Walking on Water (okay, in water)

The day we arrived on South Padre Island, we met up with Chad Roy, a friend of a friend, who owns a brand-spanking-new boat. He took us out on the gulf about a mile or so from shore, where we got to see the wild dolphins feeding up close. As they pranced and danced around the boat, sometimes they would come within ten feet of us (it felt as if you could lean out of the boat and touch them). It was an amazing sight and feeling.

Initially the older of my two daughters, who happens to be less adventurous, had her face buried in the crook of her arm, not wanting to see where we were going as we "floated" across the water. As you will see in one of the photographs, that lasted about, oh, all of two seconds before she was in the water prancing and dancing like the dolphins. This was because of her initial perception of the waters of the gulf. Being a mile out from shore, we somehow got the impression that we were out in really deep waters, especially because we were only a few yards away from where the dolphins were feeding (and we had been informed that they only feed in deep water and it was around 20 feet where they were feeding).

When my friend and my son decided to go tubing, we discovered that we were only in about two and a half feet of water. Because the water is rather dark and murky, it was impossible to tell that it was that shallow since we couldn't see the ocean floor. This is how it is in our relationship with God sometimes. He asks us to step out of the boat and trust him to walk on water, but we think "there's no way on earth I can do that, the water's too deep!" Perception isn't always reality though. Our notion that the water where we were was deep, however scary to my daughter, was false. Once she realized that it was actually really shallow, she was willing to step out of the boat and walk on, I mean in water!

It was shallow enough at some points that we got stuck on a sandbar and literally had to pile out of the boat, and dig the bow free so that we could push it into deeper water. Today I am posting pictures of our water escapades. Enjoy!

Green might be the new black

Last week we went on our first family vacation (all expenses paid by someone other than me) since moving to Orlando to start The Well. It was a really relaxing time for me, and I actually rediscovered the joys of hanging out on the beach, wading out into the water and being buffeted by the waves, and just plain doing nothing! I'm back home now. Back to the real world. While I truly enjoyed my time away, I couldn't wait to get back to what I love doing so much: Investing in people's lives and serving our community through The Well.

Anyway, just as I promised last week, I will devote this week to posting photos and stories about the trip so that you can live vicariously through me (This might be just the vacation you've needed yourself). We were meant to have stayed at the condo of a really generous friend of mine. However, when we arrived in Harlingen (the airport you fly into to get to South Padre Island) he informed me that his condo only had one bedroom, a pull-out sofa bed in the sitting room, and no maid service. Since there are five of us in my family, and we were commited to personally not straightening one sheet this week, this would have posed a bit of a problem. He'd already thought of all that ahead of our arrival and had decided to book us into the Radisson for the entire week, on his own dime. Wow! we had a two bed/ two bath condo on the 10th floor overlooking the pool and the beach. What an incredible view to wake up to every morning (I could really get used to that kind of lifestyle).

We cooked much of the time, ate out some of the time and generally blew our disciplined eating lifestyle for the entire week. Fortunately for us we were reliably informed that once you cross the bridge from Port Isabel onto South Padre Island, calories don't count. Phew! What a relief to know since I probably set a new Guiness world record for number of calories consumed in a day. They were right about the calories not counting. My son and I played raquet ball every day and the scales actually indicated that I was losing and not gaining weight (no I didn't adjust the scales, why would you even think that?). Now that's the way to live. To be able to eat whatever you want and not gain a pound. Don't quote me on that though if it doesn't work for you.

Today I will post a few pictures of the view from our room. Is that green I detect on your face? Don't worry, envy is easily taken care of through the deliverance ministry, just call my assistant and set up an appointment!

By the way, today is my precious wife's birthday. It's one of those really special ones with a zero after the first digit, and it isn't thirty. If you know her, drop her a line and wish her a fantastic day.

Reach out and touch someone

Airports are interesting places to people watch. You'd be amazed at how much you can learn about people by just observing them at the airport. We have a really awkward connection going back to Orlando, which includes a really looooong layover at Houston's International Airport. I have been people watching!

We are relational creatures. Everywhere I look, people are on cell phones "reaching out and touching" someone else. Others are fighting a losing battle trying to keep their kids occupied while they wait for their flights (the kids would much rather climb on precarious barriers set up for crowd control in the endless lines). I notice couples talking, kissing, holding hands and doing whatever it is that couples can do (in public). I see grossly overweight people stuffing their faces with fast food and guzzling down massive cups of soda that cost almost $8.00 each. Then there are the "techies" typing away at their keyboards as they attempt to stay in touch with the rest of the world.

