Here are a couple of quotes from Francis Chan in his new book “Crazy Love”. I would love to hear your thoughts on these:
“True faith is loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out.”

“The person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the sin of pride is always a battle. Obsessed people know that you can never be “humble enough,” and so they seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known.”

Wearing The Hearts Of Others On My Sleeve!!!

Over the past couple of weeks there have been some things that have troubled me. They have troubled me because I feel that if you are working at something you should take responsibility for your actions. In other words, just do your job!!! The bigger issue for me is that these that are supposed to be responsible for their jobs are within the church and they are dropping the ball all the time. Why is it that when we are given the greatest calling on the planet we have a tendency to slack and hope someone else will pick up the ball and run with it. Don’t get me wrong I think we need to help one another, but at some point you need to take responsibility for your own job and actions. If you are not doing what you were designed to do, then figure out what that is and stop doing the the other. I know it is not that easy, but at some point we need to do our job and do it well. If we cannot do that then we need to find another place to plug in and serve. I am blown away time and again when people in the ministry get burned out. It is usually one of two reasons, they are either tired from doing something that they do not like or they are tired of the people. It is usually the first. We tend to hire people for positions instead of giftedness in the church. That is why we have volunteers that are serving in areas that they are not gifted in. It is because we have set the example in the way we hire in the church. Imagine if we were to actually hire and recruit people based on their gifts and passions as opposed to a spot we needed to fill. How different would our churches and effectiveness be? When people are doing their job they are effective. Do you feel that you are serving in the capacity you are gifted or are you filling a position?

Tonight is one of those nights where I cannot seem to shut my brain down. After preaching four times in a row this weekend my brain is fried. I made the mistake of taking a nap this afternoon and now I cannot fall asleep tonight. So alas…yes I said alas…I am sitting here on my couch in the dark reflecting on the day. Here are some thoughts as I process the weekend:
1. I really do love to communicate Gods word
2. I really love seeing people get what God is saying and applying it to their lives
3. I love my wife and children more and more every day
4. My campus pastor Jeremy is incredible and I would not trade him for the world
5. My lead pastor Drew has more faith in me than he probably should, but for that I am grateful
6. I have a great network of people serving and encouraging me weekly and daily
7. Rest is crucial in ministry
8. Loving People is what it is all about
9. I love the bride of Christ even when she whore’s herself out
10.I need to go to bed.
What is it from your weekend that was good or thought provoking. This is not really that deep, but what I am pondering as I sit in the dark of my living room listening to the ceiling fan make a low hum. Have a great night.

I could write a whole post as to why, but I would rather just let you all read how one little act of loving someone has ministered to others. Thanks Los…love ya bro. Go HERE to check it out.

Back in January I decided that it was time for a change with my hair. I have worn it short for the better part of 5 years now. The time had come to let it grow and get all Rapunzel like. By February it was long enough to do something with. It was then that I decided to go blond and spike it in a Billy Idol fashion. Now here is what threw me for a loop. It became the talk of our church. The better part of 2000 people were beginning to have in depth conversations about my hair style. I just blew it off and continued on my path to hair mecca. Once it was to long to spike I decided that it was time to wear it down and let my golden locks flow in the wind like a surfer from long beach. You thought that the spikes made them talk, well that was nothing compared to the emails, letters and comments that began to onslaught my life. The gossip grew, the conversations became deeper and people began to take the liberty to tell me why I was being unbiblical by the way I was wearing my hair. At one point a lady came up to me after I had preached and told me that my hair kept her from worshiping and being filled by the word. It was at this point that I had enough. I just looked at her and asked her “when did it become about hair for you?” I am pretty sure that made her more mad than my hair, but I felt as if it was a valid question.
What is interesting to me is that as Christians we do this all the time. We talk about how the music distracted me from worship, or the preaching style did not lead me into the presence of God. The curtains are blocking the stained glass and I cannot worship without my stained glass. The concrete under the seats makes my back hurt and therefore God cannot be seen in my life….the list goes on and on and on. I began to wonder, what if those people that were so engrossed with my hair had been that engrossed in conversation about their love for God and how they can love people with that same passion. What if people stopped worrying about things like hair and cloths and started worrying about things like lost souls and loving others. What kind of church would we be then…? A church that Christ has called us to be. What are some things you have run into in the church like this? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Wearing The Hearts Of Others On My Sleeves!!!

