Live The Vision

New Ministry, New Vision, New BHAGs!

livethevision — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:36:34 +0000

Let’s talk about your BHAGs -Big Hairy Audacious Goals- for our Children’s Ministry at River City. I know I have some! For the past month I have been dreaming about what we could do to take our Children’s Ministry to the next step both for our children and their parents. I know I’m not alone! Here is a great example of a BHAG:
“In 1952, 80 percent of Boeing’s business came from one customer – the U.S. Air Force. European and U.S. airlines showed little interest in jets for commerical use and they saw Boeing as a defense contractor. ‘They build great bombers. Period.’ Boeing still remembered downsizing from 51,000 to 7,500 at the end of WWII. And, it would take three times the average annual after-tax profit for the past five years just to develop a prototype. But, this is the BHAG they chose: to move headlong into commercial aviation. This BHAG transformed commercial aviation and Boeing far outpaced a major rival, Douglas Aircraft, in getting jets to market.”
Let’s talk about our BHAGs this Sunday after the third service. If you have been a part of the Children’s Ministry team for the past 10yrs, you are parent that’s curious about “what’s next”, or you’ve been attending for 2 weeks…this meeting is for you. There are many phrases that talk about doing big things, and one of my favorites is by Lao-tzu “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Let’s make that single step Sunday, together!

Define Worship

livethevision — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:23:50 +0000

Worship. Define it. What does it mean? What does it look like? How is it done? Where is it done? Why is it done? Who is it meant for?

The other week I taught Kids Ministry at our church and that’s where this thought train got on the rails. I was watching the youngest of the kids, around 1st grade I suppose. We had the sing-a-long music blasting, cool video on the screen, and me leading with random motions and tons of energy. I loved it! The youngest of the young were jumping up and down, full of smiles, and in the middle of it all. You would have thought their team won the tournament by the way they were acting. I then looked at the others: 2nd grade was going after it too, 3rd grade was – but their jumping wasn’t quite as high as the little ones in front, 4th grade still had the head bopping going on but no jumping, and finally the 5th graders were clapping. Ha, just to be real the 5th graders were clapping against the beat (much to my chagrin…how’s that for a fancy word?!). It dawned on me, we weren’t reaching the 5th grade the same way we were reaching the 1st grade. That’s not good. We have to reach those 5th graders, but in a different way since the first way wasn’t working.

Then I thought about youth group. Why is it if we stick the youth in the middle of a 1,000 other youth they will jump up and down with the crowd (sure, I work with youth and I know all about peer pressure)? I could stick the same youth by themselves and they would be gripping the sides of their jeans in fear that if they were to clap their hands might explode. Actually, that would make for an interesting youth service!!

So this got me thinking. What is real worship? Why is it we (yes adults, we do the same thing) are open to worship when it’s comfortable and the norm? I don’t think that we are truly worshiping if we worship only when it’s comfortable. I know 17 months ago I was singing “trading my sorrows” in our church service, but I sang it completely torn because our son was in the NICU for the first month of his life and diagnosed with CF. I had an inner battle to actually trade my sorrows for God’s peace. But isn’t that worship? Isn’t worship just giving it all to God no matter the good, bad, or whatever the situation in your life is? Tonight I am teaching on worship to our middle and high school students and we will be setting up 11 stations that including writing, drama, singing, molding, praying, etc…to show them the various forms of worship. We will be diving into the thought process of describing what worship is really about and what it means to us.

Earlier I asked you a series of questions. Not just for my benefit, but for ours. Think about worship for a moment. What does it mean? What does it look like? How is it done? Where is it done? Why is it done? Who is it meant for? Hows that for locking you in the “think tank” for a couple of minutes

He is The One

livethevision — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:51:33 +0000

Before reading this…check out this awesome this video:

How would you describe Jesus? Not the Jesus that you read about in sunday school years ago, but the Jesus that is in your life today.

I can tell you who He is to me. He is the one that helped me through my parents divorce. He is the one that had patience with me in high school (still does I think!). He is the one that pointed me to Kenn, Joseph, and John to show me what real faith was all about. He is the one that helped me during many family funerals. He is the one that got me through college. He is the one that gave me my first full time ministry job. He is the one that brought a hot lady into my life and gave me grace to marry her. He is the one that blessed us with a lil man full of energy name Josiah. He is the one that got us through the NICU for a month. He is the one that created medicines and technology to combat his CF. He is the one that will show us a cure for CF someday. He is the one that has placed me in a community of believers across this nation to lean on for support and ministry ideas. He is the one that reminds me that if I continue to trust, it’ll all work out. He is the one that reminds me to depend on Him for everything. He is the one ….

Wow, come to find out the Jesus we read about in Sunday back in the day and the one that we sing about in church is the same one that’s walking with us now.

