Adventures at Grace

Choose your attitude

2011-12-21T17:19:00.003-05:00

This is a vlog based on a true story. We did have a great time, just not what we expected! I'm sure everyone can relate!

Choose your attitude from Ben Vander Kodde on Vimeo.

Don't let a mistake hold you back!

2011-10-31T13:50:00.000-04:00

How to overcome mistakes! from Grace Adventures on Vimeo.

Cut Finger = serving others

2011-10-05T15:58:00.002-04:00

Should a leader care about the people around them? from Grace Adventures on Vimeo.

Encouragement

2011-09-09T13:02:00.000-04:00

Ben VanderKodde blog update September 9, 2011 from Grace Adventures on Vimeo.

BUSY!

2011-05-04T09:46:00.002-04:00

Life at Grace Adventures can be summed up in one word: BUSY!

Let me give you a glimpse at what this weeks looks like at 2100 N. Ridge Road.

Saturday: Host 2 church groups here for a weekend retreat, one paintball group that played for 6 hours, a 4-H group that spent the weekend at the ranch working with the horses and cattle and host a board meeting.
Sunday: Wave goodbye, close up and clean!
Tuesday - Thursday : Welcome 100 6th graders, here for a 3 day overnight experience. They will be going boating, teambuilding to work on communication and problem solving, pellet guns and archery, orienteering, going to the Lighthouse, high ropes and much more!
Friday: Welcome a math tournament for 245 participants and 2 other groups.
Saturday: All day summer workday where we will be putting in the blob and waterfront, painting the Treasure Room and setting up Leadership Island.

Like I said, BUSY! That doesn't even capture the meetings, paperwork, and summer preparation we're in the middle of.

Sometimes, I have the tendency to get caught up in being "busy." I rush from place to place, accomplishing task after task but never stop to look around. Usually, I feel like this guy.

Yes, we're busy. But let me tell you what's GOOD about being BUSY.

In the past 6 days, we've had the privilege of impacting 524 people with Jesus Christ on our grounds alone.
Summer staff and other volunteers are arriving to help support us in this busy time and their excitement, joy and enthusiasm for the upcoming summer is contagious!
God's answers to prayer are evident as we continue to search for summer staff, volunteers, resources and facilities. He always provides in a perfect way.
Our team is able to laugh, work, play and celebrate together.
We've been able to add another full-time staff member, Jenny Schlukebir to work in development.

When I get caught up in feeling overwhelmed like I'll never accomplish all the tasks on my list or when I start to grumble and feel like I'm just toiling away, I remember these verses:

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

What about you? Do you get lost in the busy-ness? Find satisfaction in working and working hard. After all, it's for the Lord we work.

When should a leader blow a gasket?

2011-03-14T20:50:00.002-04:00

When is it okay to yell and scream as a leader?

We've all been there as a leader. You set expectations with those you're leading and they don't follow through. How do you respond? Is it okay to bring emotional intensity to the situation? When isn't it okay?

Emotional intensity can be a very effective tool in motivating, but when is it wise. The danger done from a half-cocked tirade in the heat of the moment can destroy credibility.

Emotional intensity is not always yelling and screaming. It can be manipulation, guilt trips, a know it all attitude, or anything else that creates unnecessary tension, drama, or emotion.

Here are a few rules for how not to use emotional intensity;

1. Don't use emotional intensity when the receiver has no opportunity to respond with their behavior. If they screwed up and made a mistake, but what is done is done, and they can't do anything about it, yelling and screaming moves from motivating to humiliating. Odds are they know they screwed up, embarrassing them won't fix the problem. It just makes you feel better for the moment. In reality you're just embarrassing yourself however.

2. Don't use emotional intensity to demoralize or insult someone. There is never room or cause to insult, make fun of, or attack somebody personally. As a leader you may need to criticize behavior or decisions, but never the person. You will lose your team immediately if you start insulting them.

3. Don't use emotional intensity often. You will become "that boss" that is always bringing too much drama to the office. Like the boy who cried wolf, you will be written off and blown off when you are trying to motivate your subordinates.

Here's when and how emotional intensity can be valuable;

1. Use emotional intensity to motivate when the person has a chance to respond. Now it is more of a pep talk than a scolding. You can be to the point, and point out unsatisfactory behavior or results, but then you need to send them out on a mission.

2. Let your anger and emotion shine through when someone needs to understand how important an issue is to you. If they are blowing off the assignment or initiative, it may be valuable to help them understand how important it is.

3. If you do choose to let some emotional intensity into the situation, the best thing you can do is walk right out of the office, and get your hands dirty with the person. This will demonstrate that you're not better or view yourself as superior. It will also diffuse any resentment or anger from the subordinate. Gordan Ramsey is the master of this. In almost every episode he will dress down the kitchen staff about how disgusting the kitchen is. Then he will grab a mop and get his hands dirty along side them.

So beware of letting your emotions get the best of you. If in doubt the best choice is to approach an interaction with the intention of eliminating personal intensity. Ultimately emotional intensity is an external motivator and left alone will not sustain change in a person. There must be an internal motivator as well or else change will short circuit.

What do you think? Ever been the victim of emotional intensity from a boss? What would you do different?

When is a leak a good thing?

2011-03-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

Just got home from the Michigan Sectional Conference for Christian Camp and Conference Association. What an amazing time every year to gather with other Christian Camp professionals from around the state.

This year was very special as a senior saint spoke many times. The character of a leader came up and he made the statement that our true character is what we display in times of pressure or turmoil. His picture was like this. Imagine a cup. It is filled with water. When the cup is bumped what will come out? Water. What you are filled with is what will come out of you.

A mentally handicapped camper years ago once told me, "Ryan, I know that I am not normal. I have tons of holes in me. I pray every morning that God would fill me up with Jesus. That way all day long I am leaking Jesus out of my holes."

What are you filling yourself with? Fill yourself up with the things that you want to display when you are tested and that is what will come out.

I got no rythm, but I can dance: Part 2

2011-03-01T16:12:00.007-05:00

In my last post, I explained how Tom and I ended up at our daughter's middle school dance. The first surprise was the complete lack of any other parent's presence. Not even one parent came through the doors to drop off their student. Granted we did bring three girls, which means they were late in trying to get ready. So I only witnessed the arrival of about half the students. A credit to the school because they had the dance well chaperoned by teachers.

Flashbacks to my middle school days popped up as I hung out in the back of the room watching. As expected, circles of girls bounced up and down to the music and circles of boys stood around talking. I got the inside information on a number of the boys from one of the teachers. Friends of my daughter said hi and boys nervously walked by the two stern looking fathers.

Finally, the moment for the King and Queen arrived. Without too much ceremony the crowns were placed on heads and the King and Queen danced. It was hilarious to watch two very straight and stiff middle schoolers dance, which really meant stand in place and sway ever so slightly. I noticed with relief my daughter dancing with one of her girlfriends. But then another friend started repositioning the King and Queen into a more intimate pose.

It was time to act. I leaned over to Tom and said, "Time to cut in." Of course our daughters were horrified. We insisted and they let us cut in for about 10 seconds. The King and Queen dance was over. Mission accomplished!

Numerous studies have shown the importance of a parent in a teen's life. Our children want to hear from us and surprisingly want to do what we say. Tom and I did not go to the dance as friends of our daughters. We went as Parents. Two fathers desiring to love and protect our daughters. Leadership in the home is vitally important and leadership is not a popularity contest. Consider how you have been influenced by the 'parents should be friends concept'? What actions can you take this week to be a leader in your home?

By the way, this week my daughter reported that I was really popular with her friends because I had been at the dance. Doing the right thing, almost always attracts people.

I got no rythm, but I can dance: Part 1

2011-03-01T15:42:00.024-05:00

In case you missed it, Valentine's Day is in February. At our local middle school, the Valentine Day Dance was last Friday. I am the father of a middle school daughter. Many see the dilemma immediately; for those without daughters, think middle school boys. Picture getting clearer? I have always desired my three daughters to be beautiful; when they were 25. Unfortunately, they are early bloomers. The school dance debate began earlier this year with my 8th grade daughter. She hoping to have fun with her friends: Me picturing bump and grind with boys. As Lou Holtz once said, "Somewhere in between lies reality."

The dance debate turned into an opportunity to negotiate an acceptable compromise. My daughter researched what happened and how it was chaperoned. I trusted her judgement in a relatively safe environment. But then the Valentine Day Dance loomed on the horizon. I am no prude, but do not see the need to promote dating in 8th grade. Wanting to protect my daughter from forming unhealthy patterns in her relationships with boys, I said no to the dance. Desiring to help my daughter navigate the tricky waters of middle school relationships, I found an ally. Her best friends father and I decided to take our daughters out on a date the night of the dance.

Here it comes... the monkey wrench. My daughter's best friend was elected the Queen of the dance. The dads debated and decided it would work to let the girls go to the dance until the ceremony was over and then go out for dessert. Of course, we would be at the dance the whole time. You will have to read the next post to find out what happened at the dance. As a leader you must know what remains the core principles. Everything else can be negotiated. If you live by a set of rules, eventually you will break. If you live by principles, you will be able to handle the challenging times. What are your core principles?

Nobody likes me :(

2011-02-24T09:30:00.000-05:00

How do you judge your success as a leader? Micheal Scott from the office would say whether everybody likes me or not. He has a famous episode where he agonizes over having to fire somebody, and in the end his last sentence to the fired employee is, "I just hope we can remain really good friends after all this."

The cold hard truth is not everybody will like you or your decisions as a leader. You must have a different filter for making your choices. Trying to get people to like you, will be counterproductive in actually getting people to like you. You will behave differently than who you really are. Then the people around you will like somebody you're not, which is unsustainable, or they'll see the charade and you'll lose tons of respect.

You can't make decisions based on what people think of you, but you do have to be sensitive to the general emotions of your team. There is a balance between strong leadership, and ignorance to other peoples needs and emotions.

A strong leader has to know who they are before they make decisions. How do you make your decisions? How do you balance being a team player, yet making the right decisions?

Why you want to be like Madonna and not Milli Vanilli

2011-02-14T14:54:00.001-05:00

I watched most of the Grammy's last night and what struck me was a bunch of performers desperately trying to out shine each other. From arriving in an egg to parading in a giant, red, peacock, knight costume it was a clear these artists were screaming for the spotlight to be on them. The gimmicks and stunts will only last you so long. Lady GaGa is famous for stunts, and it is getting increasingly more difficult to surprise us now.

Many Grammy award winning performers are heralded as leaders both of music and men. Some last for decades while others are more a flash in the pan. How do leaders stay relevant and influential over time? Let's look at a few artists and learn from success and failures.

In order to last as a leader you cannot;

1. Cheat! - Just ask Milli Vanilli or Ashley Simpson. Both of these artists were caught lip syncing in "live" performances. While one scandal was much larger than the other, have you heard much about either lately? Integrity is an absolute must for a leader to stay the test of time.

2. Stop working / Creating - One cannot stay anchored in the "Glory Days". If you have had previous success, in order to maintain, you must work harder. The recent Super Bowl Champion coach when asked three days after the Superbowl when he would start preparing for next season replied, "I'm already in day two". One day off after winning the penultimate championship? While that seems extreme the point is he was not satisfied with success. Don't be a one hit wonder.

3. Become self focused - Leading is ultimately about other people, not yourself. Too many people stop focusing on the people around them and start focusing on themselves. Micheal Jackson became so self obsessed it crippled him from performing and leading. Perhaps the greatest artist of our time, locked himself away for most of his adult career.

Things that you must do to last as a leader;

1. Stay relevant - The hardest things for coaches to do is stay relevant. As one coach said, I keep getting older, the kids keep getting younger. This is the same for music as well. As tastes and genres change like the wind how does one endure? Stay relevant. Madonna has re-invented herself as much as any other artist possibly. You can disagree with her content, message, and public personality, but she has remained relevant for a long time. The Key is she is willing to get outside her comfort zone in order to grow. Sometimes our comfort zone can become a danger zone because we never grow.

2. Focus on content not choreography - There must be substance to your message. Do not let stunts and flash be all that defines you. Eminem has evolved as an artist over time. However watch his performance last night compared to others. There was no choreography, very little effects or props. He often performs in jeans and a t-shirt. The core of his performance was his words and his message. Eminem is known for painfully sharing his feelings through his music. While often offensive and harsh, it resonates with people because we all feel pain and hardships.

3. Know what you don't do - Think about how many actors and musicians try to cross over the line to the other medium. It doesn't often work, actually it's usually disastrous. An effective and efficient leader knows when to say no. It's easy to be distracted by shiny new objects. What filter do you use to decide what not to do. They may be the most important decisions you make so this doesn't happen.

So what did I miss?

Which new artists today will be gone in sixty seconds? Which will last? Why?

Stupid Cow: Famous Dairy Farmer

2011-01-31T16:40:00.020-05:00

Here is a funny story from my Grandfather's dairy farm. At dinner with my grandfather, I had an important question. "Why did he name a cow stupid?" I knew all the cows had names. 'Stupid' was, well... a stupid name for a cow. Laughter erupted around the table at my question.

Confused, I explained myself. Earlier in the day, in the milking barn, I watched the cows exit. One of the cows tried to go out the wrong door, a door much to small for a cow. My grandfather yelled at the cow, "Wrong door stupid!" I assumed the cow's name was "Stupid." Embarrassed, I realized my perception provided a wrong interpretation.

How many famous dairy farmers can you list? It is not a job that leads to fame. The day starts around 4:30am and cows have to be milked every day of the year. Not much time to do other stuff. My grandfather was not famous, he was a godly man who:

Delighted in the law of the Lord (Psalm 1)
Worked hard
Loved his wife for 60 years
Loved his family
Prayed for lots of missionaries
Stayed faithful for over 90 years

Some impressive stuff, But recently I learned my grandfather

Travelled the world visiting and encouraging missionaries
Was president of the board for the Harrisburg Youth for Christ six times
Started a Good News bible club in a black neighborhood during the 1950's
Helped start a church
Was a great neighbor
Donated the meat from at least 100 cows to an organization ministering to international students at Syracuse University
Taught hundreds of people in Sunday School classes

My perception of a godly man who was a dairy farmer totally missed the point. January 17, 2011 John Hertzler, my grandfather, passed away at the age of 94. An ordinary man living a day at a time for God, producing an extraordinary life. He achieved very little fame in this life. But I know he is getting all kinds of attention in heaven from the people impacted by his life. Not bad for a dairy farmer.

Now Hiring!

2011-01-31T16:20:00.008-05:00

What if for 3 months your typical work day looked a little like this? Prayer meeting with staff 3 buffet meals praise & worship Beach, boats, blob Dune Hikes S’mores around the fire Trail Rides Sounds ideal, doesn’t it? Summer staff at Grace Adventures has all of those things. We can guarantee your summer will be fun but not necessarily easy. You will be stretched and challenged in your faith and as a person. At the end, you will know that you’ve been part of making a lasting impact and eternal difference. At Grace Adventures, we’re in the middle of staff hiring for summer 2011. We are looking for staff that are dedicated, caring, sensitive, and trustworthy and want to minister to God’s kids. We desire to equip today’s youth to become tomorrow’s leaders. That’s why we run 11 days of intensive staff training with continued training through the summer. Another key component is our core leadership staff that mentor, encourage and support summer staff. We believe in investing in our staff so they can invest in others.

We are hiring for a variety of positions: • Cabin counselor • Ranch counselor / Wrangler • Worship leader • Program specialist • Food service • Office registrar • Maintenance • Media specialist • Camp store • Health officer If you are interested or know someone who would be a great addition to the Grace Adventures team, send them to our website or have them contact Ben at 231-873-3662 or ben@graceadventures.org. Come join the staff at Grace, where everyday is an adventure!

Think You Are Too Old To Be A Youth Leader?

2011-01-28T09:12:00.014-05:00

Does age matter in leadership? Most younger people say no, even young people can lead. Can you be too old to lead though? What about leading youth today? Can you be too old then? How come you almost never see senior citizens leading a junior high youth group? I have. It was awesome. This last weekend at our Winter Blast at Grace Adventures, we had over 10 churches from all across the mid west attend an incredible retreat. The highlight for me was not the speaker or the band (who were great), but an elderly couple who looked very out of place at first. Ed is 77. Ed has Parkinson's disease. He and his wife were the youth group leaders for their church and were attending this retreat with a whole gang of teen and preteen students. As you watched closer though, Ed and his wife weren't out of place at all. These kids loved them. They had a open door into the kids hearts and minds as well. This older couple sang the LOUD songs, played games, and Ed even climbed our climbing wall!!!! What an inspiration. Here's where it gets cool though. Ed and his wife are not only leaders of youth. By setting the example of being willing to serve where ever God would have them, they have inspired and challenged a generation that is largely absent in youth ministry. Listen to Ed's heart as he wrote an e-mail to the Grace staff after the weekend.

