Farewell Hogan

Today we said goodbye to our American Bulldog, Hogan. His nicknames too many to mention; Hoganator, Hognation, and the Hoggipottamus. This was totally unexpected and out of the blue. Took him to our vet for a stomach problem and x-rays showed two blockages in his intestines. They sent us straight to the veterinary hospital and an ultrasound done to prepare for surgery revealed cancer all over his belly. We thought we were taking him for surgery to clear the blockages and would bring him home the next day. The doctor was surprised too.

We adopted Hogan last May, after I had some serious medical stuff and surgery. I can't begin to describe the comfort he brought me in recovery and how fast he bonded with our family. Hogan was gentle and loving. He especially loved kids and other dogs. Hogan's trademark was a raised paw to touch you without being asked to "shake". I had no idea that yesterday's walk would be our last one together. I'm gonna miss that ol' bully.

I've accompanied several church members over the years who had to euthanize an animal. I'm a lover by nature so extinguishing life, any life is painful for me. As Hogan was given the first injection that would put him to sleep, I couldn't help but think of that verse in the creation story (Genesis) where God puts man in charge of ALL living things and creatures. He called us to be good stewards of His creation and Hogan was a true testimony of God's creation. The comfort that 100 lb., gentle giant brought was way more than the love and care we extended to him. That is indeed a wonderful gift from God. Thank you God for the gift of Your creatures and Your creation!

Goodbye old friend. You warmed our hearts and our home. I pray we can bring as much comfort to the people God puts in front of us on our life journey as you have us.

p.s. A special thanks to Juli and Tim for bringing Hogan into our lives!

Happy for the Saints!

Congratulations to the New Orlean Saints on their Superbowl win! They won it and played a great game. Kudos for their first ever title!

I've been a diehard Colts fan since the early 80's when I covered their "Mayflower move in the night" from Baltimore to Indy as a radio news reporter. Colts fans suffered through many hapless seasons before Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy arrived. We cheered our team during a coaching carousel that included talent like Harbaugh, Dickerson, George, and Faulk, but everything changed in 1998 when Peyton Manning was drafted. The Naptown sleepers suddenly became contenders with the football mind and coaching of Dungy leading with the arm and mental toughness of Peyton Manning. Watching Peyton orchestrate a final minutes drive is like poetry. However, last night it was not to be when he was picked off late in the game for a touchdown that sealed the Saints run for the title.

My team lost, but guess what? I got a full night of sleep last night and the sun came up this morning! It's not the end of the world. It's only a game. Yes, a big game, but it's still just a game. Sometimes fans live and die with their teams on field/court wins and losses. It's one thing to be a fan and cheer for your team, but it's another matter to let a game dictate your mood, attitude and life. I love the Colts but I don't worship them, or even my Kentucky Wildcats. My life model, purpose and joy come through the person of Christ not a ball team, job, bank account, car or golf game.

So celebrate New Orleans and Saints fans! Enjoy the win, you deserve it! You played your hearts out and I'm happy for you. Savor the win and redeem the time with your city and fans. Ok, now where did I put my Colts playbook? I need to review some things and give Peyton and Coach Caldwell a call before training camp, ha!

Linchpins Needed!

Marketing guru and author, Seth Godin has released his latest book, Linchpin. What is a linchpin? The linchpin is a little piece of hardware that helps keep a wheel on an axle. Without it your wheels fall off and you can't go anywhere. Linchpins are small but incredibly important. Godin says you can be a linchpin, "The only way to get what you're worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about."

Linchpins are people who make things happen regardless of their title. Notes on the book from the publisher:

There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there's a third team, the linchpins. These people invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there's no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.

Business, industry, education, families, churches, and even athletic teams need linchpins. Who are the linchpins in your life? Who made a difference? Who connected you, encouraged you, helped solve problems, cheered you on, or poured themselves into your education, work, life and family?

Churches are full of linchpins. We can't move without them. They are dependable, faithful, responsible, creative and most of them do what they do with little fanfare or notoriety. A linchpin in the world of faith isn't trying to bring attention to him/herself. They are more concerned about others. They are towel and basin people taking their cues from Jesus in John 13 when He washed the disciples' feet.

Got a linchpin in your life? Nominate them at http://www.squidoo.com/linchpin/hq

Wired Kids and Divided Attention

A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation reveals some scary numbers on the daily media usage of 8 to 18 year olds. Thanks to 24-hour media access and readily available media the study found that 8 to 18 year olds spend a little over 7 ½ hours a day using “entertainment media” (texting, watching tv, online gaming, etc.). The study further found that “because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.” Since the 2004 version of this study this represents an increase of 2+ hours a day!

This is not casual research either. According to the Kaiser Foundation: Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds is the third in a series of large-scale, nationally representative surveys by the Foundation about young people's media use. It includes data from all three waves of the study (1999, 2004, and 2009), and is among the largest and most comprehensive publicly available sources of information about media use among American youth.

Since the 2004 study media ownership and access has exploded. Among all 8 to 18-year olds:
• 76% own an iPod/MP3 Player compared to 18% just six years ago.
• 66% own a cell phone compared to 39% in 2004.
• 29% own a laptop compared to 12% in 2004.

And the detailed breakdown of their time spent with each media in a typical day?
• 4:29 hours spent on television
• 2:31 listening to music/audio
• 1:29 on computers
• 1:13 on video games
• :38 on print media
• :25 on movies

60% of their “computer time” is spent social networking, playing games and visiting video sites like, You Tube, etc. Of all media usage the lowest form by far is books, magazines and newspapers. Before we tie this to poor academic performance the study found that 65% of light, moderate and heavy media users get good grades!

