A good friend of mine recently ran a marathon.  He said that at around mile 21 he reached a group of young guys handing out drinks to the runners.  Well as you can imagine, he was more than happy to see them after running for over 3 hours!  He said that he was craving something to drink and reached out and grabbed the cup.  As he was lifting it toward his face he caught a whiff of what was in the cup.  It wasn't water or Gatorade.  It was a big cup of beer.  My friend said that while he thought about it for a moment, he decided that it was not the right time or place...he wasn't quite ready to live the high life!  However, the guys running behind him reached for a cup or two and began chugging the beer.  Shortly thereafter they were speeding by my friend like he was sitting still.  It was as if the barley and hops had put a little hop in their step.  It wasn't long however until my friend caught back up to them, and they were sick on the side of the road.  Like my friend they were craving something to drink, but they had reached for the wrong thing.  I often see this happen in the race of life as well.

I meet a lot of people who desperately want their life to have meaning, significance, and purpose.  They have a thirst for knowing why they were even born.  The problem for many is that they continually reach out and grab a hold of the wrong thing to quench that thirst.  Maybe you connect with what I'm saying?  You have jumped from job to job, hobby to hobby, or even from relationship to relationship hoping to find happiness and meaning in life.  We often think the next promotion or job will bring us that feeling of purpose and meaning.  Then one day we reach out far enough and we get the big job or promotion,  At first we are off and running, but it isn't long until we feel like we are over on the side of the road broke down and beat down.  Then we are really confused!  Where does meaning come from in this race we call life? 

Over the next few weeks we will begin to unfold God's amazing purpose for your life.  Yes, you were created for a purpose!  This week we will begin by answer the question, "What on earth am I here for?"  And don't forget that our Saturday night service launches at 4:45 this weekend!

I went to see the move Slumdog Millionaire this week.  This is one of those movies that will allow you to travel into an area of the world most of us will never visit...the slums of India.  On the other hand, it will also take you to the most beautiful part of India as well.  As Robert Ebert said in his review, this is a movie that will "present the real India" to all moviegoers.  It reveals just how quickly you can go from one area where there is extreme wealth to being in an area where you will witness the most extreme form of poverty.  As you well know I am slightly ADD, which means a movie that starts out slow makes me want to scream!  That definately wasn't a problem with Slumdog. 

As soon as the 2 hours of previews end, Slumdog takes off running.  Depending on your level of sensitivy, this is one of those movies where one minute you are on the edge of your seat with excitement and the next you are trying to hold back the tears (good luck with that by the way).  It is difficult for anyone to hold back the tears seeing as though this is a movie about a Mumbai orphan by the name of Jamal who literally goes from rags to riches.  How does he do that...how does he become wealthy?  You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so go check it out!

Yesterday Charles and I finished up our teaching series with, “I Resolve to Deepen My Relationships.”  I Corinthians 13:1-3 makes one thing very clear, life is about love!  We first enter into a loving relationship with God.  We accept his amazing love for us and then we pass that love onto those around us.  I Corinthians says that our ability to love others is more important than spiritual gifts, knowledge, faith, generosity, and accomplishments.  I have to admit that this is a verse that I have to remind myself of often.  I can get so focused on studying for the next sermon series, planning the next event, and trying to accomplish the next goal that I forget to get focused on loving those closest to me. 

It was around the time that my boys got old enough to tackle me when I walked through the front door that I learned a very valuable lesson.  I learned that in their heart and minds there is no substitute for the gift of time.  And it isn’t just my kids who love time…it is my wife’s favorite gift as well.  As men we tend to say that we work long hours and are driven to succeed for those we love.  However, those we are in relationships with would not say they want us to work more for them.  They would not say they want us to spend more time trying to accomplish more, make more, and do more…they would say that they simply want more time with us. 

Trust me when I say that you can make good money and achieve great success next year, but if you don’t show up to your kid’s games, school activities, or recitals…they will not feel a great deal of love from you.  If you give your spouse thousands of dollars in gifts, but don’t have regular date nights and time alone together…love will feel absent from your relationship.  Charles and I also discussed 21 very important words that we all need to use often in our relationships.

The first six words are, “I admit I made a mistake.”  In other words you need to learn to say you are sorry when you make a mistake.  The next five words are a little easier for most of us to say.  We need to be able to give others the encouragement they need through saying, “you did a good job.”  It shows those we love that we are paying attention to them.  There are also four words that show them that we value their opinion.  They come in the form of the question, “what do you think?”    We also talked about the three important words, “after you please” or as Charles said at our Keller Campus, “you go first.”  To put others before ourselves is the ultimate form of love. 

