The Way

This young lady and her beau have written such a nice classic Christmas song. McKenzie Lockhart works with us in the World Changers/P2 Missions office. She is an incredible artist and a beautiful soul. You can search her other stuff on YouTube as well.

If you know me at all, you know that I am a KC Royals fan. It really goes back a long time. Actually to about 1969. My dad took my brother and me to so many baseball games back in that old Memorial Stadium that had housed the minor league KC Blues, the KC Monarchs of the Negro League, the KC Athletics and the KC Royals. Starting in 1969, the Royals became that mainstay MLB team in KC. The Athletics headed off to Oakland in 1968 and promptly became contenders and a quick rival of the expansion Royals who kicked it off in KC in 1969. The Royals have been my team since then. About 45 years worth of my life. There have been some really good years through the mid-80s and then really lean years until the past couple of years. What this team did this year though is really just plain, old baseball fun. A bunch of young players with a couple of veteran pitchers, a somewhat semi-successful manager and a fan base that had little to cheer for so many years. But it was a great combination. A...

As that wise, old sage Taylor Swift sings in Shake It Off -  But I keep cruising Can't stop, won't stop moving It's like I got this music In my mind Saying, "It's gonna be alright." 'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate (haters gonna hate) I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake I shake it off, I shake it off Heart-breakers gonna break, break, break, break, break (mmmm) And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake (and fake, and fake, and fake) Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake I shake it off, I shake it off Shake it off, I shake it off, I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off, I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off Sometimes life can jump up and kick you right in the teeth, the gut or even that great groin shot! You stand there, mouth agape, wide-eyed and out of breath, thinking, "What Just Happened!...

Confession time for me here. I have been a leader, minister, staff person for many years in local churches in MO, TX and TN. I have led 100s of training conferences for student ministry and discipleship leaders in almost every state and in 12 or 13 countries. I have encouraged leaders who were about to quit due to frustration, depression, burn out; leaders just getting started in a new venture; and others who are on the backside of their sweet spot in ministry years and people in between. But . . . this past weekend I got a fresh, new perspective on how to treat volunteers. IRONMAN Chattanooga took place on Sunday, 9/28 with about 2600 participants and who knows how many volunteers. I would say a whole bunch, would be a pretty accurate number. Each volunteer was given a green shirt with all the appropriate IRONMAN Chattanooga and sponsors logos plastered on it and a huge VOLUNTEER written on it. Volunteers served the races in many various ways from water stops to handing out bags, c...

How is it that time goes by so quickly? I remember when I was a kid, my mom and dad would talk about how quickly time goes by and I would sit and wonder, "what the heck! Time doesn't go by quickly, it has taken me ALL MY LIFE to get to be 12 years old!" But now . . . my perspective has changed. Time does by quickly. And I realize that more just about every day. So . . . since my last post, here are a few things that have happened. This is big news! Over Labor Day Weekend and after 29 plus years, Sondra and I said, "so long! to our waterbed." I can a bit of a slow adopter, but 29 years was enough. It was a good bed. She had sprung a leak or two over those years but that bed served us well. It must have weighed about 5 million pounds so I am sure there will be less stress on our floor joists. Our new bed arrived and we both seem to be sleeping pretty well. We are in the process of finding some new bedroom furniture too. Not my favorite pastime but pretty much...

I realize that I have been remiss in posting lately. I am not really sure why. It seems that I have ideas to write about but then I go to keystroke it in to the computer and it just does not flow. I know that writing is a discipline and one that I enjoy doing but life has been running fast the last month or so and so I have not slowed down enough to think and write. The past couple of weeks have involved some really great times with student ministers and our LifeWay Student Ministry staff. I am thankful for the work and calling that I have. I am also thankful for my church and the opportunities that I get to share with the college aged students and the middle and high schoolers. Recently we have been looking at who Jesus is. Not just at some of His teachings that are good for us to follow, but to try and place our attention and affection on Him personally. It is fun to watch and lead students to discover Jesus the person who longs for relationship with us. I ran across this vide...

Get out your Kleenex. Just a great reminder to say Thank You. This bank did a great job.

Here is a clip of the final run of the 1970 All Star Game that was won in the 12th inning. Most people remember that Pete Rose scored by knocking over Ray Fosse at home plate. That was pretty cool but the batter, Jim Hickman, is the dad of a good friend of mine (Joey Hickman) and his single allowed Pete Rose to score. Way to go Jim Hickman!

