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Our Biggest Fear, Part 2

October 29, 2010 in Abundant Life with 1 Comment

On Wednesday, I introduced the phrase, “Our biggest fear is often failure, but in reality we should be more afraid of succeeding in something that does not matter.” I then proceeded to make fun of my most useless successes. If you missed it, check it out here. Today, I want to take a deeper look at this idea, so buckle your seatbelts.

We have all been there. American culture constantly pushes people and demands success. It starts from an early age with parents pressuring their 8 year olds* to make straight A’s and constantly praying that others will see their child as “gifted.” In High School and College everyone questions you about your calling. What will you do with your life? Will you be a lawyer, a doctor, or a banker like Kosmo Kramer?! For most of us, those pipe dreams of being a professional baseball player have faded and we have no idea what we are going to do. And if we thought the pressure of school was tough in 2nd grade, getting into a good college and staying there makes elementary school feel like a day in the park.

From school we go into the workforce and spend at least 40 hours a week pushing papers for the man** (I love saying “the man”). That is, of course, if we can find a job in this illustrious economy.  But if we are able to rise above and keep a steady job, buy a nice house, marry a good looking spouse, and have a nice car we have achieved the American dream. We have found success! But then, why the Mid-Life crisis? Is it possible that we realize our successes do not really mean anything and now we have no idea what to do with ourselves? Realizing our mistake, we pressure our kids to do better at school and have a better job so that they can find more success than us and not feel as dissatisfied with life.

And the cycle continues.

Now I am not here to say that grades are not important, because they are. I am not saying that we should all quit our jobs and join the peace corps because we should not. They are important because we need them to survive in this world and we need them to take care of our family. What we do need to do, however, is have a massive priority shift.

Your job and your school are not your number 1 priority. If you look back on your life and realize they were your first priority, there will be some disappointments. You may have been successful in them, but do they matter in the long run?

Fortunately, we have a God who created the Universe and breathed meaning into all of our lives. Even though we are small and He is big, He invites us to take part in building His Kingdom. This Kingdom is an everlasting one and has unlimited value. It is only when we find success in His Kingdom that we will find satisfaction in the works of our hands.

So what now? Do we do well in school? Absolutely! But not because our value is determined by our GPA, but because our study ethic demonstrates our heart for God to our teachers and peers. The same goes for the way we work:

My pastor in college, Matt Adair, once shared a story about his time as an accountant. He spent so much time preaching to everyone about God that his work was never very good. He thought he was doing the right thing, until his boss told him one day that if he spent the same amount of energy doing what he was supposed to do in his job, people would actually listen to him. Instead, no one bought into the truth he spoke because they all thought he was lazy

So we should work hard and work well, but not because our identity our satisfaction comes from our job, but because our work ethic demonstrates our love for Jesus and our love for those whom we work with. When we set our priority first on God, it is amazing how much value can come from work. Through God’s power, you can make a huge difference in the world working any job, whether it is paper pushing for the man or closing for the Atlanta Braves.

There are plenty of easy success out there, but if those success do not have any meaning, than what is the point? There will be battles to fight, and I hope you always pick the ones that mean something. Even if you do not buy into the whole idea of God’s Kingdom, I challenge you to question the things you are pursuing and ask yourself if they really matter. If they do not, find something that does and get after it! Because at the end of the day, I would much rather fail in something that matters than succeed in something that does not.

Thoughts?

*Shout out to my parents: Thanks for teaching me the importance of succeeding in things that matter and not freaking out whenever I got a B. Or C.

**Just to be clear, I love my job. This is more a reference to the typical American employee

Photo Contest Winners!

September 30, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

It’s time to announce the winner’s everyone! But first, a special thanks to everyone who participated by submitting pictures, voting (all 131 of you), or donating to Charity Water. If you are interested, you can view all of the pictures that were submitted in this slideshow (or Click here to view the album in Picasa):

And now…the moment we’ve all been waiting for!

Second prize goes to “Farm in Pennsylvania” by Nathan Klein. Nathan is a professional photographer, and you can view more of his incredible portfolio at his website by clicking here.

Pennsylvania Farm by Nathan Klein

First Prize goes to “Summer in the Tetons” by Loftin Johnson. Loftin traveled to Wyoming this past summer and had a great experience. Pretty easy to understand why when you see this picture.

