn't we be coming alongside each other for encouragement and support? Shouldn't we travel in packs to accomplish the greater good for the Kingdom of God in the world around us? How awesome would it be if the church were known for something like that? If we were known for having each others back, for helping each other, for running alongside each other, for sticking by each other, for defending and protecting each other? The Body needs all parts working together for the common goal, encouraging and supporting each other, defending and protecting the faith and the cause of Christ and the ultimate goal of knowing Christ and making Him known together. Think about it...
"Therefore encourage one another, and build each other up..." (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

You Are My Joy, You are my Joy, You are my Joy, You are my Joooooyyyy...

2009-08-07T22:21:00.000-05:00

Tracy and I watched The Bucket List tonight. I actually enjoyed it, minus the unnecessary profanities, a lot more than I expected to. It got me thinking about a couple of things, and you know me, when I start thinking, I put down thoughts in writing form. The obvious idea, which I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on because I've written extensively about, is the idea of 'how would you spend your life if you knew you only had a limited amount of time left to live?' I've written about it when we did the series last fall called "Live Like You Were Dying," and this spring related to Matthew's passing, and this summer related to the book by John Piper I read called Don't Waste Your Life. If we fail to realize that our time could come at any moment, if we fail to allow the things we've seen and experienced over recent months, then we wind up wasting our lives. However, if we realize we only have a limited time to live and to do stuff that matters, we learn to truly live, and we live a life that makes a difference, has hope and matters.

The other part of the movie that got me thinking was a couple of questions Morgan Freeman's character asked Jack Nicholson's in the middle of the movie. He said the ancient Egyptians believed your entrance into heaven was dependent on your answer to these two questions. I don't buy that theologically, allow me to make that clear up front, but I believe the questions are valid for us and thought-provoking in such a way that how we answer them could change the way we lives our lives and motivate us to live more purposefully. The two questions were these: "Have you found joy in your life?," and "Has your life brought joy to others?"

"Have you found joy in your life?" What a deep question. There is a huge difference in happiness and joy. Happiness is dependent on life circumstances but joy is not. Joy gives a sense of purpose, hope, meaning and fulfillment, no matter what is going on in our lives. It is how a person can make it through both the best and worst life has to offer. It gives direction to our lives because we have a reason to live and a purpose for living. Ultimate joy begins in a deep, purposeful, meaningful, intimate relationship with God and flows down into other aspects of life from that relationship. It flows into an ability to find joy in family, friends, relationships, work, school, hobbies, interests, and so many other things. It must begin with God and His love, though, because anything else as a source of ultimate joy and fulfillment is a mere counterfeit and cheap substitute attempting to fill the "God-shaped hole," the vacuum inside every human being, the longing for something more. And He set me on fire, And I am burning alive, With His breath in my lungs, I am coming undone

The other question is harder.. "Has your life brought joy to others?" The first one is easier to answer, I think, and it's easier to 'fudge' an answer to. This one is more challenging. It causes us to really evaluate the way we live, and whether it is for ourselves or for something beyond ourselves. Does the way we treat others bring joy to them? Do we think about and meet their needs? Do we consider others as important or more so as ourselves and our own needs and wants? Do we take the humble mind and attitude of Christ? Do we deny ourselves for the cause of Christ and for others? Do we see the people we meet as representative of Christ and treat them accordingly (see Matthew 25:31-46, maybe THE most challenging passage in the Bible)? And I cannot hold it in and remain composed Love’s taken over me and so I propose the letting myself go, I am letting myself go

Paul talks a lot about joy, especially in Philippians. I don't know about you, but I want my life to show that I have found that ultimate joy. I want it to be obvious that there is something different, and real, and life-changing, about my life, and about God's work and presence in my life. And I want that joy to be contagious and viral, to spread to those around me. I want to bring joy to my wife and kids, to the amazing teenagers I work with, to the incredible friends God has blessed me with, to the congregants in our church, to the waiter at the restaurant, to the cashier at Walmart, etc. I'm not totally there, yet, but when my times comes, when I kick the bucket, I want it said of me that Christ is my source of joy and strength and that through that, I was able to bring a little joy to those God placed in my life.
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SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE:
"You are My Joy" by David Crowder Band; "Overjoyed" by Jars of Clay; "On Being Joyful and Content" by Bradley Hathaway; "Shouts of Joy" by Phil Keaggy; "Tears of Joy" by Robert Randolph and the Family Band; "Joy, Joy" by Ashley Cleveland

Restless, I Guess, I Must Confess, My Heart is Pounding in My Chest...

2009-07-30T15:51:00.001-05:00

Larry Walters bought forty-five used weather balloons and strapped himself into a lawn chair, with attached helium-filled balloons. He took along a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land. Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky -- smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at LAX. Scared, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon, causing long flight delays. Reporters asked him three questions: "Were you scared?" "Yes." "Would you do it again?" "No." "Why did you do it?" "Because," he said, "you can't just sit there."

Maybe it's still Baltimore mission trip hangover. Maybe it's two kids' birthdays and a birthday party. Maybe it's yet another LFBC older person's death (tragically on top of that) and funeral to deal with at the beginning of the week. Maybe it's being down in numbers a little bit (mostly for good reasons, but still it's trying!) this week in youth group. Maybe it was the distracted nature of too many kids last night. Maybe it's an end of summer/post mission trip/heading towards school starting combination. Maybe it's lack of sleep (darn those Cardinals and an incredible 15 inning marathon game last night!). Whatever it is, this has been a weird week or so. Every afternoon has found me incredibly run down/tired, and a confused maze of jumbled thoughts about a zillion different things. It's as if I know what it is but can't put my finger on it, can't fully process it without a long ongoing process. If I could put it all into words, I wouldn't have to write about it, right?

Mostly, honestly, it's that I've been incredibly restless all week. I'm 34, and I'm a work in progress. Daily, really, I find huge evidences of God as the potter shaping, and re-shaping, me as the clay. We're doing a series in youth group based on Francis Chan's Crazy Love book, the 2nd time in the past year we've done stuff tied into that and 3rd I've been a part of leading (the other was at church camp), and last night we talked about 'The Great Love Story.' Today, I started working on next week's lesson, tentatively titled "I'll Run to You." That book will mess you up...in a good way...and teaching from Scripture combined with concepts in that book, especially with students, will do so even more.

I have had this restlessness within me all week...it's a good, but challenging restlessness. It's a hurt for the pains my students and others around me are going through. In fact, Tracy and I were talking at lunch about the variety of 'former students' God has brought BACK into our lives recently, many of them with various hurts and pains, and the opportunities God is giving us with them, and the mere fact that they are drawn back to God, church, people who represent God, etc, after a few years of a sort of 'finding themselves,' sometimes with deep hurts and scars and pains as a result.

It's also a continued, almost disturbed restlessness of making every moment count. That is something that goes back to what happened in late March, at least to a degree. I'm learning to make the most of EVERY moment I have with people...with my wife and kids especially, but also with other family members, with my students (many of whom have plenty of deep hurts, pains, pasts, etc, themselves), and with good friends. I think I've always, or at least for a LONG time, been somewhat this way, but lately I find myself living out many of the words of the Tim McGraw song "Live Like You Were Dying," often even consciously thinking about the ideas of 'love deeper, speak sweeter, give forgiveness I've been denying,' etc. It's also a restlessness just for the sheer amount of hurt and pain and almost hopelessness I've seen so often lately...here, as well as in Baltimore on the mission trip, and in general in our society. People put their trust in relationships, or celebrities, or politicians, and always wind up let down and wonder what it's all about and what it's all for. And I find myself appreciating the people in my life so much more on literally a daily basis...my amazing wife, my incredible kids, my parents, my siblings, my students (who are not just students under my authority but real and close relationships in this journey of faith together), my friends.

The boys both had birthdays this week and it made me that much more aware of what a gift they have been for 6 and 3 years, and what an incredible and amazing responsibility it is to be a parent. Tracy and I celebrated 9 years together the week before, and I could not do what I do, and would not be who I am, without her. My parents and Tracy's kept the boys while we went to Baltimore and continue to pour out love and blessings on us, in addition to the standards they set for us to strive for as parents and families. My siblings have become amazing adults with their own families and careers and we don't get to see each other enough, but I'm super proud of them. And I have an incredible support team at church...from our pastor and his wife, to several of the best friends I've ever known (many of whom are partners in this youth ministry with us as youth workers, etc), and I've seen these relationships grow even in the past few days. And I have so many friends who live away from where I do who God uses in timely manners time and time again for encouragement, support and love, which I've seen very vividly and in a very timely manner this week and recently, with great and timely conversations with some great people in my life.

I'm not perfect, I'm far from it, I'll readily admit. But I'm at a point where I will honestly admit that I love what God is doing in my life, even if it can be confusing and mysterious and tiresome and so forth trying to figure it all out. I guess it boils down to this...I'm learning to 'trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,' more than I ever have before, and I don't want to waste my life. And I don't want to miss out on what God has because I am selfish, like sadly too many of us are far too often. And I want the people in my life to see Christ in me. And I want them to know He loves them. And I want them to know I do as well. And I want them to know I'm more than just sound-good talk because I have to be as a youth pastor or whatever. I want sincerity, real-ness, genuine-ness, light, hope, love, care, concern, depth, relationship, community, and most of all God, to shine in, through, and around me, as much as I can control it, through His strength in and through me. There are too many neat, great, people and experiences out there to live as selfishly as we do far too frequently. I don't want to miss out on those neat experiences, those great people, and the mind-boggling love and plans God has for me. I want my life to scream that there is something different about me, but in a way that it points to and glorifies Him rather than myself. And if that means I remain a jumbled maze of confusing thoughts attempting to be fully processed and implemented, so be it. Bring it on. :) Let's be who He desires us to be. Let's run to Him and embrace Him and fall into HIS plan instead of settling for our own. I know He's not done with me...with us...with His people here, and it's up to us to grab that and run with it, towards Him and His will. Let's get committed. Let's quit playing it safe. Let's quit staying in the bunkers when we are supposed to storm the very gates of hell. Let's break the spell of the typical! Viva La Vida! Carpe Diem! Seize the Day!

Soundtrack for a Note:
"Done Living" by Justin McRoberts; "Typical" by Mute Math; "Magnificent" by U2; "Safe" by Justin McRoberts;"Vision of You" by Shane and Shane; "The Mirror" by Cool Hand Luke; "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay; "Fix You" by Coldplay; "Evil (a Chorus of Resistance)"

Pass the Leftovers, Please...

2009-07-23T14:06:00.003-05:00

We have a saying around our church that 'good is the enemy of great.' It's certainly not unique to us, but it's become one of our mottos for the church. It's constantly on my mind, and that of our pastor, but I wonder how often we still settle? I think that little concept, settling for good when He wants and we could have great, is one of the biggest problems in modern Christianity. Think about it...how often do we settle? How often do we decide 'well I must have done enough because I've done this and this and that and that,' and 'look at what I'm doing compared to so-and-so, etc, etc.'

I guess it has been on my mind more so this week because we are coming off one of the biggest spiritual highs, individually as well as collectively as a youth group, that we've ever experienced. God took 24 people from rural Arkansas, a town with a population under 1000 and a community under 30,000, to the 12th largest (and 2nd most dangerous according to at least one recent study) city in the U.S. and saw amazing things happen. We pushed ourselves to do and be more than we ever thought possible. But why can't we do that every day, on a daily basis, right here, where we are? Maybe a better way to word that last sentence would be 'But why DON'T we do that every day, on a daily basis, right here, where we are?' How often do we go through the motions of day to day Christianity and all that really results is we are a little better, a little less profane, a little less selfish, etc, than the average person, if that? Is that all this means? Is that all this thing called following Jesus is all about? Seriously? I would hate to hear ANYONE admit that they believed that literally, but isn't that at least somewhat how we live our lives?

We're doing a summer series based on the Francis Chan book Crazy Love. Last night, we looked at chapter 5, called "Serving Leftovers to a Holy God." It's a powerful chapter that steps on toes in major ways. At the end of the night, I challenged them with these words, much of it taken directly from Chan's book, in that chapter. My prayer is that it challenges ALL of us to quit serving God our leftovers, to quit just fitting Him in, amongst a billion other things in our lives, whenever we have...or make...the time.

It's not what you advertise that counts; It's what you're really made of. Leftovers are not merely inadequate...in God's view, they are actually considered EVIL. Following Christ is not something we can do halfheartedly or on the side. It's not just some label to display when it's useful for us. It must be absolutely central to everything about who we are. The fact is that NOTHING should concern us above our relationship with Christ. Otherwise, we are telling God, "You're just really not worth it to me, compared to my car, my sin habit, my relationship, etc." How we spend our time, money and energy is equivalent to choosing for or against God many times every day. We disgust God when we decide anything is more important to us than Him. Are we willing to say to God that He can have WHATEVER He wants? Do we believe wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing OR person in our lives? Do we know that nothing in this world will ever matter outside of loving God and loving those He has made? True faith means holding NOTHING back. It bets EVERYTHING on the hope of eternity. It isn't easy...it's a narrow road...but it's worth it.

"'Cause just okay is not enough, Help me fight through the nothingness of life. I don't wanna go through the motions, I don't wanna go one more day, without Your all consuming passion inside of me. I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, "What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE:
"The Motions" by Matthew West; "The Spectacle of Fearsome Acts" by Project 86; "Alive" by Stryper; "What You Give Up to Get It" by Derek Webb

Final Daze...

2009-07-17T00:13:00.001-05:00

It's wayyyyy too late, but I'm content. Satisfied. Excited. God has done something amazing in our youth and in our own lives this week. We have experienced Him in very real ways. My prayer is that the experiences we've had with VBS, Inner Harbor Ministries, the feeding ministry tonight, the block party, the service at Valley Baptist, the people we've met, will go far, far beyond this week, and have a lasting, transformative effect on our lives as we head back home. Short of that, I think we fall short and to a degree fail God, each other and our church who sent us out as His witnesses.

What kind of impact did this week have? Most of it will not be known for a long time, perhaps even in our lifetimes. But impact was there, I have no doubt about it. We have been changed ourselves. I believe that with every fiber of my being. I firmly believe our students will go home and do something real with their lives. Listening to them tonight talk about what God had done and what they loved about their experiences this week and about each other. I think we moved forward together this week...spiritually and otherwise. I think there will be leaders arise in our group and they will make an impact. I have no doubt some of our students will be a part of ministry for the rest of their lives, either themselves or with spouses. I don't think I've EVER said that before about my group. I believe they will go back and share their stories from this week. I believe they will live differently. I believe they will be excited about the things of God. I believe they will...if I didn't, we would be wasting our time this week, to put it bluntly.

Transformation. Life-change. Faith in action. Breaking out of safe and ordinary. Excellence. Faith. Hope. Love. Life. God. Us.

"Oh, everything will change, things will never be the same, we will never be the same, we will never be the same..."

Al and Trace Plus 22...

2009-07-15T22:59:00.005-05:00

I told someone this morning that Jon and Kate Gosselin, or the Dugger family, have nothing on us...we are spending the week 18 hours from home with 22 others...Alan and Trace plus 22...including today on our anniversary. I'm super thankful for a spouse who 'gets' what I do, and is as called to it as I am and wants to share in it with me. It's a gift from God.

