Teaching to serve

Serving like Christ = Spiritual Maturity. This is a truth that I've talked about with youth over and over and over. Philippians says, "Have the same attitude as Christ... who humbled himself and took the form of a slave."

Transferring that truth into something engrained in Mac is challenging. I'm kind of frustrated by it because I just want him to GET IT. But I don't suppose that's how it works. We are heading as a family to a day of serving with DBC in Side by Side (The community mission day in conjunction with other churches) I guess my prayer for Mac this morning is that he'll get a taste of giving himself away.

Dennis

Wishing for unexpected.

One of the things I wish for that I don't expect is a spontaneous improvement in my shoulder. I get sidelined and suddenly every river and creek is running every time I turn around. Go to the links on the right and click on "Georgia River Gauges". See all the green. That means those streams have prime water for kayaking. Plus Tallulah is releasing.

I guess the best way to think about this is that this time for healing is an investment in being able to function better later. Here's another view of Soc-Em-Dog. That's my buddy Ben getting a good boof.















Another day you dog!

Organizing Pictures... and Rythm

Pictures (and especially series of pictures) tell stories. For instance, see if you can guess what happens in the next picture in the series.















Parker plotting, Mac being the object of the plot.















Parker Aiming?? Mac being the target.















Parker using fists of fury?? Mac still unsuspecting.

You can just see what's coming next can't you? Mac with a black eye. Parker laughing triumphantly as we break out the ice pack.

The day in, day out of life is such that we get into a rhythm and routine of the way things work. Get up. Get some coffee. Wake kids. Fix some breakfast. Get kids dressed. Break up a mid-morning tussle. Fix Emmy's bottles. Head out for the morning. And maybe with a few variations from time to time, that's what happens.

But there is depth of unexpectedness behind all of this that I'm noticing. Let me illustrate this in a couple of ways.

Way # 1

Yesterday was whacked! Got up. Started the routine. I was actually early. Got to the office. Nobody there. Checked the bulletin. Office closed for Good Friday. (That's a first) Raining like crazy. Routine is not so routine all of a sudden.

Let's get a biscuit. Went to Micky-Ds. Line at Drive-thru all the way to the hospital. Parked. Ran in, in a deluge. Got my biscuit with extra change (Thank you Dave Ramsey). Ran outside to get back to car. Got run over by guy going warp-speed through parking lot with no lights on. Rolled off his hood. Slid off and landed face down in the flood next to my jeep. Still pouring rain. He didn't even slow down. Way outside the routine! (I'm OK, by the way. Tweaked my shoulder a little when I landed, but I'm alright.)

Get home. Deidre is out running errands. Cop a squat on the couch and let the morning catch up to me. Not the morning I expected at all. Later after the rest, kids and D get home. Mac and Park and me take a trip to Wal-Mart. Get home. Eat some supper. STORMS! Call from Dawson Sherriffs office ("Please move to a safe location in your house") Go to basement. Powers out. Routine has left the building.

After storms pass, Go back upstairs. Get kids to bed. No power still, so no "Marley and Me" for me and D. Monopoly by candlelight. Turning into great non-routine date night with D. I win.

So all in all, not the day I expected. Day off I didn't know about. Ran over. Fun with kids. Awesome date night.

Way # 2















Ooohhhhhh. OK Just stretching.













Get it??? I'm gonna think some more about stuff and probably get some more pictures up sometime soon.

Dennis

Elbows in... Elbows in..... Elbows in (I gotta remember that)

That drop to the left is the Class IV drop called Soc 'Em Dog on Chattooga. It's about an eight foot drop off of what's called the launch pad over the foam pile hydraulic at the bottom. I've had some good runs of this drop in the past and last Saturday sitting in the eddy up top I was really looking forward to dropping off this puppy.

The current tries to push you way to the left (way off line) as you approach the edge. So you have to fight to keep your boat right so you can line up to drop. On this particular day I had some decent runs through the Five Falls above (Corkscrew upside down, rolled before the middle hole, it was sweet).

So I'm approaching the launch pad for Soc 'Em Dog and I'm getting pushed left but fighting the current to stay on line. When I finally get to the edge, I have a severe right angle as I go off the drop. I drop eight feet into the foam pile on my left side; left elbow too far up as I'm landing with the current pushing up on the paddle.

Suffice it to say that landing from eight feet with all your weight on your left paddle blade and your elbow and shoulder exposed too far out is not a good thing. The "POP" I heard as my shoulder gave way told the whole story. Upside down at the bottom, I heard it get somewhat quiet so I knew I had washed out of the hole. It was really difficult setting up to roll so I reached over and felt my shoulder in the wrong place. I reached back over and grabbed my paddle with my good arm and immediately felt my left shoulder move again (back into place). Oxygen was getting at a premium by this time, so I tried to set up my roll again and was able to come up finally.

When I made it over to the eddy at the bottom I knew exactly what I had done and now that time was catching back up with me, the pain was finally setting in. I just sat there for a good long while waiting for the rest of my crew to make it off the drop. They all had good runs. We ran the last two rapids (ironically the next rapid is called Shoulderbone). The we had the two mile lake paddle to get to the take-out. It's been a week now and it still really hurts. I think at the beginning of the week a referral to a physical therapist may be a good idea.

