I’m thinking and praying for our students and youth staff tonight. They left this morning at 8:00 for a trip to New York for five days that could change their lives. They will be joining hundreds of other students from across the Northeast at Lift Camp. They should just now be coming out of their first service. Our student pastor, Ryan Geiger, is taking a group of 42 this year. I’ve got 3 in the bunch. Ryan has put together an impressive group of counselors to come alongside of our students. They are using their vacation and sacrificing time away from their families to invest in our kids. God is going to work in their lives every bit as much as he does in our students.

I’m proud of Ryan and Jess and the rest of their team. They do a great job. I appreciate what they do as a pastor and a parent. I like the direction Ryan has Fellowship Student Ministries going. Ryan has a heart for teenagers like few others that I have encountered. Michelle and I are going to join our group on Wednesday night and Thursday. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do and experience it first hand! When you read this, please take a moment to pray for our leaders and our students. The trajectory of lives will change this week.

Wow, it was great to get to teach again today. I was blessed this year to have a great 6-week teaching break. I want to thank our Staff for the great job they did in keeping things running strong during my break. Between our “One Prayer” video series and Lee and Ryan, Fellowship was blessed with some incredible teaching!

I also want to thank our Elders who realize the value of strategic breaks and support my time away. If God will let me, I want to stay at this thing for the long haul. I began to realize a few years ago that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Time away from teaching provides me the opportunity to “zoom out” and see the big picture at Fellowship. God showed me several areas where I need to step it up in my leadership and my teaching. He continues to stretch and grow me…and I amazed at God’s patience with me.

Side Effects is going to be big. We began today with a couple of questions…

1. What is my life producing? This is stuff we can see…actions in our life
2. What is being produced in my life? This is the question that drives deeper. Paul drives beneath the surface when he describes the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.   Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control - It’s the Holy Spirit that produces this kind of fruit in us.

Think about it…is what is being produced in your life in sync with what Jesus said would be characteristic of his disciples?

Seems like Michelle and I have had something going with friends every night this week. Her brother gets in today. He is relocating to our area and will be staying with us for a while. He loves to grill and cook so Michelle is excited to cook less and I am pumped about eating more.

Monday night we got to hang out with our friends Greg and Denise Peters. Greg pastors the Parkside Church in Palm Coast, FL. He started the church a little over 10 years ago and it is doing great. Greg has been a confident and close friend through the years and someone that I respect a great deal. Our churches have traveled many parallel journeys so it’s always good to get together and share stories.

Tuesday night Pat and Kristin Fensom, friends from Fayetteville, NC came by. I blogged about Pat earlier this month. He is in the Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and has served two tours in Afghanistan. Pat put it on the line for his country and his soldiers in a big way. He was sharing some of his experiences with me over dinner. The thing he was most proud of was that God brought him through without losing any of his team. Imagine the kind of pressure leaders like this go through. You relax or mess up and someone dies. Kristin and other military spouses like her don’t get the same props but they are heroes too. She did two tours of single parenting four boys while living with fear every time the phone rang or she heard a knock on the door. They have incredible boys…God has been good to them.

Pat gave me something I will always treasure. He had a coin created for his team that has the Special Forces emblem on the face with several other military awards. On one side it says “Desert Eagles” with a sub motto of Pressure - Pursue - Punish. If my boys ever serve, I would want them to serve under Pat or someone like him.

This Sunday I am kicking off a brand new series called “Side-Effects.” This one has been bouncing around in my head/heart for a couple of years now.

Most medicine prescribed today seems to come with a warning about various side-effects that may occur.

Following Jesus comes with what should be some side-effects in our lives. Paul spoke about them in Galatians. He used the metaphor of fruit in our lives. Following Jesus should produce fruit…specifically things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What kind of fruit is being produced in your life? It’s a great question. I’m itching to get back to teaching after my summer break…hope I see you there!

It was great to be back at Fellowship today after some time away. Can’t wait to teach next week after my summer teaching break. I’m going to be launching a new series called “Side-Effects.” More on that later this week.

I thought our team put together a great service. Ryan brought it with a great message today. I see a lot of growth in him over the last 17 months. God has gifted him as a leader and a communicator and we are blessed to have someone of his caliber on our team.

Our worship continues to inspire me…I hated for it to end. Jeff will be away this week in Austin, TX at a national worship leader’s conference. This is his second year in a row to attend and I know he is looking forward to his time of learning and inspiration.

