Wanted

Three to twenty six…as I sat and listened to the seniors honor their parents and peers; I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. Even I didn’t believe this was possible and I had dreamed big. Just two years ago…there was only three of them.
How did it happen? What was the formula? How can we do it again? As I began to think about all those questions, one thing stood out. There was not one senior that graduated that we didn’t have story with. There was not one senior that had not experienced a life long memory. All of them had close relationships with their life group leaders and me.
As I went to sleep I had an overwhelming sense of contentment. We did it the right way. We had not used these kids to boost numbers. We did not manipulate them into coming. We did not simply entertain them for a year. We had invested in their lives and they began investing in their friends. That was the plan and it worked.
The truth is students are smart. They know when they are being used and when you really care. At the end of the night…one comment stood out and forever changed my view of student ministry. She said when she started coming to Rock Creek, she felt wanted… not needed.
And so it all begins again. There are thousands of students in Little Rock who need to feel wanted not just needed. As I fell asleep, I found the answers to my questions. The formula is simple but costly! We must continue to take Jesus as he is to students as they are! We will love them. We will serve them. We will invest in them. That is what we do…it is why we breathe.

Seniors

The past few weeks, I have spent a ton of time getting ready for all of our senior activities. We make a big deal out of our seniors’ graduation. We will make a video honoring them and showing highlights from the year, recognize them on a Sunday Morning at Rock Creek, have a seniors dinner for family and seniors, and then I am taking them to St. Louis for three days.

I demand these events to be the best and everyone who works for me hates this time of year because I can be very demanding. I want to come up with creative ways to show them how much I care and give parents opportunities to make incredible memories. I want them to walk away seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, and experiencing how much they mean to me.

As I started thinking back to the past year and what these seniors have done...I was blown away. They doubled the size of every trip we took this year, gave $1500 to buy Kenyan orphans new shoes and backpacks, gave $500 for Peru students to get new computers, pulled off a dinner theater in front of 1,000 people, built relationships with the residents at the Union Rescue Mission, saw over 25 of their peers baptized, and are getting teams together to participate in Relay for Life.

When they were juniors, they were not looking forward to this year...mostly because there were only 4 of them who were involved. When we have our seniors’ dinner, there will be 25 seniors to honor. The reason is simple.... investment. Those 4 took a challenge to live a senior year that was not about them. One by one, a new senior would come along and begin to do the same. I watched as each new relationship was formed and then another and then another. To watch them live the vision of the student ministry has been on of the most rewarding years of student ministry I have ever had.

As many student ministries grow, it becomes hard to continue to have close relationships with students. Some student pastors and student staffs just give up and put all their energy into a once a week event. I fight very hard for our ministry to stay away from that path. It is very hard work...but then again...making disciples always has been.

I am going to miss this group very much. I am going to miss their leadership and friendship. I am excited to see what God is going to do...because God has big plans for these seniors. I have never seen a so many leaders in one class with so many gifts. My prayer is that they would live a life that only God can get credit for. I pray that they will throw up on the idea of the American dream, and consume the life that Jesus has called them to. If that happens...the world will change because of these seniors! I can't wait to watch...what a story...God is good!

Leadership Part 2

Mark Evans, my pastor, surrounds himself with incredible people. Whenever he has a big decision to make, he always has a certain number of people that he leans on for advice and to be sounding boards. Now, make no mistake, he makes the final call and everyone knows that, but he always seems to listen as he is making tough decisions. I believe that is big time leadership and incredible security. You see a leader who wants all the credit for everything or is worried about looking inadequate can never take the risk of asking for others help. The leader who is worried about those things is more concerned with himself than he is with what he is leading.
Next time you are in charge and calling the shots, surround yourself with people you trust and can lean on for wisdom. Remember, Leadership is not about making the decisions on your own, it is about owning the decision once it is made.

