What Made You Laugh??

“A cheerful heart is good medicine!” -Proverbs 17.22

As I was navigating through life as a young lad, laughter was never an element that was lacking; the dinner table was often times filled with more hearty laughs than helpings of spaghetti and home made bread!  Laughter, taking the curve balls in life and finding the joy in the midst of it!  Laughter, finding opportunities to deliver good medicine in the midst of interesting circumstances!

We would often find ourselves around the dinner table, recounting our day and sharing the laughs and “funnies” that were sprinkled throughout our day.

This week was filled with many “funnies”-  from riding down a hill in half of a vw van to watching the launching of the complaint zapper in church last week, and then there was the beginning of staff survivor as all the GFC staff got out and played some intense whiffle ball in the atrium of our church.

But the greatest joy…the best medicine…the biggest laugh from this past week in my life would have to involve PZ Kids Camp.  We had over 200 kids, ages 5-10, running around our church, playing different games, drinking Capri Suns like they were going out of style, and most importantly… hearing the story of Jesus through the course of the week!  Anytime you have that many kids, you are bound to find a laugh here and there!

We saw kids with great determination try to hit the baseball off the tee, only to find a cricket on home plate and dive to save it.  We saw kids running fast as can be to kick a football…and then kick way to soon, falling bottom first and landing with the football in their lap!  We saw cart wheels and summer-salts in the middle of tall grass when baseball was the name of the game!  

But the element of PZ Kids camp that was simply hysterical was watching our PZ Ministry Team teaching the lessons.  They do an outstanding job of relating the stories of the scripture to the mind of a 7 year old.  As they read the stories, they have actors on stage acting out the story at hand.  The 3 that acted out the stories did an amazing job!  Naomi, yeah she was played by a tall bald guy with a goatee!  When Silas was with Paul in prison, Silas was played by a lady  wearing a mullet wig!  As the actors interacted during the story, props were being thrown everywhere, chains and swords were used in just about every skit, and smiles were found on just about every kid’s face!  It was a great time!!

Think back to your week… What made you laugh this week??

Start Talking To Yourself…

You can now begin talking to yourself once again…Yeah sharing what’s on your mind out loud and without being asked, without being prompted.

While waiting to get my truck washed, I noticed that several different people shared their thoughts, out loud, unasked by the way.  One guys was singing in his head, then shared with the rest of the lobby- “Beer for my horses” in an almost Willie Nelson voice!

This one lady walking through the lobby just blurted out “my boss is such a tight ward, what’s next.”  (note to self- don’t work for her boss…where ever you are you tightwad!)  From calling people names to sharing their political views- even had a man speaking spanish and a lot of it!

Talking to yourself is back and in full steam.  You can do it, I give you permission, as if you needed my opinion.

Once upon a time, talking to yourself slams others with the impression that you are crazy…weirdo…STAY AWAY FROM SIR TALKS ALOT!  But things changed when blue teeth started popping in peoples ears.

With blue tooth, you no longer question their sanity, and now simply their fashion, the fact they have have a creepy crawly sticking out of their ear (and I must admit, I have been in those shoes).

But, I got to thinking about the whole talking to yourself mess- and have come this conclusion- I DO IT ALL THE TIME!  Social media has now enabled us to talk to ourselves, out loud, and for the whole world to hear.  Enter TWITTER!  Enter FACEBOOK status updates!   Social media has invited the whole world to talk to themselves out loud- to share what is on their mind.  And then to collaborate together your silly, random, and many times pointless thoughts with others!

As technology continues to progress, the weirdos will continue to prove their coolness!  I’m living proof… TWITTER on!

BIG ASKES

“GO BIG or GO HOME!”

Our Pastor at Grace Fellowship, BJ Rutledge, has challenged us as a ministry staff to constantly be dreaming big, to be praying big, to be thinking big!  I recently read Wild Goose Chase, by Mark Batterson, and in it, he makes the personal observation that he never wants to settle for simply doing the very best that HE can do.  Rather, he wants to be so reliant on the Holy Spirit’s work within Him that when God works, it leaves those around him simply scratching their head in amazement of how BIG God truly is!

Big is scary!  Big is daring! But big is exactly what God wants us to be thinking.  And God is primed and ready for the BIG!!

What would our prayer life look like if we quit praying the safe prayers and began tackling the crazy prayers?

