The Avengers opens in theaters on Friday! Can you dig it?!! I’m out of my mind excited. So excited that I’m dedicating a whole week to Avengers inspired posts.
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Typically speaking it’s not a good thing to Hulk out. I wonder though if God has actually wired us to do so?

One of my favorite superheroes is the Incredible Hulk. I’ve liked him since I was a kid. I used to watch reruns of the live action TV show. I remember renting episodes on VHS and devouring them as a kid. I’m really excited to see him in the Avengers because they’ve promised that they are going to make up for the two Hulk movies with the Hulk in the Avengers.

The interesting thing about the Hulk is that he’s not your typical superhero. His alter-ego searches for a cure so that he won’t turn into the Hulk, the military is out to capture him, and if he’s not pointed in the right direction he can do a lot of damage.

The thing that I love about the Hulk is that he’s misunderstood. For the most part his anger, or Hulking out, is used for good. I think that all of us have an inner Hulk that God wants to use for good.

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26-27.

In your anger do not sin. Now there are also verses that tell us to get rid of anger. Either the Bible contradicts itself or there is another answer.

I think that anger is a God ordained emotion. Jesus Hulked out and tossed temple tables because He didn’t like what He saw in the synagogue. God gets angry mutliple times in the Bible and yet God is without sin.

So the question is what’s the difference between our Hulk out and God’s?

Maybe a better question is how can we Hulk out more like God?

The problem with our Hulking out is that it’s selfish. We Hulk out when we don’t get our way. If a waiter is bad we HULK SMASH the table and declare that we won’t leave a good tip. When someone doesn’t invite us to something we Hulk out and make them feel guilty. While playing video games that don’t go our way I may or may not have Hulked out. To this day there is a tooth bite into my Nintendo controller from where I got so angry that I bit my controller. I bit it. I Hulked out. Oh and don’t get me started about traffic. I get angry in traffic and you won’t like me when I’m angry.

Now when God Hulks out it’s about things that matter to God. God is the main idea of everything. I think that when we align our emotions with God we have permission to Hulk out in a way that is not sin.

When we see the “least of these” we should Hulk out and help them. When we see injustice we should Hulk out and help them. When we see something that doesn’t honor God we should Hulk out and do something.

One time I was with Stu Hodges and we were leaving Starbucks. As we were walking out he noticed a car parked in front of the store. It was running. There was a child, that was not strapped in, climbing from the back of the car to the front. Stu Hulked out. He went back into the store and declared, “whose car is this running in front of Starbucks.” He then let them know that it was not safe to leave a car running with a child in the car. That kid could have put the car into drive and created a new way to do a drive thru. He could have hurt himself or orthers. I respeced Stu a lot for that Hulk out. It was right. He didn’t sin. He didn’t cuss out the lady. He simply passed the

test. Have you seen this show. You can read a great blog about it here.  The point is that some things deserve a Hulk out. To not Hulk out would be a sign of being apathetic. We need to learn to Hulk out about the things that God cares about. Then, like the Hulk, we can do a lot of good with our anger.

What is something that makes you Hulk out? Did you watch the Hulk TV show? How do you feel about the Hulk’s purple pants?

Next Level church is officially four weeks old. Here are some thoughts from week four…