Leadership Part 1

Leaders are always caught between “the way things are” and “the way things should be.” I have never met a leader who was completely satisfied with the way things are. There is always something that can change, something that can be done better, or something that can improve.
I recently sat with one of my friends in my office. He was heartbroken and stuck between “the way things are” and “the way things should be.” Many times, such as this case, when we have no one to share our passions with, we become frustrated. I sat and listened as months of frustration flowed. It was great. It seemed as though with every word, he was getting “lighter.” I watched, as every sentence he delivered appeared to lift burdens off of him. He is passionate, has vision, and has amazing leadership skills, but he was just frustrated…stuck between the way things are and the way thing should be. When he left my office he seemed much more at peace. All he needed was someone to say, “yes, you are not alone, I hear you, and I believe in you.” He needed someone to help him re-ignite his passion, vision, and help him chase some big dreams that God has laid out in front of him.
I walked away from our talk having learned something about leadership. I believe one of the jobs of great leaders in the church is to help other leaders identify, clarify, and run down big dreams that God has laid out before them. Big dreams that only God can take the credit for! Those are the kind of people I want to be around! I want to work with people who believe God is up to something big and he wants us to be right in the middle of it. It is our responsibility, as leaders, to find and hire people who have dreams that match the vision that God has laid out for our ministries and churches. Make no mistake…there is nothing more glorifying to God than someone who is using every gift and talent to glorify Him…it is our job to help people get there!

Stuff

The Story
Every teenager dreams of the moment they will walk out the front door and see a new car. Well, when you are from Arkansas…it is a new truck you wait on. I don’t know how he paid for it or anything for that matter, but he always came through when it counted.
Just as sweet as the moment is when you sit in your first car, equally as sour is the moment you wait in the road after your first wreck.
The story is simple. I was traveling home with the windows down and enjoying the idea in my head that every person that passed wanted my truck and if they happened to be female, they sure did think that I looked good in my truck. I was moving towards the light and in the left turn lane. The car in front of me put on their blinker at the same time that I did. However, very quickly, they stopped to turn into the Wendy’s parking lot. I plowed straight into the back of the car.
I got out, making sure that everyone was fine, and they assured me that they were. I waited for the police to come as the man that I had hit began to give me looks that did not equal the grace given to the waitress a couple of chapters earlier. I stood there, we finished, and I went home.
I was very upset. There was minimal damage to my treasure, but I was not sure what the response was going to be when I entered the house. I will never forget what happened next.
As I walked in the house crying and waiting for the verbal lashing, Dad looked me straight in the eyes and said, “It is just a piece of metal son…I am glad that you are ok…we can fix trucks.” Oh the mercy. I deserved a verbal beating or at least I thought I needed one. Although is was an accident, I had been a bit careless. Nevertheless, it was mercy and a teaching moment for Dad.
To make matter worse, the lady in the back seat began experiencing “back pain.” The price they would sue a 16-year-old boy for would be the damages physical and emotional plus all my future earnings. That’s right, all my future earnings. Remember, this is just a few weeks into my new found freedom.
I was in the hallway when he called the family to inform of the situation. I told him that the ambulance had not been called to the scene and the woman walked away. She also reported to the police officer that she was fine. I felt awefull.
I had to answer a few sporadic questions here and there, but Dad did not hang the accident over my head while he was going through the legal stuff.
It was the complete opposite of what i was expecting. I thought the world was going to come to and end. He very quickly put into perspective that we were talking about a piece of metal. Yes I had made a mistake but the lesson was more important than the truck.

The Lesson
Now don’t get me wrong, we were very strict on the way we took care of our trucks. If we missed an oil change or negelected to wash it, Dad was the first to be all over us. This story is not about irresponsibility and how with stuff that is ok. There probably couldn’t be anything futher from the truth than the previous statement.
The point is, people are more important than our posessions. For some parents I have seen that is not the case at all. Growing up, the message I learned was, “yes we must take care of our things and be thankful that we have them, but they are not and never will be the most important things in our life.”
I had a life group leader that worked for me a couple of years ago. She has a very bad accident. She called me to come help because the wreck was around the corner from the church. When I got there, she asked to borrow my phone. She called her dad in tears. She begain to cry even more when he never asked if she was ok. He thought is would be a good time to lecture her about how she always drove to fast and was irresponsible. Those two things may have been true, but the timing was horrific. When she hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, “He has always cared more about this car than me.”

