camera phone

So I was copying the pictures off my phone and realized there were some highlights from the last few months that I've neglected to share with everyone.

A big one is Kate's first day of preschool. You may remember our first-day-of-school ritual. In the same way, I took Kate out for breakfast on her first day of preschool. It was later because she started later in the year, shortly after her birthday. And, as you can see, she picked a hearty breakfast from McDonalds to celebrate.

Ben and Will also helped our youth group with raking leaves. They had a lot of fun... and literally helped "grab a corner." I'm excited about my kids getting opportunities to be a part of mission projects.

And just last Tuesday, our church took some college students to the Kentucky basketball game. I had an extra ticket at the last minute, so I was able to take Ben with me. He had a great time with his dad and learned a lot about basketball... plus, he got to see John Wall break the UK single game assist record and experience the number one program in college basketball history. Go Cats!

2010 GBC theme poll

Just like last year, we're choosing a theme for our youth group for the coming year. This will be a word or phrase that we use along with a Scripture verse and design for a youth group t-shirt. It is also used throughout the year in lessons and events.

A quick survey of my last three years:

2007 "Becoming"
"Don't worry about your youth. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity." 1 Timothy 4:12

2008 "Love Wins"
"We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us." 1 John 3:16

2009 "Reclaim the World"
"In Jesus we see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him… all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe get properly fixed and fit together all because of his death on the cross." Colossians 1:15-16, 20 The Message

I'd love your feedback on the two finalists for next year.

reclaim the world

Our youth group was challenged to "reclaim God's dream for the world" in 2009. With all the brokenness surrounding us, I'm proud of the many ways that they have done what they could to show love and bring restoration to those they have served. I want to share some of the ways they have done that just this year.

They have--

• Purchased Christmas gifts for a local family of five through the Share the Joy program
• Collected 56 shoe boxes from our church for Operation Christmas Child for kids around the world
• Visited Dover Manor for their Thanksgiving service
• Raked leaves for a senior adult in our congregation
• Went around the neighborhood to invite families to Trunk-or-Treat
• Tutored resettled refugee children in Lexington
• Worked with the resident farmers at Quest Farm to prepare for their harvest festival
• Kandice Kidd organized a blanket party to make and send 65 blankets to kids in an orphanage in Zambia
• Participated in “Sleepless in Lexington” to raise money and awareness for homelessness
• Spent a week in Chicago with CSM serving in soup kitchens and working with urban kids programs
• Participated in the community-wide Serve the City mission projects
• Served lunch and helped out at the Lighthouse feeding ministry in Lexington
• Canvassed the neighborhood asking for food donations for a feeding ministry
• Collected money to buy shoes for girls in a Guatemalan orphanage
• Collected blankets, coats and other warm items for the Elkhorn Association’s Souper Bowl party
• Prayed for missionaries and their work around the world
• Sent cards to many in our congregation

a hard funeral revisited

A few weeks ago, I was asked to perform a funeral service for a man who was only four months older than me, who left behind a wife of 2 years and a step-daughter and a one-year old son. Though I don't know all the details, he apparently had a secret drug problem he kept hidden from his friends and family and died as a result of an overdose. Tragic and awful... and I had the task of saying something at the funeral to help bring comfort and make sense of it all.

This past Thursday, there was another tragic death. This time a twelve-year old boy from my church. Needless to say, I'm really struggling trying to deal with this one. My heart aches for everyone involved. I guess I just want to share some of the remarks that I offered at the funeral a few weeks ago:

If you’re familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, would you pray it together with me this afternoon?

Part of this prayer of Jesus that sticks with me today is “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” With the death of Chris, a lot of us here are thinking about heaven, this place that our imagination tries to picture—free from pain and tears and hurt and sin, a place filled with God and with those who have been transformed by Jesus—a place that is now reality for Chris.

But what Jesus says that we should pray for in this prayer is that we would live the life of heaven here on earth now. And that’s the problem, right? Our lives sometimes look nothing like heaven. We are broken people… splintered, misshapen, fractured, spinning off in the wrong direction, cracked, shattered, distorted, crushed. In all the ways we can describe it, broken.

Not that there isn’t beauty and love and hope, but alongside it is brokenness. This was certainly true for Chris. Even with his sweet wife, and his adoring kids, even with his supportive family and loving friends, he was still a broken person. And if you and I were to sit down together, I know many of you here this morning could tell me about your brokenness. Relationships splintered—we’re often either getting beat up, or ignoring someone else’s pain, or maybe even the one causing the pain. Sometimes our brokenness is internal. Maybe you sense it within yourself most deeply. Look at our splintered hearts, our crushed minds, our cracked spirits. It’s the inward brokenness of guilt, shame, over-obsession and insecurity.

What about our relationship with God? Maybe for you it is torn apart, cracked, misshapen. God wants to come close to us, and we push him away. God wants to come into our lives, and we crowd him out. God wants to show us the best possible way to live, and we refuse to even listen. We fail to love and obey him, and we find our relationship with God shattered.