It's amazing how relational we are. The only apparently miserable people I've seen are sitting alone (and evidently have no one to call). We need people in our lives that make us feel wanted and loved. We need to feel that our lives matter to others. As I write this, we are seated in this massive, security-conscious building, all waiting to get on a metal tube that will zip us through the sky at over 600 miles an hour, just so that we can get to the people we love and connect with. If we are so relational, such that we cannot do without connecting with each other, I wonder what God must feel like when we neglect spending time with Him, especially since we are made to be relational just like Him. Have you connected with Him today? If not, why don't you take a moment right now and make that happen. You don't even need a phone or a laptop and so there are no expensive roaming charges or server fees. Come on and join in the fun. Even though you might not be at an airport, you can reach out and touch too!

Can you handle the journey?

I am an avid fan of the Tour de France. The month of July every year finds me glued to "Versus", a channel I watch at no other time of the year. The Tour de France is arguably the most gruelling, most exacting sporting event in the world. I am somewhat of an amateur bike rider myself, riding an average of 80 - 100 miles a week. I know, I know, what possesses an over 250 pound man to become a road biker, I hear you ask? I guess it's the thrill of the downhill. when everyone else is rolling at 30mph and I am zipping by them at the colossal speed of 40mph. My weight serves me well on the downhill, it just doesn't do as much for me when I'm laboring uphill and my heart rate is spiking at 178bpm.

These professional bike riders on the other hand, average around 140 pounds and most of that weight is in their massive legs. They have tree-trunk-thighs and massive calves that pump like pistons as they maintain an average road speed - on the flats not the downhills - of over 35mph. The Tour de France lasts all of 23 days and covers a distance of over 2000 miles through some of the most unforgiving terrain anywhere on earth. They ride through mountains that have been known to humiliate some of the finest athletes on earth. In some cases, some of the riders have simply stopped, gotten off their bikes, and quit the race. The mental strength required to finish this race is limited to so few, that significantly less than 60% of the riders who begin the race each year actually finish it.

Why do they do it? Why are they willing to punish their bodies and stretch themselves beyond human limits just to stand on a podium on the Champs Elysees? I think it's because, what differentiates us from animals is the fact that we have an innate sense of purpose that drives us to conquer and achieve the seemingly impossible. Sir Edmund Hilary, when asked why he would attempt to climb Everest (before it had ever been done) replied, "Because it is there!" The riders of the Tour have been asked to sign a commitment letter demonstrating their commitment to compete at the highest levels without the use of performance enhancing drugs. All the participants in this years tour have signed that letter. What appeals to me most though, is the fact that the organizers of the race are aware that ink on paper is no demonstration of true commitment and so they came out with the following statement:

Commitment isn't something you can just sign your name to. It's something you train for your whole life. It's something in your genes. You either have it, or you don't. You won't find proof of it in the ink on some dotted line, but you will find it in the mountains of France...let's ride.

This reminds me of Craig Groeschel's statement at the ARC conference earlier this year. In making a comparison between the pastor whose church doesn't grow and the pastor of a mega congregation, he suggested that one of the primary differences between them was the amount of pain they were willing to endure. Anything that is worthwhile, valuable, and positively impacts people's lives, is bound to require sacrifice, and will more than likely exact a painful price before final success is achieved. This can be said of the Christian experience.

Many Christians have been sold a bill of goods, in being made to believe that Christianity takes all your problems away and makes life easy. The real truth is that Christianity is like a pearl of inestimable value, a jewel of great price. We must be willing to sacrifice everything in order to live the full experience. Like the riders of the Tour de France, what we say about what we believe, carries significantly less weight than what we do. The mountains of life will determine our commitment levels.

Today it will be overcast, partly cloudy and...

I'm in South Texas. South Padre Island to be precise. This is actually the first vacation my family has been on since we moved to Orlando to plant The Well back in November of 2005. It's incredibly beautiful here and I will make sure that I post a number of photos and stories about the trip all next week. Today however, I wanted to write about something a little more somber that happened.

We stopped off at the Walmart Superstore just outside of the Island (grocery store prices on the Island require a mortgage) to do some grocery shopping for the week, and while we were waiting for an attendant at the Deli, I noticed a young woman also waiting to be attended to. She was attractive and looked like she might be a tourist too. These weren't the things that struck me most though. What caught my attention was the fact that she was crying. When she caught my eye, she wiped her tears and attempted to look as if everything was okay, but her red cheeks, puffy eyes and down-turned lips made it a losing effort.