In my head (if you are so brave to travel with me in there…), I see our prayer life is very similar to a dammed river.  One side of the dam is the easy, the peaceful, the simple, safe prayers.  (God give me a good day.  God bless the food.)  But the problem is that we have dammed up the power of the Holy Spirit and have quit tapping into the daring, the outrageous, the scary.

I am really bad at this… I mean I hate to fail and it is easier to pray simple, vague prayers because then, I can go to bed knowing that God answered my prayers, however, I’m tired of damming up the power that God has given me- I tired of settling for the mundane prayers-

My brother’s and I have a saying when it comes to playing card games…”Go BIG or Go HOME!”  That is also what I want to be said of my prayer life too- Pray Big or Go Home!

LET’S PRAY FOR GOD TO UNLEASH HIS CRAZY POWER…

Facial Mess

Long live the Goatee…

Several Jesus-loving men have shown great persistence in allowing their chin to reach far below their neck…not a Jay Leno chin, more of just an awe-inspiring growth of hair, a patch of hair that has come to be known as the “youth pastor chin” or just simply the “funk”!  Prodigal John blogged about the fact that a very critical question in the hiring of a new youth guy is “Are you willing to grow a goatee?”  You just can’t love Jesus in some circles unless your chin is a mess!

Here is to some of the great chin artists:

David Crowder:

One ugly dude who loves Jesus, and will probably be playing his guitar in heaven.  I know that things of this world will not be in heaven…but the way he leads worship makes me think that the guitar he plays is just that- HEAVENLY!  But I firmly believe that His ability to lead people to the throne is in large part due to his Jesus-loving Goatee!

 

 

Charlie Hall:

When it comes to leading worship, this dude can pump out the tunes!  I was at a conference where he was leading worship…and well his silhouette on the side wall was quite hysterical.  You look on stage and see this guy who can’t be taller than 6′ producing a crazy shadow on the wall that leaves his goatee standing greater than 6′ long!  

I’m not a betting man, but i would assume that his goatee has a place reserved in heaven with Crowder’s guitar!

 

Eric Nelson:  

The man, the legend!  He and I used to go and eat a good ole’ Mendoza’s breakfast burrito and he would challenge myself and a few others with what God was teaching him.  But over the last few years, his Holiness has taken off in the form of a stinkin awesome chin-fro!

The Chin has helped lead many students to the Lord… and has encouraged many other students to aspire to great things, like Jesus and Burritos and Chin hair.  Eric, for that, we are all thankful!

I know that there are more out there- waiting to be discovered!  Find a cool goatee??  Let us know- I’m still working on mine…its been almost 6 months without a trim- but no where near the beauty we have displayed!

Long Live the Goatee…

Stamps

Well, stamps went up again…

I heard a story this morning of a guy who paid a bill over the weekend, stamped it up and put in the mailbox for pick up the next time the mail man came by…oopps!!  The next time the mailman came by, stamps were on the rise again.

The inability to be proactive, to adapt to the ever changing culture or the swings of technology will keep you grasping for air.  Point in case- the wonderful world of the US Postal Service.  With the trends in technology changing with almost every breath, the post office continues to weasel their way out of the playing field one penny at a time.

When it comes to written communication- email is almost out of style, much less, the common everyday snail mail.  A few months ago, I was laughed at for writing a thank you letter (not to mention it was 4 months after I actually wrote the letter- yeah, her mailbox had not been checked for 4 months!).  Facebook, Twitter, and txt have now become verbs, action verbs dealing with the art of communication.  

It is now becoming increasingly more common to see email addresses or phone numbers on wedding reception RSVP cards.  What once was considered taboo is now accepted by all (almost all that is- tradionalist are here to stay)

Bills- yeah right, I can now pay every single bill online.

UPS is in the same boat, but their answer has not been to merely raise the price a penny here and a penny there.  Rather, they have put themselves in the middle of the technological boom:

You go online and want a new pair of kicks!  You go to nike.com, find the perfect pair.  You place the order and guess what…the order goes to the UPS warehouse in Louisville, not Nike headquarters in Oregon!  You are having trouble with your Toshiba computer? Toshiba recommends you ship it back to them for fixing via UPS…why you might ask??  Because your computer will be fixed by trained computer professionals in brown shorts!

UPS has stayed ahead of the curve.  The postal system just simply continues to go postal!  A few more pennies and they might be out of business!

Facebook Or Twitter??

Enoch- Less is More!!