Summer in the Tetons by Loftin Johnson

Both Nathan and Loftin will receive itunes gift certificates and Loftin will get $100 donated in her honor to Charity Water.

Photo Contest Finalists!

September 27, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

Over 50 photos were submitted for the photo contest! Thanks to everyone who submitted their work, it was very cool to see your amazing work. I am working on creating an album that will have all of them, but first we need to choose a winner! There are 5 finalists and you can view them all below. The top vote getter will receive a $20 itunes gift card and the second place vote getter will receive a $10 itunes gift card. The first place winner will also have $100 donated in their name to Charity Water. In order to vote, select your favorite picture in the poll at the bottom of the page and share this link with your friends!

Before getting to the finalists, I wanted to remind everyone about the 30/30/30K cause I am a part of. 30 different bloggers are working together to bring hope to people who have none. Just a $20 donation will provide clean drinking water for someone for 20 years! And if you have a favorite picture, donating $20 to this cause will give them an extra 20 votes! Just specify the picture in the comment section. To learn more and to donate, click here.

And in case you missed it, here is a very cool video about Charity Water:

And now…The Top 5 Photos! (Click to enlarge)

Taking Flight by Kelsey Hill

Pennsylvania Farm by Nathan Klein

Summer in the Tetons by Loftin Johnson

Smiling in Shades by Thomas Tyner

Plitvice Lakes by Chelsea Morgan


Voting ends on September 30 at noon! Tell your friends and get as many votes as you can! Thanks again to everyone who participated. Click here to subscribe so you can know who won!

THIS IS HUGE!!!

September 1, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

You have just stumbled upon the largest thing to hit the blogging world in history. No, this is not a joke. Yes, this is a long post, but it is extremely important that you read it!

Why is it so big? Because at least 30 (and hopefully more soon) other active blogs on the internet have joined forces to make a difference in the world. A few days ago, I wrote a post about things we take for granted. I said something big was coming, and here it is.

There are over 1 billion people in the world who do not have access to clean drinking water. This is a problem for obvious reasons, but here are some interesting numbers/thoughts on how it effects people:

- In Africa, women and children spend 40 Billion hours walking to find water that is muddy and not safe for drinking, but it is all they have
- Without water, they cannot irrigate farms and provide food
- You have all heard of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Many experts say that there is medicine available to slow the effects of HIV and help people deal with it, but there is not enough water to make it effective.
-4,500 children will die today because they do not have clean water
- Clean water and sanitation education can reduce water related deaths by 45%
- Every year, 443 million school days are lost because kids are trying to find clean drinking water.
- For every dollar donated towards clean drinking water, there is an average of $12 in returns for the people. In other words, clean water makes the economy work.
- Check out the nifty pie graphs and other cool stats by clicking here.

Charity: Water, is an incredible organization. They have private funding, which means that 100% of your donations goes towards clean drinking water. You may not realize it, but that is rare in the non-profit world. Often times, much of your donations go towards paying the bills or advertising. But when you donate anything, it all goes to clean drinking water. They go into communities and build wells with clean drinking water that offer hope to people who have none. Villages build community around these wells and grow as a people in incredible ways.

Here is a really cool video about the organization from last year. If you don’t read anything on this page, watch this video!:

So what is the big deal going on? Well, I don’t have a September birthday, but one of my friends, Tyler Stanton, a hilarious blogger, decided he wanted to make a difference anyway. So he organized 30 bloggers who are going to work together to raise $30,000 to provide clean drinking water for people around the world. Now, $30,000 is a lot of money, but I believe we can make that goal. I think we can even surpass it. I want to double it! But we need your help.

There are a few things you can do that would really make a difference.
1) Donate $20. Why $20? Because $20 provides clean drinking water for 1 person for 20 years. You will literally change someone’s entire life with just $20!
2) Share this cause with people! Do it through facebook, e-mail, twitter, youtube, or your own blogs. We want a huge network and we want to give these people a new story that is full of hope.
3) Stay updated with the action! One incredible thing about Charity:Water is that they keep track of where your money is going. They will post pictures and video of the well you helped build, show you on Google maps where exactly it is going, and keep you updated all the way through.

If you would like to donate or share our donation page, you can find it at http://mycharitywater.org/30. You can also visit this page to stay updated on how the fund raising is going.

Here is another great video about where exactly the donations this September are going:

Thanks everyone! Remember, all donations and people should be sent to this website: http://mycharitywater.org/30.