The Word.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 5:21

The Application
You can say that your son or daughter are the most important thing the world. You can say it to them until you are blue in the face. However, what you communicate with your actions is what they really hear. What do you spend you time working on? What do you spend your time thinking about? What is your most prized posession? Does you son or daughter know they are more important than the answer that filled in those blanks?
Good news, if you have teenagers, you don’t have to wait long for them to mess something up! We all know that most of them are bulls in china cabinets. My advice...see the whole picture. Maybe it is time to teach your child that they are more important than any posession you own.

Marriage

The Story
I have been trying for over a year to think of one story that stand out for this chapter. There are too many stories so I will have to melt them together.
If he said it once...he said it a million times, “I can always have more sons….I only have one wife!” I am trying to remember a time when I was ever confused about the most important member of the Curry house, but I can’t! I think from day one, it was pounded in our heads that she was number one. Yes, he said it all the time. Yes, he said it to her when he thought we weren’t listening. Yes, he said it when he knew that we were listening just in case it was misunderstood, which it never was!
I think the reason it is hard to pick out a story is because he said it every day with his life! Most men have sarcastic things to say about their wives and make time for their buddies while putting their marriage on the back burner. Not my dad!
He spent time with her, bought her gifts, did projects for her, told her how beautiful and wonderful she was, and hugged her when he got off the planes. Never fake or forced, but just to let her know he missed her. Before anyone knew what “love languages” were, he spoke them all!
I was always amazed by how much time they spent together. I mean, none of my other friend’s parents spent that much time together. He never forgot an anniversary or a birthday and there was always a getaway for them.
Most men fail to love their wives the way that God intended because they have never seen it modeled. There was never any question in my mind the level of commitment that I was making to Courtney. I mean, how else was one supposed to love. From about the age of as long as my memory can go back to about 13, I can’t remember him ever buying anything big for himself. All the gifts were about mom or us. What a contradiction to the culture that we live in.
I don’t think that he will ever quit teaching this lesson. I will never forget this past Christmas as my wife and I watched the two fifty-year-olds jump around like kids when mom found out she was going back to Maui. Her face lit up! Her smile filled the room…especially when she opened her endless tanning package. He had thought of it all, but that was nothing new!
I never remember them getting in a fight., in front of us. I never remember them yelling at night. I never remember a harsh word to her. If he had never spoken at a camp, never led a church, never started a ministry in Kenya, never had sons, never done anything but love my mom the way he did, that would have put him in my Hall of Fame!

The Lesson
How else is your child supposed to learn what marriage looks like? How about a television marriage? Is that where they are getting their model? I am afraid that our generation will continue to follow the example laid out by their parents generation. You children imitate what they see. Do you want your children to give gifts...let the see you give. Do you want your children to show affection...let them see you show it. Do you want your children to learn how to handle confrontation and conflict...let them see how you handle it. I grew up saying what most teenager never say...I hope my marriage is just like my parents. It is very simple. You must get to the point where you realize that your parenting, marriage, and your life is not about you...it is about dying to yourself so that God can be glorified through every aspect of you life.

The Word
Colossians 3:18-19
Wives, understand and support you husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master. Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.

The Application
Love your wife. Let your sons and daughters see you love your wife. I suggest picking up the book, “The Five Love Languages.” It will help you understand how to love your wife.
I have two daughters. I can spend my entire life teaching them what kind of man they should marry. When they are teenagers, I could say it until I am blue in the face and it will have little impact on them. However, if I begin to show them by being the kind of man they should marry, it will be burned in their hearts and minds. That is the application. Your children feel loved when you love your spouse and they learn how to love when you love your spouse. If you want to have a dramatic impact on your son or daughters’ marriage then have begin with your own!