What We Say: Part II

Trees, or what we are aiming for, play a huge part in accomplishing what we need to accomplish in Summit. The trees for the steps through our process of discipleship act like a funnel in which we attempt to move students through. There are three steps in our strategy. Here they are with the corresponding trees.

Wednesday Night Community Groups (The top of the funnel) (Gathering)

Students meet in smaller groups called Community Groups on the second and third Wednesdays of every month. These groups discuss the important stuff that is being taught on the worship rally nights that meet the other Wednesday nights of the month. But even those nights are focused towards getting the students in the CGs to hit the tree. Here's the Tree for Summit CG:

Involve students in open and honest discussion about the important stuff and what it means in their lives.

Everything we do on Wednesday night in Summit is focused towards that goal because we feel like that tree is what undergirds "gathering" for students.

Summit Sunday School (The funnel is getting smaller) (Equipping)

Students are challenged in smaller groups on Sunday mornings with the intent of building them into disciples. Students funnel into Sunday School from Wednesday night. To do this, several things need to happen; better communication with CG leadership and SS leadership, the feel of the program being more of a deeper continuation of CG? We're working on that. With that in mind here's the tree for Summit Sunday School:

Insure that students have heard the important stuff loudly, creatively and repeatedly.

Everything we do on Sunday mornings should aim for that goal and that tree!

Summit Student Leader Community (The opening) (Sending)

What is going to be the "community" will probably start meeting once a month beginning in April. These are students that "get" the strategy, show influence and involvement, and want to "Be an Involver" by involving other students in this process of discipleship by pulling them along the funnel. The tree is developing for this community but at this point, it may sound something like this:

Be an involver of other students in the process of spiritual growth.

These students will use this strategy and image of the funnel to be leaders of their friends, those that they know, and others in being disciples.

The Important Stuff (In Process)

Jesus as It! (John 14:1-6, 3:1-17, Colossians 1:15-2:17, Ephesians 2:1-10)

• His life, His divine and human nature
• Surrender
• By grace through faith
• The Church as His bride
• Your identity in Christ

Spritual Disciplines: These are in the toolbox for your relationship with God. (Mark 1:26, Psalms 119, I Timothy 4:19)

• Navigating and Understanding the whole of God's Word
• Mediatating on God's Word
• Memorizing God's Word
• Prayer: Open communication with God
• Silence and listening
• Church and worship
• Accountability and fellowship

Family: Being a Godly son or daughter mirrors being a follower of Christ (Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 6, Proverbs)

• Not dependent on your parent's faith, but yours
• Understanding discipline

Friends: Who you hang with is who you'll become (Psalms 1, Proverbs, I Corinthians 6)

• Friends = Who influences you
• Can encourage or discourage your faith. There is rarely a neutral firend!
• Compromise is a progression that begins with compromised relationships which leads to compromised behaviors and finally culminates in compromised beliefs.

Choices: Be wise with them because they chart your future (Ephesians 5, James 1, I Corinthians 6)

• Wisdom is God's view of any particular situation
• Asking "What's wise?" instead of "What's right or wrong?"
• Purity is a picture of who you belong to
• Temptation

Serving like Christ: Giving yourself away for Christ is Spiritual Maturity (Phillipians 2, I Timothy)

• Love has more to do with conviction and giving than emotion.
• Loving others for Jesus has nothing to do with you
• Leading others to faith in Jesus
• Removing I and focusing your life to loving others

Where to go from here and a couple observations

The important stuff is a work in progress. Please feel free to comment. Look for some upcoming articles devoted to different pieces of the important stuff.

Something to notice is that the content itself (the important stuff) is primary at all levels, but it also funnels in depth and application throughout the process. It's also not an accident that the six important things themselves are a picture of the funnel. We begin with Jesus, move through the primary relationships in our lives, and finally end up serving and giving.

I hope to see ya'll soon!

Dennis

Amazing Message for Dads

Matt Chandler is the Lead Pastor at the Village Church in Texas. Check out this AMAZING content in a message from him. I'm going to try to get some copies of this to give to our dads. Maybe we can dig up something for moms too.

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/20070826BA01S_MattChandler_TheRoleOfMenPt3-MenAsFathers.mp3

Here is the address for other messages from Matt Chandler if you're interested.


http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/sermons

You can also download the above content for dads to your ipod or mp3 from the sermon page. The date of that sermon is 8/26/07

What we say

Just want to jot down a few thoughts and come back to this post as they develop.
Here's the important stuff we need to say LOUDLY, CREATIVELY, AND REPEATEDLY in Summit.

1. IT, Jesus as it
2. FAMILY, How to be a Godly son or daughter
3. HANG, Who you hang with is who you're going to look like
4. CHOICES, Decisions and wisdom in making them
5. GIVE, Serving and giving away to others in the name of Christ is spiritual maturity
6. DISCIPLINES, Developing the relationship with God

In Summit youth, at the end of the journey, these are the things that we want students to walk away with. Please comment, I would love to hear your input.

Dennis