A Stone's Throw

Great post by Vince Antonucci, planter of VERVE, a church on the strip in Las Vegas.  He talks of a High School football coach in Arkansas that has punted only one time in the past two seasons…and is the coach of a state championship this year! There has been LOTS of talk about high profile coaches “going for it” on 4th down and it not working.  This coach thinks the “numbers” lean toward “going for it” on 4th and “whatever” equals success!

Interesting concept.  Much like The Dip by Seth Godin.  The secondary title is “A little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick).”

There are times in our lives when we simply need to “go for it” no matter what!  I think the most difficult time to continue on is when you feel like giving up.

I love what the back cover of The Dip says:

what is the dip?

It’s the fifth job interview where they never even call you back.

It’s the garage band playing to an empty club in the middle of nowhere.

It’s the seventh time you fall on your butt while learning to snowboard.

It’s the middle of the marathon, when the excitement of the starting gun is a dim memory, and the joy of the finish line is a distant dream.

It’s any rough patch you have to get through before achieving your big goal . . . if in fact you’re chasing the right goal.

What else?

Oh yeah, it’s also the key to your career, your company’s future, and maybe your ultimate happiness.

We are at that place (possibly) at FP Carthage.  We have been here in Carthage for a couple of years and some of our team is tired and feels like needing a rest.  Things just aren’t like it was “in the beginning.”

It reminds me of the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 when the USA Hockey Team beat the Russians in the semifinals of the Olympics to eventually win the gold medal.  Part of the backstory of the 1980 Olympics is the coach, Herb Brooks, was cut from the USA hockey team that eventually won a gold medal.  He came back 20 years later and led a group of college players to beat the best hockey team in the world. I love these kinds of movies that bring a group of people together to do amazing things that were though never possible!

I pray that we would “go for it” and “dig deep” and all of those other sports cliches and see amazing things happen in all of our lives.  Paul said it this way  in Philippians 3:12-14 “¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Here’s the trailer for the great movie “Miracle.”  Enjoy!

Vince Antonucci: Dont Punt.

We are studying The DNA of Relationships by Smalley in our LifeGroup on Sunday nights.  It has been a whole lot of fun learning that we are driven by our fears.  It is totally freeing to understand that the fight is often not about the thing we are fighting about. It is actually about a “fear button” that was pushed by the other person and we reacted to that button being pushed (Smalley’s concepts).  I am really excited about the positive things that we all are learning from this study in our group.

I ran across this post from Mark Batterson about fearlessness.  He says that there are only two fears we are born with as a baby…the rest are “learned.”  Man there is some freedom to know that we can learn, through Christ, how to be free from those fears!

I know for a fact that this nugget of truth and promise from God’s word can save us from a whole lot of heartache and pain when we allow the enemy to continue to scare us to death with our fears. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15 ESV)

According to psychologists we’re only born with two fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. That means that every other fear is learned. Which means that every other fear can be unlearned. Here’s a definition of faith: the process of unlearning ungodly fears.

The enemy is a fear monger. He wants to scare the heaven out of you. But I John 4:18 says: “Perfect love casts out all fear.” In other words, as we grow in a love relationship with God we unlearn our fears until the only fear we have is the only healthy and holy fear: the fear of God. And when you fear God you don’t have to fear anything else! Perfect love results in fearlessness.

Evotional.com.

I found this on one of my best friend’s Facebook profile and thought is was definitely “blog worthy.”  Daniel McKenzie is a student pastor in Johnson City, TN.  He and I went to seminary together, have done some ministry things together, and have kicked around some “what not to do in youth ministry” books.  As you can see in the body of the Facebook note, Daniel is hilarious!  Enjoy!

In the literary realm of facebook stati, there are many acceptable practices for composing a quality facebook status. Here are some of the more common quality practices…

Hidden Meaning – Any good Facebook status should have hidden meaning, causing readers to assume a depth of insight for the composer. Simple phrases can have such duality. For example, “…is tired.” This simple statement has multiple layers. One might think the person is simply physically tired, but such a statement begs for further examination. Maybe the person is mentally, emotionally, or spiritually tired. Perhaps it’s a cry for help, masking years of pain and addiction. Whatever the case – the status laden with hidden meaning portrays depth and poetic insight that will inspire and win friends.

An Inside Joke – Inside jokes tell many positive things about the composer. First, of all it says that this person has people around them that they consider to be on the inside with socially. Popular phrases for this occurrence are “has friends” or “has a life.” Another positive sign from an inside joke is that the person often jokes about with said friends or friend. This indicates a jovial quality about the person signaling to readers – “hey, that person likes to have fun with at least one other person who gets the joke.”

Song Lyric – A quality fall back for a Facebook status is the song lyric. The song lyric can accomplish several things for its composer. First it lets people know of the composer’s musical tastes. For example, from, “…is stop collaborate and listen.” readers might be able to quickly identify “wow that person also enjoys Vanilla Ice.” But for those readers who may not recognize the lyrical jaunt by Rob Van Winkle this status also has positive implications. They might assume the same poetic insight for the composer that a “hidden meaning” invokes, not realizing the phrase has been lifted from the lyrical giants of our time. It might also cause a reader to “google” the phrase and be exposed to finely crafted song. Either way you really can’t lose with a song lyric status.

Begging for Comments – A status that begs for comments is similar to a hidden meaning status but is less subtle in its attempt at duality. For example, the status “…is ready to give up,” begs sympathy from all who read. Surely, the composer needs a glimmer of hope that all will want to provide with a comment. Likewise, a status like “…wants a piece of cake,” can induce the same sort of sympathetic leanings. Readers might ponder the issue and respond with “what kind of cake do you like?” or even “I have a piece of cake, I will bring it to you.”

Paranoia Inducing – Many a Facebook status can cause feelings of paranoia from its readers. Initially this might appear as a cruel use of the status, but upon further examination this reveals the true power and value of the Facebook status. One of the best methods of behavior modification is a carefully crafted disparaging comment that invokes guilt and paranoia. For example, the status, “…is sick of EVERYONE!” can cause readers to ask in their mind, “…am I one of those included in everyone??” The sweeping generalization that is chosen with precision can speak to all of your Facebook friends, including those who are in your inner circle of “inside jokes” and those who you wonder how a friend request was ever requested or confirmed because you really don’t know the person. Either way, this status will cause everyone to step lightly around you resulting in more peaceful interactions with all. If everyone made such broad statements we could all be conformed into a joyous, massive brethren of Facebook friends.

And then a comment on his note that follows has one more “Quality Practice:”

What about the literal status update? Let’s not overlook the obvious, my friend. In this virtual realm of networking, we too often log on with expectation of layers. We dig to find the root. The misplaced gold filling. “He says he’s standing in the rain. Does that mean he is depressed? Overjoyed? Is he attending a figurative boot camp with a figurative drill instructor making him complete 75 figurative pushups?” Sometimes we really are standing in line at the DMV. Conflicted over pillow shams. What’s interesting is that the literal status could fit snugly with all of your other acceptable practices. Round peg, round hole.

What are some of your “Quality Facebook Status Practices?”  Inquiring minds want to know!! (hidden meaning intended!)