2.
Mexico
– Christy & I went on a cruise stopping in Prgoresso (swimming in cenotes
and snorkeling & dunbuggying in Cozumel
3.
Chloe
is Reading and her team Repeated as champions in her basketball league
Monday, December 31, 2012
2012 in Review
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
My Friend Zig
God has blessed me greatly throughout the years. He has
placed tremendous people in my path to learn and glean from. No one has had
more of an impact than Zig Ziglar. As a junior high student, I took a
leadership class based upon his book See You
at the Top. During that class I had heard he taught a Sunday School class
at FBC Dallas and wanted to visit it, but never did. As a first year seminary
student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I became frustrated just
going to school after a week or two and applied for a job at Prestonwood
Baptist as an intern for the Open Division. I had no clue what that even meant,
but ended up getting the job after connecting with the minister of that adult
division, David Goza.
Unbeknownst to me, the Open Division was an adult department
centered around big personalities that drew more than a age range by appealing
to people of all ages and life-stages. The true center of this division was one
teacher who drew over 500 people each week, Zig Ziglar! After 18 months of
working in this division, my boss David Goza left to go pastor a church. Soon
thereafter I received a promotion to become the Pastor of the Encouragers Class
(Zig’s class) and the Open Division minister. A fellow adult division minister later
told me that I only got the job because Zig had lobbied for me to have that job
to Pastor Dr. Jack Graham, saying “I was his guy” (the other guy meant that as
an insult, but I still think that is one of the coolest compliments I have ever
received!).
For the next three years I got to work for and with Mr.
Ziglar. Soon after my promotion, Zig asked me to teach his home Bible study. I
vividly remember the first Bible study. We sat down, I had prepared, but
honestly thought it was going to be him teaching and me listening. As I stared
waiting on him to talk, he said, “Well young man, let’s hear what God has
placed upon your heart for us.” From that point on, he sat and listened as I
taught in his home over the next few years. He never dominated the conversation,
never corrected me, he just listened and encouraged me, offering communication
advice every so often.
Every Saturday morning during my time at Prestonwood he
would call and ask me some sort of Bible question as he was preparing. Yes, he
would ask me a Bible question! Yes, he studied for his lesson every week. Zig
was the real deal and never took his role of teaching for granted. He was
diligent to prepare, even if he had taught that lesson or a similar one before.
Zig also had a distinct desire to leverage his fame for the
glory of God. He would talk about how he wanted to use his speaking platform to
share Jesus with others. Marketplace Christianity became his theme and emphasis
during my days with him. If he had a conference in Dallas, he would invite
people to his Encouragers Bible Fellowship class that and every Sunday morning
at Prestonwood. He was faithful in church, rarely missing and always sitting
front and center in the worship center. He loved the Bible, loved to learn,
loved to share, loved to teach. He made the most of his days.
More than any of that, I know Zig & Jean loved me. While
at Prestonwood, Zig had a severe case of diverticulitis. He had three code
blues, reviving each time and spent several weeks in the hospital. During those
weeks, his whole family made me feel like I was one of them. Zig & Jean always
had kind things to say to me, encouraging me in all walks of life. They would
make it a point to take me out to lunch, give me a hug, and even call just to check
in on me. One of my last dinners with Zig & Jean was in Tulsa at his hotel
when he came to speak. They listened about our life, and Zig kept telling me I
ought to write a book about what God had and was doing in my life.
Over the past few weeks there have been reports on his life
and the impact he made on so many. A common theme has been that he was the same
man in private as he was from the stage, which is totally true. Just as his
impact reached around the globe, his impact also reached people around their
hearts. A man in my church told me that he had the opportunity to meet Zig once
and visit with him for about ten minutes. He said that ever since that time he
felt like Zig truly was one of his friends. For me, that speaks to the legacy
of a man that was my friend too. A man that loved His Savior, loved his wife,
loved his children, loved his church, loved his friends, and loved me too. May
we all be encouraged by the encourager!
Monday, December 17, 2012
11 Attributes Of Great Leadership
1. Honesty – Tell the truth; even if lying is
easier.
2. Integrity – Do what’s right; even if nobody is
watching.
3. Visionary – Have some vision for where you’re
going; empower your team to get you there and if you don’t do anything else.
4. Self-Awareness – Know who you are; the good, the bad
and the ugly.
5. Risk Taker – Be willing to try new things, new
strategies and embrace new ideas; even if the ideas aren’t yours.
6. Caring – Truly care about those you lead;
people can care less about how much you know until they know how much you care.
7. Stand For Something – Lead by convictions; know why you do
what you do and why you think what you think.
8. Spirit Of Development – Develop other leaders; without
leadership development, the pipeline of leadership is halted.
9. Good Listener – Be willing to listen; if you’re
always talking, there is a good chance you are not listening.
10. Lifetime Leaner – Learn from anything and everything;
no matter how many degrees or titles you have, you always have the capacity to
learn.
