I’m coaching Jack’s soccer team, but so far it has been more about calling off practices/games rather than helping the kids enjoy the game.
After last night’s rainout of a game rescheduled because of a rainout, we’ve now had 5 practices and 3 games scheduled…and actually had 1 practice and 1 game. …At least my grass is green.
There’s lots of reasons I love Faith Church in Dyer (and Cedar Lake and Valpo). Two things top the list: the way they draw people to Jesus and a growing friendship with their pastor, Bob Bouwer.
Every church has their uniqueness, but since we have a common mission I know there is incredible power in collaborating. And after a great meeting with Bob and our worship guys today, we have cool plan for this summer.
All the details are coming together, but this much I can share…
In a teaching series this June called “One Prayer” we are going to do a message series together. The concept is based on Jesus Prayer in John 17 where he prayed for all Christ-followers: May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Jesus knew what too many churches forget…that when we all work together, then we have our best chance for our world hearing about God’s love.
For one week, I’ll go teach at Faith and Bob will teach here at Suncrest. We’re exploring how we can tackle a local/regional initiative and one global initiative together also. Together, our churches have campuses in 5 Northwest Indiana locations and we both have partnerships in Africa, so I can’t wait to see how it comes together.
I ran 4 miles today. Ran the whole way without walking. Felt like I could run another mile or two if I needed too. I should feel good about that, right?
If I had told you last year I ran 4 miles, I would have been feeling good. Today, I’m feeling more like a failure. And it’s all about expectations.
Three months ago, I committed to run a half marathon in mid-May. That means 17 days from now, I’m suppossed to run 13.1 miles. According to my training program (which I integrated in my outlook calendar so it annoyingly reminds me every time I am supposed to be running), this week I should be doing a 9 mile run. So instead of 4 miles being completely satisfying, it is utterly disappointing. And nothing was different…except my expectations.
I think it’s one of the most challenging things in life…setting expectations high enough that you are stretched and know you’ve really accomplished something when you meet them…but not so high that they are unrealisticand you’ll live in frustration all while making very admirable accomplishments.
What are your expectations? For your career? For your spouse? For your children? For your faith? For your finances? For your health? For your commute to work? For your golf game? In every area of life…You get to choose.
Choose wisely…if you set them too low, you’ll probably just meet them and never experience your full potential.
Choose wisely…if you set them unrealistically high, you are setting yourself up for feelings of personal or interpersonal failure. Because getting an “A minus” somehow plays out as Failure.
For people who are new to Suncrest, we encourage them to land in a 4 week course called “Starting Point”. It comes around every other month or so and I always am curious to see how people new to Suncrest got here. I got the update on the current group and thought you might love to see why people have come this spring…I’ve left off last names.
Sue & Ken were invited to Suncrest by Doris.
Liz has a brother who attends and she literally followed him to church one Sunday.
Julie & Mark received one of our postcards.
Tanya & Dan – after church one Sunday their family went to Schoop’s and one of the staff came in. Their kids recognized each other from class and generated a conversation.
Joyce liked our suncrest logo.
Jaci & Ben were invited by Stephanie.
Lori & Bryan were invited by Jaci (see previous).
Cindy was invited by Linda.
Chrisi is a neighbor to one of our staff and was invited by them.
I love it, Suncrest. Sometimes it’s a postcard or a logo, but usually it is a simple invitation. And whoever did the inviting is fulfilling our mission — to be used by God to change lives.
Who will you be inviting this week?
I get all kinds of invites to do things on Saturdays. Lately, I’m turning almost all of them down. It goes with the territory that I have church stuff on a lot of Saturdays — 7 out of the last 10 have had something — and wedding season is coming fast.
Still, today reminds me why I love Saturdays. In the spring (and fall), I coach Jack’s soccer team in the morning and Jenny plays in her soccer league in the afternoon — which means a full afternoon for just me and the kids. (Today it was short naps, reading books, and celebrating Albert Pujols grand slam in the Cubs/Cards game). Evenings tend to be quiet…baths, stories, bedtimes. A true family day is as good as it gets.
Late night, my routine is to make sure I’m ready for Sunday. It is about refining the sermon, but in my personality, I have trouble finalizing the sermon with waiting emails or small tasks, so those tend to get done too. It’s SO true that Church isn’t all about Sunday…at the same time it is the only chance I get to interact with 1100+ of you all it once, so it ought to be as good as it can be, right?
Saturdays are even better when I have the Sunday off! So far this year, if I haven’t been preaching I’ve been on our elder retreat or in Africa, so my first one of the year will be Memorial Day weekend. Can’t wait.
It’s that time of year. I’m starting to think about what we will do for teaching series in the coming year. We already have series coming together on:
But, I need your help! In the comments section below, give me what you would LIKE to hear, NEED to hear, Have always WONDERED about, or (even better) something you think would be attractive to that person you’ve been thinking about inviting to Suncrest…
Open to any and all ideas…(and don’t foget to give me some suggestions for the series about controversial) issues. Thanks!
(Click next to “comments” below to put in your suggestions.)
Today is earth day and I’m probably too simple-minded on this, but here goes…
First…I hate the politicizing of it. It causes us to live in the extremes and argue instead inspiring everyone to live responsibly. It encourages the exaggeration of data/statistics on both sides so it’s hard to get a reasoned look at the real issues of global warming, clean air, renewable energy, etc.
Second…Taking care of God’s creation is a good idea — even a Godly action. No one should resist. It doesn’t compete for the top passion of my life, but we should all live with awareness of it.
Why isn’t it on the top of my passion list?
