11 Weeks And Counting

The last two years I have done a triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run) in August. Looking at the calendar today, I realize that I have 11 weeks until the race. This summer I am at the beach a week, in Cuba for a week, and on a cruise for a week. So really, I have about 8 weeks left to get into shape. Two years ago my goal was to finish without dying, which I did. Once I proved to myself that I could finish, I really wanted to improve my time the following year, which I did (I improved my time by 7 minutes, 48 seconds). I am hoping to improve my time again this year by at least another 5 minutes.

I really need to step up my training. I have been doing some kind of exercise 2-3 times a week, but I haven't really been pushing myself. If I am going to better my time, I know I need some serious discipline. If anyone knows where I can find some, let me know. Still searching for some ... trying to exercise more and eat less junk.

Memorial Day

What a great weekend! After a great Sunday the Wise's slept in and then had brunch around 11 am (pancakes and sausage). We then went went to a nearby lake and took Sydney our black lab who loves swimming. We had fun watching her retrieve her tennis ball in the lake. Following our hike around the lake, we headed to Ritas for a mango gelati. A little later we headed to see Indy do his thing in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Great movie-I recommend it. It was pouring rain after the movie, and as I ran to get the car I couldn't get the theme song out of my head (Go ahead and hum it). I think that it helped me to run a little faster. Now I am cheering on the Pens-go Pens!

Ahhh, What A Beautiful Day!

What a great Saturday! Patsy, Brooke, Kara, and I went on a bike ride in downtown Pittsburgh. What a great day to get out in the sunshine and beautiful weather. I am not sure the name of the trail, but we start at REI on the Southside and ride down past Station Square along the river. We stopped and had a ice cream cone at Station Square and just sat in the sun for a while ... Went home and cooked out some Hebrew Nationals on the grill ... Ahhh what a great day! Looking forward to preaching my message on Gideon tomorrow.

Quotes From Sunday's Message

Enjoyed delivering the message, "God Is Just Getting Started" yesterday. Here are a few of the statements that I think are pretty important:

--Many have bought into the lie that my best days are behind me.

--I don’t care where you are on the journey-God is not done with you yet.

--Once God has moved into the neighborhood, he wants to change us from the inside out.

--“We are educated way beyond our level of obedience.” --Mark Batterson

--Spiritual growth is a collaborative effort between you and the HS.

--Change, growth, holiness, transformation, maturity are ongoing. The Journey never ends.

--Are you yielding to the voice of the Spirit?

Lazy Day

Today is one of those lazy days even though there is plenty of work to do around the house (like laundry). Last night Brooke and I went to see The Return of Prince Caspian since Kara was babysitting and Patsy is in FL visiting her sister and parents. We were about 20 minutes into the movie and realized the screen was flickering really badly so we went into another theater where the same movie started a half hour later (Really glad we did even though we had to sit through the previews again). We enjoyed the movie though it was not as good as the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I feel that it is important for Christians to support these kind of movies if we want Hollywood to keep producing them. Back to the laundry and maybe a jog if I can motivate myself.

I Am Pumped

This January I shared with Journey that I hoped we could plant a church sometime in 2008. I was not sure how all of this could happen, but was hopeful that somehow we could plant a church overseas this year. Next month 3 of us are headed to Cuba to train a group of church planters, and while we are there we will be delivering funds to the Cuba Assemblies of God to purchase several house churches as well as cover the salaries for the pastors for the first year.

I am amazed that such a small amount of money in our country can go so far in Cuba. I am so pumped at the opportunity that Journey has to advance the kingdom of God in this communist country by planting churches and investing in national pastors. My wife and I decided to take a chunk of our "free money" that we received from the government this week, and instead of investing in our economy, we are investing in the kingdom of God.

What a great opportunity to make a difference, seek first his kingdom, impact our world with the good news, follow the mandate Jesus gave us, and invest in world missions.

Can't wait to share with you over the next several weeks how you can get involved in this GREAT OPPORTUNITY. Stay tuned ...

Mother's Day

Had a great Mother's Day. We gave Patsy all of her gifts last night (dress, blouse, picture, sunglasses, and necklace). She made out this year. After church today, we cooked french toast and sausage for lunch. Spent the rest of the day relaxing-we normally do something outside, but since it was raining we had a good nap. We will watch the finale of Survivor tonight. Go Amanda.

Ahh, The Underdog ...

Woke up this morning after sleeping in and started watching the classic movie, Cinderella Man. Now I am hooked once again. What a great story of the underdog coming through. There is something about the underdog rising up to the beat the odds that gets me every time.

