To all of my students (especially the ones who are in high school):

Please do not water down the English language by cheapening our words of value. Don’t make “love” the equivalent of “like.” it cheapens the real deal.

Take a look at this cute, thought-provoking video about this idea…
(And by the way, these guys have a lot of good videos. Check them out!)

A new movie is coming to theaters this weekend from the producers of Facing the Giants & Fireprood.

It’s called Courageous.

And, it focuses on a series of events in the lives of four law enforcement officers. These four men face incredible challenges that force them to evaluate their lives and to make decisions about what’s really important.

Here’s the trailer for the film.

We showed it on Sunday at my church. Yep, we pitched a movie in church. Pretty cool, huh? And, we even gave away free tickets. You see, we really believe that if we support films like this then more will be made. If we fail to support the few faith-based films that are made, then less will be made. Plus, we actually believe that a film like this can change lives. So, we’re encouraging our whole church to go together on Sunday night (opening weekend). We’re even making the movie event replace our evening service. Great idea, huh!

For more info on the movie, visit http://courageousthemovie.com.

The facts matter. They really do, but if you can’t communicate them in a way that makes sense to people, then the facts lose their impact. Take these two tablet advertisements for example (embedded at the bottom of the page). Both are the same length, and both are clever in their own way. But, from an emotional standpoint, the iPad 2 commercial probably wins. The reality is that the average non-techie person, who doesn’t care about the internal specs, gets lost when you start talking about Flash, Tegra processors, and LTE upgradeable. They just want to know if it “works.” In other words, will it do what I want it to do? Can’t you see your Dad saying that?

The take away is this, Christianity is the truth. The Bible has the answers to life’s challenging questions. Our task is to find ways to communicate the truth to those around us in ways that make sense. We need to put the cookies on the lower shelf so that everyone can reach them. The message can be made relevant and simple while still maintaining it’s doctrinal integrity. So, let’s get to it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fz6Z6S3Q5M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFFkK2SmPg4

(Thanks to The iPhone Blog for the inspiration for this post)

This is a preview of what we’re doing at my church on Sunday for Father’s Day…

We’re showing the Mark Driscoll message and giving all of the men who attend a copy of the Man Code DVD series. It’s going to be an in-your-face experience for all of the men, but it’s exactly what we need to hear.

The last few weeks have been hugely busy for me.  So, I haven’t been able to post much.  But, I did want to show you my recent missions trip to Belize (the video is below). We just got back in town last week.  The trip was excellent.  It was a real privilege and pleasure to be able to go to Belize again this year.

Whenever we go on missions trips, we always try to be a blessing to the people, the local church, and especially our missionaries.  On this trip, we built a Sunday School building for the church located at Bullet Tree, we saw the MANNA Feeding Center that we support in the Valley of Peace, and we got a chance to be a blessing to our missionaries.  We really tried to go above and beyond as it relates to being a blessing, but the truth is…we were the one’s who received the bigger blessing.

As I sat down to prepare for our testimony night, I realized that I was blessed in at least 5 ways.  And, I want to share them with you:

1. I was blessed to GO – I wasn’t initially supposed to go, but I’m sure glad god worked it out for me to be a part of this team.

2. I was blessed to GUIDE the team – The team had a varied background (age, ethnicity, and gender), and there were potential health risks (high blood pressure, epilepsy, 4 diabetics, 3 cancer survivors, and 2 over 70 years old).  But, God was gracious, and our team blend was better than I could have asked for.

3. I was blessed to GET TO KNOW our missionaries – I love missionaries! And, I love trying to shower them with blessings. This year, I got to see Dan Weaver nearly every day, and I got to hang out with the Smiths all of the time. We ate practically every meal together. If “hanging out” was a spiritual gift, I’d say I have it because I really like to hang out with missionaries.

4. I was blessed to GIVE so much away – We took stuff from the US to give to our missionaries personally and to their church as well.  Even more exciting was the opportunity to see our team give so generously…many suitcases came home empty because our team just gave so much away…completely unplanned.