• Yesterday I drove to Farmville, VA to speak at Concord Baptist Church. Concord is the church that I worked at while in college. It’s also the church where I met Monica. Oh and yes Farmville is a real place and not just a game on Facebook. Concord is holding a weekend dedicated to church planting. They were incredibly hospitable. Being there brought back so many memories. They impacted me and are playing a part in Next Level Church’s history. Last night was awesome.
• An anonymous donor bought me a new table to speak on. Well, not literally to speak on, but to put my notes so that I can see them while I’m speaking. I wasn’t expecting that. I’m humbled by people’s generosity.
• I had a meeting this week that was awesome. First it was awesome because it was with an incredible leader. I love connecting with other leaders and learning from them. Second it was awesome because we are discussing Next Level Church’s first foreign mission trip. Stay tuned in the next few months for more details about this.
• We are in a series called Follow Jesus. The question we are asking is what does it look like to follow Jesus in 2012. In Jesus day it literally meant to leave everything and go with Jesus. I’m not sure it’s actually that different today.
• Last week we talked about Jesus’ kingdom verse ours. To follow Jesus means that we are to live for His kingdom. Matthew 6:19-34 talks about storing up for ourselves treasures in Heaven instead of treasures on earth. This section ends with Jesus saying that you can’t love both God and money. Jesus then transitions to talk about worry. A sign that we are truly about God’s kingdom is our lack of worry. The average American is in $7,000 credit card debt and that doesn’t even include their house or cars. If you look at how you spend your money does it point to building God’s kingdom or yours. Building our kingdom leads to stress, worry, and anxiety. It leads to not be able to take a break because everything depends on us. Jesus’ kingdom, on the other hand, leads to a peace that surpasses all understanding. It’s so easy to live for our kingdom, but the consequences are anxiety, worry, and stress. It may not be easy to resist the pull to live for our kingdom but it’s more than worth it to live for Jesus’.
• The Next Level Volunteers are amazing! They are incredibly bought in. At this point most of our teams don’t have a rotation. That means that most volunteers are volunteering every week. I hope to change that soon.  I’m not sure they want a break but I want to give them that option.
• Tomorrow we have our first Meet N’ Greet. It’s the first step to get connected at Next Level. I’m excited for the Meet N Greet because I get to hang out with people, share vision, and give them a chance to get connected.
• Last week we started the service in…silence. The Bible says “be still and know that I am God.” I wonder if a reason that we so often can’t hear from God is because we are afraid of silence. People often say that they don’t have time to read their Bible or pray. Of course we don’t when we are so busy building our kingdom. I want to help people experience God. I think we did in the silence. We had a video that shared the above verse and then gave us the opportunity to be still and pray for 3 minutes. I think it set the tone for the rest of the service.
• I don’t know if this will make sense but Next Level Church feels a lot older than four weeks. It’s the same feeling that I had when I got married. Within weeks I felt as if I was married for a lot longer than I really was. People would give me a hard time and say that was because marriage is rough. I didn’t think that at all. Marriage is amazing and having Monica as my wife was so natural that it was hard to remember life before her. Next Level is still in the beginning stages but I love the sense of community, the spirit of everyone coming, and the desire to make a difference for Jesus. I love being the pastor of Next Level!
• If you are coming to Next Level tomorrow night I hope that you will come ready to experience Jesus. Take some time today to be still. Take some time to ask God to move. Take some time to ask God to speak to your heart.

I can no longer say that I’m not a runner. I’ve run a 5K, 10K, and survived a half marathon. I started running because we canceled our gym membership in order to save some cash money. That was about two years ago. Now that I’ve been doing it for some time I think I am at a place to offer some advice for the novice runner.

Advice like…

• Run after you go to the bathroom. If you do not then your time will be at record speed for fear of messing your jogging drawz. On the same lines as this pray that you don’t have to go to the bathroom during a race. There is nothing worse, and I mean nothing, then sitting in a stale porta-potty with the smell of other runner’s poo wafting up at you.
• Running with people makes the time go by way faster. I know some novice runners might be embarrassed to run with others but you should get over it. Running by yourself long distances (unless you are a real runner who actually enjoys this type of thing)  is brutal. Running for long distances with friends is still brutal but it’s less brutal than the alternative.
• Joggers nips are not a joke. If you are a guy stay away from jogging in cotton shirts, and running in the rain.  They have running shirts that don’t produce the pain in the nips. Body Glide seems to help out a lot. I have only used it for my half marathon but it helps my nips not to bleed.
• If you ignore that last bullet be prepared for the pain of the jogger’s nips shower. It is a mild form of torture.
• When dogs bark at you watch their tail. At least that’s what I was told once. If their tail is wagging they are not going to attack you. If it’s not wagging then you better be prepared and run with strips of bacon. Mmmm bacon.
• It’s okay to jump for your life when a dog surprise barks at you from behind a fence.
• Run for  a reason.  One of the first things that I did was sign up for a 5K. It helps motivate you to keep running. I figure that if I paid money to run then I will train for it so I don’t die on race day or waste my money and not show up.
• Buy running socks. I know what you are saying. That sounds stupid. I know what you are saying because I’ve said it. But hear me on this, running socks are magical. They help prevent blisters.
• Buy a good pair of running shoes. I know, I know more money to spend on something that should be free. Running is hard on your body. Having the right shoes is crucial to prevent injuries.
• Unless you run really long distances don’t expect to lose weight if you keep eating a lot of bad stuff. I have lost a few lbs  but I eat a lot on run days. I would lose more if I was more careful with my diet.
• Don’t wear spandex as running shorts. This is more about caring about other people. They just don’t need to see you in it. Feel free to slap on a pair under your shorts but never wear them with nothing covering them.
• Short shorts are funny. You are welcome to wear them but know that other people will laugh at you.
• Running in the cold is better than running in the hot. Some people say they hate to run when it’s cold and I agree that it’s bad. I think that all running is bad. But if you have to choose between running when it’s cold and running when it’s blazing hot…pick the cold.
• Plan your runs. My friend Ryan says that “running ruins lives.” He says that because it takes us a long time to run long distances. We often had to carve out two hours to do a long run. If you don’t plan on running then life will always get in the way.
• Running is mental. The runners wall is for real. I hit it often. Here’s the deal, it’s okay to quit. I often set out to run 6 miles and I could only do 3. I would gradually build up to run longer distances. What really helped me run more than 3 miles was the race deadline. I felt the pressure to run longer distances. Before I knew it six miles became easy for me. I then went to ten.
• Don’t jog in place when you are waiting to cross a road. You just look silly. Simply stop for a second and then start back up again.
• Watch the movie Run Fat Boy Run before your first race. You will think about that movie a lot during the race.
• Sweatbands are helpful if you sweat. I sweat. I sweat a lot. I sweat so much that I was thinking about caring a towel with me for my half marathon. Lucky for me my friend bought me some sweatbands. Those jokers are legit!
• For more advice please watch the following video…
• My friend sent me that video on Facebook and it made me chuckle.