If there is one thing I know, it is that God is into using the underdogs whether it is the 12 disciples, Paul, Jesus, or Rahab. God loves taking the foolish things to confound the wise.

Braddock gets a second chance to fight but is put up against the number two contender in the world by the promoters who see Braddock as nothing more than a punching bag. Braddock stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third round knockout of his formidable opponent. Fighting with permanent injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to win and before long he comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public coping with the Depression. Dubbed the "Cinderella Man," in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, he would eventually defeat the seemingly invincible Max Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

What a great movie! Gotta go. I am too emotional to keep typing. Braddock wins by unanimous decision!

Random Thought on Friday

Perry Noble had this random thought ... why is it that people would not dare walk into a movie or a Broadway Play 15-30 minutes late…but they are ok with doing it at church? Hmmmm. Enjoy the weekend, and let's get to church on time :)

Pirates Are Number One

Whoohoo! The Pirates are the number one team ... number one worst franchise in pro sports-first place! Here is what the article says by DAVE GOLOKHOV:

Never mind championships, pennants or division titles, the Pittsburgh Pirates haven't even had a winning season in 15 years. One more losing season and the Pirates will tie the record for most consecutive losing seasons among the four major sports. They continually field one of the youngest and most inexperienced rosters in the league and are always rebuilding. The black and yellow team colors fit their plan of constantly being under construction.

Puzzling personnel plays: Signing Derek Bell, Jeromy Burnitz and Tony Armas, Jr.; and trading Aramis Ramirez.

Remember ... 1997: The closest the Pirates have come to 82 wins (otherwise known as a winning season) in the last 15 years was in 1997. They were expected to push 90 to 100 losses, but ended up as one of the league's irrelevant surprises when they finished with 79 wins. The entire team salary was $9 million, which was less than what Albert Belle made that season.

Long Day

Just got in from a long day. Had a very good time at Ministry Summit catching up with friends and colleagues as well as the sessions. Mark Batterson spoke at the last session, and he is always very inspiring and challenging at the same time. Some of the things that he said that stood out to me were:

“Change of pace plus change of place equals change of perspective.”

“We overestimate what we can do in 2 years and underestimate what we can do in 10 years." --Bill Gates

“I am convinced that we don’t need one more service, we need one more relationship with an unbeliever.”

"We are educated way beyond our level of obedience."

Lastly he challenged me by asking me what kind of God-sized dreams am I dreaming. Wow!

Gotta go to bed ...

Sitting In A Business Session

While sitting in the business session in between watching some video clips and voting, I read a great quote from Tony Morgan. Check out his post.

The other day I was driving down the road going about 50 mph. Just in case you're wondering, that's not quite fast enough.

I passed an organization with a big sign out front. Part of the sign includes an electronic message board that rotates messages. I don't know how many messages there are. At 50 mph, I only saw one. And, because of that, I know that it was precisely "8:28" when I passed the sign.

The funny thing about that is that I didn't really need to know that it was 8:28. I already had that information from my car and cell phone clocks.

It made me wonder though...

Didn't they realize that I'm going fast and that it's difficult for me to take in more than one message?
Or, did they think all their messages were important enough that it would force me to stop?
Did they know they were answering a question I wasn't asking?
Are they aware that the fancy flashing electronic sign caused me to miss whatever message they were sharing on the non-electronic portion of their sign?
Do they know that they caught my attention but failed to generate an opportunity to respond?
You know what's funny about this? There's probably a group of people meeting in that organization thinking, "He missed our message because he wouldn't slow down." Then, to affirm their position, someone will likely point out: "Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it."

And, rather than changing the methods for communicating their message, they'll continue blaming me for not hearing it.

Great Sunday

We had a great day yesterday-spoke on the promise of the baptism (immersion) in the Holy Spirit. Many were baptized/refilled, and we had a great altar time where God did some amazing things. Can't wait to share the message next week ... don't miss it!

I am currently in Dover, DE for our annual Ministry Summit. We can see the Dover Speedway from our hotel window. Just got back from Lone Star Steak House ... as usual, I ate too much. Looking forward to connecting with friends and pastors tomorrow that I haven't seen in a while.

Go Pens!

Where Has Time Gone

Brooke was inducted to the National Honor Society last evening at South Fayette High School. As you can imagine, we are very proud of her. She has maintained at least a 3.5 GPA while taking all Honors classes. Moments like these cause you to ponder the question, where has time gone? It just doesn't seem like 16 years ago that she made her grand entrance into the world. Brooke, we are proud to be your parents!