Quotes about Me (and You) Part 2

I am continuing a series called "Quotes about Me" this week. This little series is taken from John Ortberg's The Me I Want to Be.

• If I want my mind to be full of life; I will have to pay attention to what it is focused on.
• It starts with a vision of being loved by God.
• You have a great freedom - whatever - to allow the Spirit to rewire your mind.
• While reading scripture, use your imagination to recreate the details of peoples expressions, smells, and sounds. It's alive!
• Peace doesn't come from finding a lake with no storm, it comes from having Jesus in the boat.
• The Holy Spirit is a non-anxious presence in our lives.
• The goal of prayer is to live all my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God.
• Temptation is painful to us because when we give in, it doesn't hurt us from the outside; it hurts from the inside.
• Real freedom is not external freedom to gratify every appetite; it is the internal freedom not to be enslaved by our appetites.
• Sin is the deadliest force, it takes us out of the flow of the Holy Spirit.
• You are your own nemesis, your own biggest problem, because there is a relationship between the best version of you and the worst version of you.
• There is a ME I cannot see.
• Apart from the flow of the Holy Spirit, we can't see our sin.
• Repenting is God's gift to us. It does not increase God's desire to be with us. It increases our capacity to be with him.
• Being alone with God, I can fully be myself.
• Prayer, more than any other activity, is what places us in the flow of the Spirit.

Botswana and the Diamond

This week my son Tyler and ten others are traveling in Botswana working with several local churches. They will be involved in engaging local people, encouraging national and American Christians, and learning more about themselves as individuals. Over the years, Tyler has been blessed with many overseas opportunities to experience God's love and God's people. Check out the team blog at www.trib3missions.wordpress.com.

With Tyler gone, Brendan and I are going to the Diamond each day for the Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball camp. Several players each day are conducting five stations over a three hour period to work with local players in the community to develop their skills in baseball. As a person who hosts and runs camps, I was most impressed at how the players fully engaged the kids and worked with them. It created a great first day impression. Besides a free t-shirt, the Squirrels are providing free tickets each night of this weeks home stand. Have Fun, Go Nuts!

Grace Area

In follow up to what I have been reading, Rolando Lamb gave a great message Sunday on living in your "grace area." Using the scriptures from 1 Corinthians 15:10, 1 Timothy 4:14, and 1 John 5:5, he brought out three truths for us as followers of Christ to be mindful of :

1. Recognize the Grace of God - Do you have a sense of the call of God on your life? What is it that God has gifted you with -"grace area" - and are you living in it? When we recognize God's grace in our lives, it will always move us closer to Him.
   
2. Work the Grace of God - What people group are you called to minister and befriend? Who is it that is being blessed as a result your grace area? Are you using your grace area to maximize God's glory?
   
3. Be Grateful for the Grace of God - Be thankful each day. The Bible says that we are in the will of God when we give Him praise for who He is and what He has done...in all things.
   

Camping On

Rolando Lamb, VCU Hall of Fame basketball player and now America's Character Coach, has been in town working with us for our summer basketball camps. This past week we finished our boys camp with 59 participants. This years boys camp also welcomed Ronnie Lamb and several players from New Kent. It was really great to see how these players worked with the boys in basketball skills and also shared their life stories. It only takes a few moments or days to make an impact!

Next week we have 27 girls coming in for another week of camp.

Rolando will also be sharing on Sunday in all three worship services.

Quotes about Me (and you)

Recently I have been reading through John Ortberg's book The Me I Want to Be. It's a great book that teaches us that "life is not about any particular achievement or experience. The most important task of your life is not what you do, but who you become." It's a process of discovering who we really are and how to live a life of vitality through Christ.

Here are some highlighted marks in my book:

• Your spiritual life is not limited to certain devotional activities. It is receiving power from the Spirit of God to become the person God had in mind when He created you - His handiwork
• God desires our lives to flourish - to receive life from outside yourself, creating vitality within yourself and producing blessing beyond yourself
• Comparison kills spiritual growth
• The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. There is an enormous difference between following rules and following Jesus, because I can follow rules without cultivating the right heart
• There are always next steps in our lives
• When my primary focus is being present with God, everything else has a way of falling in place
• Self-improvement is no more God's plan than self-salvation
• The only way to become the person God made you to be is to live with the Spirit of God flowing through you like a river of living water (Genesis 2:10)
• Sign of flowing is a sense of God-given vitality and joyful aliveness overflowing in you
• A generic plan for spiritual growth will frustrate you
• Spiritual growth is hand-crafted, not mass produced
• Where the Spirit is, there is freedom
• Every moment is a chance to live in the flow of the Spirit

Think on these things...

A New Title

The world is full of titles. And they keep changing. We have gone from Secretary to Administrative Assistant, Pastor to Executive Minister, Counselor to Life Coach / Wellness Coach, and the lists and changes go on.

