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Book Recommendation

My best friend told me about a book he read that totally revolutionized his life and his ministry (my friend is a Nazarene pastor). Last week he sent me a copy of the book which I finished yesterday. The book makes the case for getting back to one-on-one discipleship and talks about this being the only way to make true disciples. It's not a bash against the church or Sunday morning services (it's written by a pastor), but it's hard to argue with most of what the author has to say. I read the book in less than a week but it's going to take me a long time to digest. I am already praying about how to put some of this into practice in my own life now. I'm thinking this may be a book that majorly transforms me, too. Will be praying for what all God wants to say to me through this book.

You can click here to go to Amazon to read more about it.

12 of 12 November 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Friday.

#1 - 7:04am - Writing the napkin poem for the day

#2 - 7:08am - Boo always waits by Amanda's door so she can run in and say good morning.

#3 - 7:09am - Sully wanted to take his turn saying good morning.

#4 - 9:05am - Updating drivers on computers in the lab at Amanda's school.

#5 - 12:00pm - One of my favorite past times... my remote control helicopter.

#6 - 12:37pm - Working on another school computer during lunch. Installing Windows getting it ready for the school network.

# 7 - 2:48pm - Tammy commenting on my Tweet about my 12 of 12. She was glad it was on Friday so that she did not appear in any of the pictures.

#8 - 12:59pm - Carol dropping off some business for More Tech Savvy.

#9 - 1:16pm - The offices of More Tech Savvy

#10 - 1:53pm - Working with Brooke in the garage tagging stuff for our Garage Sale the next day.

#11 - 3:43pm - Picking up Amanda and Avery (and Franswa) from school

#12 - 3:57pm - Amanda doing her knee exercises.

Lessons From The Fire Pit

Tonight was a crisp and cool night...perfect for sitting by the fire pit. I like it when it's cold enough that a blanket is needed and the only way to keep warm is to sit close to the fire. I wrap a blanket around myself and then drape it over my head. I use my hands to grab the sides of the blanket and open it just enough to form a funnel for the fire's heat to warm me. Sometimes this works so well I have to shield my face because it gets so hot.

I don't know if there is such a thing as a "fire expert", and I may not be at the expert level, but I know how to build a fire and keep it burning. I'll be honest and admit that I did use 1/3 of a "fire brick" to get my fire started this evening. I broke it into three small pieces and placed it on some scrap wood my Dad had given me surrounded by newspaper. On top of that I piled some twigs, followed by a couple branches stacked tee pee fashion and finally a good sized log. I lit the newspaper which, in turn, lit the fire brick which then lit the twigs and the branches. The flames were finally big enough to catch the log and then I had a real fire.

As I watched the fire burn, I felt the Lord making some comparisons between my fire and his Church. I looked at all of the different types of wood (twigs, branches and logs) that went into the fire and how each was vital to the making of the fire, yet they were all secondary to the fire itself. I thought about the different types of people that make up God's Church and how important each are to God's Kingdom, yet they are all secondary in importance to the work Christ is doing in and through them.

Twigs

When it's time to start a fire, big logs are pretty much useless. A match or lighter is not going to catch a log on fire. A fire must be started with twigs, and generally quite a few of them. The more small, dry twigs that are put together, the easier it is to get the fire started. Twigs light quickly and burn easily, but they burn up pretty fast. The fire will quickly die without more fuel.

Branches

Branches are bigger than twigs and, like logs, are very difficult to light on fire with just a match or lighter. But once the twigs have created a good size flame, branches stacked on top of the twigs will catch on fire causing a bigger flame that will burn a bit longer. But for a real fire, something bigger is needed.

Logs

I like to watch the stages of my fire. First the twigs light, and then the branches catch on fire and finally the log that I lay on top begins to smoke and slowly catch on fire. The branches have been stacked in such a way that the twigs can burn to start the fire and there is plenty of space under the log for a flame to get all the oxygen it needs to burn bright and hot. Once the log catches, the fire begins serving it's purpose and puts out some serious heat.

It would not be possible to have a fire without all three of these. When starting a fire, the twigs are most important. When the fire is just starting and needs a bigger flame, the branches are most important. For the fire to reach it's full potential, logs are most important. Twigs are not better than logs because they light faster and logs are not better than twigs because they burn longer. What's most important is not which type of wood burns the fastest or the longest...what's most important is the fire itself and the warmth it produces.

God's Church is made up of people and personalities that might be compared to these three types of wood. You could make up your own category for each of these, but as I watched the fire burn tonight, this is what came to my mind.

Twigs

There are people in the Church who are easily excitable and ready to run as soon as they even sense that God might be moving in a certain direction. Maybe it's a new ministry within a local church or an evangelism idea. Whatever it is, they sense God in it and the spark immediately catches with them.

Branches

These might be the people in the Church who have the skills that are seen more easily. They may not be as excitable or sensitive to what God is speaking as the twigs, but once they get the vision, they have the skills to move things to the next level. They use their skills, get others involved and what started as just a whisper from God begins to take shape and others can see what God is doing.

Logs

As I watched the big log burn in my fire tonight, I couldn't help but notice the long, slow burn. I thought about people in the Church who have walked with the Lord and served his Kingdom for a long time. They may not be as excitable as the twigs and their talent may not shine as brightly as the branches, but they know how to stick with it. What they bring to the work of God is stability and longevity. The twigs started the fire, the branches helped others see the fire, but logs give the fire substance.

