Promo video for my latest book

Our media guy here just surprised me by posting a promotional video we shot last year for my book Remember Who You Are: Unleashing the Power of an Identity-Driven Life on YouTube.

We shot this video in the studio downstairs. The video was produced for and shown to Standard Publishing's sales force to get them excited about selling my book. I heard they liked it.

I thought you might, too.

My book is selling really well and I'm so grateful. If you get a chance to pick up a copy and read it, let me know what you thought about it. I'd love to hear from you.

Just thinking about Dad and Heaven

It's been almost 20 years since my Dad died.

I miss him, so much.

My family and I are preparing to leave Christ's Church as we follow God's leading back into Preaching ministry. We love the people at this church and are grieving this move, but we know that God is calling, so we must follow.

I can't tell you how many times in this transition I've longed for my Dad's advice.

If I could just have 30 minutes with my Dad . . .

but that will have to wait.

The older I get the more real Heaven becomes.

As a child it was a place with a lot of clouds and harps, but with each year that passes on this side of eternity it becomes a place with a lot of my friends and family.

This afternoon I stumbled across this video of David Phelps singing, No More Night. This song is special to me and my family. Our dear friend Tony Buchanan sang this song at my Dad's memorial service. Actually, Tony started the song, but--overcome by emotion--couldn't finish it, so my sister Leigh-Angela jumped up, stood next to Tony and they finished it together.

It reminded me of why Heaven is going to be worth it.

No more night.
No more pain.
No more tears.
Never crying again.
Praises to the great I Am.
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

And remember, it's not a dream; God WILL make all things new one day.

Pure Fashion

I subscribe to The Southeast Outlook, Southeast Christian Church's newspaper.

This morning I read an article about a fashion ministry called Pure Fashion.

I had never heard of Pure Fashion before this morning. According to their website, "Pure Fashion is an international faith based program designed for girls 14-18 to help young women re-discover and re-affirm their innate value and authentic femininity. Pure Fashion is a character formation program that enhances not only a young woman's external appearance, but more importantly, her interior beauty and balanced self confidence."

My eldest daughter is a beautiful 14-year-old who has an eye for fashion. My wife and I are careful with what we let her wear, but so much of what she is exposed to in this world promotes a clothing style that is anything but modest.

The Outlook article shares how 14-year-old Audrey Miller has been impacted by Pure Fashion: "Once Audrey Millard gets dressed for the day, she doesn’t want to think about what she’s wearing for the rest of it. So, instead of matching her favorite stylish sweater with a lower-cut cami, she wears a T-shirt underneath. "It looks nice, and it’s modest," she said. 'The world and culture tell you it’s OK to show a bit of skin.'"

I'm going to look into it further, but--at first glance--this ministry looks beautiful to me.

Abraham Lincoln

Last week I came across this quote from Abraham Lincoln. I keep thinking about it and how true it is.

Nearly all men can stand adversity. But if you want to test a man's character - give him power.

"He’s one of those preachers who walks it like he talks it.”

Beginning on May 12th, my friend--and former camp counselor--Scott Cain is going on a 4,000 mile bike ride from St. Augustine, Florida to Florence, Oregon to raise money for Lake Aurora Christian Camp and Habitat for Humanity.

He's been receiving a lot of press as news of his trip is getting out to the media.

Yesterday the Naples Daily News ran an article on Scott.

In this excerpt, Ryan Thomas--a bike shop owner and sponsor for the trip--gives us some insight into Scott's reputation in the community:

Biking across the country will be a new challenge even for a seasoned distance rider, said Ryan Thomas, owner of AJ Barnes Bicycle Emporium. The bike shop is providing road supplies for the trip, including backup tires, tubes and bicycle repair tools. Thomas, who once cycled from California to Michigan, is also offering his expertise. “It’s not going to be the easiest thing he’s ever done,” said Thomas. “But he’ll be able to spread his ministry and raise some money for good causes, so I think that will give him inspiration. He’s one of those preachers who walks it like he talks it.”

"Walks it like he talks it" . . . seems to be the theme of the day. :)

Wouldn't it be great if that could be said of every preacher?

Scott will be traveling Michael Stevens, a retired IRS special agent from Melbourne, and Marvin Talent, an engineer who lives in Louisiana.

You can follow Scott and his team's journey on their website: The Big Ride 2008.

AIDS Walk

Last month in a post entitled Britney is my Hero! I told you about a young woman from The Well who God is using to help people who are living with HIV & AIDS.

Last Saturday Britney took a small group of people from The Well to Orlando to participate in an AIDS walk. For the past ten months Britney has been talking about setting up an AIDS walk in Jacksonville. As a part of her planning strategy she--and six of her friends--signed up for an AIDS walk in Orlando.

Here's a group shot:

I'm so proud of them.

