Might have not been my most exciting year of life; but it was jammed packed with great memories and experiences! Now releasing:

Top 25 Adventures and Life Stories of 2017

1. Another year of following Jesus and seeing where he leads us

2. Amber and I experienced our 5th year anniversary and first monumental point, we are halfway to our 10th

3. A fun year with many stories of being a dad and spending time with Nathaniel 

4. Being part of the staff at South Haven. Working with great leadership and people that want to share Jesus and invest in the community. Seeing 25 decisions at VBS and being slimed for seeing 200 kids, 35 baptisms, Love Loud, and so much more 

5. Finishing another year of seminary and experiencing Midwestern. I ended with a 3.6 gpa, wrote my all-time favorite paper on George Whitefield and had an amazing semester of Greek. Now I can officially be admitted into a doctorate program 

6. Buying our first house which was probably the hardest commitment that I have made

7. Moving to Kansas City after living six plus years of ministry and life in Green Bay, WI

8. Having family and friends visit us in our new home

9. Might have not been a joyful experience, but 5 days in the hospital with a very sick kid. He survived and we saw so much love from friends. We also love Children’s Mercy and all the leaders there

10. Being treated wonderfully by First Baptist of Arnold as they invited Amber and I to be part of the Young Leaders Encounter. Those two days were encouraging and uplifting as they invested in us as leaders

11. Attending the For the Church Conference and gleaning much leadership wisdom

12. Preaching two services in one morning. I wasn’t sure how it would go, seeing in the past, one sermon wiped me out. I was sure tired and hungry, but was so blessed to be able to share a message twice and have the energy to do so

13. The many meaningful conversations I had, but one sticks out the most. A girl with a bottle and a countenance that spoke, there is no hope. A conversation that I was able to have with her as she explained about the suicide of her friend and the brokenness in her life. The ability to encourage and pray for her. Chelsey, her name, is still etched in my brain and I sure hope that she looked to God and pray that God keeps putting believers in her life

14. Visiting another baseball ballpark. I was able to experience a Royals game, meet Salvy’s family and eat a delicious bbq delight out of a Royals baseball helmet

15. Experiencing the solar eclipse where it was at it’s strongest

16. Winning my fourth straight year of fantasy baseball and second year of fantasy football

17. Experienced my first Kansas City BBQ (previously I had Birmingham, Carolina, St. Louis) and now I have had Jack Stacks, BB Lawnside, Joes and Sneads

18. Almost dropping my first online class, Hermeneutics. I put my head down, caught back up and finished with an A

19. Visiting the Kansas City and the St. Louis zoo for my first time

20. The ability to train leaders for VBS at the Blue River Association VBS Training 

21. Leaving St. Louis early in the morning to beat out a major ice storm

22. Experiencing Fritz Railroad Restaurant where your food is brought to you by trains

23. Taking Nathaniel on trips to the Deanna Rose Farm

24. Home projects on the house. Installing a tv on the wall, light fixtures, smoke detectors and a variety of first time homeowner projects and things I have never experienced before 

25. Baking and decorating my first creative cake for my wife’s birthday

If I wrote a Babylon Bee Article...

Church Discovers a New Impressions Approach While Keeping their Beloved Foyer Coffee

A church in the greater Kansas City area is making great strides towards first impressions. Their biggest contribution to excellence is their approach to distribute coffee to their first-time guests. As guests flood their building and make their way to the foyer coffee there is a covert team that does it’s best to distinguish the newbies and motion them to a secret area. The area is an old abandoned coat closet that been developed into a hidden coffee paradise. The guest has the opportunity to choose fresh coffee from Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Caribou coffee before continuing their journey to the Worship Center. 

We interviewed a few individuals to see how this creative approach was working:

A recent guest shared their experience saying, “We have attended many churches and have had our share of foyer coffee, but this church was a keeper because of their first time experience.”

One long-time attending church member shared with us his experiences of foyer coffee. “Every Sunday, I show up and expect no change. I take one sip of coffee and I am comforted that the coffee still takes like the first cup I had twenty-seven years ago when we first started to attend.”

The pastor shared that it is a win-win situation. The members are comforted that we will never change and the guest are comforted with great tasting coffee. When asked about the transition from guest to church member, the pastor shrugged and said: “Since we started this strategy three years ago, we have not had that transition happen.”

Michael P. Ott

If I knew what I know now, back then, it would have not been so energizing and rewarding...

A few years ago, I remember pacing in the dark outside our home in Green Bay. I was sharing with my dad this crazy notion of possibly going back to school to receive my Master of Divinity and then possibly, my doctorate. At the time, I thought, I needed the MDiv before entering a doctoral degree. He asked me about the idea of teaching and if that was a path that I was thinking about. Yes, it has always been on my radar; but something I would do late in my life as I have felt the desire to train up the next generation of leaders.    

We moved our family to Kansas City at the beginning of 2017. Everything after that snowballed into place. I took a year of master level classes and planned for many years of studies. One day, I stopped to check how a professor’s family was doing. The conversation took many turns till we were talking about my desire to have a doctorate someday. The individual in charge of doctoral admissions overheard our conversation and by that afternoon, I found that I was one class away from entry into a doctoral program. The next semester, I received an acceptance letter into the doctoral program. As I write, today was the last day of my first doctoral class. I am a doctoral student.