Taken for Granted

August 29, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

I saw a movie the other day that took place after a great war that destroyed much of the world. Few people were left alive and much of modern convenience was lost. The biggest loss, however, was the availability of water. During massive nuclear war, I guess most water gets contaminated or dried up. I can’t say for sure because I have never experienced this sort of event.

One of the main characters was younger and had never experienced life before the war. She asked an older man who had lived before the fallout what life was like back then. One of the things he said really struck me, “People had more than they needed. We had no idea what was precious and what wasn’t. We threw away things people kill each other for now.”

There are countless precious things in our lives that we totally take for granted. For instance, I don’t think there has ever been one day where I was legitimately concerned about getting food. I have always had a roof over my head. I have an incredible wife. I actually love my job. Sometimes we grow to think we deserve those things we experience with frequency, but really they are all precious gifts and deserve or admiration.

I saw this video about what life would be like in America without our most important resource: clean drinking water. It is pretty chilling, but definitely worth a minute of your time. Here we go…

I am going to close with two things. First, I think it would benefit all of us if we spent some time everyday actually thanking God. I don’t mean going through the motions, I mean literal, thoughtful thanks. Doing so will give you greater appreciation and joy in life. Second, something big is going to happen related to all of this in a couple of days, so stay tuned. When I say big, I mean the biggest thing this cheesy blog has ever been a part of.

Anyone out there want to express some appreciation?

Maintaining Your Youth

August 26, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

I just finished reading C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy and really enjoyed it. Lewis is one of my favorite authors and the Space Trilogy is a good example of why. He is a brilliant writer who is able to write incredible stories that are full of theological truth. While I cannot get into a full book review now (although I would love to), I do want to talk about a half page that really stuck out to me. If you have never read the books, don’t worry, this is by no means a spoiler.

You should read these

Two characters, Arthur and Camilla Denniston, are having a conversation with another character named Jane Studdock. They live in England and it is, not surprisingly, a foggy day. The Dennistons are explaining to Jane that they love all kinds of weather: fog, snow, rain, whatever it may be. She tells them that she can try to like crazy weather, but, “I don’t think I should ever learn to like rain and snow.”

“It’s the other way round,” said Denniston. “Everyone begins as a child by liking weather. You learn the art of disliking it as you grow up. Haven’t you ever noticed it on a snowy day? The grown-ups are all going about with long faces, but look at the children–and the dogs? They know what snow’s made for.”

“I’m sure I hated wet days as a child,” said Jane.

“That’s because the grown-ups kept you in,” said Camilla. “Any child loves rain if it’s allowed to go out and paddle about in it.”

Snow Skiing is probably my favorite thing to do ever.

I think Lewis makes a brilliant point in this brief dialogue. For some reason, we lose some of that zeal for life that was so prevalent as a child. Maybe it is because we have more responsibilities or because we have lost more of our trust for the world. Maybe it is because we become too worried about what others think or because of some misguided notion that adults just shouldn’t play too much.

I, for one, like the idea of maintaining my youth. I am not, by any means, saying I want to disregard my responsibilities. I do, however, want to live life with enthusiasm. I want to trust God to handle the big things that are beyond me and not spend my life worried. I want the faith of a child. I want to ignore the criticisms of people who are not enjoying life and are therefore prone to criticism of those who are. I want to have fun!

Some of my favorite memories are in the rain (read about the time I fell in love with Morgan here). I still love playing in the snow too. Granted, it is a pain when one gets stranded somewhere without a change of clothes or a tooth brush, but that sort of thing would be amazing for a kid to experience. Life is an adventure, and we have to choose whether or not we will take on the challenges with gusto, or spend our time complaining and rob ourselves of the joy of life.

What do you think? Is it a good thing to take on life’s challenges with the heart of a child?

If you are interested in the Lewis Space Trilogy, you can get them here: The Space Trilogy

A New Website

August 25, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

Over the past couple of weeks we have been putting in a lot of work to create a new website for Campus Life. It is still not 100% there, but currently has 10 newly written lessons and 28 new videos. Over the next few weeks we will be adding another 15 videos and 9 more lessons.

If you have never heard of Campus Life it is one of the coolest and most effective things we are a part of. Every week, over 1000 students gather on different school campuses to worship and hear from God. The best part is, the clubs are entirely student led. Students teach, lead worship, perform skits, share testimonies, and organize games. Earlier in the week, the leaders of each club meet off campus to plan for their club and be trained by Christian adults who have some experience in those leadership areas.