The next couple of words carry an amazing amount of weight with those that we love.  It is these next two words that again show that we are paying attention.  To simply say “thank you” is a lovely phrase to use and for all to hear!  Last but not least we have one word with a dual purpose…the word “we”.  It shows those that we love that we view them as a partner…a team member in life.  And as the saying goes there is no “I” in team.  “I” is the one word we need to use the least.  Yes your needs are important, but to put other’s needs ahead of your own is the ultimate form of love.  Does that sound like anyone you know? 

The greatest example of putting the needs of others ahead of His own is Jesus.  When Jesus died on the cross, He displayed the ultimate form of love.  He made us his number one priority when He was here on earth.  We can do the same for those that we love as well!

My oldest son, Seth, started 6^th grade - middle school on Monday.  This was a big day for him, a little tearful for Mom.  John enters the 4^th grade and Mark will be starting preschool again soon.  To help prepare my Seth this Summer, he and I went through: the book: Preparing Your Son for Every Man's Battle: Honest Conversations About Sexual Integrity, by Stephen Arterburn, Fred Stoeker, and Mike Yorkey.  This was a great opportunity to connect with him and have great conversations about things that matter.  I would definitely recommend this to every parent. 

We had a busy summer, but a great Summer.  Here are a few highlights: 

Mission Trip to Questa, New Mexico:  We took almost 100 people to Questa to do a Vacation Bible School, a Community Cookout & Concert, & multiple Construction projects for needy families.  I served on the construction team as the rest of my family were involved in the VBS.  My highlight was helping an 82 year old woman get into a better mobile home that we installed and remodeled on her property.  Most importantly, she made a commitment to Christ and seems to be doing well.  Our follow-up efforts and prayer are to make sure that she has propane for the winter.  Her name is Mary and I would appreciate you praying for her. 

The Grapevine Campus Preview Services:  The Grapevine Campus gives us every indication from the preview services that it will be a huge success.  This has been an amazing, challenging time for FOTP.  As we stretch ourselves in faith, God is using our faithfulness.  We have assembled an incredible team there led by Charles Thornton.  We are looking forward to the Grand Opening on September 7^th and our eventual move to Faith Christian School’s new High School when it is completed.  I am extremely grateful to Faith Christian School and their willingness to partner with us.  

Just over 2 miles south of our church, the Bridge Church (formerly Summerfields Baptist Church), decided to become part of Fellowship of the Parks.  Though their church was surviving, the leadership saw our church and vision for the future as an opportunity to better reach people and expand the Kingdom of God.  I sincerely appreciate the Bridge's leadership, wisdom, and trust of my leadership.  Their staff, pastor Tony Russell and worship pastor Kyle Clark will become part of our staff.  Tony will be serving as a Connection Pastor at our Keller Campus and Kyle will be leading worship at our Grapevine Campus.  The Leadership Council at the Bridge are incredible people and I thank them for their years of dedication and service.  I had the privilege of knowing their founding pastor and had his support when I started Fellowship of the Parks.  God has used them to start churches and send missionaries and their imprint will continue through FOTP.  The congregation of the Bridge has been very warm and gracius during this period of transition.  This coming Sunday we will be officially welcoming those coming from the Bridge to the services at FOTP. 

Last week we our family spent the week with my parents and my brothers family at Orange Beach in Alabama.  We had a great time crammed into a condo.  This worked great for me because my brother has 3 kids that are about the same age as my kids – so they were able to play together.  This gave me the opportunity to relax some and read. 

Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll:  This book is about the history of Mars Hill Church from its inception to over 4000 people.  It is an honest account of the struggle of this pastor to reach people, pastor a church, and break growth barriers.  I sincerely enjoy his books because of his pithy statements throughout the book.  He had me laughing almost every other page.  As a church planter, I could identify with his struggles.  The book was very therapeutic and made me think a lot about a lot of things.  I have deep respect for what Mark has accomplished and continues to attempt for the kingdom.  You may not agree with all of his conclusions and practices – but you can’t help respect his insight, commitment, and boldness for the gospel. 

Simple Genius by David Baldacci:  This is a fiction book that is a suspense thriller.  It involves military secrets, corruption, and murder.  Though I typically do not read much fiction – the book was handed to me by my father-in-law.  I could see the story unfold as a movie within my brain and found myself obsessively reading from one chapter to the next.  I can’t say I learned much, but it was entertaining and relaxing. 

Restaurants near Gulf Shores:  For those of you that know me, you know of my love of good food - something that I have tried my best to curtail over the past year.  However, I love seafood and was little loose on my diet.  If you travel to the area – two must dine at restaurants are – Bahamas Bob’s and The Original Oyster House.  Both are in Gulf Shores Alabama. Our family had a great time at the beach as my boys waged war on jelly fish and my wife enjoyed the ocean.  My favorite part of the trip was playing football on the beach with my brother, sons, and nephews.  Additionally, anytime my brother and I get together at a pool – a wrestling/dunking contest will take place.  My apologies to the other guests - whose leisurely frolicking was disturbed.