11. Humility – Stay levelheaded and don’t think that
you’re better than others; no matter how much success, praise or fortune you
receive. Scott Williams is the original author of this post.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Authentic Worship's Source
Friday, November 23, 2012
Best Commercial on TV: NFL Play 60
This is my new favorite commercial. The line, "become your mom's favorite player," was the clincher for this. Fantastic job NFL Play 60.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
VOTE 2012... for Freebies!?!
Starbucks will give you a free 12-ounce coffee. They will give the coffee to anyone who asks for it.
Krispy Kreme will give you a free star-shaped doughnut decorated with red and blue sprinkles
Ben & Jerry's (5pm-8pm) will give you a free scoop of ice cream
Chick-fil-A will give you a free chicken sandwich with an "I Voted" sticker
There were more, but I deleted them because they were not in my part of the country - much like the electorates the current POTUS will win (zero in my part of the country).
Thanks to spoofee.com for the find.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Book Review: You Were Born For This by Bruce Wilkinson
Bruce Wilkinson is best known for his Book, The Prayer of Jabez. In this book, You Were Born For This, Wilkinson
focuses on the idea that God is looking to partner with ordinary people in
order to accomplish miracles works in the lives of others. The main idea to
understand in this book is the thought of a partnership between God and His
followers.
This book is broken down into 4 parts. Part 1: Miracles are
waiting to be completed through God’s people. We need to be actively looking
for opportunities to be His miracle agents. God desires to use come people in
uncommon ways for His glory. Part 2: We must be willing to whatever God wants,
whenever God wants, to whomever God wants, regardless of our fear and
discomfort. Therefore, we must take risks for God! Part 3: God provides you
with multiple cues to deliver His miracles to others – so pay attention and be
intentional to respond. Being God’s “Miracle Delivery Agent” begins with you
and ends with God; focus on your role and trust God to fulfill His role. Part
4: While there are more than just 3 areas where you can deliver miracles, the
primary areas are financial (helping financially), dreams (helping people
realize their God-given potential), and forgiveness (releasing people from the
prison of unforgiveness).
Monday, October 29, 2012
Book Review: 50 Days by Jerry Harris
50 Days: Seven Spiritual Disciplines That Will Shape Your Character is a 50 day devotional book focusing on 7 different biblical
characters. It was based upon a prayer the author (Jerry Harris) used to pray
on a regular basis:
Father,
Give me the Faith of Abraham,
The Humility of Moses,
The Strength of Samson,
The Wisdom of Solomon,
The Spirit of Elijah,
The Heart of David,
And the Love of Jesus.
Each week the reader would read through the story of each
character, highlighting evidence of the specific prayer request made in regards
to them. At the end of each week the author provides the reader with a
challenge to obtain that discipline: worship, fellowship/community, Bible
study/reading/memorization, giving, serving, fasting, and sharing Jesus.
We challenged our church to go through this for the past 50
days. It was a good devotion based off a great prayer. If you are in need of a
good devotional book and a challenge to your personal spiritual disciplines,
this would be a good place to start.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Mexico Mission Trip (3 of 3)
While the whole region of Guerrero is being adopted, we are
looking in and around Acapulco for our church plant. It was a bit odd knowing
that we were to pick which of the 18 churches we visited pastors/churches we
wanted to work with – the pastors we visited knew this was happening too!
Fortunately, we had our dates set for 2013 and are working with a church that
had already planned a crusade that week. There were several other pastor/church
plants more than worthy to work with as well.
I was amazed by some of the stories of sacrifice being made
by the pastors we met. One man moved from Cuba to Mexico (without his family,
because he felt called of God to Acapulco – his family is try to move to Mexico
legally). Several of the pastors moved their families to the neighborhoods they
were trying to reach, giving up comforts of their own home for their calling.
Pastors were gladly sending members to plant new churches without regard for
how big their own church was. The pastors we meet we true Kingdom minded men.
This partnership will not be without its challenges though.
Mexico is infamous for the drug cartels and violence associated with them. Many
people are scared to travel to Acapulco for this reason, and although it is not
nearly as bad as the media portrays it to be, it is a true concern. Also, we
will have to deal with people wondering if you can really do a “Real Mission
Trip” in Acapulco.
It is my belief that once people visit the city, see the
people we will be ministering to, and experience the work God is doing all of
this will be resolved. Until, my challenge is to pray for the 15 new church
plants, pray for God’s provision and protection, and pray asking God what your
role in His work in Acapulco should be.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Mexico Mission Trip (2 of 3)
Day 2 – October 23: Sam arrived the night before. We met for
breakfast around 8:30, ate with 3 local pastors, and then our church plant
tour. Our first meeting was at a weekly pastor’s prayer meeting. Although we
arrived late, most every pastor waited for us. The wife of that church’s pastor
fixed us lunch (some sort of fish with rice), and we were off.
We visited 13
different churches that day. It was really encouraging to see the work being
done in Guerrero. We did not venture too far outside of Acapulco as the
majority of the population is located within a few miles of the primary city.
It was nice to meet some new friends. We returned to the hotel worn out a bit
after 10:05PM.
Day 3 – October 24: Our day started with breakfast, then we
got picked up again by the church planting strategy coordinator for the Mexico
Baptist Convention, Calet (he was our host the whole trip). The agenda was to
visit 5 more church plants and continue to decipher how God was leading. Much
like the previous day, it was constant moving from one church to another,
taking time to visit and pray with each planting pastor. The primary difference
was that the churches were further spread out.
