Conversations

I like to talk. I talk too much. I know that. But I have been really thinking about this lately. Maybe we don't have enough conversations. Honestly, I don't think we spend enough time talking. Who have you talked to lately that didn't tell you they have been really busy lately? Now due to that busyness we don't want to stop and talk to people.
What is weird about that is the most memorable times the past several weeks for me have been different conversations. Maybe talking to my wife, maybe talking to my sons, or a friend who is telling me some stuff that you hope no friend ever has to go though.
I want to be a person who has time to talk to people. I don't think this is as much a time issue as it is a priority issue. Make it a priority to talk to people; it will do you a world of good.

What Grows On Top Of a Mountain?

That question was asked by one of my heroes, Jonesy. So I have been thinking about that question for a long time. The answer of course is nothing. If you have been on, or seen a really big mountain, you will notice that on the top there is not much growth.
That is interesting if you begin to relate it to our spiritual lives with God. We need those mountain top experiences in our lives, no doubt. But when you are looking for growth, you find it in the valley.
Water, you know, finds the lowest point. You also know that along rivers and streams are the best growing vegetation.
So if it is at the lowest point that most things grow, it is true with your spiritual life. It is in those valleys, those times where life just plain stinks, that you will find most growth in your life.
I know that has been true in my life. My guess is while you were reading this you were thinking about your life, you were sitting there thinking about those valleys in your life and thinking about the growth that resulted because of those valleys. Hopefully if you are going through a valley right now, you will be encouraged.

Mahaffey -- 24 hours later

We made it back from Mahaffey. It did feel great to sleep in our big bed, in our big bedroom, in our big house (or at least that is the way it seemed yesterday when we got home after last week).
I had a lot of interesting conversations and thoughts. Hopefully I will share them in the near future with all of you. But I was left with these impressions: #1 How in the world could you make it though life without God? #2 Life is tough. #3 Yes God is still in control.
I can't wait to tell you all how I arrived at those impressions. Just can not do it tonight, I am going to bed. See you!

Off To Mahaffey...again...

I say again, because well this is my 33rd straight year (yeah, I am counting the year I was in my mom's stomach and she was throwing up in the outhouse (yes that is probably the most disgusting thing that I have ever written) . Anyway Mahaffey Camp is definitely a place of memories. The best memory I have, I get to see every day. That would be my wife. As cheesy as it might be, it is true. I met my wife at a camp. So with that, I begin my annual pilgrimage back to Mahaffey. It will be, well, legendary.

Camp Food....Yummy

I love food. I tend to eat to much. Last week at Edinboro I had really good food. Somehow camp food has a reputation much like school food. I can not speak for every camp, but I can speak for Edinboro. Wow was it good food. There is something about food that you don't have to pay for, don't have to cook, and don't have to clean up. Wow does that make the food taste marvelous. So right there you have a great reasons to make sure you sign up for a least a week at Edinboro next summer :)

80% of Americans lack Passion!

Wow, I can not get over a 2007 Harris poll that found out that 4 out 5 Americans lack passion. Boy does that stink. I strive not to be in that 80%. Am I perfect? Far from it. But I am going to do my best to be in the 20% range and try to inspire change in the statistic to be 4 out of 5 Americans HAVE passion.

Edinboro...48 hours later

I think it takes me that long to process things. It takes me that long to recover. Today is the first day that I feel semi-alive again. Therefore I feel like I can actually think.
Once again someone proved a very important philosophy of mine. That would be the Kindervaters. They are missionaries to Japan. Now they said they were not sure that they could communicate with teenagers. Well they were wrong! They used simple, tested, and proven methods and were very successful. These radical methods can be summed up in two phrases. #1: Love God. #2: Love People. You combine both of them you will be successful. I listened all week to them. Wow! Amazing. Probably the biggest satisfaction for me was seeing 3 people answer the call of God on their lives to be a missionary. Wow! (and yes, even though I have my man card, I cried, just a little though)
We had a bunch of really good kids this past week. Exceptional kids. As I think about the kids, there really isn't anything I think that these kids can't do. I watched how these kids would respond to certain situations. Amazing. These kids displayed more maturity than I have seen in a long time.
With that being said, I wonder if we are missing out on something. Here me out, I might get myself into some trouble. I am all for youth group -- I get that, I understand that, and I agree with that. I am all for games -- I like games, I like to play games, I like fun. But are we trying to basically confine the youth to a group in the church so they can basically stay out of the way? If there is one thing that I have learned over the years, it is to give people a challenge and raise the bar and watch them respond. The same is true with youth. I think we need to make them more actively involved in the overall ministry of the church. With that being said, I think we also need to make sure we understand what ministry is. Get to the heart of what we are trying to accomplish.
If you are a fan of Rick Warren you understand that there are five purposes of the church: Reaching, Discipleship, Fellowship, Serving, Worship. Now how we accomplish those five will vary from church to church, from generation to generation. If we could get to the point where we were willing to mentor and release youth (or any age for that matter) and let them do ministry in their own style, we would see great things for God.
So I encourage you to get involved in a person's life. Mentor them, pray for them, and let them accomplish the purposes in their own way. Then stop and give God all the credit.

