Could You Use A Little More Rest?

November 27, 2013

It's Thanksgiving week and that means some good old fashioned R&R for me. So no post today. But I didn't want to want to leave my faithful readers high and dry, so here is the post I wrote last year, just after Thanksgiving. It talks about how I spent my holiday and how I used Thanksgiving week to get plenty of REST - but not exactly as you might think. Take look below and see for yourself. It's a crucial reminder for all of us as we head into the holiday season.

“Best week ever! Gotta make this a yearly tradition! I definitely got the rest I needed!”

That’s what I keep telling everyone who asks me about my Thanksgiving Week. We did something very special this year. We rented a large house out in the mountains and spent the entire week there along with the rest of our “medium family” as my kids like to say.

(fyi, little family = mom, dad, kids; medium family = grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, cousins; big family = church family)

Totally away from everything. No commitments, no email, no phone calls, no meetings... no agenda at all! In fact, the only thing on the calendar all week was a little football game that took place on Thanksgiving Day. You may have heard about it – those who live in the DC area sure did. In case you didn’t though, let me fill you in…

Washington Redskins 38, Dallas Cowboys 31.HAIL TO THE REDSKINS! Skins fans – it’s time to go ahead and make those Super Bowl reservations now!

How I Stay on Schedule

November 6, 2013

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” Michael Altshuler

Yesterday I wrote about Why I Go to Bed at 8:00 and apparently I raised quite a few eyebrows. Several people asked me to provide more details as to how I schedule my days and how I use my time. So as a blogger of course I am happy to share.

But let me preface it by saying that there is no right way to schedule your time or a right time that everyone should sleep and wake up. I’ll share what’s worked for me but please realize that – as my wife always tells me – there’s no one else in the world like me.

So here goes - my top 3 principles when it comes to staying on a schedule.

The Day I Discovered that Blue Isn't Purple

September 11, 2013

I hate being wrong. Of course no one enjoys it when they are mistaken, but some people tend to be more experienced at it than others and therefore better able to deal with it (wink wink).

Once upon a time, back when I was just a young lad in 4th grade, I learned a valuable lesson about self-deception. I learned that being “wrong” is bad; but what’s worse is being wrong and having everyone else realize it except you.

My 4th grade teacher had given us an assignment to create a large poster with all the creatures of the sea that we had just learned about in class. So I – being a studious young man from a young age – took great care to systematically go through the chapter and draw each animal that the textbook mentioned (we didn’t need to draw them all, but as you can see I was an overachiever from a young age).

BOLD Part 5 - Grander Vision Living

June 17, 2013

We wrapped up the BOLD series yesterday with the final message on GRANDER VISION LIVING.

What is that? It's all about a challenge... no, rather an invitation... to invest your life in the only thing that really matters when all is said and done. Just as the Lord Jesus invited His disciples to live for "the big fish", He does the same with us today. What does that mean? You'll have to watch the video to find out!

BOLD Part 4 - The Power of Story

June 10, 2013

"Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" (John 4:35)

Sometimes evangelism is just sowing seeds; but sometimes it involves reaping the harvest. Are you prepared for that? How would you answer if someone asked you "why is going to church so important to you? Why do you pray? Why do you believe?" Would you be able to answer those questions clearly and concisely?

If not, you need to get caught up on yesterday's message in the BOLD: All Things to All Men series. In it, we talked about the POWER OF STORY - the most powerful tool when it comes to being a witness and sharing our faith.

BOLD Part 3 - 3D Living

June 3, 2013

BOLD is back! Yesterday's message was a very powerful one, but also practical one.

We talked about 3 simple steps that every single one of us can take to start living a life of evangelism: Develop friendships, Discover stories, Discern next steps. This is a must listen for anyone who's ever said "I know God wants me to do evangelism, but I don't know what to do" or "I want to be a witness but I don't know what to do or say."

If you've ever said that, then check out the video above and hopefully it'll help answer your questions.

BOLD Part 2 - Just Sowing Seeds

May 20, 2013

Part 2 in the latest series, BOLD: All Things to All Men. Yesterday's message was focused on the key to "success" as an evangelist. It isn't training or knowledge or any special skills. It's your willingness to just do one thing....

What is it? Check out the message to find out.

BOLD Part 1 - The Call to Evangelism

May 13, 2013

I'M BACK! I know I've been offline for a couple of weeks now, but I am back now and more on fire than ever. God has really really been speaking loudly and clearly to me and I can't wait to get back on schedule (now that house is sold, Pascha week is over and week in Florida is done) and share all the good things God is doing.

So if you thought you got rid of me....YOU WERE WRONG!

And the first thing I want to share with you today is the first message in a brand new series that I started yesterday. It's called BOLD: All Things to All Men. Can you guess the topic? It's all about "evangelism" - the word that means different things to different people - and what our role is with regards to evangelism. Trust me, it's not what you think.

