Searching?

I was contemplating today on the story of Mary and Joseph leaving Jesus behind in Jerusalem as they went on home. Well after a day of traveling they realize he isn't there. So panicked they rush back to Jerusalem and after 3 days of searching they finally found him in the temple. When they found Jesus they were livid "how could you do this to us, we have been searching frantically for you". Jesus replies quite simply "Why have you been searching, didn't you know I would be in my fathers house". What a great answer, the bible says that Mary and Joseph didn't understand, I must admit that I didn't understand at first either. After thinking about it made great sense. Why where they searching? Where did they look for 3 days, playgrounds, video arcades, the normal 12 year old hang outs. Why there? If you were visiting a city were your child's real fathers house was wouldn't you look there first. Why would you search. Jesus was just hanging out at his dads makes perfect sense to me. What about the rest of us where are we searching for our savior at. Is it in the right places? Let me tell you the truth if your looking for God at all the popular hang outs (T.V., Hollywood, Politics, Oprah,) your looking in the wrong places. Just as in Jerusalem Jesus was not at the popular hang outs he was in the house of God, studying the word. Searching start there in the house of God and in his word.

Pain Killers

John 3:17-21 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Most people reject God because they feel God has rejected them. Man has fallen. Our world is less than perfect. People die of starvation while I throw food away, good women are raped, bad men get rich, children die in terrible ways. Your dad thru you out of the house, you were sexually molested, you were poor as kid, your mom died at an early age. The list goes on, your dad left, maybe you never knew him, your best friend murdered, you have never had respect, nobody likes you, people laugh at you, men have rejected you, those you love have betrayed you. Pain, Pain, and more Pain. We live in world of pain. Some of us have seen more than others. Our pain is the most terrible thing that we have experienced. Whether consciously or subconsciously we design our lives to avoid and cope with pain, we want to be rich so that we never have to be poor. We want to be beautiful so that we will be loved, we are mean so that we are not disrespected, We hurt others so that we never have to be hurt. We do drugs and drink to forget bad memories, we live wildly because we don't feel our life is worth living. I could go on forever. We all do things to avoid and to cope with pain. Some things we do are more drastic others are more subtle. Whatever you do to some extent it at least dulls the pain a little otherwise you wouldn't do it. I think we get mad at God when he tells us that we can't do things that help us cope with our pain. The majority of things that are sinful are a vice in one since of the word or another. Murder is done for revenge (coping with our anger), sometimes for money ( coping with the pain of not having any, or perhaps coping with the pain of having to work to get it), sometimes its to keep people quite (fear of what would happen if someone found out). How about another example; adultery usually its done to cope with some type of pain in the marriage. Drugs are used to deal with all types of pain. Even homosexuality comes from the pain of not having enough or the appropriate kind of attention from men. So when God says we can't do these things we feel like he is telling us to live in a world of pain, boredom, and suffering. "I won't believe in God like that we say". God came to the world to save it and not condemn it. In the verse above we read that those who do not believe stand judged because the light of the world came but we loved darkness. It goes on to say that we do not want to come out of the light because our deeds will be exposed. Its why so many don't believe. If they believe in Jesus then they believe that his way is the right way and their deeds will be exposed as evil and therefore they will have to stop. Their coping mechanisms will have to stop. So we decide to remain in darkness. We are not condemned by God we condemn ourselves by remaining in our places of pain and coping. Let me tell you what stepping out into that light does. It exposes you all of you, your weakness and your pain. Its not so that it can be judged but so that weakness can be made strong and pain healed. God is not there to take away our coping mechanisms but rather remove the need for them. Would you rather have a bottle of pain pills to help with chronic pain or the procedure which removes the pain altogether. Which to you seems like the better way to live. I encourage all us to take a look at why we do what we do, are we sinning to avoid pain, why don't we see if we can get that pain removed.

