I got home late last night from a four-day trip to Kansas City and back. My wife, two girls and my parents along with their GPS went out to visit my brother, his wife and our niece. Little Mikayla was born Sept. 11th this year and due to work schedules and other committments this is the first opportunity we had to visit. Though I got a nasty cold during the trip I enjoyed spending time with family and meeting my niece! I also enjoyed my time with the Kansas City Chapter of the Ohio State Alumni Association. We watched the Buckeyes hand the Wolverines their fifth straight loss in the long-standing rivalry.
Buckeyes aside, you probably noticed that I mentioned my parents' GPS. I don't know if I love it or hate it. That thing is great for plotting how long its going to take to get somewhere and its good for giving you some routes but like all computers it can't read my mind and it doesn't understand big-city traffic very well. It also only works as fast as the operator can enter information into it... On one occasion it expected me to "stay left on I-70 W" as we approached an exit ramp. I took that advice and moved into the left lane. As soon as we cleared that ramp it told me to "exit right on I-435 South", as we passed that exit ramp. I could have made it had it not been for the two other lanes of cars in the way! Obviously we missed that exit. Then it wanted me to do a U-turn several times and it expected us to drive the wrong way down a one-way street another time. My favorite thing of all is when you disobey this piece of technological genious the programed voice almost sounds annoyed as it says "recalculating."
Isn't it nice that God is not just a GPS. Not only does He know where we're going but he knows where we've been and not just on this particular trip. He knows our entire history and whether or not we'll take His advice. He provided us with THE map to help us stay on course. He always provides an exit when we really need one and He has the right answer for when we miss the exit He's provided. His grace isn't some annoying voice that says He's recalculating when we step out of line. His Holy Spirit doesn't lag behind when we need to act fast. Though he does sometimes tell us to turn away or to work against the flow its never the wrong way.
Thank you Father for being so much more than a GPS in our lives!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Leadership
I had the opportunity to attend and speak at the Ohio District GBB Leadership Conference on Saturday. What a great group of faithful men. As I spoke about the focus and vision for GBB National I was of course pleased with the great response from the men. I love when everyone is on board!
We also heard from Dwayne Peters about mixed or single-parent families and the special attention we should give to those relationships. The day also included the Ohio District Board President, Dan Hazlett's talk about the need for leadership and the importance of having strong relationships with the boys and other men in the church. He spoke a lot about personal experiences which connected well with men at the training. We finished the day with a round-table discussion. The recurring theme was the perception of a general lack of leadership development with youth training in our churches. It seems the observation is that our youth ministries are doing an amazing job at evangelism but we're dropping the ball when it comes to discipleship. Especially among the boys who show the most promise as leaders. Maybe all of that discussion should be saved for another posting...
My favorite part of the day was the video that was shown. It was the DVD of the moderator's address from the 2008 FGBC National Conference in Florida. Our moderator, Pastor John McIntosh, is the senior pastor at the Simi Valley GBC in California. During his address he outlined "the five components that are critical to the transfer of the gospel truth from one generation to the next." Essentially, discipleship.
It was the fourth time I'd seen this particular study on DVD and I was there in person when he spoke to the fellowship at National Conference. I felt the same this time as I did that very first time - exhillerated! I've loved the 2 Timothy 2:1-2 passage and its been part of GBB's mission since GBB was created. To hear a leader in our fellowship speak so well on the subject of leadership made me want to jump up and down as I ran to the stage to hug the man! Of course I restrained myself at confernce as I did this weekend. I don't know which would have been more awkward - hugging Pastor John or the screen at Millersburg GBC...
If you haven't seen the video (and heard our moderator's vision for this year) I encourage you to view the video for free at: http://www.fgbc.org/newsletter/subpages/2008-10-09/mcintosh.cfm
If you can't view the video and need a copy sent to you, please contact me and GBB will make sure you receive a copy of the moderator's address. It speaks to the basis for why GBB was created and why the mission of GBB is still relevant to the continuation of the FGBC.