Deposit

The Story
When we reached the deer stand, Dad once again gave the full debriefing: “Here is what we are looking for, this is where the deer are going to come from, this is the time of day it is going to happen, here is where you shoot the deer, are you listening to me, this is how long you stay in your stand after you shoot, you do not fall asleep or you will die, and if you need some help come and find me.” To a teenage boy, all I heard was we were on a mission to kill!
The truck pulled away and it began. Then it happened! The stars lined up and the one referred to as “The Big Boy” walked out! The checklist began to ring in my mind. I took a deep breath, aimed for the shoulder, made sure he was really that big, let him get broadside, held my breathe…, and squeezed! With the squeeze of a trigger, a “mortal man” became heroic! The beast fell at the hands of the great hunter!
Dad, quickly pulled up on the four wheeler. Like a kid on Christmas morning opening presents with wide eyes, he looked up and whispered, “Did you get him?” I replied, “I think so, and Dad, he is huge!”
This is where it got fun! Deep inside, Dad was and is always hoping that I can take him to the smallest speck of blood, look at him and say, “He ran that way and I am not sure if we will ever find him!” You see, he was born with this tracking gift. He becomes one with the deer. One time, I saw him put his fingers on his head, make horns, and paw at the ground to begin thinking like a deer. Ok, he didn’t do that…but it’s close.
While I was searching a hundred yards away standing on the main blood trail, he exclaimed, “Here he is!” He was more excited than if he would have killed it himself. We hugged, we high-fived, we laughed, broke out the disposable camera, it was great.
But there is a the part of this story that Dad probably never knew meant so much to me. I love to kill deer, but the deer hair can take me down! Trust me, we learned the hard way. I am highly allergic to the hair. I can’t skin the deer. I will swell up like a blowfish and if I am not careful and it can send me to the hospital. In Redneck Land, skinning your own deer is a passage of a boy to man-hood. There were times when I felt like I wasn’t going to be a good father or a good man because, I will not be able to show my children or grandchildren how to skin a deer. Sounds silly I know, but not to a fourteen year old boy!
As many times as Dad could have complained, he didn’t. He never took a cheap shot. He never pointed it out. He never made everyone laugh at my expense. It is not a big deal now, but as a teenage boy, it could have wounded me worse than any deer we ever killed. For years, every time we went to skinning rack, I readied myself for the attack, but he never let it come.
I know now that hunting was never about him. In fact, his life has never been about him. He knows that when one of his sons wants to hunt in the same stand with him, it is because we need some time to talk. If a hunting stand meeting is pursued, he is always there to welcome it. He never turned his back on those moments…He always answered the bell.

The Lesson
As a student pastor, I watch father after father try to find common ground to build moments with their sons. Then I watch as a cheap shot to impress the student pastor or another father takes the breath out of their sons. Oh, the son would never admit that is hurts, but it does.
We live in a world full of insults and tear-downs. A teenage boy goes from one war zone to another all day. Don’t think so...try sitting at the lunch table of jr. high cafeteria one day or drop in on the locker room.
A teenage boy knows his flaws. He knows his failures. Sure there are times to confront problems that can be corrected. However, some of the insults and jokes from childhood have left many men with scars well into manhood.
Seams simple...it is not. It is so much easier to tear down than it is to build up.

The Word
Colossians 3:21
“Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will be discouraged.”

The Application
You can’t force times to be encouraging. You have to recognize the opportunities to say something and the opportunities not to say something. Open your eyes. Each day, your son gives you the opportunity to deposit or withdrawal. There will come a time when you need to make a big withdrawal and confront something serious in your son’s life. You have to have enough in the bank to do that. Choose wisely. Sometimes the best deposit is not making a big withdrawal.

Shoes

A couple of weeks ago I challenged our students to step up and take care of some orphans that were in desperate need of new shoes. Can you imagine? I must be an idiot to ask American students to care enough about orphans in another country to actually make a difference. I could tell you what happened...but I will let a letter from my father do the talking.

Dear Rock Creek Students,

I just wanted to say thank you for your overwhelming gift of $1,500 to purchase shoes and clothing for our orphans in Kenya. These kids seldom get anything new. When they do, it comes from God through people like you.
I wish you could see the faces of these kids when they discover that they are getting new shoes. There is no way to describe their joy and grattitude to God for how he meets their needs. For some...a few months ago they were sleeping in the ditch by the roadside. Tonight they are warm, well-fed, and loved...because of God.
I will take some pictures and send them to Jason so can share them with you. Pray for Teresa and i as we carry the love of God to people who feel they have been forgotten.