Hi Abby Thank Everyone for a great weekend. Our kids really enjoyed it. Nan and I were a little embarrassed by the age thing. I know what pastor was trying to tell the younger leaders, you don't have to use age as an excuse to quit. We don't feel old. I've always told people that age is in the mind and heart until the LORD tells us differently. He may have been trying to tell me something on that wall Sat Night when my right leg wouldn't go the extra three inches. The Parkinson's is only on the right side. We hope to see you next winter good LORD willing and I plan to do some more snow shoeing and training and see if I can get to the top.
Also we don't have a problem with anyone using it (our story) if feasible to try to get more elderly people involved with young people. I know in our case we are often their sanctuary. Many weekend we have kids at the house, we play games, watch movies etc. Were on a small lake so in the summer they all come and swim, fish and of course eat. We can't do things like we use to, but, we can be their for them and we all have so many things to offer and so much to learn from the kids. Example, I've always disliked Rock Music I was talking to my oldest grandson (Jr at Grand Valley) about Christian Rock one day and my dislike of it, as most of the time, the music was so loud you couldn't hear the words to the song. He said Grandpa that's not music it just noise when it's like that, but I know you like music because you rock and bounce to it a lot. So move with the rhythm, but listen to the words as most of them have a good message. SO with that attitude I've come to really enjoy most of it and even clap and rock, but I haven't convinced most others my age to do the same. I guess they just like there rocking chair. Anyway again Thanks for a great weekend. GOD BLESS. Hope to See you Next Year. Ed And Nancy

God Bless you Ed and Nancy, and Rock On!

Fuzzy Reality

2011-01-21T15:29:00.010-05:00

Does an American Idol contestant really believe he can impress Jennifer Lopez by going shirtless. Even more perplexing, Randy what are you thinking?

It seems like a new reality TV show starts each day. There are literally hundreds of them now. Who watches Meerkat Manor, Parking Wars, and Airline Repo?

Reality used to mean what is real based on fact. Now it means whatever I show or tell you based on my perceptions. So we have one wannabe and two old guys lifting their shirts and Jennifer Lopez wondering what just happened. Everyone wants to define their own reality to the great confusion of everyone else. It would be entertaining if this was just left to TV and Youtube. But in everyday life people live in a made up world, ignoring reality.

A true leader does not convince you their reality is the best to gain the most followers, though it does appear to sell well on Youtube. No a true leader discerns reality and helps us navigate through it. Discernment is a lost art or gift. We can all practise a little more discernment. I would hope it takes little discerning to realize a 60 plus year old out of shape guy should never lift his shirt in public.

It may be harder to discern some one's motives and determine what is really happening in a given situation. Leaders can have discernment or rely on someone who does have it. Either way you will have a difficult time seeing through our fuzzy reality without a heavy dose of discernment.

Lessons are better caught than taught

2011-01-21T10:29:00.000-05:00

We have a saying around Grace that lessons are caught not taught. What we mean is that how we conduct ourselves must reinforce what we say about ourselves. If we talk to a school group, college, or business about character qualities of a leader, and demonstrate a lack of those character qualities we have undermined ourselves. However, we can use this principle to our advantage as well. If you want to see a behavior in a group of people you're leading, you have to model it. A lazy person cannot inspire discipline and hard work. At my church one of our pastor's and his wife have decided to adopt a baby. The catch is this child is HIV positive. They explained the process of how God has led them to this decision. They asked a doctor to come speak to our church about the realities and myths of HIV. I have to tell you I am completely humbled and confronted by their obedience to God in this act of love to a young girl from another country who would be dead by 5 if not for their decision. It is easy for a pastor to preach about getting outside your comfort zone, loving the unlovable, and trusting in God. Actually demonstrating it in a radical way is one of the most powerful sermons I've encountered in a long time. So what does the team your leading lack? What do you feel like you've praying they would do more of? Have you been leading by example? What responsibilities do you not like to do? Is that trickling down your organization or team?

What is a first follower

2011-01-18T11:38:00.004-05:00

No I'm not talking about your first follower on Facebook or Twitter. As a leader do you understand the importance and role of a first follower.

What is the difference between a leader and an eccentric?

If you are a leader the most important person to help get action in a group of people is the first follower. Consider the situation. You're at a play and at the end you feel like it was a great play. So you stand up and applaud. Are you a leader yet? No, you're just a single person standing and clapping. Anybody can go off half cocked and do something different than the norm.

Now the other people in the room aren't so sure it was a great play. They are a little nervous and anxious because it's getting awkward that only this one weirdo is clapping. Then all of a sudden another person stands up and claps... the first follower. Now the ice has been broken it is okay for others to clap and a wave of standing applause erupts. As humans we look to each other for validation and permission of our actions. If nobody else is doing something we're hesitant to do it. As a leader you may have a conviction, but if nobody else has that conviction how do you get people to follow you? Get a first follower. When people see somebody else doing it, they will follow.

After first followers come early adopters and then the multitudes.

Near Life Experiences

2010-12-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Every once and a while something happens in our lives that changes our perspectives to see things more clearly. For just a while afterwards life is more vibrant. I want to share a few of these experiences I've had.

So what keeps us from seeing things in High Def with out a "game changer?"

What can we do to see things more clearly with out a game changer?

For more information on Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis please visit here.

To get involved in the fight for a cure please visit Partners Seeking a Cure.

“HIS-tory” told from the saddle

2010-12-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of taking my little sister (Hilary) down to Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus Ohio. She was participating in a national public speaking contest. Back in April of 2010 she won the state competition earning her a spot to compete at this contest.

Hilary’s speech was entitled “Horses Helping to Heal Hearts,” speaking to how horses are used in peoples lives to impact them in positive ways. Many of these people are troubled (gang youth, prisoners, and girls with eating disorders and people with anger problems).

One of the stories that Hilary tells in her speech, is actually about me. She gives a brief description of how God used horses is my life to direct me off the bad path I was on, and toward the path that He had for me. I was one of those kids with severe anger issues, but the Lord used large amounts of time around the gentle nature of the horse accompanied by people who invested in me to completely transform my life.

Hearing Hilary’s speech was a great reminder to me of how God is at work in each one of our lives. Each of us has a story to tell. A story of God’s grace and work in our lives. I think that our story can be one of the best tools to share the hope that we have in Christ. Just look at the story God tells through the Israelites!

My little sister is telling part of my story, and I wonder how often I have even thought to share it. If we don’t tell our stories who will, and how will people ever meet Jesus!

Nuts and Bolts Check

2010-11-22T11:55:00.005-05:00

Part of ‘winterizing’ camp is doing our ‘Nuts and Bolts’ check on the high ropes courses. Basically that means we tighten all the clamps and check for wear and tear or anything that could be unsafe or needs maintenance so when the guy in the picture jumps, we know he'll have something to land on. My job in the process was to take a crescent wrench and check any bolts that I could for tightness. Sounds easy, but when you’re only 5’3”, standing 15 feet off the ground the cable is 3 feet above your head it can be pretty tricky! I did my best but it seemed like everything was as tight as could be. Then Ben came along with a torque wrench. I’m not mechanical so I can’t really tell you how it works, but you can follow the link to Wikipedia if you so desire. As he went to the bolts I’d just announced as tight as could be, he was able to get between 5-8 turns on each one because of the power of his tool. It’s not that Ben was doing more than I was; it’s that his instrument was more effective than mine.

How many times do I try to do things in my power instead of letting God do it in his? On my own with my little crescent wrench, I wasn’t able to tighten those clamps at all. I pulled and strained and climbed, but try as I might I just wasn’t capable. But with that torque wrench, big movement was possible and the ropes course is now safe because of it. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Sometimes I think I have to have it all together and that I can do anything I put my mind to. I want to rearrange my thinking to God can do anything when I put my mind to him. If I can do this, it’d be like replacing my ineffective crescent wrench with a torque wrench and result in a more secure life overall. Are you living on God’s power or your own today?

K.I.S.S.

2010-11-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

No I am not writing about the singing group; Yes I am old enough to remember when they first made it big. KISS is an acronym from the business world for "Keep It Simple Stupid." Most of the time we make things to complicated. Amazon has the idea when they let you order something with one click. The government rarely ever considers how to keep it simple. The last two weeks of my life have been extremely busy and it gets me wondering how to make things simple (might have been a better thought to have before five kids). As I am sure many of you are thinking; I wonder where to start. It all seems like good stuff to be doing. What do you cut out? We even have eliminated one of the more challenging time sponges, TV. The reality is that I am doing all good things. Now it comes down to choosing the best over the good. I do not know how it will all turn out. But these are questions I am asking myself:

Do I want a better relationship with my wife? Requires more time!
Would I be happy to have my children come to me to talk about what is on their minds? Requires more time!
How many friends do I really invest in (facebook doesn't count)? Requires more time!
Can my family really enjoy doing things together? Requires more time!
Are there any problems in my community I can help solve? Requires more time!
Can God really meet all my needs? Requires more time!

I like how Joe Gibbs used to coach the Washington Redskins. Each week he would encourage the players and the team to get 10% better. Maybe I can cut out 10% of the things I am now doing to better answer the previous questions.

Making God Smile

2010-11-12T11:26:00.004-05:00

Last week, I almost stole from Meijer. It was my day off and I decided to drive down to Grand Valley State University (my alma mater) to visit friends and go to a book reading of “Bittersweet” by Shauna Niequist. On the way back, I stopped at Meijer in Muskegon to pick up some groceries. I was tired, it was late, and I knew I still had a long drive ahead of me. After I checked out, I rolled my little cart out to my little car and began to put my bags in my trunk. As I lifted the last bag I noticed a box of popcans on the bottom rack. I lifted it into my trunk and shut the lid. I put my cart away and as I walked back to Lola the Corolla (that’s my car’s name) I started thinking about that case of pop. My internal conversation went something like this,

“I paid for that, right? Yeah, I paid for that…

Did I really pay for that or did it just sit on the bottom rack the whole time? I don’t think I paid for it.”

But I was tired and just wanted to go home so I convinced myself that I had indeed paid for the case and started my engine. I put my car in reverse and backed out of my parking space… directly into another space on the other side of the aisle. I hadn’t paid for those cans. I knew I hadn’t. I walked those cans back into Meijer and looked for someone to return them to. The only person I could see was a high school boy working the self check-out. I walked up to him, handed him the cans and said, “I accidentally walked out with these cans. I’m sorry and I wanted to return them.” To be honest, I wanted there to be confetti and balloons. I thought for sure someone would give me a pat on the back, a smile, or perhaps heavenly music would begin playing as my halo glowed brighter than ever. But instead, the boy just gave me a weird look and said, “Ok, cool.” I was a little disappointed at his lack of enthusiasm for my good deed. But then my mind traveled back to something I'd heard from the author only hours before, “Stop waiting for life to pass you by. Think about the things you do really well, the things that God make smile. Then go do it.”

In that moment I realized that I didn’t need a confetti party in Meijer. It was enough to know that God was smiling. These days I’m trying to identify the things I do that make God smile and do them more. Actually, I don’t want to just make God smile, I’d like it if he’d chuckle or maybe even guffaw. Have you thought about how you can make God smile today? If you like to sing, then belt one out in the car. Maybe it’s art, cooking, listening, building, talking, loving, or forgiving. Whatever it is that you do, do it well and make God smile.

Everybody cheats, so it's not wrong

2010-11-11T09:00:00.003-05:00

Have you seen any of the startling statistics about academic dishonesty?

80% of "high-achieving" high school students admit to cheating.
51% of high school students did not believe cheating was wrong.
95% of cheating high school students said that they had not been detected.
75% of college students admitted cheating, and 90% of college students didn't believe cheaters would be caught.
Almost 85% of college students said cheating was necessary to get ahead.
72% of college students reported one or more instances of serious cheating on written work

from The Center for Academic Integrity (http://www.academicintegrity.org/) McCabe, D. L., & Trevino, L. K. (1996). "What we know about cheating in college: Longitudinal trends and recent developments." Change, 28(1), 28-33. (EJ 520 088)

Many of these are almost 10 years old. At the University of Central Florida over 200 students in a 600 student business class were caught cheating. The story is here. What is enlightening is one students response,

But student Konstantin Ravvin expressed a different opinion, accusing the university of "making a witch hunt out of absolutely nothing, as if they want to teach us some kind of moral lesson." "This is college. Everyone cheats, everyone cheats in life in general," Ravvin said. "I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in this testing lab who hasn't cheated on an exam."

Here we find a classic example of a post-modern worldview, and the results of the deterioration of values in our society. Postmodern defines social norms as what personally discovered. Right and wrong are dependant upon what a person believes. There fore there is no absolute truth or right and wrong, merely what one person thinks is okay for them. The outcome of this is there are no true norms for behavior. Culture then defines right and wrong. If it's culturally acceptable or politically correct it's okay. If it helps to get me ahead, and I feel like "cheating" is worth it in the end, then that is "right" for me. Combine this with a sin nature, and we have a recipe for rampant dishonesty.

How can a student say 200 classmates who got caught with an elicit version of the exam which requires espionage, coercion, and dissemination, "is making a witch hunt out of absolutely nothing?" Because to him, cheating isn't wrong. It fits inside his social norms, not only does it fit inside his world view of nothing is truly wrong, but it's culturally rampant, so it is also socially acceptable.

There's something else at play as well though. Behavior is driven by values. Values are driven by worldview. Think of an iceberg. If you only see the tip, there's 90% more underwater. The same concept applies. Under the surface are the values, and under that are the world view of a person. For example, the Christian worldview says God created humans. There fore they value life. Therefore the behavior is choosing not to support abortion. The humanist worldview says we're all here from random chance. There fore they value science and which tells them life is random and short. There fore the behavior is that abortion is okay.

As a nation their has been a progressive deterioration of world view, values, and behavior. We see the World War 1 and 2 generations had a largely Biblical world view. However they only passed on their values of hard work, honesty, integrity to the baby boomers. With out the worldview to support these values the behavior started to slide away from a Biblical worldview. The boomers only passed on the behavior they wanted to their children. The boomers didn't have the world view, their children didn't have the values to support the behavior. Therefore as soon as the next generation was out of sight from their parents they engaged in whatever behavior they wanted. They did not have the internal iceberg underwater to steer their behavior.

Except that they did. We all have a world view and values. When we don't help our children discover and define a Biblical world view and values, they will have their own. Culture will define this. This is why there is little difference in cheating stats amongst Christians and non-Christians.

Have you taught your children a biblical world view? Have you merely tried to impart your values with out explaining to them where they come from? Have you only focused on their behavior so that they'll "act right". With out a solid world view the behavior can never be sustainable.

We as a nation are so far removed from a Biblical world view, that we see the results in statistics and stories like this cheating story. There's no reason for them not to cheat according to how they were raised. Couple that with their parents modeled it buy cheating on taxes with under the table money, by cheating on how much they claimed on a car purchase so they don't have to pay taxes, or whose listed as a primary driver for insurance, or fudging their age so they can go on a trail ride at the horse stable because it's a minimum of 9.

The result is we have a huge worldview problem. Which is what Grace is committed to changing in the students we work with.

Are you a field or a temple?

2010-11-09T10:40:00.003-05:00

Are you a do'er or a be'er? No not a "beer". In your relationship to God do you focus on what you do for Him, or do you focused on abiding in Him, or being in Him? As I studied 1 Corinthians 3 this morning I think the answer should be both, but it was a healthy reminder that I need to focus on being in Him more. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul is talking to the Corinthian church. He is chastising them for taking sides on who they say they follow, Paul or Apollos. It is likely that Paul founded the church and then Apollos furthered the ministry here after Paul. This is speculation, but since their doctrine was the same, it is likely that Apollos war more eloquent in speech or delivery. We know that Paul was probably not the most articulate or eloquent (1 Cor 2:1), and that he had a physical ailment which may have left him partly crippled or blind. All of this leads me to believe that people were following Apollos for his smooth speech and strong appearance. Paul places himself and Apollos in the same category as field workers for the Lord. Paul planted and Apollos watered. They are both toiling in the same soil, with the same purpose.

1 Cor 3:9
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

The "we" refers to Paul and Apollos. "You" refers to the Corinthians, but could easily be applied to current Christians as well. God compares us to a field. This is an expected analogy. We are God's workmanship. We also have a purpose and he uses other Christians to nurture us, cultivate us, but we also must bear fruit. This plant analogy is common through out the new testament. What really set me back is we are God's "field" but we are also his "building". Many translations say "dwelling". You see God has created a dwelling place for Himself in ourselves as temples of the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 3:16-17
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

So the work of the apostle Paul was not just to cultivate the field, but to build God's temple in other people.

1 Cor 3:10-11
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

God would not allow anybody to build His temple. This is something carefully over sought and directed. Skilled hands would be recruited for such a special task. I often look at myself as a tool of the Lord, a field for use for His purposes. I often forget that God also desires to dwell in me and with me. That He has created me and continues to build in me the new man that reflects His holiness. Do you consider yourself Holy? Do your behaviors and thoughts reflect the Holy temple of the Lord? Have you focused on what your doing for the Lord and not focused on how to be in the Lord?

Does facebook know when you'll break up?

