Pack the house

Yesterday was a good day. It was one of the reasons that I love our church. Relational. Laid back. Family like. We all gathered at our house for a game, children's story, singing, and a word about the importance of God's gift. The house was packed. Now I remember why we have two house groups.

Then everyone headed to another families home. We packed gift boxes for everyone to take and give to their neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. It was great to see everyone working together. Then we ate and played games.

The day was full. The house was full. Really full. The shoes by the door told it all. Shoes, shoes, and more shoes.
As we all left with boxes to share the good news of God's gift, I thought of Romans 10:15.

"How beautiful are the feet of them who bring good news".

David Warren

Another person in my life who has been a tremendous influence is David Warren. Dr. Warren was a professor of mine at Cedarville College. He stood out to me. One thing I noticed was his ability to answer almost all questions with verses from the Bible that applied to the situation. During my junior year, I asked him to take time to disciple me. He agreed. He said that to him that meant that we could get together once a week and grab a Coke and talk. That was what I had in mind.

Over the next two years of school, I came to treasure this hour each week. At the time, Dr. Warren was the only faculty in the Bible department that did not have his Ph.D. He lacked the academic credentials that often mark a person with knowledge, but he was(is)a man of great wisdom.

We would talk about theology. We would talk about life. We would talk about relationships. Mostly, I would asked questions and then listen.

When Lisa and I married, we asked Dr. Warren to speak at our wedding. We rarely keep in contact any more, but as I consider people who lead me today I still think of David Warren.

Much of who I am and seek to be as a leader comes from things that I learned and admired about Dr. Warren. I desire to be a person of sound practical wisdom. I desire to be a person who is willing to sit and discuss life with people. I desire to know the scriptures and use them to impact real life. I desire to make an impact on people that lasts beyond the time and proximity of our earthly relationship.

Dr. David Warren is a leader and he has marked my life. Thank you David Warren for taking time with a young college student who was seeking wisdom.

Ruth Brown

I have been reflecting on ways that the sovereign God has used people to help allow me to be who I am today. One such person is Ruth Brown.

My maternal grandmother, Venita Misner, met Ruth as a young adult living in Chicago. Ruth was renting a room from my grandma's family and they became friends. Ruth was a committed follower of Christ and began to share her faith with my grandma. My grandma came to a faith in Christ as well. My grandma married and moved back to Grand Rapids, MI.

Ruth never married. She took on my grandma's family as her own. She was "Aunt Brownie" to us growing up. She prayed for our family as her own. Although Ruth lived her life in relative obscurity to most, she was a warrior for the kingdom. She was very involved in her local church in Chicago. She was close friends with many leaders of long time ministries based out of Chicago including the founders of AWANA and Sunshine Gospel Ministries. She had a passion for Christ and a passion for Chicago.

Fast forward many years. God was calling me as a college student to explore a life of full time ministry. During my sophomore year, I made a decision to spend the summer in Chicago serving with Inner City Impact. No one was more excited than "Aunt Brownie". She dropped me off at the beginning of the summer. Her health was so bad, that she could hardly climb the stairs to the third floor of the building. That summer God began to prepare my heart for His calling me back to Chicago after graduation.

Ruth Brown died in the fall of that year.

In March of the next year, I was struggling financially and contemplating dropping out of college until I could find a way to pay for it all. I got a call informing me that Ruth's unsaved sister Marge, felt that God wanted her to use what earthly possessions she had to pass on to help me pay for college. Ruth had no real wealth of her own, butshe had convince her sister Marge to invest what she had in me. Marge said that Ruth was so excited that God was calling me to Chicago and it was only right for her money to help make it happen.

Over the next three years, I was given $30,000 towards finishing my college degree. I took no loans after that point and ended college with only the debt from my first two years of school.

Jehovah-Jireh- God our provider!

God used a faithful servant of God who lived life unnoticed by the world to begin a spiritual heritage in my family many years ago. And then in her death, He used her again to help make it possible for me to be who I am today.

It is only by the grace of God that I now lead a scholarship program called PURSUE to help support other Christian young people as they go to college. Without this faithful women, I don't know that I would serve Lighthouse Christian Fellowship in shepherding our young community of faith on the west side of Chicago.

Aunt Brownie, thank you for being a part of my great cloud of witnesses. (Hebrews 12:1,2)

Influences in my life

Writing my spiritual autobiography for a class and thinking about so many people who have helped make me who I am.