Blue Ridge Christian School had their own story. They have been working closely with Calvary University on a variety of things. One was introducing several opportunities for duel-credit classes. This is where our stories would merge. After multiple conversations and emails, it looked like a possibility for me to teach duel-credit Old and New Testament Surveys classes. Calvary looked at my transcripts and gave me the green light to teach this area as I had the needed amount of credits in the area of study. This past Monday, I taught my first high school class. 

Today, I taught my second class. I was up till 1:30am preparing, I had high expectations for this class as we were to dive into the book of Genesis and set up a strong foundation for the course. That class period will go down as one of the best life stories of this year. I had so much fun teaching and interacting with the students. Throughout my life, I have had people ask if I would teach. I pondered the desire to teach for over a decade and today as I left my class, reality sunk in and I realized I am a teacher.

I never imagined that in less than two years of leaving Green Bay, I would be in a doctoral program and teaching young leaders in a classroom. 

First Doctoral Writing: A Book Review on How to Read a Book

Over almost a century of time, the author Mortimer J. Adler has impacted and challenged our society. As a major writer, he has contributed around fifty books1 and even more articles that were added to the academic field2. Yet, this is an amazing feat when you look at the start of his life. He was a dropout in high school by age 15, he was denied his bachelors because he refused to take part in the required physical activity needed to graduate and he never received a master degree. The one degree that he would achieve was a PH.D in experimental psychology and at that time was the only person in the country to receive a PH.D without a high school, bachelors or masters diploma.3 Many of his works were saturated in philosophy and western thought which was his major contribution; but he also wrote with regards to ethics, religion and even included an autobiography towards the end of his life. His last work, The Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization4, was published when he was ninety-nine years old. The following year Mortimer died leaving a long legacy in the world of philosophy, contributions of writings and a book called How to Read a Book.

How to Read a Book, one of his earliest works, will grasp for your attention just within its title. What can one learn from a book with a title that suggests that you need to learn to read a book before reading? Specifically, this book will challenge the reader in many areas to improve their reading and not to settle. This timeless classic will not be a letdown, it can be read time and time again.

1 Mortimer J. Adler. How to Think about The Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization (Chicago, IL. Open Court Publishing Company. 2000).2 Mortimer J. Adler. A Second Look in the Review Mirror (New York, NY. Macmillian Publishing Company. 1992), 306-314.
3 Mortimer J. Adler. How to Think about The Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization (Chicago, IL. Open Court Publishing Company. 2000), xvii.4 Mortimer J. Adler. How to Think about The Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization (Chicago, IL. Open Court Publishing Company. 2000).

Adler’s first edition of his book How to Read a Book was first published in 1940. This review will be looking at his revised and updated 1972 book. In the preface, he goes into detail on how culture had changed and the importance of updates for his book. He emphasized that part two of his four-part book stayed close to the original.5 Upon inspection of the front of this book, it can be noticed that the credit for authorship on the revised and updated book mentions two authors. Adler partnered with Charles Van Doren to revise his first edition. His partnership with Doren would be also joined together again when they worked on Great Treasury of Western Thought that was published in 1977.6

The book truly starts before page one of chapter one. It begins in the table of contents, as Adler brilliantly maps out the course of the book. Just a brief scan over this section will alert the reader to where the writer is taking them, what areas are important to the writer and what the writer wants the reader to grasp. The book is broken down into four major parts filled with specific chapters. Most books would be good with that, but Adler takes it one step further and highlights main points in those chapters. It would be a shame for a reader to overlook the table of contents, as well as, Adler will convict the reader in chapter four for skipping over that section. The preface comes next and does a great job of explaining the importance of culture changes and continue growing in the area of reading.

Part one covers the dimensions of reading and is broken down into five chapters. Chapter one sets the tone for the importance of learning the art of reading and actively challenge oneself to become a better reader. The second chapter introduces the four main levels of reading; elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical reading. The first two reading levels are

5Mortimer J. Adler. How to Read a Book (New York, NY. Simon & Schuster. 1972), ix-xiii.6 Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. Great Treasury of Western Thought (New York, NY. R. R. Bowker Company. 1977).

covered in the next two chapters, while analytical is covered in part two and syntopical reading is covered in part four. Elementary reading, the beginning level of reading, is discussed in chapter three. The writer will express that the reader of this book will have accomplished elementary reading to be able read this how to do book.7 He will also share the four stages of reading that most individuals will accomplish throughout their time leading up to high school. Inspectional reading, the second level of reading, is addressed in chapter four and is only possible if elementary reading was achieved effectively. Two types of inspectional reading are evaluated, one being the art of skimming and the other is superficial reading. The final chapter of part one challenges the reader to take ownership in their habits on reading.

