I had the opportunity take an old friend to the Summit yesterday. Since we are not fortunate enough to be able to connect more than only every couple of months he had not seen the black stripe in my hair. So I now have a new nick name..."Black hawk." Nice!
Two things I took away from this time:
1. Relationships are important!
2. We need relationships so people can be there for us when we have ups and downs.

I carved pumpkins with my girls yesterday morning. That was great! Carmen wanted her pumpkin to be scary. She showed the pumpkins face and roared at same time. Her face was priceless! Lily painted her little pumpkin. How adorable! She actually did it, she held the brush and did it. Amazing! She was done painting when she began to play peek a boo with her hands...which were covered with paint! Too cute!
Mindy is a rock star of a mom and wife! She really knows how to lead our family into a great time of bonding and making memories.

We went to the Loving Choices banquet last night. Mindy volunteers here and she hosted our table. She did a great job! If you are not involved with Loving Choices, well, you should prayerfully consider how you could be. Here are a couple of facts from last night:
1. 43% of women age 50 and under have or will be affected by abortion.
2. The lady who was "Roe vs Wade" is now a sold out Christ follower who stands strongly against abortion...publicly.
It doesn't take that much to be a HUGE part of saving lives!

Great day!

Here's the scene: Person laying in bed asleep. Spouse is in the kitchen brewing a nice pot of coffee. As the coffee is brewing the aroma travels throughout the whole house eventually making it's way to the person who is asleep. Then it happens, the person awakes. They sit up and take the intoxicating aroma in. "Ah, smells like...skunk."

If you were a book how would you read?

Have you ever saw a book thought it looked good so you picked it up, read the back and discovered it was junk?

How about a book that looked good, the back read good but once you got through the first chapter or two you tossed it because it was junk?

There are tons and tons of books written and published every year, but only few make it to the best seller list. Why is that? Most of them are junk! Books are hard to write...I know on a minuscule level as I have tried to start writing one.

What makes a good book? Content! Back to the 90's for a sec..."duh!" In order for the book to sell people have to want it. They have to be attracted to it enough to pick it up, then captivated quickly through a brief description or thesis.

Some books have great content, some don't, some will catch you and not let you go while others will merely disappoint you and possibly discourage you from reading altogether.

What kind of book are you? Every day people are "reading" each other. People are getting sold on your personality or the opposite. People are diving into you one chapter at a time by way of friendship. Are you filled with great content or are you discouraging people from reading?

As I mentioned earlier - tons of books are written every year and very few make it to the best seller list. This means that some if not most of those other books don't hold very good content. Out of the tons of books written every year, which have the most influence? Should I say it again? "Duh!" (Maybe this is my word of the day.) The best sellers are the most influential.

Today as your friends, family and acquaintances read the book of you resolve within yourself to be a best seller. Be that one book that hits the top of the charts and people can't go without.

My mother in law asked if my kids could spend the night with her last night...uh yeah!!!!!!! OF COURSE!
My wife and I had the evening to ourselves, we had a great time! Oh yes, we had a GREAT time! Even though I miss my girls it was worth it.

Mindy and I went to see Fireproof. I will only say it once...if you are married or if you think you ever will be married you need to see this movie.
I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the film. I am by far no movie critic but I will share a couple of thoughts:

1. Clear presentation of the gospel
This movie clearly spelled out why we need Christ and how to receive Christ.

2. Clear practical instruction for how to "fireproof" your marriage.
I know that is the name of the movie, but it absolutely makes sense. I appreciated how real life it was.

3. From the gut - tear jerker.
I am by no stretch of the imagination a cryer. Especially not in movies. However, there were several scenes that grabbed me...deep down inside and tried to turn me inside out. Of course being a manly man...I tried hard to keep these emotions hidden trying to avoid manly embarrassment.

Overall I think this movie was a home run! You need to see this yourself and you need to take some friends...take some lost friends.

Back to my night alone with my wife. We had a great time at the movie where I snuck in my cheap diet coke and avoided paying $4.00 for a small popcorn. Then we enjoyed each other's company at home. There is something in alone time with your spouse. Not only did we have a great time, but we had great conversation. We connected at a deeper level. We shared thoughts, ideas, visions and concerns. We were whole hearted into each other!