By Grace, Your Brother,
Mike Curry
Ephesians 6:19-20

Rescue

THE STORY
I can’t remember the year, but I know that I was very young. It was a hot summer day, and I was learning the thrills of water skiing. I had improved to the point that I could push myself and the limits of my skinny little body. I am sure that it must have been fun for him to watch a mad man flying across the wake, grinning from ear to ear, screaming watch this dad!
I pushed, pushed harder, and pushed as far as my limits could take me. I guess that is something I got from him. I can hear the echoes of Mom exclaiming, “You had to push it to the max!” As usual, something went wrong. I looked down to see my ski disappear into the wake and it was all over. I went down hard but I was up quickly. That was a lesson I learned early on…you don’t stay down! When I came up for air, my eyes were closed, but the ski that had fallen off was coming for me. I never saw it, and it sliced across my eye-lid leaving a scar that remains today.
That is not what I remember best about the story. My father was always safe around boats, but I will never forget the sight of him jumping in, fully clothed, while the boat was still moving, to make sure his boy was safe.I took my little arms and wrapped them around his big neck and knew that everything was going to be fine.

THE LESSON
I can’t imagine a love any different from that. From that point forward, even to this day, he has always been there when I called for help.
That story gave me a clear picture of how Father God loves to rescue us. I would need it nearly 15 years later as I faced on of the greatest battles of my life. I was heading into my senior year at Mississippi College. I had just finished a junior campaign in which I finished hitting .420 and leading the team in almost every offensive category. I was voted to the first team All-West All-American Team and even bigger for my, the teams Most Valuable Player. I had worked very hard to get where I was and began each day by running. I loved to run. I would get up early each morning in college and run three to six miles. I love the feeling that I was working harder than ever one else.
One morning, about three miles in to my run, my legs began to hurt in a way that they had never hurt before. When I finally stopped and looked at my legs, the sight was frightening. The sides of my lower legs between the shin and calf was severely swollen and expanded. As I took off my shoe, I noticed that both of my feet were purple. A friend noticed my condition and drove me to the training room. On the third table from the right on a beautiful fall morning, I was told that I had developed “Exercise Induced Compartment Syndrome.” The cold hard fact was that there was no surgery to repair it at that time and I would never be able to run long distance again and I was going to gradually get slower and slower.
My dream was shattered. It was a long shot, but I had a chance at playing ball after college if I could put up some big numbers and display leadoff speed.
I will never forget laying there on that training room table in tears. My world had been torn apart. I laid there for a couple of hours until the story of dad jumping into the water came to my mind.
God quietly said…I am here for you…just like that day. The peace and comfort that came in that moment are indescribable. I just remember thinking that everything was going to be fine and God would take care of me.
There are so many students who can not grasp the rescuing father as a description of God. How could they? When has their earthly father been there? When has he rescued them? It was not hard for me…I new what it felt like to be rescued.
The truth is, we all need to be rescued. We can’t make it through this life without it.

THE WORD
Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord you God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
I think there should be an exclamation point at the end of that last sentence. God is with us. Through the ups and downs of our life…he is always there. He is definitely the God that rescues.

THE APPLICATION
There is going to be a time in your son’s life when he need to know that Dad will come to his rescue. He has got to know that Dad is in his corner. That doesn’t mean that you bail your son out of every problem. What it means is when your boy needs the big hitter to come in and knock a grand-slam, you will be there!

Grace

THE STORY
“What is she doing? How could it take so long to get our drinks?” I sat and griped as I looked for our waitress to return with even the first sign of salsa. Now, I am pretty patient, but this time was different. It took her ten minutes to get our drink orders, another ten to bring them, and now we were waiting on the chips and salsa.
My scaled eyes could not see past the circumstances and quite frankly, I didn’t care what was going on in her life. All I knew is I needed some food. Typical teenager response. I could not see anything past by own hunger. Dad, he saw an opportunity.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of times that Dad’s frustration with a waitress ended our stay at an establishment early. He had become notorious for getting up early from a meal and leaving. But this day, he had another lesson on his mind.
The entire family watched the older man behind us begin to give the waitress an earful of disapproval and rage! I saw Dad’s eyes change and he looked at her with compasstion. We sat and ate, and she continued to mess up our order and all the tables around us! But what happened at the end could have never been predicted.
As she apologized for the one-hundreth time, she left the ticket glaring on the table. I told him not to leave her a dime. Then, he reached into his wallet, pulled out a fifty dollar bill, and asked my mom for a pen. He then wrote a simple word on it…GRACE! I couldn’t believe it! I was amazed! I actually thought about grabbing it but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. We didn’t stay to see her reaction, and he didn’t say something to her so he could be applauded. He simply walked out, and we drove away.

