If this is it...

Goals are good, dreams are needed, vision's invaluable.  But what exactly are we planning for?  There are things on our minds and in our hearts that we are looking forward to, striving towards.  What are those things?

At a golf outing a few months ago, former NFL Player Je'Rod Cherry, winner of 3 Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, spoke after the 18th hole.  He shared how so much of his life growing up was about sports, he excelled in track and football.  He dreamed with a passion of the next accomplishment.  In 2002, his goals were accomplished as the confetti came down and he had won his first Super Bowl ring. 

One of his biggest recollections from that day was looking around at the lights, hearing the cheers and thinking, "Is this it...?".  Everything he had been working for and driving towards had been accomplished, and it felt empty, like there must be more to life.  That's a feeling I can relate to.  Wanting something so badly, getting it, then realizing you now simply want something else.  This is often especially evident in our Christmas day celebrations.

Later in his life, Je'Rod realized that there is more to life.  So much more in beauty, purpose, and truth.  So much more that means something, that will still matter 100 years from now.  Je'Rod gave his life to Christ and is realizing an eternal calling on his life that's more important than a Super Bowl ring. 

At the golf outing, Je'Rod also told us about a Charity he's involved with, Celebrities for Charity.  Through this involvement, and out of a desire to have a greater impact, he decided to auction off a Super Bowl Ring.  But which ring would it be?  Super Bowl XXXVI (2002), XXXVIII (2004), or XXXIX (2005)?  He wrestled with this, but then decided since the first one meant the most to him, then it had to be the first.  The event raised over $200,000. 

What is it we are truly striving for?  What is the next event or goal that we get excited about planning for?  Is this dream aligned with our true calling, our eternal life's purpose?  The Bible tells us that planning out of our own will is meaningless.  Life is so short, a vanishing mist... Only by living for God, striving to be more like Christ, can we live life to the fullest and embrace the greatness that we're called to. 

James 4:13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

What I am thankful for…

I am thankful for a God that loves me so much that he gave his only son to die for me and my sins.

I am thankful for my beautiful wife who I love so much and who is going to me the mother of our child.

I am thankful for our kids who never cease to amaze me in their loving kindness for others.

I am thankful for my mom who taught me right from wrong and no matter what I did was always there supporting me.

I am thankful for the men and woman in our armed services that protect us and keep us from harms way.

I am thankful for my Church for meeting the needs of the families that would have been without coats, without presents, and without food during the holidays.

I am thankful that I will be able to share the good news of Jesus Christ to the many visitors during Imagine.

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and takes a few moments to reflect on everything that you are thankful for.

Like a Good Neighbor...

Our next door neighbor Herman died a few weeks ago. He was a great neighbor and the kids loved to talk to Mr. Herman. When we heard of his death, we were instantly struck with sadness and some regret... regret that I didn't talk more to him about Christ and that we never got to bring him the Apple Crisp Amy had made a few days prior. We had talked about God, and he knew we are Christians, but the thought that my next door neighbor could have died without knowing Jesus, on my watch, was chilling.


While talking with his children in the week after his death, what we seemed to already know about Herman became even more clear. And at his funeral Saturday (a beautiful, different experience for me), I heard the story of a man and more... A tender, gentle hearted man who demonstrated dedication in his marriage (his wife of 40 years Leonsie died just before we moved here), his job (51 years at Firestone/Bridgestone) and his service (Army Seargent and dedicated Church member), and came to know Christ as a child at Akron's Antioch Baptist Church. What I heard rang exactly true with what we knew of the kind neighbor we lived next to for 6 years and hearing of his service and devotion to Christ explained the brotherly bond we felt with Mr. Herman.

I think this will definitely change the way I interact with all of our neighbors... There are many people in my neighborhood who I don’t know if they believe. And there are some who don’t know that I do. Even more so are the neighbors not in my neighborhood, but in my daily path of life. I don’t always love my neighbor as myself. I sometimes don’t care, or am too busy. But, as for me, this is a command I intend to keep…

If you're interested, the below link is to an article about Mr. Herman in the Akron Beacon Journal: http://www.ohio.com/business/64047802.html

Fishing

My wife and I recently went "fishing" at a local summer festival with a group trained by The Way of the Master ministry. We took their short course before we went. Neither of us got up on the "soapbox" to proclaim Christ - although they wanted us to. I, at least, was "chicken". We mingled in the crowd and passed out tracks - firsts for both of us.

I just got an email from them about another event they are planning. It included a link to a blog. I opened it and found a wonderful post about fishing on "The Lawman Chronicles" blog and I thought I'd share it.

You can read it here.

I want to go "fishing" again. The next time, maybe I will be bolder. Have you ever been "fishing"?

WayWars Turns 3!

