Making a Bad Decision Worse

Today I was at Wal Mart. While I was taking our cart back to a cart corral, I noticed a gal in a mini-van who was headed down the lane the wrong way. Normally this wouldn't be too big of a deal, but she had gone so far in that she was committed now to going all the way through the lane. People were getting mad and giving her the horn and mean stares.

As she drove by me, her window was down and I felt really bad for her because she was saying, "I'm sorry! I know I'm going the wrong way! There's nothing I can do now." I really did feel bad for her. I could tell she was exasperated.

When she finally made it to the end of the lane, she was so out of sorts that she made the very next turn (I believe just to get out of the situation she was in), but the problem was it was a turn taking her down another lane THE WRONG WAY. I just stood there at the cart corral taking it all in.

In her desperation to get out of the situation she was in, she made it worse by making another bad decision.

That made me think. I was reading Malachi 3:8-10 the other day and I thought about that passage again after seeing the drama in the Wal Mart parking lot.

A lot of people start to face difficulties in their finances and they are kind of like that lady going down the lane the wrong way. They are flustered and exasperated by their circumstances. But sometimes they make a bad situation worse by choosing to not give their tithe until times get better. Talk about making it much, much worse!

That kind of a decision will only lead to more problems. It's like the lady who finally gets out of the lane going the wrong way, and in her confused state she makes the easiest choice she can...she turns down the nearest lane. Well...that lane is only taking her down another path of wrong-wayness. It is a bad, bad decision to not tithe.

God is not as nice. He calls it robbery. Don't make the wrong choice with your finances...even when times get tough in the economy. Don't rob God. If you do, you will only be going in the wrong direction and you will experience intense frustration and exasperation!

Trusting Him with your finances, even through tough times, is like waiting for that right lane to turn into. Once you are there, you will be better off for having waited.

White and Nerdy

It has always been something that I have wanted to do. I have sincerely always wanted to ride a Segway. I got my opportunity. They are incredibly cool. In just a matter of seconds I had it down. Check out these shots...


It was really cool. After the brief little tutorial, I was off down a huge hallway at Union Station in Kansas City. I only was able to ride for five minutes, but it was really fun. Something I have always wanted to try. Now I can cross that off my Bucket List.

Vacation Shots

Yesterday was a trip to Worlds Of Fun. It was exhausting, honestly. Here are a couple of shots of us having some wild fun...

This ride was called "The Ripcord." We were raised 20 stories in the air and then Jacob (our ripcord man) pulled the ripcord and we dropped all that way. It was actually one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. Next time you see Jacob, call him "Ripcord Demastus."

Here is my normal pose for a roller coaster ride! We had a lot of fun there. Today we're off to the zoo and to a Royals game tonight!

Family Get Away

We are off to Kansas City! We are looking forward to some time away. Pray for us while we are gone. I might get a blog post in and maybe not...we'll see how much computer time I am allotted. I am allowed to take my laptop...but I won't be on the net very much!

You'll hear from me either way later in the week.

Take Your Dog To Work Day!

Well, The Fort wasn't the same today. It was Take Your Dog To Work Day today. So Bessie came with me to help me get ready for Sunday. Her input on any sermon prep was minimal...although she did leave a nice present in the church library! Here she is with her Daddy!

I'm Back From Camp!

Wow! What an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to speak to over 70 Sr. High students at Central Iowa Bible Camp. It was really great and these were an awesome group of students.

On the first evening I spoke at campfire, at the conclusion of my message we challenged the young people to make a decision for Christ themselves, to rededicate their lives to Christ or to get courage to share their faith with someone who needs Christ.

As they quietly left campfire, they were each handed an unlit glowstick. Then they went out and sat quietly by themselves on a dark hillside. When they had come to a decision, they were to light their glowstick and bring it to a cross and hang it there. That was a really cool thing to see. Here's what the cross looked like that night...




Another very cool part of the experience was that on the campground there had been placed a very old Ford F-150 Pick-up Truck. The youth were challenged all week to write their sins anywhere on that truck with Sharpie pens. They did. They shared things like struggles with sex and smoking pot and cutting themselves and suicidal thoughts...anything and everything you can imagine, they wrote it. It was pretty cool.