THE LESSON
Looking back, it is amazing the life lesson I learned that afternoon. I believe that we treat others the way we believe God treats us. What a picture! I mean, who wouldn’t want a dad like that? Yes…you messed up! Yes…you didn’t get the job done! Yes…you didn’t do what was required! But, here is something you don’t deserve or expect. I am so thankful that when I read scriptures about God being a father, I don’t have to imagine what that love looks like…I have seen it!


THE WORD
For by Grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it if the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

THE APPLICATION
Take advantage of an opportunity to show someone Grace. At the moment when it is least expected and not earned, show someone uncontrollable grace. If your son reacts the way I did, you will know that it worked. When your son begins to be the one teaching the lession, you will know that it changed him!

Value

I am in the process of writing a book. For the next few days, I am going to put a couple of the chapters on this blog. I would love some feedback, especially from parents. The book is intended to give parents a view a parenting from a student's perspective...Enjoy.



“Bottom of the Ninth”

THE STORY

The stage was set, bottom of the ninth, two outs, man on first, and down two runs. It was the regional tournament in my senior year at Mississippi College. On the line was the game, the season, my career, and a trip to the college world series. The situation was simple, and there was no one else I wanted in the box but me. Just as I stepped in the box, the manager for the other team called time and began his long walk to the mound. He reached for his right arm to signal for the closer. I knew what he was bringing, ninety-three m.p.h. with a little adrenaline on the side. As I stepped out of the box and walked back to the on-deck circle, I caught a glimpse of my dad!
My mind drifted very quickly over a lifetime of baseball. The one thought that stood out was how far I had come and how much he believed in me. During ninth grade tryouts, I barely had the arm to make the timed throw from center field to the backstop. A “rip” from my bat wouldn’t even reach the outfield grass. I think coach let me stay on the team as a developmental player, most likely because my older brother was a star. No one knew what that did to me! It was embarrassing and very depressing. Only one thing mattered in my high school--your average. To not even make the team was tough.
I came home one day after a tough day of practice, and I really wanted to quit! I remember the stern words he spoke to me: “Son, you are not a quitter and you are one of the best hitters I have ever seen!” Could he really believe that? And then he issued the Curry battle cry, “Son, the cream always rises to the top!”
My mind focused back to the game. No longer was I the young boy that just wanted a chance to get on the field. I was the seasoned veteran whose body had caught up with my baseball mind.
The time had come and 15 years of baseball had come to one defining moment. Everything was in slow motion as I began to walk to the plate. Coming out of the bull-pen…I knew that the pitcher would try to get ahead early and I was waiting on the fastball.
Life does not offer this opportunity very often. There are many roles to be cast for this epic, but I had the role of hero on my agenda! I gripped my weapon and the words echoed in my head, “The cream always rises to the top.”
I stepped in the box, and the showdown was now in its final stages. The crowd began to rise as the confrontation elevated to the highest drama in baseball. Your best against our best. He rocked back and began to deliver the pitch. Sure enough, here comes the inside fastball. My body moved in the obedient way that it had been instructed for many years. I turned, pivoted, and then let my hands fly. As I made contact, I could hear the ball, but I could not feel it hit my bat. If you have ever hit a homerun, you know that when you hit it well, you do not feel it and it is almost as if you swing straight through it.
The ball rose and disappeared through the heavy mist that had engulfed the field that late May night in Mississippi. I could hear the crowd erupt and see the runner in front of me leaping with joy.
The left fielder sprinted with his back to the field and I realized…..I just won the game and we are going to the college world series.
Suddenly, I looked up to see the ball falling down from the mist, and I saw the left fielder standing on the warning track. I watched as he reached up, caught the ball, and my dream. The game, the season, my career, and a trip to the college world series-- lost.
I bowed my head for just a moment and then one last time, I ran off the field with my head up. The other team celebrated as I wept in the dugout. It was more than a game to me. It was the relationships that would be lost. It was the dream that had suddenly come to a halt. I walked out of the dugout and the television cameras caught me in a moment for the good stuff that people wanted to see. I pulled it together for a moment.
I gathered my gear and began to walk out of the dugout, and into a new era of my life. I walked off the field, and I was avoided by every person at the park. It seemed that no one had any words to say. To be honest, I’m not sure if there were any words I wanted to hear…and then I saw Dad.
He didn’t avoid the situation; he rarely did. My mom and little brother looked understandably upset, but his eyes were not sad. I could barely cry the words, “I almost did it Dad, as I burried my head into is chest.
With his Mississippi College hat held high, he looked past my eyes and into my heart, “Almost? Son, you just did what every athlete dreams of.” I didn’t understand and he paused for just a moment. Then he finished, “Whether they loved you or hated you, cheered for your team or the other, or don’t understand the game of baseball…for one final moment you did what every athlete dreams of…you made everyone in the ballpark stand-up and gasp for air one last time. You could have folded under the pressure, but you didn’t! There’s not another player I have ever seen that I would want to hit in that situation.”

