Faith Training Exercises

Jesus said the most important thing for us to do is love God and love others. (Mark 12:30-31) Faith Training includes the same elements as physical training*…

Healthy Diet – Read God’s Word!
Read and obey the Bible to provide proper nutrition to fuel your body, mind , and soul.

Aerobic Training – Participate in worship together!
Strengthen your heart by aligning your heart with God’s heart as you worship together and care for one another.

Strength Training – Serve others!
Develop strength and stamina by putting your faith in action everyday. Find a way to share God’s love in a tangible way everyday.

Stretching – Share your story!
Stretch your faith by sharing your “grace story” in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Core Training – Pray specifically!
Develop a strong connection between upper (God) and lower (us) elements by having consistent quality time in prayer. A strong core makes it easier to do almost every other activity!

Balance Training – Get into a Small Group!
Balance usually deteriorates with age which can lead to falls and fractures. Following Jesus together with others can keep you from falling into temptation.

*Physical fitness routines include a healthy diet (fuel), aerobic training (heart), strength training (muscles), stretching (range of motion), core training (strong connection between upper and lower), and balance training (to keep from falling).

Live Love Everyday

Here is a reading I made based on 1 Corinthians 13 to help create love in our homes everyday. Try reading it together to begin each day…

Live Love Everyday
1 Corinthians 13

“So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” 13:3 The Message

Today I will be patient!

Today I will be kind!

Today I will not be jealous!

Today I will not be arrogant!

Today I will put others before myself!

Today I will not be rude!

Today I will not demand my own way!

Today I won’t be irritable!

Today I will forgive those who hurt me!

Today I will mourn with those who mourn!

Today I will rejoice with those who rejoice!

Today I will not give up!

Today I will trust God!

Today I will look for the best!

Today I will persevere!

Books I Plan To Read In 2010

Primal – Mark Batterson

Purple Cow – Godin

Prayer – Yancey

A Game Plan for Life – Wooden

Game Plan for Life – Gibbs

Missional Renaissance – McNeal

Extreme Grandparenting – Kimmel

Favorite Books I Read in 2009

A friend of mine made a list of his favorite books that he had read in 2009, so I thought I would do the same…

Wild Goose Chase – Mark Batterson
This book reminded me that following Christ has an element of mystery and danger. For over a year it challenged me to “do something.” Now I often wonder, “Is my guardian angel bored?”

100 Ways To Motivate Others – Steve Chandler
Great practical ideas for leaders in business, education, volunteer organizations, parents, etc…

It - Craig Groeschel
This is the best book about church ministry I have read in the last year. “It” is that unexplainable attraction that draws people to church. Craig offers the idea of having a ministry “to don’t” list. He says, “just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.” At a time when we are wrestling with missional vs attractional models of church, Craig offers some helpful insight into local church ministry.

Crazy Love – Francis Chan
Almost every page of this book of mine is “dog-eared.” Francis is one of the best at helping me keep falling in love with God and not just go through the motions. I love his profile of the lukewarm and profile of the obsessed.

Have a New Kid by Friday – Kevin Leman
Leman gives a five-day action plan to transform our children. First, we need to realize that our job as parents isn’t to create happy children! He states that homes should be based on love, mutual respect, and accountability. We, as parents, are the key to changing our kids thinking and actions. Dr Leman also gives helpful advice on over 100 of the hottest parenting topics.

Axiom - Bill Hybels
This book is a treasure chest full of 76 leadership lessons from Hybel’s more than three decades as senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church.

Change Your Heart Change Your Life – Dr Gary Smalley
This book seemed a bit different than Smalley’s other books I’ve read – more personal. In it he says, “the key to a fulfilling life is finding the best and most truthful thoughts to think on – day and night – storing them up in your own heart as beliefs.” I found it helpful in replacing destructive thoughts with the truth.

Killing Cockroaches – Tony Morgan
In an easy to read format, Tony shares his insights about everything from marketing and web site design to team building to worship planning to leadership development. And when he doesn’t have an answer, he asks intriguing questions!

Making Vision Stick – Andy Stanley
A small book with BIG ideas on communicating vision effectively.

Deliberate Simplicity – Dave Browning
This book shares fresh insights into the missional model and how a church does more by doing less.

Think Orange – Reggie Joiner
This is the book on the family and the church working together to show the next generations who God is.

Date Nights

Is your marriage getting stale? Are you too predictable? Want to put a little fun and romance back in your relationship? Try having a Date Night!

Date Nights are simply prearranged times for husbands and wives to spend quality time having fun together without any kids (before we got married we used to call it “dating”). They don’t have to be expensive. Some won’t cost you a thing.

I recommend having at least one date night each month as a start. Ideally, a couple could work up to having a date night once a week. Here are a few simple ideas…

Go out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.   Go to a movie. Go for a walk. Go dancing. Go bowling. Go to a museum. Go to a bed & breakfast. Go out for your favorite dessert.  Pop some popcorn and watch a romantic movie.           Have a water fight with super-soakers.  Do something you’ve never done.        Play a board game.   Design your dream house. Go through your old pictures.  Go on an afternoon date. Write each other a love letter.

What you do is not important. What is important is that you take some time to remember why you got married in the first place.

For more ideas check out these books:

Fun & Creative Dates for Married Couples

40 Unforgettable Dates with Your Mate

Hand-off or Hail Mary?

I love to watch football (and play it). There are two plays that stand out to me. The first is the hand-off. The quarterback precisely hands the ball to a runningback in the middle of chaos all around them. The runningback then follows his lead blockers and makes a mad dash for the endzone. The second play is the Hail-Mary. This is a spectacular play in the last moments of a game when the quarterback sends everyone to the endzone and throws the ball and prays someone on his team catches it. When the catch is made its amazing. But most of the time it fails. Which play is more effective in scoring? Definitely the hand-off. Why is the hand-off more effective? The closer we are, the better chance we have to get the ball in the hands of the intended receiver.

