upward & inward

One of last week's text message conversations between me and my bride: Me : These folks at {the local pharmacy} are SO slow. I won't be coming back. Sherry: They must be very thorough. Ha! I love my bride. She is SO positive. This was just what I needed to read as I was standing in line. Earlier this month, on May 14, we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to be the husband of this precious daughter of yours!

I recently heard of an interesting quote (albeit third hand) from a collection of folks who were asked to help in the children's ministry at our church: "we're not going to serve [at church] because we only want to be fed." Whuh? Those who have been called through Jesus to be the sons and daughters of the Living God have a unique privilege under the sovereignty of God. The privilege? To be living sacrifices for God. "Therefore, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." - Romans 12:1. A privilege? Yes, a privilege. Wait. It gets better. When we offer ourselves humbly to God in this way, we get to be transformed. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will." - Romans 12:2. This is huge. If we offer our bodies to G

Communication, no matter how hard you work at it, is never fully accomplished. Storms are really strong in Wichita, Kansas. But, if we let Him, God can penetrate the scariest storms and most difficult of times to illuminate, fascinate, and transform us into the likeness of His Son. I'm 3 months into being tired of presidential campaigns. True authenticity is truly rare. Fear of anything but the Lord is the most effective satanic weapon - and pride is number 2 on that hit parade. When God changes us, everything around us is changed, too. We cannot underestimate the sphere of influence He has given each of us. And, sometimes, while the resulting change is not what we expected or wanted, it remains in His divine sovereignty and plan, nonetheless. The larger the church, the more property and stuff there is. The more property and stuff there is, the larger the storage problem. The larger the storage problem, the more stuff we need to get rid of. Getting rid of stuff is harder than it s

Here is a funny video of a live skit/musical number about the importance of volunteers in a church. The writer of this skit (and my niece) is Kristin Baker - in the skit, she plays the wife of the couple who are considering how they might volunteer. She did a GREAT job. Well done, Kristin!

Our middle son, Cameron, just got his driver's permit a few weeks ago and he and I went out in the Swedish Chariot to begin the "Introduction to a Manual Transmission" course. He did great and easily picked up the nuance of getting started in first gear without stalling the engine. Of course, he loved getting away from the video game version and into real life driving.

Dear Leader , What were you thinking? What chain of thoughts and events led you to this point? It's clear that your world, as you knew it, has imploded but are you sad about it? You're probably sad about losing all you held dear - your family's respect and confidence, your reputation, your job - but does your grief include God? And, if you were able to help others avoid this, what would you say to them? Here are a few thoughts to consider: Pay attention to what you think about. If you have time to think, what do you think about? Is it of God? Your loved ones? Yourself? Or, are your thoughts consumed with that which distracts (rather than attracts) you from God? Monitor that which captures your attention. What do you read? What movies, shows, music do you watch and/or listen to? Count your blessings and name them one by one. Each one. And, because blessings only come from God, what we don't count as blessings are things that distract us from Him. Find someone to hold you

We're going to try for Wednesday night at the church. Hopefully, this change will accommodate more schedules. We'll be studying week 6 questions in Acts (which are on the right hand side of the blog).

Last week, April 28th, my buddy Greg Capsel turned over another "click" on his odometer (I'll let him tell you how many clicks that adds up to be...:). Happy Birthday, Senor Greg.

Seems easier said than done sometimes… I was reminded recently that organizations often fail when they spread themselves too thin by focusing outside of their core business or function. This has come up a lot lately – both in conversation and in reading. Why is that? I believe it is because God uses repetition to get my attention. Here are the primary focuses: Jesus . I know. Duh. But, how many marriages have failed because one in the relationship has taken the other for granted? In order that we (the bride) don't take Him (the Bridegroom) for granted, we must keep Him at the forefront of our worship, our celebration of His Leadership, and our intentional spiritual growth. KIDS and Student Ministries . In this world we live in, these precious ones are too often being left behind spiritually. Moreover, their parents are looking to God and the church for answers. We need to remember that Jesus uses us (His church) to love others to Himself. When we let Jesus love through us, we’re

http://note-to-cmo.blogspot.com/2008/02/note-to-cmo-context-is-king.html Great post on context in the sense of the importance of the perception of the messenger in addition to the message itself. Leadership applications? Positional leadership (again) only goes so far. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Once a leader sets the initial perception, it's difficult to change it without a lot of time (and grace. Thoughts?

It's been a crazy week and one where I've not written like I should. God still demonstrates that He is faithful, just, full of grace, mercy, and love. Two of my boys (Cameron and Lewis, left to right) were in their first play at Maize High School - a production of Wilder's Our Town. Although they had small parts in the play, they did well. When God said that we'd be moving to Wichita, Kansas, I was eager to serve, but wondered if we'd really like it here. Well, I'm thankful to say that the people are kind, the storms are strong, and His impact upon this community is equally powerful and efficacious (look it up...:). National Day of Prayer was May 1. I have mixed feelings about it. From what people at Central have told me, it was a blessing to so many. That is pleasing to me. What I wonder about is this: if we are focused on changing lives (turning uncommitted people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ), then how many of those outside the church were a