August 31, 2007
Devo
I know many of you saw the title of this post and thought to your self, “Hey, he’s into Devo?” No, alas, this is not a post about the strange men in strange hats encouraging us “Whip it!” This is a post about devotions.
For years our family struggled to do devotions together. We would do something for a little while then it would trail off. Over the last two years, we have really got into a rhythm of devos. I think the secret, at least in our case, is the right material.
Every night that I’m able to, I do devotions with the boys. They get their bedtime snack and I grab our book. We are currently using Josh McDowell’s One Year Book of Family Devotions. Every night it has a Scripture reading, a story about kids their age to help make the point, then discussion questions at the end. This is not a very long process but it does get us talking about spiritual things.
After the devo with the boys, Maxine and I do our devotions. We have found a devotion book that we absolutely love called Moments Together for Couples by Dennis and Barbara Rainey. It is very similar in format to the boy’s devotionals - a Scripture, a reading to make us think (and many times laugh), and some questions. We recommend this book all the time and give it to newlyweds. In fact, we are attending a wedding tomorrow and we will give this book to the excited couple.
One more thing that Maxine and I do is an exercise called “FANO.” This stands for
Feelings - you just share how you are feeling that day
Affirmations - you encourage each other
Needs - what are the pressing issues on your heart
Ownership - is there anything you need to apologize for
This as been enormously helpful to us and has taught us the importance of “checking in” with each other every day.
How about your family? What do you do in the area of Devos?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/31 at 08:06 AM •
(0) Comments
August 30, 2007
Unforced Rhythms of Grace
When I started this blog, I wrote that there were three reasons I named it “The Awkward Dancer.” The first was obvious - I have two left feet and look like I need medical assistance when I try to dance. Here’s the second reason.
Eugene Peterson spent years paraphrasing the Bible for his church and this work became know as “The Message.” It is not a translation but an enormously helpful, practical, and beautiful modern-day paraphrasing of the ancient languages. In Matthew 11, Peterson paraphrases Jesus’ words this way:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace..
The unforced rhythms of grace…
That’s why I’m an awkward dancer. I have yet to master the art of living the way Jesus did.
Jesus was never hurried. He never looked at his watch or backed away in the middle of conversation. Jesus never forced compassion. He never was out of rhythm with His Father. He was the most grace-filled and graceful person to ever walk the earth.
As much as I try, I just can’t dance that way most of the time. That’s why I’m awkward. It doesn’t mean I’m hopeless though. As I attempt to imitate the “Lord of the Dance,” I find myself learning and growing in my ability to dance in freedom and grace.
As Steven Curtis Chapman put it several years ago:
” I am the heart, I need the heartbeat/ I am the eyes, I need the sight/ I realize that I am just a body / I need the life / I move my feet I go through the motions / But who’ll give purpose to chance / I am the dancer / I need the Lord of the dance.”
May you dance today with wild, unforced, grace-filled abandon!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/30 at 08:24 AM •
(1) Comments
August 29, 2007
God doesn’t beleive in atheists
This morning, I had the opportunity to talk with dozens of students at the high school. Most were coping well and felt safe. I was introduced to a student who told me, very matter of factly, that he was an “atheist.” I smiled and said, “God doesn’t beleive in atheists.” He stared, his girlfriend laughed, and I walked away smiling. Later, at lunch, I actually got to tell this young man than God has a purpose and a plan for his life (Jeremiah 29:11-13). He told me that he had grown up in a inner-city project of a large town in the south and that’s why he couldn’t believe in God.
There are so many students that are hurting and seeking and wondering what the whole God thing is all about. Does it not just prove how much we need to GO WIDE with our intentional, radical, life-changing love? What could happen if the power of God was released in that young man’s heart? What could happen if he understood forgiveness, grace, mercy, and the freedom that comes from living as a servant of the Most High? Could you stop and pray for “B” right now? (God knows who you are talking about). Pray that the Christian students that are all around him would “live out loud” and that he would see Jesus in them.
