Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to you and yours from mine!

The Lord has blessed us throughout 2012 and we look forward to seeing you in 2013!

May The Lord bless you in the coming year!

Hi, I'm an IMPACTAHOLIC!

Impact.

We all have an impact. Right?

Positive, negative, good or bad.

I wonder sometimes about mine.  As a husband, father, friend, subordinate, supervisor, member, follower and the list goes on and on.

When you think about it, we have like this continuous process of impacting others all day long... 

We are all impactaholics!

Just think about these areas of impact and how we influence others:

• actions we take, 
• things we watch and read,
• posts we make, 
• jokes we share,
• topics of discussion,
• how we rail against (any) politician,
• how we talk about our spouse, kids, employer, pastor, assistants, etc.
• lack of action or inaction..
• the list never ends.. 

So, how's your impact...


Check these links for LECRAE..and REACH RECORDS.

We came. We saw. We conquered!

If I told you I was still tired and recovering from the retreat..would you believe me? Well, I do and I speak the truth!!
It was a full throttle 48 hours and a fun crew of 38 youth at New Life Ranch (7 sponsors too). This picture was right before departure on Saturday morning. Gorgeous day and a great one for the "challenge course".
The challenge course provided access to lots of fun activities. But the best part of the course was watching many of the youth overcome the fear of heights or jumping off a 40 foot pole! Many very literally took a leap of faith.




The picture here is of some of the more seasoned camp attenders who had experienced the Zipline before.. My daughter is in the center of the picture. And yes, they were having fun.




The focus on this trip was to get them working together.. Cohesiveness, community, connection and other cool words like that.. We live in a tough enough world as it is - we need others to help encourage us and spur us to achieving things.
As a Christian (and youth) it's even more important to have that group (or community) to back you up and hold you accountable too. If left to ourselves...we stumble and fall or maybe just make poor decisions. It's cool to celebrate successes too. So, we focused on connecting to each other.
New Life Ranch is an awesome place.. Many lives have been changed, enhanced and even saved in this great valley. (We stayed in the WestWoods Cabins right on river.)








•from an undisclosed location..

Youth Retreat NLR2012

Heading to Colcord, OK to visit New Life Ranch..Oh..and taking 38 of my friends! (7 sponsors too)

There's been lots of rain in NE Oklahoma so we shall see if the creek did rise. Interestingly, our cabins are right on the creek..

We will experience many things including: THE SCREAMER, PAMPER POLE, ZIP LINES and even something new for our group.. "HUNT, COOK & EAT".. If its not too wet we will enjoy the old school bus hay ride (they've cut the back top off of the bus).. They'll gun it and we hang on as we ride the rough pasture!!

Certainly each of us will have some Jesus time and awesome worship together. Mostly, i am excited to see how the Lord will stretch us..

Pray for us..

Wish you could've joined us.. je

The Uncomfortable Stretch

Last week I visited with a friend who recently returned from Kota, India.

He's been there many times over many years and impacted 1000's of orphaned and homeless children since the late 1970's. The picture is of him sharing with over 500 young people. (I'll interview him soon.)

We talked about how being out of our comfort zone is always a growth experience..for me, him and likely them. And in many cases we just don't see how it could possibly work out in a positive way..

Seems to both of us that this is how the Lord works. Stretching and moving us out of our comfort zone..to an uncomfortable place where reliance on Christ is all we really have to get us through.. At least that's how we see it.

I enjoy being uncomfortable (most of the time).. because I know who is in control.. But it can prove to be tense, unnerving and there are unknowns..

But growth is refreshing and empowering.. At least it is for me.

Here's to being uncomfortable.

"We never chose to make ourselves less."(Kyle Idleman).. but God provides opportunities for us to serve and rely on Him..

- from an undisclosed location

Tis the Season.. to be worn out!

Now it's full throttle into the Christmas season and the multiple  levels of fun that come along with it.  Family, friends, busy-ness, lights,  traffic, cooking and the added stress of gift buying and crowd  surfing.