If you visit the site (which you should) you will notice that all of the videos consist entirely of students. Check it out at www.for-campuslife.org. Many of the videos were also created by students, which is really cool because they look very professional. I love it when students take charge. If you are a youth pastor somewhere in the world, I strongly encourage you to help your students start their own club. It is incredibly effective and will bring students into the Kingdom. I would be happy to answer any of your questions!

Here is an example of just one of the videos by a Campus Life student:

The website was built using wordpress, which I highly recommend to anyone out there interested in web design. There are so many options (that can be simple or very complicated) and they can look very sharp. I also think they can be extremely easy to navigate once they are built, which is the most important thing about web design (if it looks good but no one can find anything, what good is it?). I hope you enjoy the new website!

The Most Important Part of LUG

August 11, 2010 in Abundant Life with 0 Comments

This video is being made as part of a series called “The Empower Series” and contains several of the fundamentals we have used at Grace to grow our student ministry. If you would like to attend the Empower Conference, click here to learn more or click here to sign up!

LUG begins on August 25! LUG is our Middle School Program where we have crazy fun, Bible teaching, worship, and most importantly, discipleship that is led by High Schoolers. Russell Schultz, our Middle School Director, explains the secret to our success:

If you want to learn more about LUG, check out the following video or visit www.lugweb.com

Missions Sunday

July 28, 2010 in Abundant Life, Cultural Connection, Videos with 0 Comments

Today is day number 3 of video week. This video is the sermon I taught on Sunday for TrueNorth, our High School Ministry. I taught on the mission God has called us too and our choice in playing a role in His mission. I was a little short on time, so there were some details I wish I could have embellished on, but overall I thought God really gave me some good things to say to the students. I’m don’t think I am the best speaker in the world, but I hope you enjoy it.

Cruising Observations

July 21, 2010 in Abundant Life with 1 Comment

All last week I was on a cruise to the Western Caribbean with my awesome wife Morgan and her family. We had an amazing time hanging out together with lots of great weather and saw some really cool things (such as the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich and the Coral Reefs at Tabyana Beach). I noticed a few things while on this cruise, however, that are worth noting.

Standing on our first pyramid

1) There is an inverse relation to the number of days the cruise has lasted and the number of people in the fitness room: On the first day at sea, you could barely move without bumping into someone and there was no escaping the B.O. smell. By the final day of the cruise, everyone was so loaded down with endless buffets that the workout room was entirely neglected. Not necessarily by choice, but simply because once someone sat down, they were incapable of standing again.

2) People go crazy over beads: One night they had a party on the pool deck and the staff was throwing out beads for more than an hour. People were jumping up and down screaming for beads the entire time. Just to be clear, these beads were plastic and not special in any way, but something about beads demands our attention.

3) People are addicted to the internet. It is an epidemic. On the last day of our cruise, the internet cafe (called the Fun Hub) was packed with people checking facebook. The internet cost $20 for 1 hour, and they couldn’t even make it one more day! I myself refused to even touch it (thus the lack of a blog post in almost 2 weeks), but part of the reason may be the lack of $20.

Morgan and I displayed our dancing skills to the crowd

4) Speaking of $20, I have decided that all-inclusive does not describe cruises. The food is included, the lemonade is included, and the cool towel animals are included, but other than that you need to have your wallet ready. They constantly push shopping (lots of great deals!), they “conveniently” took $140 to tip everyone out of my account, and they charge out the wazoo for excursions. Of course, you know all this at the beginning of the trip, but I am cheap!

5) The Karaoke gatherings are worse than American Idol auditions: People on cruises tend to think that karaoke is the place for them to display their long hidden talent to the world. Unfortunately, they must have hid their talent so well that they themselves lost it. I myself sang Ain’t no Mountain High Enough with Morgan, but at least we knew we were terrible singers. We don’t have a lot of talent, but we’ve got a lot of heart baby!

There is video of this event, but I have been forbidden from ever letting it see daylight

6) It is so good to relax: We live in a constantly moving culture filled with noise. It was so nice to just sit on top of the boat at night and listen to the wind and the waves or hang out on a beach with no particular goals. I am not very good at relaxing, but it is definitely a valuable and important thing to recharge and I was able to have a great time taking it easy with Morgan, her family, and the Lord.

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