One last picture I want to leave you with. I was talking to one of our students this morning and she said to me, “I am praying for opportuntiies but I don’t see them.” I told her to look closer. She came back later and told she had seen I student sitting alone and had introduced herself to him and tried to engage him in conversation. She felt like it didn’t go well but I assured her that her obedience and courage to “walk across the room” was exactly what God was looking for.
Students, I dare you, I double-dog dare you, to share the GOSPEL with someone tomorrow at school then post a comment to let me know how it went.
Do not miss this opportunity. You have been placed at PTHS for such a time as this!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/29 at 01:21 PM •
(0) Comments
August 28, 2007
As promised…
Although I did not get any pictures of this mornings lunar eclipse, WGN’s weather blog (Tom Skilling) posted this beautiful time lapse pictorial 
Enjoy!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/28 at 09:52 PM •
(0) Comments
August 28, 2007
Tragedy Averted!
I have spent most of the morning at the high school, actually standing outside the rec center, pacing, talking, praying, calling, texting, and talking to parents. For those of you who are not aware, PTHS was put on full lock-down this morning. It was a real “code red.” After a search, several students were arrested and weapons were found. That’s about as far as my knowledge goes.
Parents were worried and many of us gathered to pray in the rec center parking lot. A police officer did a good good giving us updates and the school administration (including an exercising “retired” principal Mr. Drengwitz) did a great job keeping everything calm. Even the media personal were respectful. At about 12:15, the decision was made to let the students out and I had the opportunity to talk to dozens of students. Many of them played cards or paper football. Some of them didn’t have a clue what was going on until the assembly. Most of them seemed no worse for wear. But don’t let that fool you. This does affect them more than you know.
There are many heroes today but one, or several, deserve more than a handshake. Apparently, a student, or students, caught wind of this situation and alerted the resource officer, (Bill Reynolds). This action could very well have saved the day. And to think that students often ask, “What can just one person do?”
If you are a student or a parent reading this post, there are three things I want you to keep in mind.
1. If you EVER hear of anything suspicious or dangerous, you MUST tell immediately! Even if you think it is a “joke” or they were just “shooting off steam,” you must tell someone - anyone! Me, a teacher, your parents, your employer, the principal. You are not a “narc” if you are trying to save lives.
2. I do not know anything about the students who have been arrested, but I have read enough to no there are certain patterns in these situations. Usually, the students are socially awkward kids who have been bullied or picked-on. This is not always the case and I’m not saying this is the case now. The point I’m trying to make? Doesn’t this prove we need to “GO WIDE!!!” with the gospel? From our Sunday morning message, “Would these students have been welcome at your table?” We must start intentionally targeting the students that are alienated and outcast. We must love them as Jesus does and help rescue them from darkness.
3. On Sunday, we sang a praise song called “Everlasting God.” The chorus goes like this:
“You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God
You don’t sleep, You won’t grow weary
You’re the defender of the weak, You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles…”
God is in control. Really, He is. We can rely on Him. He doesn’t take naps. He’s not on vacation. Take a few minutes and read Psalm 27 out loud, slowly.
This day ends with a “happy ending” and I thank God for that.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/28 at 01:24 PM •
(1) Comments
August 28, 2007
Be the Moon…
If you do not know this about me already, I am an amateur meteorologist/astronomer. Ever since I was a kind I have been looking up at the stars and looking out for the next round of thunderstorms. This morning, a lunar eclipse is in progress, although some clouds just moved in and has obscured the show. For those of you who do not have an unhealthy obesession with Tom Skilling a lunar eclipse happens when the earth passes between the sun and the moon. Before the clouds moved in, it was a partial eclipse and was beautiful. I whipped the new camera out to take pictures, you know, one of those camera that you don’t to put batteries in, and it was dead! No charge! If I find some local pictures, I will post them.
