Thanks to Our Veterans

Happy Veterans Day! Today is a day we reflect and give thanks to God for the opportunity he has provided us to live in a country of freedom. And today is a day that we give thanks to all the men and women (and families) that have sacrificed in order to continue living in those freedoms. Thank You!

Football Funny

Received this photo today. The two go hand and hand - names and numbers. Enjoy!

Execution

As a leader over a Recreation Ministry it is my desire to see that we are "executing" our daily tasks in order to achieve our mission of "combining sports and leisure with the companionship of Christ." Franklin Covey has a great tool for execution entitled, The Four Essentials of Execution. The disciplines are: Focus on the Wildly Important, Act on the Lead Measures, Keep a Compelling Scoreboard, and Create a Cadence of Accountability. Working through each of these points, along with team members, will enable us to see how we are doing in combining sports and ministry. As a Recreation Minister, it is also my job to communicate with those working (Upward Directors, Volunteers, Fitness Classes, Adult League Directors) our mission statement. And, it is my job to teach them to execute in their specific area so that we do the best job possible of reaching our community for Christ through recreation.

As followers of Christ we have been communicated with through the writing of the Bible. In this book, we have been given a plan of execution for our lives. It is a source for which we can read and grow in, only if we execute! Often times we read and walk away without providing ourselves a means in which we will execute in our lives what we gained from reading. As a result / overflow of reading, we should be propelled into execution. Take time to Read, Report, and Reflect on what God is saying to you in His word. Through this process you will become disciplined in the area of spiritual "execution."

Solitude

Solitude and Silence are two words that connect together in regards to the area of spiritual disciplines. And this twin discipline is one in which I to often miss out on.In fact, most of us miss out.

Our culture and world around us are so packed with noise - ipods, play stations,TV's,cell phones,- that we have become afraid of solitude and silence. We fear what we will do when we simply sit still and ponder. This Sunday I will be preaching on the discipline of Solitude and Silence at Cool Spring Church. Not only will I be sharing with those in attendance, but I am praying that this message will impact me just as much.

Take a few minutes to sit still, to get away for a "minute" retreat and create space for balance in your busy life. God promises us that we will meet him there.

So, in practicing what I am going to preach, check out the above view I had yesterday from Royal New Kent Golf Course. Thanks Chris Jones for a great day of golf.

Pour It

Traditionally I wait till after Thanksgiving to pour the first glass of Egg Nog. But with the new Pumpkin Egg Nog, I couldn't wait. Happy Thanksgiving to me!

Branded

We had a great five year celebration party this past Friday night with Upward Flag Football. We had great help from the Va. Baptist Disaster Team (no, we didn't have a disaster) in cooking large amounts of food, as well as the Outdoor Ministry Team of Cool Spring Church (see http:trophytalk.blogspot.com).

In part of the celebration, we painted the Upward "U" and the number "five" on the fields for the kids during game day. It was local branding at its best. It was our way of promoting Upward and doing something different for game day to remind people this was our fifth year celebration.

Branding your logo and getting it out for others to see is a great tool. It promotes who and what you are about as a ministry or organization. The logo non-verbally communicates your message. We have several logos we use in our Rec Ministry that promote the main mission of Cool Spring Recreation as well as sub logos for particular areas.

In thinking about branding, we have to ask ourselves, "What are we, as individuals, branding?" When people see us, do they see who or what controls us? Are we reflective of the Christian nature that Jesus speaks of in the New Testament? A simple logo verse is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. As a follower of Christ, remember someone paid the ultimate price for your logo. Someone poured out sweat and tears over it. Someone created the perfect design for it. That someone was Christ, therefore, promote it well.

Thoughts from Today

I'm going through Romans in my quiet time. Here are some thoughts from today and Romans 12 that stood out to me:

• v1 - presenting myself and my body as a living sacrifice is my part of my spiritual service of worship
• v2 - don't chase the world; practice the discipline of renewing my mind so that I reflect Christ and that which is good
• v3 - humility - never elevate myself over others
• v5-8 - work together with others and their gifts
• v9 - hate evil, cling to what is good; grab goodness as tightly as I can, because our society and world is doing away with it
• v12 - rejoice in hope - be thankful for Christ who is hope
• v12 - persevere in tribulations - don't quit
• v12 - devoted prayer - pray, pray, and pray
• v15 - connect with and walk alongside of others; those who are rejoicing and those who are weeping
• v.16 - wisdom is not you - don't be wise in your on estimation (this goes back to prayer)
• v18 - have good relationships - as it depends on me, be at peace with others
• v19-20 - God will deal with vengeance (let him do it)
• 21 - good overcomes evil

Take time to reflect on these. And take time to get alone with God in order to reflect.