Recently I was introduced to a new title. And my thoughts of this title were, " everyone can have this title." The title I am talking about is a National Opinion Leader! Wow, there it is. A distinction that most people can add to their introductions. While being introduced to a well versed educated and respected leader in the field of Liberal Arts Education, who currently serves as a Provost, the moderator included in his list of titles / degrees that he was a National Opinion Leader. My perception at that moment was some what of shock that we can consider ourselves leaders in our opinions.

While doing a little more research on being a National Opinion Leader, I learned that National Opinion Leaders are focused on shaping business and industries, influencing study and debate, spreading ideas and expanding the conversation, and influencing and setting policy. There are over 10,000 people a month visiting the washingtonpost.com website to be filters of ideas through theirs and others opinions. With these focus areas in place, I thought about and pondered how Jesus was such a leader Himself (I beleive He is truth, therefore for me to use the term opinion would be incorrect). Jesus placed himself in places to be an influencer. In fact, those places consisted of the temples, homes of sinners, among tax collectors, the sick and needy, and with people who were not like Him. It was in these groups that He shared His message of love and expounded on the teachings of life that affects all of us; finances, debates, policies /rules/law, and others. Jesus had much to say and demonstrate to us how to be filled with God's love and live our lives in such a way that we can be influencers in our commuities.

Give it a try yourself this week and see what happens. Introduce yourself to someone and include you are a National Opinion Leader. Notice their response, give them your "opinion."(And I use the termn opinion loosley). As you do, it's my prayer that you (and me) will solidify are introductions and opinions with the truth of who we are as a follower of Jesus and what He has done for us as people. While we continue to seek and share opinions, remember the scripture is clear that you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.

Words of Paw-Paw

Great two days on the campus of George Mason. Tyler is registered for his fall classes, we learned the Mason fight song in preparation for the 2010-2011 athletic seasons, headed into DC for dinner at Bistro Du Coin (great French food), and bid farewell by way of the bookstore and 3.5 hours of traffic back to Richmond.

On the last day of our visit while sitting in one of the twenty-eight places to eat on campus, the words of my father-n-law came screaming out of my mouth in utter shock....."We didn't have this when I was in school." Yep, I said it. This is the phrase he often uses to share stories about the college he and I attended, only years a part. And while he often mentions the benefits to my eduction, I can totally understand the difference now. The opportunities that Tyler has waiting for him at George Mason makes my college experience dinosaur like. And I can only imagine what it will be for my father-n-law on his visit to the campus.

So, here are a few things I'm jealous about, or should I said "We didn't have...."

• Cafeteria is no longer a word used with twenty-eight other dinning options
• The window to eat 7 Am - 7 PM has now changed to 6 AM - 4 AM (next morning)
• Digital textbooks
• Three full size recreation facilities for students (where's the old gym?)
• From no Internet / email to facebook and a wireless campus
• No long lines for registration. It's all done on your computer now
• Living learning communities
• Free Laundry services that inform you online when your clothes are finished

I guess once again, another part of my life where I am growing up.

College 101

Headed up to George Mason University for a two day orientation program with Tyler. This will be a great time for him to experience some insight into college life, as well as sign up for some classes this fall.

All of this stuff brings back loads of memories and emotions preparing for college. From deciding class courses, to dorm furniture, and learning a whole new community. The next two days should prove interesting and probably prove how out of touch I am with the up coming generation.

I am excited for Tyler and excited about being on campus. I just hope they don't have me digging in my pockets after each presentation $$$.

Where's the Team?

Beginning last Thursday night and extending into the weekend, we were introduced to another step of self promotion and exaltation. While we all want to be applauded and hear our name praised, I think we have hit an all time new level. And I am talking about the LeBron James Tour that started several weeks back with NBA teams "courting" him all the way to his grand announcement on ESPN and ending with a party in South Beach Miami, aided by the announcements of Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

While I fully comprehend their athletic talents and abilities as basketball players, it just disgusts me to see a new realm of self promotion. At what point did LeBron really believe he was that special that an hour of ESPN TV was worth his announcement of leaving one city for another? And why was it when all three players were introduced in Miami, they were introduced twice as "this is your Miami Heat?" Hello..unless we have changed the rules, basketball still carries five players on the court at a time. They were also awarded three, yes three different keys to the city (one to the beach, one to the city, and one to the county...really?). During the introductions the TV analyst for the Miami Heat continuously referred to them as "The Three Kings." I mean come on..you have just declared them The Team, they can get anywhere they want with all the keys offered them, and now they can run a dictatorship with the tag line Three Kings.

I guess my thought through this process was the concept of TEAM that many coaches teach and stress. Where has it gone? Sure, I know Miami is still putting together other deals to create the best team possible, but the appearance of this is still present - They are the Team. A simple definition I teach and remember about TEAM is : Together Everyone Achieves More.