So my mind is spinning, swirling, a jumbled maze of thoughts, the biggest of which is 'what the heck just happened?' We just had one of the best times together I've EVER had with a youth group. Let me back up and say that it was a great day at VBS and then our group with the Valley youth group tonight at church. Our kids were, for the most part, amazing yet again. There were a few stumbles along the way, though, and I felt the need to address them tonight. Which brings me to the jumbled maze of emotions.

We addressed some of the things that happened, and had our share time like usual. But what happened after that can only be explained as something God did. And honestly, I don't even know what He did, or what the kids experienced for the most part, nor do I think they fully do. We spread them out in the gym we use as our central meeting location, sent them away from anyone else, and I challenged them to evaluate themselves...to confess sin, to worship, to thank God, to pray, to ask Him to do something incredible the rest of our time, to allow them to focus and to finish strong, etc. I prayed, and then I hit play on the Hillsong worship song "Fire Fall Down." And what happened from that point on, I suppose the cynic would say was playing with emotion. But there is no doubt in my mind that, in a way that I cannot explain at all, we experienced a glimpse of what that song is about. The song says, "Cause I know that you're alive You came to fix my broken life, And I'll sing to glorify Your Holy name, Jesus Christ. You bought my life with the blood That you shed on the cross When you died for the sins of men And you let out a cry, crucified Now alive in me. These hands are yours Teach them to serve As you please and I'll reach out Desperate to see all the greatness of God May my soul rest assured in you. I'll never be the same No I'll never be the same. Cause I know that you're alive You came to fix my broken life And I'll sing to glorify Your Holy name, Jesus Christ. You've changed it all, You broke down the wall. When I spoke and confessed In you I am blessed Now I walk in the light In victorious sight of you. Fire fall down Fire fall downOn us we pray, as we seek. Fire fall down, Your fire fall down On us we pray. Show me your heart Show me your way Show me your glory."

I think it nailed nearly every one of us in powerful, powerful ways. There was worship, and brokenness, and so much more. It was incredible to watch as a youth pastor. I don't have a clue honestly what all happened, but I know there was not one person who left unchanged. I don't even know how to process what I saw, but I truly loved and enjoyed seeing it. After that song ended, we sang to "Mighty to Save," and those lyrics seemed to nail people as well. As we sang about this incredible, great God who is 'mighty to save,' I think it began to click that that same God loves us, and loves Baltimore, and that's what this week is all about. It was incredible. I think the line that says, "So take me as You find me, all my fears and failures, fill my life again. I give my life to follow everything I believe in, now I surrender" is probably the line that most got people. When that ended, for 20+ minutes, there were hugs and tears, and tears and hugs and tears and comfort and hugs and love and tears and so much more. The group bonded. The group was broken, collectively and individually. I believe stuff was gotten rid of, and the students came face to face with Jesus as never before. They met Christ in ways they never have. And I fully expect it to carry over into tomorrow and the next day and far beyond. I expect to have some incredible LONG-term implications. Hearing what they said afterwards, to me and to each other. Seeing how they responded to each other. Seeing the visible signs of brokenness, etc. It was enough to absolutely blow me away...and I'm a youth pastor who has seen a LOT of stuff over time. I wish I could make it tangible to you, my reader. I wish we could put it into adequate words. But honestly, the English language, as beautiful as it is, doesn't contain them, in my opinion. I fully expect my group to be processing it tonight and into the morning, and I fully expect and dream and hope that it is part of a process that changes their lives FOREVER, rather than just a temporary or emotional high. There's so much more to say, but I need to sleep on it and come up with words to do it some justice. Thanks for reading. Keep us in your prayers! We love you guys, and we love Jesus. Today...and especially tonight...was one of those days where the whole process of being called and following God's call and going through ALL it entails was well worth it. I will sleep with a smile on my face, and I hope my students will, and I hope we will make God smile as well.

"I'm a dead man now with a ghost who lives within the confines of these carbon ribs. And one day when I'm free I will sit, the cripple at your table, the cripple by your side."

The Long Fall Back to Earth...

2009-07-14T22:33:00.004-05:00

No, I'm not blogging about the latest Jars of Clay album...it just seemed like an appropriate title to trying to wrap our heads around what has transpired, at the end of the longest day of the week for us. But I don't use the word 'longest,' or even the entire title, as a negative at all. Just as a processor word for the day. It was long, but it was amazing.

Our group was awesome in the VBS help they provided again. They really have grown attached to the kids, and vice-versa. They have been exceptional help for Valley, and I honestly don't know how Valley could do this without the 24 of us adding to it. They do what they are asked, and then they find stuff to do when they don't have it. And they give and give some more, and then give some more. To put it bluntly, thus far, I've never been more proud of a group at any point for what they are doing, how they are showing Christ, etc. It's been incredible. It would be easy to slack off, but so far, they haven't.

The other part of the day today consisted of putting on and primarily being in charge of and running a block party in the area around Inner Harbor Ministry. It is a diverse culture, with a lot of needs, some poverty, some crime, various races and statuses, etc. It was very eye-opening for the kids to see and be a part of. They ran games, served sno-cones, popcorn, hot dogs, and more, did face-painting, and just mingled, hung out and served. Pastor Elmer Ulwood, who runs the ministry, did a tremendous job as a clown, making balloon animals and doing some other clown-type stuff...at 82 years old. We saw a little bit of everything, it's so hard to even process and put it into words. It was an incredible experience, definitely one most of them don't get to EVER see. It is a powerful reminder that the world we live in is fairly sheltered, and that our world is not all there is. It showed us a lot about needs, and a lot about helping meet those needs. We served food (physical needs), hung out and talked to them (social, emotional, relational), and shared the Gospel (spiritual, the Ultimate Need). Bro. Danny got an amazing experience, to share the Gospel in a 10 minute or so time to the group that was there. It was trying for him, I'm very certain of that, but it was an amazing experience for him, and I have no doubt the impact and results will take care of themselves and go far beyond what we will ever even know.

On the way back, we listened to God of This City and I couldn't help but think of that song and how it relates to us, as a youth group, and to our church, but also for the city of Baltimore and the work of Valley, Embrace Baltimore, Pastor Ulmer, and so forth. It honestly moved me to tears. I don't want to forget what I'm seeing, experiencing, etc, this week. I want to believe that for here, as well as for us, that "Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city. Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done here," and that He is the "light in the darkness," and the "hope for the hopeless," and "peace to the restless." He is the ONLY true life change, the ONLY thing that truly makes a difference that lasts and that truly means something.

Tomorrow, my prayer is that we keep pressing on, and moving forward, and that as we experience 'the long fall back to earth,' we don't let it slip our minds, we don't let it go by without us being changed. Our theme for the week has been 'it's not about us,' and that is truly my prayer, and I hope that all we do is done to bring Him glory. (Colossians 3:17, 23)

Disperse and Herd...

2009-07-13T20:21:00.002-05:00

Today was our first big day of ministry! It was a full and awesome day. It followed an eventful night...we had to take one girl to an urgent care facility with stomach issues, and then a couple hours later one of the other girls hit her head HARD and we wound up taking HER to the ER at St. Joseph's about 12:30 or so. We got back about 3:15 or so. So I went on about 3 1/2 hours of sleep. But the good news is both are fine now, and you really wouldn't know there was anything that happened. We spent 9:00-3:00 helping Valley with their VBS and music camp. We had youth in the various classrooms, in the crafts, in the snacks, in the Bible time, in the nursery, in the recreation, in the music and more. I was so proud of our youth. They did pretty much whatever was asked, most of the time not knowing exactly what they were gonna be doing. They were very flexible and willing to do a little bit of anything. I was so proud of them and their servant-heartedness. I can't imagine how Valley did this VBS without our extra 24 helpers. We added a lot to every aspect of Valley's ministry today...for SIX hours. Our kids gave, and then gave some more...they pushed themselves and were truly, for the most, real servants. They were awesome. The Valley adults loved the help they got, and the kids at VBS loved the kids from London.

At 3:00, VBS ended and we rushed to leave to get to Curtis Bay and the Inner Harbor Ministry, led by this really neat 82 year old man named Elwood Ulmer. He had some projects for us...some massive yardwork and cleanup stuff in the alley behind their facility. And most of the group got to go around a very interesting area of neighborhoods that fit many of the bigger city inner city older type neighborhood stereotypes. We walked into some interesting areas and passed out fliers and talked to people promoting the block party they are doing tomorrow night (sounds like an awesome thing we are gonna be a part of tomorrow, by the way). It was an amazing experience...I think many of our group were scared initially but then they really enjoyed being pushed a bit out of their comfort zones and seeing a completely different ministry and people group than what we see in the mornings at Valley.

We came back and ate supper and then had our group time. It is always amazing to hear them talk about their experiences so far. Tomorrow will be our busiest day...VBS from 9:00-3:00, then the block party from 4:00-8:00 or so. I told them to get plenty of rest and so forth because it's at the point where it's easy to get snippy and say ugly things and just not give 100% because of tiredness. We are fully expecting another amazing day, and we are already seeing people's lives being changed...ours as well as those we are around daily. Keep us in your prayers.

PS...the title comes from a part of the day where Bro. Danny did an awesome job of getting OUR kids to do an awesome job of 'dispersing' from each other and where they were, to helping herd the VSB kids (like cattle) from where they were spread out in mass chaos, to where they needed to be. Hence, disperse and herd....

Beginning the Journey...

2009-07-12T20:29:00.002-05:00

The first day of activity is drawing to a close. We are actually 'on mission,' instead of driving forever to get here and preparation for the journey. Today was a great day. We did the service at Valley Baptist Church, the church we are staying with and the one we are doing our primary work for. It is a little more traditional church than ours, but I think our service challenged them. It is a good church that is, for lack of a better term, stuck. It is somewhat stuck on tradition, somewhat stuck in a not great location without a lot of possibility for growth.

But we challenged them to evaluate their lives and to see what they are doing compared to what God calls them to do. There were skits on sharing your faith, and others on giving ourselves completely to God, following and serving Him completely. Seth shared his testimony of what God has been doing in his life to get him to this point and to get him to be a part of our youth ministry and so forth. Bro. Danny also did a children's message for the kids and did a wonderful job with that. Then I did the sermon. I used 1 Samuel 17 and the story of David and Goliath and did a sermon called "Against All Odds." I challenged them to overcome their fears and the odds stacked against them, and to see what they could do if they were to FULLY trust God. I asked them three questions...how big is your view of God, what are the obstacles and fears that challenge us, and what could we do if we trusted God completely? I referenced a bunch of the incredible stories in the Bible and the challenging lives they lived. I tried to show them that living the Christian life is not the safe and 'easy' and comfortable life a lot of people try to make it out to be. We make our churches like bunkers that we seek shelter in instead of storming the gates of hell like the Bible calls us to do. We need to follow the examples of Noah and David and the disciples and Benaiah (2 Samuel 23) and Abraham and so many others and step out of safety and into the intense, risky daring life God calls us to. It was a great time and I felt great about how God used LFBCers in the Valley service.

Afterwards, we ate a quick meal and then rushed to the Orioles-Blue Jays game. We were walking in to our seats when the first pitch was thrown. The game wasn't super exciting, although there was a home run, a robbed home run, and an umpire injured and removed from the game (they finished with only 3). Everyone had a great time, even if they were NOT sports fans. The O's won 4-2. Traffic was nuts getting out and we got a little turned around and took a little longer to get back than we hoped, but we made it. We had dinner and our group time (my favorite times of the week because we hear their hearts and what's REALLY going on in their lives), and then Bro D and Teresa actually had to run one of the girls to a walk-in clinic to get her checked for some stomach pains, but she's fine. We've just been hanging out and getting relaxed and getting ready for tomorrow since then. Oh yeah, I won 5 out of 6 games of "knockout," a fun basketball game we've been playing in the gym with big numbers of our group. Fun times. Everyone's doing great, enjoying themselves, and worn out already. But the REAL work begins tomorrow, and we are expecting God to do incredible stuff. Stay tuned for more...and pray for us! It's gonna be a busy, but awesome week!

We're Here!

2009-07-12T06:30:00.003-05:00

After 2 full days of driving, through 4 states, in heavy rain at times, heavy traffic much of the time, and heavy cop infestations throughout Virginia...we're here. Lutherville, MD...Valley Baptist Church. 24 of us from rural Arkansas. Wow. If you had told me 11 years ago we'd do this, I would have said it was a nice thought...and a pipe dream. But God has been faithful, and we are here. It's exciting. Intimidating. Scary even. But mostly, we are expectant...of God to show up in a HUGE way and blow us away. We believe we will be changed. We believe those around us will be changed. To quote David Crowder Band, "Everything will change, things will never be the same, we will never be the same..." That is our prayer.

We had an awesome time together last night talking about the week, our hopes and dreams, what we want to see happen. Over 1/2 of our group is first timers. ALL of them are super excited. We know it's gonna be incredible. We will not accept good when we can experience great. We are going to be flexible, malleable, use-able. We want to see and know and experience God like never before.

This morning, 8 of our kids will be in skits, 1 will share a testimony, Bro. Danny will give a children's moment message, and I will preach, in a church far from home, away from people wwe know. It's exciting. It's our first real effort of the week where we do something, and my prayer is that we give completely of ourselves and allow God to do something even starting with this service this morning. After church, we will go to Camden Yards and see a pro baseball game, the Orioles vs the Blue Jays. Then we will have time to chill out a bit, and to get ready for the real work, the every day work, the big stuff we are here for, helping with VBS and music camp for a church that needs the extra help. Pray for us. Believe God wants to do something in and through us. Thanks.

"Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city..."

Embracing Baltimore...

2009-07-09T17:05:00.002-05:00

In a little over 12 hours, I will be leading a group of 24 youth and adults from Arkansas to Baltimore, Maryland. It will be the largest group and by far the farthest trip (to the biggest city) we've ever made for a youth mission trip. It's super exciting how God has moved in a way that has built us up to this over the past 11 years and even how it has come together over the past few months to lead us to this point. We are partnering with Valley Baptist Church through Embrace Baltimore to do this, and we are thankful for them.

We will drive about half way tomorrow (Friday), staying in homes of a church pastored by a friend of mine who was once my wife's youth pastor. Then we will make the rest of the trip Saturday, arriving early evening on Saturday. Sunday morning we will be leading the worship service at the church we are staying with...several kids will be in skits, one is sharing a testimony, our pastor is leading a children's sermon (the kind where the kids come sit on the steps, etc. and listen wide-eyed) and then I will be preaching. That afternoon, we will head to Camden Yards for an Orioles/Blue Jays game.

Monday through Friday we will be helping with Vacation Bible school/music camp in a church that is about the size of ours, and they had 122 kids last year and not enough help to adequately do the VBS and music camp. Various kids in our group will help with crafts, recreation, in classes, keeping smaller kids, music, and more. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights, we will be helping a ministry in Baltimore called Inner Harbor Ministries, helping with a block party, servant evangelism, a feeding ministry and more. Friday, we will begin the trip home, stopping about 6 1/2 hours out to stay the night in a hotel, then we will be heading back the rest of the way on Saturday, doing the Sunday night service at our church when we get back.

