I am a jogger. It’s true. Although I am not really sure that what I do can properly be termed “jogging.” I often refer to it as “slogging.” That’s a combination of the terms “slow” and “jogging.” One winter, my wife and I began “slogging” indoors at an ice hockey arena in order to escape the cold weather. There were several others from the community who had the same idea. Most of them were “seniors” (I refer to them with great respect, because I am dangerously close to being “senior” myself). Now, even though what I do is slogging, it was still somewhat faster than what most of the seniors did (they were smart enough to walk). But a couple of these new friends began to refer to me as “The Flash.” (I have to admit, I sort of liked the nickname.) They accused me of speeding even though that was not possible. My pace was merely somewhat quicker than a person walking. However, I was able to enjoy the illusion of speed compared to the walkers. Occasionally some of the high school runners would show up and give me a lesson in humility. As they would effortlessly blaze past me, I felt as though I was running in quicksand.

   The Bible says this… “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Something precious happened on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010…something precious to Father God. My biggest reason for loving holidays is because, so often, I get to spend time with family members who live far away from me. I look forward to those times more than I can tell you. The opportunities that togetherness gives us to hug, kiss, laugh, pray, play, worship and sing are just marvelous. Such times are precious to me.

One of the most common mistakes you and I can make is to believe that we have nothing of significance to offer. We ask the question, “Can I really make a difference?” We think we’re not rich enough, smart enough, skilled enough or spiritual enough to make much difference at all … especially when it comes to making a difference in this HUGE global problem of poverty.

As many of you know, I’m currently in school (Amridge U from Bama), teaching and preaching Sunday and finally MOVING this Thursday out to Knott, Tx. I’m excited about the new start and we are thankful to the many people that have been praying for God’s will in our lives. I’m still trying to figure out what all He’s doing with us, but we are grateful for how good he has been to us! In the last two days we have been handed, tons of awesome kitchen stuff, new dishes, coffee maker, kitchen aid mixer and finally keys to a 06 colorado truck! We are humbled and honored!!! How do you respond to such great givers and all three supporters did it Monday (8/30) and Tuesday (8/31). Please continue to pray for us as we transition into this new ministry! And as the name indicates, we want to do His will above all else!

The Congressional Budget Office recently released a report tracking spending in the Iraq War over the last eight years in comparison to the total national deficit. Fox News picked up the data in a recent article and compared the total cost of the war to the total cost of the recent Stimulus Bill. Here is [...]

We kicked off Poverty Week yesterday.  Our goal is to bring to light those around us that are living in hunger and poverty. We’re also going to be looking at ways that we can help (on Thursday). Today I want to share with you a story of a young boy who is trying to make a difference. Here’s a letter I got last weekend in the mail from an 11 year old boy who lives in Oklahoma.

“Dear Trey,

My name is Trae. I am 11 years old and have just started 6h grade. I met you this spring when you spoke at our church in Tecumseh.

Human beings constantly attempt to “reduce” the gospel (see blog post, The Gospel Reduced, July 23, 2010). Such reductionism occurs because of our unwillingness to allow the gospel to powerfully operate in our own lives or in the world. Instead of allowing the gospel to confront us, level our illusions of life, and reconstruct us in the image of Christ (an extremely radical approach to discipleship) we reduce it to something more manageable, something we can live with, something that fits in with our lifestyle. But let’s ignore the human attempts to reduce the gospel. Instead, let’s unpack the gospel in all of its glory.

For those of you who didn’t know Steve Martin was a musician (yes, that Steve Martin)… A comical theological argument in song: Atheists Don’t Have No Songs Thanks to Jay Guin for posting this on his blog so I could enjoy it.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” Mother Teresa

I’d like to share a few things with you this week on poverty. If you are anything like me, I find myself ignoring the fact that there are hungry people in this world because it seems much easier than feeling guilty about it. I often times wonder … “Can I make a difference?”  What I do know is that poverty in many parts of the world is far worse than most Americans (including me) understand. Here are a few statistics …

Next week we’re going to spend the whole week talking poverty, hungry children and what WE can do about it. Get ready, because it’s going to be an incredible week.

Here’s what I want … I’m asking that you only ask God to touch your heart with what’s going on around you in the world, because we’ve ignored it for too long and for too long we’ve thought, “There’s really nothing I can do about it.”

It’s going to be an awesome week, so stop back by Monday and I’ll give you all the details. We’re going to allow God to challenge us, move us and make us uncomfortable. Helping is much easier than you might think.

This hungry little girl was living at the dump in Tegucigalpa, Hondruas.