Part two takes an insightful look and perhaps spends the most time focusing on the third type of reading, analytical reading. The first chapter of part two is pigeonholing a book and will challenge a reader like myself, to go find an answer to what pigeonholing means. Upon understanding the terminology, this is a very practical first step in observing the basics of any book and setting the first stages of analytical reading. Chapter seven challenges the reader to x- ray the book. What can the book tell you? Can you explain the book in a sentence? Do you know what the subject matter is? Adler does a great job in this chapter of making one think even towhat the thoughts of the book’s title might entail. Chapters eight and nine focus on the relationship with the author; finding key words and sentences, noting the arguments, and looking to find the writers purpose of writing and what he is trying to get across. Chapters ten and eleven sets the bar for reader criticism and handling the author’s work within reasonable methods of reading. Adler challenges that for healthy criticism, a reader must read the whole book, know what the writer is saying and recognize that the reader has the last say in a closed-ended

7 7 Mortimer J. Adler. How to Read a Book (New York, NY. Simon & Schuster. 1972), 37.

conversation. The last chapter of part two, chapter twelve, gives a well-rounded use of resources to be used as guides in the analytical reading process.
Part three covers a wide range of approaches to reading a variety of works. Starting in chapter thirteen with practical reading moving to imaginative reading in chapter fourteen and then to chapter fifteen for direction in reading plays, stories and poems. The next four chapters cover areas of History, Science and Mathematics, Philosophy and Social Science readings. Part four covers the last and most challenging levels of reading, syntopical or comparative reading. Adler stresses back in chapter two that synoptic reading is not easy, but is the most rewarding when one masters it.8 Chapter twenty goes into detail including addressing five recommended steps to take when reading synoptically. The final chapter, twenty-one, concludes part four and the book. The chapter’s main focus is challenging the reader to be wise in his books choices, seeing there are millions of books available; and to search out the books that will be the most impactful to your life.

I have found push back on the fact that this is an outdated book and irrelevant today. I believe that if Adler was alive today, he would agree and probably look to revise another copy of the book. Though, with any book this should not be a conclusion, after all, no books are perfect and there should be things that the reader casts away. Any reader should be looking for the golden nuggets that come out of a book. I only want to offer one negative critique, and this is just my opinion from reading, that part three “Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Materials”would have been better placed at the end of the book. I, personally, read part three (which was not required) by conviction of Adler comment in part two that If you are only reading part of a book, it is more difficult to be sure that you understand, and hence you should be more hesitate
8 Mortimer J. Adler. How to Read a Book (New York, NY. Simon & Schuster. 1972), 20.

to criticize.9 The elementary, inspectional and analytical levels of reading fall nicely in place together, but then part three covers over a hundred pages of reading about various approaches to reading before circling around to hit the fourth reading level. By the time, I got to the fourth; I lost the connection with the other three. I think that part three is important, but its placement felt forced or out of place. If you can come away from your reading with one negative critique and push through some things are not timeless in books, then any book can be valuable for learning and growing. Overall How to Read a Book is one of these valuable books. It will be beneficial to a person who wants to excel in his reading, a student that desires to stretch his learning ability or a writer that needs insight on how to best reach his readers.

9 Mortimer J. Adler. How to Read a Book (New York, NY. Simon & Schuster. 1972), 145.

Works Cited

Adler, Mortimer J. A Second Look in the Review Mirror New York, NY: Macmillian Publishing Company, 1992.

Adler, Mortimer J. Desires Right and Wrong: The Ethics of Enough New York, NY: Macmillian Publishing Company, 1991.

Adler, Mortimer J. How to Read a Book New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1972.

Adler, Mortimer J. How to Think about The Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western
Civilization Chicago, IL: Open Court Publishing Company, 2000.

Adler, Mortimer J. and Doren, Charles Van. Great Treasury of Western Thought New York, NY: R. R. Bowker Company, 1977.

Hey Leaders!

Introducing a new thing for our kids ministry at South Haven! Originally, I was going to hang this on a wall; but with future changes coming in the future, I resorted to keeping it on an easel making it mobile. The purpose behind this leadership board is two-fold:

First, we want to encourage each other with win stories in our area! It might be a substitute teacher filling a need, a visitor parent giving us a good report or most important, a kid giving their life to Jesus! These "share a win story" cards are designed to be hung on the wire and will encourage those who read.

Second, there are "fan postcards." These are designed to encourage leaders to write to a kid from time to time. Write your message on the left, the child's first and last name on the address side and hang it on the wire. I will collect them, add addresses and will mail them out. Please space them out and try to write all your kids in your class at least once in a year. If there is a visitor, feel free to write them a card.

My day has been interesting, but one of my highlights of today was this cup of coffee! As I was reviewing possible ministry things, I came across this coffee ministry. Loved the graphics and the mission of the organization instantly. Ordered the tumbler and some samples. Nothing like great coffee and helping people on the mission field share Jesus. To learn more check out: hopecoffee.com

Turf or Grass? Leaders lead for needed change

I was visiting the University of Arkansas the other week and came across some great leadership observations. My friend is in charge of the baseball field and took me on a tour of many of the impressive sports facilities. During our tour, he introduced me to his boss and I learned so much about the history of the school and some of the major changes that took place over the years. One thing that stuck out to me was when he talked about the football field and how the head coach led major change. He recalled that one coach said that they would win ball games if they had turf, so they changed the field. Then another head coach would come along and would say "what do you think about grass?" we could win games if we had grass. These decisions happened and they went with the vision of the head coach. As he went on to explain this, I caught that when they switched from grass to turf; they kept the drainage and major parts in case they would ever go back. Admitting that he didn't think he would see it changed back, but planned in case it did. It was a good thing because they are going back to grass. Let me break down the leadership thoughts:

1. Leaders lead!

Each head coach made major changes based on how they believed they would win and created the best environment to accomplish it.