Here's an excerpt from Britney's blog, LIFE WITH A VISION about this experience:

This weekend a team of seven of us went down to Orlando and walked in their annual AIDS Walk. I was so impressed with everyone's commitment to the cause. We left Jacksonville at an ugly 5:30 am . . . We walked around Lake Eola two times, only to realize that we were supposed to walk three times, but don't worry we are honest. We walked our third lap after everyone else was finished. There were all kinds of people there from all walks of life. There was the gay men's chorus, a huge group from Disney, a group from Gap and a quite large group called "Alex's Angels" who were walking for Alex who had died of AIDS. There were even black women wearing shirts that said "I HAVE HIV....Don't you wish it were that easy to tell." And an older man proudly wearing his "I'm an 18 year survivor" T-shirt.

Now that I have had time to reflect, I realize I will be doing that many times again in my life. It was an experience like no other. I see that group of people in my mind, and I think that is where we, as Christians, SHOULD be. We are on this earth to bring people to Christ. But not just people that we are comfortable being around... ALL PEOPLE!! Even the man at the walk that was dressed as a woman; yes Jesus loves him, too. Yes, it is incredibly difficult to find a way in their world, but who cares?!! God never said it would be easy; in fact He tells us it WILL be difficult, but He is with us. He wants us to give our everything so that anyone and everyone will see His love reflected off of us. In my mind, God gives us a huge opportunity with the gay community, people with AIDS, and just plain hurting people. It is an opportunity to give of ourselves; a call to bring hope to the hopeless. To show love to the unloved; to bring God's compassion and grace to those who feel rejected.

We have to stop sitting in our churches looking out the window waiting for them to come to us. God tells to "go out unto all the world." I am done waiting for them to find me; LET"S GO GET THEM!!!! God has given me a burning desire to love these people. God never let that passion die. Make it burn until the day I die.

Well said Britney . . . and further proof that there are still Christians in this world who walk their talk.

LET'S GO GET THEM WITH BRITNEY!

The Best Game Ever!

I know I'm on a bit of a YouTube kick, but I can't seem to help myself, so I'll thank you in advance for your patience. :)

I just found a clip from a group called, "Improv Everywhere" that shows what happened when they decided to take over a Little League baseball game and make it the best game ever.

It makes me smile each time I watch it.

It's so cool to see what can happen when people are intentional in blessing the lives of others.

As you watch this, think about the power we each have--through Jesus Christ--to change people's lives. Imagine what would happen in our communities, schools, jobs, homes, and churches if Christians decided to more intentional about blessing the lives of the people around us.

I think it would be the best thing ever.

New Hope Christian Church

Last month I received a letter from the members of New Hope Christian Church in Whitestown, Indiana.

It read, "Each week we are selecting a minister for whom we will diligently pray. This week you are to be the recipient of our concentrated prayer effort. The members of the New Hope family are praying that God will grant you strength, understanding, good physical health, and His constant companionship as you serve Him. We thank God for your faithful ministry and we seek to encourage you as you faithfully preach the Word. May God bless you richly as you serve Him daily."

What a great idea! This is something any church could do to encourage ministers and promote a Kingdom vision.

I emailed the preacher to thank the church on my behalf. Their letter came at just the right time and meant so much to me.

“Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain.”

And he should know.

The man who said this was Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. And he said this when he found out that more than 40 climbers saw another climber—David Sharp—as he lay dying 1,000 feet short of the summit and they chose, not to help him, but to walk around him.

All that was important to him was another breath, but all that was important to 40 climbers was getting to the top of a mountain.

There is so much that they could have done for him.

They could have given him one of their extra oxygen tanks. They could have sent out a radio distress call. They could have tried to bring him down.

The only person who finally stopped to help was a man who knew what it was like to be avoided, neglected, and “detoured” around. Mark Inglis was the first double amputee to reach the summit. He knew how reaching the summit of Everest could change your life, but he also knew that life was so much more important than success, so he and his party stopped and began working to save David Sharp’s life, but it was too late and David died there on that mountain.

I want to be like Mark, because Mark—when he went out of his way to help David—was acting like Jesus.

Without Christ we were on the side of life’s path spiritually dying, but Jesus didn’t walk around us. He didn’t avoid us, or look the other way. No, understanding that human life is much more important than anything else, he stopped—while we were powerless—and began working to save our lives.

In Romans 5 Paul says it this way:

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This morning, I wanted us to pause and remember that human life—my life, your life, and the lives of the people in this world—is far more important than anything else in this world. I also wanted to pause and thank Jesus for stopping and saving us in our time of need.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

I'll admit it up front . . . this video has absolutely no spiritual value at all, but--as a cat owner (and a big fan of engineers)--I had to share it with you.

Randy Pausch Visits Steelers

Recently Randy Pausch (Randy's Last Lecture) had the chance to practice with the Pittsburgh Steelers--his favorite NFL football team.