Thinking of a few right now:
Ruth Brown, Dr. David Warren, David Woodier. So many others. I will write more about each of these in the coming days.

Glory to God for such a cloud of witnesses.

Most stressful city

Chicago was chosen as the most stressful city for the second year in a row. No wonder I feel that I carry a lot of stress.

School, work, church, family, crime, traffic, bills, high prices, trash, unfriendly people. So many different things bring me stress. Sometimes all at once.

Remind me Lord of Matthew 6:25-34. You are in control!

What types of things get you stressed?

Be still my soul

"The problem is not entirely in finding the room of one's own, the time alone, difficult and necessary as that is. The problem is more how to still the soul in the midst of its activities"
Anne Morrow Lindebergh

I found this quote to be so true of myself. I have such a hard time "stilling my soul".

What do you do to slow down and focus on God?

Friends

I returned to Chicago last night after being gone for about ten days. First thing this morning, I met with a good friend to catch up on our church, our community, and our lives.

I feel blessed to have friends in my life to share life with. Thanks Deshaun.

What importance to friendships have for you?

Whirlwind

The last month has been a whirlwind of different events.

July 30 - Aug. 1, I was involved in the Legacy Disciplemaking Conference at Moody Bible Institute.
August 6 and 7, I was at Willow Creek Community Church for the annual Leadership Summit.
August 9-14, I was a camp counselor at Urban Camp at Camp Timberlee.

So many things have happened in these weeks. I was blessed to spend the last few days with my wife and kids. We went on a canoe trip, went to a huge flea market, played Putt-Putt, played games, and made memories. I love family time.

I am looking forward to sorting out my thoughts from the last few weeks and getting back to a routine.

PURSUE PRO-AM

Yesterday was the first annual PURSUE PRO-AM. The weather was great. People had a wonderful time. Paula Faris came to help out. Here husband John's team won 2nd place in the event. Many people left with prizes. And we were able to raise some money to help our students go to college.

I am thankful for all who helped out to make this event a reality. Time to start planning for next year.

Still in love

A few weeks ago, I spent a few days in historic Galena,IL with my wife Lisa. She wanted to try a bed & breakfast to celebrate her birthday and we were not disappointed. We chose the historic Stillman Inn. The mansion was beautiful, the location was ideal, and the service was impeccable. Our inkeeper, Dave, was a delightful Christian man who spent time talking to us about our lives, about his life, and about the sights to see in the area.

We had a great time away from the hustle of the city and enjoyed the time with just the two of us. If you are looking for a romantic get-a-away, I would suggest the Stillman Inn in Galena without reservation.

Has anyone else tried a bed and breakfast? What did you like and dislike?

Husbands, have you taken time to romance your wife lately?

House churches

In case you missed it, THIS ARTICLE was in the Chicago Tribune today. I felt that it gave a fair reporting on the house church movement.

What are your thoughts about the house church model?

Reading the Gospel of John

This past week, I spent time reading through the Gospel of John with a group of people in one sitting. It took about two and half hours. Here are a few observations:

There is something good about hearing the scriptures read out loud.
There is something good about reading the scriptures with others.
There are a lot of things you notice when you read a whole book at a time.
There is something priceless about hearing your kids want to read the scriptures with you.
I spend too much time reading other books in comparison to THE book.
Too often, I find things that are trivial to do when I could be redeeming the time.
I highly recommend having a Bible reading party.

Thanks Lisa, Shayna, Joshua, Matthew, James, Marcus, and Lamar for sharing this experience with me.

7th Annual Church Retreat

Each year since the our church began, we have taken an all church retreat. It has always been a fun time. Everybody pitches in to make the weekend happen. Some people put in a lot of work.
We stay up late.
We play games.
We walk a lot.
We have a popcorn campfire.
Children get sick and there are many minor injuries.
Teenagers get loud and competitive.
Adults get worn out.
Memories are made.

Each year it is a blessing to spend time together being challenged spiritually and growing in our relationships with each other.

I thank God for the church family that He has blessed me with. It is good to know that you are not alone.

What do you appreciate about your local church?

Gratefulness

Yesterday at church, we were challenged by Deshaun to be thankful. I know that this is something that I consistently feel God calling me to. This is also something that Lisa and I have been teaching our children over and over again.

I don't like it when children whine and complain about every little thing. Unfortunately, my children are still learning in this area. The sad thing is that many adults have this same problem. They always see the cup as half empty. They always see the 5% that is wrong instead of the 95% that is going well.

What a miserable life they have chosen for themselves.

