Monthly Summary for September

4 Steps to get Past Your Limitations
Getting past the limitations we put on ourselves...

My "Tweets" from Randy Hahn's GIC Sermon
"How awesome would it be for God to look at us and think that we look just like Him while we reflect His greatness!"

Running Past Your Limitations
"The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die." (Prefontaine)

Twelve Marks of a Great Leader
My attempt at crowd-sourcing leadership...

When the Alarm Sounds in Your Life
A very funny story of an alarm in the middle of the night...

Prayer and The Circle Maker
My first highlights from Mark Batterson's "The Circle Maker"

Prayer and The Circle Maker

I just started The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.

Wow!

It's so good, I can't wait until I finish to give you some nuggets. These are all within the first 20 pages:

•  "And even if the people could no longer hear God, he believed that God could still hear them."
• "His prayer was resolute yet humble, confident yet meek, expectant yet unassuming."
• "Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers."

When the Alarm Sounds in Your Life

What do you do when you wake up to the sound of a loud alarm sounding throughout your home? Allow me to share what we did because this happened in our home a few years ago.

First, you need a little of the backstory. I am somewhat deaf...OK, I'm a lot deaf. The technical term is "Legally Deaf." I'm not sure what that would mean in a court of law, but in laymen's terms, I have over 50% hearing loss. I compensate with the use of hearing aides, but they get a break at night.

The mere fact that I heard an alarm should tell you it was loud, but it also makes this story interesting.

Running Past Your Limitations

Have you ever been to the "Dark Side"?

Unfortunately for some, this is not a reference to the Star Wars movie series from the 80's and 90's. The "Dark Side" I'm referring to is that place where most people have never been. They've been close to it, maybe even started to go there, but quickly retreated to their self-prescribed haven of rest.

It is that place where we want to go in order to be successful in something but requires some degree of uncertainty and discomfort. The easiest example I can give you comes from the activity of running and yet it applies to many area of our lives.

My "Tweets" from Randy Hahn's GIC sermon

I showed great discipline tonight as I sat in the Global Missions Kick-Off service at First Baptist North Spartanburg. We were blessed to hear Randy Hahn, the pastor of Colonial Heights Baptist Church in Colonial Heights, VA. It took all I could muster to not Tweet these nuggets during the service...

• Is God as great to us as that which we go on and on about?

• Worship should lead to witnessing.

• Worship should lead to missions.

• If it stops in here (church), then it's empty out there.

4 Steps to Get Past Your Limitations

What is it that you would love to do, but keep excusing away? It's the subject of the silent conversation you have with yourself quite often. You say to yourself, "I would love to _____", but it never gets any traction.

The Inner Battle

In our family, fall isn't as much football season as it is cross country season. In case you're not familiar, that's running 3.1 miles (5K) over a variety of terrain. I am thrilled that my girls are committed to this sport. It's something they can do for the rest of their life. And the experiences they are having are molding them into very disciplined young ladies. The discipline to compete in this sport requires a lot of inner battles we like to call "You vs. You."

A friend of ours shared this poem recently and fits well here:

Monthly Summary for August

On the last day of August, I though I'd try something new and offer  a summary page of the post from August. I appreciate the many readers who tell me they enjoy my content. I encourage you to share the stuff that you feel is "sharable." All it takes is a "Copy and Paste" routine with the URL (website address) in an email, Facebook or Twitter. If you are a SUBSCRIBER (you get the email when I post...if you want to join them, find the big arrow on the right) all you need to do is forward the email. I would love to connect with new readers.


Guest Post: Logan Morris, "Swallow the Big Frog First"
While I was in Nicaragua, I asked my daughter Logan to post in my place. She did a great job. She actually garnered more comments that I usually do...

Smiles From the Trash Dump
This is my summary from my visit to Chosen Children Ministries in Nicaragua.

Get Out of the Way
Sometimes God wants to do great things, but we tend to get in the way.

