I’m currently near the end of a week-long vacation with my wife and kids at Fripp Island, off the coast of South Carolina.  We visited here last Christmas, and from that visit we hoped to come back and try out the beach in the summertime.  It’s been a fantastic vacation – the island is a nature preserve, and we’ve frequently seen deer, racoons, and even alligators (one was over 6 feet long) in close proximity to the house where we’re staying.

Yesterday we decided to rent a 17′ Carolina Skiff to navigate the marshes and make our way out to an uninhabited island to look for shells.  This was pretty adventurous for us, since I’ve never driven a motorized boat by myself, our destination was an hour away from the marina at full throttle, and Keri and my shared lack of navigational sense.  There was a sense of anticipation and excitement – even from the kids.

Without a doubt, the boat ride was a highlight of the trip, especially since we came across several groups of dolphins swimming near our boat.  It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

Then, in the middle of our beautiful and adventurous day, I did a very silly thing.  I put my iPhone into my swimsuit pocket to have it ready for taking photos.  I knew when I did it that it was a bad idea, but I did it anyway.

Just for the record, you should never put a cell phone in your swimsuit pocket.  The odds are against you.

When we found the island beach we were looking for, I jumped out of the boat to carry the kids to shore and keep the boat pushed out far enough that it didn’t get stuck with the falling tide.  It wasn’t till about 20 minutes later, when we were all back in the boat, that I reached for my iPhone and realized that I had created a very expensive paperweight and an even more expensive boat ride.

Concluding Thoughts:

1. Even with the submersion and death of my iPhone, it was still worth the great memory my family created on the ocean yesterday.  There was much more to the story, including Keri having to drive the boat at a moment’s notice two different times and my 4-year-old daughter simultaneously screaming at her that she couldn’t do it.
2. Just before the boat ride, I emailed a few photos to my email account so that I’d have them for a blog post.  Otherwise, I would have lost most of our photos from the trip.
3. I miss my iPhone tremendously.  It’s been less than 24 hours, but any time I think about needing a map, checking email, or taking a photo, my heart is stabbed with grief.
4. Rumor has it that the new iPhone will be announced in just a few days.  Perfect timing!

Early tomorrow morning (Wednesday), my mom will take the next step in her colon cancer treatment and will have the first of two surgeries.  I’m heading to Houston tomorrow morning to spend a few days with her, Dad, my brother Phil, and his wife Emily.

We would all appreciate your prayers for her – that the surgery will go well and that God will give her a quick recovery afterwards.

About two weeks ago, during our staff retreat at the Cove in Asheville, God impacted my heart in a huge way. I can’t exactly put my finger on what is happeneing in my soul, but I feel a new work of God happening in my heart.

I feel a new sense of urgency in prayer and an increased passion for the ministry He has called me to.  At the same time, I have a clearer understanding of my my brutally selfish nature.  In opposition to it, I’m asking God to expand my capacity for service without recognition.

Some of what I’ve seen in my heart bothers me, but other parts give me great hope in the future. As I battle against my flesh, I’m praying that God will use this time to draw me even nearer to Himself.  I’m praying that He will work through me in a way that earns glory only for Himself.

I’m super proud of my brother, and I’m praying God will use him in a big way to enhance the ministry at Experience Life Church.  This is a new position for both my brother and the church, so I’m sure he’d appreciate you prayers as well.

Whether you’ve met my brother or not, you’ve got to check out this video of him from a few years back. (I’m sure he’ll appreciate that I’ve posted this online.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

It seems that our nation has this one figured out pretty well already, but just in case you’ve missed it, here are nine ways to ruin your kids:

1. Always expect the worst from your kids.  You’ll eventually find out you’re right.
2. Give them everything they want.  If you’re consistent with this, you’ll trick your children into thinking that the stuff of this world can buy their happiness.
3. Don’t discipline your kids.  I’m not just talking about spanking here; I’m talking about time out, grounding, and all other forms of discipline.
4. Be very cautious about praising your children.  You don’t want them to become proud or feel special about themselves.  Slowly erode their confidence.
5. Show your kids through your words and actions that they are an inconvenience to your life.  Dwell on the ways that your life would be different – even better – without them.
6. Use guilt and shame to motivate your children to do what you want them to do.
7. If you have more than one child, let the kids treat each other with rudeness and disrespect.
8. Place the responsibility of socializing your kids on either a) the school system, or b) television.  Don’t consider this a personal responsibility.
9. Place the responsibility of their spiritual development on either a) the church, or b) let them figure this out on their own.  If you’re going to wreck your kids, it’s critical that you not take responsibility here.