2. Followers play a huge role in success!

Not only did the grounds people make these changes happen, they made sure to prepare for the future as they created change. In this they saved money and time in the future by preparing and leading in their own roles.

3. Turf or Grass?

To the normal person, we would not see this as a major factor of winning. I still have not grasped this, but then I don't play football. I think that winning ball games comes from a variety of things done excellent and putting the right people in place. If the leader says we will win games and I trust them; I will believe that this is the significant and we will win ball games.

4. Don't go through too many coaches!

Can you imagine major change year after year? Turf, grass, turf, grass and so on? If this happens, those followers will have a hard time following leaders that had different visions and handled things differently. I think this is why many churches have issues when they jump from pastor to pastor. They never have time to build trust and look forward to their shepherd leading them into change for the church's mission. Now this illustration is sort of different because I am talking about paid grounds keepers, churches are mostly made up of volunteers. Imagine the amount of change we put our church people through if every pastor came in and did things his way? Then we wonder why church people have problems with change.

5. Pastors, your followers have been there faithfully following!

This grounds crew guy has almost two decades invested into the Arkansas field. Arkansas' new head coach, Chad Morris; just came in. He is the seventh head coach in this time span. Jeff's boss has loved and taken care of that field; seeing it through major and minor changes. If I were to make a major change to that football field, guess who I would want in that discussion and who I would want to cast vision to? You can't lead change by yourself, you need your followers. Understanding their faithfulness, understanding that they don't need to hear "you've been losing games because you have grass," understanding that they are attached and experience loss when we ask them to give up something and understanding that we can't fulfill God's mission for His church without His people; puts us one step closer to building trust and helping us to cast vision for needed change.

6. Reasoning for change is accomplishing the mission!

Why spend the money for grass or turf? To win football games! Head coaches want the W! The players want the W! The W brings money into the school! The W gives students and alumni pride in their school! Schools also spend money for the W's! They recruit for the W's! This is practical for any  football program, business, school or church. In church, we are looking towards accomplishing God's mission and reaching people for him. If our churches are not reaching people, then we are not accomplishing what churches were created to do. When we realize that we are not accomplishing what we are supposed to be doing then we realize that there is a need for change.


 

Nathaniel has decided to take a longer nap this afternoon and I figured I could write a little. What to write on?

Let me share a little about my wife's passion for Operation Christmas Child. After all, she is at a big Connect Conference which is about to come to an end within the next hour. Before we met, Amber packed shoeboxes and encouraged her church to join many other churches in the packing process. She then took a next step of faith when she decided to join a volunteer year around team in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It wasn't too long and our small Southern Baptist church would become a drop off location! Everything was going great in the area and then we moved. What now?

Amber continued to save items throughout the year and pack shoeboxes, but now without a her team that is now 650 miles away. Then another opportunity came up to be a volunteer year around area coordinator. Now she is building her own team and working with those that were already serving to reach the counties around us. Working with local churches, business and getting the word out. Now she is getting energized with leadership training, OCC stories of impact and making new friends in sunny Arizona.

I am proud of her as she takes on newer and bigger things within Operation Christmas Child. Amber loves what she does and this has helped grow her and develop many leadership skills. She personally sets big goals and packs many boxes. Nathaniel knows OCC and talks about it when he sees the logo. All of us are always deal shopping for creative gifts to pack in a future box. One box, one impact, one mission; tell kids about Jesus!

Creative way get to know your kids

I was able to partner with Blue River Baptist Association in their training of VBS leaders. My breakout session was investing in the 5th and 6th grade leaders. In this, there was training over the VBS materials; but then also general leadership training, creative ideas, conversation on the target group and other helpful add ons. We started the breakout session with one of my favorite activities as I encouraged the leaders to first get to know the kids on night one. Here is what this activity looks like:

Buy a bag of original skittles. Then at the beginning of your class hand out small handfuls to your kids. Give them one rule as you talk and hand out the skittles; "you may eat all but one, put that one off to the side." (If a kid does not like skittles encourage them to pick one and keep it off to the side.) Then take them through the PowerPoint of the images below. Two questions to get to know names and something about each kid. You learn, but also the other kids get to learn about each other. For future years, switch it up, use m&ms or starburst. Remember the best way for you to invest is to get into their lives first, then let them get into your life and always encourage them that Jesus wants to be part theirs and your life.

Developmental Stages: 2 yr old vs. 5th grader

I have come to the conclusion that while working with 5th-6th graders that they are very similar to my two year old son. The other week I was reading that these two developmental stages are two of the biggest of a human life. Both groups are experiencing growth and body changes, they question everything and are processing how you will react when they go opposite, they go through volunteers and seem to be the hardest to recruit for; but yet they are in their own way in dire need of adults impacting their lives!