They didn't know what was going to happen to the vehicle though. Well, on Thursday night, they saw what it is that God does with our sins in the most dramatic of illustrations. Look at the next few pictures in succession and you will see what they witnessed.


After this, the kids all came forward and picked up pieces of the truck to take home as a momento...something I am sure they are never going to forget. God takes our sins from us as far as the east is to the west. He literally crushes it out of our life! That was a lot of fun!

I told them I would post their picture here on my blog. Here they are, this picture was taken just before I began speaking to them the second time.

Central Iowa Bible Camp

Later today I head out to Central Iowa Bible Camp to speak at Sr. High Camp. I will speak at campfire tonight and then during morning worship tomorrow morning and again at campfire tomorrow night.

I love speaking to high schoolers. They are at a great stage in life. I hope to encourage them.

I will take a few pictures and put them up for you to see. Pray for me!

My Bible Journey (Proverbs 3)

The passage for today is Proverbs 3. I love this chapter! You learn that gaining favor with God and man comes from being a person of love and faithfulness. You learn that real, lasting health comes from not thinking to highly of yourself and avoiding evil like the plague. You learn that the pathway to wealth is paved with honoring God with the wealth you have already received. You learn that wisdom, true wisdom, is a treasure more valuable than anything else on planet earth.

But most of all, we learn that trusting in Lord with all our heart is the key to life!

It also happens to be the most difficult key to bear. It can unlock so much for us, but there is something about this particular key that most of us struggle with.

I have a bunch of keys on my key ring. At times, I think I could also pass for a High School janitor. There are about four keys that I really know well on my key ring. My house key, my church key, and my two car keys. The rest of my keys I have to guess at.

I never have to guess when I am standing at the door of my house as to which one is my house key. But someone else may.

I remember one time we came home from the grocery store and it was pouring down rain. My son took my keys from my hand and thought he'd beat all of us to the door and open it so we could rush in with our groceries not getting too wet. It was a good plan except for one minor detail.

He didn't know which key opened the door. He stood there fumbling for the longest time. I eventually took the keys from him and opened the door myself. By this time we were drenched rats.

That's what this verse is like. God is telling us that if we trust in him with all our hearts, that is the key to life. It will open the right door for us. It will make our pathway straight.

But we fumble this one. We convince ourselves that some other key will open the door. So we try the achievement key or the "I can do this on my own" key. And they all fail miserably, leaving us out in the rain like drenched rats.

There is only one key to life. God shares with us very plainly which one it is. It is the key of trusting in him with all our hearts. Our job is to remember this key at all times...even when it is storming in our lives. That is the only key that will open the right door for us!

Update/Correction on Tornado Picture

I definitely want to be accurate on my blog. I found out the picture I posted that I had learned was taken from a boy scout near the Little Sioux camp where four scouts were killed was not accurate.

Here is the actual story of that picture. It was not taken by a Scout or even near the area of the Little Sioux tragedy. It wasn't even a tornado but only a funnel cloud.

My buddy, Shane Vander Hart had it on his blog. Thanks Shane, for clearing it up, bro!

Sunday Evening Reflections

I was very pleased with services today. Craig Groeschel spoke this morning as part of our One Prayer series. His message was entitled, "Lord, Make Us One." You can watch the video of Craig's message Here.

It is pretty amazing to think that we are partnering with over 1,400 churches all around the world that represent over 800,000 people. Wow!

On another note...today, for the very first time in my life, I called my father on Father's Day and wished him, "Happy Father's Day." That is a humbling thought to me. Only God could have done something like it.

We spoke only for a little while but talked again about getting together sometime in the future to see each other face to face. Just think, only a year ago, I still despised my earthly father...I could have cared less if he was dead or alive. And now, because of God's amazing power and love, I not only am happy that I wished him a happy father's day, I actually do care about him. And I am excited to see where our relationship will go in the future.

