Simply Amazing...

Ahhhh Ice...

So I discovered that there is a small Ice Rink located just off the freeway, conveniently, on my way home from speaking at Flood The Desert on Sunday nights. And it so happens on said Sunday nights at 10pm they have pick up hockey...nice. So I unpacked my gear, loaded it up in my car, and stopped.

Yup, I laced them up for the first time in 3 years. I had a great time, it's great to get on the ice agian, but...

I learned a few things.

1.) I AM OUTTA SHAPE.
2.) I Need to start working out again.
3.) Your feet will hate you 20 minutes into the game after not being inside skates for 3 years.
4.) Did I mention that I am outta shape?
5.) I still got it.

GO LEAFS!

Now off to bed, and tomorrow, oh tomorrow, Ill be sore. G' Night.

Take a day off...

Take a day off. That's what God did, and that's what He wants us to do.
The problem is, I never seem to honor this. I use the excuse of "Ministry" not really stopping.
Really? If I don't stop, then ministry will fall apart? Pretty egocentric. Not very honoring.

I've been reading alot about this lately, and God has been using some pretty incredible authors and speakers to work my heart over. Thought I'd share with you some of the stuff that has been challenging me.

"Sabbath is not dependent upon our readiness to stop. We do not stop [because] we are finished. We do not stop [because] we [have] complete[d] our phone calls, finish[ed] our project, [gotten] through this stack of messages, or [sent] out this report that is due tomorrow. We stop because it is time to stop.... Sabbath liberates us from the need to be finished. The old wise sabbath says: Stop now." - Wayne Muller

"Sabbath is a Gift of the restful God to His restless people. It is a statutory holiday, a King's birthday, bestowed on us weekly. That ever we should have come to resent it - to see it as a burden God laid on us rather than a way He eases our burden, to see it as a day He stole from us rather than one He lavishes on us - is bizarre beyond reckoning. 'Take a day off!' is the message of Sabbath. Relax. Sleep in. Take a midday nap. Play. Party. Eat. Dance. Be like children." ....
"Sabbath is God holding you long enough for you to remember who you are: not God, but one whose life is in His hands, the hands of the One who wants to give you good gifts." - Mark Buchanan from "The Holy Wild"

Im off to enjoy my Sabbath.

Uggghhh...

Had a great time in Anaheim at the Youth Specialties convention with, what I would consider, my core volunteer team members. It was really good to hang out with them, relax, have a great time, get challenged, encouraged, etc...

I got home Monday night, and was right back into the swing of things on Tuesday. We had TNL, our High School group on Tuesday night. I got home, hung out with Robin some, and then 11pm rolled around. I started ejecting all manners of food, liquid, and waste, from what seemed every available opening on my body. I puked, among other things to vile to describe here, from 11pm till about 6am. Fun. I spent all day Wednesday in chills, wrapped up in blankets with a 102 temp. Needless to say, not fun.

Im feeling much better today and the Doc said it is just an intestinal virus, and I just have to let it work it's course. Im still slightly dizzy and light headed and I still have a 100 degree temp. I've had no solid foods since Tuesday evening, and I have to keep it simple for the next few days (BRAT - Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast). Yeah.

Not a very exciting post, but I thought I'd share.

Y.S. Convention - Anaheim #2

In terms of humility, Shane Claiborne has been the epitome of it here at the conference. By far the most self-giving and challenging person that I have met in quite awhile. Not to brag on him or about him, but this is a man that so believes in giving away (not some but all) of what God has given him. He took the money paid by Y.S. to speak, prayed over it, and then just gave it away... He laid it all out in one dollar bills and gave it to everyone who would come take one, with just one stipulation... Use it to love someone. Sponsor a child, use it to buy a meal, whatever. I went up, just crushed in the way God used Shane, and his life, to break/mold/sculpt, my life to reflect more of Himself.

What am I doing with my dollar? Im keeping it... Yup it's all mine. I have it in the front window of my wallet, with the word Love in big black letters staring back at me. Challenging me, mocking my wasteful habits of spending on needless and worthless things. I pray that God uses that dollar, the sign of America's wealth and greed, to break my heart when I buy garbage. May that dollar be a constant burning reminder of Shane, his challenge, his life, but even more may it constantly drive me to give more and more of myself away in an effort to gain more and more of Christ.

So for those of you that are there, let's use this space as a place to share...

"What are you doing with your dollar?"

Y.S. Convention - Anaheim #1

So much for being a frequent blogger at Y.S.
I decided to detach and leave my laptop at home and focus on relaxing, focusing, and growing. So if that makes me a slacker, so be it... So I am grabbing some time in the Digital Lounge, here for a moment. Doing a quick update.

Thoughts so far:

- God keeps hammering this idea of humility and grace into my thick skull. One of my favorite quotes from Matthew Barnett of The Dreamcenter in downtown L.A. "Seek the welfare of the people". In my case, the students.

- One thing I particularly like about Y.S. is their ability to encourage me to be who I am, find my uniqueness and operate from there, but at the same time, to challenge me to be more of the person that God created me to be.

- I also love that the leaders of Y.S. (Marko, Tic, etc...) lead by being real. They're trasparent to us...

Great things:

- Why does Crowder kill me with the worship sets? It seems that I've done more crying and heart searching when I should be shouting and singing. Could it be that this is the true purpose of worship?>

- I love my staff team. I enjoy being with them. They've let me be myself, they've let me relax and have fun. I truly enjoy them.


Well there's a line, and I want to be polite. More later...