Posterized

Well y'all, I'm a big hoops fan. I love following NBA action; love the stories, the competition, the games, the highlights.

Last night there was a highlight for the year in the Clippers/Thunder game. Blake Griffin has had some monster dunks over his young career already, but this one may top them all.

Griffin took a pass from teammate Chris Paul, and help defender Kendrick Perkins rotates over just in time to get absolutely smashed on. No way around it. Blake dunks the rock so hard that the video almost needs to be censored.

Just sayin'.

Cover the children's eyes and prepare to watch this jaw dropping highlight that will leave you shaking your head in amazement and disbelief.

To watch what's already being labeled as "The Dunk," click here.

Perfection

It's been a few years since I have ridden the slopes of Holiday Valley in Upstate New York. Snowboarding was one of my favorite hobbies of mine growing up and have a lot of fond memories of carving down the mountain with friends.

There is nothing quite like sitting on top of a mountain, strapping my feet in my board in the cold air of the night, snow flurries coming down, and getting ready to carve down the trail - catching some air, finding a good line, and sometimes going so fast my eyes would start watering as my adrenaline was pumping. Yes, fond memories for sure.

I loved getting my snowboarding thrills riding down the mountain. Though I never got into the skill, jumping and technicality of the half pipe, I still appreciate and am amazed at what some guys can do on their snowboard there. One of those guys is Shaun White.

Last night, Shaun competed in the Winter X Games Super Pipe competition, and threw down a nasty run in the half pipe that scored him a perfect 100. First time ever in that event. It was his fifth straight gold. Not bad I'd say.

Though you may or may not be into snowboarding, I encourage you to check out the video below and take a look at what it's like for someone to be the best in their sport - in this case, the Winter X Super Pipe.

Good Disobedience?

One thought for us tonight, taken right from my notes from preaching this morning at The Chapel...

Some people try to hide from God by doing works. They don't need to be intimate as long as they do good things for Him. They think they can exchange disobedience with good works.

This thought stemmed from the fact that I believe some people can actually be running from God by doing good works for Him. They think they can reason with God - "if you don't touch this area of my life, if I can stay in control here, I will do ______ in exchange."

They think they can dictate to Him what God can and cannot talk to them about. They know in their heart what is right, but they don't want to let the Holy Spirit in to that part of their life. So they think they can compromise with God. "You don't talk to me about this, and I will serve you in that."

Unfortunately, or fortunately, God may not want that, He wants all of us.

First Love

I will be preaching tomorrow (Sunday) at The Chapel in Somerset, KY. The section of Scripture I plan to preach from is Revelation 2:1-7. God has been doing a work in my own heart as I have prepared for this message... Have I left my first love?

Take a look below at Jesus's letter to Ephesus and try not to be challenged! The version I used below is the Amplified version...

1TO THE angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him Who holds the seven stars [which are the messengers of the seven churches] in His right hand, Who goes about among the seven golden lampstands [which are the seven churches]:

2I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars.

3I know you are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name's sake, and you have not fainted or become exhausted or grown weary.

4But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love].

5Remember then from what heights you have fallen. Repent (change the inner man to meet God's will) and do the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord], or else I will visit you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your mind and repent.

6Yet you have this [in your favor and to your credit]: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans [what they are doing as corrupters of the people], which I Myself also detest.

7He who is able to hear, let him listen to and give heed to what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). To him who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant to eat [of the fruit] of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

24/7

I want to take a moment to put a plug out there for those who may not be aware of the ministry of IHOP. First and foremost, we must establish that I am not talking about pancakes (however, some good pancakes can be good ministry at times!) No, IHOP, as in the International House of Prayer.

IHOP is located in Kansas City where the heart of our [IHOP's] missions base is night-and-day prayer with worship (as written on their website). IHOP has 24/7 prayer and worship going on in what is known as the Prayer Room. Not only that, they broadcast the ministry of the Prayer Room live via the web, 24/7 as well.

I would encourage you to visit the Prayer Room as it may be what you need in the middle of the day, or as a way to start your quiet time with the Lord in the morning, or simply to have playing in the background as you go about your day (take the prayer room with you as they have an app for iPhone too!).

I would also encourage you to check out our local (based in London, KY) expression of a house of prayer by visiting One27 Hop here.

Be blessed in His presence!

