Dan Lamos

My Blog has moved to wastedtreasure.com

2011-09-07T09:27:00.002-03:00

Come on over!

I am so pumped to let you know that I have started a new blogsite @ wastedtreasure.com

So grateful for those of you who follow my postings and I am looking forward to this move as it is the next step in pursuing God's creativity work and design in my life.

Creating with the Creator is the best life ever.

See you at Wasted Treasure.

Wasted Treasure - respond to all that really counts!

2011-08-31T06:50:00.001-03:00

Life is inviting you into motion today! Can you feel it?

Our Creator is all around us with currents and rhythms and feelings and natural laws that challenge us and coax us to respond.

Why? Because it matters that we respond! Don't miss what is really going on in and around you today.

You are a treasure worth more than you could ever imagine to all of us and really to all of creation... because you are God's artwork.

He didn't set you on fire in order to hide you away somewhere! Shine! And show the rest of us the God colors all around us.

And most of all don't waste this day by just going through the motions or worse than that... by just sitting there! We can't wait to see what happens!!

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." - Gal 5:6

Booking guitar students for Fall 2011

2011-08-27T07:02:00.000-03:00

I am creating my guitar training schedule for this Fall. I have half hour lesson times available on Saturday, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm and I have some weekday afternooon times available as well. My fees are as follows: $15 per single lesson; $50 package of 4 lessons; $120 package of 12 lessons. You can email me at danclamos@gmail.com or call me @ 506-639-8961.

I don't want to grow up!

2011-08-25T09:21:00.001-03:00

One of the things I love about the Bible is that the writers use powerful word pictures and images to express ideas and highlight realities God wants us to experience.

Jesus followers throughout history, today and on into the future are pictured as a body. Each of us is a part.

God is intense in His purpose to activate us into a life of kingdom service in our ordinary lives. We are His plan wherever we go today.

As we get moving we "grow up" and together we will become the full expression of who Jesus is on a worldwide scale!

Part of growing up is learning to walk the balance beam of carrying each others burdens while we carry our own load. Take a few minutes today to ask the Holy Spirit what that means in your life and courage for all of us to "grow up" in our love for each other.

Jesus "Brand"

2011-08-15T10:28:00.001-03:00

Many of us are becoming aware of something on the wind today.

One of Jesus best friends, John wrote: "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." I John 2:6

Living the "brand" of life that Jesus lived is very costly and you pay in deep personal surrender to the greatest force in the universe... LOVE.

Part of what makes it so costly is that every one of us must allow it's intensity to burn away everything that makes us hold back and keep things for ourself. Though we deeply value our churches and the support of friends and family, we can only enter the life Jesus wants us to live through a personal journey with him.

Do you feel the momentum growing in our world? There is a cry stirring in hearts everywhere; "Can anyone show us the way"?

If we are praying people in our times, may we swear allegiance to loving with His love and ask Him to "brand" us to display it in our ordinary everyday lives.

Restlessly longing for faith to grab the swinging trapeze

2011-08-07T15:49:00.000-03:00

Am I alone in the nagging tension and restlessness I feel with the instability of our world against the backdrop of the hope we are called to offer to the nations?

The past week I have been really into Matt Redman's new release called "10,000 Reasons". One of the tracks is called "We Could Change The World".

When Jesus was launched into his three years in the public eye, his message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Here are the lyrics for the chorus of "We Could Change The World":

Yes, our God is all He says He is

Jesus in Your name we could change the world

We stand in Your love, in your power

All you say You are

Jesus, in your name we could change the world.

In order to live the change that Jesus announced 2,000 years ago, we need to recapture the vision of a kingdom that has come to invade life as we know it.

God is looking for people who are ready to embrace a faith that calls us to let go of the security of what has been and to launch out to grab the swinging trapeze coming to us.

May we soon become an uprising of ordinary people who are just wild enough to believe we can change the world!

Hey! Wanna see my room?

2011-08-03T17:21:00.001-03:00

I remember when I was a kid and making all kinds of new friends. I grew up in a multi-racial urban neighborhood with kids everywhere. I loved to hang out at my friends' houses. One of the first things my friend would always ask me was "Hey,wanna see my room?"

Your room in your parents house is a place of wonder, safety, rest and peace. But, best of all it says that you belong... its your "place". In John 14:2 Jesus promised his followers that they would have a room in Dad's house. That promise is for all of us who will receive it. There is a place made just for you in His house.

But, today my heart is catching fire by meditating on Psalm 84. Take a few minutes to read it from "The Message". Let your heart dance to the worship rhythm of these phrases from that Psalm " What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! I've always longed to live in a place like this, Always dreamed of a room in your house, where I could sing for joy to God-alive! Birds find nooks and crannies in your house, sparrows and swallows make nests there. They lay their eggs and raise their young, singing their songs in the place where we worship. God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!How blessed they are to live and sing there!

There is a dream in everyone of our hearts to have a room in God's house!! Can't wait to say to you one day, "Hey, wanna see my room?"

Important update for my financial support team in Canada

2011-08-02T22:47:00.002-03:00

This is an important request to residents of Canada who are currently part of my financial support team or interested in joining. Please direct your financial gifts of support to Eastgate House of Prayer. All cheques can be made payable to Eastgate House of Prayer. Please make a note on the bottom corner of the cheque "Dan Lamos support". The mailing address is 403 Hampton Road, Quispamsis, NB, E2E4V5, email: danclamos@gmail.com; phone: 506-639-8961.

An income tax receipt usable for your Revenue Canada Income Tax filing will be issued for any financial gift. Please pray about joining with me as I build a team that believes God is raising up and launching a young generation as worshipping kingdom laborers in our time. I would love for you to hear the Lord's call for you to jump in and run with us!

Take a minute and fan the flame in your heart with this song by Audra Lynn called Abraham's song. Watch this video and listen to the Father's heart for a young generation who are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God!

What's happening for you this year?

2011-07-28T20:47:00.000-03:00

Wow! We are just about to launch into August! What's happening for excitement for your Fall 2011 or 2012? The world is likely not gonna end so... a few reminders...

August is the time to fill out your application for our Plan A NYC Coaching Experience being hosted from New Brunswick, Canada. It is going to be sweet, so get your app and $75 preregistration sent in soon! Team members must be 15 years of age or older. Can't wait for us to get started!

Also, I am very excited to let you know that KBM's 2011-2012 Ministry Guide (digital online version) is now available. It is absolutely jammed with stuff for you to plug into in 2012.

Rising to new depths

2011-07-26T07:59:00.001-03:00

Me: "Jesus, I believe you have created me with a unique design and to make an impact on my world for your glory. Show me what that is!" Jesus: "If you want to be blessed, do what I have done."

Your vehicle to rise to your destiny is always the same... do it like Jesus!

How did Jesus do this life?

By "washing feet" Jesus rose to new depths of service.

Maybe you can get what I mean by imagining yourself in the beautifully designed Trump Tower in Manhattan. You have been sightseeing all morning and you are in desperate need of a rest room. You enter those famous rotating doors and you head for the escalator descending to where you know you will find relief! When you find your destination and find the service you need open and available to you, it strikes you that you are more grateful in that moment for the plumber than the architect who designed this multi-million dollar building.

Maybe the best way to experience the longevity of a meaningful life is to remember that the way to rise to new heights of purpose is to go deeper in service.

Loving John's new chapter with "The Experience"

2011-07-24T07:09:00.000-03:00

We are so pumped for our son, John as he has been invited to serve on the leadership and teaching team for the "16 Days" Road trip with KBM Follow their blog at http://16dayskbm.blogspot.com/ And you can follow them on twitter: john - http://twitter.com/j_lamos and 16 Days - http://twitter.com/KingdomLaborers

The richest discovery Linda and I have made is that God's plan A for releasing His kingdom in our world lives right in our house and under our care. How awesome is that?

Maybe someone in your family needs to be launched through our NYC Plan A Experience this Fall!!

Smells like something died in here!

2011-07-23T09:24:00.000-03:00

Does it matter how good or bad you smell? It definitely does. The song by old school indie band, Nirvana used smell as a way to subtly describe youth culture in their time.

With the lights out it's less dangerous

Here we are now, entertain us

I feel stupid and contagious

Here we are now, entertain us

If you weren't a middle or high school student in the '90s, your reaction... What?!?.. but youth all over the world said... "Exactly!" as they all shared sweaty body odor and banged into each other in a thousand mosh pits :)

It is basic animal instinct to know others by "smell". Every time I walk in our house my dogs, Maggie and Tenny and my cat, Charlie all greet me at the door... It's hilarious! But they always insist on greeting me with a "sniff".

It's like; "How the heck are ya? Come 'ere let me smell ya"! Why? Living breathing beings care about smell!

Ok... so when you launch out into your day, God's plan is to use you to spread the scent of "LIFE" everywhere you go.

You can tell by "gut instinct" that people are reacting to your physical smell. How much could you learn if you let God make you just as tuned in to the way others react to your spiritual scent?

A bowl of soup with the worst after taste!

2011-07-21T22:53:00.001-03:00

God is hard core when it comes to us making our ordinary moments count. Esau learned that the hard way!
Even though I have heard the story a thousand times, I still wish that it had worked out differently for him. On the day he sold his birthright for a bowl of red soup, God really saw the way it was gonna be with Esau.

And the man never seemed to shift out of "Numb" when it came to going after what really matters. His legacy will forever be etched in our minds; “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." - God (Romans 9:13). Ouch! That is NOT what any of us are aiming at in life.

His main problem was that he despised his birthright! Wow, how sad is it that thousands of Jesus followers do the same thing every week? We have an open invitation to be with God any time we choose and to set our hearts on fire with His intense love for us! This is our birthright. It is true that God is searching for those of us who will let Him take possession of our whole heart. He is ready to partner with us to unleash His presence in all of the simple moments of our day.

Show us something different in the way you live and love your God designed destiny! Let it be said of you, "Esau I hated but fill in your name I have loved" - God.

The world is waiting for you to live to own your God designed destiny no matter what it costs!

I hope you invest in Yourself this Fall!

2011-07-19T21:27:00.000-03:00

Solomon was the son of probably the greatest king of all time, King David. David's heart burned with passion for God and his dream was to build a house for God's presence to be with His people. Because of His Dad's deep friendship with God, Solomon was chosen out of all the men on earth to build God's temple. On the appointed day, David made it very public how this was gonna go down.