I have made several mistakes as a dad while trying to get my son to do something only to watch him process what I am saying and do the opposite. Within my reaction, I lose an opportunity to come alongside him and work through his processing. One of the biggest mistakes I have ever had with a young man should have taught me better. I had a tough group of inter-city guys in my cabin at summer camp. These kids wouldn't listen to anyone or anything! They pushed boundaries, they got in verbal and physical fights, and tested my twenty year old personality. At one point, I lost it and yelled at the top of my lungs at the boys. In that moment, I lost credibility and severed my opportunity to love and invest in them. In fact, I still have a negative report card that I have kept with me that says; "What did you dislike about camp?" the response: "My counselor yelled at us." Never recovered a relationship with at least one of the boys. I did work hard to earn back respect and even made a promise that if they could get along that we would camp out at a special cabin and I would make pizza on the fire for them. This got their interest, especially seeing they were from the city and didn't have campfires. The night came and sure enough it poured down raining. Not wanting to break my promise, I got permission to use the fireplace in the gym and left the campers with my junior counselor as I went to retrieve the pizza supplies. When I came back, I was shocked at what I saw. Kids were crying, hugging each other and asking for forgiveness. What had happened! One kid had started the conversation saying that he had a lot of anger because his dad had left him, which snowballed and I would soon find out that three quarter of my campers had lost their dad. To some their dad walked out on them and to others their dads were in jail. Wow, heavy. These kids needed love and the last thing they needed was an older male yelling at them...Only through the Holy Spirit working and breaking these hearts and finding a common ground; made this the best week of camp for me and one I will remember for ever. It not only taught me to watch my words; it taught me that ever kid has a story and they need to be invested and loved on.

Sure their bodies are changing, man, do they smell at times, especially after lots of fun in the gym and you go into a small room...yes, they question things. My best questions about the Bible have come from this age group. "Were there dinosaurs on the ark?" "Jesus sinned, what about the tables at the temple?" They do tend to do the opposite thing that you ask of them; and they will test your limits. Granted, all they really desire is for you to get to know them and let them get to know you. They want someone to care. They are not a kid but yet they are not a teen. They are stuck in this awkward stage and could use you to invest in them. No worries on your age, I am getting old, 34 to be exact, and I don't have a clue to some of these games they are playing, but I ask them about it and have them explain it to me. I believe they get so much enjoyment at explaining it to me and in the back of my mind, I am thinking "I have no clue what they are talking about!" But I go on listening and they go on telling me the in and outs of their world. Take some time to think about this time in your life...we need people investing in the lives of a two year old or a 5th grader; do not let this awkward stage scare you from impacting them for Jesus.

Jesus darkest moment

Coming out of Easter, many thoughts tend to flow as we reflect on what Jesus did on and through the cross, how he conquered death and the final results of restoring the relationship of God and man. As I have thought over the years, I have encouraged people that Jesus knows what it is like to be a human. His birth put him at the lowest of the low. Jesus was royalty but he was not born into it from a human perspective. He knows what it was like to be hungry. How do I know? The Bible tells us (Mark 11:12)! He got tired and needed sleep (Mark 4:38). He experienced the loss of a friend (John 11:35). It is not in the Bible, but I imagine that when Jesus was growing up, he fell and skinned a knee from time to time. He knows what it is like to be human.

Jesus' humanity leading up to his death is magnified in the Gospels. The focus of the last meal and his last time of hanging with his friends. Think about a prisoner who is on death rows and their last meal. They are not sharing with the closest of friends and I don't think a last meal is a time to be excited for. Jesus valued his disciples and saw the importance of spending a meal with them. In the garden, the sweat, the tears, the blood, the pain of talking with Father about his will. The kiss of betrayal. Many of us know how it feels to be betrayed by a friend or family member. It's tough, it hurts! The whips that pulled flesh from his body, the pulling of his beard, the insults, people gambling for his clothes, the nails in his hand and feet, a crown of thorns on his brow and being put on display.

Leading up to this point, I am sure that we as humans can relate with at least one thing if not many of the things that Jesus lived through. Granted, we are still not at Jesus' darkest moment! The pain, the loneliness and the rejection of man; but then came the darkest moment, the rejection of the Father. God being a holy God, cannot be part of sin and Jesus took the sins of the world on him separating him from the Father. Flesh being pulled off his body was minor compared to the relationship of the Father being separated from the Son. Jesus did this for me! He experienced a dark, lonely place that was without God; how in the world would I ever choose to reject God and want to ever experience hell! Jesus went through his darkest moment to give me an opportunity to have a relationship with the Father that I could have never obtained.

Ga Ga Ball

My second attempt at a Ga Ga Pit! This one turned out way better than the previous... 

I recruited Jeff and he brought along his father. 

Inviting South Haven Kids for the opportunity to be the first to use it!

Importance of a church in it's community?

Yesterday, I was out shopping at Home Depot planning the next big children ministry exciting moment (details coming soon), when I recognized one of the employees. I had that moment where I was trying to remember where I knew the individual from and couldn’t recall. She knew me! Come to find out she was one of our winners from our Trunk or Treat event. She would go on to actually invite my cashier to church; to which I would find out that she knew the Klein’s which led to talking about how Alan played an amazing part of our Upward Sports program. As these conversations continue; we have to think, how important is it for a church to be out in the community? Certainty, this conversation would have not happened if it were not for South Haven’s decision to be active in the community.

Each person has a total of 168 hours a week. No more and no less. What we do with that time matters! Each kid that is in my ministry has 168 hours a week and I have come to realize I only have about two hours to impact their lives. So it has been my ministry goal to make the most of these two hours and invest in the lives of kids within my reach.