I wanted to pass along a prayer request tonight. One of our Russian partners had tragedy strike last week. The pastor of the church/feeding center in Kaspli, Vladimir, lost his grandson to a drowning accident. We built a playground at the Kaspli feeding center two years ago and Vladimir has been incredible faithful in serving and leading. He was a former Colonel in the Soviet Army before he became a Christ-follower. He came to Smolensk to join our group for our farewell dinner at the end of our trip in June. Please remember to pray for him and his family.

It’s great to be home. We created some great family memories that will last a lifetime. Living out in Avondale, you get to see some interesting things from time to time and unfortunately smell some unpleasant odors (mushroom farms) now and then. I went for a nice run today. To be honest it was way too hot and I am paying the price now. No ipod or podcast to listen to today…just alone with my thoughts and taking in the scenery. I go past some beautiful horse farms (Chester County is famous for it’s horse farms). At one point I got passed by a horse and buggy (not Amish) and a little later I saw a big buck take off through a corn field. It was magnificent. God’s creation at its finest.

About a mile and a half from home while I was contemplating calling a taxi and commiserating about how I should have run early in the morning, I heard a car honk it’s horn and a lady scream “Go Baby!” (not a common occurrence when I run) It was Michelle. She was on her way back from the store and cheering me on. It was just what the doctor ordered and helped me push past the heat to get home.

Life is that way isn’t it? We hit the wall sometime. We have some bad days and go through difficult seasons. And then God sends somebody in our path at just the right time to say just the right thing. Or maybe we see something so amazing that reminds us of how magnificent God is. Sometimes it snaps us out of our funk or gives us a healthier perspective on life. Healthier perspectives remind us what is really important…what really matters.

Michelle’s drive-by encouragement reminds me of the responsibility we all have to speak into people’s lives. Who will God bring cross my path with today that needs a kind word? Who will the Holy Spirit bring to mind that I need to reach out to with a phone call or a note?

So if you are reading this today and are struggling with the heat let me just say as loud as I can type…GO BABY!

I’m having a great summer.

• “Elevate” is off to an incredible start!
• Russia was an amazing experience.
• I have had some good down time at the house.
• I have been “training” to “run” in a 10K (I actually got 4 miles out of these knees on Monday).
• I found out my niece Kristi is going to be living with us for a year.
• I am getting the longest break from speaking that I have ever had (took over 7 years to get here).
• My brother-in-law Don is moving here from Missouri.
• I am immersed in the world of facebook and now have 164 friends (Alli is kicking my butt with over 300 friends). It has been cool to see people in our church connecting on facebook as our Fellowship fan page continues to grow (Thanks Greg Davis for your vision in making this happen).
• I still have LIFT camp to look forward to at the end of the month.
• The Sixers just made an awesome free agent signing.
• The Phillies are barely in first place.
• The Eagles open camp in a couple of weeks.
• I loved our “One-Prayer” series.
• Michelle and I are digging the “Next Food Network Star” reality series.
• Alli makes the best spaghetti ever…
• I am speaking at Northway Church in August…
• I saw Hancock this week (some funny stuff).
• I broke my neighbor’s pressure washer…
• My friend Jim Miller fixed my car.

Finally, we are headed to Hilton Head for a family vacation and some fun in the sun. Lots of the beach, pool, bike riding, and other fun stuff. Yes Linda, we will use sun-screen. It is our favorite “just family” time of the year and I look forward to making some memories that will out live me. We are stopping off in Wilmington, NC to see some great Fellowship friends (the Donaldson’s) who have relocated. I’m unplugging from my blog until Tuesday July 22nd. Hope all is well with you and I will check in with you soon.

I notice a natural dip every year when I come back from Russia. Actually, I have to give props to my brother for pointing it out to me. I’m not sure why it happens but it does. It will probably happen next year as well. The reality is that it has been happening for years. We all have dips. We all hit seasons like this. Is it jet-lag? Is it spiritual warfare? Is it the stress of reengaging with everyday life? Is it saying goodbye to our friends in Russia who steal your heart? Maybe it is missing the connection God forges with our team. Not sure…maybe it is a combination of all the above. All I know is that finding your stride when you get back is problematic.

The past two years I have had the privilege of taking my daughters to Russia with me. They love it. They love the people there. They experienced the dip this year as well. Tonight Michelle and I had a chance to talk to them about what they are experiencing. I love those kind of talks. I think they define what family is all about. Hearing our girls hearts…explaining ours…gaining perspective…connecting on a deep level. Michelle is an amazing Mom. It is her calling. She brings an amazing amount of discernment to the table. It was her idea to finish our talk with prayer…what a cool thing to be able to cover your girls in prayer.