In this sea of festive humanity, the majority of whom appeared to be enjoying some kind of vacation, it seemed rather incongruous to find someone looking so dejected and unhappy. I walked up to her and asked her if everything was okay. At first she said she was fine, but again the uncooperative tears betrayed her as they freely poured down her red cheeks. I gently insisted that she tell me what was going on, and she finally said, "I'm just really sad." When I prodded for more information she told me that her husband had decided to file for a divorce, and their two little daughters (two and a half and five years old) were with him this week. She further intimated that she didn't want the divorce but was at a loss for how to stop it.

Then I did something "stupid"! I asked her if I could pray for her. Imagine her response. Instead of deciding that I was some sort of kooky weirdo, she actually began to sob even harder, and thanked me for being willing to pray with her when I didn't even know her. I called my wife over and quickly explained what was going on, and right there in church...I mean in Walmart, we prayed with this precious lady and asked God to do a miracle in her marriage and in her husbands heart. We prayed for her two daughters, and we prayed for God's peace to overwhelm and comfort her. She was utterly amazed that two complete strangers would be that interested in her. My wife gave her a big hug and we gave her our contact information so that she could call and share the good news with us when it all works out well.

Too many of us think that our Christian witness is worn only on Sundays, in a "church" setting, and only with people that we know. I don't know what the final story will be of her impending divorce. I do however know this; she found out yesterday (if she had ever wondered in the past), that beyond a shadow of doubt, God loves her deeply. She discovered that His love for her runs deep enough that He was willing to send two perfect strangers all the way to South Padre Island, to encourage and comfort her in the midst of what might possibly be her darkest storm yet. What's the weather like in your neighborhood? Is there someone that needs a little sunshine in their lives that you might be a God-sent answer for? By the way, what's that glow radiating out of you, could it be the calm for someone elses storm?

Spacious skies, purple mountains, amber waves of grain and other beautiful sights

It is truly amazing to observe what Katherine Lee Bates did from the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado, as she penned the now famous words to America the Beautiful. I have had the privilege of seeing this view on numerous occasions while living in Colorado Springs, and it truly is breathtaking.

It struck me recently, as we celebrated our Independence day, that, to observe the natural beauty she did, and interpret it the way she did, necessarily required complete freedom. Freedom from the kinds of burdens that would have served as a distraction from all the natural beauty around her. By my reckoning freedom is at best a nebulous term, since many people define it differently. For the man incarcerated, who spends the majority of his life behind bars, but yet has found peace and contentment in a personal relationship with Christ, freedom holds a completely different meaning than it would to, say, the man who spends his life using drugs while backpacking and hitchhiking from one town to another, living off the goodwill of people and sometines doing the occasional odd job to pay his way, while enjoying his freedom to live as he pleases.

I call to mind the incredible and awesome natural beauty in places like my birth country, Nigeria. The endless stretch of incredible, virgin-white beaches, the warm and turbulent atlantic waters with their waves breaking on the empty beaches, stretching for miles along the coast of Lagos (undoubtedly an undiscovered surfers paradise), the majestic, tall palm trees swaying in the wind, as if in rythm to a song only they are privy to. All of these amount to... nothing! In a nation where survival and three square meals a day aren't a guarantee, these natural wonders are completely wasted on the average person who passes by, oblivious to the veritable tourist gold mine upon which we sit. Had these natural wonders been found in a country that is truly free, where the focus is on enhancing lifestyle and not just survival, they may well have become among the most traveled tourist spots on earth.

America has worked hard for her freedom. The old cliche rings true, that freedom is not free. I read an internet article (don't quote me on its veracity) recently that stated that a large majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence met with hardship, poverty and death. Some spent much of their lives as fugitives from an oppressive British government that was bent on staving off the American fight for freedom and independence. Whether these assertions about their struggles are true or not, the point is well made that freedom always comes at a high price. If you doubt that fact, you need look no further than the war in Iraq and the casualties that have been claimed by the fight for a democratic world. Whatever your political position on the efficacy of the war, you cannot argue the fact that a high price has been paid to preserve the freedom of the Iraqi people as well as the rest of the Middle East, that have sufferred at the hands of tyrants like Saddam Hussein.