God is alive. God is good. All the time.

Some More Flooding Shots

Here is a Youtube video taken June 13th of some of our flooding in areas that are close to us and places that we know and love. Pray for our city...pray for our state. God, you've got our attention!

Incredible Tornado Picture

We've all seen tornado pictures and honestly, most of them are pretty amazing. But this one if different. This one is unique. This is a picture taken by a Boy Scout that was near Little Sioux Scout Camp where there were four boys recently killed by this very tornado.

It is crazy stuff, honestly. You can read more about the story Here.

Being in Des Moines, with all of our Flooding, it is a reminder that sometimes storms come rolling into our lives quite unexpectedly. Sometimes the damage from them can be quick and severe like the tornado at the scout camp. Other times the damage is slower and even more menacing.

No matter what way storms come...God is still God and He cares for His children. He is watching over our lives and all of our affection and trust MUST be placed in Him. There really aren't any other options...otherwise we'll be swept away at even the slightest storm.

But by placing our faith in Jesus Christ we can become like a TREE planted by a stream where the roots go very, very deep and nothing can move us.

New One Prayer Video

Floods of 2008

Wow! Matt and I left the office today to head down by the river to take some shots of the flooding. Something hit me while we were down there. Take a look at some of these shots...

There were massive logs and debris piled along some of the bridges along the river downtown.

Here's the thing that hit me. There were a number of homeless camps along the river. If you look in the background of this picture you will see a tent in the trees. That's from the homeless camp. There are no news reports about the homeless being displaced because of the flooding but they are. They are hurting badly because of this. We need to be praying and looking for ways to help out.

The water levels are so high that it won't take much for there to be some really significant flooding. If that happens we will need to be mobilizing to help out in whatever way we can. Many homes could potentially be destroyed and we should be ready to help as a church.

Down at Sec Taylor Stadium the water is inching closer and closer.


They have a lot of sandbags up all around the stadium in readiness.

By the looks of things here, there won't be a ball game on Friday night, because you can't get into the parking lot, unless you have a monster truck.




All in all I think we need to be praying for our city, and our community. We need to be ready to be used by God to help serve our community because of our love for Jesus.

Pray

Pray for the leadership of The Fort today. We are praying for you. Pray for the One Prayer sermon series to speak to our church and for God to move in our midst like He never has before. Just pray.

Open Letter to a Church Hopper

This post comes from Tim Stevens' blog. It is a letter that was written by a pastor's wife in Florida. Check it out:

Dearest Career Church Hopper:

I met you again on Wednesday, the same person smiling at me through a different face, telling me that you've been shopping for churches for months now, and that, darn it, you "just can't find one (you) like."

The music's too rocky at this one, you said; the preacher's too funny at that one. The latest one might make the cut, though: you'd had the pastor and his wife over the previous evening for a little "dinner audition" -- your words, not mine -- and he said things that made you feel good and comfortable, things that you already agree with, so you're thinking about sticking around. At the very least, you could get your teaching from this church and your worship from that one.

I'm sure we'll run into each other again, but before we do, I'd like to suggest some things you could perhaps think about before you move on to the next church, as I'm sure you will, whether this weekend or next year:

*Christ didn't bleed for the Church so you could treat your search for one like an episode of Survivor, deciding who to vote off the island this week.

*The Church was not commissioned by Christ to meet your needs. You ARE the Church, and you've been commissioned to meet the needs of the world.

*Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her (Eph 5:25). Quit treating his bride like a Jesus buffet where you can pick and choose what you like, hedging your bets against the pain and sacrifice of making a commitment.

*Per scripture's instructions to use your gifts in service to the Body of Christ -- and its lack of instruction to search for a church that scratches you where you itch -- you might want to consider what the Church you're visiting needs from you, rather than the other way around.

*If you only want to hear things you already know and agree with, save your Sundays and talk to yourself in the bathroom mirror.

Sincerely,

The Preacher's Wife

My Bible Journey (Proverbs 2)

Today I read Proverbs 2. You see again in this chapter paired thoughts and contrasting ideas.