This is merely an overview of what we are doing...hopefully I will get to update regularly with what we are gonna be doing each day and how things are going. In the meantime, just pray for me, Tracy, Bro. Danny and his wife Teresa as we lead the group. Pray for safety...and sanity. Pray for the group (Tesa, Dustin, Seth, Tyler, Becca, Jamie, Kelly, Lydia, Autra, Dillon, Annie, Cynthia, Allie, Alley, Hannah, Tina, Cole, Kyle, Sheyenne, and Zach) as they help lead the VBS and the service and work in other areas of ministry...many of them are first time missionaries, and many haven't been very far from home. It's gonna be an amazing experience. Thanks for partnering with us in this journey. I'm thankful for an amazing church that trusts us, allows us to go where God leads and do what He calls us to do, supports us financially and in other ways, etc. And I'm thankful for you, my friends, as you support our ministry and keep us sane in this thing called life. :)

Viva La Vida (Or remembering him...)

2009-06-20T11:10:00.000-05:00

"Tears stream down your face, when you lose something you cannot replace...lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones. And I will try to fix you..."

I've thought about him today. And yesterday. And the day before. And a LOT lately. He would have loved this week at camp. He would have spent entirely too much money on candy at the snack shack. He would have had to have been called down, both in the cabin and also in the service, a few times. He would have driven some of the girls crazy. But you know what else? He would have experienced God in a new and exciting way. He would have come back a little changed. He would have made those same people he annoyed feel extremely loved and made them smile a lot before the week ended. He would have been the most servant-hearted guy in the boys' cabin, and swept or mopped or whatever needed to be done, even when all the other kids were finding excuses to get out of the last morning's work. He always did. He would have loved last Saturday too...I told Seth he would have spent probably close to $100 on the laser tag, challenging anyone and everyone to play him, believing he'd whip any of them in the laser tag games. And he would have loved a couple of weeks ago...VBS...helping in recreation (sometimes getting into it so much you forgot if he was a helper or one of the kids)...helping with the youth community missions projects...working at the carnival...winning as much stuff in carnival games himself as possible. He would have loved it. He would have loved this entire semester, really...averaging 40+ kids in youth on Wednesdays, seeing double digits of kids getting saved and many baptized, meeting and loving on tons and tons of new people. Getting ready with 20+ others for Baltimore and the mission trip. He would have loved it all.

For some reason I can't explain, Once you'd gone there was never, Never an honest word, And that was when I ruled the world..."

I miss him. I'm not gonna lie. I haven't written about him in a while. But I cannot, and will not, forget about him. He's on my mind a lot, honestly. People remind me of him. Things remind me of him. The things we do are not the same without him, honestly. He changed me...all of us, I hope. His life, as well as his death. I can't speak for anyone else, but I consciously, and sub-consciously, find myself living a little more on purpose. I find myself loving a little deeper...not just my family, but the people in my life. I honestly don't care if I freak people out...if I feel like I need to, I'm gonna tell them I love them. I want them to know it. I don't want there to be ANY doubt about it. I want them to see Jesus in me, and I want the love of Jesus in my life to turn into a love of Jesus FOR them, and a desire to make them all feel warm, welcome, accepted, cared about, and loved. And I want them to see Jesus, and to know Him. Oh how I want them to know Jesus. Life is too short to mess around. It's too short to be preoccupied with just yourself. It's too short to not get things straight with Christ. It's too short to not get things straight with mom and dad and siblings and family. It's too short to have petty and ridiculous arguments with friends. It's too short to live with regrets. It's too short to live with bitterness. It's too short to mess around with things that may bring temporary good feelings but ultimately bring negative consequences and hollowness and emptiness inside. It's too short to obsess about the guy/girl thing and to go overboard in feelings for the opposite sex. But most of all it's too short to miss out on Jesus and the purpose and meaning and fulfillment only found in Him.

"Winds of change come calling, they hit me without warning. My foundation was all that remained, everything else was carried away..."

My desire to give my students a chance to know Jesus is greater probably than it ever has been. My desire to influence and impact them in a way that shows them Jesus, brings them closer to Him, and makes them know He loves them and so do I. At camp this week, my heart burned for my students and those in other youth groups and children's ministries from the surrounding area. I want them to know Him. I want them to know the life that HE brings them, and that NOTHING else comes close to that, nothing else beings to really even scratch the surface or matter in light of Him. And NOTHING is worth getting overly obsessed or depressed about because Jesus is in control, if we only allow Him.

"The question isn't are you gonna suffer any more, but what will it have meant when you were through? You see the question isn't are you gonna die, you're gonna die. Will you be done livin' when you do?"

I want my life to have no regrets. I want my faith to shine and show. I want my love for Christ to be pre-eminent in my every day life. I want my wife and kids to know all the time, and even more so when we are apart, like we were this week, how much I love them and how much they mean to me. I told them that every time I talked to them this week, and again when I saw them last night, and again when I saw them today at home. I want my life with them to count, to matter. And, I want my friends to know the same thing, and I'm not afraid to tell them that. I had to tell a good friend good-bye today after camp ended because she and her husband moved two hours away and camp was her last thing with us...I made sure before she left that she knew I fully expect us to stay close and that I love them. I was around 3 or 4 of my closest friends in ministry and I made sure they knew how much they meant to me this week, especially as we parted today. And one of my youth workers and best friends hurt himself pretty seriously and I had to take him to the ER during camp, and it reminded me just how much he means to me (fortunately he's a lot better than it initially looked). And, I want my students to know the same thing, and I'm not afraid to tell them that. I did just that with many of my students last night, and had some incredibly awesome conversations with a few of them at camp this week, especially last night and this morning.

"Everything will change, things will never be the same, we will never be the same..."

I'm not the same...I don't want to be...I cannot be...I refuse to be...and I can trace much of that back to him. It's been 3 months, and I refuse to forget about him, and I insist on allowing his influence to continue to be in the back of my mind and to spur me on in my life, and in my ministry. I miss him...a lot...even more so at times like this with VBS, camp, mission trips, his 16th birthday, and more...but more than anything, I'm thankful for the years I knew him, and the life he lived because of Christ and His influence on his life. And I will be eternally grateful, and I will allow him and his memory to live on with me.

"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying. Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying..."

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE:
"Hero," "Closer" and "Heaven" by Jars of Clay; "Love Addict" by Family Force Five; "One Way" by Hillsong United; "Vision of You" by Shane and Shane; "The Mirror," "The Mirror," "Eye of the Storm" and "Wondertour" by Cool Hand Luke; "Viva La Vida" and "Fix You" by Coldplay; "Typical" by Mute Math; "The Glory of It All" by David Crowder Band; "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw; "Done Livin" by Justin McRoberts' "Winds of Change" by Geoff Moore and the Distance

Compelled By Love...

2009-06-07T16:03:00.001-05:00

Question...what is the driving force in your life? What motivates you to do what you do with your life?

14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Christ’s Love Compels Us to Stake Our Lives On Him. I love reading the above passage in multiple translations. In the NIV, HCSB and NKJV, it says, “compels.” In the NASB, New Living and ESV, it says “controls.” In the CEV, it says, “We are ruled by…,” while in the KJV it says “constrains.” In the NRSV it says, “urges us on,” and in the Message, it says, “Has moved me to such extremes.” Regardless of what word you use, the idea is clear…the love of Christ moves us into action. It overwhelms us and blows us away. It leads us to stake our very lives on His claims. Because He died for us, the least we can do is to stake our lives on that sacrifice for us. ANSWER HONESTLY: DO I GIVE GOD MY BEST OR LEFTOVERS? Jesus is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, the Bread of Life, the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the One who was and is and is to come, the Good Shepherd, the Great High Priest …and we still find ourselves serving Him leftovers, just trying to fit Him into our crowded lives and busy schedules? Does that sound like someone who should be just fit in when we can? Does it sound like someone we should serve leftovers to? Does it sound like someone we should be settling for just enough of? No way. He doesn’t want us going through the motions. He wants us…all of us…and He is not fooled by anything less. Are we willing to give Him everything, to literally stake our lives on it? That’s what the world needs, true believers who are willing to stake their existence on God's love?

Christ’s Love Compels Us to Begin A New Life With Him. It is, and always will be, hard to live the way of Jesus, to live and love in a way that brings Him glory. The flesh works against us and it goes against natural desires. But what if we fell so madly in love with God, with Jesus, who gave EVERYTHING for us, that we truly were captivated by Him, truly followed Him, lived sold out for Him, truly loved as He loves, truly gave our lives for Him? For the first time, or all over again, allowing ourselves to be so captivated by Him, so compelled by His love, so focused on Him, that it transforms us and we can’t help but never be the same again. When we live compelled by love, our priorities change. What used to seem of utmost importance starts to pale in comparison to loving and living for Christ. And if we seek God first, putting Him in first place where He belongs, everything else in our lives will begin to take shape and align and fall into place as He desires, intends and wants. If, however, we try to do it the opposite way, and try to ‘fit God in’ somewhere amongst the busyness, we will find ourselves wandering aimlessly. Do we live like we have an obligation, or do we truly desire to live in the freedom God gives because we deeply desire Him? Following the commands of God is not a burden, it is an outflow of that love for Him and the freedom with Him. We don’t live like we have to pay God back or prove our love to Him. We are set free from the bondage and chains of our sin, and we are freed to live the way God wants us to live. The way of Jesus is a difficult way to live, contrary to the natural desires of man. The love of Christ, however, the conviction of Christ’s truth in us and the change it brings, causes us to live a new life, the life God wants us to live, regardless of our past.

Christ’s Love Compels Us to Share His Story with Both Our Lives and Our Words. Last year, a Murfreesboro, TN church baptized 120 people in one night following an evangelistic emphasis called “As You Go,” which challenged members to choose a non-Christian in their life, pray for them, develop a relationship with them, and present the Gospel to them. The Greek here for ambassador in 2 Corinthians 5 is ‘presbeuo,’ which means to act as a representative. WHAT KIND OF REPRESENTATIVE OF CHRIST ARE WE? DL Moody said, “Of 100 men, 1 will read the Bible, 99 will read the Christian.” Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, in Sports Illustrated in March of 2009 said, “I don’t want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. “ How do we represent Him? Do we see the people we are around every day as God sees them? Do we see them as people who need God, and need what we have to offer for and through God? Dostoevsky said, “To love a person means to see him as God intended him to be.” We have the most amazing story in human history, one of hope, salvation and peace. The love of Christ compels us to missional living, to an assignment to represent and share His story with those around us. Because He loves us and because of what that love accomplishes for us, we are compelled to share the story with those around us. Think about it…our sins are covered and God’s love removes the charges against us from our permanent record. Christ’s love compels us, convinces us and changes us so that He can make His appeal through us to the lost. Communicating God’s truth should become natural as we become a living conduit of God’s love, mercy and compassion to hurting people.

When we truly love Jesus and recognize all He has done for us, it compels us into active faith, not passive bench-warming. Francois Fenelon said it like this..."“To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid “big” sins—is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?” The Bible tells us to be DOERS, not just hearers. It means that we MUST put our faith into action. Ordinary faith it hears and knows the right things, and does very little about it. Extraordinary faith challenges the ordinary, and moves beyond just hearing and knowing into doing. How many people call themselves Christians, compared to how many actually live like it? If we are obsessed with someone, we will do anything for them…shouldn’t it be the same with God? We should become so obsessed with Him that our faith naturally translates from mere beliefs and hearing into actions and doing. The doing proves the belief. Compelled by love, people give themselves to the cause of Christ fully. What about us? Are we ready to move on? Are we willing? Because He’ll make sure we are able. But really, the only thing that can, and will, stop us, is us.

"Christ's love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do. Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15, the Message)

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE: (Songs listened to or that inspired the note)
"Someday" by Michael Sweet; "This is How the World Will End" by the Elms; "Until the End of the World" by U2; "Control" by Mute Math; "We are Not as Strong as We Think We Are" by Rich Mullins; "Done Livin'" by Justin McRoberts; "Out of Time" by Barren Cross; "Let the Kingdom Come" by White Heart; "Once and For All" by White Heart

Good News and Good Works...

2009-06-06T17:24:00.001-05:00

In 11 years of Youth ministry, there are very few times I've been as proud of a group as I have been this week. For the first time since I've been here, we decided to do something specific, different, unique, out of the box, during VBS week, for the youth. NO, we did NOT have 'youth VBS' as such. We didn't make them sit through class and rotations and all of that. What they DID do, however, is the opening assembly with everyone, then a SHORT preparation time/devotional/etc, then go out and do community missions and ministry projects. We spent the week sharing God's heart for Christians putting their faith into action, and then we went out and did it.

I had NO idea what to expect. It was new, and I didn't know how to promote it or if the students followed what we were gonna do, or if they would even come. I honestly didn't know if I totally followed or knew what to do myself. I had lined up projects for 4 of the 5 nights, with a couple of them set in place on specific nights, and some of the others were flexible and could be adjusted to whatever night we needed them to be. So on Monday, I went and got 60 bottles of water and put them on ice with a note that said 'from your friends at FBC London youth group, Psalm 42:1.' 9 kids showed up, and the 10 of us went out and passed out water bottles at Bona Dea Trails to those walking and running and biking there, then to a local skate park, then to the Lock and Dam Park where people play soccer, basketball, tennis and more. The kids looked at me like I was crazy when I told them what we were doing, and were very unsure. But once they went out and did it, every one of them came back excited about how doing something super simple like that meant a LOT and obviously impacted nearly 60 people that night who were warm (the weather was perfect to do this at, by the way) and appreciated the gesture of kindness. There was one bump in the road, as the kids didn't listen to one thing I said and I had to get mean on them, but it set a precedent for the rest of the week and by the end of the night we were all cool and they were all excited about going out the next night to do whatever I wanted them to do next.

Tuesday, 15 students showed up. Me and another youth worker and those 15 went to a local retirement home called Wildflower and played bingo with 70-90 year old people. It was a blast and the residents loved it as well. In fact, a number of my kids told me tonight that the retirement home bingo night was their favorite night of the week. Wednesday night, 20 kids showed up, and the 22 of us (me and the youth worker and the 20 of them) went to the Salvation Army and put together 30 food boxes that would go out the next day to needy families in our area. It was cool to see the Assembly line way the kids worked to get those boxes put together and ready to go out, and afterwards, we got to hear from the Captain about how he wound up working for the SA, and what all they do. It was very fascinating, honestly. Thursday night, there were 17 of us again, and we went out in groups of 3 to collect canned goods from neighborhoods to go to the Main Street Mission, a local shelter and ministry whose website even mentions their shortage recently because of the economy. We got five BIG boxes worth of cans and it was another of their favorite projects. (AND, my youth worker got pulled over by the cops, driving MY van, with kids in the van...but you'll have to ask HIM about it...haha). Tonight was a little more laid back...I had them bring money and we went to Wal-Mart and bought stuff to sort of do a youth group 'baby shower' of a few gifts for two past LFBC youth who are pregnant. I wanted the kids to see that the church (and our youth specifically) exists to help those in need. We were gonna deliver them to the girls but neither was at home, so we will get them to them later, hopefully at church Sunday or something. Then I took them and let them celebrate, by buying them ice cream at Dairy Queen. They deserved it.