In the Church, each of these types of have two choices: judge others for not being "useful" like them, or appreciate the function served by each. If the fire represents a work that God is doing in and through his Church, the fire is what's important, not the wood. The wood is simply what is being used to make the fire possible.

The twigs could look at the branches and judge, "Why can't they be as sensitive as me to the moving of the Holy Spirit? Isn't it obvious what God is wanting to do?" The branches could look at the logs and say, "Years ago they were like me having the skills to make this happen." And the logs could look at the twigs and judge, "Sure you're all excited about this, but you're just getting started. Do you realize how long I've been doing this?"

or

The logs could look at the twigs and say, "Thank you, Lord, for the excitement that comes from following you and for those who are quick to respond." The branches could look at the logs and say, "Thank you, Lord, for these logs that have been around and have what it takes to keep this going." And the twigs could look at the branches and say, "Thank you, Lord, for bringing the branches along to take this work to the next level."

In the end, if all of the wood has served it's purpose, the twigs, branches and logs are indistinguishable in the red hot embers that put out so much heat after the flames are gone. And even then, the wood is not useless. Although the embers are flameless, if fresh twigs were thrown on them, the whole process would be started again. God's purpose for his Church has always been for one generation to pass on to the next the things of God they have known and experienced.

As tinder for God's flame, we best serve our purpose when our focus is on the flame and not on ourselves. Not only will we appreciate the way God has created us with a need for each other, but we can also pass his flame along for generations to come.

Blast From The Past

June 14, 1992 was my first Youth Sunday as youth pastor of Trinity New Life Fellowship. Click here to read the bulletin from that Sunday.

12 of 12 October 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Tuesday.

#1 - 7:40am - Taking a picture of today's lunch napkin poem and uploading to Facebook.

#2 - 7:41am - Lights out in my home office. Thankfully just a tripped breaker.

#3 - 7:49am - Breakfast of champions. My favorite breakfast most days.

#4 - 8:59am - Jason found this caterpillar in the church sanctuary. Somehow this little guy ended up on Jason's car windshield a little bit later.

#5 - 11:25am - The bee guys were back at it again trying to get rid of them six weeks after their initial try.

#6 - 11:27am - Bee guys cutting into the hollowed out tree trying to find the queen and the honeycomb.

#7 - 11:39am - Pastor, Jason and me in the van with the rest of the staff on the way to a staff birthday lunch.

#8 - 12:42pm - Here's the gang at BJs for Philip's birthday lunch.

#9 - 1:05pm - Happy Birthday Philip.

#10 - 1:45pm - Here's what the tree looked like when the bee guys were done with it. They finally found the queen and a small honeycomb which they removed. Bees have not been back since!

#11 - 4:51pm - Spent the afternoon preparing for the upcoming Men's Retreat.

#12 - 11:05pm - Sully sitting in his chair in my office. It is really my reading chair which Sully has tried to claim as his own.

12 of 12 September 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Sunday.

#1 - 8:35am - Checking the Greeting Team schedule for this morning from the sound room computer.

#2 - 8:36am - Amanda Kay...my pretty girl.

#3 - 9:01am - Youth worship team on Youth Sunday.

#4 - 9:04am - Pastor Matt opening Youth Sunday in prayer.

#5 - 11:41am - Sunday afternoon lunch with Sonic.

#6 - 2:27pm - After several treatments the Africanized bees are still here and have opening up the hole to get inside the tree again.

#7 - 2:35pm - Had to take these security bars down so I could crawl back in this window when I was cleaning the gutters during the last big thunderstorm. I used a ladder to get on the roof, but it was not stable enough to climb back down so I had to go back in through this window.

#8 - 2:37pm - Amanda Kay coming out to help me put these security bars back up.

#9 - 2:37pm - TaDa! More help.

#10 - 2:50pm - Job is just about done.

#11 - 3:41pm - Amanda came into my office at home to show me her artwork. I called her my Smiling Warrior Princess.

#12 - 6:55pm - I have no idea what I am doing in this picture. Amanda took it. I'm not sure if she just thought it was funny that I had the remote control in my pocket or if she was supposed to take a picture of what I was doing but just zoomed in too much.

12 of 12 August 2010

12 of 12 Basic Idea - 12 pictures from your life on the 12th of every month. This month, the 12th was on a Thursday.

#1 8:02am - Security lights were not on at one of the buildings so I went to investigate. This is me fixing the electrical problem.

#2 08:19am - Airing up the water slide to clean it and put it away after being used the night before.

#3 8:48am - Late breakfast after getting some outside work done at church.

#4 10:10am - Caught this little guy sneaking a drink from the AC drain pipe.

#5 10:31am - Volunteers helping stuff backpacks in preparation for the Operation Backpack outreach coming up in a few days.

#6 11:01am - More help stuffing backpacks.

#7 12:01pm - Backpacks filled by Vine Fellowship members for Operation Backback 2010

#8 12:50pm - Amanda Kay fixing lunch.

#9 3:41pm - Not sure why there was a beach ball in the foyer, but Amanda and I found it and took a break to have some fun.

#10 03:22pm - Part of my Thursday routine...sending out Greeting Team reminders for the upcoming weekend.

#11 5:05pm - Preparing to go to Texas Combat Shooters.

#12 11:05pm - Late night family night! We stopped by Sonic and then headed out to the country away from the city lights looking for the comets that were supposed to be visible. Never saw any.