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Your Year in One Sentence

How would you like to summarize the way in which you lived in 12 months from now? What stories do you desire to be told and retold after 2014? This year will be filled with thousands of decisions and each decision is made one at a time from brushing your teeth to making a career change. Consider the following as a simple way to keep you on track this year.

Acts 3:15 says the Author of life was killed that implies there is a coauthor. Consider since Christ is the Author of life and in the book To Be Told by Dan Allender considers us to be the coauthors of life, what story are you creating this year? How would you co-author your coming year alongside the Author of life? What story do you desire to create? God allows us free choice and to make decisions that help us live life abundantly.

Write down a log line (plot summary- one sentence) about what story you desire to co-author this year?

Stop and pause about God be the Author of life and that he gives you a choice to coauthor your life with Him.

Come back to this one sentence as needed to keep you focused and on track for a fresh new beginning in 2014.

Looking for another way to stay on track. Consider joining others in intentional reading plan. Right now we are reading the book of Acts and To Be Told. If you are interested let me know and I can add you to the group.

2014 Focused Reading List for Men

Join me and others in an intentional effort to focus our limited time to improve ourselves as men, husbands, and fathers. The books selected below were chosen in several different ways, but primarily I wanted the books to push me to become a person who is intentionally living loved and leading others to do the same.

If you would be interested in joining a (online and McKinney) mens only group that would process these books and how we were growing up to 2 times a month please leave a comment below.

If you desire to grow, but don't read, consider joining by listening to the audio books.

I believe this effort can be as beneficial as a mentor and coach when combined with the right band of brothers.

Jump in and let's see what God can do through us in January and beyond.

9 Years...

Well Jessica is out doing herself with creating this collage on her blog so I stole it from her...I think I have rights to it as well. Here's to 9 years of living a loved life with my beloved and walking a humble story with God. 

What would you do with 20 seconds of insane courage?

Encouraging Words from Phil Robertson

Awake My Soul

In keeping with this theme of Awakening a Generation one of my favorite passages is in Ezekiel 37 about the dry bones in a valley and God breathing life into dry bones. May God come into your mind, body, and soul and breath life into you today. Read the passage from Ezekiel and listen to this song.

Which ship will you choose?

This past Sunday's class with the teens was titled "Awaken A Generation." The premise lies in what I see when teaching, preaching, and interacting with people is this appearance of being asleep (Matt.26:45) and or numb (Eph. 4:18). I admit there was a great tension in my own soul as I prepared for class that the enemy was throwing lies out to me in hopes that I would make agreements with those lies. The lies of discouragement that Jesus does not provide an abundant life, but the truth in John 10:10 is that he came to give a life filled with joy and the first part of the verse rightly shows that Satan is here to steal, kill, and destroy my soul. Knowing this battle which exist in John 10:10, I believe we have to be aware of the difference of the abundant life Jesus is calling us to live in.

The abundant life is one where we are engaged in battle for the Kingdom at large versus this mentality that the Kingdom of God is about me and my pleasure to take in and consume what I desire. I believe in order for a generation to come alive I need to climb on the battleship and get off the me centric crusie ship. Throughout the Bible and in our lives today scripture points toward a battle in which we must be prepared. One of the primary sources of truth and grace is found in Ephesians 6:10-18.

My prayer is for a generation and families to come awake to the glory of God. Engage in the battle on the right ship. There is a thief coming to steal, kill, and destroy. Awake...my soul (Eph.14).

The Choices We Make...

"The choices we make reveal the true character of our nature."

Community. Transparency. Authenticity.

It seems like we all desire to be in community with one another. To lay down our life for each other, but then the sacrifices which are required for community stop us because of the fear. The fear of being transparent. The fear of being authentic. The fear of living out of our true character. Or possibly we are living out our true character. I choose to believe there is more for all of us and to know our true character is deep within us once we experience this community that is represented in this commercial.

Watch this commercial to see what I am referring to.

First Marathon with Team Mercy Project

On December 8, 2013, I will join hundreds of runners as they embark on a 26.2 mile or 13.1 mile journey through the streets of Bryan, College Station, and Texas A&M University in the Scott & White BCS Marathon + Half Marathon. In its third year, this race is the largest marathon in Texas outside of the four major metropolitan areas and remains the highest-ranked marathon in the state! The purpose of the race is to help promote healthy lifestyles, showcase our great community, and aid charities that are seeking to help children locally and globally.

The race is put on by Mercy Project, a B/CS-based non-profit working to eradicate child slavery in Ghana, Africa. To do this, Mercy Project is implementing economic development projects in fishing villages in Ghana where an estimated 7,000 children work as modern day slaves. These new economic opportunities provide an alternative to the forced child labor present today. To learn more, you can visit their website at www.mercyproject.net.

For this year's marathon, 50 runners are joining together to make up Team Mercy Project. We have each pledged to use our BCS Marathon experience to raise money that will go directly towards Mercy Project's work in Ghana. Please consider helping me raise my pledged amount and help us transform the lives of the children in Ghana. 

Please go here to my personal fundraising page to support the Mercy Project and Team Mercy in the marathon on December 8th.