Do you ever read the Bible and add the color to the black and white pages?  (hey genius with the red-letter bible, yeah you, so you have a page or 2 with a little red…So do I, but the vast majority are black and white, and even those where Jesus speaks, you are limited to a mere three colors…)  Sure, as you read over the cool jacket that Joseph was given, you paint it like a rainbow and frequently the manger scene takes on billiant earth tones due to the plethera of manger scenes that decorate December- but how often do you read the scriptures and add a little color, add a little charater to the Story God so beuatifully wrote for our viewing pleasure??

When I was in high school, I was challenged to read the Bible with my senses!  To smell the freshly cut grass, feel the sand betweten your toes, feel the dew in your sandals (yeah, i hate wet feet in leather sandals- I bet Jesus strongly disliked it as well!), to look out beyond the horizon, to hear the rooster crow or the thunder crash.  When you read the scirptures, paint the picture as vivid as possible with a bright brush! 

Enter Enoch! 

At Grace Fellowship this morning- our Junior Highers (EC56 and escape22) were learning about Enoch!  The giant of faith, yet the man of very few verses!  I mean his life was so awesome that God took him away!  Have you ever wondered what Enoch was doing when God decided to take him?  Was he fishing with his family?  Was he cooking some choice meat?  Was he on a date with Mrs. Enoch??

What was Enoch doing?  It made my mind wander!  I came to this conclusion…

I bet that Enoch was a family man, a man proud of his heritage and longing to share his faith with his kids, and their kids, and their kids…etc.  When it came to all his great grand-kids, I’m sure he loved to play around with them, loved to share stories, I bet he even played the occasional game of hide and seek with these loving runts!!

What if Enoch was in the midst of a giant game of Hide and Seek…that he was hidden in that perfect spot.  What if Noah was the one charged with finding Enoch??  In the midst of Noah counting to 100- God decides it is time to take Enoch, to bring Enoch home.

BAM

Enoch is gone, and Noah is left seeking after a man who is now MIA! 

You know, i doubt that really happened??  But it could have!!  What are your thoughts?? What was Enoch doing in your mind when God took him!

Read the Bible- I mean creatively and colorfully read the stinking Bible- it will rock your world!!!

WHAT AM I DOING??

A Day Late and A Dollar Short.

So this morning, I was challenged to speak my voice on line- yeah yeah yeah, I know that Blogging was so a thing of yesterday!  But i feel that the voice it has it still very relevant!

Welcome to the adventure- may it challenge you- may it inspire you- may it question your sanity!  It is my world- it is my life- I just pray that my life can be an encouragement to you!!

Welcome to the Adventure!

1moreCORNER

“One More Corner”

Procrastination is the great enemy of inspiration.  Inspiration speaks loud for a time, but procrastination speaks louder longer!  But the choice is yours as to which voice you are going to listen to!

Point in Case

This morning, Nicholas (the coolest border collie in the world!) and I were going for our morning run (so we’ve gone like 4 times in the last 2 weeks…).  Now, when I saw run, I really mean a walk scattered with a few steps of “brisk jogging” because as a 27 year old male, it just sounds weird to go for a “walk.”  However, this morning, was different, much different.  After getting started running, we ran a few short steps and I began complaining:

“I’m tired”

“I need Water”

“We’ll just walk today”

Those simple statements bombarded my mind, eagerly attempting to frustrate me.  But this morning, another phrase jumped in my mind- “one more corner”.  The path that the dog and I typically run is littered with right and left turns.  Here’s a corner there’s a corner everywhere a corner corner!

I looked up and thought, I can make one more corner.  So we put it in overdrive, working hard to make it to that the corner.  When we get to this corner, we can rest- we can stop- we just have to make it to the corner.  As we approached the corner, the herding dog we have began pulling the leash, pulling it as if to say “I ain’t stopping!”

This crazy dog prompted the very phrase that would carry us through the remainder of the run.  ”One more Corner!”

Here is the ironic thing- I tried to talk myself out of ever going for a run this morning- I don’t feel good…I’m too tired..I better stay home and rest…blah blah blah!

SO WHAT?!?

Running is a simple example of a much bigger problem.  When God impresses on our hearts a desire to change, an idea to liberate, or just a simple call to action, often times I am excited when I’m sitting with my coffee and my Bible- but as I tackle the projects of the day, the keen voice of God takes a back seat to the mundane tasks of life.  The Adventure that God has prepared for us all is not for the faint at heart, rather it is for those who are ready to run to “One More Corner”

Fight for the finish!  DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT!  God has amazing things in store for each of us if we will simply push ourselves, listen keenly to His voice, run for that next corner!