It’s not a mistake that at the beginning of the story of Jesus, the first message of God to humans was “peace on earth.” Remember the Christmas story and the angels announcing peace to the shepherds? In the Bible, the word “peace” literally means… to put back together, to put back in, to restore as it was originally intended to be, to bring fulfillment. This is what the angels were so excited about. “Peace on earth!” They were announcing the peace of God on all the earth.

Whatever else you think Jesus is about, I want you to know this: God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to begin the process of putting back together what is broken in us.

In the beginning of creation, the Bible tells us that God created us in his image and his dream for us was to live unbroken lives with him forever, but, when sin quickly came, that image was broken. God’s intention for creation was distorted. But God wants to restore what was broken, he wants to put back in what was lost. God has not given up on his dream for the world. And the coming of Jesus signals the restoration.

So Jesus, who is known as the Prince of Peace, his life means that our shattered lives can be put back together like new—better than new! God takes the pieces of our lives that are broken and splintered and shattered and miraculously reunites them. He takes our crushed relationships with others, within ourselves and with him, and fuses the pieces back together.

Through Jesus, God is restoring his people. He longs to take your pieces—all the junk in your life—and make you whole, without cracks, without splinters, without defect. Look at your life… do you think this is the way God intended for it to be? I know some of you could look at shards of glass and say, “that’s me.” You need to know your life was meant to be so much more than all this junk. I believe this isn’t all there is.

I’ve seen God put back together some of the broken pieces in my own life. Several years ago, I struggled through some depression… maybe not as severe as what maybe some of you are dealing with. But I know what it is like to feel like there’s something messed up and broken in my mind and find help and healing and to cling to the hope that God did not give up on me.

I think Chris’ family would really want you to hear this: If you’re here and struggling with some junk in your life, please get help. It’s okay if you’re not religious, but as one who has experienced it, I know that God can do a miracle in your life and make you whole. At the point you turn your life over to him, he will begin to heal the fractures and make your life into the life he always dreamed for it to be. It won’t always be easy; healing never is. But it’s worth it.

Now if you’re here and God has made a difference in your life, I need you to hear this: God is looking for partners. God’s renewal and restoration in your life is an invitation to join him in sharing the peace of God with other people. God is looking for men and women who will seek out those who are broken and cracked and help them to find wholeness. He wants to restore the world through you. Don’t be selfish: you were not saved simply for your own well-being, he wants you to be a part of his work in other people’s lives, too. God wants you to be the healing in their life, get your hands dirty—you be the remedy.

In a way, this is sort of like what my wife and I recently experienced. You see, we returned one year ago from adopting our daughter, Kate, from China. We already have two biological sons, and we could have said to ourselves, “thanks God for giving us a great family.” But, no, we saw so many orphans around the world without a family—huge brokenness—and felt that part of God’s calling in our lives was to reclaim one life out of that brokenness and be her forever family. At times it’s been hard, but we love our daughter so much and are so proud to be her parents.

Here’s what I need you to do this afternoon. 1. I want you right now to turn to the person next you and tell them, “This isn’t all there is.” Take a second to do that now. 2. I challenge you to be there for this precious family that Chris left behind, not only now, but down the road, too. Send cards, give hugs. In a few years, Elizabeth is going to need driving lessons… and I sure hope she doesn’t get them from her mom.

Let me end with this paraphrase of Hebrews 13:

“May God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, up and alive from the dead, Now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please him, Make us into what gives him most pleasure, by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. All glory to Jesus forever and always!”

Live the life of heaven now.

operation christmas child

I'm posting this video commercial that our youth made to publicize Operation Christmas Child for this year's shoe box collection. (Windows Moviemaker wouldn't let me add two audio overlays, so you will just hear the narration... when we showed it, we played music quietly in the background, too.)

It's pretty funny stuff... enjoy :)

More "24 things I've learned about my daughter"

Last year after the first week with Kate Nana, I posted a list of 24 things I learned about my daughter. Since today is the one-year anniversary of her adoption, a.k.a. "gotcha day," I thought I would add to the list what I've learned.