What advice did I miss? On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being loathe and 10 being love, how would you rate your feelings about running.

Dear Humans who mostly live in America except for a handful of Canadians and one Australian pastor,

• Treat others as you wish to be treated should be mandatory education in all public schools.
• Politics stink. It’s hard to honor our leadership when the candidates bash on each other for months. If your guy loses it’s next to impossible to respect the other guy. Stop treating politics like a sport. Let’s unify our country and actually make a difference.
• Christians stop boycotting things unless it’s silly Christian products. We don’t need Christians slogans that look like secular products. Instead love people well, live for Jesus, and love the least of these.  Oh and if you are going to make products just make products that are amazing. Don’t make sub par products and then slap Jesus name on it. As Rob Bell once said, “Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective.”
• While I’m talking to Christians can we stop fighting with one another over stupid differences?! We are supposed to be building His kingdom and not our own. When we continually fight with one another it shows that we are all about our kingdom and our way of doing things. It’s not about us!
• People that create spam (potentially the food but definitely the computer kind) should be arrested. Do they really think that spamming my computer is going to cause me to spend money on their product? Has this every worked? Do you know anyone who said, “oh my computer just got spammed and now I feel that I really do need to enlarge a private part?”
• It’s racist to say that a black person doesn’t really act black. White people say it all the time. What do they mean? Well if a black person has an education, doesn’t sag their pants, can carry on a conversation, and listens to anything but rap they are acting white. There are lots of white people that fit the description of white trash and we don’t say that they are not acting white.  If you are going to call a person stupid then just call them stupid. Leave the color of their skin out of it.
• Don’t litter. It’s so lazy.
• Money will never satisfy you. When you were making 20 thousand you thought that 30 thousand would be enough. When you made 3o you thought you needed to make 50. The average American is in debt $7,000 and that doesn’t include their car payments or house payment. As the great theologian The Notorious BIG once said, “Mo Money, Mo Problems.” The problem is not that you don’t have enough money it’s that you aren’t content with what you have.  That’s why you could win the lottery and still end up broke.
• Beauty is fleeting. We invest so much to make ourselves look pretty. At the end of the day we all are going to look the same. There are no good looking people in the old folks home. We all end up looking wrinkly, short, and we smell like mothballs. Instead of investing so much in looks we should spend more time on who we are as a person.
• Rude people stink!
• At the same time we’ve all been rude. Maybe rude people are rude because they are broken, having a bad day/week/month/life. Maybe we should all try to show rude people grace to try to help them become better.
• You can’t get skinny eating whatever you want, refusing to exercise, and then taking a little pill. Don’t waste your money and don’t be fooled by this sales pitch.
• Infomercials are lies. If it seems too good to be true it is. They exist to snag you. They want your money.
• If you can’t Tweet/Facebook something nice don’t Tweet/FB it at all.
• If your life is full of drama it’s a good sign that you are addicted to it. Drama attracts drama. If your life is full of drama choose a different story.
• There is nothing good on TV past midnight. It’s not even worth turning on the TV.  Unless you like to be suckered into buying junk that doesn’t work from an infomercial.
• Tickling is awful as an adult. I think we hate it so much because as kids were are helpless when these big hypocrites tickle us. Adults hate to be tickled but love to dish it out to kids.
• Fact: It is funny to ask other adults if they want to have a tickle fight.
• Fact: It is weird if other adults take you up on that joke.
• As long as people have the ability to video things America’s Funniest Home Videos will be on TV. People falling never gets old.  Keep falling America. Keep falling.
• Never marry someone because you are lonely.  Never marry anyone that’s a project. Never marry anyone that doesn’t make you a better person.
• If you think something nice say it.
• Naps should be a part of every day.
• The 80′s was the greatest decade ever. Don’t argue with it.
• Jesus loves you.