As a parent, this way of thinking has changed. As I read the Bible, I find that the main people that should be impacting kids for Jesus and equipping them in the faith are the parents. Yes, I am still called to reach kids within my two hours with my specific ministry calling, but I am also called as a parent to raise Nathaniel in Jesus. I won't be satisfied with the two blue dots for Nathaniel, I need to use many of those green dots as a parent to reflect Jesus!

Parents, it is so important to pray with your children, to read devotions with your children, to model a Christ-like picture for your children and to look for times to point your kids to Jesus. You, over the church, will always have more of an impact in showing Jesus to them. The church is just your partner in helping you raise your children in Jesus. Look for ways this week to model, to teach and to show God to your children!

Tebow and thoughts on A Night to Shine

Tebow...The Gator quarterback, not a fan. And the Denver Broncos draft Tim Tebow, oh man, I guess I will have to start liking him? As I watched, heard his testimony, seeing his on and off the field character, the td pass to Thomas in OT against the Steelers! I cheered for him, I was disappointed when he left Denver, where will he play? I respected that he gave glory to God, but if he could not play in the NFL will he still give God the glory? I Google him often just to see what he is up to. Oh, he is sportscasting, playing for the Mets, teaming up with Chip and Joanna Gaines, and putting on a variety of charities. On a night like tonight where he will impact almost 100,000 people!

Tonight, he has partnered with churches across the country as they invest in friends. The event is called "A Night to Shine" and is in its fourth year. A Night to Shine is a special prom night event for those who have special needs. This is what Tebow has to say about this special night:

“It’s my favorite night of the year and we get to change so many lives,” Tebow said in a video promoting the event. “Honestly, it’s not just the night of their life where they get to dance, and they get to have fun. They get to ride in limos, they get to walk down red carpets." He added: "It’s so much more than life, because maybe for the first time, they realize that they’re worth it. They realize that they’re special. They realize that they’re loved. There’s not much more important than that.”

The event is now shared by 540 churches in 16 countries with 175,000 volunteers. When the guests arrive, there are tuxedos and shoe shine stations for the guys and hair, makeup and dresses or the ladies. They then get to walk the red carpet, and participate in dancing and karaoke. Tebow will make special appearances at a variety of locations tonight. He continues to show great character, invest in people that many might not take time to get to know, and continues to give God glory. With all the athletes that are out there; Tebow has never made me regret pointing young people towards him. His character and integrity are to be admired; his love for Jesus is encouraging that no matter how hard sports are to you, you can still give God the glory. Thanks Tebow and to the 175,000 volunteers that invested and impacted lives tonight.

God prepares you for the direction he is going to take you. 

As I sit back and reflect launching our first Upward sports season at South Haven, I remember key points in my life that have set me up for success. 

How do I handle a game day? Going back to the days of college, I spent four great years working with the Liberty University baseball team. Game day preparation was a masterpiece that most people never saw how much time went into making a baseball field ready. The mowing of artwork in the infield and outfield, the art of a perfect slope of a pitching mound, a smooth infield playing surface, clean jerseys hanging in each locker, game balls rubbed up, umpire room set up towels and postgame sandwiches and drinks, and so on. 

How about handling concessions? I think of working for the Green Bay YMCA and how much I learned about concessions and healthy snacks. The preparation to be organized and set up people for success when the line starts. 

How do we create a well-balanced coach and team experience? Over ten years ago, I did a summer internship in the Washington DC area where I was part of my first Upward Sports experience. Summer camps were some of my fondest memories of that internship. Getting in my team’s circle and doing a team huddle. Playing basketball with the kids and building relationships with them.

How do we have an interactive website? Through multiple website designs in Green Bay, I crafted basic skills of working through how to build a foundational piece of the website. 

These are just four events that I saw as being beneficial in setting me up for preparation of our first season. God prepares you for the direction he is going to take you. 

I love my church!

Why? Because when my lead pastor preaches a message and the next day you're living it out!

I started my morning off by leaving my wallet at a gas station which resulted in me heading home earlier and working on our website from home...this afternoon we decided to make a trip to the DMV. A quick picture of some of the things that happened:

1. We drove around downtown Kansas City trying to find the building until we finally stopped to ask a cop
2. We couldn't find parking so we drove around the building numerous times
3. We found out that my parallel parking is rusty
4. Ended up making 3 total trips to the DMV because of missing documents 
5. First estimated wait was 34 minutes, second was 26 minutes and the last 40 minutes
6. Second trip home, I saw a bad accident on the highway! Could I get back to the DMV before they closed? I took residential streets which worked
7. Third trip, I parked only to find a quarter jammed in the meter. Wanting to be honest, I went and found another spot

The connection: Pastor Richard opened up his message with places that can frustrate you, he led with the idea of going to the DMV. Places like the DMV can drain you, make you tired, can be frustrating and discourage you; can you relate?. He was talking about emotion and how we feel about places we go too; he would go on to preach a sermon on I Love my church. To think, I only caught a fragment of the message while passing by, because of being in the children's area ;) and it came into my thoughts and how I was able to prepare myself for what was a long afternoon. Thank you Pastor Richard for the reminder Monday as I stand here in line, writing this message, helping others understand the DMV system (I have it figured out!) and thinking about all the reasons that have led me to this post. I’ll finish in a little bit, because now it is my turn!