2010-11-02T15:08:00.005-04:00

Are you concerned about if or when you might break up with your significant other? There is a new graph floating around from independent researchers who did a search for "breakup" and "broken up". And here are the amazing results;

The top two days for a break up to occur are right after Valentines Day and two weeks before Christmas. Then comes April fool's day, and Mondays. The best times of year are Christmas day, and spring and fall. I have a couple thoughts on why these days are popular. We have a terrible view of romance and intimacy. Holidays like Valentines Day high light this. The whole focus of the day for many people is to create an emotionally intense experience. This is okay at times in a relationship; however there must be a foundation of maturity and commitment that can counter the emotional low times. Second emotional intensity is almost always coexistent with sexual intensity. Outside the confines of marriage, and especially with young people who lack the maturity to process the feelings this creates, this is a recipe for disaster. So let's create a holiday that sets all of these variables on a tee for a couple to abuse. When expectations are meant, emotions don't connect, and things go poorly, we have a recipe for a breakup. The Christmas thing is much easier to explain. People are cheap! Two weeks before Christmas, that's present buying time. Why by a present for someone you don't know if you want to be in a relationship with? The April fool's thing is just rude, but a little funny in a sick sort of way. Have you ever broken up with someone because of the time of year, or a holiday?

Smashed Ice Cream! Smash on!

2010-10-22T14:30:00.003-04:00

Sometimes in life, all you have to do is get a bit creative to add a little excitement. So we were working on putting together some new and different things for our summer camp next summer, and this is one of the ideas that came out of the experience. We want to offer "smashed" ice cream. So campers young and old can order their product from our camp store either "regular" or "smashed" and then we will provide the smashing. I am thinking it will require a large rubber mallet. But I can guarantee that kids will order ice cream, just to be able to observe it being smashed. What is something that you can do for your family to add a little excitement? In a good way? Will you order "smashed" ice cream when you come to Grace this summer?

When is success a success?

2010-10-11T09:55:00.017-04:00

Have you ever experienced a huge success in your life only to find out you didn't feel successful?

I'm learning a new way of celebrating successes in my job as Marketing Director. I used to gauge success by depth of ministry when I was more hands on in programming. Now I'm removed from the front lines. I don't see and feel the same things I felt. I know that I am no less part of the ministry, so why don't I feel as excited about success in my new role?

For example, we just held our annual women's retreat at Grace Adventures. This event usually had about 60 women. We had only budgeted for 60 women this year. I had a goal set in my head of 200 women. I knew this event would be important for Grace's growth plans and we had to expand how many women we served.

I spent time and energy on sales, phone calls, brochures, e-blasts, strategic partners, church partners, radio advertising, and more. Long story short about a month ago it became apparent that we were going to be closer to 250 than 200. Wow, what a response! I really take very little credit because I did a lot of the same things for our Men's retreat and that had to be cancelled due to low registrations. This was a God thing for sure. So why when the goal was realized and more, didn't I feel excited, accomplished, or happy about what had happened?

I've been chewing on this for a while. Am I ungrateful, or so driven that I can rarely acknowledge when enough is good?

This weekend the Women's Retreat came and went, can I tell you our entire campus stunk pretty. Talk about an estrogen overload! The chocolate was flowing, the energy was electric, and the women were fantastic. There was a buzz and a feeling that had to be God's presence. During the sessions, the meal times, the pamper room, and paintball there was joy, peace, and encouragement. This was truly a great weekend.

As I saw and interacted with the women and heard their stories, I started to feel that emotional high I thought I should get when I finished "selling" for the retreat. You see even though my job forces me to focus on numbers, changed lives are what's at stake. Sometimes it is easy to forget that as I'm looking at spreadsheets, and advertising costs. What part did I play in this weekend? Not much from Friday through Sunday. However I played a huge part in helping bridge the gap between a great retreat, and the women who had to be here. No more important than the program staff, food service, operations, worship leader, or speaker; but still part of the process.

In marketing it can be easy to lose track of why God has placed you where you are. It is easy to become disconnected or detached from the daily ministry happening when you're 6-9 months ahead of it in your role. The bridge to gap is I will not always get a chance to see the seeds being reaped that I have helped plant months before. How do I celebrate success without the emotional high that can be found through being present during the experience?

I suspect time and seasoning will help with this transition. However it is a good thing to seek that emotion, if it forces me to stay connected with the mission taking place. We can't all be a foot, or an eye. I don't know what body part marketing is, maybe the mouth (I'm told I have a big one). Together we are a part of the team, and we must learn to celebrate successes as a body, in order to encourage one another.

P.S. To the gentleman who told his wife to tell me to blog more while she was at the retreat, this is for you. Also I hope you enjoyed the pictures from the weekend.

Lessons from a Trash Can

2010-10-08T15:43:00.005-04:00

I had a doctor’s appointment the other day to determine if I should have my ACL in my knee reconstructed (more on that in my next blog). As usual, I was trying to cram a bunch of other stuff into the trip before and after so I was late. Then, in my attempt at multi-tasking, I was finishing my lunch; talking on the phone; and running into the doctor’s office.

After the exam; setting the plan for surgery; and scheduling the date, I was off to the next task at hand. As I walked out of the office, I grabbed for my truck keys in my pocket only to have that sinking feeling in my stomach and the automatic verbal response of “Oh No.” “No worries”, I said to myself as I was certain in my hurried rush I just left them in the ignition and locked them in the truck. It wouldn’t have been the first time. So I walked down the two flights of stairs and across the parking lot to the truck – no keys. “No worries, I am sure they fell out of my pocket in the exam room”, I thought to myself. Back across the parking lot I went and up the two flights of stairs (with no ACL in one of my knees I might add). I looked around the waiting room; I talked to the receptionist, and the nurse. They had me go back into the examination room but still no keys. I looked under the examination table and behind the door but still no keys.

Now at this point, I was worried. I was worried because I didn’t know how to fix it. It was only then that I realized that I hadn’t prayed and asked God for help. Why is that? Is it because I think God doesn’t care about lost truck keys? Is it because I am a man and I am too proud? You might say both and yet neither. It just hadn’t even been part of my thought pattern. So I prayed! As I was walking down the stairs again with my bum knee I prayed that God would help me out. Before I finished my prayer the only thought I had was “trash can”. You see, on my way in I had thrown away my trash from lunch and I had completely forgotten that. I walked outside the hospital and took the lid of the trash can. There right on top was my set of keys! God answered my prayer! Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25-34 that we are far more valuable then birds and lilies yet he takes care of them. The lesson is that God does care about the little things in our life. So do you go through your day worrying about the little things of your life or is it part of your thought pattern to ask for God for help as the first resort? Romans 12 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The next time I lose my keys (and there will be a next time) I desire to have calling upon God for help as part of my thinking pattern.

Stop and smell the horse manure

2010-10-04T11:43:00.000-04:00

This last weekend we had our Women’s Retreat here at Paradise Ranch. It was a great time filled with fun horseback rides, good food, laughter, relaxation, and spiritual rejuvenation. Talking with these ladies you find that they are all mothers and wives, and they all have very busy schedules. And one of the big things that they look forward to all year is when they get to come up to Grace Adventures and relax and have fun being with other ladies and spending time with the horses (something they all have in common).

I think the thing that stuck out to me the most this weekend was my new realization of the need for down time. I tend to be a workaholic and I rarely take time to be still. Something that was emphasized this weekend by one of our speakers (Tricia Coppess) was that one of the reasons we tend to busy our schedules is because it doesn’t give us a chance to have down time and think about things in our lives that we don’t like. I think that this is where a lot of people are at in their lives, and it is time that we slow down and take time to think and let God speak and minister to our hearts with His still small voice.

Bad context... Bad Pizza

2010-09-27T10:18:00.007-04:00

I'm down in Chicago for the weekend watching my little brother play football, and I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. My father and I are staying for the weekend to hang out with Corey. So last night after the girls all headed north we needed a place to eat. My father wanted to go visit a very famous Chicago pizza place. So he told me the name the restaurant and I searched for it in my blackberry in order to find an address.

It was 22 miles away so Corey, Steve, and I jumped in the car and drove to town. The further we got the more confident my father got that this was the wrong direction. By now we're all getting very hungry, and the neighborhood is getting a little sketchy. Finally after a 45 minute drive we arrive on our final destination....

GIOVANNI'S!!!

the world famous take out pizza place???

You see my father said Giovanni's (meaning Giordanos) when I asked him the name of the place. I took him at his word and searched for Giovanni's, which happened to come up. What I really wanted to search for was...

GIORDANO'S!!! the world famous pizza place!!!

What happened was I heard something that sounded right "giovannis" and acted on it. Instead of spending a little bit of time researching and doing to some back ground checks I just went with it with out a second thought.

Unfortunately this happens way too often in our spiritual lives as well. We hear some one say they heard something in the Bible about such and such a topic, or they'll make a statement with out support and we'll blindly take them at their word. More often we read a passage and with out spending diligence studying the context of the chapter, consulting other resources, or seeing what others have said about the passage, we make a conclusion and then an application from that conclusion. This is called devotional interpretation and is based largely on our limited knowledge as well as our personal feelings and biases about the text. This poor reading of scripture leads to eisogesis or false meanings about the passage.

Another problem with eisogesis is it can lead you to the wrong pizza place!

So as you study in your devotions remember to take time and look at the historical context, the background, and seek outside help from respected commentaries in order to get the most accurate reading possible.

The power of the "stache"

2010-09-24T10:49:00.014-04:00

Here's a little Friday morning humor for you.

Check out this sweet article about 20 mustaches that changed the world.

My personal favorite is the "Tom Selleck", because my dad has tried to be his twin for 30 years.

Comparisons

2010-09-21T09:31:00.003-04:00

I remember as a kid, my dad called me to come inside, but I was having fun playing with my younger brother. Well, in our family, if you didn't follow instructions there were consequences. I remember, standing in the shower afterward and comparing who had the reddest backside!

Kids aren't the only ones to compare. We all do. But comparisons can lead to sin. How?

Well, if you compare yourself to others, and you come out ahead. I am better, I can do this faster, nicer, with much better quality... Comparisons lead to pride. Basically, we are taking credit for how God created us, and for his gifting in our lives.

On the other hand, if you compare yourself to others, and you come out behind: I am not good, I can't do it as well, They are soo much better... Comparisons lead to doubt. Meaning, we don't believe that God did a good job. And we question his ability to use us. This is unbelief or lack of trust. We are saying God can't do it.

Honestly, I wish I could say that this doesn't happen for me. However, truth be told, I find myself bouncing between both categories. Some days, I am prideful and think, "why can't others do things as well as me." "Why does it take them so long." "I wish they would think through this situation the way I would." Then other times, I question myself. I look around at the people I work with, and see how much more effective, detailed, or driven they are than me. They get things done, I get bogged down. They are very strategic and intentional, I wing it. They plan ahead, and I always procrastinate.

So what can we do to avoid or overcome comparisons. Realistically, I don't think you can live a day in this world without making a comparison, so avoidance isn't the best option. However, I think we can move our focus away from comparing ourselves to others, by being thankful.

Here is what I mean. We need to constantly thank God: both for the way he has gifted us and the ways that we see he has gifted others. When I am thankful, I give God credit for his creation, and I choose to believe that he can do it through me and through those around me. I negate pride, because it is God's craftsmanship, and I negate unbelief, because I am stating he did it!

Here is my best effort at sharing some things that God has been teaching me this past year. At times, I felt like a Mac in a PC world, here at Grace. At the time, I knew it wasn't true, but I was so different from other fulltime staff. As I have had God speak his truth into my life, I have come to claim that I am a necessary, and needed part of the body. He wants me to be different, he made me that way.

He wants you to be you. He made you that way. So stop dwelling on comparisons, and be thankful!

Facebook Affairs?

2010-09-17T07:40:00.004-04:00

There is a rising trend in relationships. Man and women enter into a committed relationship (marriage or not), one person's ex-significant other from the past pops up on facebook, a little bit longer there is a messy split. Is facebook at fault for connecting us with former flames and leaving us no choice but to accept that friend request? After all you have accepted the door man's request, your cousins uncles room mates request, it would be rude to ignore some one you once had a relationship with. The real question should be why would you leave a door cracked open. A wise person once told me that humans enter into sin through doors they intentionally left cracked open. Here's the problem with having that old flame around. It didn't work the first time, but you've forgotten that by now. All you remember are the powerful first crush feelings you had or the high lights of the relationship. Over time this has been warped into a pseudo fantasy instead of reality. Now those feelings come back with fake memories to support them. There is a level of danger and risk that give you a rush as well. All of this combined is a sort of mental pornography in effect because it warps reality, pulls you away from real interaction, and creates a rush. Are you spending more time facebooking than you are face time with people? What level of accountability do you have with your significant other? Do you have secrets from them? All of these are open doors we leave cracked. It's not facebooks fault any more than it's a pens fault for misspelled words. I read an article by a secular therapist on a mainstream news website where he explained that even he does not accept these requests. That his wife has access to all his accounts at any time, and she can call him, text him or just show up at any time. That is open and transparent. He has nothing to hide, and his relationship benefits from his showing that to his wife. So instead of leaving doors cracked open, what new doors can you open in your relationship that will strengthen and encourage your spouse? What new and exciting hobbies can you start together to create new energy? Look for ways to be proactive in protecting your relationship and with openness, transparency, and accountability, you won't have to worry about facebook.

Self Esteem: Hot Air or Hard Things

2010-09-09T14:29:00.004-04:00

I happen to be a competitive person, who values staying healthy. A few years ago I needed a goal to stay motivated. It was getting harder and harder to wake up and exercise. So, I decided to try a triathlon. Running wasn't my favorite thing, but the variety of swimming, biking, and running helped spice it up. Now a few years later I really enjoy finishing a race. This summer the joy was increased when my two oldest daughters, 13 and 11 years old wanted to race with me. We found a triathlon that had distances for their ages and the training began. My 11 year old is extremely competitive and would ask me when we could bike or run. Anna our oldest had a harder time, especially with running. It was always too painful for her to run. Two weeks before the race she wanted to quit. I could have told her it was great that she tried and maybe next year she could actually do the race. Too often, we, adults, tend to believe that affirming words and frivolous praise will build up the confidence of a child. Self Esteem can only come from self accomplishment. Anna was given a choice, she could drop out of the race and pay back the entry fee or do the race. She choose to stick with it. During the race she was the first one out of the water and the first one off her bike, now the running was still very difficult, but she finished third. The look of satisfaction and joy on her face at the end of the race was priceless. There was nothing I could have done or said to produce that look. Anna's self esteem was greatly increased because she followed through on a difficult task. How can you challenge those around you to do hard things?

Healthy Tension?

2010-09-09T08:05:00.005-04:00

Many people spend a significant amount of time trying to avoid stress, strain, and tension in their lives. There are entire life styles devoted to experiencing a totally stress free life. I've been reading a bit about leadership lately. One concept that comes up frequently and one that we teach as critical to leadership at Grace, is the idea of healthy tension.

What creates tension?

1. Relationships; One article talked about how poor leaders hire people with similar behaviors and beliefs. This means there often is not much disagreement. I think insecure leaders do this. It takes a lot of comfort and confidence in who you are where you're going to have people on your team that see things differently. However with out those people, you can never break out of your own paradigms that may be stifling success.

This only works when all parties involved have unity of purpose though. If there is disagreement with out unity then people will start protecting their silos, which will create destruction, defensiveness, and criticism.

2. Departmental; Different arms of organizations have different perspectives. This is similar to relationships but not the same. The accountant is more sensitive to finances, while the product control officer is concerned with the highest quality product. Marketing wants to sell the world, while the service providers don't want to compromise experience. Left to our own desires each department could very easily slip into a pattern of what they see as best with out considering the other perspectives. This balance of desires is what helps to keep a company honest with itself.

3. External Factors; Competition, growth, change in cost of doing business, bad PR, are all examples of things that can cause tension in a company. This has a different opportunity though. Because it's not predicated by anybody in the company usually, the team has the chance to band together against this tension. It can cause unity or disunity depending on how it is responded to. Leadership must cast a vision for employees to band together behind in order to overcome these opportunities.

Finally tension can become unhealthy. When it becomes personal, when there is no appreciation for the areas of unity, when people feel unsafe, for whatever reason the line has been crossed.

Consider a rubber band. It only works if it is stretched, stretched too far and it can not serve its purpose. Are you creating teams that have healthy tension in them? How do you know how much is too much?

This is the most amazing rubber band gun ever, epic;

Lessons from the County Fair

2010-09-08T08:50:00.000-04:00

The end of August signifies the end of summer for most people as kids head back to school and the weather starts to cool. The end of August also signifies for many Oceana County kids the end of year of hard work, dedication, fun, and fellowship. The end of August is the Oceana County 4H fair and this was my daughter’s first year participating. I am a people watcher. Therefore, the week was extremely interesting and at times very entertaining. You see all sorts of people with all sorts of different behaviors as they file through the barns to look at the livestock and take in all of the sights, smells, and textures that go with going through, hog, sheep, goat, cattle, and horse barns. You could tell those from the city and those from the country right away. What is more interesting to me were the families and how the parents interacted with their kids. This was just as true for 4H families as it was the fair goers. Now 4H is an absolutely wonderful organization with many great outcomes. I am very excited to see my daughter creating her own experiences that building character that will translate into much broader applications then how to muck a horse stall. What 4H is not, is that it is not a Christian organization. Being a much more diverse organization means that the kids (and parents) have a diversity of worldviews. When I first saw a different worldview being displayed by a kid talking back to their parent or a parent cussing out their kid, I was sadden. I wanted to confront and correct the behavior. Then I asked myself if I even wanted my daughter to be exposed to seeing such things? As I reflected, I remembered Luke 19:1-10 which is the story of Zacchaeus. Luke 19:9-10 says,”Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Ephesians 5 tells us to live a life of love, light, and wisdom. That is, our lives should reflect Christ in all that we do. That is exactly what Jesus modeled for us with Zacchaeus. Working in full-time ministry and being involved in our local church my kids spend a majority of their time in a safe, nurturing, Christian environment. That is awesome! However, I am excited for her involvement in 4H because what a great opportunity for my daughter to see how the world ,lost as it is, but yet the two of us have an opportunity to build relationships with people, model Christ, and be used by God to save what was lost. How does God want to use you? Are you in the World, but not of the World or are you so removed from the World that you have lost touch with who is lost? Christ never compromised Truth and yet he continued to seek and to save the lost.

