So Proud Of...

I got these amazing friends...

Stepping Up to the Challenge

Last week I took several high school students from my church to a Christ In Youth (CIY) conference in Cleveland TN. It was a fantastic week. We laughed. We danced. We cried...or at least I did, what can I say, I'm a crier.

I love life change. I especially love when that life change is spurred by an encounter with Jesus. And even more so when that life change occurs in students. I think my students had that moment. And it's amazing, because if you were to ask my on the last night of the conference I would have said that hadn't really, and that the week was more about the fun and games. But these kids have come back and after a few days they haven't crashed from their conference high...yet?...and are busy making plans to complete challenges and raise money for an organization called Active Water.

For instance, one student was challenged to organize a carnival in a 'under privileged neighbor'. He's formulating plans with others in the group.

Another two accepted a challenge to help some younger children learn to read. Tomorrow they

 already start volunteering at the local library.

One was asked to lead a weekly Bible study with his family. And I'm so proud to have read the following on Facebook this evening.

RePost: Eric Epperson

I thought I'd repost this blog post by Eric Epperson.  Eric is on staff at Christ In Youth (CIY) as a program director for their summer conferences called Move.  Specifically Eric lead the event I attended last week.  I have to give him some serious kudos, especially after one of the speakers went down sick and he filled in at the last minute with a great message.
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Serving the Church Kool-Aid

I just witnessed one of the loudest MOVE sessions I have ever seen. When the night came to a close and Caleb Rowden and his band struck the final chord, the crowd noise alone rivaled a jet engine. It was the type of noise that rattles your eardrums, causing a swishing noise that sounds like something between wind and a banshee on ecstacy.

What I witnessed tonight was a moment... no, an experience. I'll put tonight, for those 1,400 people, up against any concert or sporting event in the country. It was that solid. The experience was happening right in front of us. It wasn't fake. We were all creating it. As a creative programmer, I couldn't be more excited about what our team pulled off. As a revolutionary, I was filled with expectations.

At MOVE, we love lights, guitar solos, film, and crowd noise that breaks 100 dB. But to say that we do all of those things for the sake of doing those things would be a lie. We crank up the speakers (this one goes to 11) because we desire to create moments that will propel students to do big things with their lives. Boil it all down and you see that we call Kingdom Workers.

But you ask, aren't you just brainwashing high school students? It's all crowd mentality stuff, right? Get them all worked up and serve them the Kool-Aid?

Maybe you can call it brainwashing. But I know better. I've walked the high schools were they live. I know what their home life is like. Life is too hard to live out the things we teach unless you are committed.

No, we don't serve Kool-Aid but we do serve vision. And plenty of it. I'm not ashamed to admit that I believe the students I worshiped with tonight can solve some of the big problems we face. $40K towards rescuing young girls from sex-trafficking? They did it. Feeding families Thanksgiving dinner by the hundreds? I've seen the newspaper clippings. They did that too. Putting a huge dent in the water crisis in Zambia? Give them time and they'll check it off the list as well.

I recently read a book by Allen Hertzke, a political science professor I know at the University of Oklahoma. The book, entitled "Freeing God's Children", is about religious persecution around the world. Dr. Hertzke states that there is no better network in the country better equipped to tackle the big political issues than... get this... the local church. Change won't come from major corporations or the political parties. The vision, and the mobilization, for change comes from the church.

That's why we do lights and loud music. Experience leads to change and change leads to action.

Please don't read this and thing I am bragging. It's not about MOVE. We're not the ones going out and making the big changes in communities all across the country. Dr. Hertzke is right. The church is doing that. All we are doing is providing the experience that points them in the right direction.

Is that forcing them to drink the Kool-Aid? I don't think so. But if it is... we'll be handing out refills tomorrow.

CIY:Move 2010

I leave Monday morning with my high school students to Christ In Youth's Move Conference.
In high school I attended CIY conferences, always in Colorado.  And then I choose the Bible college I attended, largely based on it's proximity to CIY's headquarters.  I interned with CIY in the summer of 1999.  And I've taken numerous students to Conference in the past.
But I'm really looking forward to taking my current students this summer.  It's gonna be a great week.  We are even throwing in some white water rafting during an extended recreation one day.

Andrew Peterson's "Dancing in the Mine Fields"

I love this!

Andrew Peterson's "Dancing in the Mine Fields" (sorry the video's only at this linked website...go watch it!)

Andrew Peterson is one of my absolute favorite artist and he just released his very first video. He's been writing and playing music for almost 15 years now and this is his first video...about time. Also his new album is coming out soon, make sure you pick it up. http://www.andrew-peterson.com/.

Quote: Audrey Hepburn

““For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry, For Beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day, For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.””

- Audrey Hepburn

Quote: Elizabeth Gilbert

“Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be… a prudent insurance policy.”