Recently I was invited by our church to participate in a series of Hot Topics that the church seems to shy away from at times. There were several choice topics offered, but the topic of sexual identity seemed to jump off the screen at me. I have my reasons why, but that is saved for another blog post some time. I really have not struggled with sexual identity in my experience personally, but have some experience with students, friends and co-workers who have seemed to have some great questions about this topic. I agreed to study, pray and present on the topic and my talk landed first in the series. The series at church is being adapted by a resource by Mike Glenn called Gray Areas . I think Glenn does a good job of looking at some tough issues through a solid, biblical lens.  Here are some thoughts that I spent time explaining in more detail. You are getting the Cliff Notes version here. Here are three statements that I believe the Lord led me to share to establish some basis ...

When I was a small boy growing up in rural Missouri, my parents asked me, "Where have you been?" quite often. Sometimes the inquiry was because I had been away from home without specific permission; sometimes because I was away longer than I had permission; and, sometimes they wanted to hear about my adventures. Here is an update on some of my adventures the past couple of months -  Since mid-April most of my adventures have been around Nashville. There were a couple of trips but they were mostly uneventful We made a quick trip to Panama City Beach, FL mid-May to support Mark in his 70.3 triathlon. The water was rough so they cancelled the swim. He got a good finish and we had a ball with him and Shelbi. Sondra and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary that same weekend. Morgan graduated with her Master of Social Work from the University of Tennessee and my dad and cousins came down to attend the graduation and hang out for a few days. It was great to have ...

This past weekend I was able to compete in and complete the IRONMAN New Orleans 70.3. I had mentioned back in January that I was training for this event and faithfully executed the training plan. Sondra was kind. gracious and patient with me (as is her normal routine) and allowed me to take some extra time to train. I cannot say enough good about Sondra and how supportive she is of me in the pursuit of these kind of goals I set for myself. I had World Changers business in New Orleans Thursday and Friday, so I climbed in the car Weds. afternoon and started driving that way with all my gear. The meetings I had on Thursday and Friday went really well. I am blessed to be a part of World Changers and P2 Missions and provide opportunities for the Gospel to be shared through the lives of students. Friday night, Sondra, Shelbi and Morgan arrived in New Orleans (Mark had a work retreat and was unable to come this time) and we headed to dinner. Saturday was filled with the girls running...

I have shared this account before here but seems fitting once again on this St. Patrick's Day. Have a great one and remember to make much of Christ today and everyday.

Here it is a Wednesday of a cold week in Middle Tennessee. Schools have been out because of snow and ice. Parents are ready for their kids to go back to school. People are ready for their power to be restored in their homes. There is a lot of work to get done and you might need a little pick me up. How about this for the next few minutes just to lift your spirits. Enjoy.

Learning to let go of things that I have no right to act like I do have a right to. Learning to spend a lot of time on a bike and in the pool. Learning more and more every day that I have a lot to learn. Learning to listen more and talk less. Learning that God can be trusted in all things. Learning that same God will allow me to put myself in tough places in order to realize He can be trusted and I can be a knucklehead. Learning that some things that used to be so important are not quite as important as before. Learning that some things that I thought were unimportant earlier in life are more important than first believed. Learning that people matter most to God. Learning that I talk about being open to change more than I am really open to change. Learning that I am blessed with an amazing wife. Learning that our daughters and son-in-law are great treasures that God allows me to help steward. Learning from K5 kids at church too many things to even mention here. Learning...

So . . . as you know, I enjoy the outdoors. I like to run, bike and am developing a like/enjoyment for swimming. All of these things I seem to be disciplined about especially when I am training for something. As I mentioned earlier, I am in training for the New Orleans 70.3 that will take place April 13th. In my last update, I mentioned what I have been up to but I did not give full disclosure. Back in mid-December I had my annual physical and went in feeling very smug about being a 50-year-old dude (whom AARP still has not caught up with) in pretty good shape. All of my prior tests, etc had come back pretty good and in fact, really good with the exception of this blasted cholesterol that I cannot seem to overcome. For years, my doctor, Ken Demerjian, whom I really like and respect, has been telling me that heredity is not my friend and that I am just prone to high cholesterol. I would take fish oil, eat oatmeal, blah, blah, blah . . . but every year it would hover around the high ...

One thing that has not been happening is me posting to the blog. It seems that about the time I get more disciplined in one area of my life (more about that later) I seem to drop some other things. Writing down my thoughts and meanderings seems to have taken a back seat the last month. I will attempt to do better. We'll see. Our Christmas and New Year's were wonderful. I had the last couple of weeks of 2012 off from work and we decided that we would not travel during the holiday season. Shelbi and Mark spent about 5 days with us right around Christmas and we thoroughly enjoyed having them here. Of course, they brought Bear, their new dog with them and he is a great addition to their family. We watched alot of football, enjoyed the company of family and friends and the weather broke a couple of days so I was able to get a couple of outdoor bike rides in and even jumped in the lake with my new wet suit in Dec. Sondra enjoyed her time off from school and we enjoyed lots o...