We also heard from Dwayne Peters about mixed or single-parent families and the special attention we should give to those relationships. The day also included the Ohio District Board President, Dan Hazlett's talk about the need for leadership and the importance of having strong relationships with the boys and other men in the church. He spoke a lot about personal experiences which connected well with men at the training. We finished the day with a round-table discussion. The recurring theme was the perception of a general lack of leadership development with youth training in our churches. It seems the observation is that our youth ministries are doing an amazing job at evangelism but we're dropping the ball when it comes to discipleship. Especially among the boys who show the most promise as leaders. Maybe all of that discussion should be saved for another posting...
My favorite part of the day was the video that was shown. It was the DVD of the moderator's address from the 2008 FGBC National Conference in Florida. Our moderator, Pastor John McIntosh, is the senior pastor at the Simi Valley GBC in California. During his address he outlined "the five components that are critical to the transfer of the gospel truth from one generation to the next." Essentially, discipleship.
It was the fourth time I'd seen this particular study on DVD and I was there in person when he spoke to the fellowship at National Conference. I felt the same this time as I did that very first time - exhillerated! I've loved the 2 Timothy 2:1-2 passage and its been part of GBB's mission since GBB was created. To hear a leader in our fellowship speak so well on the subject of leadership made me want to jump up and down as I ran to the stage to hug the man! Of course I restrained myself at confernce as I did this weekend. I don't know which would have been more awkward - hugging Pastor John or the screen at Millersburg GBC...
If you haven't seen the video (and heard our moderator's vision for this year) I encourage you to view the video for free at: http://www.fgbc.org/newsletter/subpages/2008-10-09/mcintosh.cfm
If you can't view the video and need a copy sent to you, please contact me and GBB will make sure you receive a copy of the moderator's address. It speaks to the basis for why GBB was created and why the mission of GBB is still relevant to the continuation of the FGBC.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Calling ALL GBB Leaders!
UGHHH - I had training all week in Columbus and had planned to update the blog - too bad the filters at my training blocked out stuff like blogs and anything that didn't have to do with state business! Sorry for the delay!
As a reminder, all GBB Leaders are invited to attend the second annual GBB Leadership Training hosted by the Ohio District GBB. The training will be held at the Millersburg GBC on Saturday, Novebmer 15th and will begin with a great Holmes County (Amish Country) breakfast prepared by our Millersburg guys. We'll cover some updates from GBB National, some web stuff, as well as a challenging message from the FGBC National Conference that was held in Tampa, Florida this year. We'll wrap everything up as we did before with a roundtable discussion about the GBB units and some best practices.
I had a chance to visit this week with the Eastside Unit during their meeting on Wednesday. They treated me to hotdogs over a camp fire. They are so blessed to be able to have a camp fire for their meetings in the city! I was so pleased when their unit commander, Nick Jacobs, asked for a volunteer to lead prayer and 8 year old Grahm raised his little hand. He belted out a prayer as though he was real used to the idea of public prayer and he even remembered the couple of prayer requests. I love seeing GBB's influence in a young boy's life!
PRAISE THE LORD!
As a reminder, all GBB Leaders are invited to attend the second annual GBB Leadership Training hosted by the Ohio District GBB. The training will be held at the Millersburg GBC on Saturday, Novebmer 15th and will begin with a great Holmes County (Amish Country) breakfast prepared by our Millersburg guys. We'll cover some updates from GBB National, some web stuff, as well as a challenging message from the FGBC National Conference that was held in Tampa, Florida this year. We'll wrap everything up as we did before with a roundtable discussion about the GBB units and some best practices.
I had a chance to visit this week with the Eastside Unit during their meeting on Wednesday. They treated me to hotdogs over a camp fire. They are so blessed to be able to have a camp fire for their meetings in the city! I was so pleased when their unit commander, Nick Jacobs, asked for a volunteer to lead prayer and 8 year old Grahm raised his little hand. He belted out a prayer as though he was real used to the idea of public prayer and he even remembered the couple of prayer requests. I love seeing GBB's influence in a young boy's life!
PRAISE THE LORD!
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