Today's college students are yesterdays junior high students

2010-08-26T09:21:00.006-04:00

Have you interacted with college freshman lately? How about High school students? Why are there so many 25 year olds seemingly with out a plan or purpose? The answer is the extension of adolescence or latent adolescence.

Today's Junior High students act like elementary students, high school seems like junior high, and college seems like high school. Maybe most troubling is how many 22-26 year olds are totally unprepared to face the world.

Where is this coming from? I'm not psychology major but I have a few ideas.

1. The lack of a rite of passage. In cultures where there is a clear rite of passage from adolescence into adulthood there is no such problem. It's not just a ceremony (but walking on fire, or throwing knives, or spending a weekend in bear country might be good ones), it's as much that the child is now treated like an adult. The culture holds them to that standard, the family does, and the child knows they are now an adult. We don't have a set age for when you're an adult. Kids know this. They milk child hood as long as they can. With no deadline on your youth, you can be a lost boy forever. With a rite of passage it eliminates this maturation ambiguity. This may require you to look at your child as an adult instead of a child or young adult.

2. Helicopter parents. We have the most over involved generation of parents ever. That's why college freshman orientations are increasingly programmed to help parents get the idea that they're really not welcome. One school message board had a thread going before move in day along the lines of, "How long should I stay? 1 day? 2 days? 3 days? What if my child needs something?" "Well I'm going to his first classes, and I'll help him switch classes at the registrar office if he needs to get out of a class"

REALLY?!!! You're going to his classes? This is a generation of parents that have not allowed their children to make many decisions. They picked out the clothes, they picked out the teachers, they picked out the sports, they picked out the extra curriculur's and so on. These kids literally don't know how to make decisions or problem solve because mom and dad have always done so for them. It is almost always borne out of good intentions, a fear of the child being hurt. Some times the parents are living vicariously through the child. Regardless the child is not learning Independence.

A new trend is recent college graduates taking parents with them to their FIRST JOB INTERVIEWS! I mean seriously why are we wondering why kids aren't growing up.

When you don't allow kids to make decisions young, where the consequences are fairly minor, then they'll have to learn when they're older where the consequences are more severe. If Johnny doesn't want to put a coat on this winter, let him go outside for a while until he gets cold. He'll learn to put a coat on by himself. If Jenny doesn't want to eat supper, that's fine, but don't give her a snack. Going all night hungry won't hurt her, it'll teach her why we eat supper when we do. These seemingly every day small decisions are how we train our kids to make wise decisions. If we make bad decisions as adults there are consequences. If we rescue our kids from bad decisions or don't allow them to make decisions, then it'll be hard for them to transition to a world they've never experienced.

We see all these things happen at camp. We run a short week for 7-9 year olds who want to try camp out with out going a full week. More cell phones are smuggled in that week than in our junior high or high school weeks. Is it because these kids have so many friends to talk to? No, it's because parents want to be able to call at any time to "check in" on them. We have potential staff come to interviews and expect their parents to be able to sit in with them.

So here's what we're doing to help students transition from dependency on parents to being more in dependant, spiritually, financially, and take more responsibility.

It's called ASCENT. A 9 month program for recent high school graduates who aren't quite sure what the next step is for them. Your student will have a level of freedom and Independence different from at home, but yet still in a safe environment where they can learn about who God made them to be. They will be challenged to think and problem solve on their own, and to learn to work in teams.

This tuition based program will help build character, Godliness, self discipline, leadership and health relationship skills, personal finance and career readiness, as well as teach professional Christian camping skills.

Students will spend time in class, practicum, personal study, and in service both on and off campus. Tuition includes meals and housing. The time frame is October through April.

If you're interested or have questions give us a call 231-873-3662. Space is filling up for this fall.

Here is a link on the delay of adulthood.

Here is a link on how college freshman orientation policies have adapted to dismiss parents.

Flip Marketing

2010-08-16T09:19:00.004-04:00

A good friend of mine asked me to write a blog on marketing. I guess because my title has marketing in it, he thinks I know what I'm doing. I've been chewing on it a lot though and what hasn't been said about marketing? Not much.

Here's my quick tip number one though.

BUY A FLIP CAM!

For $160 you can have a 720i HD flip cam that shoots as high quality as my $3000 Sony HDV camcorder. It's incredible. It is the size of a cell phone and has a USB port so it plugs right into your computer. You can literally have a video on the Internet in less than five minutes.

Why is this important. Because you never know when your next awesome marketing moment will be. They come out of no where. A camper is telling a story, and counselor is getting blobbed, some thing is always happening at camp.

As equally important as the tool, is the purpose. Stories sell. Testimonies sell. With a flip cam you can capture high quality testimonies in a non-threatening way and boom they're online in minutes.

Recently I was at the Unity Festival music concert in Muskegon. With headliners like Casting Crowns, Third Day, Jeremy Camp, Matthew West, Mandisa and others, this is a big time concert. Grace partners with the festival to create a "mini camp" experience called Camp Unity. We bring all kinds of camp activities and set up a little carnival type feel. Well to highlight all my previous points, check out who stopped by.

Vulnerability in Leadership

2010-07-21T09:41:00.007-04:00

I grew up watching John Wayne, the strong, loner, rugged, ideal American leader. He embodied what many would consider a leader today with strong character, bravery, makes quick decisions, assertiveness, and courage. Did I mention I was John Wayne for Halloween 10 years in a row. I also have a life size cutout in my office.

We miss the boat on leadership though when we only focus on this heroic model of leadership. True leaders are vulnerable. Vulnerability is one of the most underused tools in a leaders tool box. Let me explain. The job of a leader is to empower their followers and create the most positive environment for productivity possible. This is the intangible part of success. Company morale is a nebulous yet crucial component to a leader effectiveness. When people feel comfortable and confident they are more productive. When they are anxious, afraid, or under attack, they are less productive. In all the teams I have managed, I have seen leaders that put a wall between themselves and their followers. It is an us and them mentality. There is a hierarchy here that you can not cross. There are definitely and should be boundaries in relationships but that's not what I'm talking about. This is a relational hierarchy. There is a lack of vulnerability. The best teams are intimately connected. Soldiers fight for their new brothers beside them, sports teams that are successful have relationships that go far beyond the field of play, and the Trinity is the best example. The best teams I've been apart of we cared deeply for one another. You fight harder, play harder, and deal with one another in a different way when those bonds are strong. Vulnerability breeds intimacy in a safe environment. When you share your struggles, fears, concerns, with some one else they have two responses. They can humiliate or use that information against you, or they can support and show compassion. When a team chooses the latter, it is like super glue and instant relational credibility amongst one another. It has to be a safe environment. The fastest way to tear a team apart though, is for some one to choose to be vulnerable and then get hurt because of it. If there is not trust, support, and compassion on the team, it will destroy the team like a hand grenade. As a leader you must do two things; 1. Create an environment of trust and support on the teams you lead. This is done by example, by confronting inappropriate behavior immediately, and encouragement and support. 2. Take the first step. It is scary and difficult for some of us to let those around us in on how we're feeling. I grew up in a home with four males, and a mom with not as much compassion as others. We don't talk about our feelings much. However I know I can set the example for my teams if I open the door. Don't cross boundaries. Don't share things inappropriate personally or professionally. Let them into your world though. There is a scene in Big Jake, with John Wayne. He is in the gun battle that ensues after he is rescuing his kidnapped grandson. As bullets are flying and John Wayne has a wound in his leg, the boy sits next to Wayne and says, "I'm scared". John Wayne replies with, "Me too", and the boy huddles into his chest.

Thoughts from a camp counselor

2010-07-08T09:25:00.001-04:00

Hey check out one of our camp counselor's blogs here! It's great. Things at camp are going crazy right now. Family Camp is awesome!

Reflections from a youth leadership retreat

2010-06-11T10:26:00.002-04:00

Check out Calvary CRC's youth internship program here. They just spent a couple days here at Grace getting ready for their summer ministry season. They are doing some awesome things over there. Listen to what they had to say,

The day out at Grace Adventure with Calvary was, put simply, amazing. It was an incredible experience unlike I’ve ever had. I was consistently surprised by the level effectiveness, creativity, and joy that Grace was showing through their staff and their program....

Check it out here! To learn more about your own custom retreat visit our website.

What would you do with 50 extra hours per week?

2010-05-28T08:52:00.003-04:00

A recently released study on video gaming habits found that the average "extreme gamer" spend 48.5 hours per week playing video games. We're talking about a full work week and then some. You think you didn't have any time. This is only 4% of America's 174 million strong gaming world. In other words 6.9 million people average age 29 spend 50 hours per week on video games. We wonder why this generation doesn't get any thing done? Oh they have, they conquered 20 million levels, and beaten 40 million boss levels. They've upgraded, and invested over time as well. Most of the extremer's who by the way are 1/3 female bought 24 games in the last 3 months. A quick stop at Walmart will reveal most games go for 30-80 dollars. So conservatively we're talking about $4800 a year just on games. Figure minimum wage on all those hours... $18000 dollars. Do you have $22800 dollars lying around? It's very easy to cast stone at this group. However the average house watches over 38 hours of TV a week. I only have three channels and if I'm not careful I can find myself watching TV all night. Because I like what's on? Nope remember 3 channels and I'm not a target demographic for most networks, because I'm easily distracted. Gaming adds another level of there always being something else to accomplish. I've played and beaten games. There is this sense of urgency when playing about getting to the next level. Once you're there it's never enough, and once you win the game, it's very anticlimactic. Where is your sense of urgency right now? Are your priorities the same things that would be valuable to God? Do you Read his Word the same way a gamer plays a game, or a drama show viewer waits for that next episode? Spend some time evaluating your priorities going into summer. It's easy to be distracted.

Why do we face the front in an elevator?

2010-05-14T08:55:00.005-04:00

I just got back from attending a technology conference, the E3 ministry summit, put on by Fleetwood Group. Grace gave away a one day corporate training to one of the churches attending. It was a very good conference. The keynote was presented by Greg Stielstra, and was about the influence we have on others.

He showed this old video from Candid Camera.

Do you know that they studied monkeys, and found out the very same neurons responsible for actually doing an action, fire just by seeing some one else do that action? The implication is we subconsciously mimic and imitate people all the time. You've seen and probably done what I've talking about.

What does this mean for a Christian? The old adage actions speak louder than words might fit. St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the gospel at all times, when absolutely necessary use words." I used to think my great grandma came up with that.

The bottom line is this, not only can we influence those around us and culture, we have to. I'm not talking about talk shows, Christian TV, letters to the editor, or famous celebrities championing our cause. I'm talking about basic social pressure. A Christian lifestyle is no more out of the norm than standing backwards flipping your hat on and off in an elevator.

This is why Grace is so passionate about making a difference in the world. We truly believe one life touched by God can change the world Imagine what it would look like if you a person knew the power they had through their actions, had a God honoring purpose, and had the skills to lead and influence those around them? We're finding out. We have high school and college students changing the cultures of their campuses. Some are going around the world making a difference. We're working with businesses that are leading the way in their communities.

Get out and do something! For the Lord of course.

Crossed wires

2010-05-05T08:54:00.005-04:00

Hello world, I know it's been quite a while. I apologize. If you don't follow me on face book or twitter, I had a son. Colton Scott Prudhomme was born April 14, 9 lbs 6 Oz's and 21 inches long. I have been learning quite a bit lately, and haven't had a shortage of material to blog about, more a shortage of time. He and Kendra are doing great, and I'm having a ton of fun. In other news, I bought a used horse trailer the other day. If any of you know me, I am not the most mechanically inclined. Actually I'm mechanically challenged (thanks dad). I used to tell the maintenance guys I'm their job security, because as long as I manage the ranch, things break. So when my lights and breaks weren't working right, I had a problem. I'm also pig headed. I was going to fix it on my own. I went out and bought the tools, borrowed things from my father in law, and went to work. First I had to replace the trailer plug-in on my truck. I've always had problems with trailer brakes with my truck, so I was bound and determined to fix it. I unplugged, unscrewed, and cut off the old receiver. Now I have seven wires staring at me, and none of them are responding when I press the brakes. As I get underneath the truck to investigate I am confronted with a cacophony of wiring, splices, and overall mess. The truck is a 1995, so it's had its' fair share of repairs. I eventually follow this wire all the way to the front of the truck and out of the electronic break controller. It starts out Blue (the correct color), then right before the firewall we splice and change to red, then we run the length of the truck, and about the rear fender we splice again and turn black. However, right before we hit the end of the wire and tie into the receiver, there is a break and it is sheared in two! How I was supposed to know all this staring at seven wires, none of which were the right color I don't know. Did I mention I was starting to get frustrated! We're in the later stages of the interview season at Grace right now. As I was dealing with my wiring struggles (and that was about 10% of the story, I didn't even start on the trailer, or how when I turn my headlights on, I blow a dash fuse, which is awesome), I was thinking about that brake wire and how it relates to people. You see to look at the outward you would see a black wire connected correctly to trailer receiver. It looked fine. It wasn't working though, as I investigated I found three colors of wire, and one break in the line. When we're interviewing college students many at first glance appear to be very "Christian". However it requires getting underneath the truck to examine things closer. Is the Bible reliable? What are your views on homosexuality? Is Jesus the only way to heaven? How do you know you're saved? These questions are important because they help us ascertain the worldview of these students. More and more we're running into very post-modern worldviews. They believe that there is no absolute truth, all religions are equal, and what works for you works for you. The problem is this is infused into adolescent and young adult Christianity with rampant force. There are tons of "Christians" in word, but not deed. Their orthodoxy doesn't line up with their orthopraxy, and often their orthodoxy is screwed up too. All that to say, our students have some very crossed up wiring when it comes to religion and Christianity. In a USA today article on religion the following was found;

a study of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% say they're "really more spiritual than religious." Among the 65% who call themselves Christian, "many are either mushy Christians or Christians in name only," Rainer says. "Most are just indifferent. The more precisely you try to measure their Christianity, the fewer you find committed to the faith." Key findings in the phone survey, conducted in August and released today: •65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either. •65% rarely or never attend worship services. •67% don't read the Bible or sacred texts. Many are unsure Jesus is the only path to heaven: Half say yes, half no.

So what's the point? Grace is committed to educating and equipping students and adults to have a Biblical worldview. During our summer program this is done by hiring college age students who have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a mature, sound, Biblical world view. They in turn help answer those hard questions from the campers. We also offer programs to college students and adults going through Biblical World view. Even as the world is crossing up students wires left and right we can and are helping to straighten things out.

Also I got the brakes working, still working on the whole headlight blows fuses issue.

2010-04-22T23:58:00.003-04:00

Hey, have you ever been tired. Not the out of breath, or the I'm getting sleepy, but to the bone, I am exhausted, I can hardly raise my hand to bring the cup of water to my mouth, I don't know if I will be able to take one more step, please don't ask me to do anything, because I might have to say no, type tired? I have. And for the record, I am not feeling that way tonight. But recently, I had one of those experiences. Every part of my body was screaming in unison, don't make me move, I will rebel, I don't care what you are telling me to do because I am on strike. Rest often is helpful, but I don't think sleep even offers the solution, when you are exhausted emotionally. That is when you must turn to God, and ask for help. You don't have to do this thing called life alone. Rely on him. He wants you to depend on him, and sometimes I think he allows me to get to this point, so that I will stop trying to do things myself and rely on him. You see, I have many things in my life that are demanding my attention. I have so much going on at camp right now, that I sat at my desk today and didn't even know where to start on my list, because I had things that had to be done all at the same time, and I still don't know what I am forgetting. It is easy to get overwhelmed. To get stressed out. To worry. But I am trying to remember how God has been faithful in my life in the past, and how I can trust him to pull through again. Its not about me anyway. I remember a chorus I learned in Jamaica when I was there for a mission trip 5 years ago: if the Lord is keeping you what you going to worry about? If the Lord is keeping you why don't you sing and shout? Glory, hallelujah Praise his Name, Every day He's just the same, If you know the Lord is keeping you, what you going to worry about? NOTHING! So I will choose to trust. I will choose to depend on him. will you join me?

Who created the ketchup packet size?

2010-04-06T09:19:00.005-04:00

This is classic. Never heard of him before but he speaks the truth.