Here are some of the pairings I notice:

wisdom and knowledge
call out and cry aloud
looking for and searching for
understand and find
The Lord guards and protects
wicked men with perverse words
crooked paths dark ways

Those aren't all of them, but a few that stand out.

The message I see is that wisdom and knowledge are something that God will give to me, but there is work involved on my part. I have to desperately seek after it. I have to diligently pursue it.

My main enemies are wicked men with perverse words and the adultress (lust)...according to this chapter. So guarding against the pull in my life has got to be priority #1.

I can honestly say that wisdom and knowledge are something I desire but haven't always diligently pursued. I have half-heartedly pursued them most of my life. I have hung out with wicked men and the adultress in times past. I have also had a lot of heartache as a result.

If I would get serious about my pursuit of wisdom and knowledge, not wanting anything else...I think it would change my life forever. Up till now I have only wanted enough knowledge or wisdom to get me past a current obstacle in my life. But if I really desire for things to be different in my life that has to change.

I need to get serious about my pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. I need to be like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark...when he was pursuing the Ark, trying to get it back from the Nazi's. He did whatever he could...he was willing to risk it all...even his life, to get it. That needs to be the way wisdom and knowledge get pursued.

"Lord, help me in my pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. Help me earnestly seek after them. Help me to not be so easily distracted from it. Thank you Father. In Jesus' Name."

Sunday Night Reflections

I think Satan is attacking our church hard! I think he does not want us doing the One Prayer series!

It was cool to worship God in the midst of a musty smell!

I feel like I delivered the message God wanted me to bring today.

I am excited to "battle" against the darkness this week with my leadership team.

I am very jazzed about next week's sermon...it will be a great message (Craig Groeschel will be preaching!)

One Prayer Prayer

I was wondering about this from you...if you could pray one prayer for the church at large, what prayer would you pray? Mine is, "Lord, make us focused." I will preach a sermon surrounding that tomorrow morning. But I really am curious, what prayer would you pray?

By the way, here is our line-up of speakers/churches for the One Prayer series at our church...to maximize the experience, we will also be listening to speakers during most of the Sundays during our Sunday School hour as well...

One Prayer Week 1:

Worship - Mike Demastus (Fort Des Moines Church of Christ) - "Make us Focused"
Sunday School - Dino Rizzo (Healing Place Church - Baton Rouge, LA) - "Make us Generous"

One Prayer Week 2:

Worship - Craig Groeschel (Lifechurch.tv - Oklahoma City, OK) - "Make us One"
Sunday School - Father's Day Gathering

One Prayer Week 3:

Worship - Perry Noble (Newspring Church - Anderson, SC) - "Make us Dangerous"
Sunday School - Wayne Cordeiro (New Hope Christian Fellowship - Honolulu, HI) - "Make us Wise"

One Prayer Week 4:

Worship - Mark Beeson (Granger Community Church - Granger, IN) - "Make us Courageous"
Sunday School - Mark Batterson (National Community Church - Washington D.C.) - "Make us Dreamers"

Open the floodgates...not what I thought...

Tomorrow morning begins One Prayer for us and the weekend started with some obstacles. Water. Lots of water. Water where we worship. We had a deluge of a storm and one of our sump pumps quit working so our worship area got water-logged.

On Friday evening we had about a dozen folks helping out at the church with shop vacs sucking out all the water. We turned on the A/C and a bunch of fans to dry everything out.

We will meet back at the church on Saturday evening to set back up for worship. I've been over at the church today. It smells pretty funky. But that won't stop us from worshiping the Lord! You can still worship the Lord with funky smells, you know.

Should be an interesting Sunday morning. If you read the blog, pray for us as we enter this series...I'm thinking God is up to something. I can sense it.

By the way, to everyone who e-mailed me about getting out of a funk...thank you. Some of your suggestions were, shall we say, creative. But I think I figured it out. Serving.

Serving someone else does something to you. It shakes you awake. It's pretty cool, honestly.

I felt really good sucking up water the other night with my brothers and sisters...thanks to everyone who helped!

