The Day

Perspective

Perspective

Did the 20 year reunion - (if any of my old classmates read this please let me know - I want to know if any one really reads this) but it was an experience - we all have changed - some not so much (holy cow Darcy Stout - still looks the same) one girl Jennifer Winneger - has 6 kids and grand kids (9) (married an older guy - Dave (cool cat)but we all have lost hair and gained weight and gotten some wear. 20 years is a good amount of time but it made me think about what have I really learned in 20 years post Gresham High class o 87' - well here I go

1. Less Time does not develop relationships
2. Less opportunity does mean you don't have a life
3. Kids are fantastic!
4. I have the hottest wife!
5. Life really is not that bad even though at the moment it may feel like it Sucks.
6. Life is a series of choices - ask God for help - He wants and says He will guide us.
7. Friends Matter (know who they really are - they might be those you never thought about)
8. Realize who is in control of your life.

I will continue this blog all week

The verse for the day!

1 John 4:6 “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”

Bible Thoughts

The essence of the book of Matthew Tricia and I were reading this morning and we read Matthew chapters 5-7 here are some observations

Matt 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" - This is the essence of Matthew!

Matt 5: 21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother[b]will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[c]' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."

Bottom Line - Deal with your "stuff","Stuff" - being anger, debts, don't let "stuff" hold you down and hinder your relationships - with God and others (parents, friends - everyone - especially the worst relationships(people we most have issues with - unresolved problems). God will give us success and does care for us and how we relate to others!

Matthew 6: 19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Boy we (I) are (am) so "what we see is what we do"

Don't let anything take the place of God - what controls my heart?

Matt 6: 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Worry - boy I so do this - it overtakes me! Will I truly test God on and in this!



In Matt 5-7 God wants our heart, actions, thoughts, monies, emotions, minds.

Good stuff!

Key we can do nothing without Him - Gods refinement in my life is for the good and my em betterment (good word) - nothing can happen without it!

God wants me to lead my family!

Rachel's Man

Rachel's Man

I could not pass on this picture and I wanted to post it because it is a classic!

First Day

Luke's First Day @ Kindergarten

Wow - it is odd to realize that your kids are growing up. I once heard the best way to look at your own mortality is to look at your children and see how fast they grow up and it makes you realize how fast we age.

The Verse!

The verse for the day caught my eye and my heart here it is - oh how true this is and the application is also!

“This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved.

Good Stuff

My friend Jeff Boxell was telling me about this great book so I stole his site "abit" because I totally agree with what he said and his thoughts about the book!

Here it is;

Making Vision Stick
A short book by Andy Stanley, Pastor of Northpoint Community Church, called making vision stick. This was an excellent short read in under an hour challenging leaders to cast a clear and simple vision that is caught by the leader, the staff, and volunteers in a church or organization. The key points for making vision stick were:

State the Vision simply
Cast the Vision convincingly
Repeat the Vision regularly
Celebrate the Vision systematically
Embrace the Vision personally

Cool stuff to grow by!

Good Day

One of our first pictures together

I was thinking today about Tricia and hope much I adore her. This weekend she was out buying some clothes and she got this hot little dress that made me think about dating her - in fact it reminded me of those feelings that I felt when I first would see her for a date - wow she is spectacular!

Tricia - also has an incredible quality - she loves her God more than anything else. That was the thing that drew me to her - I was on
perry nobles site today and saw a quote about Bobby Bowden that reminded me of her "If your Bible is falling apart then your life is not!” I have given Tricia 3 Bibles (nice leather) Bibles since we have been married - she uses those like no ones business - everyday!

Tricia you have no idea what a turn on that is to know that my wife gets the truth and uses it! She reads it to my boys, inspires other.

I love you baby - thank you for inspiring me. You truly make me a better man!

Uncle Bud

Uncle Bud

My wife has a professor that told her about a 90 year old man in her church "Uncle Bud" he just turned 90. When asked what are the most important thoughts he had at the time this is what he said. . .


1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.
3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
6. Be generous.
7. Have a grateful heart.
8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.
9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
12. Commit yourself to quality.
13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
14. Be loyal.
15. Be honest.
16. Be a self-starter.
17. Be decisive even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong.
18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
20. Take good care of those you love.
21. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.

Good words - I would add one more love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul.

Stickiness

2 Corinthians 7:1- “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

Sticky - Life is this we find ourselves in things and places that leave that sugary stick that just is a pain to get off - Sticky.
I want to live a life of no contaminates.

One of the chief ones for me is money and every year I look at the lists of the richest people in world.
I wonder what it would be like to have that sort of cash. Where would you sit on one of those lists - what would you do?
Here's your chance to find out. Find out how wealthy you are by going to
Global Rich List
Find out where you rank among the world's richest.

You might be richer than you think!

Lets wash the stickiness of envy off and realize the blessing that we live in (for me where I live).

I will finish this later....

Today

Today

Boy - the day has felt like a wreck.

But Thursday is coming and it will be good.

Leaning and Learning

Learning and Leaning

Had a good weekend and learned some good "stuff" from Greg's Message I am always amazed how my dependence on God is on my terms (what a joke on my part) - so here are a few points that I took home;

1. God cares about my need not my greed
2. God does know my cares and wants me too relinquish them to Him
3. Worry about nothing and pray for everything

Those are a few things - I have more and will share later -

Lets live this thing out Authentically and truthfully!

