Random Thoughts I’ve Had Recently

*Almost all things Google are awesome. Not sure about Google Wave, but everything else I’ve tried is really good.

*I recently got a new ESV Bible for my birthday. I recommend the ESV.

*The Nacho Cheese Dorito is the best chip ever known to humans.

*Mat Kearney’s music is something I seem to never get tired of.

*I might be as tall as Mavericks back up point guard JJ Berea.

*The internet is not a phase, but seems to be here to stay.

*The shopping carts at Wal-Mart are about the worst ever made. I rarely go in a Wal-Mart anymore, but when I do, it takes me 5 minutes to find a cart that when I push it, doesn’t want to immediately go into a hairpin turn. Almost all of them rattle, squeak, or have wheels that have rocks for ball bearings. Among the many things Target does to dominate Wal-Mart, their shopping carts are Cadillacs. Wal-Marts are Yugos.

*Speaking of shopping carts, all the ones I’ve seen in my travels overseas are 4 wheel drive…meaning, all four wheels swivel, not just the front two. Manueverability is amazing on those things. I wish all four wheels of my truck would swivel.

*Still on the topic of shopping carts, the ones overseas require a deposit. You put in the equivalent of about a dollar, and it unlocks a cart. You return the cart to where you got it, you get your coinage back. Why do we not do this here?

*How did Curling ever make it into the Olympics? Those people cannot be considered athletes.

*It’s possible for almost all nations to compete in the summer Olympics…rich or poor can win in the summer games. Not true for the winter Olympics. For the most part, only the wealthy countries can compete in the winter Olympics. Think about it. It’s true.

*“Words with Friends” app is a huge time waste.

*The most unbelievable app created thus far is Shazam. Amazing. How in the wide, wide world of sports does that thing do that?

*I’m all for supporting our local businesses and companies, but all the nickel and dime(ing) American Airlines continues to do, makes me wish all my airline miles were with Southwest. Charge for checked bags, charge $8 for a pillow, charge for a cracker. Sure wish Southwest was an international carrier.

*I wish The Unit wasn’t cancelled on CBS last year. I think it was one of the best shows on TV.

*The excitement and lure of Facebook has just about run it’s course. I love Twitter.

How To Start A Movement

I saw this video on Tony Morgan's blog. Good stuff.

Seizing Opportunities to Share

Evangelism, sharing the Good News, sharing the Gospel, sharing Your story of how Christ transformed your life is something all of as believers should be active in doing on a consistent basis. Opportunities abound every day, every week, yet so few of us actually take advantage of those opportunities, much less even notice them.

Not trying to cause guilt here, but I’ve written it to remind myself (and possibly you) to seize the opportunities we all have as Christ followers. Not one of us on the planet is so gifted in evangelism, or persuasive or eloquent enough to cause anyone to come to faith. Faith and Salvation are gifts of God, not gifts of Kent, or you, or anyone else. They are gifts of God (Eph 2:8-9). The Holy Spirit moves in hearts. I don’t, you don’t, Billy Graham in his prime didn’t either. It’s a privilege and honor that God chooses to use us though, and we get the chance to see Him move when we act and respond in obedience to share Jesus with others. What a privilege that God allows us to be a part, to see first hand Him moving in the hearts of those who don’t know Him.

This simple truth takes all the pressure off when it comes to evangelism, doesn’t it? After all, since I can’t convince anyone to come to faith, then I don’t have to worry if I mess up, say the wrong thing, or feel like I butchered it. Any words spoken on behalf of Christ, no matter how eloquent or how inarticulate they may seem to be, those words are never wasted! God can use us. He desires to use us. Share Christ, share what He did on the cross, share how the Gospel impacted your life. He will be the One persuading, He will be the One stirring and drawing a heart, and as He desires, He will be the One transforming a life.

143 Million Orphans!

I love the phrase mentioned in this short video, "...begin an epidemic of adoptions within our churches". What would that look like in our home church of First McKinney if an epidemic of adoptions broke out? What would it look like if it happened in your church? How would it affect you personally?

