I miss the World Cup!!  I love watching soccer.  I played soccer and now you will find our family on the pitch almost every Saturday and sometimes Sunday watching our daughter Josiane (12) play.

But more than missing the World Cup…I miss the constant groan of the Vuvuzela…not really but this song somes it all up!!

ENJOY!!

I like this song. Why? Because it makes me think and I like that.

I don’t know about you, but I have had very weird and messed up views of God and Jesus most my life because of being raised in a conservative, monoethnic, american christianity. Is that okay? I don’t think so….

I think Gungor has done a great job of capturing some huge concepts and redefining some damaging misconceptions in this tune.

Give it a listen and really think about how you view God!

What are some common misconceptions about God that you have believed or find yourself defaulting to??

My son woke up a couple mornings ago with a great desire to give away his last binky (that’s what he calls his pacifier). He didn’t want to give it to me or my wife Carol. He wanted to give it to baby Jesus. He was serious. He didn’t want to use it anymore because he wanted to be a “big boy”. We haven’t been pushing the idea to get rid of it, but he can only have it at nighttime and during his naps. Josiah’s binky is his strongest sense of comfort. When he gets hurt he runs for his blue binky. When he is tired, he wants his blue binky. When he is mad and angry and has to go to “recovery time” (time-out) he wants “The Binky”. In his little mind, his binky makes all things better, makes his life easier and represents all things good. But is that really the case? Isn’t the binky just a false sense of safety and security? Doesn’t Josiah truly find his security, comfort and safety in our arms as his parents?

So why do we, much like my son, hang on to things in our lives we think will bring us true security and comfort when all along our Father God is longing to show us, prove to us and tell us that He and He alone is our comfort and true security. I want to give my insecurities and false senses of comfort to Jesus too. It is only in Jesus that I am truly secure; it is only in true surrender we find our hope and ultimate comfort.

What about you?? What are your “Binkies”?

I want to make a difference…I want to make an impact in peoples lives…

I have been thinking a lot lately of how quickly we as Christ followers can write people off!!  As soon as people say something we don’t like, do something we disagree with, stumble, mess up, or fall flat on their faces we turn the other way, run from them, and treat them with anything but grace and mercy.  I think of the women that was caught in adultery and brought before Jesus.  He said to the religious leaders if any of you are sinless, throw the first stone…kill the women. One by one they walked away. Jesus, the only one that could have destroyed this lady, heaped grace and mercy upon her!

So why do I, why do we, so quickly, use our words, influence, or action to “throw the first stone”??  I long to live a gracious and merciful life like Jesus. I want to be a Person of the Second Chance!!  I want to surround myself with People of the Second Chance.

Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite started a movement called People of the Second Chance. They are the real deal and didn’t just start a movement because it would be sexy, but they started it out of their lifestyle.  They are People of the Second Chance.

People of the Second Chance gives voice to a scandalous movement of radical grace in life and leadership. We challenge the common misconceptions about failure and success and stand with those who have hit rock bottom in their personal and professional lives. We are a community that is committed to stretch ourselves in the areas of relational forgiveness, personal transparency, and advocate for mercy over judgment.

Read about their Core Values

So Join The Movement on Twitter or Facebook and begin to live a life that values and represents a new kind of Christ follower!!!

WE ARE POTSC!!

I had a goal to break into the top 50 album sales on the release of my record OVERWHELMED!  Thanks to all of you! We did it.  It might be a small victory to some but it was big victory to me!

Thanks for buying it, tweeting about it, posting stuff on your Facebook wall…it was a fun first day!!

It has been an amazing process and a long journey but my first solo CD “Overwhelmed” released nationally today!!! That means that it will be available in many Christian stores as well as all digital stores like iTunes and Amazon.

It is also listed under NEW and NOTEWORTHY on the front page of the Christian and Gospel section of iTunes. Here is the link to OVERWHELMED on iTunes: http://bit.ly/9T8noI

I am asking for all your help!  So here is how you can help me??

1. SPREAD THE WORD: Facebook, Twitter, Text, Blog, email and talk about it!! Let people know about it!! Tell people about it and encourage them to go check it out

2. GO BUY IT : Go to iTunes and purchase it or gift it to a friend!!

3. REVIEW IT: Go to iTunes and leave a review!! The more reviews the better!!

Thanks you so much!! I’m really excited to see how God uses these songs for His Glory!!

Every day I wake up to four faces.  These four people look to me for guidance, direction, comfort, love, leadership and so many other things.  I get up, take a shower, get dressed, head downstairs, kiss them and head out the door to work.

As I walk out of our front door I see this picture hanging on our wall

We had these pictures done by a good friend about 8 months ago.  I love this picture.  It is one of my favorite of all time…why??

I head out the door ready to talk to people, meet people, minister to people, love people, be there for them…all the while leaving the four most important people behind.  Every morning, or time I walk by this image, I think of my beautiful wife and kids that want to follow me, long to follow me, desire to walk in my footsteps….and it makes me ask the question:

DO I HAVE THINGS BACKWARDS? Am I losing time and influence with those that I care for most because I am trying to gain influence in other areas?

I want to be a great Dad and husband…sometimes I just suck at it!! Sometimes I am so selfish and going after the things that will fulfill me that I miss out on the things that truly fulfill the desires of my heart.  But that’s not my intention it just IS sometimes.

THEY FOLLOW ME…and I pray that I will lead them well and to the heart of Jesus

What things often times get backwards in your life??

I have decided I don’t want the American Dream
I don’t care about working up the corporate ladder for my gain
Bigger and better are words that I hope never lead me in my consumption

I am reading a book called RADICAL by David Platt that is resonating so deep within me.  My worldview in the past could be summed up in one word CONSUMERISM. It was all about me, my stuff, my way, my job, my fame, my whatever. Basically the “American Dream”. The tag line of RADICAL is “Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream”.

…in the American dream, where self reigns as king (or queen), we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and our desires

Consider the cost when Christians ignore Jesus’ commands to sell their possessions and give to the poor and instead choose to spend their resources on better comforts, larger homes, nicer cars, and more stuff. Consider the cost when these Christians gather in churches and choose to spend millions of dollars on nice buildings to drive up to, cushioned chairs to sit in, and endless programs to enjoy for themselves. Consider the cost for the starving multitudes who sit outside the gate of contemporary affluence

I WANT TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY…What about you?? I want to see the church live, move, and strategically plan differently. I am just more and more convinced that the majority of decisions we make in our lives and in the church are not based on the leading of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God but on a consumerist “American Dream” worldview… WHAT ABOUT YOU?  What do you think??

Buy the book, read it and be ready for your life to be changed