Our Christmas package finally arrived. And after just an hour of assembling the few parts, we now have a treadmill in our home. Very exciting yes. I’m on day two now – which would still be classified as a treadmill honeymoon. In other words I’m thrilled to now be living at a 24 hour fitness. Now there’s no excuse for me not working out daily. At least that’s how I became convinced it was worth spending the money on a new treadmill. I’m still optimistic; despite the many comments I’ve heard from friends. Their typical response goes something like this, “Yeah we bought a treadmill too. I think I’ve only been on it twice in the three years we’ve had it. We should just sell it.” That concerns me. As does the fact that every fitness company in the world is having a heyday selling treadmills to Americans, while this country continues to get bigger and bigger.
Q: Is it possible that by purchasing a treadmill, I’ll actually work out less now?
Erase that thought. See, the self-doubt already has a hold on me. Yet I’m also reminded of those who have committed much time to the treadmill. Guinness Book of World Records identifies dozens of runners who have run for 24 hours straight on a treadmill. The record is over 150 miles in that period of time. Who isn’t motivated by that? *
My goal is to run just 100 or more miles every month this year, with a combined total of 1500+. Nothing near world record style, but having a treadmill should hopefully help me meet that goal – at least for the winter months (which likely will never end). Now if I could just get a 46 inch flat screen.

Is that me in the yellow sweatshirt? lol

A striking realization lately – people are motivated by different reasons. Well it might not be such a revelation, as much as it is a healthy reminder. I believe that most people are motivated by the same factor no matter what area of life is being examined. As for myself, competition is my main motivation. If you know me, you are probably laughing right now. I’m a big boy – I can handle your laughs. Perhaps it is misunderstood – this competitive edge.
False: competition is always between me and you. Instead my competitive spirit is typically between me and myself. I want to outdo myself. Sure, when I was fourteen I wanted to beat everyone else. However, I’ve lost too many times to consider competing against others all the time to be worth it. Running was really my eye-opener. As my endurance grew, my marathon time improved, and my positioning (in relation to others) increased. And yet I found myself in 1,460th place. Take that Jon. I rarely measure myself by others’ standards – instead I measure myself against myself, both my past and my future potential.
This is where you, my reader (or readers if there is more than one of you*) make your mark. Q: What motives you? Is it a competitive spirit? Accomplishments – completing what you started? Or something else?
I’m not looking for the most spiritual answer. Or a quote from Paul on running the race (however that is proof that Paul also was motivated by competition…lol). Anxious to read your replies everyone!

Sometimes when I see pictures or objects I sense a parable coming on, or at the very least a sermonette. This was the case yesterday when I came home to find one of our small trees looking pretty lopsided. My first reaction was “jeepers the pressure of the rain and ice is tearing that tree apart”. Yes, jeepers really did come to mind. What immediately came to mind thereafter were my students. When I see this picture I think about the pressures that these high school students face. We are in a time when teenagers are led to believe their bodies are nothing more than sexual objects. The sending and receiving of nude or semi-nude photos via text is out of control. Dating seldom means two people going out and having a good time. Now it’s about sexually pleasing the other. You’d think that social media has something to do with this maybe?!

That’s just the start. In the last week I’ve heard from two students who are struggling with some addictions.
Then there are the pressures faced from parents. I’m not siding with just students here but they often express their feelings – and it sounds just like the picture looks. Unfortunately some of that pressure is in getting their kids involved in church and their Christian faith. This always pains me because I wish it were easy for them to be involved in our student ministries. So yeah, I sometimes beat myself up about that – and acknowledge that I could and should help parents alleviate that problem. The weight of parents expectations has also left students slouched over. To me this is a hard one. My expectations of students in the ministry is high, and I’m just their youth pastor. So I get it – parents expectations that is – but for some it is damaging. I haven’t solved this dilemma, as to how some parents are able to get their kids to respond well to their high expectations, while others don’t. This is a reminder that parenting teens…it’s anything but easy!

As I now look out my window I notice that most of the ice has fallen off my tree. The branches have worked their way mostly back to an upright position – a healthy position. The pressure has been lifted. As my students stay grounded in their faith and in God’s Word, I am confident they too will stand strong in this world – letting no pressure pull them down. And everyone said – Amen!

Recently I’ve been re-pondering whether to continue my seminary experience at Rockbridge. It’s a back and forth internal debate. There’s a few things I recently learned from Relevant Magazine. I can’t say any of these will impact my decision, but they sure are interesting.

