My ultimate mission

Today I got to share my testimonial related to how "The Power of Full Engagement" program has helped me over the past four years. It has helped me quite a bit. The most visible evidence is the weight loss I have had since then. I weigh nearly fifty pounds less than I did in the beginning of 2007!

The real difference though has to to with my ultimate mission. This is where my new story comes in. I wrote my new story as a part of the program mentioned above and. It continues to be a motivating factor in my life. If you read it below don't think I am saying that I have it all together in the areas that it mentions. I have by no means completely arrived. In a way, I see this as the thing that holds me accountable to who it is I am committed to become. Many of my friends are aware of my new story and know that they may ask me at any time if what I am doing is in alignment with my life mission, my purpose.

My New Story - It is not too late…

The Truth is I want to be the most extraordinary husband I can be. It is imperative that I fulfill my God given role to nurture the spiritual development of my wife. I work hard to develop the intimacy I have with her and remind her every day that she is beautifully and wonderfully made. I convince her with my actions that she is my most precious gift. The time I spend with her is cherished. I treat every day I have with her as the most important day of my life. I do not let the burdens of things around us affect how I treat her. I listen to her and offer help in all things without her needing to ask. I live a healthy lifestyle so that I can spend as many years as possible with her.

The Truth is I want to be the most extraordinary father I can be. It is imperative that I fulfill my God given role to nurture the spiritual development of my children. I lead them to a relationship to Christ and support the discipleship they need as they grow. With my daughter I nurture her in the understanding of what a right relationship with men is. I help the Lord to build her into a woman of God. With my sons, I work hard to teach them to be men of God and I bestow upon them a masculine spirit. I teach them how to treat women as a gentleman would. I teach them how to appropriately steward their sexuality and only to use it in the bounds of marriage. The time I spend with my children is positive encouraging time that we all look forward to. I model a healthy lifestyle to my children because I know they will follow it as they become adults. I focus energy on prolonging my lifespan so that I will be around long after my great grandchildren are born.

The Truth is I want to be a fully dedicated follower of Christ. It is imperative that I am a fully engaged Christian. I read my Bible daily and spend time in quiet reflection and prayer. I build my life on the foundation of my time with God so that he can use me in a most profound manner. I attend regular worship services where I get totally engaged in the worship without respect to denominational norms. I live life knowing that my body is a temple to the most high God, I do not let anything unclean enter the holy of holies so that I can serve God all of my days.

The Truth is I want to be an extraordinary teacher. It is imperative that I balance the areas of teaching that the Lord is developing in me. I make it a point to not get overcommitted. I work hard when the Lord gives me a new opportunity so that he can speak through me. I always act in humility when I teach so that pride will not consume me. I recognize my gifting as that and recognize that God can take them from me at any time. I listen to my students and all of the people I interact with making sure they know that they matter to me and they matter to God. By my health it is evident to my students that I believe what I teach. My health and joy draws people to me giving me an opportunity to change their lives.

The Truth is I want to be an extraordinary evangelist. It is imperative that I share the gospel. I value the lost of this world as God himself does. I seek his sheep and will take great risks to rescue them. I work to actively build relationships with the people I come into contact with in order that I may have an opportunity to invite them into the Kingdom. I prioritize this area of development in my life out of the recognition of my purpose on this earth. I cherish the people who’s souls I am the steward of and look forward to seeing them in heaven. I am always careful to avoid pride and to never accept my mission as finished. I work hard to prolong my lifespan so that all of the people God wants me to invite to his table get invited and then I am finally brought home to be with him.

All of this is possible, it is not too late."

Building a race car

I have many fond childhood memories of building and racing soap box derby cars. My dad decided that he wanted his kids to race soap box derby cars so he shared this dream with anyone who would listen. Eventually he had people from various churches in the state of Minnesota convinced that this would be a great way to make a difference in our communities.