Each night we debriefed and talked about the night's activity, as well as what we had learned, etc. Tonight we kinda summarized the whole week. Every one of the kids said they saw the power of simple tasks, simple acts of service, and how God can use us without us having to do the 'big stuff.' They also want us to do a lot more of this type of stuff in the future, both in the near future as well as doing it again next year at this time. I was so proud of the 23 students who came at least once, and most of them came at least twice, and 7 of them were there every night. They gave up the nights of their FIRST WEEK OUT OF SCHOOL for the summer, to serve and live out their faith in acts of service. They showed and shared the good news by doing good works. The whole of the Gospel must include both parts, and this week my youth saw that more than ever. We believe it was just another step in the continuation of the most amazing semester we've ever had, a good transition between the semester and into the summer and leading into camp and mission trip, and leading ultimately into the fall. And we firmly believe as the song says, "Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city..."

When Life Gives You Lemons...Thank God for Sweet Tea...

2009-05-05T10:18:00.001-05:00

Tonight, I sit and type in a living room that has about a 3x3 hole in the ceiling, brought on by rain from a leaky roof from heavy rains over the weekend. 2 weeks ago, we had to buy a new washer and dryer, and get our sink fixed, and get some work done on the car. In late February, we had to have our cars in the shop like 6 times over a 3 week period. It would be really easy to get upset at any of those, much less all of them. I'm not gonna lie and pretend it's easy not to get frustrated and upset at those types of things. Earlier in our ownership of this house, we had to replace the entire septic system, replace the bathroom floors to keep from literally falling into the 'underworld' from the soft spots that had developed from their poor construction years ago, replace our bathtub because it had black mold and the windowsill was literally crumbling, and I could go on. Oh yeah, I didn't mention the time we decided to replace our bathroom mirror and when we took it off found a hole in the wall behind it that they had used the mirror to cover instead of replacing/fixing, or the time i dropped my glasses and they hit an electrical outlet and basically fried it. Need I go on? We love our house, even if it does, at times, seem to be straight out of that early 80's Tom Hanks movie The Money Pit (it's not even close to that bad, by the way, haha). It would be easy, as I said earlier, to get really upset, mad, frustrated, at the 'bad luck,' not to mention the money spent. Instead, Tracy and I have learned to find humor in these things, to laugh them off (after all having the opposite view does NO good, but learning to laugh about them helps you feel at least a bit better), and to thank God we can find people to fix these things and that we even have a halfway decent house.

After all...

*According to Global Rich List, someone who makes what we make, which is NOT a lot at all by U.S. standards, believe me, still makes in the top 0.99% of the world.
*Out of 6.7 billion people in the world…2.6 billion…40%...make less than $2 per day and 1.0 billion…15 %...people make less than $1 per day?
*In Haiti, 75% earns less than $2 per day, and 1/5 of children are malnourished.
*Roughly ¼ of children in developing countries is underweight. 350-400 million children are hungry.
*1/7 people worldwide…854 million people…don’t have enough food to sustain them.
*1.2 billion people in the world have water teeming with deadly bacteria, parasites, and waterborne diseases, water that is literally killing them…5 million a year die from water-related illnesses.
*Many underdeveloped countries have unemployment as high as 75%.
*the equivalent of 100 jetliners crashing and killing everyone on board is the number of children who die EVERY DAY from preventable causes related to poverty.
*Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
*1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity.
*If you've never seen a relative die in a war, if you've never been a slave, if you've never been tortured you are luckier than 500 million people.
*If you keep your food in a fridge, your clothes in a closet, if you have a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in, you are richer than 75% of the entire world population.
*If you have a bank account you're part of the 8% wealthiest people in the world.
*If you can read these words you are luckier than 1 billion people who can't read at all.
*Out of 100 people in the world...80 live in poverty, 14 can't read, 33 die of famine, just 7 will have a higher education, just 8 own a computer.

In light of that, I think I am blessed, and I think the perspective of sorta laughing and going 'well such is life,' is a LOT better than getting upset, don't you?

"Cuz the Time is Right to Cross That Line, to Let Love Find a Way..."

2009-04-09T11:06:00.001-05:00

I got home tonight to an incredible full moon with awesome light radiating off from it. I wish I could explain it adequately, but it just made me smile. Do you realize what the moon is, by the way? A reflection of the sun...like we are to be...reflections of the Son. Anyways, it's been a grueling, but amazing, past 3 weeks or so for us at LFBC. Obviously, spring break didn't turn into a break at all and the events surrounding Matthew's passing were draining, physically, emotionally and more. Last week was preparation for the revival we are holding this week, and over the weekend we went to Pine Bluff to do missions work, working in 4 elderly ladies yards all day. Then we hit the ground running with this revival...Sunday morning was a high attendance push, Sunday night was the only 'normal' night (whatever that means?!), Monday night was a 'pack a pew emphasis where we had just under 200 people there (on a MONDAY night in April, that's incredible). Tuesday night was 'Feed the Family' night (we fed close to 200 counting kids in the nursery and had about 165 or so in the service. And tonight was never announced as such outside of me doing so, but it was 'Youth Night.' And it was incredible. Amazing. Wonderful.

The past two nights have seen some amazing stuff in our children's ministry, with 25 or so kids there Monday night, and 30+ there last night. And they were super well behaved, listened, and God did some neat stuff and several made decisions last night. It really showed the church how amazing our children's ministry stuff is going. I wanted tonight to be the same for our youth ministry. I had challenged our kids that if they could get 50 there for our eating and games time (before the revival) that I would let them dye my hair blonde next Wednesday night after youth group. While they fell a little short of that (45, with at least 10 or so of our at least semi-regulars not there!), we DID have over 50 youth in the actual service, 60 if you count those from another church that came. And they were wonderful. Well behaved, worshipped freely, listened to the preacher (a 66 year old guy who is a master storyteller...at first glance he'd seem way all wrong for a youth or children's emphasis because of his age, demeanor, and relative old fashionedness. But his storytelling genius makes up for all of that, and he actually was PERFECT for those two age groups.) I couldn't have been more happy with a youth group for all of it. They were awesome. Let me back up for a second...A couple of my youth workers grilled burgers and hot dogs for them (thanks Bran-dog and Intern Boy!), had cokes (usually we have Kool-Aid drinks) and ice cream and cheese dip, and played 3 games plus doing a spontaneous melodrama where they act out the stuff as I do it, and also gave away like 12 cd's and dvd's. We went all out and we had a blast.

When we went over to the sanctuary, from our youth house, I was praying hard that God would just do something neat. I wanted us to make a great statement of what God is doing in our youth ministry, as well as living in light of the legacy of our fallen comrade. For many of our youth, it was their first time in our adult sanctuary, and we had the front middle section blocked off for them. Tracy pointed out that Mt Dew and Ice Cream might not have been the best combination for them right before going over to the 'big church.' Once we got into the service, though, I could not have been prouder of a group. They really got into the music, which the band went all out on, and which was all youth oriented songs that I had helped pick out, like "One Way," "When I Think About the Lord," "You Are So Good to Me," "Jesus Messiah," "Mighty to Save," and "How Great is our God." It was an amazing time of musical worship. When Bill stepped up to preach, I'm sure some of our group was probably thinking 'what is this guy gonna do?' He could not have picked a more perfect time to share his full testimony and use that as the bulk of the message. He kept them captivated with his stories about his hard living before Christ, and switching the emphasis of that hard living towards Christ instead of towards other things like most people do. He challenged them (and all who were there, by the way, there were more than just youth!) to think about their own lives, about where they stand with God. It was hard hitting and challenging, and we were praying God would use it to speak to our youth especially. When it came time for the invitation, several youth came forward and talked to me and/or at least one of our youth workers, and at least 4 of those made decisions to follow Christ, while others made recommitments and other decisions. It was amazing and I think every one of our youth workers talked to someone during the invitation time. I was blown away. I got to lead one girl to Christ, another to a recommitment, and talked to another about her struggle to even believe in God and to move towards following Christ.

The whole night, and for that matter this whole week, just blew me away. Something special is going on. I don't even know how to explain it, but it's awesome. And it's up to us to capture and carry that on and move forward with it. It's happening in our church as a whole, and even more so right now, in our youth and in our children's ministries specifically. I pray we will not let it be a temporary high. We need so much more than that. We need life change..that's the heart of revival...moving towards God for the first time, or the millionth, moving closer to Him and catching fire for Him. Right now is as crazy awesome of a time as any I've seen at LFBC. Please partner with us by praying for us as we follow up on some of the decisions made, and as we seek Him in the days ahead in our youth ministry and our church alike. We don't want to miss the chance to see God doing something beyond what we can ask, think, imagine, or even grasp. I love sports...the NCAA championship in basketball this week, baseball starting, etc. I love music...always looking for new stuff. There are a lot of things that are super important to me. But right now, being overwhelmed by the crazy, relentless love of God blows anything else away. We don't want a temporary high, or a nice feeling. We want our lives changed, so God can use us to help change others and make a little dent in our part of the world around us. Won't you join us? At least pray, if you can't be a part of it. Pray we can keep taking it to new heights and new levels and be faithful to what He's given us. I told someone tonight that I've been doing this for 11 years, but I've never had as much 'fun' as we are having right now. It would be easy to say 'that's just because things are going well right now, what about if things turned, if something bad happened?' My thought to that is, 'Are you serious? I mean we just went through one of the 3 or 4 toughest things you could possibly go through in youth ministry 3 weeks ago.'Thanks, God, for one of the wildest rides of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. We firmly believe the best is yet to come!

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE (Songs listened to or that inspired the note):
"You Are So Good to Me" (Waterdeep/Third Day); "When I Think About the Lord" (Shane and Shane); "Mighty to Save" and "One Way" (Hillsong United); "Jesus Messiah" and "How Great is Our God" (Chris Tomlin; "Revolution" (Jars of Clay...lyrics in title from this...); "Crashed" (Daughtry)

"It Doesn't Have to End Like This..."

2009-03-30T10:17:00.000-05:00

I love how God works. I was reading a book I got about 2 or 3 weeks ago that seemingly had nothing to do with what we collectively have been going through and dealing with this week. I quickly saw, however, that is had everything to do with it, in a way. The book is called Holy Discontent, by Bill Hybels (pastor of Willow Creek in Chicago), and it is about roughly the same idea as my "Divine Restlessness" note from a couple of weeks ago, about being driven by a sense that there is more that can be done, that there are things that are not right that God wants us to be a part of making right, that there is more to this life than what most people live for, that there is something that drives us to be all God wants us to be and to give ourselves fully to His causes. In the last chapter and the postscript, I just had to smile because it was as if God was using the pastor of one of the largest churches in North America in one of the largest cities in North America, to speak directly into the lives of people in small cities in Arkansas like London, Dover, Russellville and beyond. It ties directly into what so many of us have been saying, writing about, expressing this week and I'd like to share a couple of Mr. Hybels' thoughts.

"We all have one shot and one shot only to leave a lasting legacy--a definitive mark on the world that reflects our decision to lean into, not away from, our areas of holy discontent. A legacy that says, 'I have been entrusted to carry God's message of hope to an aching, fractured world in need and I refuse to rest until my role in that is fulfilled.' When we get this stuff right, we show the world that the present state of affairs does not determine the possibilities life holds. We can finish differently than we started, friends. We can. We can."

I love that thought. We all have ONE shot. I think for many people this week has made that more clear than ever. I think it gives a lot of people a chance to re-think and re-evaluate the way they are living their lives and if they are taking advantage of that one shot. If we are not, it's not too late to start doing so now and from this moment forward. Also, the idea that we have a role in God's work, His higher plan, His Kingdom's work while we are here on earth is one that far too few of us are conscientiously aware of most of the time sadly. We have a role in His plan, are we fulfilling it? Also, the idea that the present state of affairs is not all that there is, that we can move forward and see unlimited possibilities of finishing differently, is a huge idea for me. 1 Timothy says, "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

In the postscript chapter to the book, Hybels relates the story of a tragedy that took a 20ish young man who was a friend of his family. At the funeral, the parents of the boy, who were not believers themselves but the boy was, asked Hybels to step up and say something else, because "it just can't end like this." Hybels concluded that those words should ring in our ears as an unmistakable cry for hope from the world around us. Here are some of his concluding thoughts, they are super powerful, and I'll end with them...

"If I believe anything, it's that in Christ, through Christ, and because of Christ, it most certainly doesn't have to end like this! Let me remind you--you who are fellow Christ-followers--the we steward the only message on planet Earth that can give people what their hearts need most, which is hope. Hope that sins can be forgiven. Hope that prayers can be answered. Hope that doors of opportunity that seem locked can be opened. Hope that broken relationships can be reconciled. Hope that diseased bodies can be healed. Hope that damaged trust can be restored. Hope that dead churches can be resurrected. In other words, it really doesn't have to end like this. Of all people, we must claim that hope and live in it and radiate it to others. And we must proclaim that message of hope to everyone God gives us the opportunity to influence."
{from "Holy Discontent," Bill Hybels, pg 148, previous quotes from pages 136, 140-41}

Will You Be Done Livin' When You Do...

2009-03-28T20:05:00.000-05:00

"The question isn't are you gonna die, you're gonna die...but will you be done livin' when you do?"--Justin McRoberts, "Done Living," 2008 off his Deconstruction album...

I'm not gonna lie...I'm a little nervous as I write this. i've tried all week to sit and write thoughts that directly and/or indirectly relate to the events of this week. It has been, in complete honesty, the most trying and difficult week of my 34 years. If you stay in this type of ministry long enough, you know you're gonna deal with tough times, hard stuff to deal with, tragedies, etc. You never expect it when it happens, though, nothing prepares you adequately for it, and the phone call is a crushing blow. Trying to process it, trying to move and act as quickly as possible, is a jumbled maze and haze of emotions gone haywire. Arriving at the scene is more of that, and for a few days afterwards, life is a blur, a haze, and time seems to be moving fast and standing still at the same time. Instincts kick in, emotions go wild, and the mind spins with what needs to be done, for yourself as well as for the others you love and who are directly involved. The world seems to stand still and you keep thinking, believing, hoping you can either change the channel, or wake up from the nightmare. And when that doesn't happen, reality starts to set in and God starts to take over. You re-think everything, re-evaluate life and commitments and relationships. And in the midst of the pain, which is actually a gift from God whether we realize it or not, we begin to see the rainbows in the midst of the storm.

I believe that's where we are right now...already...I don't want to downplay the seriousness of the tragedy that is our lives this week, the reality of how tough it is to lose an amazing kid like Matthew Roberts, but I firmly believe God is still in control and that there is so, so, so much good going to come from this. I've already seen, read, and heard about so many people, especially teenagers, re-evaluating themselves, as it relates to God and eternity, and as it relates to the people in our lives. I think I've been told "I love you" and hugged more this week than in several years combined, and I know they've done so with each other as well. I've heard stories of people reconciling relationships that have fallen apart or drifted away from each other. I've heard stories of people committing to Christ and/or church and/or youth group more strongly than before. Isaiah 43:19 says, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." I firmly believe this is what is happening and what is going to happen. God is going to do 'a new thing,' and it's going to be something that is going to blow us away. Habakkuk talks about God doing something that the people couldn't believe even if they were told. In context, it's not necessarily a pleasant thing that is going to happen, as the people of God were going to be destroyed for their wickedness. But the point, nonetheless, is that God is in the business of, and capable of doing stuff that we cannot even fathom.