Here's some video from his visit:

Jesus and American Idol

My family and I are American Idol fans. We were at church on Wednesday so we recorded "Idol Gives Back." Our DVR cut off the last few minutes of the show. We found out that we missed the idols singing one of our favorite songs, "Shout to the Lord."

Bummer.

I also heard they took out the the name of "Jesus" on Wednesday's performance, changing it to "Shepherd".

Bummer.

But, our disappointment was short-lived, because--in last night's performance--"Jesus"--our Shepherd and our Savior--was back.

Very Cool.

Robby Tebow

I just got back from having lunch with Tim Tebow's (Heisman winner) brother, Robby.

He's speaking at Christ's Church next week, so we met him at Sonny's Bar-B-Q to get ready for his visit . . . and to eat some excellent food!

Robby is a strong Christian and the Area Director for the Northeast Florida Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Over lunch he told us about the work his father is connected with in Nepal which involves the aggressive rescue of 5 & 6 year-old girls who are kidnapped and then taken to India to be sold into prostitution.

It is evident that God is using the Tebow family to do amazing things for the glory of God and God alone.

I can testify that the love and humility of Christ was evident in Robby. It was such a blessing to get to know him.

The only bad part was that--for some reason--he's a Florida Gator fan. :)

Go Vols!

"Don't love him."

I attend a men's Bible study on Thursday mornings with a great group of Christian men.

One of the men in our group, Hugh Jones, is a retired banking executive who has a huge heart for God and people. Hugh was recently featured in an article in the Jacksonville Times Union.

In 1986 Hugh organized a group--including doctors--to go to South Korea to help sick children. While in a hospital in South Korea Hugh noticed a woman holding a baby who was completely blue. One of the doctors on the trip was horrified. He said, "If this baby was in the United States I would have him in surgery immediately." Without treatment the doctor knew the baby would live no more than six months.

A South Korean doctor told the baby's mother that there was nothing they could do so she should just take the baby home. He also gave her one more piece of advice, "Don't love him."

The baby's name was Kang Joon Ku.

Kang, then 11 months old, was suffering from a life-threatening congenital heart condition that required immediate surgery.

After the doctor examined him in 1986, Kang and his mother were flown to Jacksonville. On April 21 that year, Miller performed a cardiac catheterization procedure at University Hospital, now Shands Jacksonville. The next day a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon performed open heart surgery on Kang.

He made a full recovery and returned to Korea a month later.

Kang was one of 71 children treated in Jacksonville between 1985 and 1995 as part of the Korean Heart program, founded by Hugh.

A couple of weeks ago, Kang, now 22 years old, visited Jacksonville to personally thank the people who saved his life. Hugh said it was an amazing experience.

This morning, as I listened to Hugh shared this story with us, I kept thinking about what that South Korean doctor said to Kang's mother.

"Don't love him."

I'm so grateful that Kang's mother--and Hugh--didn't take that doctor's horrible advice.

"Don't love him."

What a terrible thing for a doctor to say.

As I reflected on that advice it dawned on me that Satan--if given the same chance--would have given Jesus the same advice about us.

Can't you picture the scene?

Jesus holding our wounded soul in his arms with Satan looking on.

All seemed hopeless.
We were fatally wounded by the consequences of our sin.
We were weak and spiritually sick.
It seemed as if we were doomed.

Satan--assessing the situation--advises Jesus, "Don't love him." "Don't love her."

But--praise God--Jesus didn't take Satan's advice! Praise God that he healed us and gave us a chance for new life!

So, following Kang's example, I return to God this morning with a prayer of gratitude:

"Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for saving my life. I'd have no hope without you. I wouldn't be here without you. I love you, so much, and I commit my life to making sure that lost people know that you love them, too. In Jesus' name, Amen."

A Stolen Church Trailer and An Amazing Offer of Forgiveness

Last Saturday I had the privilege of eating breakfast with a church planter named Dave Milam.

Dave is the lead planter for Kinetic Church™ in Charlotte, NC.

Early last month someone stole the trailer that Kinetic Church used to store 75% of what they need to "do church" on a weekly basis. They meet in a theater, so they have to set up--and tear down--church every single week.

When I was a preacher at Southside Christian Church in Orlando we met in a High School so we had to do the same thing. We often wondered what we would do if someone would have ever decided to take one--or both--of our trailers. Thankfully we never had to deal with that challenge, but Kinetic Church has and I think they are handling it masterfully.

Dave and his team are turning this frustrating experience into an opportunity to get a message of forgiveness to their community . . . and to the thieves who stole their trailer.

They've arranged to get five billboards in Charlotte so they could send funny messages to the trailer thieves to try to get their attention. Here's one of my favorites:

Dave and his team also put together a video message to the thieves.



I can't wait to see what happens next.

I hope the thieves take Dave up on his offer and--at least--agree to eat with him. I did and I know they'll find what I found out--that eating with Dave Milam is a lot like eating with Jesus.

Awareness Test

All of my cycling friends and I thank you for taking this important test.