"Last Chance" Bible Plan!

Ok, last chance! We started a “read the Bible in a year” plan back in January. Then a “you can still make it!” plan in March for the people who hadn’t jumped on the January bandwagon.

Now, it’s time for the “last chance!” plan. If you are still determined to read through the Bible before 2010 (but you haven’t started yet) this is your plan!

Here is a good example of a 90-day schedule.

And let’s make this even more fun… if you email me every day after you’ve done your reading, I will host a dinner party for everyone who gets through the Bible in 90 days (AND emails me daily to tell me about it!) My email is: pastor.lee@radiantchurch.com.

I might regret this later, but it sure sounds like fun now!

Now, get busy reading the Bible!

Social Networking - It's Getting Dangerous!

I apologize for not posting anything on this blog for one month. I have been dedicating myself to working on my book, and blogging just took some of that precious time away for writing.

I also slowed down a little bit on Twitter too. I love all these social networking tools, but I also want to keep them under control. Why?

I have received emails from several wives who have "lost their husbands" to online role-playing games. It might sound like an innocent "passion to play," but actually, for many it becomes just another form of addiction. I know of at least two cases where the wife has filed for divorce. You might think that sounds ridiculous, but in both cases, it was total abandonment of the marriage relationship. The husband had decided he wanted time with "World of Warcraft" more than his wife!

I have also counseled with people who are losing sleep, having problems at work, and who are facing disciplinary action after getting caught on their cell phones, because they are updating either Facebook or Twitter.

Add to that the growing problem of people texting while driving. A recent article in Car & Driver magazine showed that texting while driving impairs your ability as bad or worse than drunk driving! The recent deadly crash of an aircraft and a helicopter into the Hudson in New York has been connected with the Air Traffic Controller being on his cell phone while trying to do his job.

All this technology for "staying connected" is positive in so many ways, and yet deadly too.

Many Facebook members have admitted to spending 4 to 5 hours per day on the site, updating their activities, connecting with friends, and even playing virtual games like, "farm town."

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 6:12: "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.

What do you think? How many hours do you spend on Facebook and Twitter and texting per day? Do you think you have it under control? Is it taking time away from something else?

75% of U.S. Adults Will Be Overweight In 6 Years

The title of my blog is not mine - it belongs to an article on WebMD here.

If I learned anything during "Parents Week" at my daughter's weight-loss camp, it was this:

We have a huge problem in the USA: Kids, teenagers, adults are overweight.

A quote taken from here: "Physicians... consider obesity to be the single largest public health crisis in the United States."

You can read lots of articles about the problem here. Diets don't work. Lifestyle change does.

I'm so excited to be back this weekend! I hope you'll plan to join us for: "The Real Skinny on Fat." I promise, no making fun of anybody who is even slightly overweight! But, we are going to have fun! Bring a friend with you! And my daughter Krissy will be back too!

24 Hours Til We Bring Her Home!

In just 24 hours, we pick up Krissy from her camp, and bring her home. We are so excited! She has done so well, and hung in there for 8 weeks!

When we saw her for the first time this last Thursday night, we were shocked when she walked up! You could immediately see that her face was thinner, her arms were thinner as well, her hair was longer. She even had a tan, which is something I don't remember seeing on her in a long time! It was so obvious she had been working hard on her program. There are so many stories to share, but I want to mention just one.

This is the scripture that is hand-written with a Sharpie on a peice of notebook paper, hanging on her dresser, facing her bunk bed at the camp [Krissy's emphasis added]:

"Dear brothers and sisters, whenever TROUBLE comes your way, let it be an opportunity for JOY. For when your faith is tested, your ENDURANCE has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character, and ready for ANYTHING!" [James 1:2-4 NLT]

The Reunion Is TODAY!

Sandy and I are so excited, because in just 8 hours (at 5pm Thursday), we will see Krissy for the first time in almost 8 weeks! She has been at Wellspring, a weight loss camp for teenagers. Krissy picked this camp on her own, and asked us to send her there. She was determined to do this. We are so proud of her! She has accomplished something amazing! She gets to stay with us tonight in our hotel!

Believe or not, Sandy and I are little bit nervous! Can you imagine, being nervous to see our daughter? You know why? We can tell through this camp, she is more mature, and she tackled the toughest thing she's ever tackled. She is going to be "different," and that's not a bad thing.

Isn't that what parenting is all about? The painful yet exhilirating process of "letting go" as your kids become adults! We love you Krissy!

I Guess I Better Retire...

90% of the "Anonymous" replies to my blog are pretty negative and vicious. But I definitely think this one takes the cake:

"You're an asshole. No seriously. Do us all a favor and retire already. Just thought you should know." Anonymous [received 7.10.09]

Jesus: "But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them." Matt. 15:18 [NLT]

What's crazy is that Pastor Travis and I actually had a "good laugh in the Lord" over it this morning. Prior to church, Trav told me about a pretty mean email he had just received, and I said, "No dog, I got that one beat by a mile!"

When I read my anonymous author's comment to him, we both just started laughing, because you could almost hear the tone in their voice, dripping with sarcasm, as if they had just figured out something that had been puzzling them! We must have needed a good laugh, because we had tears in our eyes, we were laughing so hard. We could hardly breathe!

So - Dear Anonymous - Sorry - your vicious comment backfired - you made a great sermon illustration for Pastor Travis - and we both a good "belly laugh" at your expense, thanks to you trying to ruin my day.

And sorry to disappoint you - but I ain't retiring any time soon!

Great Day

What a great birthday!!!

Shake It Up!

We are in the process of "shaking it up" at Radiant! The staff and leadership, that is. We literally started to realize that some of the folks who were extremely talented in what they were doing were, quite frankly, craving "a change."

In fact, in many cases on our staff, people were at the "top of their game" in the places where they currently served. On the surface, there appeared to be no real reason to make some moves. And yet, it was in the analysis of the "collective whole," that we realized a shift would do us good. We aren't just juggling assignments, we're giving some folks a chance to get a new perspective.

This last weekend, just one example of how radical we decided to get was to move Carissa, the female side of our awesome husband-wife worship duo, into HD, our Children's ministry. (Don't worry, Evan is staying as our worship leader!)

I have to admit, this was a tough change to endorse for me, because of two reasons: (1) Fernando Amaro, who was our previous HD Director, was amazing in the role, and clearly had taken the department to new heights. He definitely was moved at "the top of his game," and deserves hearty kudos for his efforts; and (2) I refer to Carissa as "the song-bird of heaven," because she seriously is so amazing on stage, and also a spiritual leader for all of the platform.

What most people don't know about Carissa is that, she has a degree from ASU in "Music Education," and her career desire was not so much to lead worship, but to work with children.

Fernando moved to our RKZ Preschool, where his degree in Elementary Education (and an Early Childhood Certificate) will couple with his curriculum expertise to bring a whole new level of excellence in curriculum for our preschoolers. He is already helping the preschool take huge strides forward in their programming and faith-based curriculum.

Sometimes the necessary changes don't make sense from the outside, but when we can't see the big picture, God can. I am genuinely excited to see what God has in store for Radiant Church - including it's staff!