1. As I was about to leave he realized that he forgot to put my lender information of my car, which led to voided checks, voided, papers and a series of complications. Wow, icing on the cake to one of the most memorable trips to the DMV. Side note: I have evaluated Missouri, California, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania; be on the lookout for a new blogpost of top three DMV’s by Mike Ott 

I am now home, writing! We are currently Missourians, well at least according to our drivers license! I survived the DMV once again! I was able to talk to the guy on the third trip about what I learned at church and told him it set me up to be positive. All of this led me to choose a good attitude, help others, and encourage the workers at the DMV. They really impressed me on how they kept it together; I heard plenty of things while I was there and they definitely go through stress as well! 

Lastly, I am reminded of all the positive things that I love about our church, our leaders, our HOPE for reaching the community and yes, a message that I would live out the day after. #ilovemychurch #SouthHaven

What COULD be harmful as we parent/coach young kids in sports

Reading some great things this morning from Caz McCaslin book and got into a blogging mindset! 

The pressures that we as parents/coaches can put on our kids as we plan out their futures...We pick a sport and we drive it at an early age; many times a kid will only play that specific sport and year around. I, mean, we have to, right? They will fall behind, they won't make a team later, how will they get into college? So we play our fall, summer, spring and in-between leagues. Within this, many things COULD happen:

1. Playing at a young level, a player could be put into one position and never learn another area of the sport. For example: I got this tall kid on my basketball team, he is going to be my star center! I will coach him in pivots, posting, layups, etc. The problem is that when this kid gets to high school and never grew as anticipated, his friends bypass him height and there is no place for a 6 foot center! Could it get worse? Yes, we didn't focus on teaching him to dribble as much as we should have, so that he could compete for another position if needed down the road...

2. Playing one sport over a long period of time could cause major injuries. In my reading, there was a sports-medicine doctor who shared that over 75% of his young patients he was treating had injuries credited to overuse! Think of that little league pitcher who has a hard throwing arm. If he or she is continued to be used to the max in a league, then the next league, then each year, and so on; that arm will break down overtime if it is overused and abused. Point one and two frustrates me; I am thankful for the coach who transitions their players to play multiple positions. It is not about the win or the championship; it is about setting up the kid for success in life and sports. 

3. The parent who is thinking long-term results for their kids can cause more harm than good. Sure we want our kids to succeed, but if they can just get that scholarship, we have succeeded as parents…Maybe this causes us as parents to reach for the unseen future. League after league; the best sports gear money can buy, willing to travel out of state, and so on. Statistics are against us! When looking at boys and girls basketball, only 3% of HS athletes make a team in college. Just because you make the team, does not mean you are playing college basketball; that bench can sometimes be long. Women’s soccer transition about 5% HS athletes into college and football 6% into collegic football. If we are more of a longer-term parent, my kid is going to play professional ball. Then the statistics are really against us; only a little over 1% of college basketball players make it to the NBA, under 1% of college football and women soccer athletes make it to a professional level. As parents we need to think long-term but perhaps on how we can spend time making life memories, how to produce character and skills in them, how to let them know if they decide not to play college ball that we still love them.

4. My kid will fall behind so I need to start them now. This in itself could create family issues in the home. You treat your kid like a mini professional player or they feel like the game was fun, but now it is more like a job. Many kids lose the love of a sport because they are pressured to succeed from all directions including those who love them the most. I think there is value in learning off of others. As I was reading today of three major professional football players, I was reminded that Nathaniel does not need to start playing flag football at age 5 so he can be in the NFL by age 25…

The first two are quarterbacks that you know, they have two rings a piece, and I favor one over the other because of a Broncos Super Bowl Championship. The Manning brothers, Eli and Peyton, are great accomplished quarterbacks. Especially Peyton, yes because of that championship, but also because that guy would study football, look for ways to improve, and the numbers back all that up. Many know they are great quarterbacks, but some of the younger generation might not know that their father was a professional quarterback. I looked up some of his NFL accomplishments. Archie played 10 seasons with the Saints and 9 of those seasons were losing seasons! His record in the NFL, 35-101-3, is like one of the worst losing records of quarterbacks that have started more than 100 games! You would think if a parent was going to set up their sons for more success and pressure them, it would be Archie Manning. We would thing that he had them playing football before they could walk, training them everyday and playing in every league he could get them in. Wrong! Sure they threw the pig skin; but he even refused to let play tackle football till 7th grade.

The other is a very successful football player despite some questionable character scandals. He is a quarterback, he has a Super Bowl ring for every finger of his throwing hand, 4 time Super Bowl MVP, among a variety of accomplishments, he is either loved or hated in the sports world, Tom Brady. This future Hall of Fame football player and one of the greats; might be hassled and there might be several hundred memes out there especially from the Deflategate scandal, but his ability to throw the ball in the pocket and win games must have been years and years in the making. When do you think he started football? How about 9th grade? Yep, Brady was not allowed to play football till 9th grade and yet he wasn't behind the others. Another thing that Brady was good at was baseball; but his father refused to let him throw a curveball until he was fourteen. Here was a father who sought out the best for his son by protecting his son from injuries as best as possible. It is really hard to disagree with these three quarterbacks; between the three they have 41 NFL records, 9 Super Bowl Rings and 7 MVP’s. They are great examples of athletes who, from today’s standards, started late. Despite being held back from starting when other kids had been playing, these three quarterbacks encourage us as parents to make healthy decisions for our kids. 