One of our students used to wear a shirt that said, “Be the moon, reflect the Son.” The moon has no light of its own, it merely reflects sunlight. That’s why the earth can disrupt this process and produce a lunar eclipse.
Although its way too early (about 5:00 am) for me to think completely clear, it is obvious to me that, in some ways, we are just like the moon. We really have no “light” to give off, we merely reflect the Son of God. Any righteousness you see in me is but a reflection of the Righteous One.
As Paul put it in his letter to the church at Corinth:
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18)
Eugene Peterson paraphrases this verse beautifully:
“...nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of His face.”
The bike I ride has reflectors in order to warn traffic I’m there. We are reflectors of God’s grace, love, mercy, and hope to a lost and dying world. Let’s resolve to not let anything come between us and our light source (see John 8:12) so we will shine out like a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14)
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/28 at 05:22 AM •
(1) Comments
August 27, 2007
You haven’t been “berged” until you’ve Ortberged
This is a saying I’ve used forever to describe John Ortberg, former teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church and now senior pastor at Menlow Park in CA. I know we are NEVER supposed to compare ourselves to anyone, ever, but…I want to be like John! There, I said it, I’ll repent and eat some “ho hos” later. He is incredibly gifted at being absolutely hilarious and downright profound at the same time. I recently saw him preach at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. He’s got a new book that I’m gunning to read. Check out Scott McNight’s post on Ortberg today atJesus Creed Read the comments to learn more about his other books. I highly recommend him!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/27 at 10:56 AM •
(0) Comments
August 27, 2007
Go fly a Kite
I’m not sure how many of you knew that this weekend Pontiac became “kite country.” The boys and I went down to check out the happening and I was amazed. Several of the kites were over 80 feet long and had to be held up by other kites. It was a great windy day and many of the kites were visible from the highway. Joshua, my movie making son, was there, video camera in tow, and got some good footage of the 1st Annual Kite Festival
It’s been really cool to see Josh grow more and more into his gifts of photography and film-making this summer.
Did anyone else see the giant kites?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/27 at 10:43 AM •
(1) Comments
August 27, 2007
O’ What a Day!
Most Mondays, I plan to give you a recap of the previous day’s ministry opportunities to allow you an “inside” look at student ministry and beyond. Yesterday was a great day!
I taught EQUIP and we had about 35 students in attendance. {We would have had more more a whole group of students were were doing puppets for the children's ministry!} God had really put something on my heart to share with the students concerning their “table.” Not just the table they sit in at school, but the table of their life. I taught from Luke 14:1-14. If you would like to read these verses, or listen to them, click here.
The point I tried to make was that Jesus was the most “radically inclusive” [Hybels] person ever. Most everyone was welcome at His “table” - the man with drospy, the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. The only one’s that had trouble with Jesus’ table were the one’s who cared about the power, prestige, and position.
The Pharisees were judgmental.
The Pharisees though it is “all about them.”
The Pharisees were concerned with their image.
I closed the lesson reminding the students that Jesus had invited us to a table we did not deserve. The student’s took communion to end the morning while we played “Carried to the Table” by Leeland. To watch him sing this hauntingly beautiful song live click here
If you have never seen EQUIP (our Sunday morning Bible Study) in action, you should pop your head in sometime.
From EQUIP, I headed downstairs and led the music portion of our worship during second service. The rest of the band did a great job helping the congregation give praise and glory to our “Everlasting God.” This was a new song were introduced. If you are not familiar with this song, click here
The morning ended with a big hug from Dale Petre. one of my favorite guys in the world. He is actually responsible for bringing me to IL nearly 8 years ago. He is such an amazing man of God and I still seek out his wisdom on all kinds of things. I hope you have Dale in your life.
The night was just as amazing. We had about 50 junior high and high school students for the NREACH! This was our “beginning of the year rally” and it was a fantastic time of fun and faith building!
The night started off with a great skit [written by Ken Hinds] about a fisherman who never actually fished because he was scared to get his boat dirty, or that he might not catch anything, or someone might laugh at him. To see this skit in action click here.