Christian Atheists

2010-04-06T08:56:00.003-04:00

Hop on over to Scott McNight's blog for a summary of a new book, The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living As If He Doesn't Exist, by Craig Groeschel. Basically the premise is if you believe in God but don't live like it, you're a Christian Atheists. Pretty tough words. How can you tell if you're a Christian Atheists? Check out these questions he answers through out the book. What are the marks of a "Christian atheist"? Where is it hardest to make belief in God manifest or operative in our lives? What can we do about this? He probes this from the angle of topics that are profoundly Christian but which are not present enough in our lives: knowing God personally, ashamed of your past and unwilling to let God heal you, afraid to let God love you, not praying, don't think God's fair, unwilling to forgive others, don't believe you can change, worry all the time, pursue happiness at any cost, trust more in money than God, don't share your faith and don't believe in God's Church. I think his new term is provocative but illustrates the same issue commonly called Lordship or surrender. Regardless I think I'll try and get a hold of this one to read.

Now and Later

2010-04-05T09:34:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine was having a hard time figuring out what to do next in life. She wondered if what she was doing was the right thing. Her question was, "How do I want to live?" These were my thoughts to her questions: I think I can hear your struggle between the present and the future, what you desire and current reality. Be encouraged by the tension you feel, it means your heart, mind, and soul are striving for what God wants. If you haven't read Rom 8 recently, I would recommend it. You're feeling what the whole creation feels. We know stuff isn't what it should be, but something better is coming. This plays out on a grand scale with the whole creation and in each of our lives on a day to day basis. Especially, when you truly desire what God wants. Of course our natural reaction is to seek comfort and pleasure, no matter what the circumstances. So you adjust behaviors depending on whether you live in the Midwest USA or some other place in the world, that's normal. Look for comfort in knowing that God has chosen you for a purpose and you have already been justified; you are his Child (Rom 8:28-30). The rest is just a response of love to action already taken by God. Incredibly challenging and often frustrating, but always covered by the fact that nothing can take away God's love from you (Rom 8:39). Today you are exactly where you should be. Struggle to worry less about tomorrow and love God more today. He wants only the best for you.

Be careful who you sleep with

2010-03-29T08:23:00.006-04:00

My wife's cousin has a friend who had a very large boa constrictor as a pet. This gal loved her pet very much. She loved it so much that she liked to sleep with it in her bed. Things were going along fine until for some reason the snake stopped eating. Try as she might she could not entice this reptile with any morsels for lunch. This went on for a few days until she took the snake to the vet for a check up. When she explained the situation to the vet she learned the snake was not ill. It was starving itself in preparation to eat HER. True story and it gives me the willy's like I can't describe. It got me thinking though. What items or patterns of behavior or sin do I have in my life, that started harmlessly or innocently enough, but because of poor boundaries crossed the line, and now I'm too comfortable with them. Having a pet snake isn't bad, sleeping in the same bed is bad. She crossed a boundary. We may think we're okay, and enjoy the feeling of sharing a bed with something, but what we don't know is it is waiting to eat us. We don't like to talk about boundaries, but with out boundaries we don't know where the line is. Chad has a Cross Training Horsemanship presentation on how, "Good fences make good neighbors." Satan is all about blurring boundaries. Many items appear harmless at first but are really a tool in his hands for destruction. In 1 Peter 5:8 we see that Satan is, "a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour". Satan is described as the old serpent in Rev 12:9. So what are your boundaries? Where do you get them from? Are you compromising them in any area of your life? Be very careful because your pet snake just might eat you.

This is a little scary

2010-03-26T08:26:00.006-04:00

As a soon to be first time father, and a type A driven person, I'm watching this video with a little trepidation.

What do you think? Do you or your kids feel similarly? What causes this dynamic? What can Grace do to help your kids feel like, "they can just go outside and run around".

Imitating the Trainer is Living a Life that Matters

2010-03-23T12:29:00.012-04:00

Often when we hear the word imitation we have a negative impression. It must be fake or less quality we say. Yet, being an imitator isn’t always bad. My daughter Caitlin at the age of 7 has a desire to be a horse trainer. She wants to imitate her father in becoming one. As long as I am worth imitating, that can be a great way for her to start learning about horse training. On March 14, 2010 Caitlin and I did a Cross Training at the Michigan Horse Council’s Stallion Expo held at Michigan State University. I took Caitlin through three steps in imitating me as a horse trainer. First, I demonstrated how I need to be focused on the horse not myself by teaching the horse basic body maneuvers and then put those moves together for the horse to be able to spin in a circle by pivoting on a hind leg. Second, I had Caitlin sit in the saddle with me as I verbally walked through the cues and she did them with me. She did a great job. Yet, she obviously isn’t ready to be a horse trainer on her own. She has to also make those training principles her own by moving from just being a rider who takes from the horse to a trainer who gives to the horse. Therefore, the third thing she did was she started to teach the same cues to her own horse while I coached her. It wasn’t easy for her, and she didn’t do as well as I did but within 15 minutes she was making progress with the horse and the cues she was using started to become her ownThat is exactly what Paul tells us to do in Ephesians 5. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children…”Ephesians 5:1. In this chapter Paul tells us to first live a life of love. That is God transforms our hearts and minds from being takers of the world to givers just as Christ gave himself for us. Second, he tells us to live a life of light. That is the transformation God has done in our life should shine forth to those around us. Finally, Paul tells us to live a life of wisdom. That is to make the most of every day to be used by God to transform others into His image. As a parents, it isn’t enough just to show our kids how we are imitators of God. We need to make the most of every opportunity to teach them also how to be imitators of God. It is only when the Truth becomes their truth that they too will shine forth in a dark world. Being an imitator of the Trainer is the only way to live a life that matters.

Ministered to by Tractor Supply Company

2010-03-23T08:36:00.008-04:00

Ever since I got my misdemeanor for "Livestock at Large" (no I'm not joking) I've been planning on how I can build the strongest, tallest, most electrified fence you can imagine. More out of revenge against my two horses than actual necessity, but I did need to rebuild it any ways.

So the last two weeks I've been in and out of hardware stores, and online, looking, and pricing, and calculating. I finally settled on Tractor Supply Company as the place, mainly because they're the only store in Michigan apparently that sells round wooden fence posts.

This leads me to Denny. I talked to Denny a number of times in person and over the phone because I was looking to buy a whole pallet of posts. Denny has worked for TSC or Farm and Fleet for 25 years and figured he had 25 years left to go. Denny was the most customer service oriented person I've ever had work with me at any place of business. At one point he spent 15 minutes on the phone with five different people trying to figure out how many staples were in a 5# box. He gave me yesterdays sale price on the post, and sold me a light duty gate, and then realized he was out so he gave me a medium duty instead at no additional charge.

Denny spent well over an hour and a half with me and was constantly pleasing to be around, knowledgeable, and driven to find answers. I've never felt so good about spending that much money. Denny gets an A+.

What if we as Christians could spend an hour and a half with a stranger, and have them walk away feeling completely engaged in what we were about? How do you do it?

I think you have to be people focused, Denny was so much so that sometimes he tried to serve multiple people at once and got side tracked.
You have to be knowledgeable. Denny knew the SKU numbers, and serial codes for so many things, but further he knew what you wanted for what job, and why. He was a walking catalog and farming for dummies book put together. We have too many Christians that don't know enough about what they believe. Or they know it but can not articulate it. We're called to give an answer for the hope we have, however we must give an accurate, truthful, and relevant answer as well.
Finally Denny was driven to serve me. We can talk all we want but until we're willing to get our hands dirty and go sit along side some one in the figurative dumpster they're living in, they normally won't hear what we're saying. Jesus does this time and time again. He sacrifices his comfort, security, and sometimes safety, in order to physically minister to some one at their point of need.

Denny I don't know if you're a Christian or not, but you sure ministered to me!

Christianity is like the Oscars

2010-03-08T10:09:00.003-05:00

Last night I was watching the awards show. I was really hoping to watch undercover boss, which is amazing, but alas it was a re-run. So when you have two channels to choose from that left one option.

I found myself watching this show feeling very much like, what is the point? I'll admit I have not seen any of the movies, however it was very weird to me how serious they were, all the pageantry, and how self serving it was.

They talked a lot about people I don't know, they all seemed so caught up in the moment that it was a little surreal. I felt completely like an outsider looking in, and their personas, pageantry, and ultimately their culture made me feel like I didn't want to be a part of it.

I sat there thinking, is this what it feels like to not be a Christian? Does one get turned off by this seperate culture we've created? We have our own rituals, we get dressed up for our own pageants, we talk about our own people, and use our own language. I became more and more aware of what it must feel like to enter or be on the outside of Christian culture.

I'm not saying we stop getting dressed up for church, or observing sacraments, or using certain words. However I think we all need to have a real awareness of the feelings people have when they think or interact with us as Christians. I think we should appear different. We're called to be "set apart". However it shouldn't be our culture that sets us apart, our WWJD bracelets, bumper stickers, and more. It should be our Holiness. We should be so different in our spirit, behavior, and grace that people can't help but be interested in us.

If we stand apart from the world let it be because we have something so wonderful, so amazing, so transforming that we can't help but appear different. The way we do that is;

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Let's be infectious with Holiness and love. Don't give the world a chance to be put off by our culture because they're so enamored by Holy Spirit in us. As the old hymn goes,

"They will know we are Christians by our love" not our culture.

Where have all the good leaders gone?

2010-02-18T15:03:00.006-05:00

George Barna posted a blog (www.georgebarna.com/2010/02/the-bible-lacks-leaders/) about an article from a seminary magazine. The author lamented the fact that the Bible doesn't contain too many examples of leaders. Barna feels similar to the way I do; you've got to be joking. It saddens me to see how much today's culture has infected the Church. I don't know who said it, but I like the following quote. "The Romans took Christianity and made it government, the Greeks took Christianity and made it philosophy, and the Americans took Christianity and made it business." It is so true just look at most of our Church growth strategies and you can see a product marketing plan. The pastor becomes CEO and the members are consumers. Just to be clear, I believe all truth comes from God. Anything that works in the World has a basis in God's truth. But we must start with God and then apply it to the World, not the other way around. So when someone can't find examples of leaders in the Bible, what they are really saying is I define leadership by the World's standard and I can't find any of those examples in God's word. Our leadership curriculum at Grace Adventures is based on the premise that Jesus is the greatest leadership model of all time. We start with God's truth and then figure out how it applies. Now there are plenty of practical ways to apply the principles we see in the Bible and Jesus' life towards leadership. One of the biggest being, who a leader is will always be more important than what a leader does. If you are wondering about other ways to be a leader who is more like Jesus, please talk to us.

Veteran Speaker leads winter retreat

2010-02-18T08:24:00.005-05:00

Grace had its' third of five Winter Blast retreats last two weekends ago. Brandon Bruce was the speaker and has been coming for a number of years. I got to chat with Brandon a little while and can not tell you how much I appreciate this man's heart.

Check out Brandon's blog here where he tells about his experience.

What Brandon doesn't tell you is in God's Grace we had over 20 commitments and over 40 re-commitments at that weekend. Thanks for your faithfulness Brandon. We can't wait to have you back.

My coward heart fears to give up its toys

2010-02-02T08:38:00.003-05:00

I was reading from A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God, last night. In the end of chapter two he writes this prayer;

Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from me heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there with-out a rival. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine it it, for Thyself wilt be in the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I could not sum up the embarrassing battle that wars with in me of knowing what I often choose to spend my time on is worthless in regards to God's divine plan, however it is pleasing in the temporary. I am very excited about where Tozer takes me in the following chapters.

Post Rapture Pet Care, I'm dead serious

2010-01-28T08:57:00.002-05:00

So just when I thought this world couldn't get any crazier I stumbled across this. For those of you too lazy to click on the link, it is a business that is run by atheists who will care for your pet after you are raptured. For only $110 you can have confidence that your animal will be loved after you are gone.

Ever wonder what will happen to your animals if you get raptured? I have to admit I've never thought about this. I've had the, "wow I wonder what will happen to air planes, or governments, or sports teams" thoughts. I've never once worried about my animals. Which I do have a few of.

Well have no fear, the atheist's are here to help.

Here's what I take away from this. These guys are creative. You have to admit this is a pretty niche market. They are savvy. Who's going to enforce it if you are raptured? They even address it, but really honestly how will you know.

Finally they will be surprised when;

1 Thessalonians 4

According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

I wish I could spend more time on this. I'm speechless.

The Bible is old, really really old, no kidding

2010-01-18T08:18:00.002-05:00

Check out this jewel from the weekend news. Turns out that maybe just maybe Israel was around for a while, and maybe just maybe the Bible is older than we thought. This fragment dates back to the time of King David and shows an established written language and history at that time meaning that the culture goes back much further. Actually it was pretty cool to find this on the news.

2010-01-09T10:53:00.006-05:00

Man Points The Holy Spirit works funny ways sometimes. My friend Nick is here at Grace this weekend and seeing him reminds me of our running tally of man points. I think to myself, "that might make a good blog topic." Then I go to the blog and see that Ryan has posted a blog on boys. So, not by our plans, but because God is sovereign you are reading about the "y" chromosome again. I doubt that we started the phrase "man points" here at Grace a few years ago. But ever since Nick was trying to get a dead branch out of a tree and I mentioned he would get man points for succeeding, the term has stuck. Nick did get the branch out of the tree after some ingenuity and strength. Now at any display of strength, cleverness, or facing some great challenge we randomly provide man points. The idea of being a man has been around for some time. Actually God started it way back with Adam. It may seem silly to mention this fact, but take some time to observe how our culture has tried to eradicate gender differences. People like John Eldridge have done a good job, helping us remember what it should be like to be a man. Unfortunately, we so often take a good idea and pervert it. For example, I totally support equality of rights for all people no matter what their combination of "X" and "Y" chromosomes. I do not think that men and women are essentially no different. A simple look around a room and the differences are obvious. I thank God every day my daughters look like their mother and not me. You must ignore the truth to deny there are differences in all aspects of a man and woman; mind, body, soul, strength. Maybe God was on to something when he said in Isa 55:8, "for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways..." So I celebrate the differences between male and female. My two sons will not be raised to be some gender neutered 21st century person. They will become men and participate in the Man Games at Grace Adventures (the first annual Man Games were held this past summer). Don't worry there was a poetry event and understanding women event and Nick will continue to earn Man Points.

Boys and feelings

2010-01-05T08:36:00.002-05:00

I'm reading a book right now that I got for Christmas called Wild Things; the art of nurturing boys. My mother bought me this book and as a woman who has raised 4 boys (yes I include my father in this list) and countless others by proxy I think she could have written it.

I really appreciate that the book doesn't shy away from boys becoming conquering warriors with maidens to save. It has anecdotal stories that I like to read to my wife to scare her. For instance there was a young man who wanted to become a smurf, so he found his mother's blue finger nail polish and painted his whole self blue.

In case you haven't picked up on it yet Kendra and I are expecting a son in April. I'm very very excited and so is she. However the sobering reality of raising a little cowboy is starting to sink in.

One of the biggest themes through out the book is teaching a boy how to connect with his emotions. This includes avoiding behaviors as a parent that will shut him down emotionally or frustrate him, but also educating him on his "emotional vocabulary", or literally teaching him what different emotions are when they're happening.

Here's where I get lost. I think we as men have a very deep emotional vocabulary. We can just display it in one word. So here we go.

How many emotions can be expressed with the word "fine"?

1. How was your day? "fine" said with a slight emphasis on the end of word and quick delivery.

Meaning: It was okay, nothing special, nothing bad. I don't really want to talk about it further, but I'm not upset you asked. I may even be glad you asked but I don't want to let you know that. I feel cared for, complacent, and melancholy.

2. Can you clean up the dog vomit? "fiiiiiiine" slightly drawn out and a little deeper in tone and a little sullen.

Meaning: I will do this because I love you or owe you, but I don't really want to and I'll passive aggressively let you know. I feel sad that I have to clean up the mess, and hurt that you asked me instead of doing it yourself.

3. Seriously for the last time you need to put down the toilet seat. "finnne" exhale just a little, bob your head, and sound exasperated.

Meaning: I'm getting tired of the nagging and it's not really important to me but if I don't listen you won't stop. I'm feeling frustrated and irritable.

4. How do you feel right now (after being corrected or getting into a fight)? "fine!" said very short and punchy.

Meaning: I don't want to talk, I probably don't even agree with you. I feel angry, and embarrassed so I'm going to take it out on you even though it's not your fault.

5. How do I look? "fine" said again with a slight uptick in inflection, and usually a reassuring head nod.

Meaning: I really hate this question and don't know what to say. You may look terrible to stunning or anywhere in between and I'll still use this one word to describe it. I'm feeling afraid, non-committal, and conflict-avoidant.

6. Are you hurt? "I'm fine" said with a grimace and unconvincing groan

Meaning: I really am hurt, maybe badly, but I certainly can't let you know that. I'll just walk it off even though I'm missing a good chunk of my foot or something. I'm feeling angry, prideful, and embarrassed

I could go on but as you can see men have lots of emotions, just not enough words. I guess maybe I need to expand my own emotional vocabulary before I can help out my son with his.

