How connected are you?

I think we need to recognize overconnectivity. I have seen people that spend every second of the day talking/texting/emailing/surfing without stopping even in the bathroom. Crazy. Now I will admit to liking my laptop. I enjoy being connected.
But, people, there comes a point. People. just unplug.
I have learned that if you ever want to impress someone, don't text while talking to them. Stop all this overconnectivity stuff and just listen to them. This will blow people socks off, trust me.
If you are suffering from overconnectivity, please hear me out. Take 1 week off. Stay unconnected for 1 week. You will survive. You might enjoy it.
Sorry for the rant.

Will they remember you?

The best selling book of all time is The Bible. In the Bible there are some obscure people mentioned. These are people that 99% of all Bible scholars would not remember. Now however, the fact that they even were mentioned in the Bible makes them way more memorable then most people. That in an odd way excites me. I really don't care if anyone remembers me. After all it should not be about me, it should be about God.
Then, and only then, when you remove yourself from the spotlight, change can happen.
So I guess I am asking you how will they remember you?

My idea of good morning

I had one of those this morning, a good morning that is. My definition of a good morning is this:

1. Get up early -- I know it sounds crazy, but I do like the mornings
2. Get a shower -- a must for any good morning
3. Get in car and have it start -- Hey if it starts, it is a good day
4. Make it to work -- Yes I am happy if nothing bad happens on the way
5. Get coffee before I talk to anyone -- coffee is so necessary
6. Check email and voicemail before talking to anyone -- I know seems mean
7. Check in with my staff, see how they are doing -- not so much job related stuff, just to talk to them.

Now when all of those things happen, it is a good morning. Today was a morning that followed those 7 steps. :)

When I am ready

Can you think about your life for a second for me? I want you to think of some major events in your life. Now, I want to ask you this question; were you ready?
I think back to becoming the pastor at Bakerstown CMA. Was I ready? NO! Now it is true that I had all the training that I technically needed. I was eligible. But as far as actually being ready, I don't think I was.
When we had Isaiah, was I ready to be a parent? I don't think so. I don't know think I really know what I am doing four years later. Heck I still don't know what I am doing with our second child. I am learning all the time.
The point is this: most of the big events in your life, you probably won't feel you are ready for that next chapter. And honestly, you probably aren't ready. But that is where faith comes in. Faith to trust in God to lead you, not just to the opportunity but through the opportunity.
When those moments come, trust God, not your preparation.

Fear

First of all let me apologize for not blogging that much lately. Honestly, have not had the time. I have had a lot of different things on my mind. But by the time I had an opportunity to blog, I was just too tired.
What I have been noticing lately is a lot of fear. Now I am not talking about fear of jumping out of a plane. That is good fear. (However, you could talk me in to it without much effort) But I am talking about fear to try something different. Fear to take a risk.
The more I talk to people, the more I realize there are a lot of people living in fear. I wish I could change that. I wish people would just go ahead and take the risk. But I can't do that for others.
So I can do what I can. Which is not to allow my life to be a life of fear.
What fear is blocking you?

1 year ago

I realized that today one year ago I started back at the Lighthouse. One year? One year already? Seems to have flown by. I have enjoyed my time working with a wonderful staff and wonderful volunteers.
I am still dreaming. I am still trying to figure out how to find ways to help more people. There are many challenges ahead for us.
But wow, a year? Pretty amazing.
Hmm....maybe...could it be...I think it might be...yes it must be...indeed it is...It is the beginning of something legendary.

Hurting people

It seems like the last couple of days I have seen a lot of people who have been hurting. Hurting in bad ways. It breaks my heart to hear some of their stories. These are not people who are lazy. These are not people who are just "abusing the system." These are not people who "should just get over it." These are people who are hurt. People who need help.
I wonder how God feels when his children are suffering. I am sure He is hurting a whole lot more then I am.
I wish I knew how to make every thing go away. I wish I could take their pain away. I wish I could help.
A lot of times I have no idea what to do. I have no idea what would help.
I know why the Lighthouse is in existence. I know we are to do the best we can to help these people. Seems like an impossible task. Fortunately God makes a living out of doing the impossible.

Preaching a series

One of the things that I learned at the great Toccoa Falls College was the importance of preaching in a series. The reason for this is it forces you to examine all the issues. It is really easy to pick up a couple of topics that you care about and switch the title every week. Then you can just preach on your soup box. A series helps you better deal with all the issues.
Honestly, I do like Old Testament books the most. Just fun to study those things and look at all the different issues and thoughts.
That is one of the things I miss about preaching every week. The discipline to study something different every week is a whole lot of fun.

The volume on TV commercials

Why is it that in order to hear whatever show you are watching you have to turn the volume up pretty high? That would not be a problem if you were just watching the show. But then there are the commercials. The volume of commercials is like 10 times louder. Now I know that they are doing this to try and get your attention, but come on. It is so annoying. I wish that the commercials would be the same volume.
Now with all this being said, I am blogging this on a Friday night at home watching TV. Maybe I am just old :)

The Big Picture

On Sunday it was World Wide Communion Day. I was invited to a community service. Now the interesting thing was we celebrated communion together. Every church, every denomination does communion just a little different. So it was fun to see every one try to understand each others' traditions. This was not the most smooth flowing communion service. But it was ok. Because we were taking communion together. So much is written about the difference we have with different denominations. But the bottom line is what unites us, Jesus's love and sacrfice for us, is by far greater than what divides us. It was really nice to come together and celebrate communion.

Things I am not

Sometimes I might leave the impression that I have everything figured out. That I always spend lot of time with my kids. That I am always kind to my wife.
I wish that was true all the time. But I do get upset. I do get tired. I don't always do the things that I know that I should be doing.
At times like this, I have to remember what matters in my life. I then choose to do the things that I should have been doing the whole time.
I am not perfect.