awkward

Sometimes we feel awkward.  It’s hard to explain but when I feel awkward, I don’t know what to do or how to act.  Maybe it is when you are saying hello to new people.  Maybe it is when you are saying goodbye.  You don't want to disrespect someone, but you don't know what to do.  I am sorry for the times that I felt awkward and did not know what to do.

We need to understand each other when we feel awkward.  Not everybody gets you all of the time.  Not everyone knows what to do with every situation.  Sometimes we clam up. That is OK.

Give yourself some time.  Give others some time.

Life is good and people are good. Be patient with them.  

Love them.  That is all that matters.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see some good.

Value

We all know value when we see it.  That is when the preacher offers to marry you for free.  That is when you find a $16.99 oil change.  That is when you find something that you like on clearance.  One of my all time life favorite values is the Hot dog/drink special at Sam’s.  How can you beat $1.50 for a large Nathan’s hot dot and a drink? Speaking of getting something for nothing, how about God's grace.  We did nothing to deserve it and we are offered it freely, simply because we are loved by God.

If you are having a bad day and everything is going wrong, roll into Sams.  Walk the isles and snack on all the samples.  On your way out, splurge for the hot dog special.  You can get onions and sour kraut with it.  It may not be really healthy, but it is a great value.  And while you are eating that, ponder the free gift of amazing grace.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

Everything is OK

Everything is OK.  Leaders tell people that Everything is OK.  It may be raining, we may be hurting, there may be floods in Louisiana and fires in California, but everything is ok.

Why?  Because God is with us.  Because we are going to work on these issues.  And because life is bigger than our struggles.

All is well.  Focus on an outcome that is bigger than the present circumstances.   You have told your children for years, to rise to the occasion.  Sometimes a person must rise to rise to the occasion.  Maybe this is your time.  Everything is OK.  All is well.  God is good.  Life goes on, not always as we prefer, but always well, always beautiful.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world be sure to see the good.

One big slug

When I was a kid, we had slugs in Kansas City.   We would put salt out to keep them away.  I always thought that they were gross.  When I was a teenager in San Jose, California, we had snails everywhere.  I used to shoot them with my bb gun.

Well, welcome to Florida.  This little beauty was crawling on the sidewalk one morning when I was going for a bike ride.

I don’t know what to say.  Yuck.  Three of them attacked one of the cats and I had to perform a kitty rescue. 

I think that I am going to go invest in Morton salt and set up a secure perimeter.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

  

hurt

We all hurt.  We hurt because we are lonely.  We hurt because we are experiencing change.  We hurt because life has not turned out the way that we had hoped.  We hurt because we miss people.  We hurt because sometimes people that are close to us are not nice to us.  [this is not true in my case.]  We hurt because our parents are dead.  We hurt because we got cut from the baseball team.   We hurt for 10,000 reasons.

So what to do when we hurt? 

1.        Hurt is normal.  Sometimes we have to get used to it.  There is no such thing as a life with out pain.  It is a part of life.  James said, “count it all joy my brothers and my sisters when you fall into trials of various kinds, because the trials of this life help you to grow.”

2.       Hurt is often a sign of love.  If you did’t care about a thing, you would not hurt.  Your team lost?  You hurt.  Someone else’s team lost?  We don’t care.  Random people die and we don’t even know.  But when our loved ones die, it hurts.  Hurt is a sign of love.

3.       You have a choice.  You can lay in your hurt.  Many people do.  I certainly have before.  Or you can be determined to rise above your hurt and celebrate that you love things that have not gone your way. Remember when you Dad was alive and savor it.  Remember when your team won.  Remember when things were different.  Life is random and it includes both joys and concerns.  Savor it.  Love it.  Live it.

I want you to know that I care about your hurt.  I care that you are suffering.  I wish I could fix it all.  But sometimes we have to still look and see the good.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, even with hurt.  Be sure to see the good.

Real love, real people

So I am struggling with mission statements.  Woods Chapel came up with theirs in 1995:  connecting people to Jesus Christ.  In 1996 the Methodist Church adopted: Making disciples of Jesus Christ.  Some years later they added, “for the transformation of the world.”

I may be wrong.  I probably am wrong, but I am ready to move on from both of them.  Neither speak to the concept of serving, neither speak to the concept of touching the "least of these."

I may be wrong.  I probably am, but “making?” In this culture we don’t make anyone do anything.  Can I make you give 10% of your income?  NO.  We invite people,  we don’t make them. 