My Feet Hurt!

livethevision — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:10:18 +0000

This is a message of hope. I don’t know what exactly you are going through today in particular, but I do know that there is someone out there that wants to remind you that you are loved and not alone. This love isn’t based on your looks, your income, your ethnicity, your health, your…anything. Instead it is based on the simple fact that you are you.
I’ve been studying Exodus 15-17 pretty intensely lately for the youth ministry and for my personal growth. There are a couple of points that stick out to me.

1. The nation of Israel (as a whole) complained and questioned everything, but God never gave up on them.
2. There was no exception to the first point typed above this one!

There are a lot of parallels in my personal life and Israel’s exodus experience. I feel abandoned…God shows up. I feel lost…God guides. I feel like doing my own thing…God shows mercy. I want something to happen immediately…God teaches me patience. Maybe you feel the same way?

For everyone that didn’t see the “10 Commandments” movie, here is an extremely brief recap. Israelites were slaves to Egypt. After some eye opening warnings and plagues, the Egyptians lost their first born. Pharaoh got ticked off at Moses and Israel and told them to leave…only to go after them again…which leads to the Egyptian armies death and a freed Israel nation. Confused? Check out Exodus in the Bible and contact your local pastor!

Now here’s the stuff that reaches out to me more than anything else. Water. They went on a 40yr hiking trip and were need of some major Gatorade! At the most, the people could carry somewhere around 60lbs of water each, but over time that wouldn’t last. So, God showed them where they could find an oasis in the desert (which is ridiculous because one degree off the map could’ve sent them miles and miles away from it!). Moses didn’t know exactly where he was leading the people, but he trusted God and God lead them to an oasis. Later on, Moses struck a rock and water poured out of it…enough to sustain the nation for awhile! Food. The nation had their livestock with them, but that wouldn’t last forever. In fact, research shows that they only had around 40 days worth of food! God heard their hunger pains and provided food daily. How’s that for service?! Safety. During this 40yr hiking trip, other nations went after Israel. They would be attacked, not at the front, but at the back where the weak walked…the ones that had infirmities, the young, the old…the ones that were not at 100% walking power. So Israel gathered everybody together and went to battle. God brought them a supernatural victory because they were out numbered and out matched!

So what do these 3 examples say to me? It says that God has our best interest in mind. Of course our lives aren’t perfect, it was never meant to be. Life sucks at times (just being real). Israel had a lot of battles both physically, emotionally, spiritually, and…well i can’t think of another word that ends with “lly” but you get the point! So maybe today you are on day 1 of your journey? Maybe you are at year 27? Or maybe…just maybe you are at year 40 and about to enter into the “promise land” you’ve been waiting for (once again I refer to the “10 Commandments” movie or the actual Bible!). May we strive to trust that God is there regardless of where we are in our journey today! May we remember that we aren’t alone on this journey we call life.

Thank You for being like Aaron & Hur!

livethevision — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:43:14 +0000

These past couple of weeks have been crazy for me. Internally I have been dealing with Josiah’s CF issues and wondering why. Past two CF clinic visits have given us bad reports for his health. Then came the numerous prescriptions that had to be filled. Then came the pharmacists saying that insurance was denying Josiah’s medical coverage. Allstate letters that told me that our auto policy had been canceled (only to be reinstated after several phone calls and them realizing they screwed up). My wife’s stress over play rehearsals for district. My sisters’ bad reports with her CF. Youth Ministry stress. Home owner policy stuff. A diet that works, but leaving me dreaming about fried chicken (literately dreamed of eating BoJangles last night!). Like, I said the past couple of weeks have been crazy for me.

¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. (exodus 17).

The older I get, the more I want to be like Aaron and Hur. I want to be the encourager. The guy that walks into the room, sees that person down on his luck, and brightens his day. Be the wing man for the person that is having a case of the Mondays! But I have seen a shift these past couple of weeks. Still trying to be that person externally, I was down trodden internally. Josiah’s stuff has been the catalyst but the surrounding circumstances only helped to magnify every other problem in our lives. As I look around I see many Aaron’s in my life…especially now. Friends have impacted our family through words of encouragement. I have learned more about CF through a community of friends that I have never met personally. I have people calling from different states to hear how our lil man is doing. I’m receiving text messages and facebook posts from buddies that just want to remind me that they are here for our family in prayer for Josiah. We even have seen extreme grace towards Josiah’s medical bills! I am extremely blown away by all the support we have received. As my youth pastor puts it, “God is Ridiculous!”.

This proves two things to me. 1: That God uses people like you and me to help out others in their times of need. We may never know what’s going on in a person’s life but a simple “how are ya” and a five minute conversation could make the world of a difference. I grew up with the idea that we may be the only Jesus that someone sees, which means we need to show compassion the way He did. 2: It’s ok to be Moses at times. We can get so consumed worrying about everybody else and neglect ourselves. I’m not saying to become self-absorbed but we need to ask for help as well. You can not give out sweet tea from an empty pitcher!

