Hostage
I think I am held hostage by myself and my thinking I am unable to memorize scripture. As John gave us this challenge to memorize the verses from the series were in I was like, uggh. I know verses but to match them with references has always escaped me. I have worked on them everyday and am pretty close. Memorizing scripture is a lot like sports in that as an athlete you must work at it daily. I have found that writing them out over and over and over again help me to retain what I am trying to learn. I have never been that good with the whole book smarts deal, but this is giving me confidence that I can break free and take my walk with Christ to a whole notha’ level. How is your scripture memorization going this week?
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. -Acts 3:19
No temptation has seized you except that which is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let yo be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. -1 Corinthians 10:13
An Email Forward
Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must Have stung quite a bit.
The complaint:
“Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 A.M, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special? Any response would be appreciated.”
The response:
“Regarding ‘A wake-up call from Luke’s jets’ On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four- ship fly by of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadronat Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques. Capt Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day.
At 9 a. m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer’s recount of the fly by, and because of the jet noise, I’m sure you didn’t hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son’s flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured..
A four-ship fly by is a display of respect the Air Force gives to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.
The letter writer asks, ‘Whom do we thank for the morning air show? The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.
Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you….Jesus Christ and the American Soldier.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.”
Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. -USAF
WOW! Just reminds me to be so careful with my words. That I don’t know the whole story and sometimes I don’t need to. I struggle with patience, but what a great reminder that our words are powerful and that I need to be sensitive to others and where they are coming from. It can’t be easy to walk in other peoples shoes because it sure isn’t easy to walk in our own.
UrbanPromise
Yesterday I had a chance to go with Kyle Short our intern and one of our youth staff Mary Davis to UrbanPromise in Wilmington, DE. I really didn’t know what to expect although I know that our teens had a blast the last time they were there. We met at a coffee shop with James who came here for a seven week internship seven years ago and he never left, needless to say by the end of the afternoon I could see why.
I was blown away by the heart and passion that James had for his kids. James is in charge of the street leaders that work for UrbanPromise. He does a phenomenal job with them and they appear to have so much respect for him. I was so impressed with the organization, how it was run, how it was staffed and how friendly all the leaders were.
Being there only fifteen minutes the kids already became attached. One girl came up and gave me a hug and asked me not to leave, it broke my heart. It so reminded me of Russia for those of you who have been there. I went to offer our services to them and walked away broken for what is twenty minutes away from our church in Wilmington.
We have so many opportunities to connect with these kids and bless these leaders and I am glad that God has put us in a position as a youth department to make a difference and in turn have our own lives rocked as well.
This is a short video clip they had posted on their website about their ministry at www.urbanpromise.org
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Growth Visualization
Could you imagine if church growth happened the way Walmart growth does? When a new Walmart opens anywhere there is excitement and anticipation. People kill to get in the doors during Christmas. Lives are impacted because Walmart is in town. Maybe it provides something, maybe it gives a dying town hope, either way when Walmart moves into town people are encouraged and they make it a priority to be there. This shows the spread of Walmart across the United States.
Are we making the same impact in our communities? Where we live, work and play? Make it a point this week for people to know you are a Christ Follower and where you worship.
Youth Room Renovations
Many have asked how the youth room renovations are coming? The answer is good. We are still working towards our goal of having everything up and ready by February 7th which is our next UNITED. And on the 8th is when our Life Groups kick off for 6th-12th grade every Sunday night at 6:00pm.
Most of our electrical has been done by Chuck Shanko who is on youth staff and has been awesome donating his time to get this project done. Chuck has had some others help which has been great.
All of our construction has been done by Mike Berry who is one of our elders and Kellie Berry who is also on youth staff. Hours of time has gone into what you see.
We are excited about how everything is coming together. There is still a lot to do. Once the construction and electrical are done we will be enlisting volunteers to help us with the spackling and painting of the entire room. There is still a ton to do.
I know that those listed on this blog hate to be publicly thanked and that is not why they do this, but it couldn’t have been done without them. Plus chances that they read this blog are slim so I can say what I want about them. 
AND THE WINNER IS…
Tyler won! The votes came in and Tyler won 62%-38%. I have to admit I am starting to get bitter. I think next week I will pick on somebody else other than my kids because they keep winning. I am convinced it is because nobody wants to break their little hearts.
Plus my own wife wrote: “Sorry honny, but my vote goes for Simba. I just can’t vote for Kerchak when I believe in the movie Tarzan had to come to his rescue during a fight with some animal from the cat family….Simba would defeat him–hands down 
Plus, I just want to see the joy on Tyler’s face when he beats you”
If that doesn’t say it all I don’t know what does? I will be back in next weeks poll and it will be a good one.
Dad vs. Son Monday Morning Poll
Here it is the second installment of Dad vs. Son Monday Morning Poll.
Last week Matthew beat me by one vote with Batman beating Darth Vader. I still think it was a setup going against a 6 year old but the public has spoken.
Today is a battle between Kerchak from Tarzan and Simba from the Lion King.
I have chosen Kerchak because seriously would you want to mess with him? He will straight jack you up. He will lure little Simba into the jungle, jump on him and game over.
Tyler my 4 year old has chosen Simba because he has claws and can scrape Kerchak to death. He also has a ferocious roar.
So please help us out and vote for who will win.
Who would win in a fight between Simba and Kerchak?
( surveys)
Crowder playing Kanye
Found this and thought it was really cool.
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One year in 40 seconds
Erik Solheim (who I don’t know) posted a video on Vimeo that were images from the same spot through one year. Audio captured at the same place.
Watching this video makes me think how quickly things change. That God makes all things complete in his time. It reminds me of the seasons of life that we go through. When we feel alone or when we feel like there is no end in sight and yet God has a plan and it just takes time to see the big picture. In the moment it feels like nothing is happening but when we look back we can see what was and now what is. Just thought this was cool because I was reading ragmuffinsoul.com and Los had two people pass away yesterday in his life. Los is the worship pastor at the Buckhead campus in Atlanta. I know that yesterday he was not expecting that his day would turn out like it did.
Expect the unexpected.
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Gator
If your not sure who the football player is to the left, it is Tim Tebow the quarterback for the Florida Gators who plays Oklahoma tonight for the national championship in Miami. What else you may not know about Tim is that he is a dedicated Christ Follower.
I have followed Tim’s career at Florida since he arrive a couple years back. In the midst of a lot of football players dealing with off field issues that lower the opinion of all athletes and in the midst of the greed that goes on in the sport as well as other sports, Tim is sort of a breath of fresh air. Especially because he already has a national championship, a Hesiman trophy (runner up this year), broken almost every quarterback record in college football and he is only a junior.
It is not the most important thing in his life, although it is important. It does define who he is but gives him an avenue to express who he is. It is not the only thing that he has been gifted with.
On Espn.com there was a story written about him and Tim made these comments, “You know, there’s a lot of leaders out there. But, unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of good ones. So that’s always been my dream and my goal, is to be someone like Danny Wuerffel was to me, to be someone that a parent can say, ‘Hey, this kid did it the right way.’ That’s always been my dream and my goal more so than winning a trophy or winning a championship.
“So if it’s cynical or whatnot, that’s fine. If people don’t believe it, that’s fine. There’s always going to be naysayers, people that are going to say it’s fake. But that’s fine because you can’t control everybody. But I can control what I do, my attitude, how I approach the situation. So how I approach the situation is I want to do everything in my power that football gives me to influence as many people as I can for the good because that’s gonna mean so much more when it’s all said and done than just playing football and winning championships.”
Question: What are do using today to influence as many people as you can?