America is great because she is free! As Americans, we are free to choose what, where and when we will eat. We are free to choose where we work and what we are willing to accept as fair compensation for our labor. We are free to choose what we will wear, what we listen to, what we watch, we are even free to choose Coke or Pepsi. The greatest freedom we have though, is the freedom to choose, who, what and when to worship. Herein lies the paradox. Our freedom, if we choose to worship the wrong thing, will lead us back down a path of bondage. This in turn will cause us to miss the beauty that is all around us (a drug addict that "worships at the altar of meth" will more than likely not concern himself with appreciating the view from Pikes Peak the way Katherine Lee Bates did), a beauty that is so quintessentially American. I for one am proud to be an American, and I am gratified to know that my freedom is greater exemplified by the freedom to worship Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

I urge all Americans (as well as non-Americans) to take advantage of this freedom which we sometimes take for granted, and seek for a personal relationship with the One who paid the greatest price of all for the most valuable freedom that could ever be purchased. Freedom from eternal estrangement from our maker. The price? The "blood of God" shed upon a cross for you and for me. A more horrific yet beautiful sight as Christ freely choosing to hang from a cross, has never been seen before or since, not even from the top of Pikes Peak!

Does God Drive a Truck?

I've really been enjoying my "new" truck! In fact, a number of people on my Lead Team have taken to calling it "God's Truck." Now I don't know if God is a truck kind of Guy, and I can't say for sure that He would drive a truck if He was here on earth today, but I sure know that He pays for them. At least He did this one.

Following on from yesterdays idea, that we tend to focus on the problem and often miss the solution even though it's staring us right in the face (just as Clarence was with George Bailey), I thought I would take advantage of the recent "miraculous" provision of a truck for me, and encourage someone out there in cyber world who might be needing "refocused vision." In a recent post I had talked about the fact that in the process of downsizing, I decided to get a truck that was fully paid for so that I could keep my overheads as low as possible. This was not my original solution. Originally I wanted to borrow the money to pay for the truck. I had talked to a friend who was in a financial position to make the loan, and he readily agreed to do it. We even explored other options about getting a different truck that he suggested might work out better for us.

Somewhere between the day I spoke to him and the day I was going to receive the money, he had a change of heart. The details are unimportant except to say that our relationship has not been affected in the least by the circumstance. I was, however, crestfallen, and like George Bailey, I questioned God's idea of encouragement and support. The least He could have done would have been to make sure that I got the money for the truck, it's not as if $10,000.00 was a ton of money to my friend. Besides, who more than God knew how badly we needed a truck that could haul our trailer with all our church equipment on Sundays? While I focused on the magnitude of the problem (incidentally only $2,000.00 more than George needed back in 1946), I lost sight of the fact that God was attempting to get my attention by other means. Unknown to me, he had prepared the hearts of three people who would not loan me the money, but give me the money. That had been God's plan all along. I just wasn't listening well enough. He had already decided that I would own a truck free and clear. Meanwhile, I was banging my head against a brick wall trying to put my plans into motion.

I continue to discover in the school of "practical theology," that the true test of faith is being willing to "be still" and know that He is God. Actually, He is God all by Himself, without any assistance or help from us. I know, I know, that's easier said than done. The truth is though, that our faith is nothing if it's not worth being tested. I don't know what your circumstance or need is. It may be substantially more than $10,000.00 or substantially less. Whatever the case may be, God's hand is not short and He can deliver you from this trouble, if you will choose to focus on the solution in prayer and not on the problem. These pictures of my "fully-paid-for-truck" are living proof of this fact! I pray that you will be encouraged during this season of testing and trial that you are navigating, and I am convinced that you will have a great story to tell at the end. Please write and let me know how it works out for you.

It's a Wonderful Life

Frank Capra's 1946 classic of the same name has become one of the most enduring and endearing movies of all time, even though it lost $525,000.00 at the box office on its Christmas Day release. Many families I know, including mine, have made it a tradition to watch this inspiring movie every Christmas Eve, and regardless of how many times you've watched it, you're still moved to surreptitiously wipe a tear from the corner of your eye. What makes this movie so captivating? Why does the story seem so timeless? May I presume to answer by saying I think it's captivating, timeless and so much more primarily because the big idea is that "no one is born to be a failure." This truth resonates with the human heart. In the midst of our greatest trials, tragedies and struggles, we are somewhat comforted in knowing that, unlike the timeless impact of the movie, our trials are temporary.

There's a little bit of George Bailey in all of us. Our temporary trials often cause us to fixate on the problem and not the solution, which is often times staring us right in the face, and often takes the form of the most unlikely of solutions, just like Clarence the non-descript angel. The truth is though, that we are all created with a sense of purpose and destiny, and our lives remain unfulfilled unless we are walking in that purpose. If we view life only through the prism of our own circumstances, we have a tendency to forget how much of an impact our lives have on the lives of those around us. Life does not exist in a vacuum and George Bailey had the "impossible" privilege of experiencing this concept first hand. He had the chance to see what Bedford Falls... (I mean Pottersville) would have been if he had never been born.

