Caris Eisley is 9 Months Old

Thoughts On Running

So this summer I have been trying to get in shape for real. I can talk a big game when it comes to working out and fitness. But when it comes down to it, I usually just talk. At least until this summer. I decided enough is enough. I want to get back into decent shape for real, no more talking. So since June 8th I have jogged almost 70 miles. No treadmills, I am an open road kind of guy. 3-4 days a week I've been meeting my friend Steve Black at 6:00 am to run the Hwy 66 bridge from Rowlett to Rockwall. Two miles over, two miles back. The bridge travels over the top of Lake Ray Hubbard. Believe it or not it has become something I really look forward to and enjoy. I have found that there are a lot of similarities between running and our spiritual journey of faith.

1) Running is easier with a friend. Having someone beside you to push you and challenge you makes running easier. Not to mention the good conversations. On days when I am weak and wanna stop, Steve pushes me to keep going. We all need someone beside us in our spiritual journey as well (Proverbs 27:17). Someone who can push us and challenge us. But also just someone to enjoy the journey with.

2) Running is easier with a slow and steady pace. When I was in high school there was a kid name Wesley. He ran the two mile. He always sprinted the first lap and was in first place. But seven laps later (at the end of the race) he was in dead last. I know a lot of spiritual "Weslies"...people who started out hard but got burnt out. The key is all in the pace. If you never stop, you will achieve your goal every time. The same is true in a spiritual sense. Following Christ is a lifelong process. So many Christ followers start strong but then burn out. Pace yourself.

3) Running is easier when you see the end in site. The cool thing about the bridge is that it goes directly across the lake. When we're running we can see the finish line. Our legs are hurting and our lungs are gasping, but we gain strength knowing the end is within reach. It's the same with faith. Jesus was able to endure the cross because he saw the finish line (Hebrews 12:2). When we focus on the finish line of heaven, the pains and sadness of this life become more bearable and we find that next dose of strength.

Hope your running a good race.

Chapter One: Stumbling or Building...What Kind of Block Are You?

So this blog is for all the dads who have daughters (or will have daughters, ha). I am reading this short and sweet book, and man it is packed full of good info. Michael Farris has incredible wisdom on raising girls. Chapter one highlights:
Every dad is either a building block or a stumbling block to his daughter. There are 6 types of stumbling block fathers:

- Mr. Success: this is the dad who is so consumed with his career that his daughter gets the "leftover" portions of his time.

- Father Knows Best: this is the dad who cannot admit when he makes mistakes. "My way or the highway" is his motto.

- Sugar Daddy: this is the dad who lavishes his children with gifts to compensate for not spending time with them.

- Father Figure: this is the dad who is a father in name only. His name is on the birth certificate but he is emotionally absent.

- The All-Male Dad: this is the dad who really wanted a son. He can't relate to ballet or tea parties...so he is distant, not spending any time with his daughter.

- Pushover Papa: this is the dad who lets his daughter get away with just about anything. She is the apple of his eye, his cute little girl, and she can do no wrong.

When I look at all these, I sum it up like this. My daughter needs "me", not money or gifts. I need to be firm but loving and delight in all her "girly" things. I need to be quick to admit when I am wrong. My career and ministry but take a back seat to my real calling--being Caris' daddy.

My First Father's Day

I celebrated my first Father's Day this past weekend. It was truly incredible...still hard to believe that I am a dad. Scary, LOL! My first Father's Day will definitely be memorable. Christie and Caris took me to Razzoos for some good cajun eatin! We actually went on Saturday so we wouldn't have to fight the Sunday crowds. It was so much fun. It is an honor to be a dad...it is also a huge responsibility, one that many men don't take seriously. I once heard it said that "Anyone can be your child's friend, but only you can be their parent." I pledge to be the best dad I can be to Caris. I am reading a book right now called What A Daughter Needs from Her Dad. If you are a father and you're reading this, step up to the plate. Spend time with your kids. Pray for them. Be available for them. And most of all be their example. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there--hope you had a good one.

The Gospel According to My iPod

So I'm jogging the other day (you can't tell from looking at me) and my iPod dies. Not good considering I had two miles left, and some tunage could have helped keep my mind off the fact that my legs and lungs were in agony. So I get in the car in read the display screen: CONNECT TO POWER SOURCE. In the moment of reading that, I felt a sweet nudge from the Lord. How often do I "die out" because I do not connect with the Father, my power source. As a part of my time off this summer, I am striving to be more committed to prayer and spending time in God's Word. I know that these are my sources of strength. We all need recharging sometimes--even Jesus did (check out Mark 6:46). So plug into your power source, He's waiting.

Caris Eisley is 8 Months Old

I am about a week behind as I type this...it's hard to believe that last Sunday Caris turned 8 months old. Crazy stuff. She is really starting to hit some real milestones. She is sitting up extremely well (which she has been for a couple of weeks now). She has started pulling up on different things. She has discovered that she can move all around her crib. Christie walked in the other day and found her standing up holding on to the edge of the crib. It's funny...she won't crawl but she will roll from one side of the room to the other--hilarious!!! She is understanding certain words, too. Especially "milk" and "water". Growing up too fast. I am off for summer break...THANK YOU JESUS. After 9 months of hanging out with freshmen, some downtime was a must. This summer is all about hanging with my girls. I hope the time crawls by ever so slowly.