It was all on Solomon to get it done. So there in front of the whole nation, David coached his son:

So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a

Temple as his sanctuary.

Be strong, and do the work.”
I Chron. 28:10 (NLT)

No mystery, no magic... just: "Suck it up, Son... Man up! and make it happen... God has chosen you!"

If you are alive and breathing, you have been chosen by God. We are all gonna be better off once you get in motion! I wonder, "What has God chosen you to do?" I wish I could tell you. But, that's between you and God.

I am hoping you will invest in yourself this Fall by applying for our first ever Fall Plan A NYC Ministry Experience For more information, take advantage of the free email subscription above. All current subscribers and anyone who subscribes to my blog newsletter during the month of July 2011 will receive a 10% discount off of the cost of the training! So why not take 30 seconds and subscribe now?

"So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to... Be strong, and do the work.”

What has He chosen you to do?"

Looking for a guest speaker or worship leader for your events?

2011-07-14T10:32:00.000-03:00

Are you looking for a guest speaker or worship leader as you plan for upcoming events? As the Representative for Kingdom Building Ministries in Canada, I am very interested in helping churches launch believers as passionate lovers of and effective everyday servants of Jesus wherever they go. I would love to encourage you, your leadership team and your group or church as you fan the flames of a movement where Jesus followers are being activated into a life of kingdom service. I am available to speak or serve as a guest worship leader with local churches, youth groups and other venues as well. I share your heart in believing that God's plan for reaching the world is to mobilize every Christian (as an active laborer) into every place of human need. If you want to get a feel for what the Lord has put on my heart, you can take a look at my blog @ http://www.dan-lamos.blogspot.com/ Love to connect with you! Call me at 506-639-8961 and/or subscribe to my blog newsletter.

You can never be too careful!

2011-07-12T07:03:00.001-03:00

"You can never be too careful"!

Do you think those words would mean anything to the apostle Peter? Think of what he would have missed! If he worried about being careful, he never would have learned most of Jesus' best lessons.

Peter had a lot to learn about following Jesus. And just like you and me, he was destined to make a lot of mistakes. Failing creatively is huge if we want God to write a great story with our lives.

What can we learn from this crazy chapter from Peter's life?

Jesus loves it more when we "dive in" and fail than when

we hold back and "look" successful.

If we ask him, He will take us on the most incredible

adventures imaginable.

He believes in our potential way more than we do.

If we will swallow our pride and cry out to him especially when

people are watching, He will reach out and rescue us.

Jesus is gonna use the beautiful messes we make of our lives

if we will keep our eyes on Him!

Don't forget the real evidence of being a Christian! We are at our best when we reflect the unrehearsed authority of the creative love of Jesus.

The world needs you to show us something different! We are all watching to see if you will jump over the edge of the boat and follow Jesus.

It is true, "You can never be too careful... unless you want to walk on water"! In that case it is deadly to be "too" careful.

This could be you or a young adult you know in 2012!

2011-07-09T09:31:00.000-03:00

Maybe this could be you or a young adult you know in 2012!!

God has been rockin' John's world and we can't wait to hear all about it!! "The Experience" team is finishing the Wander Stage of their training. Next week they will be diving in to the Dreaming and Planning stage described below.

The Wander Stage: July 2 – July 9

This stage is uniquely designed to be a mystery. All we can tell you is that you will be “wandering” on the ultimate amazing race-style, multi-state road trip that will be filled with many ministry opportunities and learning experiences. It is designed to stretch your faith, keep you guessing, and see the world through a different set of eyes.

The Dreaming and Planning Stage: July 10 – July 16

The last seven days of the intensive training portion of the program is all about YOU! Back at KBM’s Headquarters in Aurora, CO, we will look at all the experiences you’ve had, all the lessons you have learned, all of the skills you’ve acquired and begin to dream and plan about how God will use you to reach your world for Christ. You will be inspired and encouraged by what you discover God wants to do through YOU! And at the end of the week, you’ll be holding a ministry and life plan that fits you like a glove.

We will be launching a group of young adults into "The Experience" in 2012.

Maybe you should be part of it!?!

Looking for ways to help churches launch a young generation

2011-07-08T16:42:00.001-03:00

As a "Plan A" Coach based in Quispamsis, NB Canada with Kingdom Building Ministries, I am very interested in helping churches launch their students and young adults into being passionate lovers of and effective everyday servants of Jesus wherever they go. I would love to connect with you, your leadership team and your group or church concerning ways that we can help you as you fan the flames of His kingdom service in a young generation. I am available to speak or serve as a guest worship leader with local churches, youth groups and other venues as well. We share your heart in believing that God's plan for reaching the world is to mobilize every Christian (as an active laborer) into every place of human need. Love to connect with you! Call me at 506-639-8961 and/or subscribe to my blog newsletter.

A fire in your spirit to see Canadian youth launched into God's purposes!

2011-07-06T12:42:00.000-03:00

Is your heart stirred up every time you talk with a high school student or a young adult man or woman concerning their potential for ministry in God's kingdom? Do you want to help your church launch these unique, God designed young Jesus followers into lives of 24/7 service as laborers in God's harvest regardless of their career or place in life? Do you have a fire in your heart to come along side them and through prayer, encouragement and friendship help to launch them into a life of ministry in Jesus Name? Then my heart burns with yours and I would love to connect with you.

Thousands of youth in the Maritime Region and across Canada need to enjoy what a local church youth group from New Brunswick experienced

As a "Plan A" Coach in Canada with Kingdom Building Ministries , I am gathering a core team who feel called by God to see this young generation rediscover deep passionate love for Jesus that is reflected in going into all the world to make new Jesus followers wherever they are sent.

I have created a "Plan A" Coaching Support Team where we can pray, share and work with God in raising up a fresh kingdom laborer movement in Canada for His glory. Please subscribe to our email newsletter above for daily updates. If you subscribe during the month of July you or a young adult of your choice will receive a 10 % discount on our Fall Training (includes NYC Mission Weekend) Let me know if you would like to be added to the "support team" facebook group. I would love to hear from you! - Dan Lamos

Destroying the box from the inside

2011-07-05T10:07:00.000-03:00

Jesus often causes radical change by injecting his ways into a situation and then breaking out from the inside. A good example of that is the account of the paralytic in the book of John. What a powerful model for transforming our world as Jesus followers! The man was waiting for the water in the pool to be stirred by an angel so that he could be healed... but He could never get in the water first (that was the qualification for healing I guess). Intead, Jesus dove into this man's world and basically said, "If you have courage enough to receive it, I have all of the healing water you will ever need. But, you are gonna have to decide if you really want it!"

I love that Jesus never backs away from any challenge when it comes to injecting His power and His ways into our lives.

We are most like Jesus when we look past all of the distractions and challenges to really "see" the people around us and follow the Holy Spirit's lead injecting the reality of the kingdom in their situations.

Taking the light of Jesus to "The Strip"...

2011-07-04T09:30:00.000-03:00

Don't forget about our "10% discount" on our Fall NYC Mission if you subscribe during the month of July!

I creeped on my son's facebook page... I confess! But, I just couldn't help myself. Last night I got a text from him telling me that he and his friends from The Experience (KBM) were spending the night in Vegas. They were there asking God to open their eyes to what He is doing there in the lives of people on the street and for wisdom about how they as God's "Plan A" could bring Jesus "up close" to those people!

So, this morning at 4:30 AM Mountain Time (it was 7:30 for me out east), John posted a message to a new friend he had met and talked with on the street in the middle of the night:

"I'm sitting here in the hotel room super stoked dude...i think an epic friendship has been born my friend...I'm going to be praying about coming back! Everything you were sharing was EXACTLY on my heart dude...I have a feeling I'll be back very soon"

I can't wait to hear what that is all about. I pray that hundreds and thousands of young kingdom laborers will find themselves in the darkest places on the globe carrying with them "the hope of glory"!

God is fanning the flame in the hearts of young men and women all over the world to answer the call God extended to a young prophet named Jeremiah and then echoed in a letter from Jude. It is a call to "jump over the edge" and go to the darkest places with the burning torch of the life of Jesus within us and the profound wisdom of the Holy Spirit coaching our every move. This is the hope of the world!

“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 1:17-19

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Jude 1:20-23

Free offer if you subscribe during the month of July!!

2011-07-03T10:51:00.001-03:00

Special Free Offer for all subscribers during the month of July!

All current subscribers and anyone who subscribes to my blog during the month of July 2011 will receive a 10% discount on our Fall 2011 "Plan A" NYC Mission Coaching Experience

A team of students from my local church just returned from a week of serving in NYC and can't wait to go back! Some of them hope to join us this Fall. I hope you will consider applying. We are gonna have a blast! And I believe God will open our eyes to what He wants to do through us as we "jump over the edge" into His plan for our world! So enter your email above and click "subscribe me" to get your 10% discount on the fees for the 10 week experience.

Dance like Nobody is watching!!

2011-07-02T07:52:00.001-03:00

As I start into my day, I'm sorting through the demands, the wants, the needs, the deadlines and the desire to be available and helpful to the people I care about. Then I am thinking that probably most of them are doing the same. As God's "Plan A", wouldn't it be amazing if today we just "danced" our own dance for what really matters to each of us and watch the movements take shape? Have fun!!

Get "Launched"! Join our 2011 "Plan A" NYC Ministry Coaching Experience

2011-07-01T08:18:00.001-03:00

Fall 2011 "Plan A" Ministry Coaching Experience, Sept 25-Dec 4, 2011

Get "launched" this Fall into a life of 24/7 ministry

as a God's "Plan A" in changing the world in Jesus Name!

The "Plan A" Ministry Coaching Experience is a ten week discipleship training program based in Quispamsis, NB Canada for young adults age 15 and older sponsored by Kingdom Building Ministries. KBM in Canada is based in Quispamsis, New Brunswick

Who can come?: This experience is designed for individuals 15 years of age and older. Those who are younger than 17 years old need to be accompanied by an adult.

Phase 1: Sept 25 - Nov 6, 2011- The first phase of the experience will be a seven week small group discussion and training based on the book, "You Are God's Plan A" by Dwight Robertson. The training will be facilitated by "Plan A" Coach Dan Lamos with input from KBM Itinerant Speakers The group will also gain "hands on" ministry experience with local compassion ministries in the Saint John area in preparation for the NYC ministry weekend.

