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:

Coleman's TD Run (One of them)

Coleman is playing UpWard football this year. I know, I know, he is only 4 but the kids loves sports and I was not going to tell him no on this request! It has been fun (and trying at times) being a coach on his team, working with they Pre-K Bengals (what a terrible name)! Here is a good video Christy took of one of his TD runs this Saturday (10/16/12).

10 Secrets Every Father Should Know

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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

3 Basic Hiring Requirements (a starting point)

A few years ago I published a post called, "The C's of Hiring Church Staff/Pastors." Today I had a conversation with a buddy of mine that reminded me of this post and he gave me chemistry in a new way, Charisma. Here is a review:

1. Chemistry – are they the type of person you want to spend time with
2. Character – are they the type of person you want to be like personally, in your marriage and family, walk with Christ
3. Competence – are they the type of person you want as your lead pastor in areas of service, theology, past work, maturation, church growt

There are many other requirements (personal walk with God, Call, Commitment, Communicator, etc.), but these 3 cannot be overlooked. Many thanks to Jacob for the talk.

Father/Daughter Campout 2012

Just like Coleman & I did in April, Chloe & I got to experience our first camping adventure together Saturday night. We attended a father/daughter campout hosted by WYLegacy. This group was founded by Bud Baab and has been creating opportunities for Fathers to intentionally connect with their children for over a decade. During the weekend we got to

Setup Camp

 

Fish

 

4-Wheel

 

Swim

Bond

And Make Memories (this is as good of an action shot as my phone can take)!

It was a great overnight adventure and I hope we can do it again!

P4CM Presents the Exegesis of Jesus

P4CM stands for Passion For Christ Ministries. Here was my introduction to this group:

The Real Church: Connected in Service

Sunday, September 2, I had the opportunity to preach the final sermon in our Series "The Real Church" called, Connected in Service. on Romans 12:1-8. The passage is about our response to Salvation. The main ideas focused on the Charge of Service, Challenge of Service, Context of Service, ending with a Call to Service. I love how the Word of God speaks to, challenges, and calls out to Christ Followers. You can listen to the sermon here.

On Mission (Run to Win)

This past Sunday, August 12, I had the opportunity to preach. Continuing with our sermon series (The Real Church) I felt led to preach about how The Real Church is On Mission. The sermon came from 1 Corinthians 9:16-27 and focused on how the real church Proclaims Christ Crucified, Proclaims Creatively without Compromise, and Proclaims Conscious of the Crown. It was awesome because God showed up and spoke through me! May we all be on mission and run to win! Click this link to listen to the sermon.

Kanas City Family Mission Trip

August 1-4 our church went to Kansas City for a Family Mission Trip. Christy & I decided that we would take all of our children with us, including Clay who is only 19 months old. I wasn’t nervous about taking the kids for the afternoon and evening activities (we rested in the afternoon and put on a VBS for FBC Platte City, MO in the evenings), but we both had some concern for how they would do in the morning.

We worked with a ministry called Hillcrest Transitional Housing, which assist homeless families get back onto their feet and off of the streets. We painted, cleaned, pulled weeds, worked on a playground, and even built a brand new playground set. To our delight, all of our kids did great. Chloe (6) was a true helper and go getter. Coleman worked hard, wanted to paint, and brought the adults (along with his big sister) water. Clay even got in on the act, picking up stuff to throw away (rocks included) and wanting to paint! It was a phenomenal trip for all of us.

In addition to my family, we had 11 other families go to. It was really great to see how well everyone worked together, and how hard they all worked individually. FBC Platte City were great hosts. Hillcrest gave us plenty of work to do. We saw over 25 children pray to receive Christ, and we left feeling as though God had used us in a great way.

For anyone thinking about taking your family on a mission trip, let me say that you should definitely do it!

iOutlet Cover

Christy sent this to me to look at. It just makes sense, and we will have them in the near future!

The Real Church… Worthy of His Calling

We are currently in a series called “The Real Church.” This past Sunday, July 22, 2012, I had the opportunity to preach a sermon in this series called, “Worthy of His Calling.” The message was based on 2Thessalonians 1:11-12 that is Paul’s prayer for the church. In order to be the real church acts like Jesus, active with promptings, acts with power, and actions glorify. To listen to the sermon, click here.

Tips For Teaching

Teaching is not easy, in fact it can be rather challenging to present a lesson and lead discussion for your peers. There is something else that is true about teaching, it is impossible to teach a good small group lesson if you do not put the necessary time in to prepare. It is a disservice to yourself, your class, and your Lord you represent. The following are 3 simple tips for teaching a Bible study:

1. Preparation – preparation is the key to teaching a good lesson; if you do not put the necessary time in to preparing to teach you class, do everyone a favor and step down; think through questions to get people thinking about the topic and involved in the conversation.

 

2. Patience – when asking questions be patient; assume silence means people are thinking; if silent for long enough, people will eventually talk; 

3. Practice – practice makes perfect; before you get to the classroom setting, practice your lesson (this is part of preparation); teaching is a skill that is learned, do not quit if it takes a while to get good at it!