What would you like to say to the human race that lives in America or in your part of the world?

The Bible says “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.” The following is not a foolish or stupid argument. In fact it’s an amazingly great debate.

After walking down the cereal isle of the grocery store I was overwhelmed with the amazing variety. I love cereal. Sometimes I eat it for breakfast and dinner. Sometimes I eat it for dessert. I almost always eat it for breakfast. With that being said I think that I’m a part time professional when it comes to cereal. Now here’s the question…

If you had to pick one cereal to rule them all what cereal would you choose?

I posted that question on Facebook/Twitter and it created quit the debate. People have lots of opinions. Pops, Lucky Charms, Cookie Crisp, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Fruit Loops, Honey Nut Cheerios, and even Cracklin’ Oat Bran.  I can’t support Cracklin’, but I love most of the others. My personal pick is Frosted Flakes. They’re Grrrrrreat!

So let’s stop debating and actually decide what cereal will rule them all.  Here’s where you come in. Below is a poll for you to vote on. Vote for your favorite cereal.  Pay your friends and family members to vote for your favorite cereal. This is serious business. The winner will decide the greatest cereal of all time! Voting ends at midnight tonight!

If you’ve been reading robshep.com for the past few months then you have been a part of my journey to run a half marathon. Well, I ran that half marathon yesterday and I made it my beast. What I mean by that is I not only survived running 13.1 miles, but I didn’t even think about walking. Here are some random thoughts that I had while running my first half marathon…

