Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

So, let just get all the cards on the table. . .what do you love more than anything? New phone that even ol' 007 would be jealous of? The kids? Or the job that you can't wait to get to - OK, that's probably not realistic for most of you? Maybe it's a family heirloom that you cherish more than anything? But whatever it is, I think there's something we all have that we would do almost anything to keep from losing. . .the "it" . Ok, now that we've established what we love. What would happen if you did lose it? How would you feel if you lost your precious piece of tech gadgetry? What emotions flood your soul at the thought of letting go of your child? What if, like many in the last couple of years, there wasn't a place for you to wake up and go to? How would you justify loosing Grandma's cherished heirloom. Can you feel the anxiety? Chest tightening up? Tears pooling up in your eyes? Getting angry? What if losing " it " wou...

I was getting coffee this morning when I realized that I moved one coffee cup to get another. And I asked myself, Why did you do that? Without thinking I responded, Well . . . didn't really want to drink from a cup with flowers on it. I'm a man, you know! I have three basic cups that I prefer to drink coffee from. It's either one of our plain white ones - kinda like you get at the local diner where breakfast is cheap, good, and greasy. Or it could be one of my Starbucks cups - they have all been gifts and they're a little bigger so I don't have to refill as often. Then there's my Harley Davidson cup - nuff said. It's not for a lack of cups. We've got more coffee cups that two people will ever use. . .they're nice to have when we have company. Keeps them from drinking coffee from a glass or travel mug - that's a topic for another post. We have a collection of cups with Goofy on them, and yes, they are Cindy's. We got some that othe...

This morning I'm a little discombobulated. Slept like a rock, but can't seem to get going. Forgot my journal at the office and now my quiet time is a little off, like it's not quite finished. This week Has been a busy, but very productive. And if things keep going the way they are it will be a very, very productive week. It seems that my role as administrator at Greater Gresham moved to the forefront this week. Friday & Saturday we lost water pressure at the church. Not completely, but enough that when we started flushing toilets and making coffee that was all she wrote. Saturday night I kept trying to picture people running to the trees on the back of the property or their face when they realized there wasn't any water to flush the commode. Got that figured out Saturday night. . .turned out it was an easy fix. WHEW! On a totally unrelated note, our compressor that keeps our sprinkler system charged also went out. I kept waiting for the pressure to drop e...

Ever have one of those kinda deja vu moments. I'm not talking about the regular deja vu kinda thing where you think or feel you've already seen or been a part of what's happening. Like that's not strange enough. Let's admit here and now that something like that happening is stinkin' freaky. What I'm talking about is one of those moments where you hear or read about something and you can picture that happening in real life. Know what I mean? Maybe it's not deva vu in it's literal sense, but you've lived or know someone who's lived what you're reading or seeing. Kinda spooky for me, too. Anyway, so I'm walking through the life of Jacob and the macabre relationship he has with Laban and his two daughters, Leah & Rachel. In verses 1 & 2 of Genesis 30 Rachel is all " Give me some babies, or I'll die!!! " Jacob responds angrily, " Don't blame me. Blame God! He's the one keeping you from having ba...

Got up early this morning. Maybe I should say earlier this morning. Normally I'm up around 6:00 in the morning. I like to get up, grab a cup of joe, go to my office and spend time with God. Lately, I've been getting up a little later than normal. But this morning the alarm went off on the ol' crackberry and I got up - 6:15-ish. One thing that I know about myself is that if I have time I will find something to fill it with - usually with stuff that distracts me from getting done what I already have planned. Know what I mean? This morning was no different. I was reading Psalm 116 and listening to the Chris Tomlin channel on Pandora . All is good. Then I remembered a blog I wanted to start following - Stuff Christians Like by John Acuf. So I searched it out and subscribed to it. Then I remembered my friend, Gene's , blog and had this cool Facebook badge I thought about adding to my blog. Then I played around with the size thingy of the badge - wanted to see ...

Ever read something for the umpteenth time and one day it all clicks. . . you have that " AHA! " moment? The 115th Psalm was that for me this morning. I've probably read it. . . . . . . ok, I've read it a bunch. We'll just go with that. But there are couple of things that caught me eye and spoke to me. First, part of the 1st verse happens to be the chorus to a Chris Tomlin song. Pretty cool, eh? The song just happens to be called Not to Us . Go figure. 1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, I like it because it removes us from the center of our self-centered lives and tendencies and places God smack dab in the middle. It says that it's about God and it's NOT about us. Thank you psalmist for the great reminder. Second, the writer then goes on to describe gods made by man. He writes. . . 4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men . 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they can...

As I was thinking back on that memorable day here are some things that I remembered: I was on staff at Carpenter's Way Baptist Church in Lufkin, Tx. We were in the middle of a week-long performance of Titanic Moment. It was about 9:00 am and I was about to head into the office for another long day. I was on the phone with my dad when we both realized that a plane had struck the Pentagon. We were both thinking " Holy Cow, a plane just flew into the Pentagon! " I headed to the office to join the rest of the staff where I/we watched the planes strike the World Trade Center Towers. We watched agasped at the horror, not realizing they were totally intentional. Then we watched them fall. . .I thought of the lives, the families, the public servants. That night we went ahead with the performance. The events of that day gave a grave sense of urgency to the idea that we all will face our titanic moment and how important it is to know where we would spend eternity. I don...

We often believe, for one reason or another, that we have it hard as Christ-followers. Let me be the first to say, if you live in America, that's a farce and lie straight from the depths of hell. I've been in the bush of Tanzania and found life there a lot tougher than most of us have it. I'm not saying that we don't go through difficult patches at times - for proof check out another blog of mine called In the Midst of the Valley . And I admit that there are men, women, and children suffering in ways I could never imagine right here in the good ol' US of A. I get that. But for most of us who are claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ, we've gotta admit, we really don't have it so rough. But not matter where I've lived and served in ministry I hear how difficult it is to share the gospel. . .to reach people for the Kingdom of God. I've even been one of those people. Then this morning I read about Noah who not only built a stinking huge boat, bu...

It's that time of year sports fans! The time of the year when Saturdays begin to get a little cooler, leaves on the trees begin to turn colors, and guys who shouldn't stand in stadiums without shirts and their home team's colors painted on their bodies. You got it! IT'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!!! I have to be perfectly honest here. . .why do people say that, as though I can be imperfectly honest any other time? . . .this is my favorite time of the year. I love high school and college football. These guys have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Some will give it their all and never play another down after their senior season. I love the camaraderie among the athletes as well as the connection between the team and their fans. I mean, where else do you see a bunch of people in a stadium, crammed together, dressed in two distinct colors (unless they are both the same color), yelling their brains out? I think people get behind professional teams, but they are not near...

Leadership Network is hosting The NINES online leadership experience again this year on. . .you guessed it 09/09/10 ( Sept 09, 2010 ). You will get to hear over 100 speakers give their best stuff in 6 minute clips. No fluff. No stories. Just the goods. I attended last year and heard some amazing things. If you're a leader - paid or not - you can register for free - click here . All you need is access to the internet and some time to listen to some of the best and brightest leaders around. This year's focus is. . . Don't miss out on an incredible opportunity to get in on this. Mike