In hearing all the hype and changing the channels, I reflected back on our own ministry through Sports and Recreation, as well as our church. There is no question leadership is vital on teams, and each of these players will bring some leadership, but without the work of others it will be difficult to win over a long period of time. A team takes a variety of people with a variety of gifts that ultimately make others on the team better. The scripture (1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12:6) speaks about the spiritual gifts given to the believer to do the work of ministry. We are also instructed in working as one body (1 Corinthians 12:12) although there are many parts. In order for any team, ministry, or church to move forward with positive results; it's take each part or person participating.

With the gifts (spiritual and physical) given to you, how are you doing on a / the team? Do you see yourself as a leader, server, or giver? Or do you see yourself simply as the team?

Beef Jerky Time

While traveling to South Carolina, my son and I wanted to stop off in Concord, NC to visit a few destinations. This area is known for its variety of shopping. From the Bass Pro (which I think the RVA store is nicer), Harley Davidson, Sticky Fingers BBQ, and a whole lot more; we ventured into the Beef Jerky Outlet (www.dojerky.com).

That's right, the Beef Jerky Outlet. Where samples are free before you buy your choice of jerky. We were greeted by the store general manager Zach. He was enthusiastic about the hundreds of jerky available and made sure we knew how the store was laid out and where to start with our buffet of free samples. We had smokey mountain jerky, turkey jerky, hunter sausages, and a mix of others with BBQ sauce, salsa, seasonings, and mustard's. Over 200 varieties of hot sauces were available! The store also offers varieties of jerky like Alligator, Kangaroo, Ostrich, Wild Boar, Duck, Pheasant, and much more.

It was a 20 minute period of male bonding and a lot of jerky tasting. It's amazing how exciting an outlet can be when you find that one store that provides a product no other does.

If your headed through I 85 and Concord, NC ( near Charlotte Motor Speedway), stop off at the Beef Jerky Outlet. Take exit 49 at Speedway Blvd. Ask for Zach and head for the barrels of jerky. You can even hit the website for orders, gift baskets, and gift certificates.

Who knows, we may even have a jerky eating contest at the next Outdoor Ministry event!

Upward Sports Packaging Overseas

During this week I will be working with my friend Myrna Gregory from Upward Sports. Myrna coordinates many of the overseas Upward Sports experiences and does a great job. I have always known enthusiasm to be contagious and Myrna has that attribute. We will also be joined by two others at the Upward Sports office in Spartanburg, S.C. who have worked with Myrna and have international sports experience.

Together we have received a copy of the Upward Sports Missions Case. This case is designed and used to help those in an overseas market prepare, plan, and host an Upward Sports League or Camp. Throughout the week, we will be reviewing the material and studying it from an overseas perspective; from the language used and the content provided. Through this project, it is our goal to be able to provide as many overseas church leaders or ministry personnel with a sports experience that can be established and duplicated throughout their specific region and culture.

I love this kind of stuff. The excitement of taking a sports ministry tool and working with those from others nations to provide a quality sports experience that will lead to the message of Christ and the establishment of a church. I will say on a personal level, I am more an oral communicator. So, the time I have spent reading over the manual and looking at all its parts this week has been and is somewhat of a new challenge to me. But, I am excited about my time at Upward Sports and the opportunity given to me to be part of this team.

It is also nice to have my wife Kelly and youngest son Brendan traveling with me. Brendan is excited about his purchase of the South Carolina Gamecocks Baseball hat (they just won the college World Series) and Kelly is hitting the peach orchards. We are also having some time to spend with our friends Danny and Merriem Franks (author of Connective Tissue blog) and Kelly's brother Jamie and his wife Kristen in Fort Mill, SC.

Sports Performance Series

Cool Spring Recreation and Performance Physical Therapy and Sports Training will be partnering to provide interested athletes age ten and older the opportunity to "Develop the Champion Within."

Coached by 1996 U.S. Olympian Brian Hyde, Performance Physical Therapy Staff Trainer Jamie Hammer, and myself; the series will be each Wednesday at the Cool Spring Rec Center from 3:30 - 5:00 PM. Each child will receive instruction on speed and agility, setting goals, nutrition, sport specific workouts, and daily team huddles on developing a winning mindset. This will be a great opportunity for those looking to improve off season skills, learn how to properly train for sporting activities, and grow in their character development.

If you have yet to sign up, visit our website www.coolspring.org for details. First Training starts Wednesday July7 and will finish Wednesday August 18. We will build a makeup day in the schedule for those who miss a week.

Water Day

Today was water day at Cool Spring VBS. Each year the Hanover Fire Dept. brings in big trucks and hoses and sets up our very own water park for a day. The kids love it, recreation workers live for it, and teachers.....well...let's just leave it at that!

This year's theme was a jungle adventure theme. The kids have also enjoyed hula-hoop quicksand, full costume safari trainer relay, and elephant dung toss.

What would VBS be without recreation!