Being an evangelist isn't what you might think it is. It is something much simpler and in this message I answer the "who, what, where, when, why and how" questions with regards to evangelism. You can check it out below. And tomorrow, I'll resume my regularly scheduled blog posts as before.

IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK!

Who Switched All the Price Tags?

April 9, 2013

“For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15

Imagine that you went into a store one day and all the price tags were switched around. Someone came in during the middle of the night and pulled the price tags off of expensive items and put them on the cheap ones. And vice versa, they put all the cheap price tags on the expensive items.

So items that should cost $100 were being sold for a $1 and items that aren’t worth more than $1 were being sold for $100. What would happen? What would the scene look like?

How Should a Man Be Remembered? His Best Day or His Worst?

February 6, 2013

Let me start off with a disclaimer. I am not a Ray Lewis fan. But neither am I a Ray Lewis hater. I am just a sports fan with no particular affinity to either Ray Lewis or to the Baltimore Ravens or to anything that would make you want to stop reading this post and call me biased. I’m just a fan who likes to make observations. That’s it. No agenda. Just observations.

So here’s what I’ve observed recently…

Ray Lewis – while undisputedly being one of the greatest football players ever – is also one of the most polarizing athletes to ever play a sport of any kind. No one likes him or dislikes him. You either love him or you hate him. And even those words don’t seem strong enough to describe the type of emotion that he elicits.

Part of our culture in America these days is to either idolize or demonize people who are famous. And never has that been truer than with Ray Lewis.

There’s no in between with him. Those who love him…really really love him. To them, he is more than a player, he is some type of mythical figure – a man on a mission, sent by God to knock the heads off of opposing quarterbacks and then pick them up and tell them that God loves them. He is Ray Lewis, the hero!

Get Ready for MOMENTUM 2013

January 22, 2013

What am I excited about in 2013? In a word…MOMENTUM. Why? Because momentum is unstoppable!

s we kick off 2013 and everyone hurries to set goals and make resolutions, I want to share what God has been speaking to me about for the coming year. My vision and my goals for 2013 can best be summarized by 5 words which were tweeted during the first minutes of 2013 by one of my newfound heroes in life – Robert Griffin III (aka RG3): “Happy New Year!!! You ain't seen nothing yet!!!”

I love that! That’s perfect. That is exactly what God has been revealing to me for the past several days (minus the improper grammar of course) about what this coming year has in store:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” Ephesians 3:20

“You ain’t seen nothing yet!!!” (@RGIII 1/1/13)

Post-Election: Where Do We Go From Here?

November 8, 2012

In light of the recent election and extreme divisiveness that it brought to our nation, I found an article that I wrote more than 5 years ago that I am reposting today. The article was originally written for the monthly newsletter of Good Shepherd Christian Academy, but it is the perfect message for Americans now after one of the most polarizing and divisive Presidential elections ever.

The election is now over and regardless of who you voted for, it’s time for us to move forward as a nation UNITED. "United we stand, divided we fall," right? That’s what we always say. Jesus said something similar:

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mark 3:24-25)

I believe that our response as a nation going forward will ultimately determine what direction our country goes in. It isn’t the guy in office that is going to either save us or ruin us. It’s our job – we the people of the United States of America – to stand up, join hands and work together to build this nation of ours. That’s the spirit of America and that’s the spirit of Jesus as well.

Take a look at the article below and let me know what you think by leaving a comment. If you’re with me, go ahead and say so and spread the word as well.

My Opinion on Today’s Election

November 6, 2012

Well, it’s finally here. Election Day 2012 – one of the most highly anticipated election days ever. President Obama vs Governor Romney. Who will win? Where is this nation headed in the next four years? What happens next?

Those who know me know that I am not at all into politics. As I wrote about before, this was the first year I’ve ever actually watched a presidential debate. I’ve always been more interested in my local sports team than in my local government (and speaking of which, please send up a prayer for my Redskins – they need it these days!).

But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a strong opinion on this election and where our nation is headed after it’s over. My opinion this year is very strong and I couldn’t let today go by without expressing it and making it abundantly clear.

Why I Go to Bed at 8:00

October 10, 2012

A familiar scenario for most people: the alarm clock goes off. You set it early this morning because you have so much to do and you really need to get a head start on the day.

You know the importance of starting your day with some quiet time with God and you’ve seen the fruit of that when you’ve been consistent with it. You also made that resolution to exercise and you really want to get back into shape. Add on top of that the ever-increasing demands of your job and your need to get in early and get some work done before the chaos of the day ensues. Bottom line: YOU NEED TO GET UP EARLY TODAY.

But despite all those reasons, 9 out of 10 times you end up doing the same thing…SNOOZE!

