Sure it was a bit awkward.  A blind date of sorts. He and I had never met.

But yesterday I found myself headed to his office to pick him up and take him to lunch.  “He” was one of the leading authorities on Church Assimilation.  Roy Mansfield runs the international operations center for Nelson Searcy and Church Leader Insights which is headquartered here in Tampa.

After reading and downloading as much info from their organization as I could, I knew it was time to share nachos at Mariposa (my favorite Pacific Mexican EVER) with “the man”.  And he was gracious enough to allow me some time to learn from one who has gone before me.

That is the secret.

God puts in your path and mine people who have walked the road that we are on…made the mistakes…and had some success.

Early in my career I purposed to seek out the most successful people in my focus and spend time with them.  The lessons learned propelled me.  And I continue this practice every chance I get.

If there is one living legend that I could share a cup of coffee with, it would be the greatest college basketball coach of all time - John Wooden.  His UCLA teams won 10 National Championships.  He is a spry 97 years old today and continues to motivate and inspire.  Coach Wooden’s leadership principles transcend the sport itself.  I am reading his book - Wooden on Leadership now.  Check out his top ten life principles:

1 - Listen - Become a better listener than speaker.

2 - Care - Make sure those under your supervision feel that you care for them - personally and professionally.

3 - Recognize - Everybody likes a pat on the back.

4- Prepare - Do not put things off.

5 - Be Industrious - Nothing can be accomplished without hard work.

6 - Have Enthusiasm - If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, you will not inspire others to do their best.

7 - Be Patient - Good things take time.

8 - Have Confidence - You must believe in yourself.

9 - Don’t Fear Failure - Have initiative, but don’t fear failure.

10 - Win Respect - You can not win respect if you are not honest and dependable.

This model of success is called discipleship.  I challenge you to always having in your life: one that has gone before you, and one that is coming up after you.  Doesn’t matter your age or level of success.

Receive and pour….

The four of us guys piled into my Jeep at about 3:30pm yesterday.

The Tampa Bay Rays were playing their hated rivals the Boston Red Sox, and we scored 4 lower level tickets.  An evening at The Trop - 3 of my good friends - and first place at stake (not just of the American League East mind you, of all of baseball).  Could this be true?  The very team that has finished in last place for the past 10 years?  The laughing stock of MLB and even the late night talk shows?  Somebody wake me…

This Bay Area has Ray’s Fever, and so do the 4 grown men psyched up for a kids game, leaving work early,and wearing our favorite player jersey (Evan Almighty Longoria).

Well 3 of us were decked in Ray’s gear - Jerry is STILL a die hard Yankee fan.  We tried to tell him the NY stood for Next Year, but he stood true to his team.

With 3.5 hours till first pitch, we had time for some wings and then batting practice.  There is just something about this game of baseball that awakens the little boy in every man.

On our ride over the bridge from Tampa to St. Pete, I dialed in the local sports talk radio.  Every caller was buzzing about the Rays - this only served to flaming our excitement.  And then the host “Big Dog” welcomed John to the air waves.  After the typical “I love your show, I love the Rays” comment, John said “with the Rays winning, my life now has meaning.  My life now has purpose. I can breath again.”  We laughed and whoo-hoo’d like typical men, in agreement with John…and then an awkward silence…ouch.  We all knew the issue. All of our toes were precariously close to the same edge of the cliff that John had just fallen from.

Oh sure, everyone needs an outlet in their life. Mine is sports - a place to relax and unwind.  A place to act like a kid again.  But our outlet must never be the air that we breath - the purpose of our very existence.  John cause each one of us, to a man, to do a quick readjustment.

I whispered “I love you Jesus.”

Well the good guys won! The Sox fans left dejected. Last night, one a winner and one a loser.  But with Christ, the outcome is never in doubt.

Waiting till Next Year never has to happen.

Thank you David Giddens…

If I called the shots - this is all I would do for the weekend service.  No need to sing or preach.

This is Worship in it’s purist form.

Lives would be forever changed…

She pushed her way through the entering crowd.

I knew by the look in her eyes that something was up.  Leaving her Guest Services booth to find me usually means we have a crisis and she needs an answer - NOW.  And she knows how much I love the rush.

“We have a young couple that wants to be baptized TODAY.  They are leaving the country tomorrow and they both have asked to be baptized now.” The dumb-founded look on my face made her smile - she takes too much joy in doing this to me.

Being a first born - I check my morning Order of Service…nope…no baptism… not there.  In my head I quickly run though what it takes to pull something like this off.  Again, I think “We are waaaay too busy with church this morning to accommodate a request like that.”  Praise God that thought originated and terminated in my head alone.

Our church has a beautiful outdoor baptism pool.  That’s a blessings and a curse - outdoor uncovered water in Florida needs prep and daily attention - neither of which occurred up to this moment of the morning.

But with a few cell calls to the team - the water was ready, one of our pastors changed quickly into one of our black on black, one size fits all, shorts and shirt set, and the the three of them were in the water.

As I stood on the side, holding the towels, I was lovingly corrected by the Holy Spirit.  My propensity for “the schedule” nearly derailed a God moment.  Why are we so married to routine that we sometimes miss the sweet tender movements of our Creator?