Jake thank you for the response.

Fun Video

The Dudes at Saddleback - fun Kung Fu video Click here

Life Lessons

My friend Eric @ Luis Palau sent me this pic - it says it all!

Here are some items I have been thinking of and so was Jake Beaty (he holds a similar position to mine at a cool church and I have been doing some similar thinking - check out Jakes Blog and here is something that is is similar to his that I feel God has been teaching me.
Top 10

1. I must be with Him (in The Bible - Read!, Prayer, With my wife also) before attempting to serve others for Him.

2. I must minister in the Power of The Holy Spirit, not the flesh.

3. I must be authentic and real.

4. I must be under authority.

5. I must remain teachable.

6. I must be a team player.

7. I must be a minister to the whole church, not just in my area of expertise.

8. I must be diligent in pointing others to Him. He will not share His glory!

9. I must Love my wife and show her daily - not through words

10. I must Love My boys and show them that I am living this out daily - so they will!

Go Hit it!

Thoughts of the Day

I was thinking today and going over a few blogs and I found one that stood outPerry Noble Perry was speaking about being lazy in scripture and home
 "I could become lazy in my walk with God neglect seeking Him on a daily basis–thus resulting in numerous stupid decisions because of me trying to do life alone.
 I could become lazy in my marriage and not continue to pursue my wife like I did when we dated…and NOT love her as Christ loves the church–thus resulting in a fried marriage that IS NOT a reflection of how God loves us."

These thoughts resonate with me.

Proverbs 21 and 22
in it talks about the heart.

It is a matter of the heart.

Forward Living

More Sessions I was on Tony Morgans website today and I was struck by something Mark Beeson said Granger Church - here it is
""No one ever drifts to greatness. Want to be a great musician? Methodical practice is required. Do you long for athletic prowess? You must train, and train methodically. Building a great marriage, a great family, a great friendship or a great career requires the ongoing discipline of methodical effort. Wesley had it right; the methodical practice of scriptural holiness is the way to maturity.

"Just as God calls us into community, Wesley called his “awakened” to live in community. Iron sharpens iron and Wesley knew the best strategy for discipleship included the honesty (and sharpening effect) of Christ-centered friendships." --Mark Beeson, senior pastor of Granger Community Church as quoted on LeadingSmart.com
In case you've missed it Tim's blog has a series of posts taken from an interview with Mark Beeson that will challenge your personal spiritual development and your ministry strategy.


Wow! So what am I doing to grow!

Thank you Tony and Mark for pushing us forward - lets live forward and boldly!

It is good to know We can through God - Lets get Crooked

The team

Life is wild isn't it! Everyday I do feel like it is another session with Jesus - a session to learn and grow.

Today's lesson for me was a hard and good lesson.

So here it is:

As some of you know I wake up early (between 4 and 5) every day so, with some knowing that - enter Rachel (our business manager) said we need coffee before the youth group goes to Houseboats - I said I will pick it up - so here is where the story gets wild and for me a teachable learning session.

Rachel (she is so on top of it) - she calls in the order - I didn't realize that even though I should know she told me, in fact she is not wrong (I cant think of a time that I have known her (2 years almost)where she has been wrong).

So I went to another Starbucks got part of the order done (a list of 15+ drinks)when she texts me hey I called it in to 122 (arrgggh!) why did I not listen instead of doing my own thing - for me that is teaching moment
1 - why don't I listen to those that are helping me achieve success - in leadership I get remenided that it is a stewardship - it is temporary and I am accountable to it ( I am sure I got that from somewhere else recently but it hit me in the face) when God places people in your life to help you use them - listen to them and watch what will happen - they are not there by chance but by God for his purposes even if you don't realize that or accept that.

Second lesson - I am bringing the coffee to the adults going on the trip (they all rock) but they all said thank you to me but I took it and said your welcome and I missed it I BLEW CHUNKS - I should have said - "guys it was Randy and Rachel's idea I am just the team member who picks up coffee". I took it for me not for the team.

I blew a team moment. I know this is ramblings but I need to make sure that I understand what I missed because those moments are few and far between - moments to lift up others I work with who work there asses off and love the Lord and that are doing a great job for his glory - people I could not do ministry without!

God forgive me for missing your moment!

I don't want to miss those anymore with anyone!

Team is so important - living out the team - working together in tandem leadership.

Cease the day!

Change

Change - what does it really mean?

How do describe change?

Change in home. marriage, the work place, personal, life change?




Change - I see it in my kids lives happen so quickly as the grow - as they learn, but what about me - how am I experiencing it in my life?

I guess that is the question of the day for me!

Harmless Living

No more Harmless Living!

I am reminded today the way that Go wants to restore and have us realize who we are (I am)in God.

David was a young Sheppard boy who knew God was bigger that Goliath all of Isreals great army was afraid watching the fight in fear - thats me sometimes wanting to fight but living in fear. No more fear God knows my fights my battles and my issues and He is bigger than them all!

No more living in fear live like there is no tomorrow - only heaven - get crooked (Ecc 7:13)!

Random thoughts in the morning!

Wives/Friends

I love my wife!

I was thinking about what a blessing it is to do life with my best friend. Boy, I sure do make a mess out of life but when I look at my family I realize God loves me and showers me with his grace.

What a day and a blessing!

Earl blumenhaur - Hi Earl read the article in the Oregonian