Phase 2: Nov 17-21 - The group led by KBM "Plan A" Coach, Dan Lamos will participate in the NYC Operation Drumstick Thanksgiving Outreach weekend hosted by NYSUM (New York School of Urban Ministries) you will be feeding the poor and homeless in NYC and joining with Christians from the USA and Canada on this life launching weekend of bringing God "up close" to people as you serve them in Jesus Name.

Phase 3: Nov 27-Dec 4 - During this phase you will focus on living a life of ministry as a God's "Plan A" kingdom laborer. We will wrap up with a party on Dec 4 where you can celebrate and invite your friends and family to hear what about what God has done.

What does it cost?: The cost of the ten week experience is $400. This includes a copy of "You Are God's Plan A", all of your fees for the NYC Compassion weekend and all study materials. It does not include your meal costs travelling to and returning from NYC. A non-refundable pre-registration fee of $75 is due by Sept. 1, 2011. The remainder of the fee is due on October 21, 2011. Make cheques payable to Kingdom Building Ministries. For more information call 506-639-8961.

Application: To apply, email Dan Lamos at dlamos@kbm.org or call 506-639-8961

Kingdom Building Ministries in Canada Contact:

Facebook Page: God's Plan A Kingdom Laborers

Dan's Twitter: dan_planAcoach

Phone: 506-639-8961

Facebook: facebook.com/dlamos

Playing "small" does not serve the world!

2011-06-29T14:46:00.002-03:00

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,

but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give

other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela

When the prophet, Jeremiah was just a boy, God called him to be a prophet who would be used as God's demolition & renovation team in His generation. Read about it in Jeremiah chapter 1! There is a command that God spoke to this child that has always grabbed my focus;

"Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them." Jer. 1:17

God was looking deep into Jeremiah's heart and calling out courage & greatness. He knew what He had woven into the fabric of this young man.

What about us? Could it be that part of our nagging frustration, anger and depression as a generation is because we ignore God's call to "Stand up and be His messengers with courage and a belief that we are His plan to release His kingdom wherever we go, bringing Him up close to every one we meet?"

Watch this challenging video featuring Leslie Nease from "Survivor: China". She recently spoke to the students at KBM's Deep Camp www.deepcamp.com

I challenge you to read 2 Peter 3-11. Focus in on verse 3;"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." Through a relationship with Jesus Christ we are made sons and daughters of God able to take a stand in our generation.

We are waiting for you to embrace the greatness of who you are as a child of God!

Some pics from "The Experience" in the DR and Haiti

2011-06-24T20:08:00.000-03:00

for full album of Haiti & DR pics from "The Experience" team

"The Experience" on to next stage of their Journey today!

2011-06-23T06:34:00.000-03:00

The team has completed an amazing two and half weeeks in the DR and Haiti. They are heading back to the USA today. Check out a great vid here: Haiti Experience Slideshow

Our son, John is having an amazing summer jumping into the first phase of "The Experience"... a year-long
(2 phase) discipleship program for young adults offered through Kingdom Building Ministries The next stage of "The Experience" is The Deep Camp Stage where the team will be investing their lives in high school students and continue to learn from KBM mentors. Deep Camp 2011

Developing mad skills in "Spiritual Multiplication"

2011-06-22T15:56:00.000-03:00

BATON PASSING

More than ever before we need men and women who reach out to younger Jesus followers in order to coach & launch them into a 24/7 life of ministry in Jesus Name. At KBM we call it, "baton passing". Check out KBM "baton passing" tips for user friendly help in making that critical connection.

God's unexpected "Father's Day" gift to me...

2011-06-20T17:37:00.000-03:00

I was standing in the doorway of the Kidzworld games room on Father's Day Sunday morning. I was volunteering in the Children's Ministry that my wife Linda directs. The kids sometimes call me Mr. Linda (I actually told them to call me that). I had just finished handing out the "Crazy Cash" for the wild mob to go and spend at the store located at the far end of the games room. Standing there in my V.I.P. T-Shirt (Very Important Panda)... The theme for our upcoming Kidz Camp is "Pandamania"... not looking very tough... when one of the boys walked up to me and delivered an incredible Father's Day present. While the other kids were playing he had created the "My Dad" book in the pictures above.

He is a young boy, 7 or 8 years old. A wonderful woman from our church adopted him and his sister sometime in the past few years. He looked straight at me and said, "I don't have a dad, so I wanted to give this to you!" I was speechless as I received the small handmade book from him. All I could do was to ask him if I could give him a hug and he accepted. So, I wrapped my arms around him for a few seconds and then he was off to play.

You can see that the dad in his picture is frowning. On the next page which you can't see, it reads "My Dad is" and then there is a blank where the boy had filled in "my friend". My prayer is that the Lord will use me in his life as a "Jesus following" man who is a true friend to him so that his thoughts of what a father is will change to happy ones and will stir up feelings of gratitude because the Christian men in his life have stepped in to fill the "dad" gap in his life!

I know that God sent him to me as a wake up call. In that little exchange was an invitation from The Father asking if I would join Him in being a father to the fatherless. I have tucked his simple little book in my prayer journal to remember to keep him on my heart before God and I don't think I will ever forget this Father's Day gift.

I should probably post Part 1 of the Maasai Project The Prequel - Haha

2011-06-19T18:42:00.000-03:00

The Epic story begins...

Part 3 of The Maasai Project (Unusual Soldiers) The Crazy Story continues

2011-06-19T18:29:00.000-03:00

In 2009, this ordinary young man, Caleb from Nebraska connected with a Maasai brother named Simon to see what God would do if they just walked in simple obedience... check out parts 1 & 2 as well.

Gathering my "Plan A" Coaching Prayer and Financial Support Team

2011-06-19T08:12:00.001-03:00

I am so excited about gathering a support team to work with me in fanning the flames of God's "Plan A" kingdom laborer movement. Based in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada, I am serving as a "Plan A Coach" with Kingdom Building Ministries My crucial first step is to create a support team of prayer & financial supporters.

God has called me to invest myself over the next several years in helping high school and young adult students launch into a life of 24/7 ministry regardless of where God places them or into whatever occupation He leads them. My responsibilities will be; creating online resources, writing for the KBM blog and training teams, local churches and individuals to live "Plan A" lives through KBM's training division called The Laborer's Institute

Is God calling you to join with me in this ministry? Would you consider serving with me as a Prayer and/or Financial Partner? My goal is to gather 100 partners who will give between $10-$100 on a monthly basis or who will give a one time gift as they feel led. As this is my full time ministry involvement I am responsible to raise my total annual salary. I am praying that He will stir up the desire in you to serve in whatever you can to support what He is doing to raise up a generation of young "on fire" kingdom laborers. Here are a few steps you can take:

Contact me to let me know that you want to join the team in prayer and/or financial support: email: dlamos@kbm.org, phone: 1-506-647-1600 or Dan Lamos Facebook Page
Make a monthly pledge or a one time gift of $10 - $100 or another amount by clicking the "Online Giving Kingdom Building Ministries" link on the right column of this page, visit Financial Support or mail a cheque made payable to "Kingdom Building Ministries" to me at 403 Hampton Road, Quispamsis, NB Canada E2E4V5.

2011-2012 is going to be an exciting launching year for this ministry and I hope you will be a part of it. Our young adult son, John is currently on "The Experience" with KBM. You can follow their regular updates at Laborers Institute Blog Subscribe at the top of this page to receive regular blog updates in your inbox.
Let me know how the Lord is leading you and I would be so glad to hear that you want to be part of this team. May we live to see more of His kingdom and more active kingdom laborers launch into their destiny in Christ. Can't wait to hear from you!

Grace & Peace,
Dan Lamos

Has God lit a fire in your heart for the youth of our world?

2011-06-18T08:18:00.000-03:00

Has God called you to make a difference in launching His people into lives of meaningful service to Him in the everyday world?

With all of my heart I believe that God has rekindled aan ancient fire and is fanning the flames of a worldwide kingdom laborer movement. Young and old are waking up to remember that they are God's "plan A" for reaching the world with the good news of Jesus Christ and His kingdom amongst us. Every Christian is called to be a laborer!! (Matt. 9:35-38)

With a strong commitment to awaken laborers and launch them into a life of 24/7 service, I have joined the staff of Kingdom Building Ministries as a "Plan A Coach".

God has called many others to this same mission. Maybe He has called you to give yourself to this movement as well. Your heart longs to see a "rising up" of Christians who see every person they meet and every place they go as an opportunity for God to move "up close" and bring people into His kingdom.

If that is your heart, would you let me know? In the next few weeks I am going to be gathering a team who will pray and support this "Plan A" initiative as we move together to raise up and launch many young laborers into a life of bringing in His harvest. You can reply in several ways, comment on this post, email me at dlamos@kbm.org, call me at 506-647-1600, or see me on facebook facebook.com/dlamos

If you will let me know that this same fire is stirring in your heart, I will reply with some suggestions on how we can work together. Praying for you and can't wait to hear from you!! - Dan Check out this video featuring Dwight Robertson (founder of KBM)

The Maasai Project - More amazingly crazy video on Caleb and Simon's partnership!

2011-06-16T06:53:00.000-03:00

As I watched this video I was shaken and moved deeply over what God can do if we smash the old containers and really jump over the edge to be the light in our world! Unusual Soldiers

Get creative! Smash the little box labelled "ministry"

2011-06-16T06:29:00.000-03:00

I love the story of "James the Roofer"! It captures the essence of a movement that is rising up around the world. May the streams of kingdom laberership swell to become great rushing rivers that flood their banks and break apart the boundaries we have built to define "ministry"! Fan the flame in your own heart!

God "up close" today... Help on "How to make a difference..."

2011-06-15T07:13:00.000-03:00

Most of us really "get" the reality that God sends us every day into our ordinary routine to be the "light of the world". But how? How do you "jump over the edge" to become a world changer by just being yourself in God. The following link will take you to an amazing source of help... Help for passing on what you have...

Wake up before you miss the best part!!

2011-06-12T16:51:00.000-03:00

All around us young men and women are waking up to their story in God. It is unrehearsed... it is unpredictable... it is beautiful in it's vast range of wild colors and shapes and twisting plot lines. And it all pretty much comes down to... "God I can't do this anymore"! Help me, please!!

It has been said that "All religion is the human pursuit of God. But, the beauty of the gospel of Jesus is that God has been pursuing us for a relationship from the very beginning."