Got a busy day today?  God is going to do something big today - I hope you have time to be a part of it.

Seems you should win something for stumbling upon this little site as lucky number 50,000.  Perhaps you got here by “accident”, only God knows.

But thank you from way over here in rainy Florida to:

South Africa

Johannesburg, Gauteng

Thanks Shayne…

Good morning Roy,

I came across a passage this morning that the Lord put on my heart to share.  I know you’ve been discussing prayer…here are some thoughts by R.C. Sproul:

“The Lord God of the universe, the Creator and Sustainer of all things,…not only commands us to pray, but also invites us to make our requests known.  Jesus says that we have not because  we ask not.  James tells us that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.  Time and again the Bible says that prayer is an effective tool.  It is useful; it works…
Prayer, like everything else in the Christian life, is for God’s glory and for our benefit, in that order.  Everything that God does, everything that God allows and ordains, is in the supreme sense for His glory.  It is also true that while God seeks His own glory supremely, man benefits when God is glorified.  We pray to glorify God, but also to receive the benefits of prayer from His hand….
One of the great themes of the Reformation was the idea that all of our life is to be lived under the authority of God, to the glory of God, in the presence of God…Prayer is discourse with the personal God Himself.  There, in the act and dynamic of praying, I bring my whole life under His gaze.  Yes, He knows what is in my mind, but I still have the privilege of articulating to Him what is there.  He says, “Come.  Speak to Me.  Make your requests known to Me.”  And so, we come in order to know Him and to be known by Him.”

Admittedly, I’m not sure I’m much closer to any certainty in my quest.  But here is what I do know:

• - We serve a big God - bigger than we can comprehend.
• - Our God loves you and me with a love unlike our feeble attempts to love in return.
• - Perhaps I will never know the mysteries of this thing called prayer.  And I must get to a place where that is ok.
• - Just as many of you have written me to tell me that you believe with all of your heart that your prayer can change God, as those of you who say He wouldn’t be God if our prayers could change Him.
• - With all of my heart I am going to pray in a way that sincerely believes that my fervent “ask” could change Him.  And at the same time attempt to live in the possibility that they can’t.

The things of God - wrestle, struggle, question, press in, ask, listen, pray, discern, accept, live, and and then love with all I ‘got’.

from my dad…

Well, you have done it! You gave me the book CRAZY LOVE (by Francis Chan) and told me it would challenge me … and it is. I started reading it this morning and immediately thought about my life and the many questions I have had and have presented to my family, friends, and fellow Christians. I can still picture to this day the conversation with my mother and favorite aunt about - “what is the purpose of man and why are we put on this earth” - at the time I was only 15 and I was already questioning some of God’s reasoning and purposes.
Then I began thinking of the hundreds of other questions and discussions that I have had, and the many episodes of trying to “understand” God and to put Him in this neat little package so that my some what limited (yet intelligent) mind could understand Him and His actions and methods of operating. Is there a Christian anywhere that has not asked the question - “why did God allow this …or why did God do this … or why didn’t God do this”?
As I was reading through the book this morning, I came to page 29 where he writes “God exists outside of time, and since we are within time, there is no way we will ever totally grasp that concept. Not being above to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending. What a stunted, insignificant god that would be! If my mind is the size of a soda can and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be stupid for me to say He is only the small amount of water I can scoop into my little can. God is so much bigger, so far beyond our time-encased, air/food/sleep-dependent lives.
And with that I might well have my answer to the question - “does prayer change God’s mind? In even asking that question (which I have done so personally for years) are we not trying to limit God’s way of thinking ,or reasoning, or acting to that of a mere human? Are we not trying to “box God in” and limit Him to being what we as humans understand? Can we even begin to think that we have enough mental capacity to understand and comprehend a force as mighty as our GOD? He exist in a manner in which the frail human mind will never be able to conceive or to even imagine. Do you think that man would ever understand or could comprehend questions such as … What is God’s mind? How does God reason? Does He have a brain like humans? If so are the receptors limited like humans? Just as the early believers felt that they would die if they looked upon God, do you think that man could survive an encounter with God where he saw and understood God?
So … “does prayer change God’s mind”? Since you must first assume, with this type of a question, that God’s mind is some what similar to what we think of as a mind, the question immediately become moot. There is no further question after that! With all of the books written, and all of the questions asked, and all of the conversations that have taken place over the hundred of years - no one really knows the answer to this question, since no one has any concept of what God’s mind is. But is that the important answer to the question?
Two great quotes kind of says it all about prayer (there are actually hundreds more) - “To pray is to let Jesus into our lives … (Ole Halleshy 1879 -1961) and “Prayer is men cooperating with God in bringing from Heaven to Earth His wondrous good plans for us” (Catherine Marshall 1914 - 1983).
Yes, prayer is important … and while we will never know, while upon this earth, all of the wonderful benefits of it, we should all continue to pray what is on our heart. Whether it changes God’s mind or not, it will certainly change our heart, and if we include in all of our prayers for the grace to accept His answer, regardless of the out come, we will be closer to Him and have a peace that can only come from our God.
Thank you for your question … as you can see, it has brought me a little closer to my Savior.