And disciples?  We don’t even know what that means.  Ask 50 Christians to define disciple, and you will get 50 different answers.  The people on the street have no idea what a disciple is or what discipleship means.  Neither do most people in the church.  We need to find and use words that the average people on the street use and understand.

We need to find some ways to speak so that the culture of today understands what we are saying. If we can’t win the culture of today, we are missing the point.  I have been thinking for several years about the greatest commandment:  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.  I want to boil that down to this:  Love God, love others or loving God, loving others.  I am not going to ask anyone to change their missions statement, but I am thinking that this is a slogan that I want to live by:  loving God, loving others.

A few weeks ago, I saw this slogan on the back of a church shirt:  Real love, real people.  BOOM!  People on the street will get that.  So please forgive me if I start talking about loving God and loving others, or real love, real people.  I just can’t help myself.  It seems so relevant to me.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

Moon

I saw an amazing moon the other night.  It was an amazing moment.  The moon was beautiful and it was orange.  It just stood up and spoke to me.  It shook me.  It said, “Jeff, this is the day that the Lord has made.  Remember this day.”  This is the gift of a life time.

Friends.  We don’t always get a sign.   We don’t always get a reminder to see the good.  Please do it anyway.  See the good.  Look past your hurt and your struggle and see the good.  God is working, everything is OK.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

Lost in God

We humans like to control God.  We like to make him small enough so that we can manage him.  But a God this size cannot save us.  A God this size is no bigger than our imaginations.

Thank God that the real God is big.  Much bigger than our understanding of him.  The other day Richard Rohr posted this in his daily devotional:

"Many mystics speak of the God-experience as simultaneously falling into an abyss and being grounded. This sounds like a contradiction, but in fact, when you allow yourself to fall into the abyss—into hiddenness, limitlessness, unknowability, a void without boundaries—you discover it’s somehow a rich, supportive, embracing spaciousness where you don’t have to ask (or answer) the questions of whether you’re right or wrong. You’re being held and so you do not need to try to “hold” yourself together. "

Sometimes we need to fall into God and lose ourselves in him.  I am grateful that God is big enough for us to fall into and lose ourselves in.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

friendship

I got this little picture from my dear friend, Jonnie Wells.  Oh what a treasure she is to me.  It hangs in the pastor's office at Cape Coral.  Come see it sometime.

Friendship is a gift.  To have those people in your life that you love, it is such a gift.  If you don't have friends or if you need new friends, get out and be friendly- they will come.  Proverbs 18 KJV says "If a man would have friends, he must show himself to be friendly."  In other words, if you want to have friends, be a friend to others. I thank God for every old friend that I have and for every new friend that I am making.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

envy

I saw this bird in the neighbor's Norfolk Pine and I was jealous.  He is on top of the world.  He can see it all.

One of the things that I don't like about life is when we think we are right but we are wrong.  It happens to all of us.  We get selfish and make life about us, or we just don't see the entire picture.

It's gonna happen.  When it happens to you, be big enough to admit it.  We don't always get it right.  I am thankful for friends, family and staff that tell me when I am not seeing correctly.  We are collectively better when we are seeing things right.

This bird has a bird's eve view.  May God grant all of us a better ability to see the entire landscape.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

I love you

Every now and then I think of this song from my teenage years. It was sung by Larry Norman who was a singer and songwriter. He died in 2008. The day before he died, he knew he was close because he had many heart issues, anyway the day before he died, he wrote these words, "I feel like a prize in a box of Cracker Jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home. I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone...I want to say I love you. I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort...Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again."

Anyway, he wrote a song that I have thought of often over the years. I might just sing it in church sometime. It can be about you and God or it can be about you and someone that you love. Mostly it can be about anyone, because we can and should love everyone. Here are the lyrics. To listen on youtube click this link:   I love you by Larry Norman

We can be together for now and forever,
I love you, I love you,
Hey can you hear me, I've got to have you near me,
I love you, I love.
I was lonely till you came along,
Now you've got me singing your love-song.
I love you, I love you, I love you.....

Life is a mystery, love is a dancer,
I love you, I love you,
I had a question, you brought the answer,
I love you, I love you,
Oh, but I need you so, I could never let you go.
I was lonely once but then you came along,

I love you, I love you,
And you gave me love so I wrote down this song,
I love you, I love you,
I want to spend my life with you like the angels on high,
I love you, I love you,
You're the Morning Star, You're the Son in My Sky,
I love you, I love you......