• I loaded up on Body Glide before the race. That jank stanks. It’s beyond stink. It stanks. It smells like butt musk.
• We had to ride a bus for 13 miles from the finish line to the start of the race. It was a really long bus ride. In fact it was pretty depressing. It was dark and rainy outside. The bus ride took forever which reminded us how far we had to run. Oh and the bus smelt like a Body Glide factory. Gag nasty.
• Spandex is not forgiving. I don’t know this because I wore it. I know this because I saw a lot of people wearing it. Some butts just can’t be contained by Spandex.
• Our friends Lee and Andrea started with us but they work at a running store and basically sprinted the entire race. It was crazy.
• Fanny packs are not necessary. A lot of people wear fanny packs like it’s Batman’s utility belt. They have H20, gel packs, extra nip guards etc. Every few miles they have, what I like to call, snack breaks. They were wicked awesome. They provide H20, a gel pack, and Gatorade. You don’t need no stinking, unfashionable (since 1989), fanny packs.
• Oh and in case you were wondering the Body Glide protected my nips and they didn’t bleed at all!
• Early on in the race someone was yelling at the runners “don’t forget your motivation.” That stressed me out because I don’t really have any motivation. I ending up finding my motivation during the race. SNACK BREAKS!
• Snack breaks are glorious. We got one at 6 miles and 9 miles. I wish I had one at 12 miles. In fact the only reason why I might do a full marathon is that it would equal more snack breaks. They are awesome!
• My wife, Courtney Hornsby, Candice Sparks, and Lindsey Newman are amazing! They met us at 7 different stops. They had signs, they cheered, they took pictures, and did it all while it was pouring down rain.  They were such an encouragement.
• Miles 2 – 9 was the most fun that I’ve ever had running. We hit a zone. There wasn’t a lot of pain. We met other runners. We had great conversations. We raced the animal girls.
• Around mile two we noticed that these two girls had passed us about five times. We told them how discouraging it was to continually be passed by the same people. They must have thought we were joking because they laughed. They then told us whenever they were hot on our tails. We called them the animal girls because after their walk break they would make an animal noise and then start running.
• After hearing one animal noise that sounded unlike any land animal we’ve ever heard they declared to us that it was the sound of the beluga wales. So the next time we caught up to them we asked them about said beluga wales. Come to find out they train them at Sea World in Fl.
• So our next question was why in the wide world of sports were they walking and then running? Apparently they run for three minutes and then walk for two. They were great competition until mile 9. At mile 9 they told us that there was no way that they could catch us anymore. They were really funny.
• I ran the entire race with my good friend Ryan Sparks. He made the race fun. We laughed a lot!
• Ryan would refer to people that would walk as Walkers. Walkers are what zombies are called in the TV show The Walking Dead. He then started saying “double tap” whenever he passed one. Double tap is one of the rules for killing zombies from the movie Zombieland. We ended up double tapping a lot of people. I wish we would have counted.
• My official race shirt says “Running Sucks.” It was a gift from a friend that I used to go to church with. That shirt got a lot of laughs and responses. It’s safe to say that a minimum of 50 people commented on my shirt. One random person even asked me to take a picture of my shirt. I smiled even though I think they were zoomed in on my shirt.
• Whenever someone would comment on my shirt Ryan would say, “I can vouch for that.” Every time.
• Surprisingly I wasn’t the fattest runner to run 13.1.
• Our good friends Tommy and Misti also ran the race. You’ll see pictures of them below.  Tommy is the one that gave me the wrist bands that I rocked for the race. They absorbed a lot of H20.
• Run walkers stink! It’s so discouraging to catch someone and think that you are about to pass them only to have them take off at a sprint and zoom far away.
• We saw a pee-er. Ryan sees something in the woods and wonders if it’s a deer or something. He was basically a frienemy. That is a friend who acts like an enemy. He sees this site and it gets my attention. I look over to see a rather large girl pulling up her spotted drawz. Underwear that is. Big spotted underwear.  All I saw were spots. That girl popped a squat in the woods where everyone could see her. Awful!
• My two prayers for this race were 1. That I wouldn’t get a rumbly in my tumbly and have to rootie poo during the race. One of my greatest fears in life is using a porta potty. Praise God from whom all blessing flow I woke up and took care of business before the race. 2. I prayed that it wouldn’t rain. The weather people called for 100% rain. They weren’t wrong this time.
• It rained for 13.1 miles. Now at the beginning I heard a lot of runners whine about the rain. In fact they acted like witches. Witches from Oz that melt in the rain. I’ve never heard such whining coming from people that are insane enough to pay money to run!
• It rained hard. In fact whenever I would sniff my nose I felt like I was going to drown. Not joking. It was hard to breath under water whenever I would sniff.
• I can’t remember which mile but for one of the miles I tried to sing as many songs about rain as I knew. I couldn’t come up with that many. I sang “Blame It On The Rain” by Milli Vanilli, “Set Fire To The Rain” by Adele, “Purple Rain” by Prince, “I Can’t Stand The Rain” by Ann Peeples via Misty Elliott, and Ryan added some rap song with motions about making it rain.
• The first ten miles was easy for me. I’ve run ten miles on the last four Saturdays. I’ve never run more than ten miles in my life so every step after the ten mile marker was a new world record for Rob.
• Miles 10 – 13 were brutal. Not because I didn’t train right. It was brutal because a fat guy who has never run designed this course while watching Judge Joe Brown and eating Cheetos. At least that’s my theory. No runner would have picked to end a half marathon this way. It was up and down hills! Big hills. Those hills were huge, but I didn’t walk.
• On the first big hill Ryan started yelling at me “Rob don’t you quit. You can do this. Don’t walk. We are not going to walk!” I never even hinted I was going to walk. I think he was motivating himself via yelling at Rob. It was nice motivation since they didn’t give me a snack break at mile 12.
• The only real pain that I felt was some slight pressure from my second toe. It felt like blood wanted to pop out the tip. It never did but there was a few miles that it hurt like a mother.
• People celebrated by drinking beer at the end. I was hoping for a Mtn. Dew booth, but I don’t think it exists.
• My official time was 2 hours and 34 minutes. I was shooting for 2 and a half hours so that’s not too shabby.
• I ate Five Guys for lunch after the race. That’s how I celebrate running 13.1 miles.
• Here are some pics from my first half marathon…
• 

  Rob pre-race

  

  The Runners = Rob, Ryan, Lee, and Andrea

  

  These guys were hardcore. Although those masks might have been necessary due to what they are running past.

