I received this email from my friend Doug Ehrgott.   Doug sent this as a mass email, but it struck me down and really spoke to me.  Doug works with Horizon International serving AIDS orphans in Africa and around the world.

In a conversation this week with a church mission committee, they expressed to me that they were not having the results they anticipated for participation on their next Global Outreach team. I asked them how many people they had each invited to go on the trip. The silence was deafening. Then I asked if other people from their congregation who had been on a GO Team had be encouraged to invite others  to experience a GO Team.  It was apparent that this was a foreign concept.

The fact is inviting people into the life God has given us is one of the foundational truths of living out the Spirit lead life.  It is a primary characteristic of the Jesus style to invite others into our life and experiences. Another way of saying it would be to “call people out.” The word we use for church in the original language means, “called out ones.” We have been called out and it is part of our DNA to be involved in calling out others and inviting them to join us in the Way of Jesus…ie what he is doing in our life.

Not a day goes by that I seek to invite someone to GO to Africa with me. Just last night two cars stopped in front of my house. One was out of gas the other trying to help. Both cars were filled with teenagers who had just attended a local concert. One of the young ladies who was driving the gasless car came up to me as I was working in my garage and asked if she could borrow some gas. Fortunately we had just filled one of our spare cans for the lawn mowers. As I was pouring the gas into her car our conversation turned towards…you guessed it…Africa. I invited her to go with me some day. Amazingly she has just finished her nursing degree and wants to go to Africa and serve children. I gave her my card. I expect to see her on a GO Team with me soon. What if I had not “called her out?”

God has called you out and to himself. Who you calling out and to what.

Please pray for our team as we go to Uganda and conduct the African Pastors Conference.

Please pray about participating on one of our fall GO Teams. You can learn more about them on our website at horizoninternationalinc.com.

Blessings
Dance with God
 
Douglas Ehrgott
Global Team Builder
Horizon International

Do you hear the crickets chirping on this blog?   I have been such a slacker recently about blogging.  Once some time passes between posts I get this feeling that I need to blog about something great and worthwhile.  When that feeling doesn't get any inspiration, more time passes and it causes the feeling to increase.  Anxiety sets in and then...Oh well.  Nothing note worthy coming in this post.   Except to say that I'm missing the blogging world and that I'm sensing a pull back in.

Anybody relate?

I wanted to share a saying I read the other day about character.   I thought it was really good:

Watch your thoughts, They become your words.

Watch your words,  They become your actions.

Watch your actions, They become your habits.

Watch your habits,  They become your character.

Watch your character,  It becomes your destiny.

What do you think about this?

Here's the definition of a leech:

a person who clings to another for personal gain, esp. without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources; parasite. 

Here's the definition of a teacher:

a person who teaches or instructs.

Which one are you?  Hint:  you don't want to be the first one.

Think about your life and the people you spend time with.  Make sure you're adding value to the relationship.

I've had some people ask about my neighbor Steve who I wrote about in this post.  I wanted to post a quick update.   I finally saw another neighbor yesterday that had some information.   The word is that he's stable.  That's about as good as it is.  He's still on a ventilator and his kidneys are still having issues.  I guess he's more aware now.

It still blows me away how quickly a person can go downhill when an infection sets in.

Thanks for the prayers for Steve.  When I hear more I'll post another update.

I don't really know Steve.  He lives around the corner and down the street from me.   He's the guy that's always out walking his black Lab named Gus.

I say hello to Steve and I give him the "drive-by wave" as I pass by his house in my car.  But that's about where my relationship with Steve ends.

I found out last night from another neighbor that Steve is in the hospital.  An unexpected infection brought on from strep-throat sent Steve into the hospital.  Turns out that Steve isn't doing very well.  The infection took root in his lower right leg.  Within about a day or two, his body shut down because of the infection.  Yesterday, the doctors had to cut off his right leg below the knee.  They said that was the only hope to stop the infection from spreading.

Steve's the guy that's always out walking his dog.   Steve's the guy that's always out tinkering in the garage and working on his lawn.   Every neighborhood has a Steve.  Steve doesn't have part of his right leg anymore.

At least he's still alive you might say.   According to my neighbor, that's even touch and go at this point.   His kidneys have shut down and the doctors are hoping that they got the infection removed.   The next 24 hours are critical for survival.

I've been praying for Steve since I found out about his situation.  It's been troubling me since I found out.  How fragile this life is.  How quickly it can turn.

Hang in there Steve.

[image by johnwardell]

Oh to have the faith of a child.  Jesus said:
 
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:13-16)
 
An amazing thing happened this last week at Northview Church.  347 people stepped forward to be baptized in water by a spontaneous invitation from our Lead Pastor Steve Poe.  The invitation was spontaneous to the church members, but Northview had it planned out.  Every detail was accounted for to take away any excuse a person might make.  Shorts, tee-shirts, towels, changing rooms, hair dryers, etc.  All were present to remove any obstacle.  That is except fear.  Fear was the one obstacle that would still prevent a person from coming forward.   I have to imagine that as the team at Northview were planning for this service if they wondered how many people would step forward.   How do you plan for a movement of God?  You can't.  You just pray and hope the Spirit moves people.
 