Most of us go through the season and end up feeling like we've run wind-sprints.
Haven't you awaken in mid-January saying, "BOY, I LOVE CHRISTMAS BUT I AM GLAD ITS OVER - I WAS SO WORN OUT.."

Just take a minute and take a breath.. Go see the lights.. Go grab an ice cream with your family or coffee with a friend.  We always enjoy watching White Christmas or Elf and really just hang out together AS A FAMILY.

Come visit the lights in El Reno's Legion Park.. (below)



Whatever you do..life is way too short to get to January 15, 2012 and be thankful Christmas is over.  I love reflecting on Luke 2 and the birth of Jesus.  And in a world that won't admit it.. He is the reason we celebrate this special season.

Blessings and Merry Christmas to you!

Excellent? NOT..

It drives me crazy about me.
Not sure if it's the same for you.


The more I strive to be excellent at something (anything)..the more I see the reality of my non-excellence's in my life.  Maddening..





Maybe that's the point.  The point of me giving up (yielding).

Giving up on the 'relying on' of me. Instead, I need to give it up for the Lord to carry.  You know.."Jesus take the wheel.."


-from an undisclosed location

He did what?

Not that I am one of those bankers that likes to wrangle with regulators.. but good grief guys.. ordering a bank to remove all things Christmas from that little bank in Perkins, OK!  Over the top for a bank regulator..

I had heard about the "issue" at this bank on Thursday morning.  Here is a link to the article. When I heard that a bank regulator had issued a decree during an official bank exam to "remove Christian verses and Christmas symbols" from the bank website and the bank proper... I ABOUT PASSED OUT!  Rest assured though, we will see more of this type issue down the road.

There is no doubt in my mind that the one thing we need MORE of is everything biblical in business.  (ooh.. did I just say that?)

In my simple little mind here's why ... when people tell me their personal stories of poor decisions with money, marriages, debt, children, not paying the IRS, cheating their employers, lying on a loan application, etc...  The singular thing they'd like more than anything else is PEACE.  And I know where mine comes from..

I have no agenda, no salvation quota, no get rich quick plan.... I just know that the financial peace we've experienced, the harmony in our family, finances and employers comes from a singular source - JESUS.

So even if you take my manger scene and verse off my computer and the Bible from my desk..  You can't get to the source of my peace!

YIKES!..I belong to a CULT?

I guess I AM in a cult?

Someone told me the other day about another making a comment that people attending our church were part of a “cult”. I have heard silly statements like that a few times over the years and it is time to set the record straight..

As it turns out..I guess they are right..I AM in a cult.. and love it!

Here are some interesting things about my CULT:

1) We are considered “different” because we base our belief system on the Leader of the cult. There are lots of similar types of cults in our town too!!
2) We believe (totally) that everything the Leader said was truth and is without error.
3) We are willing to be accountable for our actions, statements and behaviors. (not fun)
4) We follow a wild character named Jesus Christ who we actually believe is the Son of God…and that He died on a cross for me. (He is the Leader!)
5) We communicate the message of love, peace, honor, truth, integrity, mercy, grace and accountability. Yet, we still fall short in all of the areas..
6) We are radical enough to call sinful behavior what it is.. SIN. (It is what it is..)
7) We don’t care where you come from, what messes you’ve made – we want you to be part of the Cult and get real with your past and come clean with our cult Leader. He is, after all, the key to freedom. (a radical thought.)
8) We believe you can be part of the family by making a personal decision to believe and agree with our leader.. whom you really can’t see or touch. (and this is risky!)
9) We believe that to be the greatest (or first) you gotta be the leastest (or last)..
10) Our cult handbook is called the HOLY BIBLE and it is considered radical by many….

My CULT rocks and I love the members within it. We aren’t perfect – don’t even come close ... just try to live with integrity, honesty and working NOT to put our feet in our mouths (a personal issue I struggle with)..

A cult like ours is mixed bag of tricks… because it is full of people like me.. and that could be very scary!

But here is the most intriguing thing.. I know what I believe.. What about you?

It’s a free country..

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