My Best Christmas Gift

I am back from the holidays, they were awesome I hope yours were merry was well. Well today it was back to the grind. I went into the office and during the meeting my boss asked what every body's favorite Christmas gift was. Because I was late I got to go first I told them it was the new pair of pants my wife got me (first thing that came to my mind.) Not that I don't appreciate the pair of pants but in reality I have a greater gift that I am much more thankful for. On December 23rd I had the privilege of worshiping and celebrating Christmas with my church family. Church at The Well. What a blessing. As I looked around the room I saw the faces of people I have shared an incredible adventure with. These are people of incredible character, huge hearts, amazing tenacity, and unending, unquenchable love for Jesus Christ. They never quite, they never surrender, despite the circumstances they have suffered over these last two years they have never backed down, they have never compromised, they have remained steadfast, true to their integrity and the purposes for which God has sent them. Such men and women are hard to find. Very few are willing to suffer the Journeys that lead them to the Glory for which God has intended for them, but they have. I want to give them the greatest honor that I can and let them now that I love them, respect them, and am grateful for them. My life has changed because of them (especially you Joseph), I am better because of them ( especially you babe). Antrims, Clarks, Thompsons, Masts,Buccaros I didn't know you before I moved to Florida but I am so grateful that I came, men and women like you are rare, your presence has blessed me. The way you live your lives has inspired me. Thank you for being who you are and living the way you do. To my heavenly father thank you for keeping me on the adventure. So many times I have wanted to quite so many times you have convinced me to stay, your patience and persistence is evidence of your love. This Christmas there is no place I would have rather been then right here, right now. To all those out there in blog land I encourage you to live the adventure, to never give up on God, and to never give up on those around you. His adventure you will find is the greatest, those in your life you may find is your greatest blessing. The journeys you so badly want to quite on are those that often lead to the greatest glory, to the greatest blessings. Stick with it and I guarantee you will find yourself like me, Standing amidst something greater than you could ever have imagined feeling foolish for every time you wanted to quite. Church at The Well I love you and can not wait for what 2008 holds in store whether for better or for worse I know that in Christmas 2008 I will once again be thanking God for the experience of an incredible adventure with and incredible group of people. Thanks be to God and let us all live the adventure.

SKYDIVING

Skydiving is amazing sport. I went once. I was the first guy out of the plane. There is nothing like the string of thoughts that go through your mind as you head to the back of the plane. Your brain is screaming at you "this is not smart, I can't believe your about to jump out of a plane", "This is a perfectly good airplane and your going to jump out of it, what is wrong with you." Despite my better judgement my feet keep moving to the door and then it happens the moment of truth your feet leave the plane and you are hurtling towards the earth approaching 120 mph. The view all of the sudden isn't so nice and now your nervous (that may be understating it a little) because it was a great thought getting in the plane even approaching the door of the plane your still thinking it will be fun, but as the ground races toward you realize this might be dangerous and that if the chute doesn't open your dead if you do something wrong your dead. Who thought this was going to be a good Idea. Luckily my chute opens and I gently land (another understatement the truth is I tucked and rolled). Why the story about sky diving? Ever think about the first guy who went sky diving. The first chut that ever opened. It had never happened before, why did this guy think he could jump out of a plane a live. Apparently he "believed" his chute would open. funny thing about belief it causes a course of action. The man Jumped out a plane because he believed his chute would open. Columbus crossed the ocean because he believed he would reach land. Belief causes action. You get in your car because you believe it will take you where you want to go. You wake up and go to work because you believe they will pay you. We as people operate on beliefs. What do you believe. Do your beliefs cause actions, if they are not then do you really believe it. Here is to those who believe.

False Peaks

If you ever climbed a mountain before you'll know what I am referring to when I say "False Peaks." Not only will you know you will most likely cringe. A false peak can be a crippling psychological blow on an extremely difficult climb. what is a false peak? Its exactly as it sounds. It is a point of the mountain that leads you to believe that it is the summit, when in reality it is merely high enough and you are at such an angle that it only appears to be the highest point on the mountain. In reality the false peak hides the true peak and you only discover this when have either mounted the false peak or are near its top. You can imagine the blow. You have been climbing for hours, you're tired, its no doubt cold, you have pushed out your last bit of energy thinking this is the top I am there, I have achieved the goal only to find there is still several hundred feet to go. WHAM!!!!!! What a blow, how devastating, you thought you were done, you thought you had achieved the goal, you thought it was over, you just exhumed your last bit of strength and your still still several hundred feet away. Your still behind, you still haven't made it. To achieve the goal you are going to have to push out more strength, endure more hardship. This is always a point of reflection. You always have to ask yourself the question; Am I committed the journey or to the objective? Did I come here to try as hard as I could or did I come here to reach the top. so many of us set on journeys to reach objectives and we encounter false peaks, places where we thought we were going to be on easy street but discovered that we still had quite a bit of work to do. We always have to ask whether we're committed to a journey or an objective. Those committed to a journey are coming because they think the process will be enjoyable or a good time, in other words easy, they think they will have to give out very little and that there sacrifices will be minimal. These people typically give up when the journey becomes to difficult, the hike was a little harder, the journey a little longer, the sacrifice a little more than what they planned on. These types of people generally give up when they encounter the "False Peak". Then there are those who are committed to the objective. Those willing to do what ever it takes, when these people encounter the "False Peaks" they don't give up. Don't get me wrong those committed to the objective are devastated, it still frustrates them, some of them (if your like me) will take a moment and whine before they gain there composer, but on their moment of reflection, when it comes to decision time those committed to the objective continue on toward the summit despite how much more difficult the road ahead looks, despite how many more false peaks they may encounter, there committed to the summit, and it is the summit they will reach. Don't get me wrong their are many good views from halfway up the mountain but nothing is like view of the summit, there is no feeling like it on earth. To all you out there, I encourage you let us shoot for the summit.