Be a Hero

2009-12-16T09:32:00.006-05:00

Do you want to be a hero? I do.

I love walking into my house after work. My 2 yr-old son runs to meet me (almost every day) and wants to be picked up and hugged. I can see in his eyes - I am his hero. I know it won't last, I know as a teenager (and probably sooner), he will disagree with my parenting. But hey, let me enjoy the feeling while it lasts.

He loves his mom. He especially loves his grandpa. But no one is even close to being Dad in his world. I hate to brag, but I am on top. No one else measures up. If he is sick or scared, he looks for his hero: Dad.

I love that feeling. Being the hero.

Our program team here at Grace is planning our summer theme for 2011. We are leaning toward a "hero" direction. We know everyone loves a good story (whether book, movie or message) because we identify with a character. All of us long to make a difference, to be known, to be respected, to be appreciated.

Here's the cool thing: God is our hero. He has rescued us from evil, eternity in hell with the villain, Satan. Jesus has died, risen and is exalted. God however, wants us to do heroic things. The twist here is that God definition of a hero is a humble servant. Someone who gives and sacrifices allowing others to get the glory, the attention, the admiration, and the fame. But in so doing gains fulfillment (not necessarily happiness), and true joy.

Do get me wrong, we will get accolades and rewards, we just need to wait for heaven.

So if you are tired, worn, or frustrated. Don't give up, keep serving, giving, and sacrificing, because in God's eyes you are being a HERO!

News Flash, Cigarettes taste bad

2009-12-14T10:24:00.003-05:00

I was reading Mlive.com this morning when I stumbled across this gem. Sometimes I don't know what to write about but the news websites make it easy.

Apparently in an effort to reduce smoking related house fires the State of Michigan has joined 48 other states in regulating how cigarettes are made. Now they have three rings that reduce the flow of oxygen so an unattended to cigarette will extinguish much quicker.

However this little engineering marvel is not without unintended consequences. Just ask Ashley May.

"Ashley May, a 22-year-old smoker from Roseville, told The Detroit News that the fire-safe smokes taste foul and are hard to keep lit.

"I don't like them," she said after a drag from a Kool. "You have to constantly puff on them every 30 seconds or else they're going out. And then when you try to re-light them, they taste horrible.""

And there you have it. Cigarettes taste horrible. No need to test this one out let's take Ashley's word for it. I'm very glad she cleared that one up for me. I was sitting around yesterday with Kendra looking for a desert to snack on and I almost chose a cigarette as a tasty treat. Now I know that they taste bad because of these new rings.

I'm glad I settled on Kendra's home made turtle cheesecake and cookie dough ice cream. It was probably just as bad for my health but that's another post.

Brandon Bruce Speaks at Grace

2009-11-24T11:05:00.002-05:00

Check out one of our summer and upcoming winter Blast speakers Brandon Bruce. He talks about his experience at Grace here.

Women's Scrap, Stamp and Quilt Retreat

2009-11-24T08:42:00.043-05:00

I love the extended family of Grace Adventures. The weekend of the Fall Women’s Scrap, Stamp and Quilt Retreat (Nov 13^th-15^th) reminded me of this.

Every time I entered the Retreat Center that weekend, two things blew me away; first of all, I never realized how much stuff you need to scrap.

It is essential to bring every tool needed to help the creative juices flow, and let me tell you they were flowing! My favorite tool that the women had was called the Cricut.

This isn’t a green bug that makes a lot of noise, but a personal electronic cutter used for cutting paper into shapes, letters, words, etc.

Not only did they bring a lot of stuff to create with, the ladies walked away with a couple different things as well. Each woman was greeted with a goody bag filled with some fun resources for scraping. And then on Saturday afternoon Jessica Bigley and Gail Bachtel both hosted workshops.

Jessica showed the ladies how to make some holiday themed place cards and Gail, a Stampin’ Up representative, taught the ladies how to incorporate stamping into their scraping. They made some pretty cute cards! Instructions for the turkey place cards are included at the end of the blog, along with a link to the template.

The other thing that blew me away was how excited and thankful the women were to have time set aside to bury themselves under paper, stickers, and of course, pictures.

Just a bed to sleep in, a workspace to create in, and Pam’s amazing snacks was all some seemed to need.

It’s pretty awesome to look through their pages and learn their stories through pictures. I love serving in place where the warmth and friendliness of the women creates such a joyful, family environment.

“I had a lot of fun just socializing with all the other women. It's fun and inspiring to walk around the room and look at everyone's projects. It was an awesome weekend to kick back, scrap, and eat fabulous food! The goodies bags were also a nice surprise. I can't wait for the SSQ in March, it's going to be bigger and better!” -Jessica Bigley

Turkey Place Cards

To make these handsome place-card gobblers, download the templates; print and cut out. Trace templates onto colored card stock; cut out (use scallop scissors for the base), and snip a small triangle for the beak. Attach the head, body, wing, and beak with a glue stick. Cut 2 small slits in tail where indicated on the template. Secure ends of smooth yarn and textured yarn in 1 slit, and wrap entire tail with both yarns; secure ends in other slit, and cut yarn. Apply a small amount of craft glue directly onto yarn-wrapped tail, tracing the inner crescent; adhere body to tail piece. Inscribe guest's name on the base; attach tab on turkey body to base with double-sided tape.

Credit: Martha Stewart Living

Armor of God....Thrice

2009-11-23T08:48:00.003-05:00

Things come in threes right? If God speaks you had better listen right?

Last week in a brainstorming session for our AWESOME boys only camp called Rustic Warrior, we were discussing the armor of God, Sunday morning in Sunday School it was the topic, and this morning in my daily readings it arose. Maybe God is trying to tell me something, I'm not sure.

As I was thinking about it yesterday though, I had a new thought about the Armor of God.

Eph 6:11 "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to STAND FIRM against the schemes of the devil"

Eph 6:13-14 "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything, to STAND FIRM. STAND FIRM therefore...."

The commandment is to stand firm against the devil's attacks. So here is my new thought, the Sword of the Spirit is mentioned in vs. 17, I have always assumed it was the only offensive weapon in the armor.

I think the Sword of the Spirit as listed in the armor of God is in a defensive connotation not offensive.

There I said it, no lightning bolts yet. Here's where I'm coming from. Stand firm is a defensive or a neutral position. You're not gaining ground but you're not losing either.

The UBS New Testament Handbook has this to say about vs. 11,

Stand up against: that is, successfully resist, withstand, oppose. The English expression stand up against suggests not only defensive but also offensive action. But in many languages there is no single expression which covers both areas of meaning. Therefore one must normally choose between "to withstand" in the sense of "to protect oneself against" and "to oppose" in the sense of "to fight back against." The context would seem to point primarily to defensive action.

Every other tool in the list is a defensive tool and to be used as such. Breast plate, shield, helmet, greaves, and belt (if your pants fell down that would be down right offensive and therefore a belt is defensive).

So I think the overall context is defensive, however lets look at the sword as a weapon. It is certainly an offensive weapon. However it is as defensive as it is offensive. One must parry and block the opponents attacks with their sword. The word is "Machaira", meaning a knife or dirk. We see the same word in Rev 6:4, "...to Him was given a large sword".

The armor as a whole is description is that of a Greek soldier and specifically a heavy armored soldier. The sword used was the xiphos, usually 12 inches to 24 inches long.

Interestingly this is a secondary weapon for this soldier. The primary attacking weapon was the spear or lance which is omitted from the passage by Paul. The Xiphos was used after the spear was lost, broken, or discarded and was generally not preferred to the spear.

Again if this is an offensive passage why would Paul not mention the primary offensive weapon?

Lastly let's look at how Jesus himself uses the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God". If we go to Jesus' temptation with the Devil in Mathew 4. Satan confronts Him and challenges His authority, tempts Him physically, and then all out goes for the jugular and calls Jesus to worship him. What is Jesus response to Satan? He quotes the sword of the spirit. I think the key point is in the Ephesians passage and in Jesus confrontation it is us vs the devil. If you think about any offensive action for a Christian it must always be redemptive in motive. There really is no point in any redemptive energy being spent on Satan as we know his mind will not be turned. Therefore our actions towards Satan are defensive not offensive.

Regardless of the purpose one point that can not be forgotten or ignored is that we must know the word of God in order to use it as a sword. As Heb 4:12 says,

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

One must be familiar with their tool in order to harness it.

Let Down

2009-11-10T16:45:00.004-05:00

I remember a young lady this summer who attempted to climb the cargo net here at camp. She had no problem getting to the top. But her goal was to climb over the top. She must have tried for 15 minutes before she came back down. I was impressed with her determination and drive. She was disappointed to the point of tears. She wanted to make it over, and physically could not do it that day. I'm usually alright with letting myself down, but I really don't like it when someone else is the problem...

Have you ever had someone let you down? I know that the answer is yes. I know that others experience disappointment, frustration even anger. Here is why I am asking. I was let down yesterday.

I trusted someone. I thought they were shooting straight with me. They let me down. You know that "I feel like I got kicked in the gut" feeling.

I don't have a twelve step program of how to recover from disappointment and heart ache. But here is what I will offer: God wanted me to be faithful in my response. He wanted me to be a witness in how I responded. He wanted me to control my emotions, my frustrations. I still needed to confront, and communicate my disappointment. Oh, by the way, He wanted me to forgive as well.

So the question on my test yesterday from God: Ben, are you going to respond in disappointment in a way that honors me?

Maybe he's asking that question to you today. I know its not fun. I try to focus on the positives in life, not the disappointments. But I do know that God is faithful, and his faithfulness doesn't change with my circumstances.

Chess and Spiritual Independence

2009-11-10T08:25:00.002-05:00

Last night Kendra and I couldn't find a movie to watch so she asked me if I wanted to teach her how to play chess. Wow I thought, I've asked her many times if she wanted to learn and always got a quick no. So I pulled out the board and tried to go back to Junior High (I think that's the last time I played chess).

I carefully explained how all the pieces can move and the object of the game. Kendra, being a quick study took it all in quickly.

The first moves were very cautious and defensive. We sort of played an "open" game so I coached her on a few things as she went along. She started to get a little more confident as the game went on. At one point early she was definitely beating me as I had "out thunk" myself a few times.

Then she got to a point where she felt comfortable with the game and the rules and started moving boldly. She moved one rook very quickly and I very quickly smiled and took it with my queen. At that point she got very disappointed because in her moment of most comfort she was taken back to insecurity and frustration.

I started thinking that was a lot like life. Imagine we are playing chess against the Devil or his plans. And the game represents our life. He desires that we fail, and winning would represent a healthy spiritual life. If you're a Christian you don't act on your own. It's like you and God double teaming the devil, similar to a new chess player and a coach helping them.

However in our lives we often quickly get arrogant and proud thinking we can act out of our own knowledge and experience. As soon as I make that move boldly with out discernment from God I all to quickly realize I've just lost something valuable, whether it was a streak of doing devotions, or snapping at someone I love. Just like the new player finds out that an opponent is many steps ahead of them, I can look backward and see where I thought I saw the whole board but was really focused on one maybe two squares.

Ps 119:133 says "Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me."

Obviously if we look to scripture God is to be a huge factor in our decisions. My questions is, Is God the only factor i.e. does he make our decisions for us? Or is God one of a few factor's we take into account before making a decision.

In other words should we wait for God to tell us where to move the chess piece, or should we pray for guidance and move the Chess piece where we think God is leading?

Women's Retreat 2009

2009-11-06T13:14:00.014-05:00

“A time of refreshment and renewal. My emotional tank was on empty upon coming and now my tank has been filled.”

October 9^th-11^th, 2009 was a weekend of rest and rejuvenation for the ladies who attended the Women’s Retreat. Speaker Cathey Prudhomme shared throughout four sessions about being known and telling our personal stories, how God knows and loves us, the lies that Satan wants us to believe and the life and freedom that Christ gives, and putting our faith into action.

Elizabeth Sooy lead worship on piano and treated the group Saturday night to Steven Curtis Chapman’s Be Still and Know on the violin. Each time we gathered for worship, “it felt like a little slice of what Heaven will be like,” as one of the women described. All the voices combined at times left no need for music, just the sound of hearts singing out to their God in appreciation and praise.

On Saturday, the women had opportunities to enjoy camp activities and workshops. In the morning, a prayer path was laid out along the waterfront for a time of reflection and solitude. In the afternoon, many women took advantage of the trail rides, Ropes Course, crafts, and target shooting.

There were also four workshops, led by Elizabeth Sooy, Eva Kostal, Elda Ann Harden, and Amie Clay. The topics ranged from seeing God’s goodness even in the hard times, the different behavioral styles and how they affect our relationships, and living the Grand Adventure in obedience to God’s will and loving it. Eva’s workshop was a huge hit; focusing on “using what we have to make our home environment beautiful and put personal beauty to our faith.”

One of the highlights of the weekend had to be the food, from Spinach and Artichoke dip, to Pumpkin Chowder soup, to Chicken Parmesan and Herbed Asiago Mashed Potatoes. Pam went above and beyond preparing delicious spreads that left everyone saying, “she’s coming home with me!”

Out of all of the activities and teachings from the weekend, the most powerful part had to be Saturday night. Cathey shared a story of her time in Jerusalem after a Sabbath. She and her husband were dining in a hotel restaurant, trying to eat while a slew of children were running around. But when it came time for the meal, the father sat down and the children ran to his side. He then blessed each of his children before their meal. Cathey then asked the large group to break up and share a blessing with one another. There were many tears and hugs as the women spent time being vulnerable and deep together.

So all of this to say, we hope that if you weren’t able to come this year, you would consider coming next fall! We would love to provide this experience for you as well!

This week's sign of apocalypse... Traffic Cameras

2009-11-05T08:24:00.010-05:00

This may get personal but bear with me.

I waffle back and forth on speeding. When I have lots of time I generally am a very obedient vehicle operator. However when running late, I have a tendency to stretch that "suggested" speed limit (my wife told me it was suggested not required, we still haven't tried that one out on an officer yet). Maybe it is justification but I also never go more than 5-9 miles over carefully abiding under the old adage, "if you're 9 your fine, 10 your mine". And I have not gotten a speeding ticket in a long time.

I often joke around about speed limit;

1. On dirt roads I take it up to fish tailing and back it off a few notches

2. Corners with a posted speed limit can usually be taken at double

3. If I'm bigger than they are they'll get out of my way

However if I willingly choose to go over the speed limit and I get caught I will accept the consequences. Most commonly this is a ticket, I wish it was some kind of gift exchange or something, I have some really "interesting" presents that I would love to re-gift to an officer.

There is a rising phenomenon in our country called traffic cameras. You know the ones that eliminate officers interaction and catch you blowing a red light, speeding, or making illegal turns. To my mind if you get caught BY CAMERA it is pretty hard to argue that you were indeed speeding or breaking another traffic law. Because of this conviction rates on traffic camera infractions are over 98%.

The controversy is that these camera's are so effective many communities are voting them out of the county. Most studies show that the camera's decrease traffic accidents, particularly fatal accidents. From an old juvenile delinquency class what prevents crime is not the potential severity of punishment but the certainty of getting caught. People will engage in far riskier behavior if they're less likely to get caught. With the traffic cameras, you will get caught. This is really pretty effective at reducing a law from being broken.

So what's the problem? People don't like to get caught. They don't like accountability. People will go a long ways out of their way in order to avoid punishment fair or unfair. This is coming from the kid who used to put on 30 pair of tighty-whitey's when he was 5 in order to deaden the blow. We all try to get out from punishment, it's part of our sin nature.

What baffles me is that people are willing to stand and argue that it is unconstitutional because it is so effective, because so much money is being raised for local governments, and because they're getting caught.

1. A law is not unconstitutional because it catches the majority of the population, that's a reflection on our country not the justice system.

2. If you don't like the government making money on you..... STOP SPEEDING! This isn't rocket science.

3. I couldn't care less about these camera's because they don't affect me. If you don't speed in the city, or run red lights, it can't hurt you.

Bottom line, if you play the game, pay the price. We can't all be winners, and just because you don't like something doesn't make it wrong. Too many kids are being taught that there shouldn't be consequences if every body doesn't like them. We see this with marijuana, prostitutes, illegal downloading and more.

I wonder if this attempt to get out from under consequences drives people spiritually. Are they looking for a way to "cheat the system" and not pay the price for their sin? It's a shame that God already "cheated the system" for them. They don't have to suffer the consequences. What if somebody paid for all the traffic tickets of all these individuals? They'd be ecstatic, and yet their Creator has paid their eternal traffic ticket and no body wants to take advantage of it.

You can be sure if it was a tax loop hole, a legal loop hole, or a sports advantage they'd be all over it, however when it comes to their souls they are content to wear a gorilla mask over their head and try and hide from the cameras.

Here's a treat for those who made it to the bottom of this article;

Throw it away Church!

