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  ...a dork crazy enough to believe that God will make a difference through her. She is the wife of 1, mom of 3, in over her head and increasingly dependent on God. It works. A quad Americano is the fastest way to win her over. Serving on the LifeKIDS team with LifeChurch.tv, the thoughts expressed here are her own and may (or may not) reflect that of LifeChurch.tv.
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Hey Guys!  Have you ever wanted to change someone’s life with the simple click of a mouse?  Here you go…

Lifechurch is teaming up with http://www.shoesfororphansouls.org/ to supply shoes to needy children.  All you have to do is click on this Target link and choose the pair (or pairs) you would like to donate.  Then mark “ship to registry address”.  That’s it!  You just blessed a child.  Help me make a difference and send a child a pair of shoes today!

Seriously… the OKC Campus goal is 6,500 pairs of shoes for kids.  That’s a lofty goal for our campus.  But nothing if we get the word out.  Help me make a dent in this number.  Help us exceed it in ways we can’t imagine.  Post the paragraph above on your blog.  Give others the opportunity to join this cause.

Thanks blogging peeps.

It’s been a whirlwind week! Here’s the rundown…

• 3 Doctors, 3 X-rays, and $75 later… It’s confirmed.  Connor has a broken foot.  But we’re 2 weeks into a 3 week healing process.  So, we leave it and let it continue healing on it’s own. 
• I’ve got to start running again. Anyone interested in dragging out of bed with me in the a.m.?
• I nearly left my daughter at church the other night. I’ll tell that story next week…
• At the sight of playing cards, my 2-year old says, “No, Go Fish”. Guess we play that game a lot.
• In the midst of a refreshing season with the Lord, right now. I needed that.
• CopyBlogger offers great advice for blogging.
• Anybody have a good cleaner for Pergo flooring? I need some tips.

…in a way I’d never seen it before. Don’t you love when that happens?

Reading through Psalm 1.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

I’ve always settled in the first half of the scripture. I love it. I want to be that tree.

But it’s the second half that breaks my heart today. I’ve read it time and again… but now I see it for the first time.

The ‘wicked will not stand in the judgment’ never made sense to me before. Of course they’ll stand in judgment… they’re wicked… and they’ll be judged for that.

But will they?

I mean, there is a judgment they will face, but I don’t think it is the one to which this scripture refers. I think this scripture refers to the judgment followers of Christ will face when we present our life’s work to God.

The ‘wicked’ will not be at that judgment. Jesus will have already looked at them and said, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.”

The terrible thing is when I think of the ‘wicked’, I think of a guy with a twisted mustache, shifty eyes and menacing smile. But that’s not always the physical description. Most of the time, it’s just the guy next door.

The ‘wicked’ is my neighbor that doesn’t know Jesus. My friend that does not claim Jesus as her Lord and Savior. That’s the ‘wicked’. No shifty eyes. No menacing smile. No twisted mustache. Just a person that is lost in a world of false realities.

So, the non-believer that abandons a lucrative career to bring books to 3rd world schools; the agnostic that spends years caring for the marginalized; the atheist that does more to love their neighbor than most professed Christians… they will not present their life’s work before God.

That’s heartbreaking.

Do you interpret this differently? Please discuss.

I discovered John Piper’s poetry a few years ago. The talent God pours out of this man is astounding.

If you’re looking for something to keep things in perspective listen to this. Many others can be found here.

I got to know my friend, Cindy Beall, when we were in LifeGroup together a few years ago.  Our boys are the same age and the friendship just fit like your favorite college sweatshirt.  Comfortable.

Cindy and her husband, Chris, have been through more than I’ve ever witnessed a marriage endure.  And on the other side, I am so blessed to get to see what God can do. 

Cindy is posting about her journey through one of the darkest times in her life.  You don’t want to miss this. 

It’s life-changing.

Dang, I’ve got some cool friends.

I hope it sticks.  But I know that I’ll probably fall off the wagon soon.  That’s the way of addiction, right?  But with time, prayer and accountability possibly the falls off the wagon grow farther apart.  I hope.