Donna Eaton, I love you.  Tim Cristenson, I love you.  Jennifer Dancy, I love you.  Steve Goodwin, I love you.  David Harris, I love you.  And to 10,000 other people, I love you.  I truly want to be a person that loves everyone. Even those that on first look, I'm not sure that I like. God is love and we all should aspire to love people.

I love you.

It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.

Keys

Random.

I am messed up.  I collect the strangest things.  I collect coins.  I collect old hot wheel cars.  I collect old Sunday School pins.  I collect key chains.  I did not mean to collect key chains, but it just started happening.  Look closely in this picture and you will see the following:

• key to my parents house in San Jose California from 1975
• key to my dorm room at Evangel College
• black tag from my first license plate MYR 310 - California 1973
• Several Lowell Sigmund keyfobs from 1976.  My favorite is the Captain's office S.S. Titanic.
• tag from Dale Dorst [Cathy's Grandpa] Massy Ferguson Dealership in Gardner, KS
• Blue Springs South tag

Odd little things that make me happy for some unknown reason.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Wind Chime

I love this little wind chime.  It has been in my family for years.  I don't even remember where it came from.

At the Newbury Court house it hung on the back deck.  At the Oaks Ridge house it hung in the screened in porch by the hot tub.  Oh so many nights I sat in that old hot tub and heard the wind blow the chimes.

At Uncle Jay's house on Deerbrook last year it hung again on the deck.  By the way, I love Uncle Jay.

Over the years the wind chime's strings have broken and I have rebuilt it twice.  I found some small string and restrung it.  I did it again last week.  Now is hangs proudly at the parsonage in Cape Coral.  A reminder of every night it rang in the past and every home it hung in, a reminder of every friend who sat nearby.

It is interesting how certain things that we have just make us happy.  Its a small wind chime, it might go for $1 at a garage sale, but it is full of cherished memories for me.  Come over and see it some time.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Scott Connors

So I was writing a blog post and I thought of my very low maintenance friend Scott Connors.  He reads this stuff every day.  That makes him a bit off.  If you read this stuff every day, you might be a bit nuts.

Scott Connors - I love you.
We have had so many wonderful moments over the years.  I am crying as I think back.  I remember when we were playing softball, you played for the Possums, I played poorly for the Armadillos.  I had to release an employee that you were close to.  I was very worried about losing you from the church.  We had a long talk about it, and I was so happy that you were able to hear me and stay, even though I know it was hard.

I think of all the times that we ran into each other randomly at Paddy's or where ever.  I was always glad to see you.  You were always kind.  Sarcastic, but kind.  You were always a source of solid, stable advice on the Board of Trustees.  I remember talks that we had in my office.  Times we laughed, times we cried.

Life is good.  I am glad I ran into you along the way.  If you ever need a place to stay in Florida, call me.  I love you.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

enjoy it

I was listening to oldies as I often do.  I heard Seals and Croft sing "We shall never pass this way again."  I thought about that for a while.  I thought of Pink Floyd's "All we are is just another brick in the wall."

I am happy that I am, and you are more than another brick to God and to those who love you.  But we will not pass this way again.  No one leaves this life vertically.

So, don't be depressed by that, but use it as a motivation to celebrate each day.  Every moment is a gift.  That is why we call it the present.  Avoid depression.  Steer away from negativity.

Life is good.  Life is amazing.  Don't worry.  Be happy.  Whistle.  Sing.  SING! LIVE!  Enjoy it.  it wont last forever.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure, really sure to see the good.

The other side of a thing

Last week I posted about setting a precedent. How our behavior can create problems if everyone does it. I take a stapler from work- what if everyone did that. I cheat on my taxes- what if everyone did that?

My friend Tracy is a genius. She and her husband Tony were in church a few weeks ago. It was great to see them. She sent me a note about precedent that was spot on. Here it is:

I love the other side of precedent. If I smile at the sullen-faced clerk, what might that do for the rest of her day? If I make a point of pointing out to the cashier that he gave me too much change, what example does that set for my kids? If I take a deep breath when someone cuts me off and pray that whatever is causing them such aggression is resolved, what does that show my kids? We have so many opportunities to set precedent in a positive way. If we be sure to see the good. :-)

I was focusing on the negative side of precedent.  Tracy focused on the positive side.  So here again is another example of how what I think is usually only partly right. There is another side to just about everything. Always look at both sides of a thing.

And set a positive precedent today. Teach others how to live a life of love. It will spread. That is the whole nature of the kingdom. 