No - I'm not on Facebook and Twitter all day!
Due to some tactical procedures, I give the impression of being on Social Media sites "all day." Here are my secrets...

How to Answer Your Kids' Questions
A simple strategy to slowing down in your parenting and engaging with your children.

What is Success?
My response to how a Christian defines success.

What Is Success?

Photo credit: http://7toolstosuccess.com/

Someone recently asked me, "What does success look like for a Christian?" 


"Success is a journey, not a destination." - John Maxwell [Tweet This Now]

Before I offer my answer, let's look at how most people answer that question.

How to Answer Your Kid's Questions

What's your favorite ride at Disney World?

My family has made three trips to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. As we reflect on our trips from time to time, someone will usually ask, "If you could go back right now, what would be your first ride?" Another way to pose the question is, "What is the "can't miss" ride for you?"

I'm a little nostalgic with my pick. In fact, I prefer to board my at night. My "can't miss" ride at Disney World is the Jungle Cruise river ride. The humor is always lame, but comical. In fact, without the narration, it would be a very boring ride. This is because the river guide helps you know what to look for as you weave your way down the "Amazon." This is how I approach my time reading the Bible.

No - I'm Not On Facebook and Twitter All Day!

This may seem like a rant, but I promise it's not. I've had a few comments made to me in person over recent weeks about my "frequent" presence on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. As I have become a student of several on-line influencers, I have been able to provide content on a consistent basis, three or more times a day. Some may ask, "Why even post all of that stuff?" I'm glad you asked...

Get Out of the Way

It's a simple question: Do you really want God to do something great with your life? I mean REALLY...

When I look at people I know who are seeing a great work of God unfold before their eyes I notice at least one common thread: they get out of His way. I don't mean they utter some figurative phrase you might say in a prayer, but they literally take their own agenda and put it to the side and allow God to determine their next step. 

Proverbs 16:9 - "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

As I am around more and more leaders who are striving to stay out of God's way, I see them accomplishing things they never dreamed or saw coming. That's a little different from what we hear these days...

"If you dream it, you can achieve it." - Walt Disney

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I'm beginning to think that it's not the size of the dream as much as it is the size of the dream-maker. If you are the dream-maker, then don't expect great things to happen. But if God is the originator of your dreams, you should be little intimidated. If we can create the plan and strategy, then we're just getting in the way.

Allow me to share three examples of leaders I've met who are striving to get out of God's way so they can be used in a great and powerful way for His kingdom.

Smiles From the Trash Dump

I just returned from a week in Nicaragua serving with Chosen Children Ministries. This was my second trip. One thing I've learned about trips like this is that the operative word is "flexibility." That's not a reflection of CCM ability to plan. It's just the nature of planting yourself in a foreign country with an entirely different understanding of time, objectives and deadlines. And yet, being flexible creates opportunities that you seldom expect. That's what happened to us...

Guest Post: Logan Morris, Swallow the Big Frog First

Dad has challenged me with the task of writing a blog post for him this week while he is away. I am not much of a writer but I love to take a challenge. I am Logan, the middle child of my family, and I will be in the ninth grade this upcoming school year.

This past July, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend Student Leadership University in Orlando, Florida. I had a fantastic time, and I was surprised at how much I learned during this trip. We learned about various topics from many different speakers, including Jay Strack, Brent Crowe, Bruce Ashford, Chuck Allen, Elizabeth Dixon, and Pat Williams.

One of my favorite sessions was “Swallow the Big Frog First,” by Brent Crowe. This phrase was not new to me. My dad has told me this phrase multiple times before, but I learned at SLU how to put it to action.

Wrecked - Getting Messed Up In a Good Way

I was privileged to get a pre-release of Jeff Goin's new book Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life. In exchange for the sneak peek, I was asked to write a review. 


Very Good Stuff
I'll go ahead and confess, I'm not sure if I can do that effectively. The book has so much great content, that to attempt to whittle it down into a summary may not do it justice. I have a different approach that I want to use. Before I do share, let me set the stage with this simple overview.