1. She is even more absolutely perfect-er (cf. last year's #1).
2. She is brilliant. Watching her play, interact, sign and learn new things, I'm convinced she's a genius.
3. She is now an incurable "mama's girl." The first several weeks of her new life with us, she was the ultimate daddy's girl, never wanting to leave my arms. But coming home and with me going back to work during the day, she soon attached herself to Amy and now has an unmistakable preference for her mom. (It's okay though, I'm learning to deal with it and am waiting a few years until she reverts back to daddy's little girl.)
4. She's a feisty, independent woman. Kate loves to do things on her own. "I do it," she says.
5. She loves to do whatever her brothers are doing, including playing trucks, screaming at the top of her lungs, or wrestling as pretend superheroes.
6. She won't wear hair bows or barrettes, so we're forced to cut her bangs (which kills me). Sometimes she'll let us put her hair up in pig tails.
7. She can get her feelings hurt pretty easy when you tell her "no."
8. She is quite athletic... she's maybe the best of the three kids at soccer!
9. She is very excited about starting preschool in two weeks. She talks about it non-stop.
10. She is potty trained... mostly.
11. She loves houseboats, pools, and "baybing soos" (bathing suits).
12. She likes to eat treats (ice cream, candy, gum, milkshakes, "emmies"-M&Ms) and meat (hotdogs, chicken, bologna), but mostly just stares at fruits and veggies (though she likes lima beans and asparagus most of the time).
13. She loves to talk on the phone... which is funny because very few of us can understand her, especially when she gets to rattling off some big story.
14. Like most women, she changes her mind early and often.
15. She sings like an angel. Part of our nighttime singing ritual usually includes "The B-I-B-L-E" and "Jesus Loves Me."
16. She is getting more and more used to her reconstructed palate and learning to make lots of new sounds and funny faces with her mouth :) And her ear tubes have worked wonderful so far to keep away earaches. We're still hopeful that she'll eventually have full hearing in both ears.

17. She is ticklish everywhere and has a contagious laugh, along with the most beautiful smile... careful, it will melt you!
18. She doesn't seem to have many of those tearful "grieving moments" anymore... though she still requires one of us to stay by her room until she falls asleep each night.

19. She loves to "help." Whatever it is, she wants to be in on it with the excuse "I want to help!"
20. She likes to wear dresses, tights and anything pink... or with Spiderman on it!
21. She is growing very big and tall. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 years old soon!
22. She likes to go on trips and doesn't like to be left home when anyone is going out.
23. She's still very hot-natured... it's funny how easily she works up a good sweat.
24. And she's still much more wonderful than I deserve!!!! I'm so thankful to be her dad.

top 10 advice to young aspiring ministers

Last week I spoke at Georgetown College's Intro to Ministry class and shared with them my top ten words of advice. Since they are young aspiring ministry students, I thought of what I would have needed to hear the most when I was in their place 11 years ago. Here's my list:

1. Do what is life-giving. Do what you are gifted in and what gives you life regardless of recognition or pay; don't settle for the supposed "optimal career path." Ministries like student ministry, education, missions, etc. are not stepping stones to "real ministry." Also in whatever ministry they end up in, I want to encourage them to make sure they get to do a good chunk of what is life-giving, not just life-draining. For me, it's things like my guys small group. I have at least 3 other adult volunteers who could do this for me, but because it is something that gives me life, I make sure I get to do it.

2. Affirm truth/ faith/ good/ creativity wherever you see it. Don't be that guy who thinks that God only works through you. Be willing to affirm God's work around you. It's not a threat to your value or success if other's are doing good. It's like the disciple John in Mark 9:38 who says, "We saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us," but who Jesus affirms saying, "Do not stop him... anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward."

3. Play well with others. Be willing to network with others in your field, which for me is other youth ministers. And also foster good relationships with the people you minister to and with, which in my context includes other staff, parents, and schools. You'll need to lean on these relationships sooner or later.

4. Eat your frog first thing in the morning (this is my key to working efficiently). Mark Twain is quoted as saying, "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." What I have learned is that when I do the thing I least want to do first thing in the morning, it makes the rest of my day much more productive. What happens if I put it off is that I spend time distracted, wasting time avoiding it, and worrying about it so that it grows bigger and bigger and becomes harder and harder to eat. Small frogs are not fun, but it's better than the big ones.

5. Think relationally... specifically close, long-term and vulnerable. Most ministry students have probably heard the importance of relational ministry, but let me be a little more specific with what I mean. I think it's extremely important to minister in close proximity to those you hope to influence. This is especially evident when I have participated in inner city mission work... nothing can replace getting down on your knees, touching a hand and looking directly into the eyes of a child of God suffering under poverty and homelessness. Also, the value of long-term ministry is sometimes neglected. Youth ministry has been perpetually plagued by brief stays and quick departures, and studies have shown how deeply it has impacted ineffectiveness (it's not hard to imagine why that is). Longevity can make a huge difference. And finally, you need to understand that your healing is interconnected with the healing of others. Recognize that you're not in ministry because you have it all together and want to make everyone else whole... rather, we are vulnerable in admitting that we find our own healing in bringing healing to others. As I stated in a recent blog post, I believe God made us in such a way that our salvation is interconnected. "We cannot fully recover until we help the society that made us sick recover." That's why we care about the lost, the orphan, the hungry, the planet... so that we will find healing for the brokenness in our own soul through it.

6. Major in English... and maybe philosophy. Good writing and communication skills are an issue of credibility. I admit I'm personally put off by something poorly written, poorly edited, or not well-thought out. In whatever ministry context you find yourself, you will need to be a good writer as you prepare lessons, sermons, bulletin announcements, newsletters, prayer updates or whatever. Your writing skills will make a huge difference on how your material is received.