Verve Shout Out

Verve is full of some incredible students--students who shine in their faith and on their campus. One such student is TJ Quiggle. TJ just graduated the 8th grade from Hudson Middle School. At the awards banquet a couple of weeks ago, he was honored with the Hawk Award (in other words, Mr. Hudson 2009). I have known TJ since he was in the 5th grade. He is turning into a fine young man, a man that I am very proud of. He lettered in football in both 7th and 8th grade and was also the treasurer of Hudson's FCA program. My prayer for TJ (and all the students at Verve) is that God would allow him to shine in all he does so that he can give God the glory. Way to go TJ.

Summer Road Trip

Road trips. Have you ever been on one? I remember when I was growing up my parents and I would go on vacation every summer. At the time I thought the trips were so lame. Like we would go to these national parks and my dad would try and tell me all the historical significance and all that. He would point out things like trees and get all excited. I was like "Dad those are trees! We drove 14 hours to look at trees???" It's pretty funny to look back on it all now as an adult. Man we logged some hours in that old Lincoln Town Car.

If you've ever been on a road trip you know there is nothing like getting in the car and heading out to places you've never been. There are the looming thoughts all travelers have:

"Did I pack enough stuff?"
"What if I get lost?"
"Do I have enough money?"
"What if the car breaks down?"

Still there is something exciting about leaving "comfortable" behind and venturing out into the unknown. This summer I am gonna do just that--spiritually. I feel a stirring inside of me to go some place I've never been. A deeper deep. A higher high. More of Him, less of me. I wanna see things I've never seen. Do things I've never done. Just me and Jesus--on a road trip.

I am challenging all the students at Verve to join me on this journey. The invitation is extended to you as well. Pack your bags. We leave next Wednesday.

BFF - Verve's First Ever Friend Night

Wow. That's the only word that comes to mind when I think last night's BFF Service. It was an incredible night from the word go. We had 89 students in attendance. 15 students stepped out in front of their peers unashamedly to make Jesus their Lord and Savior. We had a hilarious skit featuring everyone's new "soul sista" Aquanetta McJackson. It was just one of those nights where you walk away amazed at how awesome God really is. When the night was all said and done, it was about Him.

I spoke with one girl who talked about feeling unwelcome in the church. She knows she needs to change some things, but she feels like her past haunts her. A young man asked for prayer for his parents who might be divorcing.

Christie prayed with one girl whose mother is in prison. Another girl is battling epilepsy.

I received an email last night from another young lady who said "I should have been in the altars...I am living an awful life of sin...can you help me?"

I am so weary of youth ministry that promises iPods to whoever brings the most friends. What message does that send to students about sharing their faith--that they should do it when there is a "prize" involved? At Verve, our students bring their friends because they know the Truth is what their friends need. They didn't do it for prizes or gimmicks--they did it because they really do care about their friends knowing Christ. I cannot begin to say how proud I am of the Verve students--you guys are amazing and I am loving getting to work with you.

To everyone who was our guest--THANK YOU for hanging out with us. We were honored to have you spend last night with us. We hope you will be back this coming Wednesday. It's gonna be another awesome night as we prepare to kick off our 2009 Summer. We hope to see you there.

A big thanks to everyone who helped make our first BFF Night a huge success...especially:

My wife Christie (for your love, encouragement, and sacrifice)
Jerran Duty (setting up the room, being Aquanetta, worship, room teardown)
Steve Black (hanging banners, tearing down )
Cheryl Black (altars and follow up)
Tom Campbell (getting pizza, collecting follow up info)
Pat Campbell (getting pizza and follow up)
Jennifer Bearden (getting door prizes)
TJ Quiggle (helping set up room, skit)
Josh "Bigman" Beardsley (running the media)
Justin Campbell (for letting Aquanetta love on you)
Chadd Dearen (for being a stud)
Pastor Ken Morrill (for icing drinks, setting up tables)
Pastor Kyle Felts (for making the computer cooperate)
Gary "Rudy" Morgan (for being an awesome sound guy)
Pastor Russell Rogers (for encouragement and freedom to do what God has called me to do)

I love and appreciate all of you. Thanks again!

Are You UnChristian?

I do not consider myself to be a huge reader. But I do like to always have a book that I am chipping away at. Today I finished UnChristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters. To say this book has shaken me up would be a huge understatement. You can ask my wife--the first few days I came home from work I was noticeably down. She would ask me "what's wrong?" and I had to point to the book. I would read it during my lunch duty at work. It was so saddening and even depressing at times. It is so raw, so real, and at times very hard to read.

The author is a Christian researcher. He took 3 years and interviewed thousands of people between the ages of 16-29. He wanted to know what they thought of Christ, the church, and especially what they thought of Christians themselves. The research was unbiased. It was just factual information. The results were troubling. Most younger Americans do not think of the church or Christianity in a positive light. The research was shocking to me. How did a "Christian" nation produce a generation of young people who want nothing to do with the church. He addresses that in this book. I will not ramble on about all the incredible things he has to say. But I will say that I think every Christ follower should read this book. It's that important.

Learn more about the book, the authors, etc. HERE