The 5 "Be's" of Evangelsim (by Mike Bergman)

I saw this post today from Mike Bergman at SBC Voices and decided to share an abbreviated version of his post with a link for those desiring to read the whole thing. Basically, these are 5 tips for evangelism that are a little different from most evangelism pointers, here they are:

1.     Be talkative – if you are going to share, you’ve got to talk

2.     Be friendly – the Gospel is offensive, you cannot be

3.     Be authentic – be yourself and share with your personality

4.     Be different – a saved person is transformed, be different than a non-believer

5.     Be prayerful – the Holy Spirit calls, pray they receive Jesus

These are 5 good tips I hope you found worthy of thinking about as well.

Great Wall of China Travel Tips

After visiting the Great Wall of China, I decided it would be good to share some travel tops for those reading this that might be traveling there soon. While this list is not the greatest list of travel tips ever assembled, this list is made up of things I wish I would have known before I got there. Here are my tips:

1.     Wake up early and get there early – we waited until 8:30 to leave the hotel. It took about 90 minutes to travel to the Great Wall, and I feel like we wasted time unnecessarily. Had we left at 6:30 or 7:00, we would have made it back to the Forbidden City in time to make that tour in one day. 

2.     Take the gondola up – save your legs, it is the easiest way up.

3.     Head West (to the alternate ways down) once you get to the top.

4.     Wear comfortable shoes for walking, with ankle support if you need it... I wore decent shoes, but should have brought better shoes!

5.     Take drinks and snacks with you – It seemed a though we walked about 2-3 miles on rough terrain. They sell water and snacks, but if you like to save money, bring your own.

6.     Take the sled (slideway) down. This was really cool. It is a sled that you ride down. It has a handheld break, it goes as fast or as slow as you want, and is definitely a unique experience.

7.     Purchase souvenirs after you come down from the wall – vendors will hustle you on the way up, but there is no reason to waste your time on the way up (most people already know this)

8.     Bring $1 bills (US) – you can buy most everything for just a dollar. There is no need to exchange your money here, and your money will go further this way.

9.     Have fun – this is an incredible site to see, enjoy it and have fun with the experience. You will get tired, hot, and sweaty, so make sure you have fun seeing this site!

My Trip to the Great Wall: June 8, 2012

According to Chinese folklore, I became a man on June 8 as I scaled the Great Wall in China. It was a truly incredible experience to see that huge structure built by mere men over 2,000 years ago.  My friend Jess & I rode a gondola up to the get on top of it, and spent about 3 hours walking/climbing on it. There are some obvious areas where the wall has been updated, but the base seems to be in tact. There are holes where soldiers would shoot arrows, there were replica cannons, and even a watchtower you could scale. 

It spans nine provinces and its total length is 6,700 km (3,948 miles). The first portion was built on 221 BC by the Qin dynasty; the last portion built concluded in 1911 in the Qing dynasty. There have been numerous repairs throughout the years, which are ongoing. 

Throughout the duration of my time on the wall, I really only had one thought going through my head. I know men built it, but God placed a Scripture in my head, “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” Psalm 24:1 tells us that whether or not man gives God the credit, they and everything they make are a gift from our Heavenly Father.

Book Review: Quitter by Jon Acuff

Quitter by Jon Acuff was a good book, easy to read, with really good insight about dealing with your day job and progressing into your dream job. For many of us, there are times where we find ourselves struggling with the job we are in for various reasons, and we dream about the job we would one day like to have (it is not a secret that I would love to senior pastor one day). 

Acuff talks about the counter-intelligent “wisdom” some people have to quit their day job to truly pursue their dream. While that may make sense, it is not very wise because we all have bills to pay, families to provide for, and responsibilities. With this, he encourages a focus on falling in like with you job – focus on the things your job does provide you with, and learn to appreciate all of those things. Refocusing one’s attention on the good, instead of what we are missing out on, was a great nugget of wisdom from this book.

He also encourages individuals to pursue their dream outside of work time, as not to rob from your current employer and to actual do something to pursue that dream one might have! The final nugget of wisdom he talked about was for those pursing a dream (job) to create a list of rules for a new job. He was talking about personal/family boundaries, but I think it is fair to apply it to creating a list of requirements a future job must have.

Overall, Quitter was a very worthwhile read. I would strongly encourage anyone facing discouragement in their day job to read it. While it is not a theological work, it does provide great wisdom and insight for people with dreams. Acuff uses humor, personal experience, and learned lesson to guide people who are where he is to do what he has done. This was a really good book.

Book Review: Plastic Donuts by Jeff Anderson

Plastic Donuts by Jeff Anderson was given to me by my friend and mentor, Paul Taylor. Paul actually setup a meeting between Jeff and my pastor’s accountability group where he showed up and told us about his book, his work, and the ministry God has called him too. While Jeff Anderson is not a household name, he does have a great heart and a great story.

This book was based on a true story where his daughter came and gave him a little plastic donut, along with some other plastic foods. The gifts, albeit unnecessary, brought his daughter great joy to give him and also put a smile on his face. This little exchange gave the author an insight into how he believes God receives gifts from us. While God does not need anything from us, it brings Him pleasure to see His children giving their things to Him. It is a fresh perspective for this reader, and one I appreciated as well.

Throughout this book, there are many insights and challenges into giving. Personally, I was challenged greatly by Jeff’s story and testimony throughout the book. He challenges the reader to pray about what they give and to allow God to guide the amount and destination of one’s gifts. For me this was a challenging read spiritually, and a book I would recommend to anyone wanting or needing to be challenged in the area of stewardship.