Heavy burdens

Anyone feel like this guy? Anyone have heavy burdens. What are your burdens today. Can't pay your bills, marriage on the Fritz, any girls struggling with a teen pregnancy, what about pressure to have sex from a boyfriend? What about you guys struggling with sex or pornography how about peer pressure? Anyone being picked on at school or work? Anyone's life seem like a living hell, anyone asking the question: WHY?! why me, why this, why now.

Every one struggles, sometimes our burdens are heavier than at other times sometimes life seems unfair. I want to share a story of when I was in a leadership academy a few years back. We had been given a task, our task was to climb Pikes Peak, a 14,000 foot mountain just out side Colorado Springs, not only climb it but climb it as fast as we can. If ascending from an altitude of 9,000 to 14,000 feet was not difficult enough just to the fact that your going up 5000 feet (that's almost a mile straight up) add to it the fact that as you get higher and weaker the availability of oxygen becomes less and less, lets add again that we weren't going straight up but over a winding trail going over several miles uphill. Let me give you a clear picture. We started at 5 am no break feast, climbing up hill for over 4 hours in an environment that was cold and windy and every breath that I draw brings in less oxygen than the one before it. Living Hell. Quite literally I wanted to quit so bad, I wanted to rest just for a while. Why did I keep pressing on toward the goal. I was the pace setter. There was line of about 8 people behind me each one's hand grabbing the waist belt of the one in front of them, the buck stopped with me. I was grabbing on to no one. If I quite, they quite, but as long as I was moving forward they moved forward. It changes your perspective. When I quite 8 others would fail because I was not willing to take another step. I could not live with that fact. So I pressed on tell the summit where myself and the 8 behind me darn near collapsed but we had succeeded. Let me tell you another story. Jesus, Hanging on a cross. Talk about living hell. Nails in his hands and feet, back bare and raw, the wind whips and chills his unclothed body, blood runs down his face and into his eyes, voice raw with screams of pain, every dying breath more difficult than the one before. Agonizing waiting for the end. Living Hell. Why didn't Jesus quite, why not give up. Same reason I didn't, if he quits, we quite, if he fails we can no longer succeed. He knew his situation was temporary and that if he could only make it, it would make life better and easier than others. Bottom line is nothing in life is free if things are easy in your life it is because somebody else struggled to make it that way. I tell you this for those of you in a living hell, in a struggle, carrying a burden. Think of it this way somebody somewhere is counting on you and your story and your experiences if you quite, they quite, if you fail they can not succeed. Your struggle may prevent them from doing so. It changes your perspective. I hope I changed yours. Keep living the adventure and remember God never said it would be easy, just awesome.

Just Around the bend.

"Live the adventure", that's the name of this blog. It stems from the fact that I believe a life lived for God is in adventure. Like Most adventures it requires a Journey, it can be a very frustrating Journey for most of us. It seems like some times I am like a little kid in the car asking "are we there yet". I remember when I was little, I was raised in Des Moines, IA. Its a short 4 hour jaunt from Minneapolis, MN, where the majority of my fathers family lived. Every time a family event happened dad would pile us in the car. My Sister and I would always bring as many toys and games as we could cram into the available space. We had blankets and pillows as well as plenty of snacks. You think we were trying to survive nuclear winter with all they stuff we would pack. I remember every time my dad would put the car in drive my mind would say in a quite dreading tone, "here we go". What was mind dreading, the minutes that seemed like hours and the hours that seemed like days. In times spans where I thought we must have traversed continents we had only traveled a few miles. It was awful. The whole time I am asking "are we there yet". I tell you this story because as a child my concept of time and space was not fully developed, four hours stuck in the back seat did seem like an eternity. As an adult I have traveled the world, spent over 24 hours in a plane on a single trip, with no breaks now four hours is a walk in the park, the ride is over before I realize it. So where am I going with this. We have people have an undeveloped sense of time and space when it comes to the Journey Christ has sent us on. We are not able to see around the bend,where not able to see the big picture, we don't know the end from the beginning. Because of this our present circumstances seem longer and bigger than they truly are and the promises and orders of God seem much smaller than when we first believed. Ever sensed a calling in your spirit and then embarked on the journey to fulfill that calling only to encounter difficulty, in these situations I think we often find ourselves asking "Did God really say that" did I hear him correctly, I mean this terrible thing is happening did God really call us here. We have all asked the question. The Israelites did when they were in the desert with the Red sea on one side and a pursuing Egyptian army on the other. They cried out " Why did you bring us out of Egypt, do die in the desert" their comment was foolish, many of us have made similar ones. We wonder why God brought us to our current desert to die. The bottom line is God did not put Israel there to die, if you finish the story God put the Israelites there to part the Red Sea and for Israel to walk across it as on dry land, which made for a much sweeter adventure. The Israelites cried out because they could not see around the bend, the big picture alluded them. We must believe one thing- God never sends you to the desert to die, you are in the desert to see the Red sea part and for you to move across it as on dry ground. I want to quote to from the book of John 10 verses four and five. "4"When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5"A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.". I quote this to you because if you are a sheep of God, in other words one of his followers than you do hear his voice and he did call you here, he did set you on the journey and right now the lord cries out to you "if you could only see around the bend". Thanks be to God for what we can not see and what we do not know because that just means the adventure is more amazing than we could ever imagine and bigger than we could possibly comprehend. Be encouraged and hold our for what is around the bend.