Your impact is more far reaching than you can even begin to imagine. Your "momentary and light afflictions" are only for a season and make you a "far better person than you could ever have been otherwise." There's a great set of verses that speak to this very idea.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy and all comfort. He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us."

Whatever troubles you might be facing today, remember that you were not born to be a failure, and this trial is only temporary. Your mountain top experience is just beyond this valley of troubles. Oh, and don't forget, you have a "Clarence" assigned to you too, so you don't have to worry about anything!

collective bargaining of the brotherly kind

It's been said that growth is nothing more than successful change, yet change requires challenging the status quo. It often calls for more than we are willing to give. The paradox is that for us to grow, we must be willing to experience change, yet change is what comes after every stage of growth. Are you thoroughly confused yet? Let me explain the concept a little clearer with the following story.

One of my favorite characters in the Bible is Joseph, the son of Jacob (Israel), and it is not because I am named after him. His story intrigues me no end because I am fairly confident that if we experienced the half of what he went through, we would probably require psychiatric therapy the rest of our lives. Consider being sold into slavery by your own brothers. This, after your confident announcement to them that God had shown you in a dream that one day they would bow down and serve you! As if that isn't enough trauma for any one man to deal with, Joseph finally ends up as a slave in Potiphar's palace (the captain of pharaohs personal guard). He rises through the ranks of "slavedom" becoming the favored and head "indoor" slave, only to catch the eye of Potiphar's wife. He steadfastly resists her advances and earns himself a tenure in an Egyptian jail for his troubles. At this point, most of us quit and give up on the dream. We blame God, our circumstances and everything around us. We become bitter and lose sight of the dreams that once burned so powerfully within us, energizing us towards our destiny.

After languishing in prison for two years, having been forgotten by the butler whose dream he interpreted (the butler is suddenly healed of "amnesia"), Joseph is summoned before Pharaoh to interpret a troubling dream that Pharaoh has had recurrently. As a result of his conference with Pharaoh he is named Prime Minister of Egypt, second in command only to Pharaoh, and charged with the responsibility of stocking away grain and food for the seven years of famine that he has predicted are imminent. This same famine, when it finally arrives, is what brings his brothers all the way from Canaan to Egypt seeking to buy food. Not recognizing Joseph, they bow in obeisance before him. Joseph reveals himself to them and they fall on their knees begging for their lives. The end of the story tells us a lot about Joseph. It identifies for us that his "explanatory style" (the way he chooses to interpret negative experiences in his life) is one of complete trust in the sovereignty of God even in the midst of the most horrific of circumstances.

Joseph declares to his brothers as they cower in terror, "Now don't be worried or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to save people's lives...God sent me here ahead of you to make sure you have some descendants left on earth and to keep you alive in an amazing way." Do you see it? The world would have perished in a famine that would have taken them by surprise if Joseph had not been positioned to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. His brothers had no idea that they were unwitting tools in the hand of God. The key however, lay with Joseph all along. If he had given up on God and His promises, he would probably have succumbed to the temptation of Potiphar's wife, reasoning that he might as well enjoy the favor and good graces of his master's wife since God had "abandoned" him. His promotion to Prime Minister and his destiny to save the world from famine was always God's sovereign plan. Its actualization however, was completely dependent on how much change (no matter how painful it was and how ill prepared he was) Joseph was willing to endure so that he could grow. His growth was what prepared him to function in his role as Prime Minister of a pagan nation that held the key to the worlds survival during seven years of famine.

This is why Joseph's story fascinates me. Whatever you're going through, you must be willing to understand that the changes that are taking place are essential to your growth so that you can step fully into God's calling and purpose for your life. Whether you are in the pit, the palace (as a slave) or in the prison, your season of ruling as ""Prime Minister" is imminent if you are willing to endure the changes, no matter how painful, and grow. So, my two-pronged question for you is this. What fears are causing you to resist the changes that need to take place in your life? What changes do you need to make to ensure that you don't short circuit God's plans for you?

Amazing Grace (and this is no woman I'm talking about)

I thought boot camp was over! If you've read my "chronicles" you'd understand what I'm referring to. This may probably be the hardest blog I've written to date as I have to keep out the names to protect the innocent (the innocent being me, as I have been threatened to within an inch of my life not to divulge names).