  

  Candice, Lindsey, and Courtney cheering us on in the rain

  

  Pictured Above: Our friends Misti, some guy we don't know who was wearing a grey shirt, and Tommy

  

  Pictured Above: Our friends Andrea and Lee

  

  Ryan and Rob still going strong

  

  Because we ran in groups we officially didn't start until 6 minutes after the race. My time ended up being better than I thought.

  

  Ryan and Rob post race

  

  Ryan, Lee, Andrea, and Rob

  

  Rob and Monica

  What is the furthest you’ve ever run? What rain songs did I miss? Do you agree with my running shirt?

Last Sunday was our second week of public services. Here’s an update on Next Level Church…

• We had 154 people show up for week two. I was blown away at that number!
• I’ve been thinking a lot this week about what we are going to do now that we are public church. To me it’s more than having church services. I want to help people love Jesus, love people, and make a difference. I’m trying to think through ways to help people do just that.
• Our first series as a church is called Follow Jesus. It’s based around the idea that in order to live for Jesus you should understand what it means to follow Him. Jesus is more than a genie bent on granting you wishes. He’s more than a vending machine in which you simply have to insert the right stuff (good works, church attendance, helping old people cross roads) and He will come through for you. What does it mean to follow Jesus in 2o12? That’s what we are asking.
• I am praying over and seeking out how to make disciples. That is how to help people know Jesus, fall in love with Jesus, and obey Him. That doesn’t mean that we become perfect. Look at Jesus actual disciples. They were far from perfect. But I want to find a way to help people know Jesus in a way that impacts every aspect of their lives.
• I heard a talk recently that said that there were two ways to do discipleship in the church today. 1. Small groups. This pastor said that small groups are great for care and for growing church but that they don’t produce disciples. Now I’m not making that statement. I’m simply telling you what he said. 2. Bible studies. He said that this does a better job of producing disciples but nobody shows up to them. He said if your church is growing this doesn’t work because no one comes. He then said that he simply tells his older people to go fishing and find some younger people. What does that mean? What if you don’t have older people who are at a place to model what a Christian looks like for younger people? And is this like dodge ball in elementary school where you release them and they pick their teams based off the cool kids. I was the fat kid in dodge ball so I’m not liking this thought.
• I’m having some hard conversations and wrestling with how to do this at Next Level. The truth is I don’t know if there is a 100% right or wrong way. I think that Jesus hits people differently. Now, I don’t mean literally hits them but meets them where they are . To some He is strong and says sell everything to be my disciple. To others He is filled with compassion and simply says go I don’t judge you. Jesus didn’t have a one way fits all mentality when He would reach people. I think that’s why there are so many different types of churches that are reaching so many people.  The problem is how do you meet different people’s needs and not be at church every night of the week?
• I love the church but I don’t think that God has called me to sacrifice my family for the church. I can’t give my family my leftovers and expect them to be passionate about Jesus and the church.
• Here’s what I’ve come up with…
• Missions is a big part of the strategy. Each month we are finding a practical way to give back. I’m also wanting people to experience foreign missions. I had a conversation this week with a friend who is going to research a potential trip for Next Level.
• During the school year we will have small groups that meet. I think this is the best way to do care in the church today. During the summer we will take a break from all small groups. For 6 to 8 weeks (starting 2013) in the summer we will hold seminars that go through books of the Bible. Then once school picks back up we will start our groups again.
• This stuff is really fresh. I haven’t even said it out loud to Next Level Church yet.
• Tomorrow I am running 13.1 miles and then driving 2 1/2 hours to preach at Next Level. I signed up for this race before Next Level was a reality. I figured that I have run 10 miles the last 3 weekends and I’ve carried on my day in a normal way. I’m hoping the same is true with this. Pray for me.
• I have a board of advisers that are helping me make decisions. Big decisions!
• Sorry for all the rambling today. This is the stuff that I spend my days thinking about. I don’t have it all figured out. I’m just trying to obey God and follow His lead.
• If you are coming to Next Level tomorrow I pray you spend time seeking God before you get there. Ask God to speak to your heart.
• I love being the pastor of Next Level Church!