One of the things that Deshaun said yesterday was that many people like to "compare and complain". He pointed out that often people look at others and complain about how their life could be better. He also pointed us to three things to be thankful for: relationships, our church, and our salvation.

What are you thankful for?

A leader is a servant

I was reading the other day in the book of Matthew and came across Jesus giving some specific teaching about a quality of greatness. In Matthew 20:26-28, Jesus reminded his disciples that the greatest would be a servant to all. This was a good reminder to me of a truth that I have known for a long time.

If I want to improve as a leader, than I need to continue to commit myself to serving others. I have so much to learn about being a person who serves people.

It is also a good reminder to me about teaching others how to be leaders. Many people, especially young people, want to lead. What they really often mean is that they want to be in charge. They want authority. They want to make decisions. They want others to follow them. But when it comes time to do the dirty work, the volunteer list can be short.

It is my observation that a lot of people are critical of leaders, but few people are willing to pay the price of leadership. Many people desire a position, but few are willing to walk the path of humble service.

Most of what I know about being a leader has come from observing and listening to humble servants of God who modelled good leadership. My challenge to those who desire to be a leader of others for the glory of God: Start serving people!

It is my prayer that God would help me to be a better leader. It is also my prayer that God would continue to develop more and more servant leaders for His kingdom.

Who is someone who has been a model of leadership for you?
What have you learned about leadership?

Welcome to our home

How often do you welcome people into your home?

I believe that the idea of hospitality is often missed by today's church. Obviously, I am a strong believer in the significance of hospitality. That is part of why we host church in our home. I believe that welcoming people into your home can communicate so much about love, relationship, acceptance, etc. It is an evidence of Christian love. It is a valuable tool for reaching the lost. It is a loving way to care for the distressed. It is a powerful place for Christian discipleship to take place. It is a prerequisite for leadership.

So here are some tips that I would give to help you to be a good host as you seek to show hospitality:

• Be friendly (sounds obvious, but it's not)
• Invite someone into the house
• Ask people questions, make them feel welcome
• Take peoples coat
• Offer glass of water, food
• Offer a seat (the best seat)
• Be ready for people to arrive, be in the room
• Porch light on or entry light
• Straighten up, maybe light a candles
• Turn on the lights
• Introduce people if they don't know each other
• Don’t have too many rules (don’t touch, etc.)
• Be willing to love people more than your stuff (things will get broken, dirty, lost, stolen)
• Don’t expect appreciation
• Don’t expect help cleaning

I think that to be hospitable it takes intentionality. Many people think it is a good thing, few practice it regularly. So plan to invite someone to your home this month or even this week.

Does anyone else have any tips about being a good host? What are barriers to being hospitable?

"Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise".

I found this in a fortune cookie at a restaurant in Disney World, but I thought it was quite profound none the less.

I pray that I will be wise enough to be willing to learn from anyone.

Disconnected

I will admit that I am an internet addict. I appreciate the tremendous resource and speed of information. Sometimes, I waste time on the computer.

I'm sure that no one else does.

I had the privilege of spending the last two weeks of the year in Florida with my family. What a blessing. It was great to spend a lot of time with my wife and kids. The 70 degree weather every day wasn't bad either.

One bonus was that I disconnected. I was off line for about ten days. No e-mail. No facebook. No news. No sports updates. No blogs.

It was good to be away. But I am glad to be back too. Life is not meant to be lived disconnected from people.

Anyone else ever feel that they need a break from the internet?

Caring for "the poor"

Is it wrong to talk about “the poor” as a category? Many Christians, myself included, talk about our responsibility as the children of God to care for the poor. God’s heart for the poor is referenced from what is stated in the Word of God. Christian compassion is at the core of who we are as believers.

But something doesn’t feel quite right about talking about “the poor” or “the oppressed” as a category. It seems in some way demeaning. It gives the impression that they are less than. I get the feeling that to talk about the poor puts a separation of them and us as if they are different.

This becomes especially difficult when you know people who would be considered “the poor”. They are your friends. They are people you live close to.
To me, it is hard to hear them described as “the poor”. I think of them as … my neighbor, or someone I who is a part of our church, or as John Doe (insert any person’s name). It seems that there is a tension to speak of “the poor”, when the poor are the people you relate to. They are who you associate with.

Is it helpful to talk about the poor as a category or does that already cause us to treat them as different? Does anyone else relate to this tension that I am describing?

PURSUE

Here is an informational video that we put together about the PURSUE program.