The final church we visited was
on top the point of Acapulco. Community members do not consider themselves part
of Acapulco. There were 120 homes in this neighborhood and it was also the
latest target area for a church plant. One widow donated two plots of land to
build a church, and a sponsor church is arranging to purchase two more plots of
land. The hope is to create a retreat center for churches to use to get away
from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Day 4 – October 25: We woke up early and flew home.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Mexico Mission Trip (1 of 3)
The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma has entered into a partnership with the Baptist Regional Convention of Guerrero, Mexico with the hope of planting 15 churches by 2015. October 22-25, Rick and I traveled with
the Volunteer and Partnership Missions Director of the BGCO to tour the Guerrero
Mexican state and meet some local pastors. First Baptist Jenks is considering a partnership to work
with church plants in Guerrero, Mexico. The following will be a series of post detailing
our trip and explaining what we are hoping to accomplish in our partnership:
Day 1 – October 22: We traveled from Tulsa to Acapulco. Our
plan was to meet up with Sam Porter in Houston, and meet some Mexican pastors when we landed.
Sam’s initial flight was delayed and he did not make it to Houston in time to
catch the flight to ACA, then he missed his connecting flight in Mexico City,
and ended up arriving over 8 hours late. Therefore, when Rick and I arrived at
the airport, we simply went to the hotel and took it easy that afternoon. We
got there around 3:45 and waited for Sam to arrive for dinner at 8:00, then
found out he would not get in until after 10. Unfortunately, Sam's had a terrible day missing flights in OKC, HOU, and MEX, for us though it led to a pretty easy day since our tour guide was MIA... sorry Sam!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
A Heart Like David
Sunday, October 21, 2012, I had the opportunity to preach on
“The Heart of David.” This was part of our 50Days Toward Spiritual Fitness Challenge we have been doing as a church. God
revealed five characteristics of David that were used to challenge the church,
they are: Humility, Example, Adoration, Repentance, and Training. In order to
obtain a heart like David, I followed the lead of the author of the devotional
book we are using for this study and challenged the people to increase the
personal devotion in Scripture disciplines (reading, studying, and memory,
prayer, and fasting. God taught and challenged me greatly in this message and
it is my prayer that resonated within the hearts of the church as well. Click here to listen to the message.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Book Review: 10 Who Changed the World by Danny Akin
A friend of mine, Jarrett Stephens, recommended this book to
me and I am glad he did. Danny Akin takes 10 great missionaries are correlates
their story with a portion of Scripture that he exegetes as well. There are many tremendous details of famous
missionaries’ stories I had not heard, as well as introductions to missionaries
I was not familiar with. Without going into great detail about each chapter, I
am going to give you the name of the 10 missionaries and the key takeaway I had
from them:
1.
William Carey – Not His Own
2.
Adoniram & Ann Judson – All Good Even When
Life Is Not
3.
Bill Wallace – Sacrifice Today for the Eternal
Tomorrow
4.
Lottie Moon – Living and Loving Loud for the
Gospel
5.
Jim Elliot – Passionate Persistent Pursuit of Proclaiming
6.
George Leile – Slave to the Gospel (True First
Modern Missionary)
7.
David Brainerd – Unashamed Self-Denial
8.
Eric Liddell – Surrendered Champion
9.
John & Betty Stam – Courageous Glorification
in Life and Death
10. James
Fraser – The Prayer Missionary
This is one of the true first books I have read just to read
since I graduated from school. It was a great read and I would recommend it to
anyone wanting to learn more about missions, missionaries, passion for Christ
or His mission. This is an encouraging and challenging read for followers of
Jesus.
Book Review: Your Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic
This is a good little book that a man born without any
limbs. It is meant to encourage the reader and provide them with hope,
regardless of whatever difficulties they might be facing. Nick has become an
international speaker who travels around the USA, China, Korea, etc. sharing
how he has overcome his adversity and his love for God. The subtitle is good
too, “Inspiration for a Ridiculously
Good Life.” This is a book that you could read yourself and pass on to someone
else who is in need of a pick-me-up… and if nothing else, it will make you feel
good about reading a book from cover to cover in about 15 minutes! Here is a
video of one of his talks:
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Coleman's TD Run (One of them)
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
10 Secrets Every Father Should Know
This past Saturday, I took Chloe on a Father/Daughter Campout.
We had a great time together camping out under the stars… and rain! We also
rode 4-wheelers, fished, played, and she had some friends from church there
too. The hosting organization took an hour to speak just to dads and on the
way out these "10 Secrets” were listed on a handout they provided us with. Here
are 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know:
1.
You are the Most Important Man in Her Life
2.
She Needs a Hero
3.
You are Her First Love
4.
Teach Her Humility
5.
Protect Her, Defend Her
6.
Pragmatism and Grit: Two of Your Greatest Assets
7.
Be the Man You Want Her to Marry
8.
Teach
Her Who God Is
9.
Teach Her to Fight
10. Keep
Her Connected
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