God's relentless pursuit of you will come in ways that are as beautifully unique as you are. My son, Jeremy (featured in the video above) and I were talking recently and one of us said, "We talk all the time about how Jesus is the only way to have a deep friendship with the Father. But, maybe we need see the rest of the picture that the only way the Father couold truly have a deep friendship with us was through Jesus." Just look at the price He paid so that we could be united forever in His kingdom! Whether you are making a mess of your life through empty wins or devastating losses... whatever you are running so hard to find... why don't you just slow down and let Him catch you and wake you up to your story in Him?

Just who do you think you are?

2011-06-09T15:50:00.000-03:00

Does it surprise you that that Jesus left His mission to save the world in the hands of a small group of people? I believe that He knew what He was doing. The Holy Spirit arrived in power about a month and a half after Jesus left the earth to return to His Father. Trusting that the Holy Spirit would inspire, empower and keep them connected they picked up on Jesus' vision of their culture... that the world around them was full of people who were like "sheep without a shepherd." Somehow they believed Jesus when He told them they were the light of the world. They were designed to lead others to really "get" that Jesus was the Shepherd their culture needed. What about us? You and I were designed by God to lead. I'm not talking about leading churches or businesses or organizations. I'm talking about embracing the fact that you are a God-designed leader in our culture. People all around you need you to lead. The question is where are you leading them? My prayer for us is that we will own our destiny as leaders and show those around us what it is like to know Jesus Christ and live in true freedom. The freedom that religion can't offer. May we have the courage to flesh out a faith journey that trusts Jesus presence and His ways in every unpredictable situation. He is ready to help us and I believe our best days are yet to come.

Awake at four o'clock in the morning!!

2011-06-06T13:49:00.000-03:00

It was not a normal night for him. In fact, it was probably the most terrifying, life-altering night of his life!

Here is his story; "...the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. "A ghost!" they said, crying out in terror. But Jesus was quick to comfort them. "Courage, it's me. Don't be afraid." Peter, suddenly bold, said, "Master, if it's really you, call me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come ahead." Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, "Master, save me!" Jesus didn't hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, "Faint-heart, what got into you?" The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, "This is it! You are God's Son for sure!" (Matt 14 TM)

Incredible experience for Peter! "How long did this encounter last, anyway"? We view it now in imaginary slow motion. What an emotional ride it must have been! He went from believing in a ghost hovering over the water to trusting it was really Jesus. Next, for some bizarre reason he yelled out; "If it's really you, call to me to come out on the water." What!? Had he lost his mind? Well... no, he was just being Peter. And there he was... walking on the water while all of his speechless friends in the boat were looking on. Pretty Crazy! Rising to leadership... taking a risk... jumping off the cliff... But, then came failure and he sank.

How could he have fallen so fast? He stopped looking at Jesus. That's the problem. He lost his focus. We know now that he took his focus away from Jesus to the threats of the storm around him. Just like us many times, just when he was feeling awesome about himself, Peter found himself up against an impossible wall where all he could do is cry, "Help God!!"

Jesus shines in this story as a blazing light of hope for us. He knows we are going to fail in many ways, but he still loves it when we jump over the edge risking everything for Him! Don’t get discouraged and give up when you get in over your head in wild abandonment to His worldwide mission. If you will stay humble and let out your desperate cry… "Help!" He won't let you down.

Throw off all of your discouragement and fear. Launch out of the boat and grab your real mission with Jesus. Rip a page from Peter’s story and jump over the edge!

What do you hear the voice of the Lord saying?

2011-05-08T10:45:00.000-03:00

Did anyone notice when you crawled out of bed this morning? I have a friend who likes to say, "The kingdom of darkness gets nervous when any Jesus follower wakes up". We are the light of the world according to Jesus. He noticed and he longs to show you his heart in the middle of your "normal" life.

In Matt 9:35-38, we read that Jesus was walking in the middle of the same streets and the same crowds as everyone else. But, he saw things differently. While everyone else just saw the usual things, Jesus saw the crowds in a unique way and felt deeply for them. He saw that they were lost, directionless, wandering around like sheep with no shepherd!

With a heart burning with urgency and deep compassion for the people, He turned and told his followers to open their eyes to what He was seeing. Then He told them to pray for laborers. He is calling us to the same mission.

His first priority for us is to love Him by actually seeing people through His eyes. As we allow Him to get our attention, we will be overwhelmed by what is "really" going on around us. We will begin to sense that He is actually saying something and He wants us to listen. The massive heartbeat of the Father is to be up close with every person we will see today.

It reminds me of the prophet Isaiah and his encounter with God in Isaiah 6. As he was going through his daily routine of serving as a priest in God's temple, the Holy Spirit grabbed his attention and Isaiah had an intense vision of the glory of the Lord. Isaiah desperately cried out for mercy and God sent an angel to purify his lips so that he would be clean. Then something revolutionary happened at the core of Isaiah's being.

In Isaiah 6:8 it says; Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!".
How long had God been saying this? Was Isaiah hearing the passionate heartbeat of God in a way that he had never heard it before?

What about you? As you get up out of bed and live out that same old daily grind, God is trying to get your attention. Whatever you do, don't turn away from Him because you feel unworthy and afraid. Isaiah felt the same way. But he stayed in God's presence. He experienced the Fathers heart for people as he heard what the Spirit was saying.

What do you hear the voice of the Lord saying? When you experience His deep love for people you will be swept up in His mission. He is still asking "Who will go"? Let's rise up and ask the Lord for laborers and with burning hearts cry out, "Here we are, Father! Send us!"

Joining with my young adult son in a life changing experience

2011-05-07T13:12:00.000-03:00

The following is a letter from my son John asking for partnership and support as he joins "The Experience" this summer. He is responding to God's call on his life to see a kingdom laborer movement rise up in Canada. Hope you are challenged and encouraged as you read...

"Over the last two years of my life, God has been opening my eyes to a calling that I believe He is putting on my heart for this world. There are hearts, young and old, that are longing for something more, longing for something different. I want to be a part of building God’s Kingdom to reach and welcome these people into God’s reality for this world. Our mission as followers of Christ is to build God’s Kingdom with Christ. We are Kingdom Builders. That is our call, this is my call.

This coming summer, there is an opportunity for me to start on a one year journey with an ministry organization called “Kingdom Building Ministries”. I would travel to Denver, Colorado and join in with 15 to 20 young adults across the United States, to take part in an intense discipleship program, called “The Experience”. I will be working with a trainer, one-on-one, who will be discipling, encouraging, and praying with me. The next stage involves going to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to take part in multi-cultural ministry and I will be continuing to grow with my discipleship trainer as well as the group of young adults. After this we join in on a teen camp called “Deep Camp” where we become a councilors and work with teens and start our own discipleship relationships. After this we enter the stage called the “wandering” stage. During this time we will be traveling through the states encountering different ministry opportunities that are meant to stretch us and open my our to the world that is in front of us and to see it through God’s eyes. Next, we head back to Denver where we take time and just reflect on everything we have just experienced and let ourselves dream with God. What is it that He’s calling us into? How are we to change this world? How are we to be Kingdom Builders? This is a dreaming stage. Lastly, we prepare to head home. The discipleship trainer and I set goals and plans for the next year at home. My trainer will be checking on me weekly and working through everything I experienced during the summer. We will be regularly praying together and seeing what God is doing through everything that happened during “The Experience.”

I feel, more than I have anything else, that THIS is where God wants me this summer. I believe that this is the next step in my journey. God has been opening my eyes and my heart to a new world, but to take this next step into my call, I believe “The Experience” needs to happen. This is what I am asking you to pray about.

“The Experience” does require a cost. For me to take part in the entire program it will cost me $5,000. This total needs to be in by May 21st and I am far from that $5,000 goal. I will need at least $800 of that my May 6th to book my plane ticket to Haiti and Dominican Republic. You can also pledge a certain amount of money over a period of four months, May through August, instead of a set amount at one time. I am asking that you search God’s heart on this and if He’s putting it on your heart to support me on this, please follow that call. This is going to be a time of discovery and direction that I feel like I have been searching for a long time.

More importantly, I need prayer. I have been on a journey for the last two years of asking and pleading for God to show me His heart for this world and where He has me in His plan. I believe I have found where He wants me, but I need to continue seeking His heart and discovering what it means for me to be a Kingdom Builder.

I cannot wait to share with you what God has done in my heart this summer when I return in August. I believe God can do miracles and I believe God will provide. Thank you for entering this journey with me and discovering what it means for all of us to be Kingdom Builders and show this world the love and hope God has called us to share.

If God is putting it on your heart to give financially or to be praying with me for this you can connect me at john.lamos@hotmail.com as well as call my cell phone at 1-506-608-8927. As well, a tax deductible receipt will be provided for all financial gifts."

John Lamos

403 Hampton Road

Quispamsis, New Brunswick

E2E 4V5

john.lamos@hotmail.com

1-506-608-8927

What do you hear the voice of the Lord saying?

2011-04-29T11:57:00.001-03:00

Every day we mingle with crowds of people. Instinctively we know that every person is dealing with their own set of challenges. And we are painfully aware sometimes that we are in the midst of the fight ourselves. But, how often do we forget that the Spirit of the Lord is right there with us every day?

In Matt 9:35-38, we read that Jesus was walking in the middle of the same streets and the same crowds as everyone else. But, he saw things differently. While everyone else just saw the usual things, Jesus saw the crowds in a unique way and felt deeply for them. He saw that they were lost, directionless, wandering around like sheep with no shepherd!

As his heart quickly filled up with urgency and deep compassion for the people, He turned and called his followers to open their eyes to see things from His perspective. Then He told them to pray for laborers.

He is calling us to the same mission. As we follow the Holy Spirit today our first priority is to love God by actually seeing people through His eyes. He wants to change the way we see them.

As we allow Him to get our attention, we will be overwhelmed by what is "really" going on around us. We will begin to sense that He is actually saying something and He wants us to listen. The massive heartbeat of the Father is to be up close with every person we will see today.

It reminds me of the prophet Isaiah. You can read about his encounter with God in Isaiah 6. As he was going through his daily routine of service as a priest in God's temple, the Holy Spirit grabbed his attention and Isaiah had an intense vision of the glory of the Lord.

Isaiah cried out for mercy and you can read there that God had an angel come and purify his lips so that he would be clean. Then something revolutionary happened at the core of Isaiah's being.

In Isaiah 6:8 it says; Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!". How long had God been saying this? Was Isaiah hearing the passionate heartbeat of God in a way that he has never heard it before?