Matthew Roberts life was lived to the fullest. It was lived in fun and in adventure. His life, and ultimately his death, were not, cannot, and must not, be lived in vain. If we only get serious about these things...getting right with God, getting right with the people in our lives, committing to God and church and youth group, treating people right...for this week or a few days or whatever, then we have failed and let his legacy down. We cannot do that. I refuse, insomuch as it depends on me, to allow that to happen. Instead, we take what we have learned, the wake up call we have been given, and we move forward always mindful of living life with no regrets as it relates to God and others. We take his commitment to God and to people and to life and it becomes our commitment, from this day forward, for the rest of the time we are given. Matt's dad, Greg, firmly believes God has shown him that there will be so, so much good to come out of this for a long time in the future. It is up to us to make sure that is what happens. And to make sure that happens EVERY day as much as we can. Love God, love others, love life, and give it all to God. Live with no regrets, leave a legacy that points not to yourself but to the God who created you and loved you enough that He gave Himself for you. If He was willing to do that, for each of us, what are we willing to do for Him? And if we are willing to give ourselves fully to God and to these things, I believe He will blow us away. There is no slacking off, no halfhearted commitment, no letting off the gas, no settling, no apathy, and no laziness. I don't know about you, but I'm in. In Ephesians 3, it says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE: (Songs listened to while writing or that inspired the note)
"Done Living" by Justin McRoberts; "Flood" by Jars of Clay; "Elijah" by Rich Mullins; "We Are Not as Strong as We Think We Are" by Rich Mullins; "Hold Me Jesus" by Rich Mullins; "Legacy" by Nichole Nordeman; "Three Days Before Autumn" by Andrew Peterson; "Worlds Apart" by Jars of Clay; "Never Let Go" by David Crowder Band

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall...

2009-03-17T14:38:00.001-05:00

(From last Tuesday):
I had a new experience today. For the first time, dad took one of the boys to get a haircut. It's always been mom, for whatever reason, but today i took him because he has spring pictures Thursday at school and it was the only way he was gonna get a haircut before it and he needed one. Most afternoons, I have him after school because the school is only a couple of minutes from our house as well as from the church. The experience was trying, not because of him but because of the lady cutting the hair. It was pretty obvious to me that she either isn't good with kids, didn't want anyone to be there so she wouldn't have to work, or some combination of the two. When we first walked in, there was someone leaving, but nobody else there, yet she told us 'it would probably be a few minutes. Like maybe 20 (sidebar: that's a few?!!?), so I can get my finger to stop bleeding.' At first, I felt somewhat sympathetic towards her, if she really had cut her finger on the last customer (although she wasn't showing it when we walked in and she was laughing with the lady who had been just before us, but I digress again, sorry). But then it occurred to me that if she SERIOUSLY had a 20 minutes until it stops bleeding' cut on her finger, instead of waiting, i should probably have been calling 911, so I knew it wasn't as bad as she implied. This become MUCH more evident to me when she then started sweeping the salon floor (with both hands), and then even more so when not one, but two other people wandered in to get their hair cut within a couple of minutes, and she then put aside the broom and told me that he could go ahead and come up (hmm, 20 minutes turned into 5 once people were in there with us... fast healing? sorry, I digress again...). The whole time he was in the chair she was fussing at him over petty little stuff he was not doing the way she wanted him to do...he's 5, and not super experienced in a haircut chair. She also seemed more than a little irritated when I suggested something (based on something she had previously asked about and I didn't know the answer at that point but did later). It was a VERY frustrating experience for me as a parent to sit through, because it was obvious that she was NOT wanting to do that haircut. I bit my tongue and acted good though, it just may not be an experience we ever re-live at that place again, honestly.

But I didn't sit to write an entire blog entry about the bad experience at the haircut place. I sat to write about an experience there that blew me away. From where I was sitting, I could see him in the mirror and we made eye contact a few times. I knew he was frustrated too. But here's the deal...looking in the mirror and seeing him, I saw myself. Not just kind of saw myself...I saw myself. I mean, I know the biology and DNA and so forth of having a kid, but it was one of the clearest pictures I've ever seen of my child being a reflection of me. And though I know this is pretty vague, I don't JUST mean physically. I saw myself in him in more ways than just physical. I saw a mini-me, a reflection of me, in that mirror, in my five year old son. And it reminded me of just what a neat and special relationship a parent/child one is on so many levels. And it also reminded me of the parallels to our relationship with God. See, in Genesis 1:27 (and a couple of other verses in Genesis), God clearly states that man is made in the image of God. Something about the basic makeup of humanity reflects God in some very awesome way. It doesn't say that about the cows, or the grass, or the sky, or anything like that. All of those things ultimately point to Him, yes, but only WE are reflections OF Him.

My son makes me proud. I'm not always totally pleased with everything He does, but I LOVE the idea that He represents me, reflects me, is in a sense an image of me. I hope, sincerely, with EVERY ounce of being within me, that I am, as the image of God, a valid, significant, adequate representation of Christ to the world around me. I hope when they see me, they see Him. I hope when I look in the mirror, I see Him. I was made to love Him, to glorify Him, with my life. Though sin mars that image of God, it is still my responsibility, covered by grace, empowered by the Holy Spirit living in me, blown away by love, to be His image to a world that desperately needs Him. I have to live my life as if every moment matters in the light of eternity, and as if every encounter I have with someone could impact that person for now and for eternity. I will not be perfect, and I will not reach every person, but I'm striving, daily, to live as His reflection in hopes that the mirror of my life reflects Him back at me and to the world around me.

And I'll Sing a Love Song to You...

2009-03-17T14:37:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, there is always a song or two floating in your head, a 'song of the moment' or whatever. For me, there are usually 2-3 at least, and there usually also is a 'worship song of the moment' as well. I'm not big into worship music as a whole because it tends to get a little stale at times, all sounding the same, etc, to me after a while. I'm not knocking it, I'm just saying it's not most of what I listen to, for a variety of reasons. But there usually is 1-2 'worship songs of the moment' floating in my head or whatever. Sometimes they are new, sometimes they are 'new to me,' sometimes they are oldies but goodies. The middle one is the case with my current 'worship song of the moment.' It is not new...i think it's from like 2004 or so, but i just discovered it myself. It is called "Love Song" and was written by and originally performed by Jason Morant, but I've never even heard the original version that I recall. However, I recently got an album that is a few years old, called "Elevator Music: Live at Victory Fellowship," a worship album from a church in New Orleans. What makes this unique and different from the average church worship album is this...the primary lead vocalist is Paul Meany, the lead singer of Mute Math, and the primary guitarist and drummer on the album are also Mute Math guys. So it is, in a sense, sort of a Mute Math and Friends worship album, benefitting their home church and Katrina recovery efforts and so forth.

Late in the album is this song that actually flows into parts of two other songs that are similar in theme...the two other songs are covers of "40" by U2 and "You Are So Good to Me" by Waterdeep (covered by Third Day, probably a little more familiar with that version). However the first song, the one I'm posting the lyrics below, is the one that has blown me away. It combines a hauntingly beautiful female voice for the first couple of times through the verse and into the chorus, building all along, before exploding into the part that goes "You walk on waves..." etc, with Paul singing the lead and the music just exploding with passion and beauty. It is a song of recognition of God's amazingness and all He has done for us, and then offering the song, the gift, the talent, the whole of the person, back to God as an offering to Him. I know it's hard to communicate the power and passion simply by posting lyrics, and i hate that i can't post a link to it anywhere that i know of...it's not even available, at least in THIS version, on iTunes, just from the church. But I hope it means something to you, simply by posting the lyrics, and may it's words equate to our heart and our desire for God.

Where can I go where can I run from You
You’re everywhere
You know all my thoughts You see through my ways
And still You come to me
So I sing a love song to You

From Heaven above on earth down beneath
Your love rains down on me
You know all my thoughts You see through my skin
And still You come to me
So I sing a love song to You

You walk on waves
You run with clouds
You paint the sky for me to see Your majesty
Your majesty is why I sing
This is a love song to You
My life’s a love song to You

Divine Restlessness...

2009-03-10T22:48:00.001-05:00

I think I may have invented a new word. Maybe I should contact good ole' Merriam-Webster and his crew. Or at least the ones who do Bible Dictionaries and stuff like that. The word? "Divine Restlessness." What do I mean by divine restlessness? I think divine restlessness is that urge, that feeling inside every true believer, that there ie never time to 'settle' or rest on our laurels or be too content to keep moving forward. It is that desire within each of us to always be dreaming of the future, to have a vision for the 'something more' that God can, and wants, to do within each of us. It is that feeling that there is always work to be done, not because we live legalistically or have some standard of works to achieve, but because God has done so much for us and given so much to us and makes such a difference in our lives that we can't help but want to help others find Him. We want them to know and to experience what we have within us, to know and experience that amazing God of Wonders who rescues, ransoms and redeems us. We want them to know there is hope, there is grace, there is perfect love, there is more to this life than just living and dying and existing and going through the motinos. It is what pushes us to not settle with the life God has given us but to push ourselves to give until hit hurts and then keep giving. It is what keeps us from being content with the numbers we have in our churches or our youth groups or our ministries, but instead to reach out and bring more in, and to fully integrate and minister to those who do grace our doors. It is, in a sense, what keeps us going when we want to give up or let up the gas.

The work of God is never done until the end of the world. The work of God in our lives is never done until our lives end or He comes back. There is no 'retirement' from living the Christian life. We are captivated by God's grace for us and in living by and through that grace we consider it a joy to be a part of church every chance we get, to be a part of serving whenever we can, to be a part of discipling whenever we can, to be a part of impacting lives however and whenever we can. I guess this is on my mind right now because after 11 years in one church ministering, we've seen a lot of ups and downs. Right now may be as exciting of a time, however, as any we've ever seen. In teh church as a whole, new people are coming, and they are bringing other new people, and it is becoming viral. The same thing is happening in the youth ministry...we've seen tons of new people lately and those people have brought other new people and most of them have stuck around. We've grown, and with that growth brings a new set of responsibilities for me and for those who help me and for our youth, to reach every one of those as much as possible, to bring them to Christ or closer to Christ if they know Him. It is up to us to take the life and the gifts He has given us and multiply the effect and impact by giving of ourselves fully and completely for Him. When I see a new person come to our church or youth ministry, I want them to be more than a one-time visitor. I want them to see something in us, and more importantly in HIM, that makes them want to stay. I want them to satisfy their curiosity and to find what they are looking for in Christ. And I want to be a part of that as much as God allows and time and energy permits. I don't want ANY person in my life to walk away from Christ or from our church because I didn't do enough to show Christ and show love and show an interest in them. I don't ever want to feel like I'm doing 'just enough' to get by, or like a little bit is ever enough to show my love for my Lord. I fear too many people DO live like that, though, just doing a bare minimum, least they have to do to feel like they're doing ok type lifestyle. That's sad, it really is, and I'm not trying to be overly judgmental, but I'd say most people I encounter regularly live like this much of the time. When we TRULY know Christ, though, we don't want to just get by...we literally can't help ourselves b/c out of His love for us and our returned love to Him, we want to give Him EVERYTHING, all of us, in all of our lives, all of the time, not just enough to feel good about it and not just a 'well, something is better than nothing' type mentality. It's NOT about US, it's ALL about HIM.

This is my heart at this point in my life. It is, you might say, my vision. I believe God is in this. I believe He wouldn't have kept me at our church for as long as He has if He wasn't in it and if He wasn't up to something incredible if we get on board and hang on for the wild ride ahead of us. I also believe there is within every person a desire to know Christ, and once they know Him to make Him known. It just needs to be awakened within us. I also believe the reason He leaves us here on the earth once we come to know Him is that He chooses to use us for His glory, His mission, His Kingdom work, in this world. He doesn't need us to do it, but He wants us to and He wants to accomplish it through each of us fully committed to Him, not tiring out, not giving up, not letting up, but pushing forward with a divine restlessness. Never settle, never become overly content, never give up, until your time is done. Realize it's NOT about you...it's about Him, and those around us who desperately need Him. Have a spirit of divine restlessness...and if you do not, ask God to give it to you. It will be worth it, and it will be rewarded.

"Awaken what's inside of me, tune my heart to all You are in me. Even though You're here, God come. And may the vision of You be the death of me, and even though You've given everything, Jesus come."

"The size of a person's vision reflects the size of a person's God."

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE: (Songs listened to or that inspired the note)
"Vision of You" by Shane and Shane; "Awaken the Dawn" by Delirious; "Love Song" by Jason Morant (sung by Victory Fellowship of New Orleans, including Paul Meany from Mute Math)

We Are Peculiar People, This I Know...

2009-03-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

I finished my seminary classes and I'm back home. Yesterday was a lot different day in some ways than the previous one. The professors for my two classes could not have been much different...the one the first day was a middle-aged American Caucasian, very laid back and in a lot of ways 'old-school.' The one the second day was a couple of years older than me, German-American, highly scholarly and educated and articulate. Both showed a deep passion for God, their subject matter, and educating and training believers to live and minister the faith they claim to hold. The classes, as far as subject matter, were very different...one was called Theology of Ministry, and was very theoretical; the other was called Life and Letters of Paul, and was much more scholarly and less theoretical, and as far as the material covered, they very different. Finally, the people in the classes couldn't be any more different either. The two other people in the first class were, as I mentioned yesterday, 67 and 61, both older adult white males, one involved in professional counseling, the other running a ministry for truckers. Yesterday, it was two younger people, both a little older than me. One was Indian, the other Asian. The Indian, by trade a dentist, has a heart for people in his culture, his homeland, particularly Hindus. The Asian is, by trade, a historian and an archaeologist who has traveled the world, and a breast cancer survivor.

If you're still with me, here's where I'm going with this. In two days of seminary classes at a little bitty school in Indiana, I was reminded, in a vivid and powerful way that there is, and should be, both diversity and unity within the Body of Christ. It is important, and it is necessary. If we were all the same, we would never get anywhere for the cause of Christ. The world is made up of very unique and different people. We are not the same. We are NOT a vanilla culture, and we should not try to be. Part of the beauty of humanity is that God takes care to fashion and design EACH of us uniquely and individually and creatively, which is awesome to think about. (PSALM 139) We're not all like you (Thankfully) and we're not all like me (THANKFULLY). And because of that, different people need different things and different types of people reach different people in different ways. Christianity is not about conformity, it is about transformation. The Body of Christ is made up of hands and feet and heads and all different types, just like a physical body. And just like with a physical body, each part is important to the whole.

I've told my youth group a few times that what drove this home to me in a powerful way was a time a few years ago where I seriously hurt my big toe on the same foot three times in a few months. The big toe seems so small compared to the body as a whole, but it's so important and when it is messed up, the whole body suffers. The same thing happens with the body of Christ, in ways most people don't even realize...each of us is so important to the Body of Christ as a whole, and when we are not doing our part, the Body suffers. If the Body collectively would do their job consistently, the work of Christ would be magnified and God would be glorified. I'm very thankful for the reminder this week of the diversity in our unity in the Body of Christ. Every age, all races, both genders, all interests and giftings, are important in their own unique ways to the work of the Kingdom here on earth. 60 year olds and 30 year olds, truckers, counselors, youth pastors, archaeologists, theologians, dentists, Asians, Indians, Germans, rural Arkansans...we're all on the same team, and we're all important to the big picture of God's plan on earth. After all, "if we are the body, Why aren't His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing? Why aren't His words teaching? And if we are the body Why aren't His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a way? There is a way."