Arlene, thanks for blessing us by taking the girls!
Mindy, thanks for being a rock star wife! You are truly a gift from God! I love you!

How often do you laugh?

You can not manufacture true laughter. These days laughter is really almost scarce. In my connection group last night I led us in a silly little competition. I laughed my head off! I was laughing so hard it was almost embarrassing! I am smiling just thinking about it.

Have you ever had an experience like this? Ya know, the intense from deep inside of you laughter, lack of oxygen because you are not breathing laughter, right hand slapping leg laughter?

We have plenty of reasons to not laugh today: The presidential campaign, the economy, the war...on and on.

Are those reasons not to laugh or to laugh?

These can be depressing issues. I don't even need to go into that, we know they could be. Do you want to go about your day being miserable, dwelling on negative things? Or, do you want to go about your day feeling joyful, light hearted and free?

We have plenty of reasons to laugh today: The presidential campaign (Tina Fay), the weather, family, friends, having food and clothes and definitely, if you belong to Jesus...being Saved!

As you journey through your day, look for good things and positive things. Find the funny. Smile when you don't really want to and maybe just maybe you'll catch yourself in one of those embarrassing laughs where you can hardly breathe and you are slapping your leg.

We can't control most depressing things in life. We can create opportunity for joy!

Go make a silly face at your co-worker. Go tell a stupid joke that barely makes sense. Go hug someone. Go smile!

Most of us may not get in this situation very often. I am here several times a week.

Opportunities to care for the poor and oppressed.

James 2:15-16 says "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"

As Christ followers it is our job to do this. But wait! What about all of those who have blown all of there money on drugs, alcohol or the like? What about those who are just too lazy to work? What about those who don't seem to want to be in a better position?

Matthew 7:1 Be careful about your judging.

"Being kind to the poor is like lending to the Lord; He will reward you for what you have done." Proverbs 19:17

Here in 1 John 3:17 we see that if you have enough and don't help people God's love isn't in you. That is pretty bold...wow!

Please, take time today to pray and ask God to open your heart to this matter. In today's economy we (Americans) are latching on to everything we have thinking that it will never go anywhere (Matthew 6:19-21). We are scared about where to put our money in fear of losing it. We are hesitant to fill the gas tank thinking that it might come down a bit more. We don't want to buy anything 'cause we think we too will be broke in coming months.
Please, ask God what His will is for you in this time in America. Please realize that there could be someone living 2 doors down from you who has kids and no food. The dad lost his job due to cut backs and they just lost all of their money in the market.

Please help people. My favorite question: What Would Jesus Do? Maybe you are not able to shell out a ton of money to pay a light bill or buy groceries. But maybe you can spare a couple cans of food, maybe you can help someone get to an interview, maybe you can watch someones kids for a little bit while they try for a new job. The list of maybes can go on all day.

The convention got smaller.

I went to the annual associational meeting for Southern Baptist last night. "What did you learn?" Great question. I learned that the asociation has gotten smaller. I guess the attendance shrunk around 30%.

I have made jokes that going to this meeting makes me feel young and thin. I think this statement must be more true than false because I destinctly remember people from last year that seemed to be pretty close to...well you know. And they weren't there this year.

What's the point?

1975, were not there anymore. We are in the year 2008. This year we have an african american running for president against a POW. iPhones are still cool, but are much more common. There are cars that can park themselves and most new cars have screens in the dash that can do a number of things like show you where you are and how to get where want to be. This is 2008!

Every year technology advances. Clothing styles change. Cars are reimagined and rebuilt. Music styles change and cultural relevance gets that much harder.

We can't expect to latch onto a good hymnal and nice pews and still reach the rapidly changing culture. It seems that we have gotten good at one style and way of doing things but now it is 25-30 years later and more people than ever are dying and going to hell. We need to wake up and get with the program. If Wal-Mart (the world's largest retailer) doesn't re-shape, re-align and re-order it would crash.

We need to let go of the home phone realize that cell phones are not shaped like bricks or in bags and wake up to the culture. Seriously, if someone came to you and seemed to be stuck in a time warp from 25+ years ago would you engage with them? No, you wouldn't be able to relate.

How important is Matthew 29:18-20? Our commission is to bring people to Jesus, baptize them and teach Jesus' commands. How are we to do that if we are the ones stuck in the time warp?