There are approximately 143 million orphans around the world. 143 MILLION! That's utterly ridiculous, and it shouldn't be! But what if God called you to be a mom or a dad to just one of those children? Just ONE?

Maybe He isn't calling you to adopt, but then again, maybe you've never prayed about it either. So, why not pray? See if this isn't what God desires for you. Whether He leads you to adopt or just to care for and be an advocate for orphans, do anything but ignore the issue (James 1:27).

Adoption from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Thanks to my good friend, Tracey Fields, for calling my attention again to this video from Catalyst. Check out Tracey's blog at http://www.lazyfeet.blogspot.com/

Letters to our boys

Something Tammy and I did with Brooks when he turned one year old was to each write him a letter that would go in his baby book. We’ve done this with Brayden as well. They will both hopefully have these letters all their lives and can look back on them periodically throughout the years. It seemed a great thing to do at the time, but this last year, I had the thought, why just one letter? Why not write more often to them, sharing the prayers I pray for them, giving them a glimpse of what my hopes were for them during each year or season in their lives. I want to share with them through their dad’s eyes how I see them growing, how I see their personality developing, qualities I see being formed within them. I want them to know what I think is so special about them at age 3, age 7, age 17. I want them to know what it is about them that brings a smile to my face, to know the things I love about them. They are incredibly special to me, and I intend to allow them to see what was and is in my heart and my love for them as they are grow and mature from little boys all they way until they’re full grown men.

Asking for the Impossible

My blog post from December 30th, “10 questions for a new year” has been something I have gone back to and thought through several times the last few weeks. As I’ve considered each question, I’ve been challenged. Specifically question #2 (“What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?”) has been on my mind a lot since that blog post. I spent more time on that question it seems than some of the others, and have come up with a number of answers to this as to what I’m praying for. Here are a few of those "impossible" things on my list for 2010...

1. If you don’t know, we are in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. We had anticipated that this coming fall we would be able to bring her home, but during our homestudy last month, we were told that adoptions had slowed down quite a bit in Ethiopia. In fact, we were told our timeframe is now 12-18 months. It was disappointing to hear this news, but we know God is in complete control. Our desire is to bring our daughter home before Christmas, and although we were told the likelihood of this happening is slim and none, this is something we are both praying for. It may seem impossible, but we all know God can make it happen. If He doesn’t, we completely trust Him. He’s sovereign, His timing is perfect, and He knows what He’s doing. If He decides to allow us to bring our little girl home by Christmas, then that’s awesome. If He chooses to do otherwise, we trust in Him and know He’s faithful.

2. Our oldest son, Brooks (pictured below), God bless him, he is not the biggest fan of school. He doesn’t even go to kindergarten yet, just preschool, yet he’s just not real fond of going to school. I completely understand though…I hated school from day one (although Tammy has made me promise to never let our kids know that!). It seems impossible to us that Brooks would ever like going to school, but we are praying that somehow, someway his transition to kindergarten is easier than expected and that he actually enjoys going.

3. I’ll just leave #3 as an unspoken (or unwritten in this case). I wasn’t going to write anything for #3, but in honor of the humans I work with at iGoGlobal, who always like to add lots of unspoken requests whenever we pray as a staff, I had to at least write it here. So yes, #3 for me is an actual request I’m praying for, asking God to do something that to me seems impossible.

So, what about you? What’s the most humanly impossible thing or things you will ask God to do this year?

Haiti Relief

I’ve taken a few weeks off from blogging, but I’m back. Lots of thoughts rolling around in my head, and lots of things I want to write about, but just haven’t taken the time. As I’ve watched the news, seen the pictures and listened to stories coming out of Haiti the last week and a half, my heart has been broken. Seeing the pictures and hearing the stories about children, many of whom have lost their parents in the earthquake, is especially difficult.

What can we do? Most of us can’t physically go now, but we can certainly pray and we can give. No matter how big or small the amount, we can all give something. As has been said from numerous places, besides the need for medical personnel, money is the number one need right now. If you don't know where to give, Compassion International (compassion.com) is a great organization working in Haiti and 100% of funds given will go to relief efforts. No matter if you give to Compassion or some other organization, find a place to give and be generous.