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE: (Songs listened to while writing or that inspired the note) "Peculiar People," "All Break the Same" and "Typical" by Mute Math; "One Person at a Time" by Jonny Lang; "One Thing Left to Do" by Guardian; "White as Snow" by U2

Going the Extra Mile...

2009-03-04T18:46:00.002-06:00

I sat in a class called Theology of Ministry for 8 hours or so today. It was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be. The professor was pretty cool and I feel like I connected with him a little bit. Here’s what was ‘fun’ about it…there were only 3 people in the class, counting me, and I was by far the youngest one. The other two were…get this…67 and 61. Oh, and they are in doctoral programs. I’m merely in a Master’s program, getting my first post-grad degree, they’re in their second (at least?)…at 67 and 61 in doctoral programs. Wow! What a neat testimony of God’s work in someone’s life, and what a neat testimony they are of God working in people’s lives throughout their lives. One is getting a Doctoral level degree in biblical counseling, the other in pastoral ministry. They are not settling, not ready to ‘retire,’ they are still working hard, serving God, giving of themselves in what God has called them to do. It’s been really cool to be around them and I hope God uses them in their ministries. Maybe our paths will cross again down the road.

One of the passages of Scripture that we discussed was the portion of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:41) where Jesus talks about going the extra mile. In that passage, Jesus says “if someone forces you to go one mile, go two.” In those days, a Roman soldier could randomly force people into carrying loads for them, but the law had been written to protect the people and limited it to where they could only be forced to carry it for one mile. The problem was that even that would become legalistic, so Jesus was challenging them to not just limit themselves to the basic, least-required standard. While obviously there is a specific application to the situation I just discussed, the broader application to them, and to us, is that we need to stop limiting ourselves to the lowest standard, the least required of us. In other words, we need to stop settling, stop just getting by, stop doing as little as possible to still feel like we are ‘ok.’ How often do we settle? How often do we just get by? How does that speak…no, scream…to the world about our commitment (or lack thereof) to God and to our faith?

Jesus told us to go the extra mile. Most people aren’t even going the first mile, are they? I mean, we complain and fuss about doing just what is a least case scenario, don’t we? We don’t like to be pushed. We don’t like to go beyond. We don’t like to go further than we have to. We don’t want to go further than we have to. We don’t like to do more than the least we think is required of us. Think about a couple of examples in the Bible, though, of people who did. One was the Good Samaritan. He helped the beaten man, even though they were vastly different in religion and background and wouldn’t have normally hung out. And he did it when the more ‘religious’ and status-types wouldn’t help the man because it inconvenienced them. He went far beyond what he had to, even offering to pay more for them guy’s care if necessary when he came back to check on him. He went way beyond the least he could do. The other example I want to give is in the life of Jesus. He went wayyyyyyyyy beyond what He had to, didn’t He? I mean, He is God. And nothing required Him to come down to earth to become one of us and live for 33 years. He came, lived, laughed, loved, and died. For us. All of us. He did it all for us. He didn’t have to, but He did. He went way beyond the first mile and way into the extra miles territory. So, what about us? Why can’t we go the extra mile for Him and for those in our lives. What would happen if we did? I’m not sure the world could handle it or would know what to do with it.

Reflections From a Lonely Trip...

2009-03-03T19:23:00.004-06:00

I drove, alone, almost 8 hours today. That's a lot of time to listen to music, think, reflect, talk to God, etc. A lot of things go through one's mind, in a car, that long, alone, on some of the most boring interstates I've ever driven on. Tomorrow and the next day, I'll be taking seminary classes, so my brain will go from 'fun' thinking to 'theological' thinking. The one thing that keeps coming to my mind lately is this...in very uncertain times, God is doing some neat stuff. In our church, we are seeing growth and new people at almost unprecedented rates in our services, in our youth ministry, in our children's ministry, everywhere it seems. Not that numbers are the be-all, end-all testimony of God's work, but we had the largest Sunday morning attendance we've had in Sunday school in a while. In the youth ministry we've averaged 35 for the past month with new people all the time. In the children's ministry, their Wednesday numbers are higher than ever, and they hit 30 in the Worship Kids Style children's worship service Sunday morning. Not to mention that we recently re-instituted the church van going around to pick up kids, and they typically have at least 8, and last week had 13. Oh, and we are taking at least 20 students (NOT COUNTING ADULTS) to Baltimore for our youth mission trip this summer as well. Several Sunday school classes are seeing neat stuff happen as well. It's one of those 'wow, not sure what's happening, except that it's God,' type moments. While I definitely don't think we've arrived, I think we are heading down the right path, and our challenge is to remain faithful and not let up on the gas.

I was listening to one of the songs on the new U2 album today, and in it, Bono sings, "I was born I was born to sing for you. I didn't have a choice but to lift you up, And sing whatever song you wanted me to. I give you back my voice, From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise..." WOW. What an amazing statement of giving back to God what God has blessed us with, of realizing that everything that makes us who we are, that defines us, is a gift from Him to us, and something He wants us to give back to Him, completely, for His glory. It reminded me of a song by Sixpence None the Richer a few years ago, which says, "This is my call I belong to You, this is my call to sing the melodies of You. This is my call I can do nothing else, I can do nothing else." When we get to that point in our lives, the point of realizing God's call on our lives, the point of realizing God has gifted us, the point of realizing God has given us EVERYTHING that makes us who we are, we can fully surrender and fully submit ourselves back to Him, and the sky is the limit. "And I'll give, give, give until there's nothing left, give my life until it all runs out. Give, give and I'll have no regrets, I'll give until there's nothing left to... Give, give give until there's nothing else, give my life, until it all runs out. Give, give and I'll have no regrets, I'll give until there's nothing left, I'll give." (Relient K)

The problem, for many of us, is that we hold back. We forget it is all a gift from Him. We forget it was from Him, not something we have done for ourselves. We forget that our gifts are meant to be given back to Him. We forget that we exist by, through, and for Him. We forget His call on our lives. His call on our lives is not a one-time meeting with Him. It is a lifetime of commitment to His cause, His plan, His Kingdom work in and through us while we live on this earth. There are literally endless possibilities of what God can do if we can get to the point of which Bono and Leigh Nash sing, the point of realizing "It's all for You, it's all because of You, it's all given back to You." God has blessed so many of us with so many unique and different talents. And every one of them can be part of His call and His plan on our lives. The choice is up to each one of us...will we use the gifts He has given us for ourselves, for our own glory, or for Him, and for His glory and His work here on earth? The only one who can answer is each of us in our own lives. Think about it...as Steve Fee sings, "It's all because of Jesus I'm alive..."

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE (either what I listened to while working on it, or what directly or indirectly inspired the note):
"Breathe" and "Magnificent" by U2; "Awaken the Dawn" and "Shining Light" by Mute Math (Live Worship at Victory Fellowship, not officially Mute Math); "Voices" and "Field of Daggers" by House of Heroes; "Melody of You" by Sixpence NTR; "Sink or Swim" and "No One Told You"by Waterdeep

Live, Laugh and Learn...

2009-03-02T22:35:00.006-06:00

When I was in high school, I discovered a handful of Christian comedians that I loved to listen to. Unfortunately one of them later was found to be something of a fraud spiritually, and for the most part I got away from thinking it was very possible to be a quality Christian comedian. It frustrates me that far too much that is considered 'comedy' in our society is not funny at all, but instead is dirty and perverted and so forth. Recently, over the past 2-3 years, I've had my faith in clean and Christian comedy restored. In fact, there is a LOT of REALLY good stuff that is clean, and even "Christian" and is hilarious. The Thou Shalt Laugh videos, the Bananas comedy stuff, Brad Stine, Thor Ramsey, and so many others are really legitimately hilarious and, gasp, clean. I love to laugh, to make people laugh, to be stupid and make off the wall statements and love when people 'get it' and when humor helps put people at ease. Similarly, I get frustrated when people think you can't laugh and have fun as a Christian or when they don't 'get it' when fun and joking happens. We definitely do in our youth group, and my poor sons don't have a chance...their mom and I are probably two of the goofiest, silliest, sarcastic-est, smart alecky-est people they'll ever know. It makes life more fun, and it pays to have a sense of humor.

My entry, however, is not really about my sense of humor, or even about Christian comedy and its purveyors...instead, it is about a statement one of those comedians made on one of his routines, a statement that has stuck with me and has become one of the mottos of my life as a believer as well as of my ministry. Steve Geyer, who is now a pastor or at least on staff somewhere in Georgia said (paraphrased), "Remember, don't take yourself too seriously, and DO take God seriously, because He is really the ONLY thing worth taking seriously." This hit me like a ton of bricks. If we are honest, most of us do just the opposite. We take ourselves and our own interests and what people think about us WAY too seriously, and God, and what others think about HIM not seriously enough. I see it all the time in the teenagers I work with...they have so much on their plates, and so many peer pressures and so many people to please. Without realizing it, most of them wind up worrying far more about what those other people think than what God thinks, and God gets pushed aside and life and their own interests become consuming and become taken too seriously.

If we think about ourselves...really think about...there is a LOT to not take too seriously. I don't mean we don't take what needs to be taken seriously seriously, but that we don't become so overly consumed with life and people's opinions and self-centered living that we miss the humor in life, in others, in words, in the day to day stuff we do and what we experience. And we don't take ourselves so seriously that we become bogged down in life and it becomes a chore instead of truly living. And we don't take seriously what is meant to be in fun. And we don't miss the fun and the laughs and the jokes and the sarcasm and the humor that just comes with being this crazy thing called human. God has a sense of humor...for crying out loud, He created US...that's you and me...in His image...and several times in Scripture it records God laughing and at other times, some of the stuff that happens is just downright hilarious if you really explore it and really think about it. And Jesus was a master at humor and sarcasm...go read the New Testament stories in the Gospels, and do a little research on them and their context and backgrounds. He knew how to put people at ease with humor, and He knew what was worth laughing about and what was worth being serious about.

And that's the balance He wants from us. Do take seriously what needs to be taken seriously. But ultimately, we simply need to take God a LOT more seriously than we usually do, and take ourselves a lot less seriously than we usually do. If we did just that...decreased the focus on ourselves and the seriousness of our own interests, and increased the seriousness of God, our faith, our Christianity...I think we'd be a lot less stressed, and we'd enjoy life a lot more. We'd laugh more, we'd love deeper, we'd see people differently, we'd see God differently, we'd live life differently, and we'd see God do stuff that would blow our minds. Think about it...live a little, laugh a little, love a little, and see if it makes a difference in your life and that of those you encounter. DON'T take yourself too seriously, and DO take God seriously.

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE:
"THRILL OF IT" BY ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND; "RIDE" BY ROCK AND ROLL WORSHIP CIRCUS; "THIS IS HOW THE WORLD WILL END" BY THE ELMS; "JONAH" BY GRAMMATRAIN; "DO YOU KNOW WHAT LOVE IS" BY GUARDIAN; "HIGH" BY TONY VINCENT; "LONELY SOMETIMES" BY WATERDEEP

Chickens and Pigs...

2009-02-27T14:32:00.003-06:00

I've recently thought an awful lot about the concept of surrender. We sing songs in church that say, "I surrender all," and "In all I do, I honor You," and many others. I blogged a little in another entry recently, called "Beautiful Surrender," which loosely used a Mute Math song called "Control," talking about allowing God to take control of our lives and even calls surrender beautiful. Most of the time, we don't see surrender as a beautiful thing...in fact, in war time, surrender is pretty much a sign of weakness. Quite simply, we don't want to give up control to someone else. We want to believe we are surrendered, but generally, we hold on to many things that keep us from really being fully surrendered. It is what Jesus encountered with the rich young ruler, who wouldn't give up his love for money. It held the disciples back at various times, as their pride, their selfishness, their desire to be superior to someone else, kept them from fully following Jesus. Even at the end of His time on earth, Jesus was abandoned by His disciples, because they started to doubt what they were surrendering to.

The Bible makes it clear that TRULY following Him, TRULY surrendering, will be difficult. So much so that it is a narrow road, and many will turn away when it gets hard. We fight that all the time, don't we? We think it should be a lot easier, but the Bible makes it so clear that it's not, but that God rewards those faithful few who stay committed, who totally surrender. He honors those who will give up everything and not look back, who will follow Him with their very existences. Most of us think somehow we are giving God something special by giving Him an hour or two a week on Sunday morning and that's our commitment to God. That's 1-2 hours out of 168 in a week. Ouch. And don't bother us with asking more than that, right? I'm not saying those who are not giving more are not Christians, but I would submit that most of us are NOT as committed to God as we would like to think we are, as we would like others to think we are, don't we? I mean, our standard is not the person next door, or on the next pew at church. It is the very one we claim to be giving our lives to. And His standard is total surrender, total sacrifice, total commitment...are we willing? What would the world look like if we were willing to do that? Someone once said "The world has yet to see what could happen with one person completely sold out to Jesus." What if not just one, but a lot of us, did just that, not just with words, but even more so with our actions and our very lives? Think about it...

A chicken and a pig went for a walk around the farm. As they passed the farmers window they noticed a wonderful breakfast prepared for the farmer and his wife sitting on the breakfast table. As they peeked closer they noticed ham and eggs on the plates.The pig and chicken were silent for a moment as they took in the impact of what they saw. Finally, looking at the eggs and prideful of her contribution, the chicken said, "now that was a sacrifice!" The pig looked at the ham on the plate and finally turned to the chicken and said, "Yes, for you it is a sacrifice. But for us it is total commitment!"

SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE:
"Breathe" by Anberlin; "All I Need" by Caedmon's Call; "Balancing Act" by Cool Hand Luke; "Warriors" by Flatfoot 56

Should I Tell Them...?

2009-02-25T21:51:00.004-06:00

If I had the cure for cancer, and didn't share it with someone, I would be considered a jerk. If most of the kids in my youth group got a new car, or iPod, or phone, or boyfriend or girlfriend, they would share it with everyone they could get ahold of. So...if we have access to the greatest story ever told, the greatest thing someone could ever hear, why do we not tell people about it? Statistically, most (98% if you believe multiple polls) people who claim to be Christians do not share their faith with anyone. According to one bit of research, 19 of every 20 people who come to know Christ do so by the age of 24, and only 1 in every 10,o00 people will become a Christian after age 25. As a youth pastor, those stats blow me away. Tonight we talked about evangelism in our youth group. Whether it got through as I want it to is something I'll probably never know, but it brought a lot of things to my mind as we went through the course of the night, and I felt like my presentation was about as passionate as I've been in a long time, which is saying something. Here are my thoughts.

Jesus commands us to go and make disciples, to be His witnesses in all parts of our world. But...I just told you that only 2% of people share their faith. So...are 98% of us disobedient? John Stott says, "The church is under orders. Evangelistic inactivity is disobedience." Howard Hendricks says, "In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering." How true is that? I mean most of us get squirmish and uncomfortable when we even talk about the idea of sharing our faith. We are scared to death. And yet, if we don't tell people, how will they know? If we are unwilling to share, what does it say about us? What does it say about how much we do or do not care about them? I mean, are we more worried about what they will think about us if we dare to share with them than about what could happen to them if we DON'T?! I know that's not fun to even think about, but seriously, if we are more worried about getting made fun of than what would happen if we don't even share, then do we really care about them, or do we care more about ourselves? These are tough questions to wrestle with.

