faith needs to grow ... grow up!

i had some thoughts this week about growing up in Christ....Ephesians suggests that we need to no longer remain as children but rather grow up into all things in Him! being followers of Christ requires alot but promises more! Christianity is by definition comprehensive...it envelops all of life. if our faith and understanding do not grow, we will fall into the rut of giving attention to the more appealing parts of the Christian faith and neglect all that is has to offer.
immediate interests can make our Christian walk lopsided...we may fight battles valiantly without learning to rest in Him and thus exhaust ourselves and perhaps become cynical...we may discipline ourselves to maturity but never experience grace and therefore become rigid and self-righteous...we may be healed of our problems but rarely accept the pain and sacrifice of helping others...we may climb the mountains of success (financial, spiritual, relational, etc) yet refuse to descend into the pits of defeat where the majority of people live.
imagine with me that you have just been given a new fully furnished and equipped home...choose your entrance way into the house...did you choose the front door, back door, garage, porch, a window? let's just say that your choice led you directly into the kitchen area and since you were so hungry you stopped and made yourself a giant sandwich and devoured it...then you took a nap just to wake up into to prepare for dinner...you settle into the kitchen and gradually forget about the rest of the house. or you slipped into an entrance that led you directly to the library and you find your favorite book on one of the shelves...you hibernate in the high-backed leather chair, cover up with a blanket and begin to read...soon you are so cozy that you never want to get up. maybe it is the game room or the bedroom or the office...any of the rooms can divert our attention from all that the house has to offer by demanding our concentration to that one interest...
and sadly, I feel like we stay in those rooms and fall into that trap in our following of Christ...we become attracted to one interest or ministry and our following of Him becomes only as big as that interest and our world becomes small...and the abundant life becomes lopsided....
let's grow up together...and experience all that abundant life has to offer!

acquire the fire

more memories came rushing back this week...Friday afternoon after spending the day in one of my out-of-town offices I took Luke to the Sundance hotel to meet the other young people from his youth group. they were gathering to go to Acquire the Fire...a convention that will bring together thousands of young people with the goal of igniting their passion for Jesus! I was so excited that Luke wanted to go...he was really ready and excited. the memories of youth conventions gone by rushed through my heart and mind as I dropped him off. I'm so thankful for Art and Trish Seib, our youth pastors...they made it easy for me to feel confident about leaving him so far from home. I pulled to the back of the hotel and sat in my truck and just cried for several minutes. I know God has big plans for Luke's life...it is one of my greatest joys to help steer him toward his destiny.
i love you luke!

your time is coming soon too hope, noah, and nate! God has big plans for each of you!
i love you hope! i love you noah! i love you nate!

piano brings back memories

there are many things in life that can bring back a memory from your childhood or a time in your life that you really enjoyed...this week as I listened from the distance to Hope practicing here piano it brought back a flood of memories for me to when I used to take piano lessons and play in recitals...I can remember the proud look on my mother's face when I used to play...I feel exactly the same way about Hope...she is learning so quickly and is really good. I think she'll stick with it and be an accomplished pianist one day. I heard her playing a version of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee"...I remember playing that song as a young boy.
Take some time to remember the simple joys that life offers.

the last first

some of life's last firsts can be exciting and sad all at the same time...we just had one of those this week. nate (our 6 year old son) lost his first tooth...he was excited, scared, uncertain...the tooth was so loose it could have just fallen out...after pleading with him to let me get it he finally agreed...however he kept biting my fingers as I tried to get a grip on the tooth...after about 30 minutes of great effort we got the tooth out...he said it didn't even hurt and he didn't cry at all! What a big boy!
As a dad those first experiences with a child are great moments that will be remembered...but knowing this was the last time I would experience this first with one of my children made me realize even more the value of time...it passes by quickly.
remember to spend quality time with your family!

thankful for vacation

Vacation earlier this week was incredible. I took Angela and the four kids to The Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. If you don't know about it...check it out...it is a great place. It is a gigantic indoor (yes, fully indoor) water park....the water is heated! It is non-stop water fun!
The kids had a blast. Hope got confident on the fast water slides and kept going over and over and over again. Nate loved the water jungle gym area....you have to crawl through netting and climb things to get to the top of the two slides....he was all over it....all day....all night! Luke and Noah almost killed me in the water basketball pool...but even two on one could not beat old dad!
Luke also enjoyed the Tornado....a ride for 2-4 people together...with an almost vertical blind drop....and then side to side...top to bottom swing in this funnel shaped slide! It was definitely fun...especially at night when if asked they would turn the lights out inside the funnel.
My favorite area was without a doubt the lazy river! It was slow and relaxing....I wish life could be a little more like vacation!
What I came away with....vacation was filled with adventure! All of life should be that way!
Let's have a lifelong vacation!