5. I was blessed to see GOD work – He kept us safe. He provided what I like to call “mini miracles.” He guided us every step of the way. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen God work, read this and pray this prayer, “Lord, I know that you are working somewhere.  Please guide me to that place where you are already working so that I can rejoice with others when you get the glory.”

And now…here’s the video!

http://vimeo.com/22534639

Have you ever noticed how junky your garage can get? Now, I know that some of you actually use your garage for parking and manage to keep it in pristine condition…but let’s be honest, most of us just use it to store our junk. And over time, the law of entropy takes effect, and our garages get more and more cluttered and messy.

Well, my wife and I took some time this week and tried to clean up our garage a bit. There’s still more to be done…we tend to be pack-rats. But, we did our seasonal cleanup.

So, here’s what I’m thinking. In the same way that our garages tend to get junkified over time, sometimes our lives get cluttered and disorganized. By nature, we lose focus on where we should be headed and what we should be doing. Perhaps, its time to take an inventory of your life and consider plotting a new direction. Have you been watching a little too much TV lately? Has it been a while since you were enriched by a good book? When was the last time you learned something? Have you been spending a little too much time on Facebook (gasp)?

Just something to think about. Maybe it’s time to clean that mess up.

Well, not so much the Super Bowl (as in the game itself). But, I learned something from Christina Aguilera’s singing of the National Anthem and the Black Eyed Peas halftime performance.  I’m a firm believer in two things: 1) you can learn from anything/anyone, and 2) it’s best to learn from the experiences of others (I’d rather learn from someone else’s mistakes than have to make them myself).  So, here’s what I learned from Super Bowl XLV.

1. Stuff Happens
Despite our best efforts, some times bad things happen.

Certainly, Christina Aguilera practiced the National Anthem before the game. She has even sung multiple times before, and yet she messed up the lyrics at the Super Bowl.  Undoubtedly, the Black Eyed Peas rehearsed for the halftime show, and yet they still had audio issues (poorly mixed and/or mic problems) and a portion of the stage didn’t light up like it was supposed to (the “V” in LOVE).

For us, some times despite our best efforts, stuff happens.  We lose our job, our car breaks down, someone in the family gets sick, our project gets cancelled…you know what I’m saying.  Stuff happens.  It’s part of life.

2. Keep Going
Don’t stop even when bad stuff happens!

Although things didn’t go as planned during the National Anthem or the halftime show, the performers had to keep going.  They couldn’t just give up and stop the show.  Could you imagine what that would’ve been like? Christina calling it quites in the middle of the song and walking off stage…nope, that can’t happen, she had to keep going.

For us, we have to remember, don’t quit!  (This is a link to my favorite poem of all time). You have to keep going.

3. Get Help
Be willing to accept help from others when you need it.

The trending topics on Twitter seem to show that many people feel that Usher (and/or Slash) saved the halftime performance.  Usher stepped in at just the right moment and bailed out the show.

Sometimes, we’ve got to lay down our pride and accept help when we need it… whether it’s in the form of a person lending a helping hand or financial  or physical resources that are offered to us.  Everyone needs help eventually, and when we need it, we should accept it graciously, knowing that some day we will be called upon to help someone else.

4. Finish Strong
Even if you mess up along the way, make sure you finish strong.

Despite messing up in the middle of the song, Christina Aguilera managed to belt out that final line “Home of the BRAAAAVE!”  She finished strong.

We need to do that to regardless of the difficulties that come our way.  Pull it together, take a deep breath, and finish strong.  What’s happened in the past is done.  There’s no changing it, but we can finish well.  So, let’s do it!

So that’s what I learned from the Super Bowl.
Did you learn anything?

Also, stayed tuned as I post in a few days how these same principles were at work in the people of God in the book of Exodus.

Do You Hear What I Hear…sounds like it should be the title of Christmas song, doesn’t it?  But alas, this post is not about Christmas.  Sorry.  This post is about hearing the truth…maybe listening is a better word here.  And more than just listening to the truth, this is about applying the truth to our lives.