Lost

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Have you ever lost your way? As a man of course I have never gotten lost, nor ha...

I better stop right there. Because it simply isn't true.

I've been lost on the highway before, no doubt about it. But have you ever felt lost on the highway of life?

I wrote about it the other day, how the animated movie Cars surprisingly provided some comfort in my journey called life. Yet, I still feel I have more to share on the subject.

What do you do when things don't work out quite the way we had planned them to? What happens when a detour is thrown into our path and the dreams we had seem to be derailed? It seems that's where my family has been for the last little while. Do we abandon the dream? To we change the course? Is God wanting us to do something different?

For my wife and I, we have had a heart for ministry. Now, before I bleed my heart out anymore, the reality is that those who call themselves Christians are in ministry. We are the light of the world, and you don't need ministry to be an occupation or minister to be your title to reach out and love others the way Jesus told us to. We are the Body of Christ. But we have felt a specific longing for ministry. Full-time. Maybe it's a calling, maybe it's just pursuing our heart, either way, it's what we have gone back to. And more importantly, it's the direction it seems the Holy Spirit is leading us in.

So what do you do when things aren't looking the way you anticipated? Do we throw in the towel? Has God changed His mind? Did we miss it somehow? Do we really have anything to offer anyone?

I don't know the answer to these questions for you - I have difficulty answering them for myself sometimes.

But here is what I know...

Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

and

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

and

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

and

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

So... what do you do... But trust?

Problem is, that's easier said than done. It's more natural to trust in myself than Him. It's easier to trust in myself who is finite and limited and flawed, than the One who sees all, knows all, created me and can see the bigger picture. Doesn't make a lot of sense but it's the reality of my life at times.

OK, a lot of times.

So today, I choose to trust. As best I know how, I trust.

Even though I may feel lost, I know that in Him,

I am found.

Culture

I read an article today that sparked something in me that I haven't thought much about in a while. When I was teaching math in upstate New York, we had a gentleman come in to lead a seminar with the teachers. Most likely the students had the day off while the teachers still reported for duty. Seminars like this were usually met with begrudging attitudes from the teachers whom didn't want to spend their day attending another seminar.

Something that this speaker said has stayed with me for years since I heard him talk about it. I don't remember all of the words he used, but the spirit of his message is what I caught.

He talked about the atmosphere of a school. The culture of a school. He talked about how you can change strategies and come up with new ideas for helping students succeed and creating a positive learning environment in the school, but if the culture doesn't shift there will be no lasting change to that school system. In other words, go ahead and change your slogans, come up with a fancy vision and mission statement, even new programs, but if that vision statement doesn't go any deeper than the letters on the page, nothing will ever really change.

You see, the culture, or ethos, of a school (business, home, etc) is affected by deeply held beliefs, and until those are changed, new ideas and hip strategies will fall short (the fact that we as teachers were begrudgingly attending the seminar pointed to a culture issue!). The culture or essence or spirit of a organization is a deep thing, and not impacted (for the long term) by a surface change. It is driven by these inner convictions and passions we have. Those passions and convictions and beliefs cause us to act, speak, etc in a particular way and without changing our beliefs, passions, and convictions, there again can be no long lasting change.

I love to think on this because it causes me to reflect on my life and see what I need to change. I love getting to the heart of things, diving deep below the surface. I want to get to the deepest part of my convictions and make sure they line up with Christ, that I may have long-lasting change and become more like Jesus. As the leader of my home, I have a huge impact on the culture of my home. My kids pick up my essence without even realizing it. They walk according to my beliefs by nature.

Just because you walk into KFC, it doesn't make you a chicken leg, right? Walking into a church doesn't make you a Christian. It is something that happens deep inside of a person - they are born again. I think of many of those who profess to know Christ, yet never seem to have a true change in actions...

Maybe they never have had a true culture shift? Have they had a real change in passions and beliefs? Were they ever truly born of the Spirit of God?

You can dress them up, teach them Christianese, give them self-help books, even the Scriptures to improve on their life, but the deep issues will come out at some point - they have never truly repented, they were never born again.

So, what's the culture of your business? Your family? Your life? What do people feel when they enter your business? How would people describe you when they are around you.

Good questions. I hope that the culture, or fragrance if you will, of my life is point people to Jesus.

To read the article that got me going on all this, click here.