So basically, I am saying thank you to everyone that has reminded us who God is these past couple of weeks! I pray that we may all take a lead like Aaron and Hur did, by holding our friends up in their times of need.

Taking a Time-Out!

livethevision — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:16:11 +0000

So do you take a sabbath? A time out? Maybe it’s a day, an afternoon, a hour, 30 minutes…or even 10 minutes? I think it’s incredibly important to take a sabbath to refresh, recharge, reenergize, and renew the vision (wow there are a lot of “re’s” in that sentence!).

I know for Josiah, his breathing treatments work as mini-sabbaths. It’s three 25 minute periods where he sits down (forcibly at times!) with the vest and the nebulizers. He has to be still to keep all the equipment on him. He wants so bad to get up and play basketball or show daddy the latest half chewed book under a pile of his toys. Sometimes he argues about it, but then gives up and relaxes…even to the point of sleep. I don’t know what it is about the procedures but 95% of the time it relaxes him into a 2 hour a nap. Afterwards he is full of life and spunk…a lot of spunk!

When he doesn’t get those naps in, he’s a walking crying time bomb. You can look at him funny and it’s over. You could shout and it’s over. Lord help you, if you say “NO” to him during this time period. Even though he has hit rock bottom on the energy level, it’s even harder for him to sleep. Instead of closing his eyes he will decide to protest in his crib pulling wallpaper off the walls and just yesterday ripping a tv cable out of the wall (sorry, I didn’t even know it was there!).

How many of us are at that point? We want so badly to rest but instead, we keep going and things get worse for us and the people around us. I know many of you are reading this at work or at school, so I am not saying to stop what you are doing and lay on the floor. Actually that would be awesome…stop what you are doing and lay on the floor. If anybody asks, tell them you are taking a sabbath! Seriously though, maybe even internally, what if you did take a break to get revived, refocused, and refreshed?

You knew it was coming…here are my Biblical thoughts on this subject!

1. Genesis 2:2-3 says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Now call me crazy but if God took a time to reflect shouldn’t we? I’m nowhere near God in energy level!

2. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Notice the first two words in that verse: BE STILL!

Like most blogs I write, I am writing to myself and my son. I know I am in that running around crazy state right now because I don’t rest easy. I hate resting! Instead of worrying about what tomorrow might or might not bring, I should be still and take a sabbath for an X amount of time. What about you?

Mad at God

livethevision — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:08:57 +0000

God, you’re from eternity, aren’t you? Holy God, we aren’t going to die, are we? God, you chose Babylonians for your judgment work? Rock-Solid God, you gave them the job of discipline? But you can’t be serious! You can’t condone evil! So why don’t you do something about this? Why are you silent now? This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous and you stand around and watch! You’re treating men and women as so many fish in the ocean, Swimming without direction, swimming but not getting anywhere. Then this evil Babylonian arrives and goes fishing. He pulls in a good catch. He catches his limit and fills his creel— a good day of fishing! He’s happy! He praises his rod and reel, piles his fishing gear on an altar and worships it! It’s made his day, and he’s going to eat well tonight! Are you going to let this go on and on? Will you let this Babylonian fisherman Fish like a weekend angler killing people as if they’re nothing but fish? (Habakkuk 1:12-17)
Habakkuk was one angry dude that day. A couple of things jump out at me with this passage. This wasn’t an “ordinary” guy (but who is?). He was a prophet of God. He was somebody that everybody looked to, to be reverent and to hear from God. Can you imagine over hearing your sunday school teacher cussing out God in angry voice before class started? That would blow your mind right? ( well, at least some of our minds!). Well if you were living around the same time Habakkuk was around, it would have the same affect….WOW! You may even have said, “You can’t talk to God like that!”.
This is one of the reasons why I like him though. He is blunt and brutally honest in his conversations with God. To often we play church and act like everything is ok…but it’s not. We put our religious game faces on and pretend everything is great…but it’s not. If we are having a case of the Munndays (Office Space reference!), we should tell God about it!
Now those religious masks may work in front of friends, family, coworkers, etc. but there is no mask big enough to shield you from God. But that’s ok. He is big enough. He can handle it. He wants an open relationship with us that requires us to be real, honest, raw, and sometimes “ungodly” in front of Him. There are some days while administrating Josiah’s CF treatments, I am cussing God out. Why? What did he do to deserve it? Why us? Why not them? It’s not fair! He’s just a kid! It’s only supposed to get worse God! After letting it all out with God, somehow He comforts me. Maybe not that instant, but He does in time. He reminds me of who He is. He whispers to me that Josiah is fulfilling some purpose that I don’t or may never understand. He reminds me that He is God, and that I should put my trust in Him. This is sometimes followed by me saying “yeah right” and other times “thank you, ok”.
Thank God, He is patient with us. Not only is it therapeutic to have an open relationship with Him, it’s part of having a relationship with Him. How many relationships you know work out based on holding grudges? Not many! Until we are totally honest with our happy and negative thoughts with Him, we can never truly learn how He loves us and how He is in the midst of every situation we face (both good and bad). Just a random thought today!