I can remember working late into the night with my dad at the elementary school to build that first soap box derby car. Old 200. I remember when he asked me what number it was going to have I said "200" because that was a bigger number than I could count to. I was not very old. We painted the car yellow and blue. If you are imagining some sleek torpedo shaped car where barely the top of a helmet is seen when occupied by the driver you have the wrong image in mind. It was a wedge shaped box and when you pressed the brakes the spoiler would tilt as if to say "goodbye sucker." It had wheels from a morgue gurney on it which was sort of morbid except for the fact that they were very fast, today they have made their way back onto the gurney that sits in my workshop.  It has not retired completely despite its 100+ years of age. It holds power tools.

Tonight, I will be working with my kids to finish building their cars for the big race. We will spend most of our time at the band-saw that sits on top of that gurney. The wheels are still blue and yellow and every time I see this connection to my dad I smile. I hope he gets to read this blog post. Having such a good dad is part of what made me love being a dad so much.

The pinewood/grand prix race will be on Saturday at Mountain View Wesleyan Church. Come on out and cheer on your favorite kid.

I love being a Dad.

A friend of mine mentioned the idea of putting a blog together that is written specifically from the perspective of being a dad. I love being a dad. I love knowing that the things I instill in my children will make a difference in the world to come. That my influence on them is permanent and lasting.

I have four kids (3 boys and a girl) and they are so smart and beautiful, they get both traits from their mother. Sometimes when life is just busy and crazy and there is too much going on and not enough of me to go around I just take a few minutes and sit in my chair with the littlest one squeezed into the chair next to me. I love feeling him sitting right beside me. Just enjoying each other's presence and knowing that even if for just that moment everything is ok. The world can keep on moving, the bills can keep coming, the demands of life can keep yelling for me... But I don't have to pay attention to any of it. My little boy has my attention.

Sometimes I imagine that the feelings he has about sitting next to me overflows and I feel it too, like my heavenly father is sitting there and I am his child soaking up the presence of Daddo. His strength propping me up, making me feel safe.

Offended Yet?

The past couple of weeks have been very interesting in the realm of freedom of speech. With the n-word thing and Dr. Laura and now this week the church that wishes to burn the Quran, I thought it would be a good time to write some comments and collect my thoughts on this freedom.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/08/vatican-quran-burning-outrageous/

The place I find myself in...

Realizing that standing on the edge of need is the safest place for my relationship with God. Having an empty bucket and giving God all it holds, even the potential it has to hold. Not because he needs it but because he can use it.

Recently I found myself at the end of my rope. Financially, life was going as poorly as it has ever gone. The Lord in his graciousness provided miraculously. Humbled as even the source was something that was outside my comfort zone. We stand now with needs remaining but just enough to keep us dependent upon him.

We owe it all to him.

"To love Jesus Christ and individual freedom; that is what it means to be a Christian Libertarian."

Just read a blog post http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34361 from a guy named Vox Day. The title of this post is a quote of his that I thought was a great way to sum it all up.

James, Libertarianism may be the answer to your Arnold S. woes.

Another great quote from the post is this: "I suspect the problem many Christians and conservative Republicans have with making the leap to Libertarianism is that they still see a connection between the concepts of legality and morality. But there is no inherent relationship between the two; indeed, it is becoming increasingly obvious that it is not possible to honor both in many aspects of American life."

responding to a call to action...

Today in church we were shown a video. While I do not deny its accuracy, I believe it is designed to scare Christians into fearing Islam or being anti-Islam. It goes over a number of statistics related to the growth of Islam in the world but mostly it focuses on North America and Europe. The video ends with the chilling words, "this is a call to action." It never defines what is meant by "action" and it never discusses Christian Evangelism. It seems to predict a woeful future where we no longer have religious liberty or a place where the "Jihad" of Islam will destroy our culture.

I would propose that in actuality we are witnessing God's intervention in the world. In the book of Genesis we read of the Tower of Babel. Mankind was commanded repeatedly to fill the earth, be fruitful and multiply. God intervenes when mankind disobeys.

Likewise, Christians are commanded to "Go make disciples of all nations" we have followed this poorly. I believe in response to this the Muslims are coming to us. The living God, not Allah is sending them from darkness to light.

This is a call to action! Prepare yourself to share the gospel with the world of Islam as it encroaches on our comfortable complacency.