WOW! and WOW!

saw this guy at Catalyst last year...pretty funny, comes walking into Gwinnett Arena in Atlanta with a camel...anyway, he has just started blogging...he shares about BigStuf youth camps and about Jack from Kenya, Jack lost his arms and now he testifies to the faithfulness of our big God .... Jack was at BigStuf In Florida this past week and shared with the kids there and they, read 'Africa Hears About Jack' ...read through Lanny's posts about Jack and be sure to check out this comment (scroll down to the 3rd comment, well worth the read)...you can also check out HeyJackRadio...interesting, needless to say it BLESSED me....will take some time but good.....then Text "Jack" to 23000...

btw if you would like to go to Catalyst 2008...I am going and would load up the car and drive...any interest?...

Worship...

copied from Mark Batterson, he shares, "for what it's worth, here are my personal definitions of worship and evangelism."

"Worship is bragging about God to God. "

"Evangelism is bragging about God to others."

"I think evangelism is a simple extension of worship. Let's not stop bragging about God when we walk out of church!"

then Steve says, "I catch the evangelism definition but the worship definition puts it in a different light...good stuff!"

only kind words and encouragement...

WHAT IF we refused to participate in slandering and tearing down another person?
WHAT IF every church became a cheerleader of other churches and not critics?

these are a couple of thoughts from Perry Noble this morning that are excellent...

and by the way we get to hear Perry bring it this weekend at church for the 2nd week of One Prayer, Make Us Dangerous....it will be good

backslapping not backbiting...

copied/stolen from Mark Batterson today, from National Community Church in Wash DC who is participating in One Prayer.....I took out the church name and shortened this, but the point is the same, let's be about backslapping and not backbiting!

I think there are basically two kinds of people. People who are doing things and people who aren't doing things but they need something to do so they take potshots at people who are doing things.

Come on, folks. Let's be about the Father's business.

Can I be brutally honest? The psychological tendency to try to feel better about ourselves by pointing out what's wrong with someone else is immaturity at its worst. And no where is it more prevalent than the church or in believers.

Am I saying the church or someone is perfect? No. Neither am I. And neither are you. But instead of backbiting maybe we should try backslapping.

But I'm fiercely loyal to those who have made an investment in my life. So when someone is taking some shots on the chin, I want to be the guy on the other side saying thanks!

pray more ______ less

great post today over at Swerve...Craig shared how he was struggling to prepare his messages and the Lord laid upon his heart to pray more work less...ouch, pray more, I don't have time...yea right! good greek word for that, baloney!...for me, it may be "pray more do less" or "pray more tv (sports) less"...your thoughts?...

running coin update...& Tatur Estim8ur...

not finding any change...to be honest, no running in June, have not run in two weeks...according to the doc any running or exercising I do has to be non-impact...therefore, I have been running in the pool and I am not finding any change...duh!!!...hope to pick it back up the first of July with no pain in the knee...we'll see...I still find change when I am out and about but it does not count toward this total if I do not have my running shoes on...

dissappointed that I will miss the Tatur Estim8ur Sunday morning, was looking forward to running with and chasing my beautiful bride...this is an 8 mile run on an unknown course, including pavement, hills, trails (probably Turkey Mountain), and other unknowns...the winner is the one who is the closest to guessing their finishing time not the fastest...no watches, no timing devices, no one telling you your time...you simply give them your estimate in advance...Susie is of course still doing the run, it will be interesting and fun to see what it is and how she does......

pray for Peter!

please join me in praying for Peter Jessee who is currently paralyzed from the waist down, Kramer our youngest son played hockey with Peter for several years. About 3 weeks ago, Peter's parents, Bud and Janet stopped by the house...I visited with them as they were excited about a pending move a couple of blocks over and Peter was planning to attend the University of Oklahoma in the fall as he had just graduated from Broken Arrow High School...all seems well, then something like this...speaks to the fragility of life and our health that we take for granted...I will love on my family today!...evidently there are a very limited number of cases of non-traumatic Myelopathy making this even more difficult to treat...

the story below is from the Tulsa World, Thursday 6/5/08
Ex-BA kicker paralyzed: Peter Jessee, a placekicker for Broken Arrow the last three seasons and a Tulsa World All-State honorable mention selection in 2006, is currently a paraplegic, suffering from Surfers Myelopathy. On Wednesday, he was transported from Honolulu to Denver. He was admitted to Craig Hospital’s rehab center, where he is expected to spend the next 45-to- 60 days.

“He has no feeling from his bellybutton on down,” said Jessee’s father, Bud, on Wednesday. “His spirits are good. There’s a girl here from Long Beach who had this happen to her in Maui and she is walking again after being paralyzed from the teeth down. We are hoping that will happen for Peter. He has always been a competitor.”

Jessee’s ailment, which struck almost two weeks ago on a trip to Hawaii just after graduation, usually strikes first-time surfers. There was no blunt trauma involved. Blood flow can be cut off from the lower spinal cord by the way a surfer arches his back, stands up on the board and looks back over his shoulders.

“He had been taking lessons, we had a surfing instructor and were at a place where the waves weren’t very big,” Bud Jessee said. “When he finished surfing and began walking on the beach, he said that he was in tremendous pain. Forty-five minutes later, he couldn’t walk.

“This is a nightmare and we’re all waiting to wake up. We appreciate all the calls, text-messages and prayers. Peter told me he will walk again, even if it takes him 20 years.”
______________________________________________________

if you would like to send Peter a note and let him know you are praying for him you can do so through Facebook (Peter Jessee)...

Count me in!

I enjoy hockey, okay I love hockey...was watching the 5th game of the Stanley Cup Finals Monday night which went into overtime...Pittsburgh won in the 6th period....generally a game is only 3 periods but here was a game that was tied, lasted over 110 minutes, almost 2 complete games, 4 1/2 hours....these guys were dog tired...they kept going...one guy took a puck to the face, needed a few stitches to go along with his chipped teeth, but he kept playing with some gauze hanging out of his nose...another guy went head first into the end wall trying to make a play, ended up with back spasms but was back on the ice at the end of the game...another guy took a couple of bags of fluids during the long game because he was cramping but kept playing...then this guy took a stick to the face which resulted in a 2:00 high sticking penalty to Detroit giving Pitt a power play, a 1 man advantage and he is hoping he is bleeding because the penalty then becomes 4 minutes, which it did...Pittsburgh soon scored to win the game...crazy, all of these guys are nuts...playing hurt...why?...here is what the guy who was cramping said....

Orpik insisted there was no way he was staying off the ice when he cramped up."I think the biggest thing is you never want to feel like you are letting your teammates down, especially in a game like this," he said. "You just gotta battle through it. All the guys on both sides are going through the same things. It's just one of those things that you have to grind through. A lot of times, fatigue is more of a physiological thing than anything."

Is this the way I often feel? I may be tired, maybe I do not want to play in a game like this (deal with what is in front of me at the moment) but Jesus says to do all things for Him. I don't want to let my teammates down, I want go all out. For me, my teammates are my wife, my children, my parents, friends, Lifegroup, the folks I work with, etc. You get the picture! Sure I am to relax, refresh, refuel, and be ready! Sometimes I need to play hurt (when I don't want to) and be there (when I am tired) for my teammates so they can count on me. I am about 1/2 way through life at my age. I will be there! I want to finish strong! I want to finish well! Hebrews 12:1-3 says it well and through His strength I will not grow weary and lose heart! Count me in!