7. You don't know what you don't know. Any education you can get is great. With that said, seminary is really only one tool along with other very valuable and up-to-date resources like internships, low pressure ministry jobs, mentors, learning experiences, conferences and books. I think I learned the most from early ministry jobs that allowed for a lot of room to mess up (mostly because they didn't pay very much and were just happy to have someone!). And since you don't know what you don't know, by all means learn to listen and allow people to give you helpful advice. (By the way, I'll be accepting applications for next summer's youth ministry internship soon!)

8. Be ready to reinvent ministry. Change is guaranteed, so learn to embrace it in creativity for new generations. Lord help us if ministry looks the same tomorrow as it does today!

9. You are a human being, not a human doing. Jesus says in Matthew 16:26, "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" So don't neglect who you are becoming because you are focused on what you are doing and accomplishing. Your value is not in what you do, but in who you are. So the question isn't "what do you want to do when you grow up?" but "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

10. The world needs you... even if they don't know it yet. You're right, this isn't so much a piece of advice as much as it is an encouragement. When you are called to ministry, I want you to know that what you are doing is extremely valuable. You are giving yourself away for the sake of the world. However, so that you don't get carried away, you should also know that you need the world, too. (And, by the way, don't ever let this become an excuse to neglect your first ministry-- your family!)

What do you think? What would be your top ten list of advice?

creativity and prophetic imagination

After all these years with Jesus, I think that sometimes what recaptures my heart and thoughts is the creativity, beauty and imagination in Jesus' message. I believe there is amazing tranformative power in creativity.

Think about it... When God wanted to do something about the brokenness and corruption of his beloved creation--humanity--he sends Jesus. The incarnation, Jesus, God-in-flesh coming to earth to show us what the invisible God is like. Why didn't he just send some new guidelines to follow to make us better... or "zap" us to fix the problems... or just give up, destroy us and start over? He came up with another way... completely unexpected and creative, and by it to show us that he loves and values us, even in our brokenness... and showing us in the flesh-and-blood Jesus that "being fixed" is less about following all the correct rules and more about the long journey of a heart learning to be fully fixed on him. Beautiful!

Then there's the church. When God wants to bring restoration to all the earth, he decides to use broken and messed up people to do it. Why wouldn't he just use angels or create an army of super-christians to go around fixing the mess... people who would always get it right and know how to get the right outcome in an efficient manner? Instead, in his amazing creativity, Jesus chooses to create us in a way that we find our own healing in the midst of the healing of others... interconnected salvation. "We cannot fully recover until we help the society that made us sick recover." That's why we care about the lost, the orphan, the hungry, the planet... that's why I am in ministry... because I need healing for the brokenness in my own soul, and I find it in ministering to the needs of others. Brilliant!

And the cross? Why would God use a cross instead of an army and an empire to inaugurate a new kingdom? On the cross, Jesus suffered death at the hands of violence and power to reveal the impotence of violence to accomplish redemption and transformation and to show what true power looks like. What is the stronger power... to fight back (with all of heaven's might at your disposal) or to resist and actively love your enemy? Exactly. God's imagination is so amazing... and I never would have thought of it in a million years.

What about the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 5:39-41? Jesus gives examples of revolution as turning the other cheek, giving up your cloak as well, and walking the extra mile? Here's how it's explained in the book, Jesus for President (with insight from the work of Walter Wink):

You gotta love Jesus' imagination... When someone makes you walk a mile with them, go with them another mile (v.41). This may seem like a strange scenario, but for first-century Jews, it was common to be asked to walk a mile with a soldier. With no Humvees or tanks, soldiers traveled on foot and carried large amounts of gear, so they depended on civilians to carry their supplies. I'm sure there were plenty of Zealots listening to Jesus who threw a fist in the air when they were asked to walk with a soldier. Roman law specified that civilians had to walk one mile, but that's all. (In fact, going a second mile was an infraction of the military code. It would be simply absurd for a Jew to befriend an occupying soldier and want to walk an extra mile with him.) It's a beautiful scene to imagine a soldier asking for his backpack but the person insists on another mile. When asked to carry a pack, don't spit in the person's face but walk with them, even two miles instead of one. Get to know them, not as an enemy but as a person. Talk with them and woo them into our movement by your love--that is, if they'll break their own law to walk two miles with you... 'Evil can be opposed without being mirrored... oppressors can be resisted without be emulated... enemies can be neutralized without being destroyed.'

This is what Walter Brueggemann calls "prophetic imagination." That the people of God can transform the world through creativity and imagination.

Where are the modern examples of this kind of prophetic imagination? What is today's "Jubilee" (an ancient Jewish festival every 50 years of debt forgiveness and slavery freeing) that needs to happen here and now? How do we frame the teachings, "blessed are the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry," with creativity for today's hearers? What are the new stories of the Good Samaritan who creatively challenges us with neighbor love? How can I use imagination and creativity to partner with God in reclaiming the world and share the message of Christ's kingdom?