National Treasures

What do we treasure and why? Webster defines the verb "to treasure" as : 1 : to collect and store up (something of value) for future use : hoard 2 : to hold or keep as precious : cherish, prize . So My question is what do we store up for future use, what do we hold dear. On this post you see the Washington monument also known as a "National Treasure". One national treasure in particular is the Constitution of the United States, it is so important to that is stored in a impregnable safe, with massive amounts of security. In fact in case of a direct nuclear attack the constitution actually drops down into its own nuclear fall out shelter buried deep within the earth. Clearly its important. There are others: Lincoln's monument, Washington's, there is Mount Rushmore, And the Statue of Liberty. All of them are have security and millions of dollars every year is spent in there preservation. Why? Is it the materials there made of. Washington and Lincoln are marble, Rushmore is not different than the rock around it, Liberty is made of copper. None of these materials are extremely valuable. So why the guards and the fences. Its what they represent that is so important. Its the memories they hold that are important. Its they damage that would be done to our country if what they represent was ever lost. That's why they are guarded to ensure these monuments are always before us reminding us of who we are and what we represent.

What do you treasure. I have a collection of things I treasure. A lot of people like to take pictures but I like to collect nick knacks, and not the cheesy souvenirs you find at the airport gift shop. I like the unusual the things that people will ask me why I keep them. That way I can tell the story and I will be reminded. I keep a piece of an armored vehicle that I drove in Korea, and a shirt given to me in Indonesia. The shirt has no writings its not even fashionable, the vehicle piece is ugly and worn. Why do I keep them. The shirt was given to me by a man in Indonesia, I made such an impact in his life he wanted something for me to remember him by so he gave me the shirt of his back. The vehicle piece is so important that with out it functioning properly my vehicle should have rolled over and myself and all its occupants would have most probably died. I keep it because after 12 hour drive I found out it hadn't been working properly and that nothing short of a miracle kept that vehicle safe. These are the things I treasure that I want to be reminded of later, that I want others to see. They remind of who god is and what he represents and therefore remind me of who I should be and how I should be representing him. Its the Christmas season. Read Luke chapter 2. You will read of all the fan fare of Jesus birth, angels singing and men and woman prophesying. Read it carefully, because in it you will read in the midst of all this it says, not once but twice, " And Mary treasured all this things in her heart". She was storing up these treasures for later, so not matter what happened she would be reminded of who Jesus was and what he represented. To all of us in the out there let us take time to store up treasures in our heart so we may always be reminded of who Jesus is and what he represents.

Gods Best Kept Secret.

So recently my adventures in insurance sales have taken me out to New Smyrna Beach Florida. Its not to small a town with a small town atmosphere. Its located of course right on the beach. It is beautiful. While condos are making an aggressive push to overtake and dominate the water front several sections of small beach homes are still holding their ground. This gives the majority of the town that old Florida small beach town feel. The breeze is always flowing and while its humid the breeze makes it comfortable. Every time I am outside I can hear the ocean and on windy days feel the sea mist. The people are all friendly and smiling. There are people walking down the streets with surf boards, their jogging, biking and strolling. People are relaxing on their porch and in the front yard at all times of day. It feels like a vacation just being there even though I am at work. I see mom and pop shops as you drive down the street and even a McDonalds is hard to find. It screams small town even though its population wouldn't categorize it that way. Its quite serene and peaceful. Its the only place where after I am done making my calls I find myself staying behind to just dwell on the beach.