This week, we had new windows installed at our home (Yay for us!).  The tax credit helped to make it the right timing for us.  We’ve been losing A/C during the summer months and letting cold air in during the winter months for years through windows that are as old as me!  So anyway, our window installer was a pretty nice guy…let’s say he was a jolly soul…since it’s Christmas and all.  And so, as he worked, he and I talked…it was an all-day job so there was plenty of time to talk.  As we talked, he shared with me about his kids.  He’s a pretty fortunate guy.  His kids love and respect him, and they communicate with each other.  So, he tells me that his daughter is in her second year of college but is getting discouraged and is thinking about dropping out.  He had encouraged her, but once he learned about my academic background, he asked me to talk to her and encourage her to finish.  She was coming by my house to drop off some tools that he needed for the job so I would have a chance to see her.

While the story could go on, it doesn’t need to.  Because here’s my point…

Why is it that we often only listen and accept truth when it comes from “an expert”?

In this story, the father had talked to his daughter, but he thought that she would listen better to someone like me with a bunch of college experience.  This kind of thing happens at church, too.  Our pastor can make powerful truth statements, but when we hear it at the men’s conference from a guy who pastors a church of over 10,000, suddenly it clicks, and we accept it.  Here’s another one, when we were kids, our parents could communicate valuable truth to us until they were blue in the face, but we didn’t believe it until we heard Dr. Phil say it on the Oprah Winfrey show.  What’s up with that?

I think you know where I’m going with this…

Be a 360 Learner
Learn from those above you, beside you, and below you.  Truth is truth, even if it comes from unlikely sources.  So parents, learn from your kids. Employers, learn from your employees. And spouses, learn from each other.

Life is too short… to work at a job you hate, to do work that doesn’t matter, to do things that are not fulfilling, and to miss out on doing something big for God!

James 4:14 teaches us that “life is a vapor;” it appears for a little while and then vanishes away. We need to take advantage of the time that God has given us.

We need to be doing things that excite us and challenge us.  When someone asks us, “What are you involved in?”  Our excitement about our pursuits and passions should just flow from within us.

This week, Seth Godin share a few thoughts about being asked the question…

What are you working on?

If someone asks you that, are you excited to tell them the answer?

I hope so. If not, you’re wasting away.

No matter what your job is, no matter where you work, there’s a way to create a project (on your own, on weekends if necessary), where the excitement is palpable, where something that might make a difference is right around the corner.

Hurry, go do that.

The point is, life is just too short not to do something that you find enjoyable and fulfilling.  Maybe it’s time to make some changes.  The new year is coming…it’s a perfect opportunity to change things up and do something important.

A while back, my Dad bought a Christian CD for my son, Jeremiah.  It’s a great CD that puts Bible verses to music.  One of the songs is based on Philippians 2:14 … a verse I sadly paid much attention to before Jeremiah got the CD.  The song goes like this:

Do… do… do… do… do all things,

Do… do… do… do… do all things,

Do… do… do… do… do all things,

Without complaining or arguing!

Pretty deep stuff for a children’s song, huh? And, simple, too.  My son sings this all of the time, and the cool thing is that he’s learning to apply the Scripture to his life.

So, what’s in it for us?  Well, I think it’s time we all learn to stop complaining.  Now, I’m not talking about providing helpful feedback to a person or an organization that asks for feedback and wants to improve (think restaurants that offer comment cards).  I’m talking about the unproductive stuff.  Like complaining to a friend or family member about some person, place, thing, or event when there’s nothing that they can do about the situation.  I’m talking about complaining about work, church, family members, and the like with your only real purpose being to let people know how unhappy you are.

One of the world’s most prolific bloggers, Seth Godin, recently wrote a post about the uselessness of whining.  Take a look at what he wrote about the two problems with whining:

The first is that it doesn’t work. You can whine about the government or your friends or your job or your family, but nothing will happen except that you’ll waste time.

Worse… far worse… is that whining is a reverse placebo. When you get good at whining, you start noticing evidence that makes your whining more true. So you amplify that and immerse yourself in it, thus creating more evidence, more stuff worth complaining about.

If you spent the same time prattling on about how optimistic you are, you’d have to work hard to make that true…

Well, we’ve identified the problem.  We know what God thinks about it.  And, we know how useless our complaining is.  So, what are we going to do about it?  Hmmm?