So where and when does your “dip” hit you? Do you see it coming? Do you have friends that have permission to speak into your life? It is so much easier to see stuff in someone else’s life isn’t it? Seeing it and knowing you are in the midst of it is half the battle.

Life moves fast forward for most of us…it is easy to forget that men and women are serving in harms way.  I am privileged to have a good friend (Pat Fensom) who has served two tours in Afghanistan.  Pat is a warrior.  He serves in Special Forces as a Green Beret.  I was scared when he was deployed.  I wanted to share an email he sent me yesterday of one of his friends who was killed serving in Afghanistan…Pray for his family…pray for those who have suffered loss and injury…pray for those still serving.

As the list of names grow, I feel like I can honor their memory and sacrifice by offering a little insight to you.

Shortly after getting to work this past Monday, I was told the news of 4 SF Soldiers from my old unit were KIA.  I asked for the names and when I heard Shawn’s name my heart sunk.  Shawn came to my old company in ’99 and we hit it off.  I left to instruct shortly after but he would stay in touch.  He eventually became an instructor and we would cross paths, especially after I finished my last OEF tour and returned to the SF School.  After he was promoted and knew he was returning to lead a team, he started coming by to talk and ask questions.  He was motivated and excited to lead his guys in battle.  We discussed many scenarios, he asked me what I would do in different situations etc.  We had good talks.  He was sincere in his service and committment to the Nation.  He took his calling to lead men in combat especially the Green Berets on his team seriously and with passion.  I last saw him a week prior to him flying overseas.  He was focused.  He was a quiet professional.  I will miss him.  (see below)

HOPE MILLS — Master Sgt. Shawn Elliot Simmons, 39, Green Beret and Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha Team Sergeant in the U. S. Army, was killed in the line of duty on a recovery mission near Khosrow-E Sofia, Afghanistan.

A native of Tallahassee, Fla., Master Sgt. Simmons served in the U. S. Army for more than 16 years. Shawn and Tricia were married July 19, 1992, at Bethel AME Church, and from this union, two children were born.

Shawn was always active in the church, starting at his home church, Greater Mount Zion P.B. Church. Having a desire to know the Lord as his Savior, at the age of 12, Shawn confessed Christ and was baptized by the Rev. C.K. Steele at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. Shawn continued to stay active in church; he and his family joined his mother at Bethel AME Church. Upon being stationed at Fort Bragg, he and his family became active members of Cliffdale Christian Center in Fayetteville. He was considered a leading role model for children in the Hope Mills community.

Shawn’s distinguished military career began in February 1992 as a power generation equipment repairman in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1995, he was assigned to the 307th Forward Support Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. In May 1997, he began the Special Forces Qualification Course and he earned the coveted “Green Beret” in 1999 and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg as a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha engineer sergeant. He left the battalion in 2005 to become an instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. He returned to the battalion in December 2007.

He leaves to cherish his memories a loving and devoted wife, Tricia; daughter, Erin; son, Justin; mother, Alberta Jones Simmons; and a host of other relatives and friends.

I stopped at a restaurant today to buy a couple of pies (cherry cheesecake) for a pool party we were headed to.  While I was in line I heard an older gentleman talking about his experience in the South Pacific during WW II.  He had on a Navy hat identifying the ship he served on over 60 years ago.  To be honest, I can’t remember the name of the ship, but I will never forget his words.  He was telling some folks about the ship he was on and how it was sunk in battle.  He was one of the survivors.  Over a hundred and fifty men went down with the ship.  Many others perished as they were burned in the water by the diesel fuel that was set ablaze.  The damage was so catastrophic to his ship that it went down in under 60 seconds.  As I listened (eavesdropped) on his incredible story, it occurred to me that I was listening to a real life hero.  I’m sure he would say that he was just doing his duty, but to me he and those who served with him were heroes.

Our WW II veterans are dying every single day.  What an incredible national resource we are losing.  As I walked out of the restaurant I walked over to this gentleman and held out my hand.  “I couldn’t help but overhear your incredible story sir, and I just want to say thanks for serving the way you did.”  He looked me straight in the eye…I could see the wisdom and experience behind his gaze…he was sizing me up.  His grip was still strong as he shook my hand and nodded, “Your welcome.”

It made my day to say thanks.  It might sound cliche, but freedom isn’t free.  For those of you who served I want to say thanks.  Next to my faith and family, being an American is one of the greatest gifts of my life.