2009-10-29T13:39:00.006-04:00

In my last post the discussion centered around our throw it away culture, including things and people. There is one throw it away item that irks me more than any other, Church! I don't like the pastor, there's nothing for the children, nobody my age goes there, the music is too traditional, the music is too contemporary, and on and on... It makes me want to scream, Stop It! Please show me in the Bible where it mentions any of these things as reasons to pick a Church. Even denominations get me riled up. Good theology is necessary, but if your spiritual maturity hinges on one or two aspects of a Church you've got a big problem. The first Church I was a part of as an adult had a good pastor who preached Biblical messages. But his preaching style wasn't the most entertaining. A number of people told me they wanted to leave the Church because they weren't growing spiritually. A pastor's sermons should never be the sole source of your spiritual growth. How many sermons can you remember on Tuesday? It's our imperfections as individuals that create imperfections in our Church. The beauty of God's design is that the community works out those imperfections under the Leadership of Jesus Christ. When you are ready to throw away a Church take a hard look at yourself. What are you doing to make the Church more like the body of Christ? The imperfections in the Church are only a reflection of you and you can do something about that!

Throw it away!

2009-10-29T09:45:00.005-04:00

If you have not noticed, we live in a throw it away culture. Walk around your local Walmart and look at how many things you can buy that won't last more than a year (thank you China for cheap plastic). Fashions seem to change weekly and 15 minutes of fame has been brought down to 3-5 minute youtube clips. Even things like hair and eye color can be changed and discarded each day; not to mention plastic surgery and tattoos. On a more sobering note, marriages are a dime a dozen when half end in divorce. Don't like your spouse anymore, get rid of them and try another one. The child growing inside of you is inconveniant; get rid of the child. Even children born are a hassle. I know a woman who takes care of a little girl because the mother can't handle the little girl, her child. It won't be a far stretch to throw away the old and useless. The constant chase for something new to make me happy leaves a festering, rotting, stench of wreckage behind. The throw away pile of stuff is unsitely, check out your garage, basement, or attic. But the human wreckage of pain and suffering is truly crushing. Jesus makes such simple statements that take a lifetime of perserverance to work out: "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven (Matt 6:20)" Maybe I'll think twice before reaching out to grab the next gotta have thing to make life easier, i.e. make me happy, which will only last a short season before I throw it away. Better yet, maybe I can "love my neighbor as myself" and change my orientation from a self-focus to an others-focus. Question to ask yourself: When do you tend to view people as short term use and then throw them away?

Dumb Lyrics

2009-10-23T08:42:00.004-04:00

Occasionally I listen to pop music. I do this for a couple of reasons;

1. I love getting really obnoxious tunes stuck in my head for days with pre-school level rhymes. 2. I can't get enough britney, kanye, and black eyed peas 3. I try to keep a feel for what types of things are popular with youth. That being said I was listening to the radio last night when the song "Whatcha Say" by Jason Derulo came on.

Sort of catchy beat, not really. What got me though was the lyrics. The song is about a guy that cheats on his girl friend. Imagine the song as his apology and subsequent begging to be taken back. Here's the "hook" so let me in (let me in) give me another chance (another chance) to really be your man cause when the roof cave in and the truth came out i just didn´t know what to do but when i become a star we´ll be living so large i´ll do anything for you so tell me girl When I become a big star......???????? That's the best you can come up with man? Come on. What girl is going to buy this? You can cheat on her, apparently lie about when you get caught, and you're only hope that she'll take you back is when you become a big star you'll do anything for her. I think this really highlights our narcissistic youth culture today. It's all about being a star. Once you are a star you can do anything you want. Morals are dependent on fame. Look at the Roman Polanksi thing. This guy drugs and rapes a 13 year old girl. Because he is a famous director a bunch of celebrities think he shouldn't be held accountable. There is a huge disconnect in teenagers about how a relationship really works. Right and wrong are not predicated on celebrity status. You are not more attractive as a suitor if you're famous. Girls you should get so lost in God that a boy has to seek God to find you.

I just want to be a "Spring Carrier"

2009-10-19T22:18:00.004-04:00

Saturday I spent the whole day taking out the water front here at Camp. What I mean by that is: we pulled out the blob (mopped it inside and out, the bladder as well), deflated and mopped the water trampoline, pulled in all the bouy lines, pulled out the docks and boat lifts, scrubbed the bottom of the yellow slide, put all the buddy tags on twisty ties, took out the beach and water volleyball nets, pulled the lifeguard raft onto shore. Not very interesting, unless I tell you about how I got the blue tractor stuck in the water and had to pull it out 3 different times with our yellow hilo. Which worked well until the 3rd time, I got the hilo stuck in the water and the blue tractor couldn't pull it out. So I called Vic and he mentioned that the hilo had 4 wheel drive and I was able to drive it right out. Sometimes, I just remind myself that I am good at other things, so I don't feel so inadequate at mechanical and maintenance type stuff. So because I worked a full day Saturday, I had today as a day off. We celebrated our 2nd daughter's 4th birthday. She got a cake for lunch since her grandma came up from Grand Rapids. She also got brownies with candles for supper because her mother prefers brownies to cake. As I was waiting for supper, I decided to take down our trampoline. Since the weather has been dry, and I wasn't anticipating much more usage by our kids yet this fall. I invited my 2 year-old son to come outside and "help." Which really meant he wandered around with his juice cup while I took down the net, and posts that held up the net. Then as I began taking off springs, I realized he could take them from my hand and bring them over to the box for me. He spent the next 20 minutes faithfully bringing springs from me to the box, over and over again. Never could he carry more than 5 at a time. Occasionally they fell on the way and he would pick them up again. But every one made it to the box eventually. I was pleased with his help. He willingly served. Back and forth, never complaining. Even when he made a mistake, he picked it back up. I could tell he liked being involved and loved getting affirmation from Dad on the good job that he was doing. As I reflected on that experience, I realize that I want to be a "Spring Carrier" for God. I don't need an important job, or one that will be noticed. I probably couldn't handle it, anyways. But I want to join him in the work that he is doing. I want to serve willingly. I want to pick back up, even after I make mistakes. And I definitely want to hear him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Say it isn't so!

2009-10-14T09:09:00.003-04:00

There is a tragedy occurring right before our eyes. Did you even know about it?

Be a part of saving this story from a terrible ending. Eat a Krispy Kreme today.

I think I'm smelling Krispy Kreme's as I write this.

New Life

2009-10-08T21:34:00.006-04:00

This past weekend Grace hosted a retreat that we call the "2treat" for middle school students. We call it the 2treat because we run 2 completely different tracks on one weekend. The first track is called "Fall Blast", it is designed for a youth group to come, have fun and build a cohesive group with goals and expectations for the year ahead. The 2 churches that participated really enjoyed their time. The second track we call "Pure Adventure." I had the privilege of teaching this track on making wise decisions based on God's Word, keeping and protecting your heart, as purity is a heart issue. During the weekend one young lady met with one of my female staff, and asked her a bunch of questions about committing her life to Christ. On Saturday, I coached our staff on some scripture passages to have the young lady read and discuss. We praise God that on Sunday morning, this young lady approached our staff and asked if she could pray to accept Jesus salvation and commit to following him with her life. When someone does this, as Jesus teaches they are born again. Yes, it is as if they have new life. The old is gone, the new has come! Since Laura was in labor, she and I had been at the hospital for a few hours and things were progressing only slowly. So our doctor left to go to an elder meeting at his church. Suddenly the pace changed. Our nurse called him on his pager, but he got caught in traffic, so with the help of 2 nurses, Laura and I welcomed another miracle of life. The birth of my son, Trevor Lee. He tipped the scales at 8lbs 9oz, and was 20 inches in length. What a blessing of the Lord to experience 2 different new lives in one week.

Neo-Christians

2009-10-07T12:32:00.010-04:00

So today I was driving and had the radio on. Spencer and Heidi Pratt were being interviewed by the radio host. I would've continued channel surfing except they were playing "Jesus Jeopardy".

Spencer and Heidi Pratt are reality TV stars that are famous for.... not much. They have bounced around on different b-level shows. What sets them apart is that Heidi is very very vocal about her Christian faith. This has translated into a pseudo-faith for Spencer as well. This was culminated in the baptism of Spencer by none other than Stephen Baldwin on a joint reality show they were on.

Their lives however are fairly contrary to a Christian faith. Heidi is a playboy model. Spencer has demonstrated multiple examples of dishonesty, crude language, narcissism, and inappropriate sexual remarks on his multiple shows. So as they were playing Jesus Jeopardy this morning it hit me how much damage they may be doing for Christianity. Here me, I am sure they think that they are believers and they desire to be so. However there are a nation of people who call themselves Christians that I believe will not see Glory because they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We call them "neo-Christians". It was so obvious that these secular radio hosts were creating a segment to mock their religion. Why do they do this to them and not Tony Dungy? Because their actions do not line up with their words. Is this a problem? At least they want to be believers right? Maybe God will use them. There is a nation of people who need a solid Biblical world view. The Christian worldview is not how a denomination, or person, or pastor views the world. The Christian world view is how God views the world. Grace Adventures is committed to changing the world view of those in our world. There are too many people who think they're a Christian but aren't one. I really hope Spencer and Heidi know the truth, and aren't always demonstrating it, or find out the truth. Anchor's Away is a ministry that we have partnered with in order to combat this epidemic. FYI - Spencer and Heidi answered two out of six questions correct on "Jesus Jeopardy".

What a dad!

2009-09-25T08:18:00.005-04:00

So I'm a few days behind the ball on this one but none the less....

Did you see the video of the baseball game the other night where the dad catches a foul ball, gives it to his daughter, who then throws it back? Here it is....

My first thought it that was hilarious. As I started thinking about it more, I think that dad showed a tremendous demonstration of a father's love and wrestling through our own selfish desires.

Here's the progression (you can watch it on his face);

1. Joy - The dad catches it

2. Charity - He gives it to his daughter

3. Shock - She throws it away

4. Frustration - Realizing what just happened

5. Mercy and love - celebrating with his daughter in the midst of his own emotions.

I don't know if that man was a believer or not, but he sure ministered to me.

Self Admitted Abortion Addict

2009-09-21T08:58:00.003-04:00

I am in shock as I just finished reading an article on abcnews.com about a lady who has written a book and calls herself and abortion addict.

Irene Vilar has had 16 abortions in 15 years. As you read the article a few things jump out at me.

1. The overwhelming amount of reasons/excuses why she had them. There's 1 page out of 3 dedicated to explaining why this is what she had to do.

2. The statistics are always startling;

About half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, and 40 percent of these are terminated by abortion -- 854,122 in 2002, An estimated 50 percent of women who seek one abortion, will have a repeat one, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which promotes sexual and reproductive health. About 10 percent of those women will have three or more.

3. The comments from another girl who has had multiple abortions;

"It's a physically painful thing to do -- not something I'd ever want to use as a form of birth control. Who wants to go through that pain to end the lives of potential children?"

(About having her second abortion in 2 months)

"I felt like we were committing murder, that I was killing something that I wanted," said Mary. "I felt like I should feel the pain. I wanted to physically suffer."

(About having her third abortion)

This is heart breaking to read about these women and the lives lost because of a lack of a biblical world view. The younger gal astounds me because she can articulate how horrible this makes her feel, she can equate it with murder, and yet she still follows through with the act.

I think it has to do with our selfish nature. Somebody once told me that all sin boils down to selfishness. Do you lie? You probably want some one to like you and thus you're being selfish. Do you lust or covet? Selfishness again. Abortion is no different. It puts the temporary needs of an individual above the rights of another.

I took a criminal justice class in college. The prof was talking about how during the Clinton years youth crime dropped quite a bit. Many people attributed this to Clinton's policy's. My prof noted however that this was about 18 years after Roe vs. Wade. His theory was that although abortion is bound by no demographic, it is popular among lower socio-economic status households. There is also a correlation between crime and lower socio-economic house holds. Instead of reforming this generation of the 90's, we have killed them.

We may have lowered the crime rate, but we lost a generation.

Parents educate your children. Friends talk to your friends. Christians reach out to unwed mothers and young pregnant girls. I admit to thinking we may never overturn roe vs. wade, however we can sure put a dent into the perceived need for abortions by being Christ to those who do not know him. This comes by sitting down next to the untouchables. One of my favorite passages is Jesus with the woman at the well in John 4:1. Notice how he sits next to her, gets into a conversation with her, and builds a relationship, all before he starts speaking to her about sin and salvation.

If we're going to make a difference in the abortion battle, we need to keep the sin and salvation card in our wallets a little bit longer, and help the girls to see hope for today let alone eternity.

Self Esteem Castles

2009-09-16T10:57:00.004-04:00

I spent a frustrating Monday morning trying to get High School seniors to connect their character with behavior. In general there was a whole lot of apathy and very little engagement. It was the second half of the group, the first half had spent a few hours with Nick Otto on Sunday afternoon. Nick had given me a heads up on what to expect, so my frustration was high because I had hoped to circumvent some of the attitudes. The school these seniors had come from was my wife's alma mater. This gave me some insight into the background of the students. Mostly, upper middle, raised in religous homes, and spent their entire k-12 experience in christian schools. I knew most of them had been handed everything in life to them, so far. It still bothered me that what we were doing had such little impact. Today I read an excellent article by Scot McKnight on line at Leadership Weekly Newsletter. You can read the article here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/communitylife/evangelism/thegospelforigens.html The title is "The Gospel for IGens." It provided some insight for me about today's late teens and 20 somethings. The main point of the article is that most "IGens" live in a castle of self-esteem. Through years of education focused on improving self-esteem they have come to believe that they are okay just the way the are. This is no surprise to me, but he continues that they have no sense of moral absolutes, right or wrong, or truth. So you can't convince them they are wrong. Though they do feel guilt and depression at not living up to this great person they believe they are (bad grammer I know). Scot McKnight connects this to presenting the gospel. But for me it made sense why I see this disconnect between character and behavior. They already think their character is good and have no moral compass to evaluate behavior. So, everything they do is acceptable (no matter what I may think). The good news is that they do like Jesus. What has an impact on them is seeing someone live out the values of Jesus. My attack on their castle of self esteem does little because they can hide behind well constructed walls. Though, they can be compelled to exit the castle to watch someone live a life of purpose, especially if it exhibits justice, love, peace, and holiness. Where does all this leave me? I'm still frustrated by not being able to effectively impact the students. But now I have a different strategy to go about it. Grace Adventure's fans can look forward to the possibility of embedded facilitation.

Purging our bodies

2009-09-08T08:39:00.003-04:00

So, I know I said I would be back on here after the vacation much more regularly. God had other plans. On Tuesday August 25th, Kendra and I went to the University of Chicago Hospital for some routine tests. They told me there would be an 8% chance of complication, so I should bring an overnight bag. Wednesday the test came and went. After 4 hours in recovery they discharged me to go home.

Kendra and I loaded up and hit the road, anxious to get the four hour drive behind us. About the time we hit Gary I started feeling nauseous. I didn't make it off the high way before the first bout of throwing up arrived. Kendra pulled off and found a gas station. I was feeling mildly better and she got me some water. By the time she came back out of the gas station, I was doubled over the trunk of the car in agony. My stomach hurt worse than anything I've ever experienced.

I told her to keep going maybe it would go away. She demonstrated why she is far wiser than I, and drove me to the closest hospital in Gary. The pain kept increasing and I kept getting a little bit more distressed. Maybe this is a little serious I said to myself. We get to the ER, and they take they're sweet time getting me any kind of treatment, but once they did, can I just say that I heart Morphine.

It took about 3 hours for the morphine to start really working. Meanwhile I've been constantly dry heaving, coughing, and basically every makes my stomach hurt worse.

That night I was transferred back to the University of Chicago by ambulance around 3 am. At one point we hit the bumpiest patch of road in the United States and I asked the technician if he had anything for pain. He says, "I've got some Tylenol". That's not going to help.

Wednesday night after I was settled in and put on my own morphine drip that I got to activate with a button every 15 minutes, I tried to go to sleep. As you can imagine I was less than comfortable. I was rolling on every side I could find trying to relax. I was sweating, coughing, and still dry heaving. My stomach had relaxed except for any time I did any of the above.

About 6 in the morning I had the thought is this what it should be like to purge the sin from our bodies? I was in a battle between me and my body. The only relief I had was through a morphine button.

How often do I commit horrible sins against God, myself, and my family and I pray a prayer of forgiveness and take advantage of God's grace? What if I truly appreciated the gravity that sin is in my life and determined to root it out of my life. Is this the type of struggle that would occur?

Would you be willing to be in agony over your sin? Have you been in agony over your sin? In Romans 7 Paul talks about the battle he has with sin in his life. He speaks about doing the thing he hates, doing what he does not want to do, practicing the evil in him, and in verse 23-24 he says,

"I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am , who will set me free from the body of this death?"

You see Paul understood the gravity of his sin. If we can't relate as one commentator remarks it is because Paul's holiness so far exceeds that of our own.

Sin is at war against us, are we at war against it? As I was struggling with acute Pancreatitis I think I got a glimpse of what sin does to our body.

P.S. I was at the hospital for a week. Kendra and I came home last Tuesday. I'm feeling much better now, even went riding and golfing on Monday. God is so good. I still have a little ways to go but am feeling much better now. Thanks for all who were praying. It meant a lot to Kendra and I.

