Keep Your Head Up

When life happens, it can be either rewarding or difficult. In this past week I have had a few close friends and family have situations that have arisen that have been unexpected and not fun. In these times of despair, it is important that we truly find a positive and rewarding place to focus. When we focus on things that are out of our control and dragging us down, we will soon follow the current just as a piece of debri being sucked down a drainage system. Psalm 121 encourages to keep our eyes to the hills. It poses the question- "where does our help come from?" It is a great response, and the answer is even better: "my help come from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth." The Lord is watching and we can put our hope and trust in him. We have to LOOK-UP to God with hope and anticipation that He sees us, He hears us, and He will respond to us. Read Psalm 121 and be reminded of the type of God we serve. So, my friend who has a tumor, my friend who is looking for employment, my friend who has a family member in a coma, and my friend searching for truth...prayer this prayer today.

Thank you Father, that when I am having trouble in the climb you help me.
Thank you for your strong hand and loving lift.
Today, I will exchange my fears for faith.
I will keep my eyes on you.
I will move forward with confidence.
I will trust you.
Watch over my coming and going today.
In Jesus Name, Amen!

Keep Your Head UP! Looking into the heavens above and acknowledging God is a great place to focus.

Things that make you go BOOM!

Yesterday at 2pm PST, there was a plane that invaded Air Force One's air space. This little puddle jumper of a plane was just minding it's own business, or should I say unaware that air space was restricted as it came into the Seattle, WA, area. What happened next was the brute power and swift response of our AIR FORCE, as it scrambled two F-18 fighter jets out of Portland to Seattle. Because of the emergency and unknown threat to the space where our President was, and the distance between the two cities- let's just say the jets hauled. They can travel up to 1800 mph. The two jets as they crossed Western WA let off SONIC BOOMS, yes two of them-one from each plane. I was told it shook our house and rattled the windows as if they were going to pop out. Yet, as it happened I sat in my office fully unaware that it had happened. I didn't hear it, feel it, or notice it. I guess my office could be the place to be in the event of a natural disaster(i'm just sayin') I was locked in my cave and missed it. It wasn't until I popped on Facebook a time later to find something happened, and upon checking the news I connected the dots. How could a sonic boom take place and me not realize it? As I thought about it, I thought sometimes God likes to get my attention, but I am so enthralled in what I am doing, I can easily miss out. That means He can be trying to communicate with me and I could be completely shut off from what he is trying to tell me. It made me think that sometimes I am unaware of what God may be saying, because I am not expecting anything. Fact is, I need to be more ready to listen and willing to be shocked and amazed by God. I know that at times God sends a SONIC BOOM my direction to shake my world, but if I don't position myself to hear, see, respond then I may miss it altogether. Have you heard any SONIC BOOMS from God lately? Maybe He is needing to get your attention and to get it, He has to go BIG!

THE ECC TAILGATER is COMING

THE ECC ALL CHURCH TAILGATER
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
ECS BALLFIELD 4-7pm

This is a great connection point for the ECC community. This night is filled with those tailgating with great food off the back of their car's tailgates. We encourage those who want to join the party to sign up and get your friends and family hanging out with the community at ECC. This has been a great place to connect people in a casual and fun environment. We look forward to you hanging with us. Each Tailgate group is responsible for their own food and clean up. We will have on hand for the kids inflatables and activities to keep them having a blast, while the Small Groups lead the charge in tailgates-we are inviting anyone to be a part. Come enjoy Labor Day weekend and Tailgate with us.
Any questions contact us at the office 360.352.3410.

Life & Ministry Lessons- What are you reflecting?

Occasionally I will pass a store front window, a mirror in a store, or glance at my rear view mirror. Normally when this happens it is followed with a posture change, an expression change, or a flex-let's me be honest-I'm a dude and flexing in a mirror is just something guys do-especially when no one is looking. The reason that these glances, passes, etc... bring an immediate change, is because I don't like what I see. I have found that sometimes I scowl when I drive and when I catch myself I wonder.... does the person at the stop sign next to me know I am actually a super happy, excited to be alive, and a personality plus type of guy? Based on my expression and reflection I see occasionally that answer is a fat no? So what about you-as you walk through each day at home, work, play....what are the reflections that people get by looking at you? I have found 2 Corinthians 3:18 to be a great verse to remind me of the way I want to be seen. The wording of this early part of the verse reads "But we all, with open face..." and in some versions, "unveiled faces". The Greek word which is anakalupto means to uncover, unveil, or to disclose. The tense in which it is used speaks not of a one-time unveiling, but rather a veil that once lifted, remains lifted forever. That unveiling in my life means I need to live each day as a reflection of Christ, who is active and alive in my life. When people look at me, what they see and what I hope to see is Christ. So, I pose the question to you- when people look at you, what do they see? What are you reflecting? If what they see is not what you hope they see, what steps do you need to take to unveil the 'you' that is reflected?