Obesity, Ants, and Headbands

livethevision — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:02:31 +0000

You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest! (Proverbs 6:6)

I have been thinking a lot about exercising and maintaining good health. Between doing research on CF and learning how Josiah needs to stay active and looking at last years camp pictures (started to look like the typical youth pastor!) I’ve gotten motivated myself. How can I tell Josiah to live a healthy lifestyle if his daddy isn’t?! Just saying!

So there I was at the gym before hitting the office. As I was sweating on the elliptical machine I noticed a funny scene. There was this obese guy sitting on a leather couch drinking a cup of coffee and watching tv. Now why a gym has a tv and leather couch is funny in itself, but seeing this proved to be even funnier. He was totally dressed to work out….actually over killed it a bit (wristbands, headbands, work out shirt, and sweats). You might say that he was taking a time out, but it was a 45min time out! 45min in the gym without sweating?!!

That’s when Proverbs 6:6 came into my mind. How often do we intend to do something only to live with just the intentions? I know if my family only intended to make sure Josiah did his medications/breathing treatments/calorie intakes….well it would be a bad thing. I know if I only intended to get in shape…well that would be bad too! Spiritually speaking, if I only intended to know Jesus more….you get the point.

So I believe we should be more like the Ants when it comes to our intentions. Ants don’t over think it, over kill it, or wait for it happen…they do it!

Horatio’s Testimony

livethevision — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:05:58 +0000

I am not a big hymn guy, I will gladly pop in David Crowder instead. But this morning was different. The praise band preformed a contemporary version of “It Is Well With My Soul”. I stand on the stage during worship (not by choice, always feels a little awkward) and I always look for Josiah in the crowd. The songs become more alive to me when I think of what God has done for our lil man. When they cranked up the words to this song, it brought back a lot of memories of his struggles from birth, and even up to this past week. That’s when I remembered the history of the song.

A Christian lawyer named Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) had a tough life. He lost his son at an early age. He lost all of his investments in 1871 because of the great Chicago fire. Two years later he set out on an evangelistic mission to Great Britain, but got detained because of a business deal. Instead his wife and four daughters went ahead, and he would sail shortly after. Their ship never reached Great Britain because it was struck by another ship off the cost of Wales. Within minutes their ship was under water. Shortly after, he received a cable message from his wife that said, “saved alone”. His four daughters had drowned….

Horatio immediately left to sail to Great Britain to meet his wife. While at sea, he began to write this text, “”When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.”

What’s crazy is Horatio didn’t focus on all the horrible things that happened in his life, but instead he focused on the redemptive work of Christ. He easily and deservedly could have said, “why me” or “it’s not fair” but instead he totally leaned on Christ. I don’t know if I’m totally there yet, but I hope to be there someday. I know every person that reads this has had some great life stories, as well as some tragedies in various degrees and levels. Maybe some day we will come to the same conclusion that Horatio did…that it will with my soul.

Josiah’s Prescriptions, Cost, and God

livethevision — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:18:05 +0000

So it’s the day after a clinic visit and you know what that means….break out the insurance card, pharmacy card, and pray for the best. It’s funny now because when I go through the drive through, they don’t know even ask for my license any more…we are on a first name basis! The pharmacist opened the window and apolized over and over again about the cost of Josiah’s latest drugs. I just smiled and told her that it’s in God’s hands and handed over my cards. She was blown away. She was like…you know it’s over a $100 today right? I told her it didn’t matter what the cost was because he needed to breathe!! She just stood there and smiled.

Luke 12:6-7 says, “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”

As I drove away (with Josiah crying in the backseat..ugh!) God just reminded me of that verse. What’s funny was, as I was driving to the pharmacy I was asking God if He could somehow “hook us up” this go around (yeah, I think He has a sense of humor)….instead it was hefty bill, but I had peace over it when I handed my card over.

Just this past week my wife & were talking about finances. Josiah’s first year of life has been over $10,000 worth of medical bills…and we have great insurance. Have I gotten a raise to help cover that amount? No. So how does it happen at the end of the month that Josiah’s medical needs are met? God. That’s the only thing I can think of, because stuff just happens. Ha, now the funny thing is, I forgot to take 1 other prescription and will be making another drive to the pharmacy AGAIN once Josiah wakes up. Do I freak over our finances, yes…but do I stress over finances, no….at least I’m attempting not too. Like the verse says, He loves us more than a whole flock of sparrows.