In Romans 10:14-15, it says "How will they know unless someone tells them?" Get this...most people don't just open their Bibles and find Christ...it happens, but not with most people. Get this...most people don't flip on TBN in the middle of the night and then give their lives to Christ. MOST people, are brought to Christ through a friend or family member investing in them, caring enough about them, loving them, enough to give them a chance to come face to face with Jesus. Perhaps it is sharing their own story with them. Perhaps it is through sharing the Gospel with them. Perhaps it is simply inviting them to church, bringing them to a place where they can hear about Jesus from a pastor or youth pastor or whatever. The point is, it happens, somehow. Like the guys in Mark 2:1-11, or the woman in John 4, we MUST come to a place where we are willing to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to bring people to Jesus, and we must come to a place where we cannot and will not be stopped. Can God find other ways to reach someone than us? Sure, but He wants to, and chooses to, allow us to be a part of His work. And He gives us the responsibility, so much so that He told Ezekiel that if he failed to tell people that God would hold Him accountable (In 3:18, read it for what He REALLY said, it hurts to read). So it's up to us to get out there, to find common ground with people, to find out their story, to share with them our story, and to share with them HIS story. According to a recent Lifeway study, 75% of people would listen if someone shared with them about Jesus. So, let's do it...live the life, preach with your life, but be willing to speak, to share, to bring them to Jesus, at any cost, whatever it takes. Someone did it for you, most likely, so let's pass it on.

Walking with you is not without hazards, Tripping's this traveler's curse
Price paid for falling is more than my stumble In a world that is watching and waiting for words
But I listened when You said to go And I set out in spite of my fears
About truth mixed with my imperfection And the question of what to say when I got here
And now that I'm here Should I tell them that You are the one who has made me
And saved me and set up a home there inside Should I tell them that I am a perfect example
Of all You can do with a life. What should I say to them? What if I'm failing them?
What should i tell them tonight?

Now don't get me wrong I'm thankful to be here With this song to sing and a spotlight on me,
But lately I'm wondering if you are mistaken, If you're seeing all of me there is to see.
Cause on every face I detect The same questions I've posed to you
Like do you speak through the imperfect Are we too dirty for your light to get through? I want your light to get through. Should I tell them that You are the one who has made me And saved me and set up a home there inside Should I tell them that I am a perfect example Of all You can do with a life. What should I say to them? What if I'm failing them?What should i tell them tonight?

Soundtrack for a Note: (this time it's from what I used in youth group tonight, not what I'm actually listening to...I'm listening to/watching American Idol, haha)
"I Wish We'd All Been Ready," by Larry Norman/dc Talk; "Should I Tell Them" by Shaun Groves; "Oh Happy Day" from Sister Act 2

Such a Beauuuuuuutifuullll Surrender...

2009-02-24T16:04:00.004-06:00

For the past decade or so, Luke 9:23 has been one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I owe much of that to my wife because she helped bring it to light to me before we were even dating I think. It is a passage that is in the three synoptic gospels, but the Luke version is my favorite one because it adds one little word to the statement that changes the perspective and makes the commitment to following Christ much deeper. That word is "Daily." In the other versions it says "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me," but in Luke it says "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me." I think the other version is easy to misinterpret, while the Luke version drives it home a lot more specifically.

What I mean is this...in the version in Matthew or Mark, it would be easy to see it as a one-time decision, a one time 'taking up of the cross.' In Luke, however, we see it taken a giant step further...DAILY taking up our cross. Why is this? I think it may be because it honestly is a daily choice, a decision we must make every single day, to truly follow Christ, to give ourselves completely to Him. There are going to be days where it will be much easier to give up and give in and not try and just live like everyone else, live for ourselves, etc. The true follower of Christ denies self...an important step that most people never seem to get past..., takes up the cross (and with it all the burdens), and sets out on a journey of adventure and risk...AND he does so daily. EVERY day, he wakes up and follows Jesus, consciously making the decision that no matter what else happens, he belongs to Jesus and therefore his first allegiance is to Christ alone, and all else in his life flows from that. In Colossians, twice, Paul says "Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God." If we lived like that, truly, what would it look like? What would it mean? We did an entire series in our youth group last school year on the concept of "Follow Me," using as a jumping off point the many passages in the Gospels where Jesus says to someone "follow me." Denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and DAILY deciding to do these things in order to follow Jesus is the call of God on our lives. It means we are willing to surrender and to submit our hopes, our dreams, our fears, our joys, all of us to Him, subjecting them all, and even our very selves, to the will and leading of God on our lives. It means, ultimately, deciding that no matter what anyone else says, no matter what anyone else does (or doesn't do), I am going to follow Christ, no matter WHAT that means, no matter HOW that plays out in my life.

Most people probably don't have this experience, but I remember very vividly a point in my life where I drew a figurative line in the sand and said, "You know what? my life is good, but it could be better. My friends are good, but that could be better. My faith is solid, but it could be better. So, no matter what anyone else says, or does, I'm giving myself to God, and where that takes me, I have no idea, but I'm going nonetheless." I had no idea what it all meant, I just knew that for my life to move forward, spiritually and otherwise, it had to be done. I had been a Christian since age 7, and was NOT a bad kid at all, I just knew something needed to change to take it to another level. And while I won't pretend life has always been easy, or that there's never been doubt, or whatever else, I can honestly say that there has never been regret. Oh, did I mention that that was in 9th grade? I was 15 or so. And things changed, a lot, in a lot of ways. But honestly, I can trace the path of my life at this stage, at 34, all the way back to that, and I can trace decisions made between then and now to that decision, to that drawing a line in the sand and saying, literally, that I was tired of playing games and was tired of casual complacent Christianity, that I was gonna be all in, or not at all in. And I don't regret it at all. Could I be making more money doing something else? Could my life have taken a different path in a lot of ways? Absolutely. But I honestly can trace most of what my life now consists of back to that determined decision to go all out, and I can honestly say that I'm not perfect, but with all of the mistakes, failures, ups and downs along the way, I have no regrets and wouldn't trade it for anything. Surrender is beautiful, even though most of us don't think of it that way. It's a daily process, not always an easy one, and I'm still very much a work in progress. But I'm very thankful for the call of God on my life and for the decision I made 20 years ago to give up my own desires and surrender to His for me.

Soundtrack for a note:
"Nobody Loves Me" and "This World" by Derek Webb; "Safe" by Justin McRoberts; "Not Afraid to Be Me" by Kendall Payne; "Nothing Left to Lose" by Mat Kearney; "Control" by Mute Math

Leave Me Alone Mr. Good Intentions

2009-02-23T13:48:00.003-06:00

"When I get a chance." "I meant to..." "When I get around to it." "I fully intended to..." "I had every intention to..." "When I get things in order, I'll..." "When I get my life straightened out, I'll..." "When I finish dealing with _________, I'll ________."

Ah, those phrases sound so familiar to most of us, don't they? They are the lifeblood of American Christians at times, it seems. We make ourself feel 'better' about things by statements like this, if we are truly honest, don't we? "I'll come to church, when I get a free weekend." "I'll get involved in the youth group when I get things in order." "I'll get around to reading my Bible when things slow down a little bit." "If I finish studying for my test, I'll come to youth group." (by the way, did you just find out 5 minutes ago about that test? Not usually.) "When I get caught up on sleep, you'll see me around more." And on and on we go. At the core, we want to believe that nothing is wrong with those statements and that they help us justify certain things we do, or don't do. What a glorious thing, those 'good intentions.' We don't want to believe this is true, but honestly, the cliche' that says 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' is so true, isn't it? If we're honest, most of the time we NEVER get 'un-busy,' we NEVER get caught up, we never get things straightened out and ultimately we never get around to it as much as we want to believe we will, or even believe we ARE.

A band called Guardian that I loved when I was in high school has a song I still recall from back then...in it, the singer sings, "Good intentions are no guarantee..." In another song by a band I listened to back then, the band Believable Picnic simply sang "Leave me alone Mr. Good Intentions." Look, here's the deal. I believe that there are VERY few 'bad' people in the world. Very few people who wake up and go 'I'm gonna be evil, ugly, mean, etc, today.' Most of us fall along a line called "Good Intentions." We mean well. We realllllly do. We are committed...compared to most people. We are devoted...compared to most people. But God...doesn't...judge us...compared to most people...does He? The standard is perfection, and we're all short of it, but the price was paid by God Himself, through Jesus, the Son. And our level of comparison is not each other, but rather, it is Jesus. And if we use Him as our comparison, good intentions seem pretty lame, huh? I mean, what if HE had merely had 'good intentions' of going to the cross, when He got around to it, or if He took care of this and that other stuff? I'm glad He didn't use our lame good intentions. I'm glad He followed all the way and fulfilled His duty to the day of completion, fully and completely.

Lukewarmness disgusts God. We tend to think it makes us ok because in comparison to others, we are doing pretty well most of the time. But good intentions leads to halfhearted commitment, which leads to lukewarm living, which sickens God. So, let's nix the good intentions. Ultimately good intentions lead to weak and lame excuses. Instead, to quote another band I listened to back in the day, Degarmo and Key, "He died for me, I'll live for Him," our pledge, the least we can do. "I've been fighting against myself, and I've torn myself to pieces. I hear You calling, God I hear You calling, stand up, stand up, and spend yourself for Jesus. Too long have I been chained, I'm ready Jesus, set me free!" ("I'm Not Ready" by Cool Hand Luke)

(NEW concept, by the way, a list of what tunes are playing as I write:)
SOUNDTRACK FOR A NOTE: "I'm the Devil," by Bride; "Boomerang" by Mae, "Typical" by Mute Math, "Cinematic" and "I'm Not Ready" by Cool Hand Luke

Find Us Faithful II...

2009-02-22T14:53:00.002-06:00

I had so much to say in the previous entry that I wanted to continue it with another entry. If you read it, you'll remember that I wrote about faithfulness and used some stories from the Bible and talked about how faith happens in the moment but faithfulness is commitment over time. I hesitated initially to use what I'm about to write because I didn't want it to come across as conceited or anything like that. But I want to write about a couple of things in my own life that bear testimony to what faithfulness looks like. And I want to caveat this by saying that I don't mean to imply that if we are faithful we will always see the results and the rewards. Hebrews 11, especially the last part of it, makes it clear this is NOT going to be the case. But I wanted to point out a couple of specific cases in my own life that bear out how exciting faithfulness can be.

When I began at my current job, we had about 5-7 regularly active kids. They were, for the most part, good kids, but were not very committed to God ultimately. They made things interesting, and they enjoyed what we were doing, so they brought friends. It was a very slow go initially, though, and in the first 2 or so years, there were many times when I wondered if we were making any impact or getting through ultimately. Everyone was enjoying themselves, and we were growing, but I wasn't seeing a lot of visible, tangible results. I wondered ultimately what was going on and how much progress we were really making. Shortly after Tracy and I got married, however, we started to see change. We had a girl get saved the week after we got back from our honeymoon, in fact, a girl one we had been praying for the whole time she had been coming, and we baptized her soon after. This set off a period where over a 9 month period, we baptized 10 kids, and it was at least one a month for that time period. We started moving forward and saw more tangible proof that God was in it and working.

Fast forward a few years to about 2 1/2 years ago. We had perhaps the best year we had ever had, with people coming, numbers growing, and a consistent, exciting year. After our mission trip that year, however, we lost a LOT of people...3 families, representing 4 kids, moved to other churches, and we had several graduates that year as well. We also had a couple of years in a row with very few 7th graders who moved up and into our ministry and those who did never got fully engaged. I went through a several month period of really wondering if it was time to move on. However, it was around that time that things started to pick up and we 'reloaded' in a sense. The most exciting thing about that was that not only were we seeing kids get excited, but they were also bringing friends who were getting excited. That year, coming off of an incredible year and then heading into a year of uncertainty, wound up one of the most rewarding I'd ever had. We actually grew during the spring semester, which almost NEVER happened before. In the spring, you usually drop in numbers a bit because of all of the things that come with spring. Instead, we grew, and in the middle of that growth was one of the most doctrinal, theological type series I had ever done...a risk to be sure, and yet, God was obviously in it as we saw continued growth and exciting things happen.

Fast forward to THIS year. We had the best mission trip we've ever had last summer, and it was probably THE highlight of my time in youth ministy. However, almost immediately, and definitely within a month or so, we experienced about as big of uncertainty as I'd ever known. While we had an exciting and large group of new 7th graders coming in, we lost a huge, solid group of seniors who had been leaders and involved in everything we had done for so long. And through a variety of other situations and circumstances, other people we had been counting on for older type leadership, as well as a couple of youth workers I had counted on and some others who had been faithful last year and even involved on the mission trip, stopped coming for a variety of reasons. It seemed like we were battling a little bit of everything, to be honest...little skirmishes, all kinds of distractions, minor problems that accelerated, and so forth. We got super young almost overnight, and a lot of things changed. It took me a while to adapt and to adjust to this, and the fall semester was one of the more difficult I had faced in a while, in ways I don't even know how to put into words. To be totally honest, I had so many doubts on so many levels, and even wondered for one of the first times in my almost 11 years here if I had passed my point of effectiveness and needed to think about what was next or whatever. It was trying, to say the least. However, we hung in there, and this spring semester has seen some amazing stuff start to happen. We are still pretty young, but for the second spring in a row, we are growing in the spring semester, again during a 'doctrinal' type series that is going to become the longest continuous series (all semester) I've ever done. Kids are inviting people, and THOSE people are inviting others, and it is spiraling into something awesome because they are 'getting it' and getting friends involved and so forth. And, we are stepping out of what we've ever done before and going farther away, for a longer time, into more uncertainty, for our summer missions this summer, going to Baltimore Maryland, and it looks like we're gonna have a solid group numberswise and so forth, a great mix of young and old. And, at 34, and nearly 11 years into this gig, I'm not gonna lie and say it's all perfect, there are constant battles most people know NOTHING about, but I can honestly say that I'm as fulfilled and excited as I've ever been. They challenge me, push me, teach me, help me grow, and I wouldn't trade it for a thing.

Here's the deal...11 years is a LONG time (which is sad, but thats' for another entry) at a church. Most people don't stick with it and are constantly jumping from one ministry job to another. In ministry, just like in other areas of employment, there is something of a push to 'move up' and 'move on' and so forth. It would be easy to do just that, and the opportunities have been there. But for whatever reason, God has called me to rural Arkansas, a Southern Baptist Church many would consider small, to a group that is definitely larger than the 5-7 we started out with but may NEVER get to the numbers part of me would love to see. He's called me to invest myself, my very life, into this community, these kids, this church, these people. It's challenging. It's trying. It's demanding. It is a roller coaster. It pushes me. It pulls me. But I know, for this time in my life, God has called me to be faithful with THIS situation, and He has gradually allowed us to expand and grow and be given more and do more, often more than a little church of our size in a town of less than 1000 that is very working class and doesn't have a lot of resources. But God is not limited or bound by the things that we often alow ourselves to be bound by, and as long as I am faithful to do what He calls me to do, regardless of what anyone else may think, I am satisfied in Him and rewarded in ways I can't even put into words, ways that are true for here and are beyond my wildest imaginations in the hereafter. Until He calls me home, my responsibility is to be as faithful to what He gives me as I can be, and to invest what I have been given into those whom I have been given and to do it consistently and committedly to the best of my ability through HIS strength. And in the end, my faithfulness to that calling will allow me to echo Paul's sentiments in Philippians 4, where he states that he has found the secret of contentment in any circumstances because, as he said, I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength. Amen.