Happy Easter!

Well, it is a beautiful Easter morning...and I'm sitting back, relaxing, and pondering the greatness of that Easter reminds us of. What a work Christ did for me and for you... as me and as you. It is incredible to think about. I want to just say thank you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the work of the cross and resurrection! It makes today a Happy Easter!
This Easter Sunday is especially unique for me. Today, March 23, is also the same date that I asked Christ into my heart 30 years ago. I was a young boy at the age of nine at a Sunday morning service. I can still remember it like it was yesterday. The sermon was about the interaction between the young boy who had the loaves and fishes and Jesus. The little boy gave Jesus everything He had. I felt the need to do just that as well that morning. I still feel that today. I want to give Jesus all I have....He gave me all He had!
Can you remember the time in your life when you gave Him everything?
Again...Happy Easter!

feeling homeless

we're at a crucial stage in the life of adventure life church...the use of our current facility is quickly coming to an end...and i'm at a loss as to where to go...we are having great difficulty finding a facility that is accommodating and affordable...nothing is coming easy
pray for us....pray that God will open some miraculous doors!
i wonder if this a little bit like how it feels to be homeless? ... nothing comes easy, it seems like no one wants to help, you feel all alone?
I'm certainly not indicating that our situation carries the same magnitude of someone being homeless, I just wonder if some of the feelings aren't the same?
pray for us!

knee injury ends season

Last night at AAU practice Luke collided with a teammate and severely sprained his left knee...
today the doc put him on crutches and sidelined him for the rest of his season...
Noah's team ended their season tonight with a first-round loss in the tournament....what a great group of boys...they learned to play as a team and play hard...the team's record was 1-6 with a score differential for the entire season of 5 points....they scored 68 and only gave up 73...one basket here or there and they could have easily been 6-1.
Nate's team is still in their tourney...they play in the championship game this coming Tuesday night....yeah Nate-dog!

AAU...first scrimmage game

Last night I got a voice mail from Luke...he sounded so excited. Coach Reed, my assistant coach for our Garner Rd Bulldogs AAU team directed our practice time last night while I was out of town. The team had the opportunity to actually scrimmage one of the other 14U teams. Our team won by 20 points. 'Luke said that he played well and felt very confident. I hate I missed it!
Go Bulldogs!

Art...awesome thoughts on environment and identity

Hey everyone...I'm sitting in a courtroom in Charlotte at the moment. I am assisting with a medical negligence case this week. Pretty boring testimony at the moment...so I thought I'd just reflect on this past Sunday night. Art Seib spoke for ALC and his topic was the impact of environment on identity...and what we ended up discovering is that identity can have just as much impact on environment. UNSEEN REALITIES...wow! how many powerful unseen realities are there in the spiritual life! God is always at work in our life in unseen ways. Behind the scenes, in the life beneath life He is always at work. Unseen realities taking place in our own life can in turn empower us to allow our identity to impact our environement, our spheres of influence in ways unseen. Art shared a story from his days as a probation officer several years ago. He indicated that the environment, the language, the activity initially had an impact on him...he began to become a participant of the environment. Then by choice, he decided to be an agent of change (SALT)...in that environment...and suddenly as unseen things were taking place the environment began to conform to Art's identity...his identity in Christ! Praise God for this ability that we have. We can truly be like salt...do you see salt adding flavor, do you see salt preserving, do you see salt healing? When we allow ourselves to live out our identity in Christ...just like salt we can impact our environments in unseen yet life-changing ways!
Thanks for sharing your heart and insights with us Art! You are truly a blessing to all of us!