And you continue to hit the snooze button – every 9 minutes if your clock is like mine – the whole time calculating in your head what you can cut out of your morning routine in order to get some more rest (if I don’t eat breakfast I can sleep for another 3.5 minutes). Sound familiar?

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What I Learned from Last Night’s Presidential Debate

October 4, 2012

“This is fascinating!” That’s what I told my wife when she came downstairs at 10:00 last night and saw me sitting in front of the television watching the Presidential debate between President Obama and Governor Romney. It must have been captivating to keep me awake that late; but I couldn’t resist. It was “must-see” TV.

I wasn’t coming downstairs to watch the debate – to be honest, I didn’t even know there was a debate. I don’t really follow the news and I especially don’t follow politics. To me, “watching the news” means the latest edition of SportsCenter and “the debate” means watching Kornheiser and Wilbon face off on PTI. That’s the extent of my knowledge of current events.

But I couldn’t resist last night. It was scintillating stuff. The way these guys were able to address one another face to face was great. You really got to see not just what each candidate is proposing on paper (which I wouldn’t understand anyway), but rather how each candidate thinks. To me, that is infinitely more important. Why? Because "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).

Are You As Responsible As You Think You Are?

September 13, 2012

If you’re a parent like me, there’s a word that gets repeated in your home daily. Most children don’t like it very much, but it’s something they need to learn – not just for their own sake, but for the sake of the rest of society. It’s a word that – even though we can’t always agree on its meaning – we all agree on its importance.

What’s the word? RESPONSIBILITY

(cue the high pitched shriek in the background)

responsible: ‘answerable or accountable, as for something within one's power, control, or management’

A child who makes a mistake and owns up to it is not a problem. No matter what the problem is, it can usually be fixed easily once it’s been identified and owned up to. That is what responsibility means.

The problem is when the child makes a mistake and then denies it, or makes excuses or blames others. That child is much less likely to change his behavior, regardless of the consequences. Why? Because he’s never fully taken responsibility for his choices. He sees them as someone else’s fault or the fault of circumstances.

How often do we behave towards God in the very same manner in which we try to teach our kids NOT to behave?

A “Whatever It Takes" Mentality

August 13, 2012

I know a guy who throws away the batteries in the TV remote control whenever he checks into a hotel.I know a guy who cut the internet service out of his home.I know a young lady who will hug everyone in the world except for her fiancé. She won’t even hold hands with him until they’re married.I know a man who refuses to look up when in line at the grocery store – he just stares at the ground and barely makes eye contact with the cashier because he wants to avoid seeing the trashy tabloids by the register.

Are these people insane? What’s wrong with them? I mean, I understand they’re trying to remain pure and avoid temptation, but it seems a bit extreme doesn’t it?

What they’re doing is what we’re all called to do in a sense. I’m not talking about what they did specifically, but rather the way they approached their problem. These people all have something that many of us lack today: a WHATEVER IT TAKES mentality.

Not Even a Hint (sermon video)

August 6, 2012

It’s 5:23 am and I am sitting at the airport waiting for my 6:20 am flight to start boarding. I’ll be travelling for the next couple of days so I’m sure if I’m going to get a chance to write a blog post – at least for today. So instead I’m posting a video of the sermon I gave last week at STSA – the first installment in our newest series called NOT EVEN A HINT.

This series is inspired by a verse that I wrote about last week:

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” Ephesians 5:3

You can watch the rest of the videos in this series as they become available by going to our website, www.STSAchurch.org, weekly.

For discussion: I’d love to hear any thoughts, comments or feedback on the sermon if you have any.

Would You Ever Build a House without a Plan?

July 26, 2012

The late Dr. Stephen Covey, best-selling author who helped change my life with his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, used to always say that “all things are created twice.” What he meant by that is that every new idea or concept or dream must be created twice: first in one’s mind and secondly in one’s life.

For example, let’s say you want to build a house. What do you do first? Start digging a hole? No. Before you start the actual work of building a house, you sit down and come up with a plan. You can’t just start digging and figure it out as you go. You first create the house on paper – in as much detail as possible – and then you begin the actual work of building the house physically.

The same holds true for a dream. Recently I wrote about the starting point of making your dreams a reality.

dreams-martin-luther-king-i-have-a-dream

Making My Dream a Reality

July 24, 2012

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” ― Vincent van Gogh That’s one thing that we don’t do enough of. We don’t dream enough. I believe that my life will ultimately be defined by my dreams. And so will yours. Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you the ceiling of your life. Dreams set the destination and direction of our lives. You’ll never reach a point past your dreams.

Yesterday I spoke about having dreams and about how our heavenly Father has big dreams for us. Today I want to talk about the steps we need to take to turn those dreams into reality. I’ll talk about the first two steps today and then continue in my next post on Thursday.