• Four out of ten senior pastors do not have a seminary degree.
• The average seminary graduate makes about $42,083 a year. The median value of pastoral compensation for America’s senior pastors is $38,214
• The pastors least likely to have a biblical worldview are those who are seminary graduates (45%). Fifty-nine percent of pastors who have not attended seminary operate a biblical worldview.
• Church leaders in seminary and those in their 20s and 30s are more likely than average to self-identify as introverted personality types.

The commitment is both financial and time related. Can I afford, on either end, to make the leap forward? My defense of being a pastor and not going to seminary was simply seeing what was said of our forefathers, Peter and John. Upon noticing their ministry, some were confused. We read in Acts, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” No greater compliment could be said of me (not that anyone has), but to say that I must walk with Jesus because my ministry reflects it.

Yes, having correct doctrine is important and I’m sure it would be sharpened through seminary. There are certainly other areas of my faith and understanding of Scriptures that sway me towards obtaining a seminary degree. I don’t question that at all. But I’m not looking for a framed piece of paper. Unfortunately most churches and elder boards expect that – particularly of a senior pastor candidate – which I can very well see myself as one day. Who knows, maybe my church leadership will make a contribution that leaves me no other excuses but to re-enter and complete a seminary program.

Can you imagine what it would have been like to hear Jesus preach – just once even. What was it about him that made people listen? It wasn’t because he was God, after all only a few at best were willing to make such a bold claim about Christ. Twenty-eight different accounts Jesus is referred to as “Teacher”, according to my searching the Scriptures. When He spoke, people listened. That includes his opposition – for even they called him Teacher. So what was it about Jesus that drew people in? Let’s get back to this in a moment.

As both a relational individual, and a Bible teacher, I long to possess the right qualities that when I speak – people listen. Again, be it students, older adults, Christians or non-Christians. I don’t desire this for my own good as much as I desire to influence people to live in line with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A bold statement that I fully stand behind. I hope you caught an important word I mentioned there above… “right” qualities. Certainly there are those who have many listeners who gained their voice due to fame, wealth, or accomplishment. But that’s not what I desire. I figure I won’t be achieving much of those three anyways. Rather, I’d like my voice to carry because of the value of my words – which I understand must be backed by the value of my life. A simple lesson I learned from my Hero.

For me it is difficult to know why so many listened to Jesus. So let me consider those in my life of whom I could say – When they speak, I listen.
An automatic disqualifier is when a person does not live to the code of what they speak. On the other hand, I listen to those with passion. I was reminded yesterday that passion is inspiring. I’m not referring to those who stand behind a pulpit and more or less yell; or those who get all wound up to the point of nearly sweating. That’s not passion. Passion is something you’d die for. Jesus’ love for people came out in all that he did, and yes he even died for it.
I listen when people use the Word of God, not to show off their Bible memorization skills, but to display God’s Word as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
I listen when people speak more about others than they do themselves. Particularly when they are affirming and encouraging to others in their speech.
I listen when people talk with their hands. Not like that. I mean when I see from a distance a man praying for another man – I know that what he has to say is worth my attention.
Laslty, I listen to my wife. Perhaps because she does such an amazing job listening to me. Maybe it’s just because the woman loves me and others so well.

As for Jesus, I believe he displayed all these positive qualities plus many more. Maybe you could enlighten me. As you read the Gospels, why do you believe people listen when He speaks?

My prayer is that we would be the same. It may not matter how many people listen when we speak, but that when we speak those few want to listen.

I wonder what obese people think when they watch Biggest Loser. I feel guilty during almost every episode, because I’m a big fan of eating while watching the show. And I’m not even obese. But I also feel inspired. Every season I watch these contestants push themselves and get pushed (Jillian and Bob can be HA’s). With a few hundred extra pounds they are still working harder than I do on my long training runs. I’m so curious though to know what goes through the mind of overweight people who are watching Biggest Loser. If there are any of you out there that feel comfortable sharing on that – please do.

Be careful what you wear. I’m not referring to scandalous clothing – but rather to being aware of the words or symbols that are written on your apparel. Lately I’ve been covering up my “in need of a cut” hairdo with one of my Boston Red Sox hats. In public that results to me being asked often an array of questions pertaining to the BoSox. At times I’m wondering if I’m a fan or the teams General Manager. The same is true in for Christian apparel too, as well as those fancy Christian fish that are placed on cars. No, my car does not have one. I’ve decided that just in case, I’d hate for people to get the wrong impression of me (or Christ). ‘Christian’ clothing bears the same responsibility. People may not voice their questions like they do when we wear sports teams, but there they are still asking questions. However we don’t get to talk our way through them. In other words, if anyone is wearing Christian literature on their clothing – your behavior best be backing it up.