Find Us Faithful...

2009-02-21T22:14:00.005-06:00

Faith is a hot topic buzzword when it comes to Christianity. In fact, we even refer to Christianity as our faith. We are saved by faith, we step out in faith, we trust God in faith, we celebrate people's faith, we have faith that God will do certain things, we even have faith-healers. Faith is commonly talked about in churches and books and is a big part of what we do in Christianity. We even have an entire chapter commonly referred to as the "Faith Hall of Fame," Hebrews 11, which is an amazing chapter.

Significantly less popular to talk about, however, is a word that contains faith within it...faithful, or faithfulness. Why? Because faith, compared to faithfulness, is relatively easy. What do I mean? Well, faith takes place within a moment, while faithfulness takes perseverance, determination, commitment, steadfastness, holding on through whatever comes at us. It is the difference in something beyond momentary and something being lasting. I'm not saying faith is bad or trying to downgrade the importance of faith...it's hugely important. What I AM saying is that true faith, real faith, authentic faith, leads to faithfulness. True faith produces faithfulness, lasting commitment. In fact, so much so that the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11 really is the faithfulness Hall of Fame if we are honest, isn't it? Most, if not all, of those listed in Hebrews 11 had not just faith, but faithfulness...they held on through whatever came at them, through whatever life brought, through whatever circumstances and situations they encountered. And many, perhaps even most, of those listed in Hebrews 11 did not even get to see the ultimate fulfillment of the promises they were given. They held on, even to their death, in the hope of promises that their children and grandchildren and generations to follow saw the ultimate fulfillment of. They were unwavering in their commitment to God and to His promises. And they were rewarded for their faithfulness, so much so that they are held up before us as examples and models of faithfulness, of the kind of true and authentic and genuine faith and commitment God desires in each of us.

In a couple of different parables in the Gospels, Jesus tells stories that result in examples of either faithfulness with what one has been given, or the lack thereof. In the stories, people are given 5, 2 and 1 of something (i say something, because it's slightly different in the two different stories), while the manager goes off for a good while. The ones given 5 and 2 took theirs, were faithful with them, invested them in something worthwhile, and doubled what they had been given. The ones with 1 in both parables took theirs and buried it in fear and did nothing with theirs. The ones who doubled theirs were lauded for their faithfulness and told they would be given more, while the one who did nothing was chastised for his negligence and his stuff was given to the one given 5 originally. Within the stories are things like "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things," and "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." The points worth staking our lives on are these...God rewards our faithfulness, and God gradually gives more to us the better we show we can handle what we DO have. In other words, faithfulness shows God we are capable of being given more and more responsibility in the Kingdom work on earth. Sadly, far too many of us bury what we have. So I'm calling us all out on this...God has given each of us SOOOO much...are we being faithful with what we have? God will never use us in the BIG stuff if we cannot be faithful with what we have right now. But when we DO show faithfulness, the sky is the limit as to what God will give us to be used for Him and the places where He will take us and heights we will find ourselves going to with Him are absolutely limitless. While in the big picture, it's up to God, what we do with what we are given is up to us. Will we be faithful? If we will, we will experience His rewards in this life as well as in the life to come and we will find ourselves used in ways we cannot imagine. Are we living by faith, living just in the moment, or are we living faithfully, living for Him not just in moments but for the long haul and in all things all the time no matter what we face along the way? Faith opens the door but faithfulness is the road of risk and the journey and adventure that is in it for the long haul and brings eternal reward, joy and fulfillment.

Forever Young...

2009-02-21T21:48:00.002-06:00

I've written about this a few times in the past, but I want to touch on it again. I have been blown away so many times by the 'innocence' of young kids. Much of that has come from my own two kids, and that's part of it even today, but more recently, through having a child in school, I've seen it in so many other kids as well. I want to give a few examples, then I will discuss why it's a big deal to me.

Two separate times this school year, my wife and/or I have had kids in my son's kindergarten class just come out and tell us, people they barely know and know only really as the parents of one of their classmates, that their parents have split up. I'm not talking about a year or two ago or whatever. I'm talking about within days of the conversations I am discussing, and in the manner of "My daddy doesn't live with us anymore," or "My daddy moved out," or similar blunt honesty. Remember, we are talking about five year olds. Our hearts have just melted for those kids and what they are going through, knowing, obviously, that this is not uncommon, even among young kids. But wow, to hear those kids just come out and tell us that has broken our hearts. I wish I could do something for them, because these are really cute, really sweet little five year old girls who are living without their dads, at least for a time.

Another specific example I want to give relates to little kids talking about 'boyfriends' and 'girlfriends' and getting married, etc. Two different little girls in his class have, in the past 2 or 3 weeks, 'claimed' Bradley as theirs. One of them told him at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago "I wish you were my boyfriend," and then a week or so ago told me, when I was at school with him outside at recess after his Valentine's party, that she loves him. Then, yesterday, he came home from school and quietly and shyly told his mom that one of the other little girls in his class told him yesterday that he and she were gonna get married. We love both of those little girls, by the way, they are, at least for me, my favorites in his class. How cute and sweet, huh?

Finally, outside at school last week at the same time, I had several kids from his class and others, asking me my name, asking if I would play with them, inviting me to be a part of what they were doing, and asking me to watch them do specific stuff they were doing and thought was cool. And the same little girl who told me that she loved my son, also started calling me 'dad,' because my son told her that was my name, and then after she told me she loved him, also informed me that "I love you dad." It was really neat, and really showed me how much all of these kids just crave attention and care and love from adults.

Where am I going with this? Why do I think you care? Here's why...as I've said before, when, and why, and how, do we lose that innocence? That belief that the world is good, that people are good, that GOD is good, and so forth? Understand, I'm a realist, I understand what happens, I get it. But on another level, I'm saddened by it. In the Bible, on multiple occasions, Jesus both welcomed kids and also used them as models of faith and trust. Awesome concept, but somewhere along the way, for most of us, it gets lost, doesn't it? Again, I'm a realist, I understand. But isn't it sad that Jesus uses that childlike innocence as an example of the type of faith and trust that He wants us to have, yet most of us lose it somewhere along the way. Here's my point, and then I'm shutting up, for now...(re)-learn to trust...God, and people. (Re-)Learn to have faith, in God and that the world can be good again, and that we can have a part in that. (Re)-Learn that innocence and don't always be so jaded by the world around you. That type of faith, trust, and innocence is what Jesus lauded and applauded, and I think if we re-captured a portion of that, we might be able to make a dent in the world around us.

Scandalous Christianity...

2009-01-25T23:02:00.007-06:00

I don't know a whole lot about Kay Yow other than that she bravely battled breast cancer three separate times, twice in the past 3 years, and finally succumbed to it this weekend. Kay coached women's basketball at NC State for over three decades. All of the stuff I've heard about her from fellow coaches, etc, has been extremely positive and it seems she is leaving behind quite the legacy. Why I am talking about her, however, is because there is one thing that I heard on Sportscenter that will absolutely stick with me, and because all of the nice things said about her got me thinking about legacies.

The statement that will stick with me was made yesterday on ESPN. They said that among other things, her program was never under any NCAA scrutiny for violations of any type. That's cool, but that's not what impacted me. What got me interested and excited was this...the sportscaster said, "As far as we can tell, the closest Kay Yow ever got to scandal was one time when she got in trouble for smuggling Bibles into a foreign country on a basketball trip." That made me smile. As I said previously, I don't know much about Kay's life, but apparently she was a believer. And in thinking about that, I thought how awesome it is to be known for being such a solid person that the closest thing to scandal is something you've done for your faith that may have been illegal, but you did it anyways.

What if God's people were known for being scandalous like that? I'm not talking about the types of scandals that DO make the news as it relates to Christians falling. I'm talking about NOT being known for legalism, hypocricy, judgmentalism, pharasaical, wishy-washy living. I'm talking about us being so 'scandalous' with our faith that we are known for being unapologetically, unabashedly, unashamedly commited to God. We are known for loving people. We are known for kindness. We are known for serving. We are known for peacefulness. We are known for caring. We are known for sharing. We are known for commitment. We are known for reaching out. We are known for making people feel welcomed and loved and needed. We are known for sharing our faith through word and deeds alike. That would be one heck of a legacy, and it might just be scandalous. And it might just show people Christ. And it might just point them to Him. And it just might, in fact, impact and change our world. Think about it. May we live such Godly lives that the closest thing to scandal in our lives is what we do for Him.

State of Emergency....

2009-01-23T16:35:00.003-06:00

I've heard 'horror stories' from lengthy experiences in Emergency Rooms (ER's) all my life. I've had one experience there myself, when I broke my arm in church league softball two summers ago, but otherwise, the extent of my ER experience, for the most part, has been a couple of incidents where my dad had freak accidents and a handful of times I've had students in accidents and the like. Until last night. While I personally was at home with younger son sleeping and taking care of him, mom spent FOUR hours in the local ER with our older son. Why? Well...about 2:00 or so, he woke up complaining of stomach pain and crying. We started to give him some medicine, but before we even got that in him, he became literally hysterical in his crying and pointing to an area of the stomach that had sharp pain. We are not the type to overreact and rush the child to the doctor or ER for any little incident...in fact, we probably err on the side of underreacting at times, to be perfectly honest, although it's never been even close to problematic. But this was bad enough that though none of us wanted to do this, and we all wanted sleep, and we didn't want to spend the money, my wife decided to take him to the ER because it looked like nothing else was gonna work. So while younger son and I went back to sleep (he slept well, after waking up in the initial excitement), mom took older son to the ER. I woke up twice...once about 4:15, and once about 6:15, and called her both times to check on the prognosis and so forth. Ultimately, we spent FOUR hours and $100 to determine that he was...are you ready for this...EXTREMELY constipated. Yup. Nice, huh? They told her what to do, she did it, and gave him some medicine, that after he slept about 2 1/2 hours, it worked as we needed it to, and he went on to school a couple of hours late.

Nice story, huh? Where am I going with this, you ask? I'm glad you asked. I got to thinking about all of this as today went on. Obviously, if we had had some kind of 'major medical emergency' that was more life or limb-threatening, they would have (hopefully) been a lot quicker and so forth. But honestly, the four hours didn't surprise me because of stuff I've been told all my life about ER's. I'm sure they do excellent work when it is life-threatening, but when 'all you have' is a broken arm, expect at least a couple of hours (for me, it was 2 1/2), and if you are 'extremely constipated,' it can take four. I looked up the definition of "emergency" out of curiosity earlier. Here are the two definitions I found at the first site I looked at:

A serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action.
A condition of urgent need for action or assistance: a state of emergency

I think those are good definitions, but when you think about what I've just told you, isn't it somewhat hypocritical for an 'emergency' (and in our town ANYTHING in the middle of the night is an emergency b/c there are no other options) to take 4 hours to deal with? If it's 'serious,' 'demands immediate action,' and requires 'urgent need for action or assistance,' then no matter how you look at it, the inefficiency we encountered is oxymoronic to the very definition of emergency.

Hang with me, here's where I'm going with this. I got to thinking about how, sadly, for MOST people who call themselves 'believers,' or 'Christians,' we treat our faith like the ER treated my son's situation (and many others I've encountered over time), don't we? We don't consider it something that though we have it, for others it is a 'state of emergency' in that they DON'T have what we have, and their condition, because of sin and self, is critical and demands attention. But we don't treat it like it is a life and death situation very frequently, do we? Isn't it, though? In fact, it goes beyond life and death physically into the spiritual implications of life and death, doesn't it? If this is true, then the world around us is in a state of emergency, comparable to some of the physical 'state of emergency' situations we've seen in recent years. If it matters so much to us, this faith we claim, this God we follow, this Christ we serve, then shouldn't we realize, shouldn't we recognize, the state of emergency that those who live without Him are in? Shouldn't we live our faith more consistently? Shouldn't our actions point to Him, and point them to Him? And shouldn't we be a LOT more willing than most of us are most of the time to share the reason for the hope we have? (1 Peter 3:15). Think about it. How much do we care about them? How much do we want them to have what we have? It's not entirely up to us, but what IS up to us is to do our part to help them find the treatment they need so they can find what we claim is so important to us.

Top Songs from the Top Albums of 2008...

2009-01-16T22:38:00.002-06:00

I tried to keep the last post as short as possible for what it was, but in so doing, I didn't get to go into much depth about individual songs within each album. So, here is a re-hashing of that list, with at least one song from each mentioned to give you songs you could check out if you're interested in the albums and knowing more. These are not the ONLY songs I like on each, just some favorites. for a full list of albums and thoughts on them, from 1-30, see my previous note.

1. Cool Hand Luke--The Sleeping House album; songs: "Cast Your Bread," "Failing in Love," "Buy the Truth," "Wondertour"

2. Coldplay--Viva La Vida album; songs: "Cemeteries in London," "Life in Technicolor," "Viva La Vida."

3. Justin McRoberts--Deconstruction album; songs: "Done Living," "When it Don't Come Easy," "On the Night You Were Betrayed."

4. Fleet Foxes (Self-titled album); songs: "Sun it Rises," "White Winter Hymnal," "He Doesn't Know Why," "Your Protector"

5. Reign of Kindo--Rhythm, Chord and Melody album; songs: "Moments In Between," "Til We Make Our Ascent," "Something in the Way That You Are."

6. Gabe Dixon Band (Self-titled album); songs: "Disappear," "All Will Be Well," "Five More Hours"

7. Dave Barnes--Me and You and the World album; songs: "Brothers and Sisters," "Good World Gone Bad," "Until You"

8. Jon Foreman--Spring and Summer EP's; songs: "Baptize My Mind," "Your Love is Strong," "Resurrect Me," "House of God Forever"

9. The Myriad--With Arrows, With Poise album; songs: "You Waste Time Like a Grandfather Clock," "Forget What You Came For," "The Holiest of Thieves," "A Thousand Winters Melting."

10. House of Heroes--The End is Not the End album; songs: "In the Valley of the Dying Sun," "Faces," "Voices," "Field of Daggers."

11. Welcome Wagon--Welcome to the Welcome Wagon album; songs: "Up On a Mountain," "He Never Said a Mumblin' Word," "But for You Who Fear My Name."

12. Anberlin--New Surrender album; songs: "Blame Me! Blame Me!," "Retrace," "Breathe," "Miserabile Vissu (Ex Malo Bonum)"

13. Thrice--Alchemy Index Volume III and IV album; songs: "Daedulus," "Moving Mountains," "The Earth is Humming," "Come All You Weary"

14. Andrew Peterson--Resurrection Letters Volume II album; Songs: "All Things New," "All You'll Ever Need," "Love is a Good Thing," "The Good Confession" (I Believe)

15. Downhere--Ending is Beginning album; songs: "Here I am," "All at War," "The Problem," "The Beggar Who Gives Alms"

Some of the best songs from 16-30

Red Umbrella "Prison Side," "Babbling Brook"
Jud and Maggie "Whitewashed Tomb"
Michael Gungor Band "Say So"
Third Day "This is Who I Am," "Let Me Love You"
Katie Herzig "I Hurt Too," "Hologram"

That's plenty to chew on. Enjoy. Hope 2009 is as good, or better, 2008 brought me plenty of great music to be very happy, even with music A.D.D. haha.