Can you say frustrating

2009-09-07T23:30:00.002-04:00

Today Laura and I had family come to visit us at camp, so we thought it would be a great idea to take them out fishing. Her father and mother, her sister, her sister's husband and their 2 kids, as well as Laura's grandpa and grandma from New Jersey. So we headed down to the pontoon, after changing diapers, putting on swimsuits and sun screen. Here is where the story gets a bit more interesting, and what I think you can relate to... We arrive at the pontoon boat, remove the cover, lower it down, help everyone onto the boat, and begin pushing it out, only to realize... the battery is dead. So here is where I become the hero, or not. I head to the maintanence shop to get a new battery, only to find the room that we keep the battery in is locked, and I don't have that key. So I jump on a golf cart to get one from another staff (Luke Kostal) only to find that I can't get the golf cart out of the shop without moving a large dumptruck. So I move the truck, get the key, find 2 batteries, return the key and 15 minutes later arrive at the pontoon. Installing battery number one: dead. Install battery number 2: it turns over but doesn't catch. Finally after try number 10 the motor started. But I was reminded how things rarely go the way you think they will go. And that all I could really control was my attitude. Today, I did pretty good in this category, because it just made me laugh that at every stop something went wrong.

What do you do for the least of them?

2009-08-24T08:53:00.004-04:00

I'm sorry it has been a while for those of you that keep up. Things have been pretty busy at Grace lately. We had Grand Valley girls volley ball team, Muskegon marching band, Jenison Leadership Institute, and we were finishing up summer and Surf City. However I am back.

After a trip to Caloma camping I was back in the office last week. There will probably be some more stories about camping later. One of the first jobs I had was to take a load of horses up to Living Waters camp in Luther Michigan.

On the way up the truck started acting up on me. In my determined nature we were definitely going to make up there and not stop or turn around. About Ludington things started getting interesting. Finally on the giant hill on M-37 in Lake County the truck breathed its' last.

Here I am stuck on a huge hill, with a 20 foot stock trailer and no truck. Long story short, I unloaded the horses and I called a friend who came about 20 minutes later, by then a sheriff was on the scene. He wanted me off the road NOW. So he tells me to back down the hill because I was blocking one lane of traffic. No problem I say as I procede to jack knife the trailor and block two lanes of traffic. Now my friend finds a nasty old hemp rope and we get myself pulled out of the road any ways.

By then Chad Coppess was on the way with another truck. So running total of time on the road is now 1 hour and 20 minutes. Chad finally gets to me after I'd been on the road for 2 and a half hours. It all ended well and yes you can tow a pick up 60+ MPH down the high way. The point is I sat on the road for almost 3 hours, with horses tied to trees, a good part of it right in the middle of the road, and how many people do you think stopped? 1 person, and that was at the 2 hr and 15 min mark. They said they saw me when they went to supper, and because I was still there after they were done eating the thought they should see if I was all right.

How many times have I passed a stranger broke down? Too many to count. Could any body have helped me? I'm not even sure. But nobody tried. I was a little let down by my country compadres in Lake county.

Matthew 25 discusses that when Jesus returns in His glory He will seperate us by how we recieved Him. Many will ask when did they see Him. Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

As I was a poor, broke down, cowboy on the side of a rural highway, in the middle of the woods, far from home I sure felt like the least of them. Evaluate how many times we may miss a chance to bless some one because we're too focused on what's ahead of us and miss what's right in front of us.

This weeks sign of the apocolypse

2009-08-05T11:53:00.004-04:00

Wow, can I just say that I must really live in a box. I admit I have been out of the "in" Christian music circle for a while. My first CD was;That's a classic I know. However Apparently since March, Peter Furler the lead singer for Newsboys is stepping down. That in itself is a "oh wow that's surprising" event. However Michael Tait from DC TALK is stepping in. What is this world coming too? This is like Tom Izzo coaching for U of M. This is Joe Torre to the Red Sox! This is Bush running the DNC. My head is spinning.

However I am excited because God uses all things for the good of those who love him. So I suppose Michael Tate singing for Newsboys can bring Glory to Him. However I am still waiting for the DC Talk Reunion tour.

Check out Newsboys at this years Unity Fest. I'll be there Saturday night after I'm done working the booth for Grace Adventures at Camp Unity.

Here are Tait and Furler together.

newsboys - Tait & Furler Discuss The Changes from Inpop Records on Vimeo.

The sky is blue, water is wet, and divorce hurts your health

2009-07-29T08:20:00.004-04:00

I'm browsing around the Internet this morning and I stumble upon this gem. I find it fascinating when secular writers stumble across something that affirms what we as Christians already know to be truth. If all truth is God's truth, then a secular person can stumble across some of it with out understanding the depth of what they have found.

Many will recognize that divorce affects those around it. However here is proof that our actions affect our bodies. We are holistic people. God gave us a body, a mind, a spirit, and relationships. They are all interconnected. There are consequences for sin, and those consequences will impact our entire self.

I find it fascinating that the study is aimed at how does remarriage affect the health. When two become one nobody can separate that, therefore that bond is irreplaceable. I do think God works all things out for the good of those who love Him. I also think that my God is more powerful than divorce. This study does not take into account the spiritual aspect of healing. Therefore I do think that God is able to restore and heal two people from whatever their past is.

In contrast being in a healthy relationship can and does have positive impacts on our health. What things can we be doing in our relationships to increase our health? What would it look like to minister to your family with the same fervor and intentionality as you would an unsaved friend?

From the Pit

2009-07-24T13:46:00.004-04:00

While we are on the topic of ga-ga. the story begins last Friday, I'm in the pit, after a number of campers pleaded with me to join. I'm jumping, I'm dodging, and I am actually doing quite well at staying in and I think I got about 10 campers out. When I swing for the ball as a camper dives for the same ball.

In slow motion, I hit the ball, hit his hand and followed through right into his face. Suddenly, he collapses to the ground holding his face. First, I wonder how bad he is doing. Is he Okay? Then, I begin imagining the news headlines "camper blinded from camp director in ga-ga pit." Finally, I help him from the pit, make sure his injury is addressed by our health officer.

Fortunately, I believe besides the small gash below his eye, and a slight black and blue eye, he lives to tell the story. I did follow up with his mother when she picked him up, and they both were very forgiving. And even asked about which camp he should sign up for next year. But it reminded me that what I was intending to do was win the game, and instead my competitiveness in the pit got the best of me.

Is Ga-Ga the new Four Square?

2009-07-23T11:52:00.010-04:00

Ga-Ga

vs.

Four Square

There is a semi-new phenomenon in summer camping. It is called Ga-Ga. No, not like Goo-Goo Ga-Ga, or even Lady Ga-Ga (if you don't know who she is don't worry. You're not missing anything). Ga-Ga as I learned from a college students best friend Wikipedia, is an Israeli form of dodge ball.

Grace has a brand new Ga-Ga pit thanks to our Sowers.

Maybe it is just the hype of a new activity at camp, but the four square courts looked pretty barren yesterday compared to the herd of kids in the Ga-Ga pit.

So here is my attempt to logically and rationally break down Ga-Ga vs. Four Square.

Number of Players:

Four Square is sort of bound by its own name, four-square. There is something to be said for the number four. It does allow for perfect squares.

However in Ga-Ga there is potential for unlimited number of participants. The capacity is only limited by the size of the pit. It is conceivable to have an all camp Ga-Ga pit.

Advantage: Ga-Ga

Ease of Play:

Four Square is old school. We're talking about Chuck Taylor's, Afros, and Turtle Races. The rules however vary widely by location. Grace Adventures is unofficially the capital of "Clean Double Hits" however you might play singles, dirty doubles, black magic, or even body language- black jack. Further more is the inside line out? How about the outside line in? This is getting complicated. That's just the rules, once the game gets going it can get pretty intense. I'm talking about between the legs, behind the back, Tiny Tim's and more. Not to mention, slams, power bombs, and trick shots (Can you tell I grew up playing this game).

Ga-Ga is supposedly from Israel. Do you think Jesus played Ga-Ga? The rules are simple. Hit the ball at some one. If it touches you below the waist your out. Don't play it twice in a row, and be the last one standing. Basically kill or be killed. Pretty simple.

Advantage: Ga-Ga

Safety: Both games are played with a round ball. One on asphalt or concrete, the other on a hard packed dirt surface. While the occasional die hard four squarer may dive and skin a knee, there are actually names for the Ga-Ga injuries. "Ga-Ga knuckles" are incurred from a fist type style that drags the knuckles on the ground leading to an abrasion. While not serious this is documented.

Advantage: Four Square

Level of violence: Occasionally a slam in four square may get away from a player and you see a full on strike of an opponent. However this is very rare. Ga-Ga however is dodge ball. Therefore the intention is striking the opponent. Because we're a Christian camp we do not condone violence, however we recognize that it may be a desirable quality in a game.

Advantage: Push

Accessibility: It requires some serious resources to build a Ga-Ga pit. We're talking lumber, skilled labor, and more. Four Square merely requires a side walk and some chalk. Tough to argue.

Advantage: Four Square

Point of the Game: And so it comes down to the point. What is the point of all this silliness? Well Ga-Ga is to be the last man standing, to conquer or be conquered. In Four Square you stand around in line to hit a ball to get out again to stand around in line. Nobody can be all-time King. Believe me, I've tried. Therefore you can't ever win four square. It's like the song that never ends, it just goes on and on and on and on. Where is Falkor the Luck Dragon when you need him?

Advantage: Ga-Ga

There you have it. Ga-Ga is the new four square. Agree? Disagree?

Camp Unity

2009-07-20T20:29:00.005-04:00

Hey, I just wanted to let those of you know who are reading this, Grace Adventures is going to run "camp unity" at the Unity Christian Music Festival, this Aug 6,7, and 8 at the Heritage landing in Muskegon, MI.

I get to be the camp director. I am very excited about this opportunity. We are going to be able to do skits, songs, short teaching as well as games from the pre-teen stage. We are also going to have a climbing tower, ga-ga pit (picture at right), carpet ball, ranch roping machine, face painting and more! I am currently recruiting our last volunteers. If you are interested please contact me at: ben@graceadventures.org.

This will allow us to minister to people who would not come to camp, but will go to a concert. We are hoping that they will get a taste of what we have to offer, and then sign up to try out one of our programs as well.

We are building our teachings, skits, and songs off of our theme this summer: Spotlight. Which is based on 1 John 1:5-10. Basically, God is light, through his son Jesus we can exit the darkness, enter the light and then become spotlights for Him! We have three different sessions: Knowing God, Loving God, and Serving God. Any of our campers from this summer should recognize: Spotlight Head, Spotlight Heart, Spotlight Hands.

Some of our summer staff will be coming along, while some are staying behind to serve the groups that we have here. They are excited to come and to serve in a new setting with new people. They have done a great job this summer. I am blessed to get to lead such an amazing group of young people.

Miracles

2009-07-20T16:10:00.002-04:00

Do you believe in Miracles? No really, do you believe in miracles? What evidence do you have for them? I think our orthodoxy confirms that we as Christians believe in miracles, but what about our orthopraxy. Do you live your life like you believe Christ can and does intervene into what we know as our system of order and rules and do something totally unexplainable?

If we look at the Story of Lazarus, we see Mary and Martha both showing that they intellectually believed Jesus powerful enough to do a miracle but did not live their lives expectantly looking for one. In John 11, we see Jesus in His divine sovereignty choosing not to intervene and perform a miracle to save Lazarus from death. When he arrives I think Mary and Martha demonstrate their faith and lack of faith at the same time.

²¹"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

³²When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

Both women acknowledge Jesus could have saved Lazarus from death if He arrived earlier. Neither however look for Jesus to do a miracle when he arrives. How many of us believe that God can, has done, and does miracles in this world and yet we put limitations on what we expect from Him because of our own lack of faith?

I believe we don't see as many miracles because we do not look for as many miracles. Many people myself included pray for a miracle with my health every day. Honestly, some days it is harder to believe that God may do a miracle and heal me. I can rest in God's wisdom and find great comfort their, however I am trying not to limit my expectations of what God is able to do. What he chooses to do is His decision.

Summer Splash

2009-07-10T10:25:00.006-04:00

On August 2nd, rain or shine, we are hosting our Second Annual Alumni Event. This will be combined with our 1st ever Community Worship Picnic called Summer Splash.

We have an awesome day planned for you and your family! It will be loaded with lots of activity for all ages, lunch, an update on what is happening at Grace, and how you can continue to help us Impact children and their families with Jesus Christ.

10:00 Community Worship

11:15 Registration

11:45 Kickoff in the Keep

12:15 Picnic Lunch at the Galley

1:15 Camp Activities

3:15 See you next year

Grace friends. Please RSVP for this year's event by calling or emailing Dorothy with contact information.231-873-3662

Balance Beam for Jesus

2009-07-07T10:10:00.003-04:00

My good friends at Triangular Christianity found this absolute gem.

My question for you is how will you discover you're actually clinging to the beam when you think you're leaping on it?

How would our lives change if we performed a 10.0 routine for our judge?

Sick

2009-07-06T17:39:00.003-04:00

Saturday night after the infamous Silver Lake Fireworks. I became sick. Yes, the kind of sick where you visit the bathroom every half hour, hoping you will make it. I don't think I need to be more descriptive, so I will appropriately refrain.

However, I found that today, as I have my health and strength returning, I am much more thankful to God. What I took for granted all summer, I took time this morning to thank Him. I know that this is true in other areas as well. For Example:

*We just finished an amazing week of family camp. Families come to spend time playing, praying and just being together. This doesn't happen in many other places in the World. What a blessing

*We were given a youth bike. We have alot of bigger bicycles that we have purchased, but someone thought of us when they were cleaning out the garage, and gave us a bike in great condition, that now many kids who come here can take advantage of. What a blessing.

*We have a great staff. These college-aged staff love the Lord and are willing to endure long hours, constant questions for little pay, in order to share Jesus' love. Amazing. I don't appreciate them enough (and I work with them every day). They are not perfect, but they are willing and growing. What a blessing.

So instead of being sick, my goal is thankfulness today and this week at camp.

Social Networking Media

2009-07-03T16:38:00.005-04:00

I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out a lot of technology and website operations. Grace Adventures now has a facebook page. That's not enough however. Obviously we also have a Blog. That's also not enough however. We also have Flickr. To complicate matters worse apparently people like it when Grace's home page, Flickr, Facebook, and Blog are all seamlessly integrated (yes I know I left out twitter I'm holding off as long as I can).

This is all enough to make some dumb cowboy's head explode. Never mind now I hear about widgets and emoticon's. How do I integrate flickr to the Grace business page and not my personal page? Why does the widget work on the test page and not the published blog page?

Does anybody else feel my pain?!!!

Do you think Jesus knew what a widget was? What would have been comparable to a widget back then? Do you think Paul was talking about Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and a Blog when he spoke 1 Corinthians 9:22? "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."

I know this may seem silly. At what point does socially relevant become distracting from the goal at hand? Do you think God ordained widgets? Can anybody please tell me how to integrate a flickr account with a facebook business page?!!!

Meet Irma

2009-06-30T14:01:00.002-04:00

Enough said. Join the Adventure!

This weeks sign of the apocalypse

2009-06-30T09:20:00.004-04:00

Further proof that the SEC has no morals or conscience.

The University of Tennessee has just received a commitment from a 13 year old to play football. He will graduate in 2013....from high school. Isn't there a puberty requirement for college football? Keep your eyes open for other 13 year olds to start entering the work force.

Although he did only commit as opposed to getting a scholarship offer, in other news, I am officially announcing that I am committed to Michigan State to play for Tom Izzo. It was a difficult decision but in the end I just felt like this was the best place for me, my family, and for God. I mean the best place for me to find God.

Hope for the Hopeless

2009-06-24T08:52:00.014-04:00

There is an old DC talk song called Red Letters. I know I just dated myself a little bit but when you grow up thinking secular music is that path to satan, death and despair, DC talk was just about the only musical outlet for a young sheltered Christian boy. There is a line that says that

Jesus is, "Hope for the hopeless....peace and forgiveness.... there is life .... in the red letters."

dcTalk - Red Letters Uploaded by spidle33. - Explore more music videos.

Oh it makes me feel better just to sing those out loud again. Now all I need are my ninja turtles and a snap on bracelet that transformation is complete.

Why is there no hope in other world views? There was an interesting article in the Parade magazine a couple weeks ago about this generations hottest male actor Shia Labeouf. A very talented but troubled young man gives us a pretty insightful glance at his inner thoughts and worries. Read the whole thing here. He says, "I have a God shaped hole. If I knew, I'd fill it, and I'd be on my way....The good actors are all screwed up. They're all in pain. It's a profession of bottom-feeders and heartbroken people." When asked about why he and his 3 year steady girlfriend broke up he says this, "Why did the love of my life and I break up? Man, I have no idea. What was that all about? I have no answers to anything. None. Why am I an alcoholic? I haven't a clue! What is life about? I don't know." Many have watched the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed by Ben Stein. A distinguished evolutionary biology teacher at Cornell, when asked about free will and evolution gave this as his response. "...You lose the idea that man has free will, that there is hope for life after death and the conception that there is anything or anyone higher than yourself." Not only does he not have a hope in life, he willingly chooses to live that world view which he so clearly articulates has no hope. What a sorry, pathetic life that is left after we strip away all these things. I cannot help but hear my grandmother's voice in my head singing. My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand