This morning I was laying in bed half asleep half awake when this thought crossed my mind:
"You are an amazing guy."
Huh, you know what? I am an amazing guy.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
New Blog
When I returned from India I had an extremely difficult time trying to wrap my mind around the experience I had just encountered. God had totally broken down my worldview and was in the process of rebuilding my mindset into something that would advance the Kingdom. On Monday April 19th I posted something that God had put on my heart, one question. What would happen...? After much prayer and thought I've decided to start a new blog called What Would Happen Today...?
I set up this new blog as a forum to help Christian men in their walk with God. My hope is to inspire, connect, and unite men from all denominations, races and social-economic backgrounds for a common cause, to answer the question. What would happen today...?
I'll be posting observations, thoughts, and examples that will lead us to contemplate how we as Christian men can change the world in the name of the Lord. I'll be asking questions that will help us look at ourselves, our worldviews and how God is leading us to honestly make a difference in the world.
So I ask you to check whatwouldhappentoday.com regularly. Carefully read the postings. Think and pray about the answers. Leave comments, so we can help each other advance the Kingdom together.
If you have ideas about postings please email them to brian@whatwouldhappentoday.com please do not post them as a comment.
I set up this new blog as a forum to help Christian men in their walk with God. My hope is to inspire, connect, and unite men from all denominations, races and social-economic backgrounds for a common cause, to answer the question. What would happen today...?
I'll be posting observations, thoughts, and examples that will lead us to contemplate how we as Christian men can change the world in the name of the Lord. I'll be asking questions that will help us look at ourselves, our worldviews and how God is leading us to honestly make a difference in the world.
So I ask you to check whatwouldhappentoday.com regularly. Carefully read the postings. Think and pray about the answers. Leave comments, so we can help each other advance the Kingdom together.
If you have ideas about postings please email them to brian@whatwouldhappentoday.com please do not post them as a comment.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
School's Out For Summer
I remember being in high school (a long time ago) and on the last day of school everyone had Alice Cooper's School's Out blasting out on their car stereo as they were peeling out from the parking lot. Yeah, those were the days.
Yesterday was my last day of school for this semester, and it's bittersweet. The past 2 years I've taken classes over the summer so I can graduate next May, but not this year. I've decided to take the summer off.
My younger son who lives in Florida with his mom will be here in June for his summer visit. He is normally here for 6 weeks or so, but not this year. He's 13 and going into the 8th grade in the fall. He has decided to play football, and conditioning starts in the middle of July. So he is only going to be here for 3 1/2 weeks this summer.
I knew it was coming, the older he gets the more things he will be involved with and the less time we will have to spend together. Even though graduating on time is important to me, spending as much time as I can with him is the most important thing in the world.
Yesterday was my last day of school for this semester, and it's bittersweet. The past 2 years I've taken classes over the summer so I can graduate next May, but not this year. I've decided to take the summer off.
My younger son who lives in Florida with his mom will be here in June for his summer visit. He is normally here for 6 weeks or so, but not this year. He's 13 and going into the 8th grade in the fall. He has decided to play football, and conditioning starts in the middle of July. So he is only going to be here for 3 1/2 weeks this summer.
I knew it was coming, the older he gets the more things he will be involved with and the less time we will have to spend together. Even though graduating on time is important to me, spending as much time as I can with him is the most important thing in the world.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Advice?
Have you ever had a conversation with a close friend, and they tell you about a situation they're in, and you give them your advice? Sure, we all do. It's human nature. We want to help our friends realize the things we see, but they may be blind to or in denial about. Has God ever put you in a similar situation just a few days later? Do you follow your own advice? It's easy to tell others what to do, but really hard for us to tell ourselves what to do. Why is that?
Friday, April 23, 2010
What should I do?
What if you were out for your early morning walk or run in the park and noticed that someone had wrapped all the swings around the top bar of a popular swing set? It's too high for children to reach or even most mothers for that matter. You're on a tight schedule and have to be somewhere right after your run.
Or what if your walking through church before service and you notice that someone has dropped a gum wrapper on the floor?
Or what if you find out, a woman you have never met, who lives down the street has been diagnosed with cancer. Her husband has been laid off, and her job is their only source of income. She will need surgery and chemotherapy. They have 4 children all under the age of 12.
What should I do?
I have to ask myself this question hundreds of times a day. The choices I make can make a difference in someone's life. Do I continue on my run, or do I stop and get the swings down so the kids can play? Do I step over the gum wrapper, or do I pick it up so that the church is clean for a newcomer? Do I drive by my neighbor's house and shake my head with pity, or do I get some of the other neighbors together and cook meals for these people in need?
The answer should be easy but it's not. I'm running late, someone else will pick it up, wow that is so sad, these are excuses that pass through my head all the time.
What would happen if I did get the swings down, pick up the wrapper, and get the neighborhood to help out?
Or what if your walking through church before service and you notice that someone has dropped a gum wrapper on the floor?
Or what if you find out, a woman you have never met, who lives down the street has been diagnosed with cancer. Her husband has been laid off, and her job is their only source of income. She will need surgery and chemotherapy. They have 4 children all under the age of 12.
What should I do?
I have to ask myself this question hundreds of times a day. The choices I make can make a difference in someone's life. Do I continue on my run, or do I stop and get the swings down so the kids can play? Do I step over the gum wrapper, or do I pick it up so that the church is clean for a newcomer? Do I drive by my neighbor's house and shake my head with pity, or do I get some of the other neighbors together and cook meals for these people in need?