Just in case you missed the related posts:

• 6 Ways to Wreck Your Spiritual Life
• 9 Ways to Wreck Your Job

I have to admit that I am a hardcore fan of alternative rock music.  1994 was a pivotal year for me as I began to fall in love with the gritty sound of bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, and a slew of others.  The energy and passion was contagious, and even though I still love much of the musical style, I regretfully let my mind be filled with a lot of stuff that wasn’t good for my soul.  I still listen to alternative rock, but I’ve added quite a few bands of a different nature, like David Crowder Band, Switchfoot, & Skillet.  I’ve also eliminated some bands and many songs from my music library.

Well, last night, as I was mowing the lawn, I came across a song that I’ve heard a hundred times before – Sunflowers, by Everclear.  This time as I listened, I actually picked up on the flow of the lyrics.

I know where you go when you want to fall
Why do you want to be broken?
I know where you go when you want to fall
Yes your friends they tell me everything
Yes I know where you go
Yes I know what you do
Yes I know the awful things you say and who you say them to

I had always assumed these lyrics were referring to a wife or girlfriend, but today I clearly heard the important lines of the song:

Your mom she said that you are just like me
I can see it in your eyes
I can see your shaky hands
Yes I think you think i’m stupid
You don’t think I understand
Yes I see you and I see myself when I was a younger man
When you were a child
You were happy and free
You were my reason to live
I would die when you smiled at me
I can still see you
I remember you painting
Sunflowers in your room

These are not the words of a bitter lover or disillusioned spouse.  These are the words of a brokenhearted father.

God, please help me to raise my children to follow after you.  I pray that they would escape some of the pitfalls I fell into emotionally during my teenage years, and I beg you to please raise them up to be leaders in your Kingdom work here on this earth.  Please mold me into the dad and husband you want me to be, and help me treasure each day with my children.

PS – If you randomly found this blog post, and you’re not a part of a church community, I’d love to have you join me this weekend at our Internet Campus.  It’s an online interactive broadcast each Sunday, and for the next few weeks, we’re specifically talking about issues facing families today.

Over the past few months I’ve been slowly reading through a book called Holiness by J.C. Ryle.  It’s a fantastic book, and there’s a great quote on almost every page, but I find myself taking it in small pieces and coming back to it every few days.

The “chains” mentioned above are probably not what you would think.  Let me give you part of the preceding paragraph so you’ll see what he’s referring to:

The saddest symptom about many so-called Christians is the utter absence of anything like conflict and fight [against spiritual apathy] in their Christianity.  They eat, they drink, they dress, they work, they amuse themselves, they get money, they spend money, they go through a scanty round of formal religious services once or twice every week.  But of the great spiritual warfare – it’s watchings and strugglings, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests – of all thing they appear to know nothing at all.  Let us take care that this case is not our own.

Not to say that there’s anything we can do to earn God’s love, or anything close to that.  Scripture is clear that it’s only through faith in Jesus that people can be right with God.  It’s not about what you do, say, or think that makes you close to God – it’s all about the price Jesus paid to ransom our lives.

But once a person has been redeemed – once their life has been changed by the life-giving power of Christ – there should be something within us that fights back against the world’s temptation to become spiritually numb and go with the flow.

I’m asking God to give me grace and strength to face the ever-present temptation to be chained with lukewarmness and spiritual laziness.

The last post was a little heavy, so I thought I’d write this one with a little less seriousness.

Looking for some great opportunities to wreck you job?  Here’s a list of six things that will shake things up in the workplace:

1. Bring a machete to work, and keep it on your desk.
2. Get some bright pink sunglasses, and never take them off.
3. Always refer to yourself in third person, and insert “silly” before your name. (eg. “Can you meet about that proposal with silly Kyle today?”)
4. Unless you have a uniform, wear the same thing to work every day.
5. Remove all of the letter e’s from your emails and letters.
6. Always bring your pets with you to work.
7. Spend your lunch breaks under your desk.
8. Send out a daily photo of yourself to the rest of the staff.  (Childhood photos should work fine.)
9. Pretend like you have an imaginary friend who lives in your desk drawer.

Maybe your spiritual life is going a little too well lately and you’re looking for a way to bring things down a notch or two.  Just follow these steps to see your spiritual life quickly erode into a mess:

1. Do what you feel like doing.  Avoid difficult things.  Do what comes naturally.
2. Consume vast amounts of media.  Watch and listen to whatever you want.
3. Harbor resentment, especially towards your family.  In your free time, think about the ways they’ve let you down.
4. Worry about your stuff.  Hoard it all.
5. Don’t read the Bible or pray.
6. Don’t trust God.  Live in fear and worry.  Live your life as though Jesus never lived, died, and rose again for you.

Any other steps to recommend?

I don’t really care for yard work very much.  It’s not really the work itself that’s disagreeable to me, but the heat that tends to accompany the growth of plants and grass.

Even still, I love the results.