We need to be careful with our kids! As a challenging thought to us as parents/coaches, I will close with this convicting statement from the Changing the Game Project website: "The all too common narrative for American youth these days in an adult-driven, hyper-competitive race to the top both in academics and athletics that serve the needs of the adults but rarely the kids.”  

(Coach Em Up by Caz McCaslin)

Please keep a young lady; Chelsey, in prayer tonight, the next week, and into her future. Ill share below to connect the dots.

Tonight was an unusual night; Nathaniel and I got in the car with no destination in mind. After driving around for a little while, I asked Siri for the nearest park. I noticed two playgrounds and picked the latter. After spending a little time there and it was geared towards older kids, I decided to check the other one out. Upon pulling in I noticed people walking, a young family playing whiffle ball and a young lady sitting at a picnic bench. She didn't fit in the picture…I noticed her blue hair, her head was down on the table, and she looked bored or lonely. Maybe she was part of the family playing whiffle ball or waiting for young guy who was practicing frisbee throwing???

Nathaniel and I started playing on the playground. That feeing kicked in; this picture is wrong. “God do you want me to say something?” “If so, I will before we leave if no one does.” I waited the family left, she sat there. The frisbee guy left, she was still there. People walked right past her, said nothing to her. Nathaniel kept playing, I would glance over from time to time; I soon noticed a clear glass bottle. Something was going on in this girl’s life; she looks she needs hope.

Hope! A word that I have been working with today. I had been in an email conversation about setting up some future things and the word I wanted to use wasn't available. The word “hope” was available and it fit in with our church purpose of “Inviting people to find hope in Jesus Christ.” The email came across from my friend “just say the word” and it can be set up. I knew the Holy Spirit was talking with me and I knew I needed to say something.

Nathaniel just kept playing; I tried to get him to go a few times, but he wasn't going to be happy. How can I say something if doesn't want to go? (excuse number 16 that went through my head) I was right he wasn't happy, but I put him in his car seat, I pulled up a youtube favorite, left the door open and took a few steps towards her. I was so glad that I had pulled up to the parking spot beside this picnic bench. I asked her if she was okay, she said yes; but the pain in her eyes said otherwise. I told her that we saw her when we pulled up thinking she was waiting for someone; but then the longer we played at the playground, we couldn't help but to notice that something was wrong. I told her I saw lots of people playing and walking past her; and I couldn't walk past without asking if she was okay. I asked her if was just having a bad day, sort of referring to sitting alone with a bottle beside her. Our conversation from here on tore my heart.

She shared her story; she just got out of rehab and was choosing the bottle over the other substances. She was living in Florida, because she needed to get away from that lifestyle here. She was only back in this area, because her close friend had overdosed and she came back for his funeral. Hurt? Heavy? This young lady is in a dark place and in place that needs hope. I am so glad I didn’t walk past without saying something. I did the best I could; I listened. Let her know I was sorry she was going through something heavy like this. I encouraged her to connect with friends and family. I prayed for her and for this young man’s friends and family. Promised that I would ask my friends to pray for her. As we left, she had thanked me and I saw some hope in her eyes; that for a time she was encouraged that someone would stop and listen and pray and someone cared that she was hurting. 

As we left and drove home, I prayed over her. That she wouldn't do anything to harm herself, that she wouldn't turn to substances, that God would send others followers of Jesus into her life within the next 24 hours, that they would listen to the Holy Spirit and not be afraid to approach her, that He would guard her life and show Himself to her. Now I am asking my family and friends to keep Chelsey in prayer. Pray for this young man’s, Justin, family and friends as they go through the pain of losing him. Pray that Chelsey is drawn to the best hope that is in Jesus. 

Ownership within the church

I have always loved the terminology of ownership over membership within the local church. If a member of a company breaks something, they can report it and let the company fix it. An owner see something broken and then fixes it. If a member sees a towel or piece of trash on the ground, they know there are people paid to pick it up. An owner sees the towel or trash and picks it up.

The other day I drove into the church parking lot only to see it covered with the remains of what looked liked a pretty cool community firework show. Would have been okay if they were safe in doing so and would have picked up afterwards. I thought to myself who will clean up this mess? I will, this is my church and I will own this. I got almost everything into a pile and then it started to pour; an hour later it was in the church dumpster. This is ownership.

I think this is huge for us a Christians! We need to take pride in our faith and in our churches. We need to step back and saying what's wrong with this picture? There is a piece of paper on the floor...pick it up and throw it away. This is ownership! There is a new person that walks through the doors of your church...go up and introduce yourself. This is ownership! An elderly person needs assistance...go help them. This is ownership! The nursery is short on help...go volunteer (turn in your background check, of course). This is ownership! Ownership solves the initial problem at hand, but in the long haul, it solves the question with what can the church do or be for me? and creates a new question of what I can do or be for my church?