With our church plant growing ever so slowly but surely, my wife and I have really felt the need to downsize and scale back our living expenses. To this end we are selling our home, I've gotten rid of my really nice truck, and I've also just sold my Harley (parting was such sweet sorrow). All of this downsizing has it's attendant challenges, such as, we need a new truck to pull the trailer with all our equipment in it on Sundays. I had initially considered and even attempted to borrow the money for a used truck, but none of that really panned out. Just when I was beginning to wonder if I was finally at the end of my rope, something that is nothing short of miraculous happened.

Deciding that it was probably best to buy a vehicle outright, I needed to raise $9,000.00 in cash to add to what I already had so that I could pay for a truck outright and not have to worry about monthly payments, which, in our new and scaled down lifestyle would be an added bonus. I called a friend of mine in New England, and a few minutes after we had hung up the phone, he called back and informed me that he and his wife had decided to give $5,000.00 towards the purchase of the truck. After I'd picked up my jaw from the floor and thanked him profusely, I proceeded to call some other friends (also in New England) and share this incredible testimony of God's Amazing Grace. They committed to give us $3,000.00 toward the truck! On a roll now, and thoroughly excited about whatever it was that God had up His proverbial sleeve, I called another friend who happened to be in a plane on the way to Jamaica where he was officiating at a wedding. He pledged to give us the remaining $1,000.00.

As if that isn't enough, I have another friend who figured that, church planting must be pretty arduous work and so decided that my family and I needed a vacation. He proceeded to cover the expenses, including accomodation, airline tickets, and a rental vehicle for my entire family for a trip to South Padre Island in south Texas, for an entire week. I could really get used to this kind of pampering. Seriously though, it's been an incredibly tough battle as we strive to fulfill our purpose in this wonderful city to which we have been called. A friend of mine recently remarked that it would be nice to celebrate the occasional victories as we navigate this uncharted course. I dare say these count as huge causes for celebration. I am truly thankful for God's Amazing Grace demonstrably manifest through incredible people that love His Kingdom and believe in our calling.

My family's deepest gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all of you "glowing angels." You know who your are!

To buy or not to buy? Is that the question?

If you've seen Shrek III you probably have an image of Antonio Banderas' character "Puss-in boots" indelibly etched in your mind. The most appealing part of his character (at least to me) was the way his already large round eyes would further enlarge, and he would have that, "butter-won't-melt-in-my-mouth" expression. It was usually too late for you to do anything about it by the time you discovered he wasn't as innocent as his demeanor suggested.

Yesterday, I was over at the home of some friends of ours and they showed me the two photographs that I've posted here, which not only reminded me of Banderas' character, but of subtle ways that we can get sucked into doing things that we ordinarily wouldn't be caught dead doing. Scroll back up and take a closer look at the two photos. The first one shows Catherine holding a long-haired chihuahua puppy with it's ear drooped, its little eyes round and pleading and its paws in a position that suggests that it desperately needs to be protected. This little runt whose name by the way is Duke, was at the dog shelter when they found him. He clearly recognized that competition for a good home was pretty strong and so he turned on all the charms and wiles that he could muster. It worked! Catherine insisted that they had to give the little fella a home (though she still swears that it was really Ron who couldn't resist the temptation and desperately wanted the dog), and so home came Duke to join the already happy dog clan of Penny and Pogie.

Now the next picture reveals Duke in his true form. Notice how he is comfortably nested in Ron's lap, by the pool, with both ears perked inordinately high, smiling eyes, and an apparently huge grin on his little chihuahua face (all that appears to be missing is a tall glass of tequila). To all intents and purposes he is eating out of Ron's palm, but the real story is that Duke has the whole Mast family including Penny and Pogie, eating out of his Palm. Circumstances can sometimes treat us the same way. At the outset they look, for all the world, to be placid and easily navigable. Somewhere during the journey though, things change and we find ourselves desperately trying to keep up with the circumstances, while asking ourselves what possessed us to embark on the project in the first place. I guess the moral of the story is, don't buy a long-haired chihuahua when you already have two other dogs, until you've really thought through all that it entails.

Seriously though, I guess the real moral of the story is the fact that, not everything is as it appears to be, so we really need to take the time and think through whatever it is we are doing and make sure it is what we are supposed to be doing. Come to think of it, what's such a tiny dog doing with a name like Duke?