What about you? As you get up out of bed and live out that same old daily grind, God is trying to get your attention. Whatever you do, don't turn away from
Him because you feel unworthy and afraid. Isaiah felt the same way. But he stayed in God's presence. He experienced the Fathers heart for people as he heard what the Spirit was saying.

What do you hear the voice of the Lord saying? When you experience the His burning heart for all of us your own heart will be swept up in His mission. Will you pray with me as we hear His voice asking "Who will go"? Will you join with Jesus and ask the Father for laborers? Most of all, we pray, "Here we are, Father! Send us!"

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Heart to Heart "stirrings"

2011-03-27T08:31:00.001-03:00

Getting ready for the day today I felt this stirring in my heart and felt that I needed to share it but more importantly there needs to be agreement with God on it in my heart... "The Lord is graciously coming to His people allowing us to perceive the rhythm of His heartbeat. It is coming through many avenues. It confirms His word and it is His word. It is revelation and mystery together. He desires to bring our hearts and lives into sync with the cadence of His heart. Doing so is necessary as we enter the near future. So invest yourself in reading His word in the place of intimacy. It is time to bring your heart... your alabaster jar and break it open before Jesus pouring it's contents out on Him as a gift of loving surrender to moving with His heart."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Here's "what's happening?" with me & my place of ministry - Eastgate House of Prayer

2011-03-24T06:12:00.000-03:00

It was a little less than a year ago that I laid down my responsibilities as part of the pastoral team of our local church so that I could make myself more available to help with the development of Eastgate House Of Prayer here in the Saint John region. I am very grateful for the friendship and encouragement of Kings Valley Wesleyan Church in this process. I and my family love being part of this wonderful community of Jesus followers.

God has been so faithful in leading me along in this new chapter of my journey in following Him! Leading worship at EHOP (Eastgate House of Prayer) and working with it's director, Kirk Smith and the rest of the leadership team has been such a huge blessing to me! In the process of serving with EHOP, the Lord has opened a new door of ministry for me.

I am thrilled to say that I am joining the EHOP Mission Base as a worship leader and Intercessory Missionary. This means that I will be serving on a full-time basis as we minister to the Lord in "Day and Night" worship & prayer. Inspired by His word and His passionate heart we will be asking Him for a great harvest of people into His kingdom, for unity in His Church and for the preparing of His Bride for Jesus' return.

We are part of a growing number of Houses of Prayer rising up in many cities around the world. For more details on the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, visit www.ihop.org.

EHOP invites participation by any individual or church that worships Jesus according to the Scripture, regardless of denomination, for the sake of bringing unity to the Body of Christ and for revival in the Saint John region, across Canada and throughout the nations.

I am especially excited about my assignment in leading worship and mentoring other musicians and singers serving with EHOP.

In my assignment as an "Intercessory missionary" I will be committing myself to 30-40 hours per week in helping to lead Intercessory worship meetings, training other intercessors and serving in the administrative infrastructure. I will be continuing in the development of an active and rigorous prayer life including regular times of fasting and prayer as well as ministry through my local church to the local community.

As an "Intercessory Missionary" with EHOP I am responsible to build a team of supporters both in prayer and raising my personal financial support. I am trusting in the Lord that He is leading many to invest in my calling to mentor intercessory musicians and worship leaders who will minister to the Lord night and day for the sake of a great move of God in our time on the earth. An avenue for providing financial support has been created in order for me to pursue this calling. I would love to make myself available on a full time basis as soon as possible. I am asking the Lord to lead individuals and local churches to invest in the kingdom of God through supporting this mission.

I am in need of monthly supporters and/or one time financial gifts in order to be free enough financially to give myself fully to this ongoing ministry to the Lord in worship, prayer and service to the harvest. An income tax receipt will be issued for all financial gifts to EHOP. If you feel prompted to connect with me about this, here is my contact information: email: danclamos@gmail.com; phone: 506-647-1600; address: 403 Hampton Road, Quispamsis, NB, Canada, E2E4V5. Cheques should be made payable to Eastgate House of Prayer.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Giving it All Away to see His glory

2011-03-22T08:21:00.001-03:00

There are a few people that I read about in the Bible that I would love to know. One of them is the woman written about in Mark 4:4-11.

She locked in to the right approach to Jesus. She grabbed what was probably her most valuable possession and journeyed to where Jesus was in order to offer something valuable to Him. Nobody around her thought it was a good gift or that it was even the right thing to do other than Jesus.

He loved her gift and He declared that what she did was beautiful! Wow! This is what God is looking for from this generation. Where are the ones who will take all that they cling to for security including mindsets, theologies, systems of belief, successes, failures... everything and break it open to be poured out on loving Jesus? He is the one we want. His approval is all we need. Everything else is just details. Will you trust Him with it all? Are you willing to give it all away to truly see his glory in all the earth?

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Songs For a Revolution of Hope, Vol. 1 Intro

2010-11-25T05:07:00.000-04:00

Commitment to Sexual Purity

2010-10-19T07:06:00.001-03:00

This Thursday night, I will be leading a seminar/discussion for parents sponsored by KV Youth about living a commitment to sexual purity. Sex is a beautiful and powerful gift from God designed and reserved for marriage. It's pull on us all is intense and alive with desire. Our young men and women are the stewards of this fire and we need to show them a healthy way to surrender their sexuality to the Creator who designed sex from the beginning. I am so humbled to be sharing about this subject in Thursday's seminar. But, I feel like Isaiah when he confessed his own unclean lips and that he belonged to a people of unclean lips in Isaiah 6. As a generation of parents, we haven't done a very good job of living in joyful surrender to God with our sexuality. Often times we don't make the connection between God's blessing of an amazing life (including sex) and our obedience to him. In other words we live as if following Jesus is hard work and serious while sex is fun and sort of just the thing we do. There are children living with us that are counting on us to show them a better way... the way of Jesus kingdom. We can do this by His grace. But, it is gonna take honesty, humility and an authentic surrender to Him. Will you fight for a new generation of young men and women? Will you fight for your kids?

update for family & friends

2010-10-17T07:01:00.000-03:00

The past several months have been an important season of growth for me as I have been waiting on the Lord and doing what He has been putting in front of me to do. During that time, I have been reconnecting with a friend of mine, Dwight Robertson, president of Kingdom Building Ministries located in Denver, Colorado. As our families spent a very short visit together here in Quispamsis at the beginning of July, we began to discuss the possibility of me serving God's purposes with KBM in some fashion. The doors have opened and I am very happy to let you know that I will be joining the staff of KBM as of November 1, 2010. You can learn more about KBM at http://www.kbm.org/ As an equipping and empowering ministry, coaching/mentoring is a high priority with this organization. I will be serving as a "Plan A Coach" and I will continue to be located here in Quispamsis as a representative for KBM in Canada. My focus will be to help Jesus followers to embrace their design as God's "Plan A" laborers (Matt. 9:37-38) and especially to help pastors and churches activate these laborers into lives of service to Jesus' kingdom in these chaotic times. I am so grateful for all of the love, friendship, prayer and support that I and my family have received during this time of transition. I will continue to keep you up to date as things develop.

Ne Cede Malis

2010-10-14T10:35:00.001-03:00

I dug around a bit today looking for the "Lamos family motto" It is found on our family crest. I discovered that it is the Latin phrase "Ne Cede Malis". The translation is "yield not to adversity". It's funny how a motto like that has a way of challenging me at a deep level of my identity. I would love it if at the end of my earthly life my children would be able to say that I didn't yield or give up in the face of trouble or adversity.

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Don't say you are only...

2010-10-12T09:17:00.001-03:00

When Jeremiah the prophet was a boy, he had a life altering encounter with God. You can read about it in Jeremiah 1. At one point God tells him that he is going to speak through him to challenge leaders in powerful positions of authority. Jeremiah raises the objection that he is only a boy. The Spirit quickly confronts him says "Don't say I am only a boy". The thought comes to mind that I say all kinds of things that limit what God wants to do through me. It usually sounds a lot like... "but I'm only...". Oh Creative God teach me to fill my head with your thoughts about me and learn to echo what you say about my potential in your hands".

A towel and basin revolution

2010-10-11T13:03:00.001-03:00

I was thinking about What God 's plan might be to bring about change in this world. I read that as a Jesus follower I should do all that I do in His name... to do things in the way he would do them... with the same attitude. Jesus showed his way of doing things by grabbing a towel and basin washing his friends feet. Behavior like that could cause a revolution where I am from. If I want to change the world I need to live everyday looking for chances to serve just the way Jesus would... "God, help me to see my towel and basin every day as the best gift you have given me to change the world."

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Book suggestion

2010-10-10T22:06:00.001-03:00

If you are looking for a great book to remind you of what really matters, I suggest that you get a copy if "You Are Gods Plan A" by Dwight Robertson. I read it over the Summer. The main message if the book is that God has deigned each of us with a unique ministry thumbprint. Gods 2000 year old plan is laborers for His harvest. Great book to get reactivated in your life mission.

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How dare you question my love?

2010-05-06T17:30:00.000-03:00

In ancient times, God tested His people's love for Him. It is recorded that "The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deut. 13:3) It is a pretty typical human response to feel threatened by this, unless of course we are actually passionately in love with our God! What if the only way to avoid sin and deception is to be deeply in love with Jesus? In reality it still is... It is only deep and real love for Jesus that will draw His people together and send us out to usher in His kingdom. (John 17:23) So, allow Him to test us today and may it drive us closer in to His embrace.

The next chapter for me

2010-03-31T07:22:00.001-03:00

On Sunday, March 28 I announced to our church family that I will be stepping aside from my role as Associate Pastor with Kings Valley Wesleyan Church. Here is the text of that announcement with a few changes (marked in italics).

Two years ago, Jim and Diane Agrell joined us as Jim became our lead pastor. It has been a great experience serving him as his Associate. I along with this church family gave Jim a strong affirmation in the Lord recently and he has agreed to continue leading us for years to come as God directs him.

In the process of many conversations over the past few months, Jim and I began to realize that my role as Associate Pastor needed to change. At the same time God has been stirring up renewed vision in me for what He is doing here in our region. He has been prompting me through my own prayer times and several conversations with other people that He has something additional for me to do helping with other ministry initiatives in our community. These initiatives include KVWC but also extend beyond us to His broader church. This has been a challenging process for Linda and me and also for Jim and Diane. But, in response to the way we feel the Lord is leading, I will be stepping aside from my formal position on the pastoral staff of KVWC as of July 1, 2010. The Lord will give wisdom to Pastor Jim and our LBA as they continue to build our staff for the future.