But I’m also sickened by people who ignore it. It’s something for me that everyone should take our own responsibility for as we walk through this life. Buy the right light bulbs. Plant a tree. Use energy wisely and the renewable variety when you can. Don’t litter (and pick it up even if it’s not yours). Recycle. Reuse that water bottle. In other words…do your part and I’ll do mine. Together, we’ll leave a healthy planet for our kids.
I love the new life that baptism symbolizes, so Sunday was a great day for me. Over the course of the morning, we had baptisms from both West Campus and East Campus – 14 in all. This time, most of them were children that have gone through our “LifeBuilding” process and it always generates some good questions, so I thought I would answer a few here.
1. When should my child go through the “Lifebuilding” process? It’s very intentional that we don’t set a specific age. We think the right time is when the child is ready. Often that is in their later elementary years when they start asking more spiritual questions, but it is different for every child.
2. Do you baptize infants? We do infant dedications that involve designating spiritual mentors and parents committing to raise their children in a Godly way. Since baptism (in the Bible) is tied to trusting Jesus, asking for forgiveness, and finding new life, those are the markers that help us understand when a child (or adult) is ready to make their own baptism decision.
3. Why immerse someone completely under water? Two reasons, really. Part of our desire is just to do things the way they were done in the Bible as much as it is possible. Second, we believe there is power in the Biblical imagery of death, burial, and resurrection.
I know for me the day I was baptized at 9 years old still serves as a significant spiritual marker and experience. One of the cool things that happens every time we have baptisms is that it inspires more and more people to take that step themselves. Our pastor who coordinates these (Bobby Jackson) said more people expressed interest after Sunday. Certainly if you have any questions are are interested in taking the step, you can contact him at bobby.jackson@suncrest.org
No doubt, in some ways this was a hard funeral – any funeral for a 12 year old would be. In other ways, it was actually easier…because if honoring the best of someone is my goal, I had more material to work with than I could ever use. He was incredible.
I’m going to post some parts of what I shared here to honor his memory and encourage others. I know I saw a ton of Suncrest folks who waited in the three hour line last night, but could not be there today.
On life and death:
-As a pastor, I see my share of life and death, joy and heartache, pain and inspiration. But we can acknowledge something together as we begin today, can’t we? This is no normal circumstance.
-Because Josh loved – and was loved – with incredible passion, today does mark a loss. It leaves us with grief. It creates emptiness in our human hearts. It leaves us with questions, some of which are not just challenging, but literally unanswerable. We won’t act this morning as if those feelings do not exist. And yet, in sync with the desires of Josh and his family today’s remembrance will celebrate a life well-lived, a journey marked by strengthand influenceand lessons for all of us to learn.
-One of the conversations I’ve had repeatedly since we learned of Josh’s death is that we should never confuse a long life with a full life.
From Josh himself (as written on the caring bridge website):
April 2 (his final entry): I’m going into the next phase of the chemo drug combo that starts tonight, so I front loaded with chocolate chip cookies, 1/2 quart of lemon rice soup (thanks Main Street Cafe), 3 popsicles…banana of course, and washed it down with a Goose Island root beer (thanks Costellos)! I’ve cleared my social schedule to get plenty rest for the Jammin for Josh tomorrow….SUPER EXCITED to see everyone. I may not seem to be the same Josh, but don’t worry, I’m still the same trouble maker, just the more quiet type these days.
Feb 9 – I am ready for spring! My dog and I sat outside on saturday and recharged my freckles.
Oct 22 (before 2nd surgery): I asked him (the doctor) if I was his kid what would he do, I’m asking all the docs that question. The first surgery I did not know how risky it was and my mom did not tell me, and I’m glad she didn’t. This time it is different, the tumor is in a different area of the brain, as the doctor said the tumor is in the high rent district. He explained that there is a risk of my motor skills being affected. I asked him if my memory would be loss, I think I could live with maybe not being able to walk, but I want to know people and remember memories.
Oct 6 (along with his dog named Wrigley, he had been so excited to see his beloved cubs make the playoffs, but then lose in the first round):
Dear Cubs,
You broke my heart. And you owe me $40.00 to change my dog’s name!
Love,
Josh
On How God used Josh and his story to carry-out his work (See John 9:1-3):
1. He drew us all together to function like a family/church/community should. (He was actually quite sure one day he would be the mayor of Crown Point!)
2. He modeled for us JOY in the midst of frustration and pain. Jesus said we should expect trouble in this world. Josh showed us how to respond when it comes.
3. He taught all of us about heaven. He described his look out the windows of the Chicago hospitals as “million dollar views”. The view he has today is even better. (see Revelation 21:1-7)
4. He showed us how to live life with intentionality. It can actually be a great gift to face the fact that your days are numbered. The way he lived was designed to leave a legacy…Is mine? Is yours?
Thanks, Josh, for teaching us and making this journey with grace. See you in heaven.
This morning started with Jack’s first soccer game of the season. I’m coaching again, which is a blast. Our team had been frozen out or rained out of every practice, so we went cold turkey into the first game. The team did good and Jack was so much more focused this year. I know some practices will help them too.
This afternoon, I took Jack and Abby to Wrigley for the Cubs/Cardinals game. They are pictured with my younger brother, Ben, who scored the tickets for us. For two more months Abby can get still get in without a ticket!
It went extra innings only to have the cardinals lose. The kids did great…and enjoyed cotton candy, popcorn animal crackers, a pretzel, a hot dog…yeah, you’ve probably been there. Uncle Ben bought Jack the Cotton Candy as his prize for winning the family NCAA pool!
In between the two games, I spent some time at Jennifer Prunsky’s house prepping for Josh’s funeral. So many emotions. Visitation is tomorrow (Sunday) and funeral is Monday at 10:00…all at Geisen’s in Crown Point.
.Real.Greg.Lee. 
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