Because I am so very bad at this, here is my prayer: God, help me to join others in reimagining the world. Let me listen and (re)act with with your creativity. Amen.

fantasy football team

This is my first year participating in a fantasy football league. We had our league draft last Tuesday night, and this is my team, "The Men In Tights":

Starters--
QB: Tom Brady, NE
RB: Clinton Portis, Was
RB: Brian Westbrook, Phi
RB/WR: Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG RB
WR: Brandon Marshall, Den
WR: Roy E. Williams, Dal
TE: Chris Cooley, Was
D/ST: Chargers
K: John Carney, NO
*****************
Bench--
QB: Jake Delhomme, Car
RB: Darren Sproles, SD
RB: Fred Taylor, NE
WR: Percy Harvin, Min
WR: Michael Crabtree, SF
WR: Steve Smith, NYG
TE: Jermichael Finley, GB
K: Garrett Hartley, NO

Will's birthday party

This past Saturday we celebrated Will's birthday here at the house (with the swing set, the inflatable pool, sand box, toys and food). He enjoyed being the center of attention for the day. We had lots of guests including the four of us, 5 grandparents, a cousin, 6 friends, and 3 parents of friends. We had a beautiful day and a whole lot of fun! I'm so proud of my big guy :)

Amy once again did a great job on the birthday cake!

School Starts and Tradition Continues

This week was the beginning of a new school year in our house. My oldest son, Ben, began First Grade on Monday. This is his first time going to school all-day, every-day, Monday through Friday. He's a great student and loves school.

And today was the day that my second son, Will, started his second year of preschool. He goes half-day, three days a week. He loves it and is so creative and smart. I know he'll have a great year.

I'm so proud of my kids, and one way I try to show them is by taking them out to breakfast before school on their first day of class. I want to honor their love of school and try to be a part of this milestone in their life by doing something special with them. It was fun listening to them for several days in advance trying to figure out where they wanted to go for the annual "first day of school breakfast." Ben picked Big Boy on Monday, but because it didn't open until 7:00am, we ended up going to Waffle House and getting waffles and bacon. After we dropped off Ben at school this morning, we went to Big Boy and had the breakfast buffet. I look forward to when I get to do this with Kate and continuing the tradition with all of them for many years to come. I'm such a blessed father!

Crossings '09 Camp Highlight Video

Chicago (part 2)

Sorry about the long delay between posts... I hope to have a chance to update more next week.

In this post, I want to tell a few details about our mission trip to Chicago. Part of the problem, however, is that our team was split into two groups for most of the activities, so you'll have to settle with about half the story... But I do have a few pictures I can share from the other serving group (and maybe I should invite Donna to be a guest writer to share more).

We got to town on Sunday evening (with some minor traffic delays on our way to pick up Kandice from the airport) and got settled at our housing site. On all 4 CSM trips I've been on, the housing has been different. This year in Chicago we were housed on the edge of North Park University in the Albany Park neighborhood. We stayed in a row house that was actually owned by the college and rented by CSM. The other church groups there were in other buildings, except we shared our house with a group from Utah. The house was an old building with little furniture (a few bunk beds), no air conditioning (so we were thankful for mild temperatures all week) and three floors. The guys slept on the first floor and the girls on the second, and sometimes we used the basement for our evening debriefing. Because of the old pipes and large number of people, we weren't able to shower there. We had scheduled shower times in the evening where we walked over to the campus and showered in their locker rooms... which meant community showers for the guys (insert giggles here). We didn't spend a lot of time at the house because of our busy schedule, but we had our breakfast and "quiet time" devotions each morning and we had debrief, showers, "quiet hour" and "cell phone access half hour" each evening. All in all, it worked very well for us.

After we got settled at the house, met our city hosts (Wesley, Dale and Brooke) and had a brief orientation, we headed out for dinner. Each evening we ate at a local ethnic restaurant as a way to experience the culture of the city. On Sunday night we started out with dinner at a Thai restaurant in the Uptown neighborhood. It was great food, and I was pleased with the kids' good attitudes and willingness to try new things. It was served family style, but they only brought out one dish at a time... it was almost like a meal with eight courses.

After dinner was the prayer tour. This is one of the best parts of CSM for me. It's hard to explain, but it provides a powerful beginning to the week by taking us around the city and sharing insights into where God is at work there. What we do is we load up in the vans and our city hosts guide us around the city where we see some the obvious tourist sites... but the impact of the prayer tour is that we pause and think rethink their significance or we will reflect on some not-so-obvious meaningful places. For example, a not-so-obvious point along our prayer tour was the once all-white country club that over the years had been integrated and made open to the public and became a symbol of progress in that neighborhood. Another example was the well-known and brand new U.S. Cellular Field where the Chicago White Sox play baseball. What we reflected on was its positioning in the southside of Chicago and how they tore down all kinds of housing to build it and the resulting strain on the homelessness in the area... all the while, refusing to tear down the old stadium because they didn't want the baseball team to be without a home for even a short time. The implication: the homelessness of the baseball team took priority over the homelessness of the residents of that area. Another powerful illustration from this prayer tour was driving Michigan Avenue. You may know the "Magnificent Mile" and all the shopping and beautiful downtown buildings of Chicago that line that street, but what you may not realize that this same road stretches south and it's the very same road that quickly becomes lined by pollution, liquor stores, pawn shops and other signs of poverty. It may be the same street, but there's a world of difference from one end to the other.