It has been a huge personal blessing to watch the Lord bless my wife Linda with our Kidzworld ministry and I am proud to say that she will continue to serve on the pastoral staff as Children’s Pastor here at KV. Pastors Jim, Dave and Brent have loved on me and shown great support for both Linda and me as we have shared with them about my transition. I am grateful for each of them in my life. I have loved serving with all of our staff, the pastoral team and the LBA as Associate Pastor.

My family and I will continue to live and serve as part of the KVWC family as our church releases the grace of God in our community. My primary focus will be to take some time to renew my own life with God and to get a firmer grip on what He wants me to do with the next chapter in my life. I want to throw my energy in with helping Linda with Kidzworld as well as the family life of KVWC. I am also excited about helping Kirk and Cheryl Smith establish the Eastgate House of Prayer. In the spirit of this morning’s message, we want to minister to the Lord by praying for His will to be done fully in our region.

It was our desire to include you our church family in on this new direction for our lives as early on in the process as possible. Because it is early in the process there are some important details that the Lord is helping us to discern. Your love and prayers are very precious to me and I love hearing from you concerning what you feel God is saying and doing and about what you feel is on His heart.

I will be taking some time for personal development as well and making myself available for writing projects, speaking and worship leading engagements as the Lord opens the doors.

This is not about that...

2010-03-29T07:06:00.000-03:00

What does it mean when we say things like, "This is not about me" or "I'm really thinking about what is best for you in this..."? Are we a good judge about whether or not our actions are selfish or selfless? The other day I read something about a selflessness that is born out of a deep awareness of who one is and what they are supposed to do. I found that idea very intriguing as it seems that in many of our relationships, we often misunderstand someone who is secure about those issues as arrogance. I John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." It is actually "self centered-ness" and pride that leads us to fear. When you and I are completely full of God's perfect love, we are free to fully embrace who we are and we can live securely in the life mission He has designed for us to accomplish. We can then actually bring our best to our relationships and the mission we have been given.

What do you want?

2010-03-27T08:12:00.000-03:00

Lately, I have been thinking alot about the question, "What does God want?" By that I mean; "What would cause Him to feel amazing today?". God is still the God we read about in The Bible. He is also the God that we know and experience by the Holy Spirit. And He is Jesus who revealed who God really is by becoming a human being and who revealed to us how to live as human beings in a deep friendship with God. He has been calling to me and pulling me into a renewed awareness that He is with us and that he longs intensely to meet with us and lead us in ways that we can release His grace in our world. But the secret is found in Isaiah 30:18 "Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!".

I want us to wait on Him and allow Him to be gracious toward us. I want Him to show us what matters to Him and to seek His grace in aligning my desires and motivations with His. What do you want?

"What Happened on the Breezy Sea"? Report on the engine fire aboard Haiti boat

2010-03-08T07:14:00.000-04:00

What Happened on the Breezy Sea:

Yesterday was a tough day but it started like the rest. PT and I got up at about six to pray quickly, make coffee, grab a stale biscuit and meet Butch. The plan was for the two of us to run the lobster boat without Butch for the first time. Every pound of food we bring to the island comes by small boat, either the lobster boat Breezy Sea or the sailboat with outboards, the Wesleyana. The latter is run by an all Haitian crew but the Breezy Sea is required by local law and preferred by base leadership to be in the command of a North American. So, PT and I had done some training and were off on our first run alone.

I took the helm for the way over, figuring PT could have it on the return when it was loaded and required more skill. Pete Thompson, aka “PT”, is my uncle and wingman down here since Josh and Andy are gone. He and his church have contributed enormously to this ministry. (They funded the second container alone, among other things.) PT is also a former Navy Commander so running a lobster boat is well inside his ability.

The sea on the way over was the worst I have driven in myself, maybe five foot swells consistently with six or seven footers occasionally. One seeks to drive into waves or to follow them, of course, but the difficulty yesterday morning was that the length of the waves ran parallel our course. This forced me to drive thirty degrees off course, making a long trip with a lot of steering much longer. The crew complained often that we were so far off course but PT reassured me that I was quite correct to drive a big triangle to avoid taking the waves broadside. At last, within a bit under a mile from shore the waves calmed enough for us to change course and drive following them, roughly toward our destination. No more wash over the front deck and spray onto the windshield, no more way up on the crest and crash! down into the trough; almost there and glad for it.

Suddenly, without warning, the noise of the engine surged in our ears. We had been at a constant 2300 rpm’s, constant temperature, constant oil pressure. In a heartbeat the engine roared to maybe 3000 with load clanging and a great plume of black smoke. Before my mind realized what was happening I cut the throttle and a second later cut power. Turning around, it’s frozen in my mind, there were knee high flames roaring out of the engine compartment into our cabin. This was a fire of intensity, burning fuel with plenty of air, not the soft crackle of kindling or campfire.

Immediately in front of me were two fire extinguishers laying on a pile of tarps and boxes. I yelled to PT, “Fire!” and tossed him one of them. The cabin was already filled with thick black smoke. I jumped out the port door to the rear, PT the starboard. Now 5 seconds have passed. We both struggled for another second to get the stupid pins pulled, then wheeled back in simultaneously and fired at the base of the flames where they came out of the deck. White, vile soot, billows of smoke.

“Where’s that woman?!” I was referring to a passenger. PT yelled back that she was at the stern. He yelled again into the smoke if anyone was in the cabin below the bow. The noise of flames sounded back, but everyone was out and the crew was staying out of our way. Now maybe 10 seconds had passed. I asked out loud for the Lord to help us and ran back in. It was probably pointless to shoot at the deck where the flames were coming out of the gaps around the hatch but I did one more time. I ran out to grab a breath then crawled back in to try to open the hatch. No good, choked and had to leave. PT shot some more, I think. I asked God for help again, “God, please, give us a hand here!” (Not the most eloquent prayer, I suppose.)

And here’s where God really showed His presence. I crawled back in. PT had thrown the tarp and garbage out of the way. Good move because now I could see a one inch hole in the deck right above the fire and the engine. I laid on my stomach and shot my entire extinguisher into it. I learned later that PT did the same thing. We’re not sure who shot there first but we are sure from examination later that the hole in the deck was in the perfect place over the spraying fuel and source of the fire. No more flames, anywhere.

I can’t say at this point how many minutes had passed, probably only a couple but it doesn’t feel like it in my memory. I asked Bernard, one of the Haitians and a good man, to grab some buckets of water in case of a flare up. Our extinguishers were all but spent, only PT thought to save any at all. (I guess I should only get how many bullets people want me to shoot.) I did not communicate my thought very well and they opened the engine hatch and poured the buckets straight in. In hindsight they were right to do so, a little corrosion is a small price to pay for the last few embers out.

The smoke started to clear a little so I held my breath and grabbed our packs out of the cabin. God saved us. The fire was put out. PT called us all into a circle, hands on shoulders. I was so smoked and sweated up that I couldn’t stand as the boat rolled and drifted, only the people in the circle next to me made it so I could stand. What we prayed there was a real prayer. I don’t remember exactly what PT started with or if I prayed out loud myself but we meant it. Thank you, Lord, for saving us and our boat. Praise God for His deliverance. Praise our God who hears us. (Even when we pray things like, “God, give us a hand.”) Praise God for making every second count. Thank you Lord that you never let anything happen to us that isn’t in your control. We see your hand in this Lord. We see how you are with us.

Pretty soon after, the Wesleyana came to tow us the last half mile to the wharf on the mainland. I don’t know, but I imagine that they saw our smoke. For me, at this point, the smoke and “purple K” as PT calls the extinguisher fog, was making me pretty sick. I’d breathed in a good bunch of lungfulls by accident in the fight. PT said the same for him. Honestly, I felt like wet pasta for about an hour, just kind of hanging on the sail boom as we plodded toward docking. A few hours and a coca-cola fixed me up, though, so no harm done. PT was better after a couple three hours later, as well. We even went to spend the night in St Marc so that we could throw 36 tons of rice with Ywam.

The afterword on the boat, as we know it so far, is that the boat is not too badly damaged by fire and engine is not destroyed. It looks as if tomorrow we, being us but especially Butch, will just need to replace some wiring and tubing. At the same time, we could see just how close that fire really came to destroying the boat and forcing us to swim. It was the return fuel line that had been broken somehow and sprayed fuel onto the super heated exhaust pipe. If the supply line had only a few more degrees, it too would have bled into the fire and from there we would have had no recourse as if fed the fire bigger and bigger. Once again, see God’s awesome mercy.

I hope, in writing this, even if I have conveyed the excitement of the moment, I have made the only point I wanted to make. That point is how trustworthy our Lord is, that we can cry out to Him and He will save us. He has shown this to us yet again. I praise Him for that.

HS.
Caleb Thompson

Missionary Doctor's perspective "Now the real dying starts"

2010-03-08T07:11:00.000-04:00

This was written by my new doctor friend from Kenya. He came all the way from Africa to volunteer. He's really from Philadelphia, but he and his wife are missionarys in Kenya right now. It paints a pretty good picture of at least one of my many experiences while in Haiti. Its a little choppy, but you will get the picture. Rob Picard, do you agree?

Alan

Now the real dying starts. From the red cage we sit in, the ten of us can see there will be some real dying soon. We ride by in the caged back of a pick up truck. The cage serves several purposes. One is to keep us from falling out and the other to keep people from reaching in and getting our goodies (clean water and snack food). It also interferes with getting good pictures of these same desperate people. It fails to keep out the dust. Welcome to Haiti. Take good pictures.

To define a good picture is easy. A good pictures will relate how heavy the death toll will be after the 230,000 have been buried. That was the estimated death toll as of my arrival. World Health Organization expects that once the rains start, the clean water runs out, the septic systems overflow and the tents fall down into the mud, the real dying will start. Take good pictures. Some of these people won’t be here.

Who will die? The good pictures tell the story. Many of them will be those we see in the ‘one item only’ line. You know the kind of line we complain about when someone has the audacity to get in the express line with five items. Fortunately, everyone is in the one item only line as it is the only kind of line in town.
This line wraps around the corners of the communities we pass. Only women and young children are in line. The men have been kept away by the soldiers. That is because many of the men will fight for the food and then sell it instead of feeding their families. One item only is what the women carry away. They will carry on their heads, a 40 pound bag of meal, or rice, or maybe beans. It is rationed out by uniformed troops, men and women from many nations, with various complexions.