Last week marked the 3rd anniversary of this charming little Way Warriors blog.  Happy Anniversary!!  I'd say a lots changed in 3 years.  God works in amazing and marvelous Ways...  Sometimes we can directly see His plan unfolding and we praise Him.  Other times it doesn't make any sense, we don't like it, and we simply can't fathom how any good could come from a certain situation.  Really, it doesn't matter how we feel or what we think we know.  There are a million things I won't understand until Jesus tells me face to face, and thats awesome.  There's a million other great and beautiful things I can know and still need to learn now...

To celebrate the anniversary I've added 3 new links:
   1> All Pro Dad (http://www.allprodad.com/dungy/) - Tony Dungy, former coach of the world Champion Indianapolis Colts, blogs here about his experiences as a retired coach seeking to make a difference.
  2> Between Two Worlds (http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/) - Justin Taylor posts several updates daily that offer ways to help us grow in our Faith.
  3> evotional.com (http://evotional.com/) - Mark Batterson, author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day offers short posts encouraging us to more effectively minister to others. 
Happy Anniversary!!

Lest We Forget

This morning after reading the article titled "The Victory of the Cross by " Newt Gingrich, Callista Gingrich, and Vince Haley, the words "Lest We Forget" crossed my mind. Read the article here.

I'll have to admit that I was not thinking of Veterans' Day at the time. I googled those words and found the following beautiful poem.

LEST WE FORGET

God to-day
Shield with Thy wings the many, far
away;
Soothe those who watch and wait
and do each task
With brave hands working, while
their brave lips pray.

LILLIAN CARD

Later in the day, a good friend reminded me that it was Veterans' Day tomorrow (November 11). Then I searched further on the Internet and found the following You Tube, titled "In Flanders Fields - Lest We Forget". It is very appropriate for Veteran's Day.





The same friend invited me to attend a Veteran’s Day ceremony tomorrow. I decided to attend with him, and another vet, in honor of the men and women who serve and have served our country in the armed services. I'm embarrassed to say that I've never gone to such a ceremony before.

“Lest we forget” may you and I NEVER FORGET again. God willing, I will attend next year too.

At our Collective Core

Who are we?  What's the reason for this blog?  I haven't posted in forever (at least not more than  just in my mind),  but I think about this quite a bit...  What are our collective core values?  I intend this to be a quick post, so I suppose these are rhetorical questions for now...

I stumbled across the core values page of D.C.'s  National Community Church (theaterchurch.com) today, and I wanted to share their values here. This church was founded  by Mark Batterson, author of my last read book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, an awesome book.

- Expect the unexpected
- Irrelevance is irreverence
- Love people when they least expect it and least deserve it
- Playing it safe is risky
- Pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you
- Everyone is invaluable and irreplaceable
- Everything is an experiment
- You cannot out give God
- Maturity does not equal conformity
- Go the extra mile
- It's never too late to be who you might have been
- Do it right and do it big

God in the Tornado?

Last night I "accidentally" found this on You Tube.





In unbelief, I "Googled" to find confirmation that this really happened.

This is some of what I found.

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/Tornado_Downtown_Minneapolis_Aug_19_2009

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=31109&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed0820

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1965_The_Tornado_the_Lutherans_and_Homosexuality/

http://www.southsidepride.com/2009/09/articles/ELCA.html


There were hundreds of other articles about it.


UPDATE - Here is a You Tube with John Piper I just found.

Obama - Partner with God?

It has been confirmed that Barack Obama made the following statement in a conference call Wednesday, 8/19/2009 to 1000 rabbis from across the USA while trying to sell his health care reform package.

"We are God's partners in matters of life and death."

Read about it here.

Obama a partner with God? How about Psalm 103:19?

"The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all." (NASB)

Your thoughts?

Change

I've been thinking about change today. I want change in me.

We live in troubled times and we hear how much others want change too.

Politicians run their campaigns based on the theme of "change". Parents want change in their children. Children want change in their parents. Pastors want change in their congregations.

But the truth is that God wants change in us too and the Bible answers why: "You are not your own."

1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"

While thinking about change more and searching the Internet, I found an excellent post related to this in the blog Standing For Truth. The message was built around the old hymn "Whatever It Takes".

The hymn seems to tell it all. It touched me.

Consider the lyrics (below) words and read the post here. I pray that you will be touched too.

Whatever It Takes

There’s a voice calling me

From an old rugged tree

And He whispers, “Draw closer to Me;

Leave this world far behind,

There are new heights to climb,

And a new place in Me you will find.”

For whatever it takes to draw closer to you, Lord,

That’s what I’ll be willing to do.

For whatever it takes to be more like You,

That’s what I’ll be willing to do.

Take the dearest things to me,

If that’s how it must be,

To draw me closer to Thee;

Let the disappointments come,

Lonely days without the sun,

If through sorrow more like

You I’ll become.

Take my houses, my lands,

Change my dreams, change my plans

For I’m placing my whole life in Your hands;

And if You call me today…

To a place far away

Lord, I’ll go, and Your will obey.

I’ll trade sunshine for rain

Comfort for pain -

That’s what I’ll be willing to do -

For whatever it takes for my will to break,

That’s what I’ll be willing to do.

That’s what I’ll be willing to do.