Next we played a variation of “Whose line is it anyway?” This is a game where you can only use questions but these questions had to be Bible-based. It turned out to be much harder than they thought. To see Kayla and Nathaniel in action, clickhere .
Then Milt and I led worship. At big events, we usually lead worship so that the students can just be worshipers instead of having to worry about their chords and music. For a peak into student worship click here
The focus of the night was the “Go Wide” video from Dare 2 Share. If you are not familiar with this ministry, check out http://www.Dare2Share.org and explore their nearly 1,000 free tools to help students learn to share their faith. The whole point of our year is the three Ps - “Pray for your friends/Pursue a real relationship with them/Persuade them to consider the claims of Christ.” That’s it.
After the video, we challenged the students to think of one person who they know who does not have a relationship with Christ (yet) and to commit to pray, pursue, persuade. We asked them to tell one another person (for accountability) and then write that name on the paper on the wall. For a sneak peak at this click here
It was a powerful night of ministry and, as usual, the student ministry team was on top of their game. I am so honored, humbled, and blessed to work with the most amazing team of adult volunteers who love God and care deeply about students.
Our night ended, as it rightly should, with NACHOS in the FLC. Click here (warning it may make you hungry!) here
Well, that is the Reader’s Digest version of Sunday. There are so many stories and talks and tears that I left out mainly because it is just part of a normal day in student ministry. Would you please pray for us as we attempted to reach this generation with the freedom, hope, and forgiveness that is offered in Jesus Christ?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/27 at 07:40 AM •
(3) Comments
August 26, 2007
What’s with the name?
Welcome to “The Awkward Dancer.” I know what you’re thinking, “Why did he chose the name ‘Awkward Dancer’ for his blog name? Is there a meaning behind the madness? Is it a geo-political metaphor for the economic fluctuations within the interior of China? Does it actually describe Jeff’s dancing ability? Is there a spiritual application somewhere?”
Whoa! Hold your proverbial equines there! Because of your intense inquisitiveness, I will give you three, not two or four, but three reasons I chose such an odd name.
The first is obvious. I am an “awkward dancer.” I don’t know if there is some sort of self-help group that I can attend to help me deal with this distracting disability. It is something I live with, coping the best I can. It helps that I married another awkward dancer. We simply stink at trying to dance.
Last fall, Maxine planned a Chicago excursion for our anniversary. We went on a cruise on Lake Michigan on the USS Odyssey. There was a brunch to die for and a jazz band that played a smooth background soundtrack for our romantic time together. We explored the ship and found a dance floor on the bottom deck. I did my best Fred Astaire move and swept her into my arms and we began to sway to the music. We swayed and swayed. In fact, it became apparent quickly that swaying was about the extent of dancing vocabulary.
We attempted to actually do a few moves, but I stepped on her toes and she nearly tripped. We both laughed and had to admit that we would never make it on “So You Think You Can Dance?” [That annoying female judge would have laughed and laughed] We truly are “awkward dancers.”
So there who have it. The first reason why I chose this name. I will be telling you the other two reasons later in the coming days. Don’t miss it because it may just very well be what motivates you to become an awkward dancer as well!
As you finish reading this post, you may be asking, “What will he write about?” Will it have links like Pastor Brian’s blog? Will it have some deep theological musings like Scott McNight’s “JesusCreed” blog? Will it have the practical devotions of “Transformed Daily?” Will it have music and pictures like “Reformissionary?” Will it have news like Anderson Cooper’s “360” blog?
The answer to all these questions is - absolutely! But most of all, it will be me responding to what God is doing in our student ministry, church, world, and in my own soul. You may be inspired. You may be offended. You may be enlightened. You may be disgusted. I may do all of those things intentionally. You never know what I might thinking so it behooves you to check Pastor Brian’s blog (FIRST!) and then dance your way over to mine.
If you trip along the way, it just means you are in the right place.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/26 at 09:00 AM •
(2) Comments
