Last summer, I took my family through a rite of passage for all families living in America. It wasn’t something I particularly looked forward to; but it was something that I knew had to be done at some point. And if you have kids too, my guess is that at some point you’ll have to bite the bullet and go through this one day as well...WE WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!
Now, if you’ve never been there, you need to know that going to Disney World isn’t like any other vacation in the world (and you’ll know right away from the price of everything!). Disney World is appropriately named because it isn’t a resort or a destination or a vacation spot…it's a whole other world!
There is so much to do (but you have to pay for doing it) and so much to see (and you have to pay for seeing it too). There’s just so much going on that it can be very overwhelming if you’re not prepared (and did I mention the cost yet?). So during the weeks leading up to this “vacation”, I did what any Type-A, well-organized and well-prepared man would do…I CAME UP WITH A PLAN!
Read More “I’m trying my best… I’ve tried 1000 times before… I will try to do better the next time…” Common expressions we hear and say every day. But if you find yourself using those expressions repeatedly, then you need to listen carefully to my message today. It is a lesson not from me, but rather from one of the wisest creatures to ever walk the face of this planet…YODA!
You know…Yoda…the fictional Jedi-master from the famous Star Wars movies. There’s a famous scene from The Empire Strikes Back movie where Yoda is instructing Luke Skywalker in how to use the Force.
He asks Luke to retrieve his broken down spaceship out of a pit where it has sunk, using only his mind. Luke, of course, thinks this is impossible. Sure, he has been able to move stones around this way. But a spaceship? That’s completely different. Or is it?
Yoda patiently explains that it is only different in his mind. Luke reluctantly agrees to “give it a try.” Yoda famously says, “No! Try not. Do! Or do not! There is no try.”
Read More“Two are better than one…for if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up” Ecclesiastes 4:10
There I was – about to go up on stage. It was our church’s high school graduation party and this year’s class was a big one. All the seniors were gathered together in the church gym, along with family and friends. The kids were all dressed up and the gym looked like a ballroom. It was a class event all the way.
And then it came time for my part. My part was simple: give a speech and then present a gift to each graduate. The plan was to call them up one by one, hand them the gift and then pause for a Kodak moment – a chance for everyone to take a picture of me handing a gift to the graduating senior.
Seems simple enough right? Any idiot can do that? I would imagine that I could handle something that simple on my own, without any help from anyone. Right?????
WRONG! That day I learned a valuable lesson in why we need each other and why two really are better than one.
Read MoreA simple concept that will transform your life – if you learn to live by it daily. No one other concept is more important to the idea of “time management,” and more importantly “life management,” than this.
Here is a video by Dr. Stephen Covey which illustrates the concept of BIG ROCKS FIRST. The video is about 6 minutes long but trust me, it's well worth watching. The visual illustration is much more powerful than any words can say and it will stick much longer too.
After you watch the video, consider what are the BIG ROCKS in your life? Part of living intentionally means realizing that not all tasks were created equal. The appropriate question to ask is not “did I get stuff done today?” but rather “did I get the important stuff done today?” Like I said yesterday, the issue isn’t working harder; the issue is how to work smarter and focus on the important tasks that really need my attention.
Read MoreLife is about relationships, not accomplishments.
That’s another one of those life changing sentences that I read several years ago that changed me and really helped me get my life in focus. I am about as “Type A” a personality as you can find. I am hard-working. I am driven. I take initiative and I take pride in getting the job done.
But one of the flaws that come with such a personality (one of the FEW flaws let me add) is that I tend to focus more on accomplishments at the expense of relationships. I am not a relational person by nature. But one of the things that I’ve learned over the years is that when you get to the end of your life – see yesterday’s post if you didn’t already – it isn’t about accomplishments. It’s about relationships.
Read MoreAs promised, each week I will dedicate one or two blog posts to the idea of “Living on Purpose, not by Accident.” Why? Because we all end up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose.”
Imagine this scene. You’re in a big church sanctuary about to attend one of the most important occasions in your life. You’re surrounded by hundreds of people that you know well – family, friends, colleagues, neighbors – anyone who you consider an important part of your life. The church is packed but there’s no talking – only sounds of sniffling. There’s a big box in the front and everyone seems to be focused on that box. You know what’s in the box right???
YOU! This is your funeral and it’s about to begin. Here’s the question you need to answer today while you still can: WHAT DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WILL SAY ABOUT YOU?
What will your spouse say? What will your parents say? What will your friends say? What will your neighbors or co-workers say? What do you want them to say? How about God Himself – the True Judge – what do you think He’d want to say at the end of your life?