I Hate Pulse 99.5!

Okay, I have been silent long enough. I used to listen to one of my local Christian radio stations quite frequently. It was the station formerly known as The Q. Something very, very bad has happened. Aliens have come and taken over my old station.

They have infused the DJ's with some weird elixir that has turned their brains to mush so now they think that in an effort to be more appealing to a non-Christian audience they can play lots of styles on the same station.

What they are doing is the same thing we did when we tried to blend our worship services...we made everybody mad. They play everything from rap to border-line country. There's heavy metal and teenie bop pop. It's disgusting.

I'm all about trying to reach lost people...just figure out which ones you want to reach!! If you try to reach everybody, you'll get nobody.

Choose a style...Pulse (which is what the new station is called). Find the heartbeat of your target audience and stick with it. You are trying to reach too many people with too much variety and I can't stand the station anymore.

I don't mind change, mind you. I'm all for it. But it's like you have lost your mind. The songs switch styles faster than I change channels sitting in my Lazy-Boy recliner! It's really annoying!

This isn't a post because I think I can do something about it, it's just a rant, really. I can't stand the new Pulse! So I'll climb down from my little box now.

One Prayer Churches...Powerful!

This is what it looks like to visualize the list of the 1200+ churches that are involved with One Prayer beginning this coming weekend! I am pumped! Enjoy the video...

One Prayer Churches from LifeChurch.tv on Vimeo.

Another Great Night at the ballpark!

Well, I am coaching my sons ball team. We went into tonight's game 5-0! But we lost. But it was a good loss. The score was 23 to 20. But here's the really cool part. The other team we played had a kid that was handicapped. Each and every time he got up to bat, our team made sure he made it to the base. (They intentionally overthrew the ball and played a lot slower to do it). This young person not only made it to first base but made it home each time he got up tonight.

Both sides applauded as he came home! It was really something to watch. If we had not done that, we would have won hands down. But sometimes there are things that are way more important than winning. And tonight this team of 11 and 12 year olds showed everyone what that was!

It was a real sight to behold. I have never been prouder to coach a team that lost a game than I did with my team tonight! What lessons we could all learn from them if we would approach life like that! Serving someone else before me...making sure someone else gets the glory instead of me. Those are awesome life lessons!

I am proud of my team. I am proud of my son (who is a part of that team). What a night! The kids really did honor the Lord tonight in the way they played.

How do you get out of a funk?

How do you do it? I can't shake it. I have been in a funk for some time now. Every once in a while I'll get blue because of the weather but I can quickly get over that. I have been just down. I've been concerned...well, worried (I know I'm not supposed to) about the church. I've been bummed about stuff that has happened to us personally. I don't mean to unload...it's just a reality. But I sincerely wonder what do you do to shake yourself out of times like this? Either comment or e-mail me.

My Bible Journey

I read Proverbs Chapter 1 today. It seems that you can see two opposing thoughts presented. Those who listen to wisdom and those who don't. Those who can hear wisdom and those who can hear fools.

I desire to listen to wisdom. I do not want to be labeled "simple" or a "fool". Although there have been too many times in my life where I have been both. A simple fool.

I want and desire to know the path that I am supposed to walk. It isn't an easy path to discern. It isn't clearly marked and it is a winding path.

But the path of the simple fool is so open and clearly marked. There are no obstacles in this path. I could easily drive down it.

But wisdom's path is treacherous at times. There are all kinds of obstacles and there is no easy way to travel this path. It is just hard work.

That's the way it is for the wise. It doesn't come easy. The wise person usually bears the marks of the path of wisdom. Thorns and vines that have cut. Sore feet. Aching limbs.

That is the path I choose to walk. Wisdom's hard path.

We have a book we have bought for our sons...Do Hard Things. That's the lesson we are trying to ingrain in them. That is what I need to model for them. I need to let them see me in action...doing hard things. Things that aren't comfortable. Things that are wise and not foolish.

They need to see us making wise choices with our money, with our time, with our speech and morals. They need to clearly see wisdom's mark in our life.