I'm Back

I am back from Edinboro. Had a great time. However, I forgot to sleep. I am really tired. The good news is if you like the whole farmer's tan look, wow, I got a good one. Really was great to see 14 and 15 year olds worshipping God with their full hearts. I will blog more about it later; aka after my nap(s). Thanks for all your prayers.

Off to Edinboro

See you everyone. I am off to Edinboro Youth Camp for the Week. Looking forward to hanging out with all of those 14 and 15 year olds. I am going to ask you all to be praying for me this week. So if you don't hear from me this week, you will know why.

Wow! That is.........Legendary!

Guess what? Today is legendary. On this legendary day one year ago, I started something legendary, meaning the Beginning of Something Legendary was started. Wow, that is crazy. Get this. It is such a significant day that the brand new Sonic in Gibsonia opened today in honor of the one year anniversary of the Beginning of Something Legendary. And get this, since the Beginning of Something Legendary is so, well, legendary, when I went to Sonic this evening (oh yeah, I have already been there) they gave me a "friends and family discount" (ok, so it might be possible that the Beginning of Something Legendary 1 year celebration and Sonic opening might not have anything to do with each other)

With all of that being said, I have been blogging for a year. Wow! That is pretty cool. 245 posts in one year. That is cool too. I love blogging. I am going to continue. I hope you have enjoyed the ride. I hope you all will continue to enjoy the ride. And yes this is still the Beginning of Something Legendary.

I have been given everything

Ever so often I start to think about what I have. There are unfortunately a lot of times where I think about what I don't have. I am trying to stop doing that. I am working on only thinking about what I have. So as I was thinking about what I do have today, I almost (yes, man card still intact) started to cry. (I said almost) Wow! I have everything. I have way more then I could ever ask for. By far there is no one in this whole world that has it better then me. In these times of clear honest reflection, I end up saying "Thanks God" about 23908472930874 times.
So here is your little assignment today. Think about everything that God has given you. Not the things that you think you don't have, but the things he has given to you. You will be blown away. If you are bold and daring, you can share the results with the rest of us :)

How To Get Me Fired Up

Buy me lunch at Olive Garden? Well that is part of it, but not really. I got to meet a friend/mentor for lunch today. It really encouraged me. We talked about everything from family to church to blogging. I did my best to convince the guy to start blogging, I hope I was successful. I need people like that in my life. People that I can meet with, catch up with, and talk to and be totally excited about.
I am not sure why that happens with some people I meet with. I am pretty sure that it has to do with passion. This guy has a passion for reaching that lost. Because of that passion, he will do literally anything it take to accomplish that. He will spend his time talking to me, give me suggestions on how to reach people. I love that!
Now here is the thing. He is a true friend. And being a true friend, he challenged me in a couple areas. Only a friend is willing to be that up front. Funny thing is because of his friendship, I did not get mad at him, I was encouraged.
I hope I am that type of friend.

Where's your line?

I've been thinking about this for a while. I want you to think about where is your line. Where is the line that you will not cross to help someone out, the line that you are unwilling to cross to tell someone else about Jesus.

Now I know what you are sitting here and thinking. "Of course there are no lines, of course I will help anyone out." OK, then let me ask you some questions:

• What if the person had a different color of skin?
• What if the person did not look like the rest of the people in church?
• What if the person reeked of beer?
• What if the person was a known druggie?
• What if the person smoked?
• What if the person dressed like a loser?
• What if the person had a "potty mouth"?
• What if the person hurt you before?
• What if the person has a habit of hurting you over and over?
• What if the person has never thanked you any of the 3209323 times you helped them out?

I think you are getting the point. The sad part is we often easily see other people flaws and never remember our own. Why do we think that we should get "God's grace" and other people shouldn't? Why do we think that we did something special that we should be able to receive God's grace?

When you get down to it, you realize that God sees all sins as sins. He does not have a "rating scale," you know, you get 10 points for murder, but only 1 for gossip. God does not do that. A sin is a sin.

Can we get to that place where we see people how God sees people? I hope we can. I know we should try.