Read MoreI’ve now been collecting suggestions for my tagline for 3 weeks and it is time to finally choose the winner. But I still need your help. I have narrowed the field down to the final 12 entries – listed below in no particular order. Now I need your help to choose the winner.
But once again, before I get to the list of what is on the final list, it’s always more fun to start with what didn’t make it.
Read MoreYesterday I spoke about the dilemma that many find themselves in these days – great intentions, but no results. We dream of getting our life in order (spiritually or physically or relationally or financially) but we soon discover that dreams alone are not enough to get the job done. So what is the answer? How do we do it?
One of the things that I’ve learned from living my entire life in the DC metro area – one of the most fast paced areas in the country – is that going faster and doing more is not the answer. The secret of success has nothing to do with being able to do more in less time or working harder. I am going to assume that you – like me – are a hard worker and you are trying your best. The issue isn’t lack of effort.
The issue is LACK OF FOCUS. Focus drives success.
Read More“Everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose.”
That sentence changed my life several years ago. I read it in a book that spoke about living life intentionally and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s a powerful phrase. Everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up somewhere on purpose.
We all have dreams - things we’d like to accomplish – whether personally or relationally or financially or whatever. For example, all of us aspire to one day be wealthy – not necessarily for materialistic reasons, but at least so that we can be stable and secure and have the ability to give to those in need.
We all dream of getting in shape. I doubt there are many people reading this blog that wouldn’t like to shed a few extra pounds and improve their health – not necessarily to the point of being a supermodel, but at least to the point where we don’t have to think of an excuse every time we are invited to go to the swimming pool!
You have a dream about what your marriage should look like. You have a dream about what your relationships should look like. Your career, your spiritual life, your future…WE ALL HAVE DREAMS!
Read MoreYesterday I posted a summary of the first half of my speech from this past weekend’s Inaugural service at St. Timothy & St. Athanasius church. I spoke about two out of the three fundamental building blocks of STSA: Extreme Love and Ancient Faith. The third and final building block is REAL COMMUNITY.
The most glaring discrepancy between the many churches that exist today and The Church written about in Scripture is this…COMMUNITY. They had real community. They did more than just drink coffee together after church or attend weekly meetings with one another. They had real fellowship with one another and they lived life together.
“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.” Acts 2:44-47
Compare that to how we live today. Back in the early days of the Church, the believers “were together”, “had all things in common”, “sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all.” They didn’t just meet together; they lived together! They continued “daily with one accord” in both the temple and from house to house.
Read MoreWHAT A WEEKEND! This past weekend – during which we celebrated the opening of St. Timothy & St. Athanasius church – was all that I thought it would be and then more…WAY MORE!
Words can’t describe the emotions and the spirit of the day. It was really one of those “you had to be there” moments and everyone who was there – especially the awesome team of volunteers who worked so hard before and after the event – felt the same thing I did: an overwhelming sense of amazement! Afterwards, we couldn’t stop saying “WOW!” We all truly felt that God Himself descended upon Arlington/DC and from here on out, the city will never be the same. For the sake of the many out there who weren’t able to be there but want to know how the weekend went, I am going to summarize my speech from Saturday.
The entire day was recorded and eventually we’ll put pictures and video clips on our website, but until then, you can at least get a taste of what STSA is all about and why I say that the area will never be the same again.
Below is Part 1 (you’ll see Part 2 tomorrow).
Read MoreToday's post was inspired by a book I read recently called Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus. If you like the post, you'll love the book!
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole idea of "following Jesus” and what that really means. Am I a follower or not? Sometimes I wish Jesus would just make it simple and say “Following me = __________.” Just tell me what to do God and I will do it and then I’ll know I am fine and I can go on with the rest of my day.
But following Jesus is about more than just doing a task or finishing a chore. It is about life and how we live it, every single day. It is a conscious decision to follow Him at work, at home, at the gym, in front of my computer, behind my friend’s back, even while stuck on Route 66.
So how then do I know if I’m on the right track?
Read MoreAs I announced last week, this Saturday, April 28, will be the launch date for St. Timothy & St. Athanasius (STSA) Coptic Orthodox church. Somehow – even though we’ve been planning for this launch date for several months now – it wasn’t until yesterday that it all hit me and I became overwhelmed with several feelings.
I felt a sense of THANKFULNESS– because God has chosen me for this mission and is allowing me to be His “fellow worker” in a new field of mission – a mission that I know is very dear to His heart. I also felt a sense of RESPONSIBILITY– because I know God is planning on doing huge things through this church and I know that my ability to discern/obey His voice is more important now than it’s ever been in the past.
But most of all – more than any other feeling – I felt an overwhelming sense of EXCITEMENT!