The shadows of Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma still lurk large for many of us.

If you live in one of the gulf coastal states of the USA, June 1 is a big day each year. It’s the beginning of Hurricane season. By  June, sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are usually 80 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s one thing that hurricane forecasters watch for because sea surface temperatures of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer are needed to power tropical depressions into tropical storms and grow them into hurricanes.

We Floridians have grown accustomed to living with one eye on the summer surf and sand, and the other on The Weather Channel.  It’s our tropical way of life.

But why am I more concerned with a possible Category 5 Hurricane than I am with my neighbor who doesn’t know Christ.  Why am I more worried about temporal property damage than I am eternal damnation?

Word association works for me.

Somewhere someone placed into my brain a trigger to think lost souls when I hear or read the word Hurricane.  It is my reminder.  I forget.  I’m too busy.  My train ticket to Heaven is punched.  To hell with those not on board - I don’t have time to worry about them, I gotta stock up on my supplies. After all, it’s Hurricane season!

That is my flesh. And I hate my flesh.

But the Holy Spirit has quickened my soul with a burden for the lost - Praise God.  You and I live in the constant shadow of uncertainty and even danger - could be weather related, health, provisions, crime, uncertain future, etc.  But the very moment that we elevate that temporal fear above the eternal destination of those God intentionally places in our daily path…wow.  I am certain nothing breaks the heart of God more than that. What we are telling our Creator is that we don’t trust Him to provide and protect.  So instead of spreading His love, we stand in long lines at Home Depot - procuring enough supplies so that we can weather the storms.

So, maybe when you too hear the word Hurricane….

From recommended books to blogs, websites to even Nooma videos, I now have in my possession more “does prayer change God” resources than I can possibly sift through while trying to maintain my daily discipline of writing.

Thank you friends for your help.

As my dad wrote to me, “Any discussion that causes you to think about God is worthwhile.”  I hope that you too are pressing into your Creator - wanting to connect with Him in a new and fresh way today.

While I continue to read and read and read, I did come across something that provoked a thought. While on the surface it seems a bit disjointed from the prayer discussion… maybe it’s not:

From Monday Morning Insight

Recentley the Cramer-Krasselt ad agency compiled a “2008 Cultural Dictionary,” featuring new words and phrases gathered from magazines, Web sites, blogs, and conversations. Here are a few samples from their list:

Bershon — the angry/bored/too-cool-to-care look that 12- to 18-year-olds sport in every family photo. (I have a 12-, 14-, and 16-year-old, so I know this look all too well!)

Compunicate — chatting via Instant Messenger with a co-worker who’s in the same room, instead of speaking to him or her in person.

Meatspace — real life or the physical world, conceived as the opposite of cyberspace or virtual reality.

But here’s my favorite. I really want to work this one into my daily vocabulary:

Passion Bucket — a metaphor for a job or endeavor that can fulfill one’s sense of mission and ambition.

Hmmm.  What is your passion bucket?  Could it be that whatever it is, THIS is your God given mission for your faith journey?  This is your purpose.  This is your destiny.

OK, back to this prayer thing….

Day 3 of 22…

“Sometimes I wonder if the words I use are the least important part of prayer.”

“The well known Pastor Haddon Robinson begins almost every sermon with the same brief confession: “God if these people knew about me what you know about me, they wouldn’t listen to a word I said.”

“Jesus warned His disciples not to pray like hypocrites, who loved to preform in public; instead they should go into a closet and pray to the Father, who alone sees what is done in secret.  His instructions have puzzled some commentators, who note that the one-room houses of Jesus’ day, probably including His own, had no closets.  Jesus must have been using a figure of speech, suggesting that we construct an imaginary room, a sanctuary of the soul, that fosters complete honesty before God.”

“Henri Nouwen once said “To pray is to walk in the full light of God, and to say simply, without holding back, I am human and you are God. At that moment, conversion occurs, the restoration of the true relationship. A human being is not someone who once in a while makes a mistake, and God is not someone who now and then forgives. No, human beings are sinners and God is love.”

“Prayer allows a place for me to bring my doubts and complaints - in sum, my ignorance - and subject them to the blinding light of a reality I cannot comprehend but can haltingly learn to trust.”

“My image of God determines my degree of honesty in prayer.  Do I trust God with my naked self? Foolishly I hide myself in fear that God will be displeased, though in fact the hiding may be what displeases God most. From my side, the wall seems like self-protection; from God’s side it looks like lack of trust. In either case the will will keep us apart until I acknowledge my need and God’s surpassing desire to meet it.  When I finally approach God, in fear and trembling, I find not a tyrant, but a lover.”

My friend Jeff wrote me asking for answers, and fast!  I’m with you bro.  If I could read the last chapter first, I would (I think).  But the answers to this mystery called prayer are unveiled with precise intention during each leg of our journey.  I cannot and must not miss the answer He has mercifully revealed to me today, right now, just because my eye is on the Summit and not the path ever before me.