Back in the Saddle

Summer is officially Gone. You know how I determine that? Vacation was the reward for crossing the finish line and now vacation is over. Leaving Summer 2010 as a distant but fond memory.

Silas at a Fountain in Knoxville
Vacation 2010

My beautiful wife has logged our awesome vacation in great detail over at the more popular blog from our household. (Honestly, my wife is a minor blog celebrity. I was in Raleigh at a conference this summer and met a person whom neither of us had met who stated, "oh yeah, I love your wife's blog") So, I will gladly bow down to the blog queen of our house. haha...what the heck was all that about? I digress greatly.

Vacation was much needed. My life gets pretty jumbled with stuff that's not the most important. For vacation we went to the Great Smoky Mountains and camped for 8 days. That's a good way to be reminded of priorities. 8 days without electricity, phones, internet, even showers (proper). I recall thinking "who cares about Facebook anyway?" I could live like that forever until I'm reminded that I was sent to serve the lost people of the world.

Savannah playing with rocks
Yes, rocks. She's also sitting
in a stroller in the middle of
a big mountain stream. 

Which brings me to my post tonight. Recently I've been challenged to grow myself up a little. I was finding myself frustrated with my Christian living. Yeah, i'm a "pastor" (youth minister/ preacher.... whatever). It's easy for me to sit on my laurels and talk to our people about witnessing and serving people for Jesus. But all my life I've struggled with making that happen. I never want to be satisfied with the work I'm doing in the kingdom. And through all the "busy-work" and "church" It's easy to miss huge opportunities.

So, I made the choice about a month ago to strategically position myself for such service and evangelism. (it's not the first time I've done this but the most recent). I've been praying for opportunities, I even applied with the local school system as a substitute teacher for the High School near our house so I might meet some new people. God has begun to pour out generously from his "opportunities" pitcher.

 I've had some awesome opportunities pop up in the last few weeks. I won't go into detail to protect these people's privacy but here are a few of things I'm being challenged with.

1. we just got new neighbors...I live in a duplex...neighbors are CLOSE
2. this week 2 boys from the neighborhood just "walked up" to the church and wanted to hang out in theLOFT (our student center) they've been at work with me every day this week. I've played a lot of games with them and had some serious talks too. (one of them brought me a slice of his birthday cake once..haha... awesome!) They also have friends and brothers who want to hand out. I'm trying to balance hospitality with caution here. We'll see what happens. 
3. Silas made his first "friend" this week. Everyone Silas knows is someone that we introduced him to. But today, as he was riding his bike with his mom he met a neighborhood kid who came over to play. So far, I know enough about him to know that we could really love on his family
4. a man in our church lives very close to me. He is in need of some serious love (our church people love on him A LOT but I'm his neighbor too so I want to take it up a notch) I've got some very specific ways I plan to help him as the hands and feet of Jesus.
5. The coordinator of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes at a local High School is looking for people to come in and lead a devotion weekly on Wed. mornings. She asked me for a list of dates when I'm avaibable. I told here I could do it every week this semester if she needs me. (I'm waiting to hear back)

Naps in a tent are tough
especially with mesh-faced brothers

Pray for my diligence. Pray for my focus. Pray for ways you can serve the king OUTSIDE the walls of your church.

James 1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Peace-
Chris

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Perfectly Executed Video

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Food For Thought: Are You a Passionate Disciple of Jesus?

Here's a little food for thought. More to follow.

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God is Not a White Man.

Doing some vacation planning with the MRS. tonight. I can hardly wait for August 8 to roll around. It seems like I've had several vaca's this year. Truth is, I've just taken advantage of several long weekends and been creative with my down time.

I'll talk more about vacation later. Camping in the Smokeys..... man, that's music to my ears. This year I'm takin my boy for the first time. It's the circle of life. (At this point, I think I'm supposed to be holding him by his arm pits over the edge of a cliff, in view of thousands of wild animals.....funny, Michael Jackson, King of Pop. does it and everyone flips out....Mufassa, the Lion King. no worries.)

Anyway..... I was doing pretty good there for a minute with my blogging. Then....camp.

I've got some good articles in mind for the near future as well as some recaps on camp and such. For now, I must share this video from Gungor. Thanks to my friend Lee for posting it earlier.

I really like the premise of this song. I'll let you enjoy it for yourself. if you don't like it....leave me a comment or shoot me an email. I'd love to chat about it with you some. But not too much...I don't have time for endless blog rants like some people apparently do (haha....man, I used to get sooo sucked into those things). Peace.

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Who Are You Surrounding Yourself With?

In my daily bible reading, I've been reading in 2 Samuel. I'm currently using the "Seasons of reflection daily reading bible" and only focusing on the Old Testament this year. It's been great to be reminded of all the power of the almighty God shown through the nation of Israel (often for their benefit, often for their punishment).

King David is central to 2 Samuel. His feats and accomplishments are staggering. Did you realize that the kingdom was actually split when he became king (Israel and Judah) and that it was divided once more as his son Absolam staged a coo! (This is my 3rd time through the Old Testament and probably close to a dozen times reading about David and that fact never struck me.

There was a lot that happened under the rule of David. So much, in fact, that I would wager that we only have the tip of the iceberg recorded in the Bible. Case on point, "David's Mighty Men". There are about 36 men listed at the end of David's story around chapter 23 1/2. These guys where BAD! They all had kill records like Master Chief from the Halo video game on X-box. They led hundreds of men. They were righteous and loyal to the king. My guess is, THEY were the tools of disaster that God used against the pagans in Palestine.

I encourage you to read this and notice how brief the account is. There are NO details about their families, about their sons, about their land. We have no record of anything else about them. (A few of them are mentioned earlier in the stories...Guys like Joab).

My point is this.

David was a great man but David surrounded himself with slews of other great men. It was obviously a priority for David that he multiply himself in his charter and his leadership. It's possible that any one of these men might have staged a coo against David and done quite well. They might truly have been good kings too.

So, as I wrap up, I want to ask you this question. "Who are you surrounding yourself with?"

If you want to be a man like David. A man after God's own heart. A man of great wisdom and leadership. Surround yourself with "Mighty Men and Women"

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