$1,000 Challenge laid down by our 8 year old

A few nights ago my wife and I were watching a movie late at night when my 8 year old son, Luke came downstairs. My first reaction was a stern "get in bed!" Then Luke, proceeded to tell us that as he was lying in bed that he felt God tell him to raise $1000 for Project Rescue & Africa's Hope. Immediately my demeanor changed (had that eye contact/smile thing going on with Jenelle) and we discussed how to raise $1,000. He suggested to sell some of his books, toys, clothes, holding a garage sale, etc... He then thought about shooting a video to put on youtube and facebook which would be "cool"- yeah, he is 8 years old. (the video is coming this weekend) I suggested he get a matching gift, so dollars could be matched. He's working with us and some others on making this happen. We asked him (knowing the answer) what the money would be used for. This is what he said in his own words, "Project Rescue helps get people out of human trafficking and slavery, over in India and all over the world. There are bad people who take kids and do bad things to them. I want to help the kids be safe and rescue them. Africa's Hope is helping pastors get Bibles and books to tell people about Jesus. They don't have any supplies because they are poor, so I'm gonna help them." WOW!!!! So, my 8 year old son, just laid down awesomeness. Kind of hard to get mad about being up late at night when he comes up with that. All this comes as he is watching his pastor, John Miller, challenge the church kids to give to missions. We're on board to contribute and help him earn this $1,000. Being the little business minded-mission minded kid that he is, we told him the importance of working for it and then getting people to catch his vision. We told him if God gave him the vision and idea, then we will be of help and teach him the ways to go about raising and earning this money to help others. These websites give you more info on these phenomenal ministries he is trying to help:
www.projectrescue.com
www.africashope.org

Here is how you can get involved and help Luke's vision come to fruition:

Make Checks Payable to: ECC or (Evergreen Christian Community)
memo line: Project Rescue & Africa's Hope
send to:
Attn: Phil Wilson
1000 Black Lake Blvd
Olympia, WA 98502
*this is a gift to a non-profit and will be recorded as that for your tax purposes.
Any monies that come in will be turned by me, so I can help Luke track outside gifts. Luke is currently working on securing and trying to raise a matching gift(s) totaling $500.

All I know is when this gets to a point where he is unleashed in his endeavors to help people, it will be great to watch from our perspective. Thanks kid for challenging us to do more and to think big. Somehow I think this challenge is bigger than just me, but for a lot of people reading and hearing his vision.

Re-Alignment: My Life Appreciates You

As I cruise down the highway in my car, every once in a while I notice there is a need for my car to be re-aligned. Really this is about adjusting the proper orientation to line up in the right relationship that my car needs to run smoothly. IT means technically that if in alignment it will last longer. What I also realize as I race through life is sometimes I need to pull to the side and I need to RE-ALIGN my self. That is I need to adjust into proper relationship or orientation so I can be most effective. I have signs that tell me I am in need of realignment. They include laziness, exhaustion, sarcasm, quick to anger, tiredness, and pure lack of energy. These are like the gas light in my car that goes on its time to refuel. These act as signals to pull over, realign myself by choosing some form of activity like quite time, exercise, reading, solitude, a run by myself, a date with my wife, or special hangout time with my kids. I need a realignment every so often. It is good for the soul and state of mind. Sure I have things that keep me aligned, but every once in awhile there is a need to take care of myself. I have certain parameters that I put in my life to help me keep balanced, and every once in awhile something can derail me from that balance. Some of the tools I use to keep me balanced are a weekly schedule, a 6 x 6 project list, a Life Plan, a calendar system, and relationship with peoples. Just like a car which can pull to one side at even low rates of speed, I can find myself getting off track. This leads to wanting to lash out at everyone and everything that gets in my way. But more often than not, I am my best gauge for deciding when realignment is necessary. Recently I decided realignment was necessary-and let me tell you, afterwards I felt like a new man. So, what about you? What areas of your life do you need to think about realigning? Re-alignment in my life helps me appreciate life, loved ones, and time much more. So my advice to you is get realigned-it is a life lesson I have learned that is necessary for me to be at the top of my game as a husband, dad, friend, pastor, son, bro, leader, and coach.

THE MARRIAGE FORMULA

Marriage these days is a hot topic if you want it and can't have it, or the fact that Hollywood relationships last as long as it takes for me to buy new underwear. This past weekend I was a part of my grandparents 60th Wedding Anniversary. 60 YEARS PEOPLE! It was super cool because it was basically a family reunion to celebrate two very special people in my life. My grandpa and grandma are two magnificent people. They have pastored churches up and down the West Coast and are retired super cool peeps now. Although, my grandpa still throws it down from God's Word at the place they live on a weekly basis to other active adults. 60 years with the same person, and some laugh that this notion is impossible. The fact is this is a model marriage because they built it on trust, love, faith, and God. Problem nowadays is a lot of people build theirs on lust, wants, no faith, and fraud. So let me break it down to you why my grandparents marriage rocks: they pray together, they still date, they put each other first, they still say I love you to each other, my grandpa knows how to treat a woman, and my grandma can bake for a guy who likes to eat. They also made this work because they had faith knowing that God would do some awesome things. My grandfather told me once that they lived on the floor of a church and lived on $5 bucks a week. They left some incredible examples for us as kids, grandkids, and now great grandkids. It was a thrill to see them smiling, holding hands, and loving that the people most dear to them-family and friends- were there to celebrate. As a matter of fact, some of the wedding party showed up to celebrate too. Totally cool weekend and a great example of how marriage should be done. When you see two old people (grandparents old) that are in love, you should stop them say thank you for being an example of marriage. I guarantee you, if you encounter a cute couple like my grandparents, wherever you live, hook them up with a dinner and listen, it is well worth the investment for you! The marriage formula-it does exist, you just have to encounter it.