Footprints

Our Connect Group from church met on Tuesday to discuss Chapter 1 of the Divine Conspiracy.  Willard opens the book by talking about some of the reasons for the  moral depravity that is rampant in our world today.  While public schools are all about following rules, they are forbidden to give credit to where those rules originated.  Even private universities that were started by religious organizations may  have some of the brightest minds as it comes to ethics, but would never actually  expect students to adhere to the ethics they are learning about.  Our social culture is governed by cute slogans and bumper stickers like “just do it”  and even for Christians “I’m not perfect, just forgiven”.    The movies and television we watch, the music we listen to, and the fb posts we write all seem to control or mirror the world we live in.  But every person has inside of himself some drive for significance -  a desire to leave a positive mark with our life footprint.  By seeking to understand that drive, we can get a clearer picture of God and his plan for us while we are here.  But this isn’t the whole story.  We are just half way through the first chapter.  Stay tuned.

Carolines

Many of you have met my wife of 32 years, Caroline, or at least heard me talk about her in previous posts.  My son, Michael, works with me, and he and his wife, Emily, have blessed us with two grandsons, Evan and Levi.   Lizzy is my daughter, who is married to Trey, and we were all excited to welcome our first granddaughter to the world yesterday.  She is 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19” long - and perfect, as you can imagine.  I am so excited to have her here and know that she is in for the time of her life with Lizzy and Trey as parents.   I am sure that they will do an amazing job giving her every opportunity to discover God in everything she experiences.  She is getting a great jump-start with the name Caroline Ann, named after her two grandmothers who are both fantastic examples of the kind of woman we hope she will be.

Divine Conspiracy

Our Connect Groups at The Vine Church are starting up again for the fall season.   My friend, Dan, and myself will be leading a group at our house on Tuesday evenings.  We will be reading and studying “The Divine Conspiracy” by Dallas Willard.  I reported on this book in the past and received some enthusiastic responses which I very much enjoyed.  If anyone would like to join us in person, I believe there are still a few slots remaining.  If you are not able to join us, I would also invite you to read along with us.  You can reply or private message me.

In His Wakes

When I was growing up, Kristi Overton was a world record holding water skier.  You may recognize her last name from one of the world’s largest watersports companies, Overton’s.  That company was started by her parents.  Back in the day, I received a catalog every month tempting me with the latest water toys.   Not surprisingly, over 95% of their business is now online at www.overtons.com. Kristi has passed her prime as a world record water skier, but she is making her mark by putting a twist on the sport that she still loves. She has started a ministry called InHisWakes. The organization exists to give kids a chance to experience water sports who might not have a chance to otherwise. I love that Kristi found a way to combine her love for skiing with her love for Jesus.  Check out her site for more information on how to support or be involved.

Clemson Gets It Right

Bob and Diane Saville are my neighbors at Lake Hartwell.   We see them frequently boating on the lake with their family enjoying water sports.   Their son David is one of the happiest people I know.  He is always the first to wave from the boat, the first one to greet me when I pull up beside them and the first one to tell me about what he is most excited about that day.  David has just graduated from Clemson University and held an important position on the Clemson Tigers football team.  This highlight video is all about David.  It is about 10 minutes long, but if you  have the time,  I will guarantee you this will be the most inspiring 10 minutes of your day.

Abby Normal

Please excuse the vague reference to this classic moment from Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein”.  Igor mistakenly picks out the wrong brain for Dr. Frankenstein’s life-generating experiment.  The brain was labeled ABNormal – pronounced Abby Normal by Igor.    I couldn’t help but remember that movie as I started to read this book from John Ortberg – Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them.   I have just started it, but his premise is that while people may seem normal on the outside, we are all ABNormal when you really get to know us.   We are all broken creatures in need of our Savior.  And our biggest need after knowing our Savior, is knowing each other.   Ortberg spends the first couple of chapters talking about community and how we can find it.  Let me hear from you if you  have read this one or if  you would like to read along with me.

 

The Vine II

I mentioned in an earlier post that my church, The Vine, would be opening a second location in Flowery Branch.  We had our “soft” opening last Sunday.  Our leadership; had hoped for around 50 people at our first service.  270 showed up.  And that was with no promotion outside of our church family.  I was excited to be a part of the first service there and can’t wait to see what God has in store for us.  If you are in the area come see us!