You see, it was on a prayer tour just like this in Philadelphia several years ago I found myself in a park overlooking the city when God hit me with something that has moved my heart for missions in a powerful way. This may seem a little strange to you, but I remember looking up at the bright stars filling the sky and my middle school science coming back to me, thinking about the difference between these stars and the sun. The sun is simply another star (actually it's even a weak star in comparison to the others) and yet it has so much influence over me and the rest of the earth (heat, growth, power, etc.). And looking up at all those thousands of stars in the sky, they are beautiful, but they really don't have much practical influence over my life. The difference? The sun is closer. Proximity equals influence. Sometimes I think I'm not the most beautiful or powerful Christian around, but when I am willing to get close to the broken and needy, then I am able to make the biggest difference. I don't have to be the best, I just need to come near... and then I'll be able to have real influence in their lives.

(the other serving team at CCO)

Anyways, Monday was the first day of serving at our ministry sites. The other team loaded up and headed to their anchor site, Cornerstone Community Outreach (CCO), a women and children's shelter where they ran a VBS program for the children who were staying there. My group headed out to the YMCA to help with a children's program. We were split up to help out in three different areas helping the teacher and giving these children a lot of extra positive attention. We read stories, played games, reviewed lessons, danced around, chased on the playground, and anything else we could do to pour our lives into these young children for the brief amount of time we had that morning. It was the Monday after Michael Jackson died, so I remember one of the teachers bringing a MJ album to play in her cd player while the kids were playing on the playground. Fun memories.

That afternoon, we went over to the Uptown neighborhood and were given a task to perform. We were divided into two groups, given $5 and were told to talk to people in the area and find a way to help someone with that money. I was so proud of Jennifer's group who went and bought a bunch of water bottles and gave them away to people they met as an act of kindness. They really blessed a lot of people through that creative generosity.

Later, we had a chance to visit the CCO where the other team was doing the morning VBS, only we were there to help prepare and serve dinner Monday evening. I love feeding ministries because of the opportunities to actively serve (through passing out meals and cleaning up) and to meaningfully engage the people who are there in conversation. Here I spent most of my time washing dishes, but our students did a great job jumping in wherever they could.

That night, we met back up with the other group at a Lebanese (Middle Eastern) restaurant in our neighborhood, and I got to try pickled radish (not so good) and felafel (not so bad). We went back to debrief, shower, and head to bed.

And that is where I will pick up later... with Tuesday.

Chicago (part 1)

This past week, I led a team from our church on a mission trip to Chicago. It was an amazing week, and I'd like to share a few thoughts about the trip... probably over the course of several posts :).

First of all, I really like working with CSM for several reasons. (By the way, check out their blog here.) CSM is great about offering a variety of ministry opportunities. Whereas on most mission trips, you build a house, offer a backyard Bible club, or do some kind of evangelism campaign, with CSM you get to do several things during the week-- even several things a day! So, when I have a student who complains about having to wash dishes, I can say, "No problem, we'll be doing something different in a couple hours." For example, this past week we had two groups (a group of 10 and a group of 11, not counting CSM hosts), and between these groups we served in three childrens programs (CCO, YMCA and By the Hand), four city "experiences" (the prayer tour, Meet a Need, Immersion and Ethnic Plunge), and four feeding ministries (Living Room Cafe, CCO, CCIL, and Humboldt Park Social Services). On top of that, the students experienced the city's cultures through four different ethnic restaurants (Thai, Lebanese, Indian and Mexican). These experiences expose the youth to a whole host of issues pertaining to the city they are serving... you really get a better sense of "Chicago" because of it.

In addition to the variety CSM trips provide, they are great because they are very flexible and customizable to our group, they do all the legwork, and they provide you with great city hosts to work alongside the groups. And it's nice to know that once we leave, CSM doesn't. CSM has an ongoing presence with these great ministries we work in. It may be short-term for us, but they are constantly supporting and providing volunteers to many of these ministry areas.

I'm also a big fan of doing urban ministry with my students. I've now taken youth to work in the inner cities of Toronto, Nashville, Philadelphia and Chicago. Sitting at a table across from a hungry family at a soup kitchen, kneeling down to deliver a bag lunch to a homeless person on the street, looking into the eyes of kids who are becoming hardened by the streets, driving through neighborhoods where there is no one who looks like them, being confronted by the reality of poverty, hopelessness, and injustice-- these are truly cross-cultural trips that show a part of the world that kids from Kentucky are rarely ever exposed to (without the cost of having to fly overseas). And I believe there is great value in just being exposed to it... to see it with your own eyes and to feel the weight of it bear down on your soul. You can't leave the city unchanged.