- Elizabeth Gilbert

My Girl Friday (#2)

I still believe that "walked" can be true.  But until then I'll keep walking.

Just not in Chucks.

Because we're talking miles here, and one needs some good foot support.

Video: Chad Overman - "If I Go"

I want to introduce you to a friend of mine; Chad Overman.  

Chad and I were in a community group in San Antonio and at first I could only just tolerate Chad.  For at least three reasons: (1) He just so pretty, (2) when he first went to shake my hand I reached out and he quickly turned his into a fist at the last second for a fist bump...this annoyed me for some reason, and (3) Chad has some long fingernails on his strumming hand which still creep me out.  

But Chad's a great guy who has worked through some tough challenges and has gained some valued wisdom.  After I somehow fell into the role of "leader" for that group I really appreciated Chad's insights and questions, especially when I wasn't as prepared as I should have been.  

Also Chad married a great gal, Jamie.

And his dad was once a motivational speaker!!!  

Here's Chad's video for a song off his upcoming album Songs For The Searchers.  Buy it here.

Time Comforts

12:34
11:11
10:10
2:22
1:23
3:45
Apparently there are some times of the day that I find really comforting.  Times when all the numbers are the same or when they are in some sort of sequential order just seem better to me.  When I happen to look at a clock and it reads these times I get slightly giddy and all right in the world.
Now if it's a normal time like 1:20 or 12:54 or some other random time that doesn't fit the previously mentioned criteria there's no big.  I can look at the clock and be just fine.  I'm not a freak.
However, if it's 12:33 or 11:10 or 3:44 somethings off.  When the time is just a minute away from one of the comfort times I feel the need to sit and wait until the time changes to a more comforting time.
Please don't think I'm weird.

Photo: Jus' Checkin'

I completely get this cartoon.  Some days keeping up with all the accounts is exhausting.  However, I still contend that it beats a 100 phone calls and writing out a letter by hand (an excruciatingly painful activity for me).  So I'll keep "jus' checkin'".

(thanks)

Photo: My Nephew Keaton

This is my nephew Keaton.
How cute is this kid?
In my family we play a game called "Dibs".  The last to call "dibs" has to change the diaper, or give the bath, or wade out through the mud to get the kid.  It's a race with horrible repercussions for the loser.  (We're a real maternal breed.)
"Dibs".

FYI.

Video: What's My Motivation?

This is interesting.


Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose

I've been dwelling on those three factors all afternoon.

My Girl Friday (#1)

I've been thinking for some time that I should probably start putting pen to paper on some thoughts that I don't tend to share much.  But just the thought of actually scribbling something out is cramping my writing hand, so let's just type it up on this here blog.  A lot of times these thoughts just end up floating around in the primordial soup that is my mind and never solidify themselves.  (In fact I'm thinking that I need to establish several blogging thought lines and this might be a good first start.)
I'm going to call these "My Girl Friday" because I'll publish them only on Fridays and because His Girl Friday is a fun movie, which is free to watch at Hulu.
I usually don't share my 'single-and-looking' thinking because I don't want to be one of those obnoxious guys who seem to only think and talk and whine and complain and muse about their singleness.  I loathe the fact that I'll be that guy just on Fridays.  There have been a few of those people in my life and when they begin down this path I generally find an excuse to leave the room.  (And if you find an excuse to not read along with, I'm okay with that.)
Honestly though I necessarily don't mind being single, it affords me many things.  I can decide last minute to not fly to my brother's wedding, but drive cross country and catch a couple of baseball games along the way.  I go to movies when I want, and the movies I want.  I can work late without disappointing anyone.  And so many other scenarios; things that I think Paul would agree with when he wrote about it being better not to marry.
However, while I'm still rocking the single life at age 31, if you would have told me as a child, as a teenager, as a college student, in my twenties that I would be single at this age I would have thought that was nuts.  Maybe it's the wedding season, and the numerous friends getting married this year that is spurring some of this, but truth be told I really do want to be married someday.  I don't think I was meant for singleness.
Let me wrap this post up.
I don't know exactly how this will all look, but we'll figure it out.  Let me know if it get's annoying.

(tbc)

Story: In Construction

At my brother's wedding recently I was hanging out with some great high school friends of mine.  As it tends to happen stories of days gone by were told.  And we told a lot.  One that my good friend Ryan Charest and I laughed at was about a last minute decision to attend a concert.

[The following story is in no way an endorsement for poor decision making.  If you learn from this you're an idiot and I'm surprised you were able to learn from this.]