Wrecked will make you pause and look back over your life at the moments when your life collided with the world and in those moments, your eyes were opened to a new perspective. More than likely, those experiences altered the direction of your life. Jeff attempts to help us understand those experiences and how the people around us respond to their own Wrecked moments.

Five Minutes That Can Change Your Life Forever

Do you know where your life is going? Have you figured out how you are going to get there?

The buzz word we use for this is vision. I believe vision is best defined as the picture you have of you in your future. I fret to think how many people have never given that one second of thought. How many people live minute by minute without any consideration for where they want their lives to go? They have no picture of them in the future. They have no vision.

Let God Mess You Up!

Have you ever had your life wrecked? You were going along fine then the something happened that you weren't expecting and it caused a big "crash." The one thing I know about getting wrecked is that it comes when you least expect it and you have to make a life-altering decision. And this is important because "our lives will be the sum total of our decisions" (Andy Stanley). It happened to me when I was in college.


"Our lives will be the sum total of our decisions." - Andy Stanley (Click Here to Tweet)

I was attending a conference hosted by Campus Crusade for Christ. I don't remember a lot of details about the conference. I could not tell you who the musical artist was or who any of the speakers were. What I do remember is that during a break, I had a very significant conversation with God. Not an audible conversation, but a moment where it seemed there was no one in the auditorium but the two of us although we were surrounded by hundreds of college students. 

Phyllis Crain: It's About Living, Not Dying

I'll go ahead and tell you...this is a video that last for nine minutes. But if you need encouragement, it will be worth those nine minutes. Thus why I'm posting it on a Friday. I hope you can carve out some time over the weekend to watch.


This is a story about Phyllis Crain. She was my 6th grade teacher at O.P. Earle Elementary School in Landrum, SC. She had a huge impact on my life. I'm sure we all can point to a teacher or two who influenced us a little differently than the other teachers in our lives. Mrs. Crain launched me onto a journey that would play a big part of shaping me into the person I am today.

How to Give Something When You Have Nothing

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

What if your phone rang and the person on the other end was asking you to give them something? Something you didn't have. Nothing elaborate or expensive, just a mattress.


This is a true story about a need, a desire to help and a computer. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. (I've always wanted to say that.)

Valerie is a friend of mine who has a big heart and loves to help people. I've learned that if you ever have something you want prayed over, she's the person to call. When Valerie prays, you almost feel like breaking the rules and peeping to see where Jesus is standing because she talks to Him as if He's right in front of her...well He is, you know.

One afternoon, Valerie's phone rang and a stranger was on the other end of the call. Not a complete stranger, but a lady she had recently met. We'll call her Sue. Sue was in a bind. Turns out one of Sue's children needed a place to sleep other than the floor. Sue was asking Valerie if she had an extra mattress or knew of someone who did. Sue figured if she could just get a mattress it would be better than sleeping on the floor. Valerie loves to help people, but she was very limited in what she could do. She was unemployed. A victim of a recession-driven downsize, Valerie found herself barely able to keep the power on and food on the table.

How does a person who has almost nothing give something?

Are You Raising a Nimrod?

Before you answer that, are you sure you would know a Nimrod if you saw one? My guess is that most people would say a Nimrod is synonymous with an idiot. In fact, recent American use of the word lends itself to a negative tone. Some even link its origination to its constant use in the ridiculous battles between Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (I know, I just dated myself…).  However, that’s not the Nimrod I want you to consider. I’ve used capital “N” because there was a man named Nimrod and you find his story in the Bible, Genesis 10:8-9.

Do You Have the Guts to be a Dad? [Video]

Happy Father's Day!


Here is a story about a friend who had to make some tough decisions as a dad. This will show you a picture of leadership. Anyone can be a father, but courage is necessary in order to be a dad. Courage to make hard decisions and to sacrifice your own wants and desires for the good of your family, especially your children. 
(The video is 6:00)

Are you this kind of leader?