THE LESSON

A man can do anything in life if he knows that his dad is proud of him. A son is always asking the question, are you proud of me? Do I measure up? Do you think I am the wild warrior?
I have seen so many Dad’s strikeout in this situation. It takes a Dad who understands that there is more on the line than the game to win in this situation. That is the difference between a minor league dad and a major league dad.
He could have rushed out of the ballpark and got in his car, but he didn’t. He didn’t hang his head in shame. He had to choose which role he would walk out of the park playing that night. He chose to play the hero.
As a student pastor I deal with so many parents that love their kids with “if’s and when’s” attached to it. Not my Dad, not his love. Love, that is true love, never has “if or when attached to it.” It is hard for many of my students to understand that Abba’s love is not conditional. That God loves us for free. There is nothing I can do to make God love me anymore and there is nothing I can do to make him love me any less, he just loves me!
I wonder sometimes what would have happened if that ball would have cleared the left field fence. Maybe some things would have changed, most likely my ego and pride.
I realized the other day that in the big picture, it was not me that was really at bat. I was the one that everyone saw, but it was my Dad who had one of the biggest “at-bats” of his and my life. I gave it all I had that night, but I just didn’t get all of the ball. Dad…his is still going!

THE WORD

While He (Jesus) was speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
Matthew 17:5

If the Jesus needed the encouragement and affirmation of love from God, his father, how much more do your son’s need that same affirmation?


THE APPLICATION

Step up to the plate! Begin to understand that things are not as they always seem. Take advantage of some of the greatest failures in your son’s life to display your unconditional love.
Warning...if your value comes from your son’s success or failure, you will never have the vision to see this kind of opportunity. You will be too consumed with the temporary to see the eternal value.
You can do this! If you will see that value in this lession...the ball you hit will never land! Remember, a son that knows his father is proud of him, can do anything in life.

A Fight For Margin

Courtney and I are out of town for a little vacation. A time to rest, refocus, and be restored. God is so smart. When we scheduled this trip, we knew we needed it, but now we know how bad. We are both exhausted. I have just come off back to back weekend retreats and I am in the middle of finalizing the details for six student trips we have in the next 5 months. To top it off...I am 20 days away from a trip to Kenya. It is time to slow down and find the margin.
Ah....it always comes back to margin. I have found one thing to be true these past two days....you have to fight for it. No one is giving Margin away and the enemy loves to keep us buried under the urgent and while we pass on the important. I will not. I will not carry the pressures, concerns, plans, or problems that come with student ministry on this vacation. That is exactly what the enemy wants and a fight He will lose.
Has it happened to your before? You missed out on opportunities for margin because you couldn't let go of the urgent? I hope that you will fight for the important and let the urgent go. Next time you have the opportunity to find the margin...go after it with all you have and don't let anything get in the way of finding it.