• You love someone, 
• I notice. 
• I like it.
• I emulate that behavior
• the kingdom comes. 
• One person at a time.

Go set a positive precedent.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

my opinion

My friend Brian Dunn shared a quote with me. Here it is:

“the world is waiting for your example more than for your opinion”.

In this politically charged time, I believe that this quote speaks volumes. But it is true any time. People are more interested in how you treat them than who you vote for. They would rather see a sign in your yard that says "I love you" than one that tells who you are voting for. We don't have the right to dump our opinion on every topic on people. They will let us know when they want to hear from us.

People want to be loved in this life, not pummeled with our propaganda. Everyone has an opinion. Opinions are everywhere. Love is rare, a scarce commodity in this world. If the church had shared more love and less opinion, the churches might be thriving instead of declining.

Keep your opinion to yourself. The world is waiting for your loving example of a life of love.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

get back up

When my daughter Allison was little I used to try and teach her to get back up when you fall down.  I would carefully bundle her up and plop her on the floor and then ask her - What do you do when you get knocked down?  She learned quickly.  Ask her today, what do you do when you get knocked down and she will answer - you get back up.

Chumbawamba sang a song in 1997  "I get knocked down, but I get up again."

Sometimes in life we have to do exactly this.  Get back up.  Everyone gets knocked down, and we don't like it.  But we can lay there and cry and complain, or we can get up and go on.  Those that would succeed in any endeavor must get back up.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

this man changed my life

The is Bob Tuttle. Robert G. Tuttle Jr. to be exact. I met him in seminary in 1980. I was 23 and he was old enough to be my Professor. He has a lot of degrees: he received an A.B. from Duke University, 1963; a B.D. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, 1967; a M.A. from Wheaton Graduate School of Theology, 1967; and a Ph.D. from the University of Bristol in England, 1970.

All of that is very impressive, and I am not sure what all of those degrees mean, but there is something more important than that. He has shaped and changed the lives of many young men and women. I am one of them. My friends Steve Breon and Ron Watts are two more.

When I was a young judgmental, full of my self young Christian, Bob got a hold of me and taught me some things. He taught me that life was good and that Christians can be happy. He taught me to not take myself too seriously. He taught me to stop hurting people and to love them instead.  He taught me that Jesus was not stuffy, but normal. He taught me about being relevant. He saved me from what the church of my youth had made me, and prepared me for ministry.

I was so happy to find him last year and to discover that he winters in Vero Beach, where we own a retirement home. How joyful it is for me to meet him for lunch from time to time. He is a great man. HE IS A GREAT MAN. I honor him. Besides my father, no one has had such an influence on me. I am so blessed to have bumped into him in this life.

I hope that there are people in your life that you can say such things about.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

a song from a friend

A friend sent me this song.  It made me think, and it made me cry.  I though of friends that I have lost, and friends that I don't want to lose, and how utterly hopeless we feel when we lose the ones that we love.  It is by Luke Bryan.  Here are the words.

When I got the news today
I didn't know what to say
So I just hung up the phone
I took a walk to clear my head
This is where the walking led
Can't believe you're really gone
Don't feel like going home

So I'm gonna sit right here
On the edge of this pier
Watch the sunset disappear
And drink a beer

Funny how the good ones go
Too soon, but the good Lord knows
The reasons why it is
Sometimes the greater plan is kinda hard to understand
Right now it don't make sense
I can't make it all make sense

So I'm gonna sit right here
On the edge of this pier
Watch the sunset disappear
And drink a beer

so long my friend

until we meet again

i remember you

and all the times that we used to

sit right here on the edge of this pier

and watch the sunset disappear

and drink a beer.

link to the song on youtube

and so the moral of this is a familiar one, love the ones that God has given you.  Hug them.  Appreciate them.  Nothing lasts for ever.  We are finite.  Hug them.  Look them in the eye.

Life is a gift and it goes by so very fast.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Happy Birthday to me!

When the kids were young, mom bought things for my birthday and said that they were from the kids.  She bought them, wrapped them and I knew that what ever it was was really from mom.

When they got older, the started giving me gifts.  Socks, a shirt, a tie, etc.  A few years ago, I stumbled onto a truth.  I don't want any more socks or ties.  What do I want for my birthday?  What do I want for Christmas?  I want you, my children, to take me to dinner, or to a concert or something, just you and me.  Just us two. Not all the kids, not the fam, just you and me.  Dad and kid.