Transitions

The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. It's true, the name of my blog has changed. This change is evidence of the continuing metamorphosis that I am undergoing in my life. I am learning more and more each day that, in order to significantly impact the world around me, and the lives of the people I am called to invest in, I must be willing to jump to the next curve. I can't be content with improving the same curve I find myself on by 10 or 20%, but instead, I must be committed to being willing to make mistakes while pioneering new ventures and new paths. I must be willing to polarize people and create emotive responses to what I do.

Don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that I go out of my way to make people mad (though some might argue differently), but I'm saying that what I do must elicit a response one way or another, good or bad, rather than leave people impassive. It's kind of like Harley Davidson motorcycles. No one is impassive about Harley's. Whatever your feelings about them and the people who ride them, you almost certainly have an emotional response one way or another to these classic, powerful machines. Another great example is TIVO. A great invention no doubt, especially to those of us who love watching shows like Heroes, 24 and NFL football, but find ourselves unable to always watch them live. TIVO guarantees that we don't miss our favorite shows. I assure you though, that advertisers hate TIVO. Anything that allows the viewer to randomly skip through the ads and get to the juicy bits of the show, is definetely going to polarize the advertisers. Other than that one Sunday in January or February (Superbowl Sunday) most of us would rather skip the ads, and that's why there's such a great market for TIVO.

I am learning that I can't let the "status quo" dictate to me what can and can't be done. I'm learning that Western Union made a huge blunder when they determined that there would never be a market for the telephone and so they remained a monopoly in the telegraph industry instead of making the leap to the next curve. Unfortunately, their lack of innovative insight remains a topic of barbs and jabs around the water cooler in many offices where the internet is now standard. It's hard to imagine the leap from telegraphs to internet without the invention of the telephone!

So I'm trying to be innovative and creative about how we go about carving a niche for The Well in the Orlando area. I'm beginning by revising our Mission Statement (which I'm confident most of the folks that attend our church probably couldn't recite) and simply going with a mantra that better expresses who we are and what we are called to do. When you think of The Well, think simply of "an encounter that authentically changes lives."

Happy Father's Day!!!

It's Sunday June 17th, and it's Father's Day. It's meant to be the day that dads are celebrated and we get to do no work (unless golfing is considered work). It didn't quite work out like that for me. You see we have to tow the trailer containing all our equipment, to the theater where our church holds services. Since I am one of only two people with a vehicle that can tow the trailer (the other one is my associate pastor, Ron, who lives next door to me, and so it's either his car or mine every Sunday), I was up bright and early and set out for the storage unit where the trailer is parked during the week.

We leave home at 6.45am ( a friend of mine would call this O-dark-thirty am) so that we can get all the equipment set up and tested before service begins at 9.30am. My son, who diligently helps with this every Sunday (those of you who have teenage kids know that it is no mean feat to have them voluntarily get up before the sun does), forgot the keys to the trailer padlocks on the bumper of my car, and so when we drove off, they dropped off! It wasn't until we got to the theater and wanted to unlock the padlocks that we discovered we had no keys. I had to carefully wind my way all the way back to the storage facility and then back to the theater, until thankfully I found the "mangled" keys lying in the middle of the road somewhere.

While we were in service, My car, with the trailer still attached to it, was towed from the parking lot where it had been parked across a couple of (okay ten) parking spots. We had to ask the theater if they would be willing to allow us to store our carts and other equipment in their storage room until we were able to recover the trailer, and they very graciously consented. Meanwhile my wallet containing my ID, bank cards, and other valuables were all conveniently left in my car during service. I'm still looking for the silver lining in this cloud. So, other than that it's been an incredible Father's Day. How about yours!?

Sermons and Cookouts

Huh? What do sermons and cookouts have in common, I hear you ask? I've been recently reflecting on some great advice I got from a mentor of mine a while ago, and on how that advice is impacting the way I think about and approach ministry. As I met with my Lead Team yesterday (the guys and gals who help me think, so that I can do a better job of leading The Well), something stood out to me. We got a ton of stuff done but in the process we laughed and joked with one another a lot. We genuinely enjoyed being with one another and that point was borne out by the fact that we all hung around for a full hour after the meeting concluded.

Our lead team meetings are a little different now from how we started out. We used to meet around a large conference table over at the church offices, and in an attempt to create a warm and relaxed atmosphere (which really engenders creativity), I would make sure we had snacks and a bowl of candy in the center of the table. I don't know how much community we built, or how relaxed the atmosphere was, I'm not even sure how much we accomplished, but I do know we all got a lot of sugar.