Ryan and I had just gotten off a 8 hour shift at the McDonald's we worked at, and because we were always hanging out, we started driving around trying to figure out what kind of trouble we could get into.  Because the crowd of ladies at the local ice cream place didn't seem to capture our attention we decided to attend a concert.
My youth pastor, Bob Cole, had this musician he really liked.  At least he played this Christian artist's music video once a year during a Wednesday night youth group meeting.  But for the life of me I can't remember the artist name.  Neither could Ryan.
The only problem was the concert started in half an hour and Ryan and I needed to swing by my place and find something other than our McDonald's uniform to wear.  Now that I think about it, we actually thought we could successfully hit on girls in our McDonald's gear.  Which only tells you just how cool we were.  Or weren't.
After a quick stop at my house and a quicker change of clothes, we contacted our friend (and youth pastor's son) Brian Cole, and convinced him to join us.  Then like Bo and Luke we skidded across the hood of my 4-cylinder Isuzu I-Mark and headed out.
However, despite our quick stop, our problem only had gotten bigger.  Or shorter.  I don't know.  The concert was in Spearfish, and we were in Rapid City, which according to Google Maps is 48.1 miles away, or 51 minutes.  And we only had 30 minutes to make it in time.  Plus we needed to stop off in Black Hawk (which was along the way) and pick up Brian.
But it wasn't like we were in a hurry.  We didn't really even care about the music, per se.  We were just bored and being late was better than doing nothing.  So as we travel in our nonchalant manner, we were listening to music and singing and laughing and telling stories and just being teenagers.
That is until I looked down and noticed my speedometer.  We were rolling down the road at 115 mph.  I said, "hey guys, we're look how fast we're going."   We marveled at this for about 10 seconds.  Then I noticed something else.  "Hey guys.  We're going 115 in construction."  Yep that's right.  I was driving 115 mph in construction.  I kept going for another minute, because I wanted to continue to look like I intended to be traveling that fast. But then I quickly slowed down to a more respectable speed of, like, 85 mph.
When we arrived at the concert location we learned that we were an hour early.  I swore to myself that I would never speed like that ever again.  That was until a few months later.  But I promise I've only driven that fast twice.
Again I can't remember who the musician was, but Ryan and I did remember that his guitarist name was George.  We could remember because we spent the evening singing between songs, "George. George. George of the jungle.  Friend to you and me.  Watch out for that tree!"  [Remember that? I put the youtube clip at the end to remind you, just in case.]
I don't attempt to explain our behavior, except to say that we were problem strung out on Mellow Yellow and candy cigarettes.
Later we traveled home at a reasonable speed.  As we passed other vehicles we would turn on the dome light in my Isuzu I-Mark and start pumping our arms like we were running past them.  Then while passing what seemed like the 15th vehicle I notice flashing red and blue lights in my rear view mirror.
I started to panic.  I speed up to pull in front of the car we were passing and began to slow down on the shoulder.  "I don't think I speeding.  Is pretending to run past other vehicles with the dome light on illegal?"  None of us knew.
But the state trooper didn't pull me over.  In fact he just sped past me at a ridiculous and unsafe speed.
Now I was scared to death, or at least scared to get a ticket.  I continued on at a slower than speed limit pace.  Then all the cars we had just passed began passing us.  Finally the last car passed us and as it did a middle aged woman flipped on her dome light, pretended to be running past us, stopped, then pointed and laughed at us.  She was awesome!
That's all the story we tell, but I'm sure we ended up crashing in one of our basements and watching Billy Madison.

#RoadTrip2010 - By The Numbers

7 Days
5 Days of Travel
2590+ miles
$12 total in tolls
9 States
11 stops for gas
1 choco taco
1 wedding
1 cigar
1 1am breakfast
1 trip up and down the Gateway Arch
2 gnomes
1 frisbee golf course w/ 9 holes
2 rounds of frisbee golf
2 frisbee discs found
2 MLB games
25 Runs scored
48 Hits
8 Homeruns
1 Error
1 Movie
1 "best movie theater ever"

Okay, to be honest, I didn't really count things as I went along.  And I can't really think of anything else I could accurately count.  So I'm going to end this list.

Road Trip 2010

Garner, North Carolina to Blair, Nebraska 

With several stops along the way.

Tomorrow I hitting the road and going to be brother's wedding in Nebraska.  I know, right?  Nebraska?
Here's the route: do you know of any good stops along the way.
I'll be twittering and twitpic-ing along the way.  Even photos of these tiny gnomes someone put in my car. (http://tweetphoto.com/23650357) Maybe you'll see them at a ball game?

Dennis Hopper & I

"There are moments that I`ve had some real brilliance, you know. But I think they are moments. And sometimes, in a career, moments are enough. I never felt I played the great part. I never felt that I directed the great movie. And I can`t say that it`s anybody`s fault but my own." - D.I.

I'd love to sit down with this guy and have a few Dr Peppers.  I mean seriously, he was in Speed!

"A Man's Eye"

It was a good run.  I saw that coming, but I don't think I saw it coming.  And if that makes any sense you must be a writer for Lost.

I'm still trying to figure out what the heck all that was, but the one tin I know is that it was awesome!

Great show.

Quote: Theodore Roosevelt

““It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.“”

- – President Theodore Roosevelt