One item only is all they are allowed. There is no hurry to get to the cash register, but there is a hurry to get into the next line of one item only. That one will have water. We push on. We have enough pictures.
We arrived at our clinic site just about 3 hours after our departure from Port Au Prince. The crowds had gathered long before and the doctors and nurses who were just completing their stay were glad to see us arrive. They were exhausted, emotionally and physically. We gave them relief.

It is hard to talk to anyone about the pain in their chest from the piece of cement that hit them, when there is also a pain in their heart from knowing their daughters were killed by those same pieces of cement.
You get only one item. Now the real dying starts.

"Holding out on God hanging on to me" & Brent's "Thirsty" prayer...

2010-02-25T13:50:00.000-04:00

At "Thirsty Wednesday" last night, Brent Ingersoll prayed that God would "show us a vision of our calling and grant us the courage to walk into it without fear and insecurity". As he poured out that prayer I immediately felt the power of seeing myself and our congregation at KVWC moving in freedom and courage into all that God has called us to be and do. Then I quickly recognized that this would truly be miraculous and would not happen without God's grace and without Him bringing a change in me and in us as a church.

I enjoy listening to people as they talk about what God wants them to be and do. Their dreams, struggles, successes and failures all help me to stay in the game and to find hope for my journey. Lately a friend of mine said to me that he feels that the biggest barrier standing in the path of living out our calling is "getting over" ourselves. He's right!! I'd love to experience everyday life with a strong allegiance to the rights of the kingdom of God as a higher value than my so called personal/individual "rights". What if we lived each day with a focus on His will being done on earth as it is in heaven? What if I were not so sympathetic with myself and others when we hold out on God because of fear and insecurity and leave His mission unaccomplished? What if it wasn't considered normal amongst us any more to hang back and take our time in making the courageous sacrifices necessary to show our world that Jesus cares and is here to rescue them no matter what they are going through or no matter what it might cost us? Getting over myself and my wants is a heartbreaking experience sometimes... sad as I am to admit it... But, I do believe the answer still lies in finding my contentment and fulfillment in allowing God to completely fill me with His perfect love. I John 4:18...

¹⁸There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love ^[g]turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear ^[h]brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].

If we turn back or grind to a halt on the path of following Jesus because of fear of any kind than we are holding out on God. How can we be satisfied with that? I am becoming increasingly discontent with myself over this issue and sometimes I even get angry about it and I am sharing here because I feel many of us are stuck and would love to break through these barriers of fear and insecurity.

A new decade... gulp!

2010-01-01T11:26:00.000-04:00

There is a foundational reality that we all live in the midst of...

Acts 17:26 (New International Version)

²⁶From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

God knew that we would be alive in these times. It seems from what I am reading that the coming decade is going to be very challenging and likely our paradigms are going to be shaken to the extreme. Are you up for that?

I am praying for myself, my family and friends that we will be more aware of what really matters to God concerning our lives and have more integrity toward what He values. If by His grace we do that, we will be ready to face the "shake ups" and dilemmas of this new decade.

Happy New Year!

We were born for this...

2009-12-05T08:32:00.000-04:00

I was reading Matt. 9:28-30 this morning. There is something very basic and raw about this scripture. If I can allow myself to see my world the way that Jesus does, what will I see? The "harvest" Jesus talks about is still waiting all around us. Jesus uses two images here to describe what He sees... the first is a massive gathering of sheep without a shepherd... the second is a harvest that is waiting to be gathered in. We can't help a culture of people who are looking for a shepherd unless we own our responsibility to be leaders. Neither can we fulfill our life mission unless we search for it in the context of gathering in God's harvest... connecting people with faith in Jesus Christ. We were born for this!

Safe hiding place or a place of empowerment?

2009-12-04T16:12:00.001-04:00

The times we are living in according to Bob Johansen of "Institute for the Future" (author of Leaders Make the Future) have produced a VUCA world... full of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.  He goes on to predict that the next ten years are going to be an incredibly difficult and challenging time for leaders.

How should we as Jesus followers respond to the world culture where we exist every day? Will our churches serve as a hiding place where people can escape from a VUCA world or can we be a place of empowering for people to turn and lead movements of change and promise as they are drawn to embrace Jesus and His teachings.

These are times of wide sweeping and fast paced change. I am concerned that many in the church are resisting the idea that the changes have begun and our world will never be the same.  While we enjoy the benefits of having peace with God through Jesus and the closeness of our church family and the security of our religious traditions, there is a world all around us full of people who are uncertain and some even terrified about the future. What are we doing to position ourselves to communicate the hope we have for stability in our VUCA world? The hope we have is in the kingdom of God.  You and I will not capture the attention of our world around us if we don't seek God for wisdom and a plan that will provide hope and leadership to a culture that Jesus sees as sheep, helplessly wandering around in search of a shepherd.

I hope you are investing time in God's word with new eyes searching out the principles of Jesus kingdom and his ways of doing life and serving people.  I am completely convinced that we need new methods, ideas, new revolutionary approaches to expressing the presence of God in our homes, friendships, businesses and culture. It is our world's only hope.

There is a movement of people right now who are seeking God's help as they deconstruct what they have become so accustomed to as "church life" and by His grace rebuilding lives and church families that are ready to lead out in a revolution of love and service in Jesus' Name in whatever community in which they live every day.  Changes are here and they won't be easy. But the Holy Spirit knows what He is doing and He will lead us if we will stay humble, courageous and gracious toward each other.

"Deep Change" or "Slow Death"?

2009-12-02T11:27:00.004-04:00

Just received this re-tweet from a friend this morning... @cnieuwhof: Every organization faces one of two alternatives: slow death or deep change. The quote is from an article found at the following link: http://twurl.nl/z2xlg5

Please take the time to go there and read it. I totally resonate with the idea that our church is experiencing "deep change" and I definitely choose it over slow death. I know that I have been experiencing deep level change for several years now and only recently been feeling like I am getting into a good rhythm again.

The church represents the "unshakable" kingdom of God on the earth. Are we courageous enough to go through the changing process and allow Him to mold us and empower us to provide the answers for the questions the world is asking?

So what I hear you saying is "you don't like me"...

2009-12-01T16:06:00.002-04:00

I'd love to know what you think... Was Jesus likable? What drew people to Him? I think Jesus was likable except to those who cared too much about how other people viewed them. The Bible teaches that "If anyone claims to live in him they must walk as Jesus did." I John 2:6. If we are like Jesus we are going to love each other. When you love each other you protect, trust, persevere... all of those things found in I Cor. 13. But, I don't think I can find anywhere in the love chapter that we will always "like" each other. Part of living in truth and "walking in the light" is the freedom I can give you to not like me or what I do if you so choose. You need to do the same for me. Once I feel as if my like or dislike for you or something you might do is going to overly affect you or cause you to change a direction that you feel strongly about, our relationship gets complicated. Prayer: Father God, help us to grow in our inner character to a place where we can dislike each other once in a while but still walk in grace, truth and love.

The official Blog of KV Style's Budget Columnist, Jill Lewis-Watts: Spend LESS, give MORE

2009-11-28T12:04:00.000-04:00

The official Blog of KV Style's Budget Columnist, Jill Lewis-Watts: Spend LESS, give MORE

it's too late!

2009-11-28T09:56:00.002-04:00

I just read a startling quote from Seth Godin's book, "Tribes". It stung because it cuts against the grain of my way of thinking... or maybe against my hard wired tendency to want to keep the waters calm. Anyway, he writes "By the time you realize that your corner of the world is ready for an innovation, it's almost certainly too late. It's definitely not too early." Now, that is a battle cry for those of us who long for people in our culture to embrace the life connecting and life renovating experience of knowing Jesus Christ. Shame on us for consistently waiting too long to change. If you are just realizing that innovation is needed in the way we engage our culture and in pursuading them to follow Jesus it may almost be too late.

You are the leader people are looking for

2009-11-27T14:15:00.000-04:00

It amazes me that Jesus left His mission to save the world in the hands of a small group of people. But He did. I believe that He knew what He was doing. The Holy Spirit arrived in power about a month and a half after Jesus left the earth to return to His Father. Trusting that the Holy Spirit would inspire, empower and keep them connected they picked up on Jesus' vision of their culture... that the world around them was full of people who were like "sheep without a shepherd." Somehow they believed Jesus when He told them they were the light of the world. They were designed to lead others to really "get" that Jesus was the Shepherd their culture needed. What about us? You and I were designed by God to lead. I'm not talking about leading churches or businesses or organizations. I'm talking about embracing the fact that you are a God-designed leader in our culture. People all around you need you to lead. The question is where are you leading them? My prayer for us is that we will own our destiny as leaders and show those around us what it is like to know Jesus Christ and live in true freedom. The freedom that religion can't offer. May we have the courage to flesh out a faith journey that trusts Jesus presence and His ways in every unpredictable situation. He is ready to help us and I believe our best days are yet to come.

Who's on your shopping list?

2009-11-05T20:32:00.002-04:00

I heard a shocking statistic lately. There are 143 million orphans in the world today. Then I heard of a website www.143million.org that offers several ways that people can invest in helping to improve the quality of life for one of these children. I was especially drawn to a project called "410 bridge" www.410bridge.org You can read about it there. But, it provides a great way for you and your family to connect with children and villages in Kenya, Africa. So, can you make some extra room on your Christmas list?

Passion to help People or an Obsession to Reach Goals?

2009-10-07T15:56:00.004-03:00

Bill Robinson writes in his book, "Incarnate Leadership"; "Perhaps our desire to be good leaders has elbowed its way in front of our desire to be imitators of Christ." I have been investing a lot of time lately in books that offer help for those who aspire to lead in these chaotic days we are living in. A recurring theme is that we must lead from the middle of things. The platform for leadership is in loving, learning and serving in the places where we desire to lead. In order to do that, we need to rediscover what it means to love with "no strings attached". People who have grown disillusioned and clearly skeptical of leaders who are stuck on top of the pedestal will resist us if we love with an agenda. If we are careless we can make even the goal of "converting" people to faith in Jesus Christ a selfish agenda. Is it more about relieving our obsession to reach the goal of them "making a decision" and/or "praying a prayer" or about actually helping them experience the love and grace of Jesus? It is time to rediscover faith in the unshakable kingdom of God that is so secure that those who live in it and under its authority have the courage to love with no strings attached. We can do so because we have experienced and have total confidence in the magnetic pull of the Spirit of Jesus once someone begins to get a taste of His goodness. I guess I am saying that He is the only one who is pure enough in heart to truly love with an agenda. Or maybe it's because He doesn't confuse obsessing over reaching an end goal with a genuine passion to help people experience His kingdom. Prayer: Father, help us to rediscover a life of love and service in your Name. Help us not only to do the kinds of things you would do, but depend on you for the right motivation... loving with none of our own strings attached so that you can draw our broken chaotic world to the realness of your kingdom.