Another exciting thing about this year was our student participation. The first year I was at GBC, we took a group of seven to Nashville. Last year, we had 14 go to Toronto. This year, we again jumped by seven and took 21 with us to Chicago (and an extra van). Because we were split up, I missed getting to spend time with Alex and Donna and the nine kids in their group, but Jennifer and my group were awesome! It gives me a lot of hope for the direction of our youth ministry and the priority of missions in the lives of these youth. Along with the attendance, we had a couple of our youth participate by contributing to our morning quiet times. We have a tradition (handed down from my own experience in youth group) of having a half-hour morning quiet time where we have our Bibles, a pen, and a couple written pages to lead us in morning devotions and prayer. Usually I put these together myself, but this year I was excited to have Andrew and Rebecca write one each for our trip (Monday & Wednesday). They did such a great job, and I'm so proud of the work they put into it. Also, almost all of our group prayed out loud at some point during the trip, whether for a ministry site, a meal, or during our debriefing time. They all worked so hard all week. Great participation by everyone!

More to come later...

beach pictures

* We all shared our pictures with one another, so most of the good ones were taken by Wendy or Mom!

UK basketball continued

And because I'm just that obsessive, I worked up this little chart for comparisons.

By the way, I failed to mentioned that I will get to see Coach John Calipari on July 17th (thanks to my parents).

UK basketball

*(warning: I'm a little bit obsessed with my college alma mater's basketball program) April 1, 2009. The day that may soon become a state-wide holiday. The day the University of Kentucky hired their new head men's basketball coach, John Calipari.

What has Coach John Calipari accomplished in his first 8 weeks as coach at UK (since the season doesn't start until November)? Not much... just the recruitment of the #1 incoming class in college basketball (and maybe the #1 class in the recent history of college basketball). (Oh, that and over 95,000 followers on twitter.)

Consider the two classes that have been talked about at the top of the all-time recruiting list: Michigan's 1991 class, "the Fab Five," and Ohio State's 2006 class, "the Thad 5" (named after their coach, Thad Matta). Here are their rankings when they signed with their schools--

* A few things to note about this comparison. First, Raymar Morgan, although offered a scholarship by Ohio State, ended up at Michigan State. They instead signed Junior College (JUCO) transfer, Othello Hunter. Also, the rankings are a little difficult because the major recruiting services (Rivals and Scouts) weren't around in 1991, so Michigan's rankings are based on Bob Gibbons' rankings. Also, this chart uses Scout.com; if you look at Rivals.com, they listed OSU's 4 freshman as #1, #13, #18, and #36 (three 5-star recruits and one 4-star). Either way, these were two amazing recruiting classes, both as prospects and, as we learned from watching them, in actual performance. Four of Michigan's recruits eventually made their way to the NBA, and three of the Buckeyes' recruits were selected in the first round of the 2007 NBA draft.

Both these recruiting classes ended up getting their teams to the championship game of the NCAA tournament in their first year (and Michigan got there again as Sophmores)... though each time they lost in the finals. Michigan lost by 20 points in the 1992 championship game to the Duke team that beat UK in the final four (you know, the game with "the shot" that CBS shows over and over again every year during March Madness). Then Michigan lost in 1993 to North Carolina, with Chris Weber's infamous time-out technical. Then, more recently, the Buckeyes lost in the 2007 championship game to Florida.

Now to Kentucky's 2009 recruiting class. Calipari has signed 6 players for the upcoming basketball season. (I wish I had a creative name for this class, sort of like "the Fab Five"... maybe "the Cal Six"?)

Name- position/ rivals.com ranking (& stars)/ scout.com ranking

John Wall- Point Guard/ #1 (5-stars)/ #2

DeMarcus Cousins- Power Forward/ #2 (5-stars)/ #3

Daniel Orton- Center/ #22 (5-stars)/#17

Eric Bledsoe- Point Guard/ #23 (5-stars)/ #37

John Hood- Shooting Guard/ #40 (4-stars)/ #45

(who recently won the Kentucky high school high jump championship... reminds me of Jeff Shepherd who was a high jump champ)

Darnell Dodson (JUCO transfer)- Small Forward/ nr (4-stars)/ nr

Now, granted, we don't know how this recruiting class will turn out yet, how they'll perform as a team during the game. But the reason I say this might be the best ever is because there are three things that have never happened before (at least since the modern era of recruiting services): one team recruits the #1 and #2 top freshmen in the country, one team recruits four 5-star freshman, and one team has 5 freshman recruits in the top 40 in the country.

Don't forget that this goes along with some strong returning talent. If Jodie Meeks (last year's leading scorer in the SEC), who currently has his name in the NBA draft, decides to come back for his senior year, we will have two returning first team all-SEC players with him and Patrick Patterson. On top of that, we have a leading shot-blocker in Perry Stevenson and a maturing scorer in Darius Miller (who looks like he was made for Calipari's "dribble-drive motion offense").

The only problem UK has is too many players for not enough scholarships. Here's where we stand now.