Last week, I got my birthday present from Jenny.  A trip to Tropicana Field in Tampa to watch the Royals play the Rays.  The Royals lost badly, but I won.  It made me so happy to spend the time with my daughter.  If you have adult kids, stop asking for socks and underwear.  Ask them to take you somewhere.  You will be glad that you did.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Cundiffs

Bean, Jon, Old Man, Vic, Ellie, Cam

The is the Cundiff Family.  Jon, Vic, Cam, Bean and Ellie.  They are awesome.  I love them.  We have been friends for 22 years.  They came to my 40th birthday party in 1997!! I met these boys when they were 5 years old.  Jon and I played softball together for 15 years.  Jon knows more jokes than any human being that I have ever met.

There are some people in this world that you just think of and you just love.  Last week, they were on vacation in St. Petersburg.  We both drove to North Port and met for dinner.  What a wonderful time we had!  We sat and talked for 2 1/2 hours!!

Listen to me.  If you have friends, value them.  Tell them that you love them.  Call them today and tell them you love them.  The day may come when you are miles apart.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

precedent

Ahh the power of precedent.  If I do a thing it may seem a certain way to me.  But what if everyone did what I was doing?  Would the world be a better or worse place?

Someone takes a stapler from work.  No big deal, go to the cabinet and get another one.  But what if all 62 employees took a stapler.  You can see what happens.  It becomes a mess.

I throw trash out the window of my car.  No big deal, only one cup.  What if everyone did it?

Someone wants to use a room in the church to hold a seminar for their business.  They are nice people and faithful members, but you have to tell them no.  Why?  Because if you allow one person to do it, everyone then has the right to do so. In fact, to allow one person to do a thing and not the next person, is discrimination.

So when we are thinking about what we are doing, we always need to ask ourselves about the notion of setting a precedent.  Not just what this means for me, but what would happen if everyone did what I am doing?

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

to heal

So there is a joke that Oral Roberts taught his dog to heel.
Think about it for a moment.

  I guess his dog taught this cat.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

learning and growing

reading about this is one thing.
visiting is another indeed.

Americans have confused learning with growing. We have come to believe that if you learn more you are growing. Often we learn more and still find ways to stay stuck in our current comfortable paradigms.

Growing means that we leave our comfort zone and enter the mission field with Jesus. Are you ready for that? Am I?

Rick Rusaw in his book, The Externally Focused Church says,

"Learn by study; grow by serving, “We don’t do our people any favors by letting them attend church every week, living with the illusion that they are growing. They may be learning, but they are not growing.”

“Ministry to others is almost always as beneficial as or more beneficial than other spiritual disciplines that contribute to spiritual growth.  Service is as or more beneficial then other spiritual disciplines."

When we read about homeless people we learn about them. When we go feed them, sit with them, listen to them and get to know them, we grow.

When we read about the poor in Nicaragua, we learn. When we go and see them, when we reach out and care for them in person, when we see how they live and what they experience, we grow.  It changes how you see everything.  It makes  you more grateful, more appreciative and you will never look at a plate of food the same way again.

Learn by study. Grow by serving.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

the power of a teacher

I had many teachers growing up as we all did.  If you ask me to name my favorite teacher, without hesitation the answer would have been my 6th grade teacher, Betty Jackson.

Well last week we found each other on facebook and have been corresponding.  How exciting!  after 48 years!!!  We skyped for an hour the other night.  It was like talking with an old friend.

Betty Jackson taught me math and science and who knows what else.  But here is the big deal:  Betty invested in me.  She saw something in me that was valuable.  She spent time with my mother talking with her about building self esteem.

She probably single handedly changed the course of the ship of my life.  I know that teaching can be tough.  Rough kids, unhappy parents, extra hours, and so on.  But if you are a teacher, never doubt that you are making a difference in the lives of children.  You are shaping them and changing them.  Some day in 48 years you may reconnect with an old student and make their day.

Never underestimate the power of one person to touch the life of another.

It is a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

I hope you like me

Garrison Keillor did a skit some years ago about how we are all reaching out for each other.  It is quite humorous.  It starts like this, "We're all reaching out for each other, so trying so hard to find, a reason to love one another, the bond that unites humankind."  And then it went on to this very awkward encounter between a couple of guys.

So some guy from Kansas City moves to Florida to a new church.  He wonders if the people there will like him.  He hopes so.  He really wants it to work.  He is pretty nervous about the change because he is following a very well liked pastor who was there for 8 years.