Until recently, my experience with multi-site churches has been somewhat limited.  I had attended multi-site venues such as Fellowship Church (Ed Young) and Northpoint (Andy Stanley).  For several years, I had envisioned that we would add campuses at some point at Fellowship of the Parks (FOTP).  However, that became sooner than later as I discovered more about them from Drew Sherman at Highland Meadows Church in Colleyville (I have a lot of respect for Drew - he is a very gracious person and has been extremely helpful).  Inspired by Drew, and after conversations with Charles Thornton (Teaching Pastor at FOTP), we concluded that Grapevine would be the best place to attempt a new location.  Charles has deep connections in the community and regularly speaks in secular environments.  The new location will be approximately 14 miles away from our Keller campus so it will be more difficult to send large groups of people.  However, I believe with Charles as the Campus Pastor & primary Teaching Pastor at that location, this first site will be largely successful.  I will try not to do too much damage as I will be speaking there once a month.  For more information on the Grapevine Campus: go to www.fellowshipoftheparks.com and click on "Grapevine Campus" or http://www.fotpfamily.com/content.aspx?page=52&pt=1&ls=0&ct=0 

The definitive book on Multi-Sites is The Multi-Site Church Revolution, by Surratt, Ligon, & Bird.  This book is published by leadership network is a survey of what multi-site churches are actually doing.  This book becomes a nuts & bolts guide to help pastors glean insights and plan additional campuses.  The book is well written and well researched.  

Additionally, Leadership Network has put together a series of conferences – Multi-Sites Exposed (http://www.multisitechurchrevolution.com/).  I attended the one in Seattle April 14/15.  The conference was great and very informative.  For me personally, Mark Driscoll helped me the most.  He basically gave a biblical apologetic for the use of multi-sites and even video multi-sites.  He shed tremendous light on something that I believe to be often misunderstood.  God has used a message by Mark Driscoll in my life on several occasions and I am very grateful for his insight.  In addition - the guy makes me laugh with his pithy comments.  You can view the conference session here: http://www.theresurgence.com/multi-site_exposed 

To say I am a critic would be false.  I enjoy going to movies to unplug and unwind from the world of pastoring.  Therefore, I look for the good, enjoy the flick, and filter out the negatives.  I enjoy thrillers, action movies, drama, and comedies…you won’t catch me in a chick flick.  My reviews will be rather simple – something that I enjoyed or struck me that I felt might be worth mentioning.  Don’t look at my reviews for advice on whether or not you should take your children, etc.  There are great sites out there that provide detailed content reviews such as http://www.family.org/entertainment/Reviews/.

A few movies I’ve recently seen: 

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian:  This was a great movie that I took my middle son to see on Memorial Day.  We both enjoyed the story and battle scenes.  Aslan, who is representative of Christ, is both gentle and fearsome.  I was drawn to the mystery of his character.  To me, the movie was about childlike faith in Christ over prideful ambition.  I saw myself in the character of Peter and how he was transformed over the course of the film.  The battle scenes were awesome.  It was a great opportunity to talk about faith, courage, and honor with my son John.  BTW, we have a 6 yr. old chocolate lab whose name is Honor.

21:  I really enjoy movies that are based on true stories.  This is about MIT students who count cards in Vegas and are caught between their dreams and greed.  This movie has a great storyline with surprises along the way.  The moral here is that greed always takes your further than you want to go and ultimately costs more than you ever wanted to pay.  The main character Ben (James Sturgess), eventually gets his life back.  Very entertaining.

Expelled:  This movie is a documentary and is probably already out of theaters.  It basically describes the science community as being somewhat like Nazis in their attempt to squelch the teaching of Intelligent Design.  I enjoyed the documentary because I am interested in the subject.  Two things particularly stuck out:  First, a Baylor (Baptist Christian University) professor was allegedly dismissed due to some web site or publication that constituted his support of Intelligent Design.  Second, Richard Dawkins  (author of The God Delusion), ends up looking rather silly in the end when basically he leads us to believe that there was some coding for life, etc. deposited here by advanced aliens.  He apparently thinks that is more plausible than believing in God as the master designer.

The Bucket List:  Awesome movie that leads the viewer to think about the end of life, and challenges them to make their life count.  I enjoy both Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and together they starred in a thought-provoking, humorous movie.  I have already heard of sermon series developed from this movie and I am sure their will be more to come.