I think the same is true when it comes to passing our faith to the next generation. Instead of waiting until the last moment and throwing up a prayer and hoping someone catches the ball (our faith), it is much more effective to hand-off our faith to our kids.

If we are going to have the best chance at making an effective hand-off we need two things…

We must nurture loving relationships so we are close enough to hand-off our faith. We must make it our goal to create love in our homes everyday.

“Never let a day go by without a little love in your life.”

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 together with your family and live it everyday.

If we are going to pass our faith to the next generation we must have a faith worth passing! We must be examples. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 the Apostle Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Jesus.” We should be able to say that others. “Follow me the way I follow Jesus and you will be alright.” In 1 Timothy 4:12 we are told to be an example in our speech, life, love, faith, and purity. We need to do the right thing in our talk, our life, our love, our faith, and our purity.

The key is to be CONSISTENT! We must be consistent in our love and consistent in our example.

Mom and Dad, I Need…

Mom and Dad,

I need to see you love each other, so I know that marriage works!

I need to hear that you’re proud of me, so I can feel good about myself!

I need your Christ-like example, so the path I should follow is clear!

I need you to respect my choices, so I know that you trust me!

I need to learn to sacrifice and help others, so I know I can make a difference!

I need to see you pursuing God, so I know that loving God is the most important thing in the world!

I need to see your faith in action, so I know that God is real!

I need clear boundaries, so I know I am safe!

I need you to be there for me in good times and bad times, so I know you love me no matter what I do!

I need to see your trust in Jesus, so I can trust Jesus too!

I need a Christian worldview and godly values, so I can learn to make wise choices!

I need you to take time to listen to me – not just hear what I’m saying, so I believe you want to understand me!

I need significant others in my life, so I can go to them when it’s tough to come to you!

I need you to let me fail sometimes. Don’t always rescue me. I need to discover some things for myself!

I need to hear you say, “I’m sorry.” so I can learn how to forgive!

I don’t need everything I say I want. Saying “no” shows me you care!

Leadership Lessons From Brett Favre

Here is a great blog by Mark Batterson. I thought it was appropriate during our Game Plan series…

“I was doing a video interview for our leadership retreat and Heather Zempel, our Discipleship Pastor, asked me if there were any leadership lessons to be learned from Brett Favre. Seriously? How much time do we have? I could have gone all day long. Just thought I’d share seven of them.

1) Slap your teammates on the butt.

No one does it better than Favre. Great leaders are great encouragers! They go around slapping people on the butt, figuratively speaking of course! Love the way he head butts his lineman too. Again, I would practice this one figuratively!

2) Call an audible.

On this one I’d say that the only quarterback who is better at it than Favre is Peyton Manning. Great leaders recognize when there are eight men in the box and they need to audible to a quick slant or screen pass. Leadership is not static. It takes all factors into consideration. It is the ability to process a ton of information in a short amount of time and make a good quick decision!

3) Throw a block downfield

One of the things I love about Favre is that he’s not afraid to throw a block for his teammates. Quarterbacks don’t do that. Favre does. Great leaders are great servants. They set the example they want others to follow.

4) Laugh in the locker room.

No one has more fun than Favre. Plays the game like a kid. Anybody see his rendition of Pants on the Ground after the game? Gotta love it. I think laughter is so critical to leadership longevity, especially in ministry! There’s lots of crying so you need to counterbalance it with lots of laughing!

5) Huddle Up

Favre exudes confidence when he’s in the game. You’re never out of it with the old gunslinger in your huddle. I think great leaders build the confidence of those around them. Love the way Drew Brees does this in New Orleans too! Amazing pre-game chants!

6) Keep Watching Game Film

Favre has played the game for eighteen seasons, but he puts in the time watching game films. After every series you can see him coaching his young receivers and looking at pictures from the coaches booth. Leaders keep learning and keep teaching!

7) Don’t be afraid of throwing interceptions.

Favre had his career-best when it came to interceptions this season, but he holds the all-time interception record. Lesson? If you want to hold the record for most touchdown passes you’re probably going to throw some interceptions along the way! Great leaders aren’t afraid of making mistakes. They’re afraid of missing opportunities! Win or lose, they leave it all on the field.”

Good stuff!

A Little Love

My wife, Becci, and I spent a couple of hours together at our local Barnes & Noble the other night. It was nice. Maybe not quite a date night, but then again we were alone without the kids.

I glanced through a few books and found this statement…

“Never let a day go by without a little love in your life.”

That really struck me. I want to love others, especially my wife and kids, everyday. I want to love God, love others and prove it everyday!

At the close of each day I want to be able to answer these two questions…

How did I love God today?
How did I love others today?

GAME PLAN

In the first week of our GAME PLAN series I talked about four Faith @ Home Fundamentals…
1. Read Together (see 2 Timothy 3:15-17)
We don’t read the Bible to finish, we should read the Bible to change!

2. Pray Together (see Colossians 1:9-10)
We should pray together to get to know God better not just to get what we want from God.

3. Serve Together (see Philippians 2:3-7)
When we help others we are really helping Jesus!

4. Play Together (see entire Bible)
God created us for His pleasure and each other’s!

God will not love us any more for doing these things. We will love God more as we do these things!

These Faith @ Home Fundamentals will give us the “home field advantage” over our opponents and help us win at home!

These Faith @ Home Fundamentals will distinguish us as families who “follow Jesus together – loving, seeking, and serving others.”

Which Faith @ Home Fundamental should your family work on over the next 90 days?