I confess to an addiction.  Probably not the first few vices that pop in your head.  Alcohol.  Drugs.  Whipped Cream cans.  (although there was a time…  But I digress. )

My addiction is far more suttle.  And far more socially acceptable. 

I’m addicted to comfort. 

I like being comfortable. 

I like my warm clothes.  I love my bed.  My pillow and I are pretty tight.  I’m so addicted to these creature comforts that I take for granted the blessing they are. 

Yesterday it would have been a foreign thought that my bed and pillow are blessings.  Yet today I look at them entirely different.  I spent the morning serving breakfast to a group of people that don’t have such simple comfort.  It’s sobering. 

Lord, place people in my life to draw me out and keep me out of my inward-focused world!  Break this addiction in me. 

The funny thing about vision is that it doesn’t have to be all that profound… does it?  I think it just needs to be focused. 

I really don’t know.  I’m no expert.  I just live what I’ve learned.  There was a season in kids ministry at LifeChurch.tv (approximately 6 years ago) when our only vision for LifeKIDS was that the elementary programming simply wouldn’t suck anymore.  From that simplicity grew an incredible vision for capturing kids attention. 

I’m in a season of simplicity right now.  Looking toward the upcoming year, the only thing I want people to embrace is that a child’s relationship with Jesus matters.

Pretty simple.  Pretty straight forward.  Shape every communication, every conversation, every presentation around this one theme… a child’s relationship with Jesus matters.  They are not subordinate Christ-followers.  Just a little shorter than we are.  But the journey they’re on right now is just as important as ours.

A great question.  But it does not refer to those who might steer you the wrong way.  Instead it refers to those who will challenge your world.

Who will ruin you?

Who will walk into your comfortable existence, give you a mirror and lead you to become uncomfortable?  Who will lead you to a more dangerous pursuit of Jesus? 

Find them quick.  There’s no time to lose.

I confess. I am the Christian Gigolo.

You know what I’m talking about. The right look. The right hair. The ‘holier-than-thou’ pick up line.

“You know, as I sat reciting Romans 6 in my prayer closet before sunrise I heard the Lord speak to me…”

I talked up the need for authenticity.

“We just gotta’ get real, man!”

I touted the necessity of real community. Yet when people shared their challenges, their struggles, their messy lives… I took a step back, gave them a wink, and shot them the classic line…

“Hey, good luck with that. I’ll be prayin’ for ya’.”

Makes me sick.

I spent Monday night at Freedom Farm. A rehab place that houses 12 guys. All have a history of drug and alcohol abuse (to start). All are facing potential prison sentences when they leave. All are followers of Christ.

Kyle and I sat and listened to these men sharing their stories. Everyone of them believes God saved them from destroying their lives, brought them to Freedom Farm where they met Jesus and are now growing in their relationship with Him. I found myself sorely convicted by the safety at which I live my life. The boundary that I set between myself and others.

Jesus, remove the boundaries!

…we will serve the Lord.”  Joshua 24:15 

We parents love this verse.  We memorize it.  Write in on our Christmas cards.  Ornately carve it out of wood and hang over the doorway of our homes.

But to what effect?  Many of us regurgitate it, yet few of us live it.

It’s like an abandoned stake driven into the ground by well intentioned parents ill-equipped to stand by it.

In truth, we are well equipped.  We just don’t know it.

Raising our kids to be followers of Jesus is no easy task.  And there’s no magic formula.  No combination of verses to memorize, recite or pray.  No way to manipulate the text.

Don’t get me wrong.  Pray.  Pray God’s Word.  Quit trying to say something original and just say what He says in His Word and let the sheer power of it do it’s work!

“…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”  Isaiah 55:11

Talk about Him.  Actively.  Daily.  What He has done, is doing and will do in you, for you and to you. 

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”  Deut. 6:6-8

But beware of your expectations of the process.  I pray my kids will love Jesus.  Live for Jesus.  Make their lives all about Jesus. 

But how God chooses to bring that about in them is up to Him.  I have to entrust the process to Him. 

The toughest thing in the world to do…

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