Its Florida's best kept secret one man calls it. This was a man I visited to talk about a dental plan. I asked that man how he came to be there. "Serendipitously" he replied. He then went on to tell me about he had fallen ill on the road one day and had stopped off for the night. Well when he got there the rooms where all full it was the busy season. So the receptionist at one of the hotels helped him find an available room at a hotel no one knew about because it had just opened. When he got there the lady who ran the hotel, hearing his plight, decided to give him a discount. The next day he awoke only to find his car broken down. He took his car to a shell station only to have the man their fix his car for free. Not only did he fix it he gave him a free tank of gas. The man continued with his story to tell me he struck up a conversation with the man at the gas station and the topic of moving came up. The man at the gas station said "remember New Smyrna Its Florida's best kept secret" the man turned to me and smiled and said reassuringly "and it is". The man said he enjoyed his stay so much he decided to move there and has loved it ever since. Can you imagine that. Two days in New Smyrna changed that mans life. While New Smyrna is a nice town, its not that great. Yeah it has a beach but like I said you can't hardly find a Mcdonalds. The man didn't move there because of the town, he moved there because of the people. He came into contact with four people that ultimately changed his life. These four peoples total time with him probably didn't equal more than five hours that includes the stay at the mechanics. What an impact we as people can have on each other, you have no idea how everything you do can impact the life of someone else. Just one random act of kindness. Take this mans story. Just a few people, with a few random acts of kindness inspired this man to move. Do we love people, do we love the spirit of God, do we want to change lives, do we want to see the kingdom of God come in power. Are we helping people discover God's "best kept secret". You don't have to be John the Baptist or Billy Graham to lead people to God. These people in this small beach to town where not travel agents, nor where they huge marketing reps, marketing New Smyrna Beach they were regular people practicing random acts of kindness. Our actions are powerful, they can change lives. As we live our lives lets do so taking time to practice random acts of kindness. You never know which one will lead people to God's best kept secret.

Stepping Out On Faith

I met an elderly woman today who used to be confined to a wheel chair. She now is mobile with help of a cane. Most people in the elder years degrees, they get worse and not better. Once the get into the wheelchair they rarely get out. She shared with me her story. She said she "stepped out on faith". One day she was sitting on her porch and decided she would walk to the her car in the drive way. In sharing her story she said something to me that stuck in my mind. She said "I didn't know if I could make it I just figured I would start and see how far I get." Well she made it to the car , she continues to make it." The fact is she has never returned to the chair, it remains in her garage to this day. In her words " Oh I get tired sometimes but I just stop, rest for a while and then I keep on going, just seeing how far I can get." The woman is still seeing how far she can get. Her definition of faith is starting and then seeing how far you can get. What an amazing testimony.
Let me take you the story of peter walking on water. For those of us not familiar with it, it can be found in the book of Matthew, the fourteenth chapter, verses twenty two thru thirty four. Jesus decides to walk out to the disciples walking on the water, and for those unfamiliar it wasn't winter and the water wasn't frozen. Jesus walked on liquid water. When Peter saw Jesus on the water he asked that Jesus command him to walk on the water to him. Peter believed if God told him to do it he could. Jesus commanded. Peter immediately got out on the water and began to walk.
Let me Digrees for a moment. How many of us do this. We hear the call of God, its loud clear and definitive. You know you heard from the Lord. Excited you jump out of your boat and start walking.
That is what peter did. It wasn't until he saw the wind and the waves that he got scared and began to sank. Now all of the pictures I have seen of this story show peter doing the same thing...standing still. I believe this is true. Do we really think that peter was walking and then all the sudden did a face plant in water when he saw the waves and got scared. Or do we think that he saw the wind and waves and stopped, got scared and then began to sank. The latter is true. You see peter stopped moving forward, he stopped seeing how far he could get.
This is true in so many or our lives. We hear the call of the Lord loud and definitive we get out and start walking. we see the waves around us then we stop, we see the problems and stop. We never stop with the thought of quiting or failing, but our hesitation is just long enough for us to begin to sink. Our failure comes from the ceasing of seeing how far we can get. My encouragement to you is see how far you get. In your life right now you might have waves as big as mountains and winds with force of a hurricane but drive on, see how far you can get.
Through out history those who are most successful are those who fail the most, they fail the most because they try the most. They are in constant pursuit of how far they can get. They are testing the limits or what they can and can not do. In the words of that women "Oh They may get tired sometimes, but they just rest and then keep on going, just seeing how far they can get". I challenge us all to start and see how far we can get.