The majority of those surveyed said their parents have no rules regarding their time spent using television, music, computers and video games. Given the usage statistics I would say that’s obvious. Draw your own conclusions and see the research for yourself at Kaiser Foundation.

This research confirms what I see every day in the culture. I’ll resist the temptation to make several comments and let the research speak for itself. One thought: If students are using media a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day (the figure includes multi-tasking), how much time are they spending with their parents and family? Add in 7-8 hours of sleep and there’s not much time left for family conversation. It would be interesting to note the research figures for adult usage of the same media. How much time are Mom and Dad spending on media each day? Add the two together and we probably wouldn’t like what we see. Our attention is clearly divided.

A Heart for Haiti

Today we are all Haitians! We join our brothers and sisters who have been victimized by the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince. Thousands are dead and what little infrastructure that existed before the quake is demolished. Relief agencies and governments around the world are responding. How can you and I help?
We can pray! We can cry out Psalm 61:2 on behalf of the Haitian people:

Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

In addition to the Red Cross International we can give through the following Christian relief agencies (click on links below):
Samaritan's Purse
World Vision
Salvation Army Disaster Relief
NAMB Disaster Relief

We can give blood and plasma at our local blood bank. Blood is life and by donating you help keep the local, state, national and international supply going because international disasters drain the supply globally. For those in our area you can call The Blood Connection which serves Greenville and surrounding communities with multiple locations: (800) 392-6551 ext. 1029

"Holy Father, comfort the Haitian people today. Bring relief, aid and comfort as only You can. May those who grieve know that they do not grieve or mourn alone in their loss. Intercede as the Great Physician for the many who are wounded and injured. Give strength and tireless energy to the medical teams. Empower the relief agencies around the world who are in route and on the scene to provide aid. Prompt those of us far away to remember this disaster in our prayers and to give out of our abundance and safe circumstances. May Your church rise to a level of prayer, aid, help and witness that honors the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Grow the seeds of the gospel that are being sown through people who are being the hands of Christ on the ground. May you be glorified through all of this. In Jesus name we pray, Amen."

Take Off Your Mask!

We're in a new teaching series at our church on our core values. Sunday was on the value of authentic character. We were encouraged to examine the masks we wear when we pretend to be something or someone we're not.

People wear masks at work, in school, around their neighbors, at church, and even in marriage. Often we wear masks because we're afraid we won't be accepted just the way we are. We pretend to be someone we think other people will like, or want us to be. Perhaps one of the most painful experiences is being part of a church where people wear masks and no one is free to be themselves. The emphasis is not on what's inside, but how you look on the outside. It's about the image we portray, or create. Imagine the effort and energy it takes to keep up such a facade!

The church should actually be the last place on earth where we have to pretend to be someone we're not. The Gospel is about being liberated from such strongholds. Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 3:17: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. In Galatians he notes that Christ frees us from our masks: For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

In his book, Scandalous Freedom, Steve Brown writes: The church should be a place where we can say anything and know we won’t be kicked out, where we can confess our sins knowing others will help us, where we can disagree and still be friends. It ought to be the one place in the world where we don’t have to wear masks. And, should that happen, the world ----where phoniness is the standard will flock to our doors. Why? Because freedom, genuine freedom, is an attractive commodity.

I am thankful to be part of a faith community that values authenticity. They accept me as I am. I don't have to be someone else. They know I'm imperfect and messed up. However, they don't believe the freedom that comes with authenticity is a license to live without accountability. They know that with freedom comes great responsibility. And that's the reason they pray for me, encourage me and help me to attempt to follow Christ. They understand that Christ accepts me the way I am, but He doesn't want to leave me there. With His help I am being transformed into the person He wants me to be. Mask-wearing churches focus on conformity. Churches that value authenticity emphasize grace that relies on God's ability to transform a life. There's a big difference!

In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about two men who went to the temple to pray. One is a mask-wearer and the other takes off his mask. While it may not always be "pretty" or appear "together", I'm going with the faith community who accepts the second man's prayer:

⁹He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' ¹³But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

P.S. Props to former baseball slugger, Mark McGwire for taking off his mask!

Living OTE

I have a few close friends and family members who are living "On the Edge" (OTE). Living OTE can be good and bad. If you are OTE of disaster, depression, job loss, illness, financial ruin, and addiction it can be uncertain and unsettling. However, you can also live OTE of a new job, a wedding, the birth of a child, retirement, opportunities to serve others, dinner with old friends, vacation, visting family, etc. Those are OTE experiences to savor, crave, redeem and anticipate.

My take? Everyone lives OTE of something every day. Now we may not know it, ignore it, or deny it, but all of us are OTE of something. It could be good or bad. It could be profitable or costly. People who worry, control types, uptight and negative people have a lot of trouble living OTE. Optimists (not the club), laid back folks and those with a sense of humor seem to handle OTE experiences better than most.

This time last year, I was OTE of serious health challenges. It would be late February before I knew just how serious. Not long after, we had a graduation and wedding in our family so I was OTE of something good. Living OTE of something good is never fully appreciated unless you have lived OTE of darkness, fear and uncertainty. Perspective is a great teacher indeed. But we have to be willing to learn.

As we begin a new decade, I pray we will exercise peace, wisdom and faithfulness while living OTE of darkness. May it result in a heart of gratitude and deeper appreciation for those moments OTE that bring joy and laughter. Psalm 23 is a great example of someone who has figured out how to live OTE of darkness and goodness. What a great place to begin 2010!