P.S. I shaved my head because of the heat…you think people would have stopped talking…not a chance, now I am being questioned as to why I would shave my head. Welcome to this funny thing we call church.

Here is my status from day two. It was harder today than yesterday. However, I knocked my pace down a full minute today. 10K here I come. Check out the challenge that inspired me to get back at it here. Thanks Los!!!

So I have decided run the www.nikeplus.com “Human Race” on August 31st. Here is my first day of training with my new Nike+ shoes and sport band training system. I will keep you posted. I am running to support the UN Refugee Agency Fund through Nike. It gets refugee children off the streets and into care. Stop back and watch my training log. Enjoy!!!

I love that most people still look at me and think that I still look remotely younger. A lot of people have said that they would put me at early twenties. For a guy pushing thirty this next year that makes me feel good.
Yesterday I was in the wave pool minding my business while my wife and kids were off gallivanting around the water park. I was wearing my new, and might I add “rockin” new hurley board shorts, had a glowing dark tan and felt as if I looked at least twenty, maybe even nineteen. Then it happened. It was the moment that I realized that I had been lying to myself for the past couple years of my life. It is the moment that I realized that I am not that young, nor do I look that young. A group of teenage girls came over towards an inner tube that was sitting next to me and said, “SIR…are you using that?” I ignored them cause surely they were not talking to me…I look way to young to be a SIR!!! I looked around to see who they were talking to, but there was nobody. I thought that was weird that they would just talk to no one. Then I heard it again but a little louder…”SIR…SIR…ARE YOU USING THAT?” I looked at them and said, “who me?”, “yeah…are…you…using…that”? Talking to me as if I was so old I needed hearing aids. I wanted to say something clever or make myself look more ripped, or try to convince them that I was younger but I just said, “no go ahead…”. However after they walked off I was kind of proud to be called SIR. Most times it means that people will look to you for wisdom. So maybe instead of trying to live as someone I am really not, I should just be me…yes SIR…just me. This got me thinking:
What if we simply were just who God made us to be instead of worrying about being someone we are not? What if we stopped trying to perpetuate something to people that we are not and were simply us. No convincing, no false pretense, no working hard to put up a facade…just simply being who you were made to be. How do we do that? Well…what are you passionate about? What makes you salivate every time you think about using your gifts? It does not matter if you are the best at it in the worlds eyes, what matters is that God created you for it and he wants you to use it for his glory. So with that I say SIR (or MADAM if you are a female) be uniquely you.

Wearing My Heart On My Sleeves!!!

This week has been great. I have been on the road for the past three weeks for a variety of things. On top of that my wife had major surgery three weeks prior to that, so our world has felt a little scattered. However, this week is family vacation week. We decided to vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge here in the area. They have the biggest indoor water park in the country. Everyday so far we have spent a few hours at the water park. We spent the better part of our first day in that little kid section because our girls are…well…little kids. Now Ella my four year old has loved every moment of it. Every time we do something new she just giggles and giggles. It started with with something as little as running through the wave pool. She laughed and laughed. Now funny side note. There is a blue slide in the kid section that is slow and easy…Ella was completely freaked out to go down it. Then I suggested that we go down the big kid slide. The one where you have to climb ten stories to get to and then get into a huge inner tube to get down. I thought there is no way she will do it. However, when I suggested it she was ready. I told her to start climbing and off we went. We get to the top and as you can guess she was a little freaked out. However, when we got in and took off she started giggling and giggling like nobody’s business. Even though she was a little afraid, she realized that if she just trusted daddy she was free to giggle and enjoy the ride.
What she taught me about my walk with Christ is that if I am afraid, if I would just trust in the Father, it would be in that moment that I could simply sit back, enjoy the ride and giggle the whole way down. If we would simply take the time to enjoy the new things that freak us out, God would take us on these incredible rides of faith.

Wearing The Hearts of Others On My Sleeve!!!

P.S. Today Ella finally went down the little blue slide that freaked her out the other day…She giggled…all the way down.

LAURA (My Smokin’ Hot Wife)


NATALIE (My Little Sweetheart)


FOGLE (One of my best friends)