The Spirit did indeed move people.  At the Saturday night service they ran out of dry supplies and people were literally wringing out wet clothes to let others use them.  Those in attendance that had previously been baptized in water cheered for each person that stepped forward.   Our hearts were touched as so many responded in obedience to God by getting baptized.
 
The Spirit is indeed moving at Northview. 

The best part of the weekend?   My son Camden prayed to accept Jesus into his life on Saturday night.  Holli and I are so proud of him.  He's talked about it in the past, but this time I truly feel like he understood and was ready.   What a blessing as a parent to help him make that decision and pray with him.  Camden decided on Sunday morning to step forward and get baptized too.  He was one of the 347.

I got to walk with him up the stage and back to the changing rooms.  

I got to accompany him to the stage and helped him into the water tank.  

I got to watch as he confirmed to Steve that he has committed his life to live for Jesus.  

I got to watch as he was dunked and brought back up.   

I got to help him out of the tank and hug and squeeze him so tight.   

I got to tell him how proud I was of him. 

Later that day, completely unprompted, Camden says to me "Dad, I just feel different now".   "You know why that is?" I asked him.   "That's the Spirit living inside of you now." 

Childlike Faith.   That's all Jesus tells us that we need.  If you are reading this and you don't think you have ever prayed to ask Jesus to be a part of your life, you can do that right now. 

Just pray something like this: 

"God, I've sinned against you.  I've made mistakes.  I ask that you forgive my sins and come into my life.   I believe that Jesus died so that my sins can be freely forgiven by you.   I believe that Jesus paid my price.   Right now I pray that you fill me with your Spirit and lead me in a life focused on you.  Amen." 

If you pray this prayer, the Bible says that the angels in heaven rejoice over your decision. (Luke 15:10) 

[image by >wouteR<]

If you have questions about what I wrote, please feel free to contact me privately using the Contact link above.  I'd be happy to talk with you.

I was driving today and tried to merge over to the right.  The car behind me sped up and wouldn't let me over.  I was already in the process of merging, so I had to swing back into my lane.   No biggie.  I didn't honk.  I didn't flip out.  I didn't do anything.   

So, the car on the right passes me and I then do my merge right.  As soon as I get into the lane the girl in the car in front of me flips me off.   Come on!  Must we treat people this way?   Must we get so angry from such a simple thing and decide to give the finger? 

As the receipient of the finger, my blood immediately started to boil.   I wanted to honk!   I wanted to tailgait!   I wanted to flip her off.   But I didn't.   I just smiled.  

A small wooden cross hangs from the rear view mirror in my car.   It's a good reminder to love others.  It's a good reminder to not be so uptight.  It's a good reminder to calm down.

Thank you Jesus for the cross.

[image by jennerally]

I was at an arcade with my son Camden recently and he wanted to play Whack-A-Mole.  He pumped in the token and started whacking.  At first, he was in the rhythm.  He was smacking those moles with pretty good precision.  For a split second, he got off balance. From that point on his rhythm was off he wasn't hitting the moles as he did in the beginning.

My point?  The thing I realized while observing this is that many times in life we can be in rhythm and doing quite well.  Then something happens to throw us off.  If we try to keep going without resetting our mind or actions, we will be out of balance.  Our rhythm will be off.

The next time you start to feel off-balance, stop, reset and then proceed. 

What do you think?  Post a comment or share a story below.

I had a great think day yesterday.  It was really good to get out of my normal routine and spend some time planning and thinking.  Like I said yesterday, my goal is to do this once a month.  My main focus is to spend some time thinking about bigger picture ideas and directions for my life and business.

Here are 7.5 ideas to help jumpstart your own Pray Day, Think Day, Dream Day:

1. Carry a notepad with you where ever you go.  As you move about the day, ideas will come to you and you'll need a place to jot them down.

2. Change environments.  Make sure you don't spend all of your time at one place. 

3. Don't be isolated all day.  Go out for lunch and talk to people.   I chose to eat alone (which I really enjoy), but I did chat with my server and host at the restaurant.  Just getting some social interaction helps clear your mind from the focus of the morning.

4. Ideas come at random times.  Break up your idea sessions by thinking about lots of different topics.  When I'm thinking about one topic an idea/concept for a completely separate topic becomes clear in my mind.   Write it down then.

5. Don't go entirely web-based.  Use paper and a pen.  Nothing beats a good old notepad and pen for brainstorming.

6. Watch a video on TED.com.   There are a lot of creative speakers and awesome ideas to be found on TED.com.   The point is to free your mind to dream about other ideas and concepts which will lead to focus on the topics you're pondering.    Here's a link to a video I watched yesterday by Seth Godin on Tribes:  http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html

7. Read a non-industry or unrelated book.  I was doing some business planning most of the day yesterday, so I chose to spend some time periods reading my Bible.  It allowed my mind to rest on the business ideas and gave me fresh perspectives when I returned.

7.5 Be prepared for a bit a catch-up the following day.  You might feel behind, but the time you take to get away is so much more valuable than the time it will take to play a bit of catch-up.

So, there you have it.  Now GO.  Schedule a day in your calendar to escape and do your own think day.  Let me know how it turns out for you!

[image by chris gin]