Read MoreSpecial thanks to all who have taken time to email, comment or tweet suggestions for a tagline for my blog. There have been a lot of good entries and I think we are getting close. But before I tell you which entries I liked most, I’ll share the top 5 entries that will NOT be chosen for my blog.
- #5 - The Breath of God teaches the Squad (Ben R)
- #4 - Saving the soul, one post at a time (Mark S)
- #3 - Welcome to Mr Rogers Neighborhood (@joerazzouk)
- #2 - Because God is too busy to blog (Mark S once again)
- #1 - An ordinary guy, in an unordinary outfit, speaking about extraordinary "stuff". (Joseph Y)
Thanks for all your help guys, but you didn’t make the cut – although that last one was close! However there were some other entries that I feel are heading in the right direction. Before I list them though, let me explain my thinking.
Read MoreChrist is risen! Happy Easter out there to the many Orthodox Christians who celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ this past weekend. Now that the Holy Pascha week has passed and Easter is here, I am back online and will resume my regular blog posts tomorrow morning.
But in the meantime, I wanted to let everyone know that we’ve set the launch date for St. Timothy & St. Athanasius church! The long wait is finally over and we are ready to launch. God willing, we will be celebrating our inaugural service on April 28, 2012. The first service will be on a Saturday to allow for the presence of many guests – including His Grace Bishop David and several other clergy members from around the country – and then we will continue with Sunday services every weekend thereafter.
Read MoreOne of my favorite things to do is to look through my journal and read some of the entries that I wrote in the past. I’ve always found that practice to be extremely uplifting and encouraging. There’s nothing like seeing where you WERE to give you better perspective on where you ARE. Below is a journal excerpt from about 4-5 months ago – around Thanksgiving Day.
Everything I wrote about back then – especially the things that didn’t make sense at the time – now are crystal clear. They weren’t back then, but in looking back, truly I can say that “God makes all things work together for good to those who love who Him, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28).
Below is the excerpt (modified to fit blog post form of course). Enjoy!
Read MoreFinally! It’s finally time to stop talking about LIVING in the pit. It is now time to start packing up our bags and talking about LEAVING the pit. Today I want to answer the question that I’ve heard repeatedly since I started these posts earlier this week…HOW DO I GET OUT OF THE PIT?
First, the game plan. The path to escaping your pit begins with a DECISION and is then followed by a PROCESS. A decision, then a process. The decision is something you can do today – you say I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE. That is the first thing that the Prodigal Son did. He came to himself and said “I don’t belong in here. I am choosing to do whatever it takes to get back to my father’s table.”
But the decision was only step one. The decision alone was not enough to restore him back to his father’s table – he still had to get up, walk back to the house, ask for forgiveness and consent to his father’s will. Same with you too. You can make a decision today but unless you follow up that decision with some effort, you’re unlikely to find success.
Getting out of the pit is a DECISION followed by a PROCESS. The decision is “I don’t belong here and I will no longer accept life in the pit. I was made to live in a palace, not a pit – not because I am good but because God is my Father.” Romans 8:16-17 says “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”
Read MoreAs promised, today I will address the third and final way that we end up in a pit – WHEN WE ARE THROWN IN. I call this the pit of innocence. This pit has nothing to do with you or your sin. You’ll be tempted to think it is your fault, but the truth is…IT ISN’T. The first pit spoken about in the Bible was this pit of innocence. In Genesis 37, Joseph was just walking through the fields one day, going to see how his brothers were doing and the next thing you know…
“So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal.” Genesis 37:23-25
Every time I read this story, I get filled with emotion at the thought of what happened. It’s not that I am worried about Joseph – we know that he turns out ok. But what weighs me down is the thought of many others “Josephs” out there – who did nothing wrong, yet found themselves violently thrown into a pit by the selfish actions of another.
Below are some real stories of real people that I know. The names are made up, but the stories aren’t and neither is the pain and hurt that they feel. These are all real people who bleed and cry and suffer the anguish of their pit through no fault of their own.
Read More“Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.” You’ve heard that before haven’t you? That famous line was spoken at the end of every episode of G.I. Joe (which if you’re part of my generation, you grew up watching these religiously). At the end of every show, they’d present some type of public service announcement and end each one with that phrase. So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
I couldn’t agree more. I need to know how I got into my pit in order to figure out how to get out. They say that history repeats itself. Well, in the case of falling into a pit, I agree 100%. It doesn’t need to repeat itself – but unless we take the time to figure out what caused it, the likelihood of repeating it increases significantly.
So with that said, the 2nd talk at the retreat was titled HOW DID I GET IN HERE? We identified 3 ways that we end up in pits. Either we jump in, or we slip in, or we’re thrown in. Let’s break them down one at a time.
Read More