The Story

This past weekend, I took the juniors and seniors away on a retreat in the Ozark Mountains. The trip was amazing. We played football in the sleet, sat around the fire and sang, ate great food, told stories, played mafia (a game we love), went on an amazing hike and I am pretty sure I had a couple of heart attacks during the climb.
The trip was great, but my favorite part came the last night. As we sat around the fire, I began to ask the students some questions. What are your greatest fears, greatest talents, dreams, and so on? Their answers were amazing. The last question was incredible. I asked them why they started coming to Rock Creek, and what made them stay. One by one, they pointed out each other as the reason they were here. Because another friend in the room went, they came. The relationships had gone beyond a self-serving friendship into something that changed another’s life.
It was a top five moment for me as a student pastor. To see where we have come from in the past two years in our understanding of relationships and their importance is incredible. I am so excited to be a part of this senior and junior class. They've got it. They understand what this is all about. They have embraced the truth that is so clearly laid out in Psalms 33.... God is up to something.... and he wants us to be a part of the story.
I am more excited than I have ever been as a student pastor. I am more relaxed, focused, in the margin, determined, and passionate than ever. I can't wait to see how this next chapter reads.

GO.07

The vision for Rock Creek Students in 2007 is very simple... GO! Whether it is to a friend at your school or to an orphan in Kenya....We as Christians are all called to GO!
The truth is, we are all going somewhere. We are either going towards God and His purposes or we are going our own way, and pursuing our own plan. Our Heart as a Student Ministry is that we will see students GO like never before.
As God continues to push our students to dream big and GO, we know this vision will bring a new level of dependency...and in turn a new level of intimacy with God. We can't wait to see what story God will write with these students.
The plan is simple...Jesus is better than anything this world has to offer...too many have not tasted and seen how good He is...we must GO!

A New Viewpoint!

One of the seniors in our student ministry wrote this next entry. It is better than anything i have ever written...enjoy!

"Have you ever heard the stereotype "I'm not going to church because it's full of hypocrites.." ? It breaks my heart to hear it come from the mouths of people I care for and want to experience God's love.. This view is a wise deception.. It reminds me of the twisted lies the devil snares people with in The Screwtape Letters.

I used to use the same excuse, an umbrella of selfishness and fear to reside under.. It's easy to blame 'the others' for not being perfect so you have an excuse not to be.. During the time I believed the lie that I was above the 'self-righteous liars that called themselves Christians', I was extremely angry.. I was bitter at the world and the fake people in it..

I was also scared. So caught up in the comfort of my false independence, I didn't even realize I was the fakest person I knew. I was a phony. My hatred towards the people that 'were so wrong' was revealed as a hatred for myself and the fabricated beliefs that held me back from truly experiencing love with my Lord. .

Every human is a hypocrite in some way, form, or fashion.. As humans, we are flawed.. Thank God for grace. . We are called by God while we are still sinners.. and not, as I've realized, after we transform to perfection..

The church is full of broken people.. Broken people with their eyes looking to God.. No one is perfect and everyone falls..

It's up to all of us to help each other to our feet again.. Instead of pointing disdainfully in each others faces, while wearing the garments of a fake."
http://abbyalyssa.blogspot.com/

Go!

It is good to be back! I hope everyone had a great break. Tomorrow night will be the first time that we have met together as a student ministry in quite a while. I am so excited. I feel as though the team and I have a crystal clear view of the vision that God has laid out for us at Rock Creek.
I am extremely excited about 2007 and about the potential for great things. I am praying for God to push the students to places they have never dreamed to go. I am praying that God will wreck the idea of the American Dream for these students. Monday I am going to put a map in my office. I am going to chart the global impact from here on out. Wherever our students go when they leave, we are going to put it on the map…I am excited to see it fill up. It is time to dream big.
I wonder where you fit into the big story of God in 2007? I believe that God is calling the American Church to dream bigger than ever before. I don’t know if the generation before us can catch it but I know ours can…who will go?