I like movement. I don’t like sitting around, just passively surviving. I want to help people, solve problems, follow Christ, and share Him with the world. All of these things require action on my part. When I hear about a person in need, sitting still means not helping, where as movement leads to help. When I’m convicted about sin in my life, sitting still leads to a hardened heart, but movement leads me to Christ.

As we pulled into the parking lot, I was more excited than she was because she didn’t yet know what we were going to get. I felt like I was the one getting a gift as we headed back to the bike area. Standing in front of a bike rack stocked fully to the ceiling with various sizes and colors of two wheeled vehicles, I asked Macie if there was anything that she would like as a special treat. Here’s what she said: “I would really love something to chunk on,” which is her way of asking for candy. Candy?

We were thinking about running a promotional campaign similar to the one Willy Wonka did, but instead of inserting Golden Tickets, our printer decided to insert the July 12 lesson twice. While this was a thoughtful gesture on their part, a problem was created when they decided to leave out portions of the June 28 lesson. So, if you are one of the lucky ones to have received a “golden” book, then your prize is this wonderful free pdf replacement lesson. Seriously though, I do apologize for the inconvenience and if you have any other thoughts or problems, feel free to email me or post your thoughts on my blog. Enjoy your free download!

In order to justify the long hours I spent watching the U.S. Open this weekend, and Monday morning, I want to share a few things I learned. Please note this is not a theology paper but more of a story.

Do you know that you know that you know? Do you remember the day and the time you got saved? If you died tonight, do you know where you would go? Are you 100% sure?

What do all of these questions have in common? They used to scare me to death and they have been used at the end of youth services and camps to manipulate students into “making decisions” for years it seems. Growing up in the church, there was so much importance on this thing that happened at one point in time and if you couldn’t remember the details of that moment when you accepted Jesus—what the preacher was wearing, what the weather was like, what time it was—then maybe it wasn’t genuine. So flocks of youth would race down the aisle of salvation again and again, pray another prayer, and go forward every chance they got.

One of the buzz words finding its way through many Christian circles right now is “community.” Buzz words come and go like fads, disappearing as soon as other ones catch on. But community, in relation to our faith, is nothing new. It’s been around for quite a while. In fact, community is supposed to be a huge part of our faith journey. We all know we’re supposed to walk with other believers and help each other through life’s stuff. Hanging out with other believers is easy. The church is really good at this as well.

Usually I do all the talking on this blog, but this week I am going to do the listening. Now I know you are out there, and I know many of you read this blog. If you just read that sentence you have been recorded as a viewer f this blog so now you have to move from viewer to active participant. Here is the question for this week:

What does a life of encouragement look like?

It’s hard for us not to get so focused on our little piece of the puzzle that we miss out on the greater story of what God is doing through us and around us. We get too caught up in our circumstances to see how He is blessing us and giving us opportunities to bring Him glory. Today this kid’s message has caused me to see things differently, and my prayer is that the change will last.

Have you ever known a whiner? Whiners are known for their grumbling, which you can usually hear from a mile away. They come in every age and from all walks of life. What’s so irritating about them is that they focus only on the things that aren’t fair, the things they don’t have, or the things they wish they didn’t have to deal with. They completely ignore all the good things in their lives: “I got this brand new, sparkly, fully-loaded, sporty SUV, but I absolutely cannot stand the color of the seats.” Know anyone like that?

Would you rather be an important person or do important work? This is the question I was faced with this week. If I remember correctly, it came from Mark Batterson and I spent some time really thinking through it. Initially, I reasoned that they go together—it’s hard to do one without doing the other. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that is not the case. This world is full of people doing important work who will never be celebrated publicly. On the flip side, the world is also full of important people who do almost nothing of real importance. I had to wrestle with my answer to the question for a bit. What about you?