The Way

I am prone to a mid-back that is not easy to adjust. I am also prone to a neck that seems to get out of whack at some very inopportune times. This summer my regular chiropractor (witch doctor as I affectionately call him) was out of town while I was in dire need of some adjusting. I was able to make it to another fine chiropractor who helped me tremendously, but it was not the same. He did a good job, but he did not know my posture only because I was a new patient to him. It is best when everything is in its rightful place because my posture tends to correct itself when things are where they belong. We will go to great lengths to get in the right posture because we think that pain will go away when we have the right posture. Barney Fife is a good example in this pic and in the show he was always posturing to get himself to look better than he actually was though. He was always funny, but always trying to be someone he was not. There is another kind of posturing that is a whole diffe...

I have the opportunity to come along side many people who are in ministry in local churches, hear their stories, listen, encourage, and learn from them. I honestly cannot believe at times that God allows me to do what I get to do. Most of you know that I work for a very large Christian publisher and have for almost 19 years. It is a very good place to work. It is a ministry funded by business and I get to work alongside some of the greatest people I know. No kidding. They are great folks. They push me to be better at what we get to do collectively. This week we hosted about 250 youth leaders at our place and we offered them opportunities to hear from people like Pete Wilson, Kelly Minter, Jess & Thom Rainer.We even mixed in The Skit Guys and my friend Jake Gulledge along with The Chris White Band. It was a great "platform". So many of those in attendance are wonderful people. They love Christ, they love students and they love ministry.So many of those who attended sh...

I posted this a year ago but it is one that I need to be reminded of and one lesson that I have yet to learn. Saw this video again from Francis Chan and the way I too many times hold on to stuff that hinders me from being all that Christ has created me to be. Is it really right that I live life in balance? Or, is the Christian life designed to be an "all out" kind of life? I know the answer. I struggle with the action.

I am one of those people who stay away from definitive words like "never", "always", "all people", "every time", etc. but I am learning the importance of never assuming. Evelyn, the international student from China who is living in our home this school year, is reminding me the importance of never assuming. I take many things for granted, especially related to my faith. I just assume that most people have a baseline of knowing who Jesus is; the importance of Scripture; etc., all things Christianese. She reminds me every day that not "every one" has a general understanding of who Jesus is. She has reminded me how much I use terminology that is very Christianly but not very culturally relevant. We are blessed to have her in our home. She is truly delightful and very smart. The language barrier in communication audibly is getting so much better in our home, but English terms that I think are pretty easy and simple, are really very dif...

A co-worker shared this with our team recently. I found this to be very good. It is not a real short watch, but a very good one.

This has been a pretty busy week. Sunday started with church and then I did a training session for our student leaders at Hermitage Hills. Big fun to invest in training the leaders at the church we are members. I am usually out training/encouraging others but lots of fun to do that at home. Joyce, world's best mother in law, left on Tuesday and went to visit her sister, Nola and her husband in Atlanta. What a delight to have her with us for a week. On Wednesday, we loaded up a borrowed Yukon with Morgan's stuff and moved her back to Union. She has a nice room and three wonderful roommates. We are thankful for the influences in her life and the way she influences others too. Thursday was videotaping day at work. Four of us were in the studio working on some of our student ministry messages and shooting a bunch of student ministry tips. Hard work for sure but also a lot of fun. We are trying to be very strategic in the way we are doing training. Today was another movin...

It has been an entire month since I last posted. I have no real good excuse for not posting. Just have not done it. It has been a busy month and one of change for us, so here goes. Our biggest news is Evelyn. Evelyn is an international student studying at DCA this school year. She is 16, very bright, and her English is getting better every day. She arrived a week ago Wednesday and has fit right in. Her first week consisted of Shelbi and Morgan coming home from a long summer of camp and a short week of fun at friends. She was immersed in western culture with getting a phone, international calling cards, attending a wedding I officiated on Sunday; church (a whole new experience for her) and school starting on Tuesday. We have ordered a computer for her, she is conversing with her family and friends via the computer and all together fitting in well. We have eaten chinese food twice in the last 7 days. We are fitting in too. Shelbi and Morgan had a great summer with each working at ...