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a butt dial? No that’s not some crazy new thing the teenagers are experimenting with. It’s when someone accidentally calls you on their cell phone when said cell phone is in their pocket.

Thankfully I don’t think that I’ve ever butt dialed anyone but I have been on the other end of it. Wow that sounds inappropriate. I promise I’m not trying to be crass. I have a point.

The other day a friend of mine accidentally called me and I heard him disciplining his kids. He didn’t say anything inappropriate but I listened to the entire five minute message just in case he did.

What if we lived every day like someone was listening to our every word? What if our private life was being broadcast to someone else without our knowledge? I guess the question is does our private life match our public?

I think that most of us have a private life and a public life. We act one way when certain people are looking and another way when we think it’s safe to be our true selves.

The truth is that most people don’t have anyone to listen to their private lives. I think that should stop.

One thing that I think most of us sorely lack is true community. Community is more than a TV show on NBC. It’s what helps shape our private life to look more like our public life. It’s having people who get past our public image and still love us. It’s having people care so much about us that they love us through our junk.

I long to have people in my life who ask me the tough questions. I long to have people that love the real me. I’ve never butt dialed anyone but I hope that if I ever do they hear a message that is full of grace, love, and nothing that will embarrass me.

Have you ever butt dialed anyone? Have you ever received a butt dial? Do you feel like you have true community?

I am currently reading Donald Miller’s book “A Thousand Miles In A Million Years.” The book has me thinking a lot. One of the themes of the book is story. Specifically what type of story are you living.

Donald talks about how some people live terrible stories. He defines story as “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.”

He tells a story of a friend of his whose daughter was living a terrible story. Donald tells his friend that his daughter isn’t living a very good story and this idea radically changes the guys life.

This dad ends up doing some research and finds that for $25,000 you can build an orphanage. He tells his family and of course they get mad at him. No one wants to participate at first, but soon his world changes.

His wife was mad at first but later tells him that she’s proud of him. That was something that he hadn’t heard in years from his wife. His daughter climbs in bed with them like when she was little, and says that she wants to visit where they are going to put their orphanage so that she can post pictures on her blog.

I love this line in the book, “In the absence of a family story, she’d (the daughter) chosen a story in which there was risk and adventure, rebellion and independence. ‘She’s not a bad girl. She was just choosing the best story available to her.”

Boom sauce.

That has really been sticking with me. How often do we settle on living a poor story because there simply aren’t any other options? I don’t know about you but I want to live an amazing story.

I think I’ll run a half marathon even though I hate running.

I think I’ll start a church even though it’s not a safe bet.

I think I’ll act like a newlywed around my wife.

I think I’ll take a risk.

I think I’ll do whatever it takes to live a great story.

How about you?

You know you are a parent when…

• the songs that are stuck in your head are songs featured on a Classic Kid’s Song album. My new jam is Shortnin’ Bread.
• you no longer judge other parent’s when their kids throw tantrums in public. You no longer judge because despite your best efforts you have either experienced it or can picture your kids doing the same thing.
• a Saturday no longer involves watching sports on TV.
• you have to pay someone to come sit at your house while your kids sleep so that you can enjoy a few hours out in public on a date.
• you get really excited about hearing words that somewhat sound like dad or mom.
• you no longer make fun of mini-vans because either you own one and they are awesome or you wish you owned one because your car is way too small for all the junk that comes with kids.
• most of your conversations with adults revolve around something your kid did this week.
• Elmo becomes the official family mascot.
• you can blame that smell on someone other than your husband.
• you make decisions to go places based strickly off ease. For example: I don’t care how fun it seems if I have to load up our entire house to take my kids there we are not going. In fact if I can’t make it someplace without having to change a diaper you will not find me going there with my kids and without backup…aka mom.
• you’ve used your spit as a cleaning agent on another human being’s face.
• when you are too tired to even take a nap. Sometimes just sitting in silence for twenty minutes becomes refreshing.

The truth is there is nothing like being a parent. I wouldn’t change having kids for anything. I love being a dad. I love watching my kids learn. I love seeing how awesome my wife is as a mom. All you single folks can make fun of my desire to rock a min-van while listening to “The Wheels On the Bus” but your time will come.  And when it does I hope you feel as blessed as I do.

What are some other ways that you know that you are a parent?