The answer should be easy but it's not. I'm running late, someone else will pick it up, wow that is so sad, these are excuses that pass through my head all the time.
What would happen if I did get the swings down, pick up the wrapper, and get the neighborhood to help out?
Monday, April 19, 2010
What would happen...
What would happen if every Christian man in America took a stand for who he believes in?
How would you make this happen?
What are your answers to these questions?
Think and pray about your answers and post your thoughts.
This is not a platform for political views or religious doctrine. It's a way to open discussion about the impact we as Christ followers could have on the world if every one of us drew a line in the sand and took a stand for our Savior.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Press On
This past Sunday I had the pleasure and honor of leading worship with my friend Seth Bible at his home church in Archbold OH. Archbold Evangelical Church opened their new facility about a year ago and have seen some really incredible growth. God is doing great work in their community. On Saturday night they hosted a worship conference lead by Lincoln Bewster. Seth played a warm up set before Lincoln and then lead worship on Sunday morning. Adrain Taylor who plays bass with Seth couldn't stay for Sunday so Seth asked me if I would fill in, and I am so glad I did.
I love how our God Works, He cracks me up at times and this is one of those times. For the past few days I've been in a bit of a funk, just a little out of sorts. It seems like now that my trip to India is over there isn't any "big" event to look forward to and I'm just coasting along.
At AEC they have 2 services, traditional (8:30am) and contemporary (11:00am). I didn't need to be there until 9:30 for rehearsal but I'm up early anyway and decided to make the 2 hour drive over and get there in time for the 8:30 service. They are finishing up their building pledge campain and God has blessed them with exceeding their goals. So they are moving into the next phase of pledges to pay down the debt of the new building. This phase is titled "Press On".
Pastor Jesse Kahler's sermon was about pressing on as far as the importance of the congregation stepping up and continuing on the path to the goal. Even though they had met the goals set by the finance committee, there is still debt that needs to be repaid. So he talked about how to press on.
Here's the funny thing. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Not the importance of the pledges, but the importance of pressing on. As he was talking to his congregation about something total opposite of what I was thinking and feeling God talked to me. The was a parallel there. They had met the goal set up at the beginning of their building project, and I had met my goal of going to India. The whole point of his sermon was to keep moving, keep working, there are new goals to be set, and this is not the time to coast. It's really easy to put your feet up, relax, admire your accomplishments and say that was great, I can take some time off now. But here's what happens; we get complacent, we spend too much time looking at the past, we relax and forget that there is still work to be done. That is exactly what I've been doing, and that's why I've been a little off base. I need to press on to the next adventure, what ever that my be.
These are the notes I took from Pastor Jesse's sermon:
A person who presses on
- has a sense of spiritual incompleteness. They are always seeking to be more like Jesus, and they become more humble the closer they get to Him.
-refuses to dwell on the past. They learn from their mistakes and victories but look to the future.
-exerts enormous energy toward the goal.
I love how God works. I had a choice, I could have told Seth that I didn't have time to spend a good part of my day or the expense of driving over there, but I followed what I felt in my heart.
If we listen He leads us, talks to us, puts things in front of us when we least expect it. Thank you Lord for a great day.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)
I love how our God Works, He cracks me up at times and this is one of those times. For the past few days I've been in a bit of a funk, just a little out of sorts. It seems like now that my trip to India is over there isn't any "big" event to look forward to and I'm just coasting along.
At AEC they have 2 services, traditional (8:30am) and contemporary (11:00am). I didn't need to be there until 9:30 for rehearsal but I'm up early anyway and decided to make the 2 hour drive over and get there in time for the 8:30 service. They are finishing up their building pledge campain and God has blessed them with exceeding their goals. So they are moving into the next phase of pledges to pay down the debt of the new building. This phase is titled "Press On".
Pastor Jesse Kahler's sermon was about pressing on as far as the importance of the congregation stepping up and continuing on the path to the goal. Even though they had met the goals set by the finance committee, there is still debt that needs to be repaid. So he talked about how to press on.
Here's the funny thing. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Not the importance of the pledges, but the importance of pressing on. As he was talking to his congregation about something total opposite of what I was thinking and feeling God talked to me. The was a parallel there. They had met the goal set up at the beginning of their building project, and I had met my goal of going to India. The whole point of his sermon was to keep moving, keep working, there are new goals to be set, and this is not the time to coast. It's really easy to put your feet up, relax, admire your accomplishments and say that was great, I can take some time off now. But here's what happens; we get complacent, we spend too much time looking at the past, we relax and forget that there is still work to be done. That is exactly what I've been doing, and that's why I've been a little off base. I need to press on to the next adventure, what ever that my be.
These are the notes I took from Pastor Jesse's sermon:
A person who presses on
- has a sense of spiritual incompleteness. They are always seeking to be more like Jesus, and they become more humble the closer they get to Him.
-refuses to dwell on the past. They learn from their mistakes and victories but look to the future.
-exerts enormous energy toward the goal.
I love how God works. I had a choice, I could have told Seth that I didn't have time to spend a good part of my day or the expense of driving over there, but I followed what I felt in my heart.
If we listen He leads us, talks to us, puts things in front of us when we least expect it. Thank you Lord for a great day.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)
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