What he does not know, but finds out after a few weeks is that several people in the church were thinking the same thing.  "Will this new guy like us?"  "Will he be happy here?"

We're all reaching out for each other.

I have joked with the good folks at Cape Coral- you made a bad trade.  You traded a 41 year old pastor with hair for a 59 year old pastor with no hair.

Well, with no offense to my dear friends at Woods Chapel, I want to go on the record and say that I love Cape Coral and I love the church and I love the people.  You all have been so very kind.  Thank you for your welcome.

Change is never easy, but kindness makes everything better.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

farm report

When I was a kid you could wake up in the morning and watch the farm report. Well, I only knew that because when I was looking for cartoons, I got the farm report instead.  If you got up really early, there was a test pattern with an Indian on it.  Now there is 24 hour news, and cable, so you can dodge the farm report.

Here is the farm report for last Monday:

After a night of feeling sorry for himself, Jeff went to bed at 10:30 pm.
He woke at 2:30 am because he often wakes up after 4 hours-
or maybe he had to go to the dentist.
[that is a joke- what is the best time to go to the dentist? two thirty] [tooth hurty]

He tried to go back to bed
It didn't work. He couldn't sleep.
So he got up and worked on the sermon for Sunday and typed a blog.

Today if God gives him the day, he will go to Subway and eat the 400 calorie breakfast sandwich and say hello to Toni the Manager.

He will talk to staff and work in the office.
He may work with another member to hang doors in one of the church's rental units.

All this if God is willing.
And it looks to be a very good day.

Every day is a good day for that matter.
Farm report over.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Cycling

So I used to be a big bicycle rider.  In fact, when I was in high school, I was the president of the bicycle club.  My friend Jeff Bendorf likes to make fun of me for that.  I don't know why.  We had so much fun when we were young on our bikes.  I rode all over Northern California with my friends.

Over the years, children, work and bad knees have curtailed my biking.  But here in Cape Coral, it is a bicycle riding paradise.  Flat flat flat not one hill!!  And wonderful bicycle lanes on many roads.  The mornings are cool and I have been out many days for a ride, first thing.

It feels so good.  It reminds me of the old days.  I actually felt young again for a few moments on my  ride the other day.  And when you get to be my age, anything that makes you feel young is good news.

I am glad to be back in business with my bike.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

wasp

Once you have had an encounter with a wasp you tend to fear them.  A few years ago I had left my swim suit outside to dry.  I put it on and hopped into the hot tub.

Yikes.  I got stung up on my thigh.  A wasp had crawled into my swimming suit!  They make me nervous to this day.  So I was sitting outside at the patio table under the screened in porch [lanai].

I have no idea how the critter even got in through the screen, but he zoomed right past my head and landed on my wallet which was on the table.  I popped up out of that chair in a flash.  Then I watched as he crawled into my wallet.  Seriously!

I threw a towel over the wallet and pounded on it for 5 minutes.  Then the real fun began.  Was he dead?  Was he alive?  Was he mad?  Was that a bad idea?

I took the towel off very carefully and spread it over a chair.  I carefully opened it up.  No wasp on that side.  Now turn it over.  Remember he could be anywhere...... Carefully spread it out.  No wasp on that side.

So now lets pick at the wallet.  I pushed it with the grill spatula.  I grabbed it and pried on it with the tongs.  I spent 15 minutes looking at the wallet for the wasp.  I put it in the freezer for an hour, then I took everything out of it.

No wasp.  Not in the wallet.  Not on the towel, not on the patio floor.  It is the story of the incredible vanishing wasp.  I hope I find him someday, before he finds me.  If you live in Cape Coral, be careful there is one really mad wasp out there somewhere.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Go

You don't need my permission.  You don't need anyone's permission.  Go.  Go love people.  Do it.  Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

My former Bishop, Robert Schnase wrote a book called, Just Say Yes.  It is about Pastors and churches that turn people loose for ministry.  Very few hoops to jump through.  Simply hear God's call and get after it.

Imagine a church, imagine a world where all of the Christians acted out their calling.  Where they spontaneously poured themselves into loving others, feeding the hungry and being the hands and feet of Jesus.  You could not draw an organizational chart of that.  It might drive the official board crazy and that would be good!

This is the world that God hopes for.  People just loving others- fast and furious.  If you are making everything come across your desk, stop it.  Create an environment of yes.  Turn people loose.  The most exciting part of being a Christian is being in ministry.... all of us can do that.  Just get up every day and love people.

Go.  GO.  GO!!!!

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.