Judah and His Family Are Safe

Praise God!

I just received this note (forwarded to me) from Judah Tangshing in Myanmar.

" We are safe by His protection and mercy. At cyclone night, we were frightened alot, it was the worst disaster in histroy in Myanmar. Countless lost their homes and over a thousand lives lost their lives.

After four days, the phone starts ringing and I can email you, but electric does not come yet.

Talk to you later. Love, Judah"

ESPN's Powerful Presentation of a Beautiful Act of Sportsmanship

As promised, here's a copy of the story that ESPN produced on Sara Tucholsky's first homerun and the two girls who carried her home.

An amazing story of sportmanship

I'm fascinated with this story of Sportsmanship. I told this story in my sermon yesterday at Real Life Christian Church in Clermont, Florida.

Today Sportscenter on ESPN has a really emotional piece on this event. (If I can get that one I'll post it later.)

Here's an interview they did with the ladies right after it happened.



Here's an excerpt from an article on the event:

Central entered Saturday's doubleheader one game behind Western Oregon in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference race. At stake was a bid to the NCAA's Division II playoffs. Western won the first game 8-1, extending its winning streak to 10 games. Central desperately needed the second game to keep its postseason hopes alive.

Western Oregon's 5-foot-2-inch right fielder came up to bat with two runners on base in the second inning. Sara Tucholsky's game was off to a rough start. A group of about eight guys sitting behind the right field fence had been heckling her.

"They were giving me a pretty hard time," said Tucholsky, a Forest Grove High School graduate. "They were just being boys, trying to get in my head."

At the plate, Tucholsky concentrated on ignoring the wise guys. She took strike one. And then the senior did something she had never done before -- even in batting practice. The career .153 hitter smashed the next pitch over the center field fence for an apparent three-run home run.

The exuberant former high school point guard sprinted to first. As she reached the bag, she looked up to watch the ball clear the fence and missed first base. Six feet past the bag, she stopped abruptly to return and touch it. But something gave in her right knee; she collapsed on the base path.

"I was in a lot of pain," she told The Oregonian on Tuesday. "Our first-base coach was telling me I had to crawl back to first base. 'I can't touch you,' she said, 'or you'll be out. I can't help you.' "

Tucholsky, to the horror of teammates and spectators, crawled through the dirt and the pain back to first.

Western coach Pam Knox rushed onto the field and talked to the umpires near the pitcher's mound. The umpires said Knox could place a substitute runner at first. Tucholsky would be credited with a single and two RBIs, but her home run would be erased.

"The umpires said a player cannot be assisted by their team around the bases," Knox said. "But it is her only home run in four years. She is going to kill me if we sub and take it away. But at same time I was concerned for her. I didn't know what to do. . . .

"That is when Mallory stepped in."

Mallory Holtman is the greatest softball player in Central Washington history. Normally when the conference's all-time home run leader steps up to the plate, Pam Knox and other conference coaches grimace.

But on senior day, the first baseman volunteered a simple, selfless solution to her opponents' dilemma: What if the Central Washington players carried Tucholsky around the bases?

The umpires said nothing in the rule book precluded help from the opposition. Holtman asked her teammate junior shortstop and honors program student Liz Wallace of Florence, Mont., to lend a hand. The teammates walked over and picked up Tucholsky and resumed the home-run walk, pausing at each base to allow Tucholsky to touch the bag with her uninjured leg.
"We started laughing when we touched second base," Holtman said. "I said, 'I wonder what this must look like to other people.' "

I love what Mallory says, "I wonder what this must look like to other people."

I'll tell you what it looks like to me.

It looks like the love of Jesus.

Please Pray for Judah Tangshing, His Family, and His Church

My friend Judah and his family live and serve just outside of Yangon.

Here's news from their region:

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Almost 4,000 people were killed and nearly 3,000 others are unaccounted for in a single town after a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, a state radio station said Monday. Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, early Saturday with winds of up to 120 mph. The cyclone blew roofs off hospitals and schools and cut electricity.
On Sunday, the government had put the death toll countrywide at 351 people.

Please pray for Judah and his family.

The Next Step on Our Journey

I'm excited to let you know that I've accepted the call to be the Senior Minister at Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado.

Journey is an 8-year-old church located about an hour north of Denver and about 50 minutes east of Rocky Mountain National Park. It's a beautiful part of the country.


(Here's a picture one of the Elders at Journey sent me. He took it while driving around Greeley.)

Journey has a new building, a wonderful leadership team, a loving congregation with tons of faith and vision, and a bright future in a town that is experiencing explosive growth.

My wife and I are so very excited about this opportunity.

We will miss the dear people at Christ's Church, so much.

My last day at Christ's Church is May 18th.

Promo video for my latest book

Our media guy here just surprised me by posting a promotional video we shot last year for my book Remember Who You Are: Unleashing the Power of an Identity-Driven Life on YouTube.

We shot this video in the studio downstairs. The video was produced for and shown to Standard Publishing's sales force to get them excited about selling my book. I heard they liked it.

I thought you might, too.

My book is selling really well and I'm so grateful. If you get a chance to pick up a copy and read it, let me know what you thought about it. I'd love to hear from you.

Just thinking about Dad and Heaven

It's been almost 20 years since my Dad died.

I miss him, so much.

My family and I are preparing to leave Christ's Church as we follow God's leading back into Preaching ministry. We love the people at this church and are grieving this move, but we know that God is calling, so we must follow.

I can't tell you how many times in this transition I've longed for my Dad's advice.

If I could just have 30 minutes with my Dad . . .

but that will have to wait.

The older I get the more real Heaven becomes.

As a child it was a place with a lot of clouds and harps, but with each year that passes on this side of eternity it becomes a place with a lot of my friends and family.

This afternoon I stumbled across this video of David Phelps singing, No More Night. This song is special to me and my family. Our dear friend Tony Buchanan sang this song at my Dad's memorial service. Actually, Tony started the song, but--overcome by emotion--couldn't finish it, so my sister Leigh-Angela jumped up, stood next to Tony and they finished it together.

It reminded me of why Heaven is going to be worth it.

No more night.
No more pain.
No more tears.
Never crying again.
Praises to the great I Am.
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

And remember, it's not a dream; God WILL make all things new one day.

Pure Fashion

I subscribe to The Southeast Outlook, Southeast Christian Church's newspaper.

This morning I read an article about a fashion ministry called Pure Fashion.

I had never heard of Pure Fashion before this morning. According to their website, "Pure Fashion is an international faith based program designed for girls 14-18 to help young women re-discover and re-affirm their innate value and authentic femininity. Pure Fashion is a character formation program that enhances not only a young woman's external appearance, but more importantly, her interior beauty and balanced self confidence."

My eldest daughter is a beautiful 14-year-old who has an eye for fashion. My wife and I are careful with what we let her wear, but so much of what she is exposed to in this world promotes a clothing style that is anything but modest.

The Outlook article shares how 14-year-old Audrey Miller has been impacted by Pure Fashion: "Once Audrey Millard gets dressed for the day, she doesn’t want to think about what she’s wearing for the rest of it. So, instead of matching her favorite stylish sweater with a lower-cut cami, she wears a T-shirt underneath. "It looks nice, and it’s modest," she said. 'The world and culture tell you it’s OK to show a bit of skin.'"

I'm going to look into it further, but--at first glance--this ministry looks beautiful to me.

Abraham Lincoln

Last week I came across this quote from Abraham Lincoln. I keep thinking about it and how true it is.

Nearly all men can stand adversity. But if you want to test a man's character - give him power.