13 scholarships=

6 new recruits +

Patrick Patterson (Jr.) +

Darius Miller (So.) +

Perry Stevenson (Sr.) +

Ramon Harris (Sr.) +
maybe Jodie Meeks (Sr.) ???

So far we've already said goodbye to Jared Carter and Michael Porter (who graduated) and Donald Williams and AJ Stewart (who are transferring out). So, if Meeks returns and all the new players qualify academically, this leaves only two scholarships for these four remaining players:

Kevin Galloway (Sr.)

Matt Pilgrim (Sr.)

DeAndre Liggins (So.)

Josh Harrellson (Jr.)-- who, according to his facebook status, is officially coming back next year :)

All of this is translating into an amazing turn around in the Kentucky program. At the end of last season, all of the Wildcat fans were bemoaning our poor performance in the NIT, looking at the probable loss of Patterson and Meeks to the NBA, worried about our anemic recruiting, staring at the looming loss of "winningest program" status, and annoyed that we had a coach that didn't even seem to care. Now with the arrival of John Calipari and his recruiting class, we are projected to be a preseason top 5 team, a final four contender, an SEC favorite, and optimistic about remaining the all-time winningest program (and beating UNC to 2000 wins... by the way, it's currently 1988 to 1984, with Kansas at 1970 and Duke at 1876). The future looks bright.

Go Cats!

By the way, here are some good blogs for lots of UK basketball updates and links to news stories:

UK athletics page

Aaron's basketball blog

Kentucky Sports Radio

relationships and obedience

I had an interesting teaching moment this past Sunday during our morning youth Bible study that I've gone back and thought about several times since... and I think it's worth sharing.

We were studying the first chapter of the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. In it, Daniel and his three friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) make the tough decision to refuse the king's food and instead restrict themselves to a diet of only vegetables and water. Whether the problem with the food was an issue of Jewish dietary restrictions or whether it had been a part of idol worship or whatever, Daniel felt that eating it would have a negative affect on his relationship with God. Obviously the easy thing would have been to keep quiet and eat what everyone else was eating. The hard thing was going against the flow in order to honor God.

And so comes the question: Why? Why would we ever choose the hard task of obeying God when it's more desirable and/or easier to go the way of the rest of humanity?

Before I get to the payoff, you should know that earlier in the morning we played a game in which three of our students tried to get as many followers as they could. Each one had the task of convincing the other youth to do what they told them to do (and not what the other two potential leaders were trying to tell them to do). One of the leaders, Kandice, was getting people to hold hands and was successful in getting two guys who were sitting next to one another to follow her instructions and hold hands (and, being a guy, I know this is certainly not something we normally want to do).

So, when I asked the question, why would we want to obey God when it's hard and inconvenient, this illustration hit me. I asked Tyler (one of the boys who agreed to hold hands with another boy), "Why would you do something that you obviously wouldn't normally want to do?" He said, "I don't know... it's Kandice."

Exactly. It's because of his relationship with her that he was willing to do it. He may not have agreed to do it for most anybody else (including me), but, for her, no problem. It didn't matter that it made him uncomfortable or that she didn't give him a great reason for agreeing to it; he knew and trusted the person who asked him. In fact, if he didn't do it, he knew there was the potential to hurt her feelings... and, as a result, the quality of their friendship.

I tried to explain to the teenagers that this is the exact (and only real) reason for obeying Jesus... out of a relationship with him. So, when Jesus asks me to do something hard or uncomfortable, why should I do it? Because it's Jesus... and I love Jesus. Which, by the way, if this is true, it should never be surprising when someone who is not a Christian, doesn't act like a Christian and doesn't obey Jesus' words. They don't have a relationship with Jesus and have no reason to listen to him. But, on the other hand, if we claim to have a love relationship with Jesus, when we choose to disobey him, we should really be concerned about what that implies about the quality of our relationship. Or as Jesus puts it, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching... he who does not love me will not obey my teaching" (John 14:23-24). Or as John says, "If we claim to have fellowship with [Jesus] yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth" (1 John 1:6).

So, going back to the book of Daniel, one of the things we know about Daniel was that he had a strong relationship with God. If you know the story of the Lion's Den, then you know he was punished precisely because he was more willing to sacrifice his life than he was willing to sacrifice his relationship with God through prayer. Daniel was able to make the tough decisions and obey faithfully because he had a relationship and thoroughly trusted the One who asked him to follow.

The life of adolescence is filled with tough decisions... and "small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:14).

t-ball

So last week, as I was breaking in the boys' baseball gloves in preparation for t-ball season, it really hit me that with Ben and Will I was moving out of the phase of being "the daddy to these little kids" and was now "the dad of boys"! Somehow breaking in baseball gloves made it real that my boys were growing up (though Will's meltdowns bring me back pretty quick).

Here's a few pictures from Saturday's game (btw, if you know me, how great is it that their t-ball team is named the "Cubs"!). Ben is #6 and Will is #1.

(Ben playing 3rd base)

(Will playing "in the field")

(their biggest fans!)

(after the game, watching Saturday cartoons)