We do it a little bit differently now (I call this, "progressive revelation" which is simply a more polite way of saying I'm learning and growing into my role), as we meet rotationally in the homes of the different members of the Lead Team and we do a potluck meal (If all else fails, make sure there's good food available). The relaxed atmosphere is definetely not contrived, and because of it, we are more open to throwing around ideas without the fear of getting them "shot down" since there is a lot more trust and cameraderie.

This brings me to what my old mentor once told me. In response to a discussion we were having about impacting people through ministry, he remarked that I was at my finest when I was behind a barbecue grill at a cookout. At first I was a little affronted by this as I supposed it to mean that I was better at barbecueing that at teaching the scriptures. With further clarifying conversations and the passage of time, I have come to realize that he was simply speaking about the relaxed, easygoing and comfortable style about me anytime I was hanging out with friends at a cookout. He insisted that my preaching and teaching skills were abundant, but that if I could just transfer the persona that was behind the grille to the pulpit, I would connect with and impact people significantly more.

In hindsight I'm truly thankful for men like my mentor who are willing to tell you the truth about you, even at the risk of offending you, so that you can become all that God has called you to be. As I've continued to "evolve" in my leadership and pastoral skills, I am learning to apply this idea consistently so that I am the same person on the platform as I am off it. Besides, people just seem to identify better with someone who seems more human and flawed, rather than hyper-holy and near-perfect. Sometimes though, I think I need a big old barbecue grill beside me on the platform to remind me to relax and enjoy the moment. Steaks anyone?

CHRONICLES OF AN ALIEN (Part 6)

Moving to Colorado Springs was easier said than done. Making the decision to move was not the hard part though. You see, I had read Ted Haggard's, Primary Purpose and became convinced that Colorado Springs was where I needed to be. In November of 1996 ( as I'd previously stated) I was praying and fasting to get some real clarity concerning what our next step would be. I began to sense that we were supposed to relocate from South Bend, IN. The problem was that I had three places I was considering, of which Colorado Springs was one, and I needed to have something or someone tip the scales one way or another.

I had really loved my first trip to Colorado Springs in 1994, and Ted Haggard's book certainly weighed in heavily in favor of our moving there. I loved the fact that there was someone who believed that a city could be transformed through love, prayer, communication and relationship. Ted's book was like water in an arid desert. To know that what I had always believed about city transformation was not only documented in print, but was actually taking place in Colorado Springs through New Life Church, convinced me that I was supposed to be a part of that. I spoke to a couple of trusted confidants and they had nothing but positive encouragement for me in my desire to relocate to Colorado Springs. In fact, the Dean of my college said, "I can't see anything but good coming out of a move to Colorado Springs." (Years later he would move there himself).

With all of that positive affirmation in the "bank" as well as my wifes hearty support (and nothing else in the bank), we packed up all our wordly goods into a 24 foot Ryder truck (we had sold most of our entire household furniture for $750.00 wholesale), hitched my SAAB 900 turbo to the back of the truck, and my six year old son and I set off on the journey of our lives. My wife had some professional exams to take and so she remained behind with our two daughters, one of whom was just three weeks old, for three more weeks. My first clue that we were headed in the right direction was when the brakes locked up on the trailer hauling my car, somewhere on the border of Illinois and Iowa. It took over five hours to finally get a replacement trailer from Ryder, and we finally made it to Omaha, NE at the ungodly hour of 12.30am, having left South Bend at 7.00am. the previous day.

Our inauspicious arrival in Colorado Springs was marked by a deluge of rain, and so I didn't unload the Ryder truck for two days. Finally I contacted Ted, whom I had met a couple of times, and had discussed the possibility of coming to work for New Life Church. He expressed joy at hearing from me and mentioned that he had tried to reach me back in Indiana a couple of weeks earlier to encourage me to consider moving out to The Springs and working for New Life. I was shocked, because I had actually picked up from South Bend with no guarantees of employment, and since I hadn't heard from him, I assumed he wasn't interested in hiring me. Apparently, at the time he had called, my phone had been disconnected (for a day or two) for non payment of my bill, and of all the times he could have called, it was then.

I guess God really wanted to see if I would be obedient and move even when I didn't know that I had the guarantee of employment. If the truth be told, it never crossed my mind not to move even though I hadn't heard from Ted. In fact, I was willing to take a customer service job answering the phones at MCI (at the time, the largest employer in The Springs) in order to ensure that I was in Colorado Springs. I set up an appointment to meet with Ted four days after arriving in The Springs, and that was the day I began working for New Life Church. Ted had the administrator cut me my first paycheck and I couldn't contain my excitement at what God had in store for me. The next five years would prove some of the most memorable and rewarding years of my life.