I wonder what it would be like to be a part of an online church. Perhaps you have yet to hear about this new paradigm in the evangelical church world. From everything I’ve read it is still in it’s early stages – although LifeChurch.tv started the trend of an ‘e-church’ back in early 2008. While I’ve heard a little about it, there was not enough curiosity to become part of an online church. I can now say that my curiosity has reached that point. When I viewed North Point’s new online church [Andy Stanley] – I discovered that what I long to experience in a brick and mortar church, I can find online. I have not lost faith in the physical church. And I don’t expect there will ever be an online youth pastor (although I may eat those words someday). Perhaps the beauty of digging into the online church is to recognize the shortcomings of the physical church. There’s a lot we can learn about this new church system. I hope it leads us to consider what needs to be changed, and implemented, to provide a church experience involving: connecting people, offering continual pastoral care, discipling believers in God’s Word, creating prayer walls, post-message discussions, and make it really easy to invite non believers to church. Because get this, online churches are doing these things with success. Is your church? Is mine?

As with any job, being a pastor has its key roles within the organization (in this case the local church). But I’m curious, from the perspective of church attendees, what role of a pastor is most important. Let’s say you were on the committee that hires the next senior pastor – of if you are a youth, you’re next youth pastor – which quality would you be looking for most when choosing one candidate over the others?
Note: I am assuming this person is a godly man or woman. This question is in reference to gifts, ability, passions, and priorities of the pastor.

• Outstanding Biblical preaching
• Vision caster
• Equipper of volunteers
• Pastoral care / individual visitation and counseling
• Fill in the blank

Some of my most beloved students are, or have been, homeschooled. As I’ve gotten to know these homeschoolers, I’ve realized many of the benefits attached to getting your education from home. They are some of the brightest, polite, and talented students. Since my educational experience was much different growing up, I’ve struggled a little bit at knowing what questions to ask – in order to provoke conversation with homeschoolers. In my attempt to come up with some good conversational starters – I managed to think of a few questions you don’t need to ask a homeschooled teenager. Here’s my top ten:

• What time do you get out of school?
• Do you have a crush on your teacher?
• Will you graduate towards the top of your class?
• What’s the dress code at school?
• Have you ever been sent to the principal’s office?
• Do you have a girlfriend?
• How often do you skip class?
• Do you get to have off campus lunch?
• Will your parents see your report card before you?
• Did you get any homework today?

I’d have to disagree with Solomon in that not everything is meaningless. Yet he did point out some good examples of what is meaningless; a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes is certainly unlike any other book in the Bible. The wisdom of a man who has been given abundantly more than anyone who ever lived has a unique perspective on life. Unique is almost being too generous. I almost wonder if he started writing Ecclesiastes after he got so sick and tired of the way he was living his life, and after concluding that the values of his people were wealth, prosperity, and laughter (perhaps on alcohol). He doesn’t come out and say it in those exact words, but he uses some heavy language to get his point across. Repeatedly Solomon backhands the ideas of having huge homes, accumulated money, and great pleasures. He then turns his attention to the oppressed, showing great compassion for those who have no comforter.

Some people say the Bible is irrelevant to our lives in the here and now. I beg your pardon. Here we are in a nation that thrives on wealth, prosperity, and false enjoyment. And time and time again we see those people become miserable. It hasn’t seemed to work for the people I read in the tabloids either. Shocking.

There’s too much chasing after the wind in life. And what a clever phrase to summarize our wasted time. Do we not spend so much time trying to catch up with the status’ and expectations of others? Are we not more concerned with how our co-workers, classmates, and church folk view us than we are with how God sees us? Wait, aren’t most of us chasing after the wind?

Between the times you wake up and go to bed, are you really accomplishing anything of eternal worth? If not, you just spent the day chasing after the wind. John Piper gave us some good advice – don’t waste your life.
How do you chase the wind? Are your priorities out of whack? Are you trying to be someone you’re not? Are you satisfied with sin in your life?

As much as I love to run, I’ve found that it isn’t much fun chasing wind. You really never catch it, though many think if they just keep running they will. Heavens, run against the wind for once. When you do, don’t be surprised if people look at you strange as they pass by. It may be easier to run with the wind, but the wind might not be taking you where you want to go.