B.O.W.I

BOWI stands for ~ Big Outrageous Wild Ideas. When Jesus said that he came to bring us life and for us to have it more abundantly (John 10:10), I wonder if we are truly claiming the power behind such words? I think most humans tend to "under-live." Sure, we might have that occasional moment where we shoot for the stars, but most often we fail to launch the rocket. Sometimes we don't launch because of fear, embarrassment, doubt, and the list goes on. But what if God would grant you that one prayer, that BOWI moment? Would you take it?

During the month of September at Willowbrook I am teaching on "The Bucket List - a 30 Day Adventure." So far, we've created a pretty good atmosphere of dreaming big. Last week I challenged all of us to think about making a difference in a place called, Ukraine. Pastor Sergei and his translator, Julia, did a great job in helping us create a BOWI moment. BOWI moments change lives. To be in a place in which you must trust God for that BOWI moment draws you and God much closer together. In fact, the Bible says that it is impossible to please God without faith. That's the BOWI idea with legs on it.

So, what's your BOWI moment? What is God asking from you to do ~ in BOWI fashion?

Sound off and let's hear/see it.

Ouch & more Ouch

So ~ yesterday I thought I would give it a try. I wanted to run 20 miles. Never done it before. But now that I think I am Superman, I thought that I would give it a try. I had the perfect afternoon (low temps & low humidity). My first 12 miles went fantastic ("I'm the king of the world," moment), but I made one very serious mistake. I failed to drink water along the course. Ooops. On mile 13 the body screamed, "stop." I started cramping up in the legs and I started experiencing cold chills. Yep - I was a mess. They call this being "dehydrated." Some of my running friends told me the day before that every 6 or 7 miles I should be consuming liquids. But did I listen to them? Nope. I felt too good. I was in a groove. Who needs water?

Our spiritual journey can resemble this scenerio as well. We cruising along in life at Mach 6 speed, the RPM's are in the red zone, we're making great time, and ~ pow! Ouch & more ouch. We run right through the pit stop. We fail to see that the fuel light is on.

In the gospels Jesus proclaims, "I am the life giving water." He later goes on to say that if we drink from him "we will no longer thirst." It surprising how many times we think we can go without this life giving water. We get to church once a month (at best), we go another month without a quiet time with our Creator, and then we wonder why we feel empty and dry inside.

I want to encourage you from my poor example of running to stop frequently to be refueld spiritually. Get involved in a small group. Go to church often. Make God your number one priority. Because if he's not your number one - you will experience, like me, ouch and more ouch! Water anyone???

See you on Sunday.

By the way.... I'm stoked about this Sunday. My Pastor friend from Ukraine, Sergei, will be joining us in the service! Don't miss out!

Ragnar -ly :-)

Totally proud! That's how I felt this weekend after completing a great team running event called, RAGNAR. Willowbrook Church featured two Ragnar running teams (twelve on each team) for 30 hours of relay running from LaCrosse Wisconsin to Minneapolis. Our team name was - "Running on a Prayer." Isn't that creative?? We competed against 170 other teams through some of the warmest weather of the year (90 degrees and 72% humidity). We all survived and grew closer to each other throughout the two days together. For me and my wife (Terri), this was our first "big" time race together and we each ran three different legs in the 220 mile relay. Each of our 24 runners, on average, ran approximately 16 miles over a 24 hour period. When we were not running, we spent our time laughing, eating, cheering, and smelling up the vans!

This incredible event reminded me that the Christian life is all about running. Apostle Paul reference running four times in his letter to the churches. He encouraged every Christian to run the race to get the prize. There were many times in my Ragnar race that I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. But somehow and someway, persistence won out. I want to encourage all of my fellow runners in life to not stop training and keep on running - because the prize of life awaits each one of us.

To learn more about RAGNAR, you can go to: www.ragnarrelay.com

See you on the road!

What is true Worship?

The Bible says that "laughter is good medicine for the soul" (Proverbs). Well, when it comes to worship, I wonder how many of us have a good laugh with the God who loves us? In fact, as it pertains to worshipping God with our giving, the Bible says that God loves a "hilarious giver." There's something about worship and laughter that go together - it does something for the soul. I hope you enjoy Tim Hawkins as much as I do. Check out his other videos on the Youtube link. You'll be glad you did. Laugh away...as you worship.

An Awesome Community Event

We pulled it off -

Over 1400 people from our community showed up to get a taste of Willowbrook and God granted to us some great weather and tons of people! I was so proud of our many volunteers who totally "tore it up" for over three hours! Take a look at this great little video put together by Tonicia Ferguson (her finger snapped over 200 pictures that day).