Help for giving and receiving difficult truth

2009-09-14T08:33:00.002-03:00

It was a huge encouragement to see a good crowd come out to our vision meeting last night. Pastor Jim did a great job discussing several crucial insights on the shifts we are making and who we need to be in order to make those shifts. There were many testimonials shared concerning the growth people are experiencing and how great they feel about who we are becoming. And there also several that shared some difficult criticisms and concerns with strong feelings attached. All in all, I am really glad we had the meeting. The conversations after the meeting were especially helpful.

In this time of transition as a church we need to walk in love and maturity. If you find yourself needing to express truth that may be difficult for the other person to receive... remember these guidelines (taken from "Incarnate Leadership" by Bill Robinson)

First, I will have a hard time hearing truth if I am busy defending myself.
Second, I will have a hard time identifying truth if the assault feels more like it's more for your good than mine.
Third, I am not capable of accepting truth from you if the attack feels personal.
Fourth, I will stop thinking about truth if you make claims about my motives - and I would rather you ask me what they are than tell me what you think they are.

Great food for thought.

Longing for encouragement

2009-09-08T05:59:00.003-03:00

I have always been captivated by the sense of hope that rises to the surface when someone reaches out to another human being with encouragement. We all thirst for the security of knowing that we are going to be alright... that we are going to survive this day and live it as we should... that we will respect ourselves at the end of the day and be able to have the respect of those closest to us. But, we live in a world that fights against us. We do have enemies, seen and unseen that are committed to stealing our security from us. Our hope lies in Jesus. He is waiting for us on the front lines of our own battle field. He is waiting there with encouragement and the power to make it through the day. Rob Bell said it this way, "We find God in our own oppression, in our own crying out, in our own response to the body of Christ broken for us, the blood of Christ poured out for us, and when we can't find God in our own oppression, we can always find God in the oppression of others." So, today I can set out to find encouragement from Jesus in the places of my life that feel oppressive to me. I am learning to "... share in his sufferings in order that I may share in his glory" (Romans 8:17).

Keepin 'er out of the ditch

2009-08-27T19:30:00.003-03:00

I have claimed to be a Jesus' follower most of my life. There was a season there between ages 12-16 or so that were pretty rough for me. I don't really know what banner to hang over those years... but, I was pretty much all about myself and what was gonna get me through. Along the way there have been some mile markers. One of those for me was discovering I John 2:6; "If anyone claimed to live in him, they must walk as Jesus did." Hey, I have found that living like Jesus is intense for sure. He is absolutely the most interesting person I have ever encountered. Following Him has caused me to turn over just about every slimy rock in the landscape of my life. He is after total authenticity and that scares the "____" out of me many times. But, he is also after filling me with purpose and giving me an amazing missional life. He wants my life to glow with purpose and meaning. Investing my life in whatever His agenda in my world is every day is an adventure like no other. Life should really come with a warning label though... Warning: there is a subsitute that religion offers us that is a poisonous counterfeit. It is called "anxious striving". I have experienced that there is a difference between fully engaged missional living and a life of anxiously striving to get all the supposed "important" stuff done. God is definitely not about anxiety and striving to be a great person. If life is a highway I wanna keep 'er out of the ditch. Jesus, you managed to keep your life on the road and out of the ditches. Please lead me to be able to run at the speed you set for me and to have courage enough to boot religious "anxious striving" out of my life for good.

What keeps us in the game?

2009-07-03T11:46:00.002-03:00

I am getting prepared to teach out of Phil 2:1-10 on Sunday, July 5. I have been reading the version from "The Message". I love some of the expressions there. One of them is; "When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.Phil 2:7-8 (MSG)

There is something about the idea "...having become human, he stayed human..." that inspires me. It was both and... becoming human and then staying...

First of all I wonder if there are some things I have "become" by obeying His plan for me but I have wimped out on the "staying" part. For me the latter is definitely the bigger challenge.

My Prayer: Father, thanks for what you have done in my life and for giving me the grace to obey you in becoming your child. I know you have designed me uniquely and lovingly with a purpose in mind. Now, help me to "stay in the game" and accomplish what you designed me to do.

Bark Park Detention

2009-06-28T09:45:00.002-03:00

The past few days we have been working with our dog Maggie at our local dog park. She is three years old and by now she should be socialized enough to run and play with other dogs. Well, she's not... much to my embarrassment. In order to "sort of" connect with everyone else at the I have decided that we will hang out in the smaller part of the fenced in area. This area is actually designed for "smaller" dogs who are too afraid to interact with the bigger ones. But for Maggie and me it provides a chain link barrier between her and the rest of the dogs so. I hate it actually. I'm just not ready for the full experience yet. Sure, I usually say that Maggie isn't ready. But, I'm the one who isn't ready. You see, Maggie acts pretty dominant with other dogs and can get pretty snarly as well. I admit that it is threatening for me and I find it embarrassing. So, for the past two afternoons we have sheepishly hung out in Bark Park detention. Maybe today we will take the big jump into the big dog park... :)

What drives you?

2009-06-23T07:02:00.000-03:00

What is motivating me today? I was reading these thoughts from "The Message" out of Phil 2;

"Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand."

How would my life change if I allowed the Holy Spirit to restore this attitude and lifestyle in me?

best explanation of the "day of Christ" I have heard in a long time

2009-06-22T06:55:00.000-03:00

I was glued to the message Pastor Brent was delivering yesterday morning. He was unpacking the first chapter of Philippians. It was fresh and it was delivered in a way that I loved. But, I especially enjoyed the thoughts on vv 9-10. He talked about "... until the day of Christ..." out of verse 10. He confronted the negative idea of seeing our earth as something to be thrown away and destroyed and therefore something we can neglect and even freely abuse. Then he presented us with the challenging idea that if Jesus is going to "give the earth a good shake and put everything all back to together" we should care about the earth and by faith live as if He is already in the process of doing just that. Great food for thought.

Why did we adopt these dogs again?

2009-06-21T09:07:00.000-03:00

My 50 pound high energy Border Collie/Lab mix Maggie has a sore paw. I'm not sure what is up with it because she won't let us look at it. We tried last night, but there was some "teeth baring" and she snapped at Linda when she probed a little too far. So, I resorted to running a couple of inches of warm soapy bath water in our nice clean bathtub for Maggie to stand in so that she could soak her paws. I'll be doing that three times each day until it improves or gets worse. Of course that includes cleaning the tub after each soaking. So, what is that? Probably 20 minutes each time. I'll be investing an hour a day in Maggie's life so that she can recover from a sore paw and avoid an infection. If it gets worse, of course there will be the visit to the vet and the fees. Why am I doing all of this? If I accumulate the time I will be investing this week in taking care of my dogs including feeding, walking, grooming, etc, it will total total 10-15 hours. That is a part time job that is actually costing me money! But... I love it for some reason.

I think the biggest reason is the way my dogs teach me about living in the moment. In a dogs world you have to face every situation as it comes. You have to trust and take action based on your instincts. Dogs seem to have an intense commitment to acting out of instinct. I agree with those who say that humans have lost a lot of our ability to "instinctively" communicate with our world.

I can't be a decent leader to my dogs unless I lead them by instinct. I like what that brings out of me and I enjoy the connection I feel with the world as a result of our friendship.

So, here's to letting "recovering from a sore paw" become a group project when necessary... :)

2009-06-20T09:45:00.001-03:00

Read recently that these four things are what we need from leaders trust compassion stability hope.

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Early morning "send-off"

2009-06-20T06:39:00.000-03:00

An excited team of high school students, our youth pastor and his wife and a few volunteer adult leaders just left for NYC a few minutes ago. They are headed to the Big Apple for a week of serving in soup kitchens and reaching out to homeless people with the love of Jesus. My mission this morning was to show up in the parking lot and pray with the team before they left. Well, I was supposed to arrive at the church building in time to see them off at 5:45 AM. When I woke up and looked at my cell phone for the time it was 5:57. So, I jumped out of bed and managed to arrive in time to lead out in a prayer. I don't know if the prayer I offered made any sense but I do believe that the next 7 days will be filled with life directing moments for every person on the team.

"God, watch over this team and help them not to miss even one experience you have intended for them this week".

Just chillin' in the park with the dogs

2009-06-19T15:50:00.001-03:00

The park is going well I have been pretty nervous about taking Maggie out where there are lots of people or dogs. But, we have been working hard together... learning to live "in the moment" without fearing what may happen. I have a hunch that I am the one who has been doing all the worrying... :)

2009-06-19T15:01:00.001-03:00

I'm going to go down to the park and just hang out. I'm always in a rush when i take the dogs out for a walk. It should be interesting

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2009-06-19T14:58:00.000-03:00

It is a beautiful day is the kv. Im thinking I might do something I havent done with the dogs before.

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Instinctual Leaders?

2009-06-19T11:56:00.000-03:00

I was reading the other day from a Cesar Millan book that dogs will only follow an "Instinctual leader" as opposed to humans who will tend to follow Intellectual, Emotional or Spiritual leaders who might be pretty messed up in some other areas. He also spoke about how we have mostly abandoned the instinctual part of ourselves. I'm thinking about this some more. But, I can recall times in my life when I have been much more connected with that part of me.

Learning with my dogs

2009-06-19T11:15:00.000-03:00

Our family got our first dog, Maggie from the Animal Rescue league three years ago. June 30, 2006 to be precise. She was just barely 6 weeks old. Of course we didn't really know what we were getting into. It has been 3 years of hard work, a big investment of money and one of the best things we have ever done. About a month ago we adopted a second dog, Tenny into our family. He is 4 years old. He is a beagle/Jack Russell Terrier mix. Maggie is a border collie/lab mix. Socializing them with each other and rehabbing Tenny into our home and our pack has required a lot of research and investment of time, money and devotion from me and my family. But, I am feeling great about how well it is going and for how I am growing from the experience. Today we went for a hike up behind Rothesay Netherwood School. It was an absolute blast. I am so glad we have discovered those trials and especially the Brook running through the woods... can't wait to get back there.