I’m in my office which is unusual for Sunday afternoons.  I’m headed to a picnic for one of our local fire departments in just a few minutes.  I skipped lunch so I am ready to throw down on some food right now.  Most of our staff was on vacation today.  Ryan got to speak at Elk Creek today for Mike Silliman (you deserved the break Mike!)  Thanks to Jeff, Shari, and our incredible Fellowship volunteers for making it happen today.

I loved how God brought things together today.  We talked about the “side effect” of peace and how peace comes from knowing that God is in control.  An absence of peace is actually an absence of belief.  I love how the Father of the demon possessed boy in Matt 9:24 says to Jesus, “I do believe…help my unbelief!” ( I could hang out with this dude) No flip-flop here just the human reality of our struggle with faith.  It is true for all of us.  We believe yet we struggle with unbelief.  I’m so glad God included these kind of truths in the Bible.

People traded in their pain for God’s peace today.  It was cool to see God work and many people respond to the Prince of Peace as they accepted Him as their leader and forgiver.  Jeff’s song “Peace Be Still” (Rush of Fools) was awesome.  You should pick it up on Itunes this week and add it to your music collection.  What an awesome reminder of the gift that Jesus promised us shortly before his death in John 14:27…Let these words resonate today and throughout this week…

Jesus - “I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  So don’t be troubled or afraid”.

• I am enjoying watching the Olympics and of course love it when the United States wins.
• Michael Phelps in the man! I have never seen anything like it.
• I love it when France loses…not sure why that is but I always cheer for their opponent. They shouldn’t have talked so much smack in the Men’s swimming relay! That was an amazing comeback.
• What is up with China using under age girls for gymnastics? Am I missing something here?
• I can’t believe the Phillies were swept by the Dodgers!
• What’s up with people who are in such a hurry to get off the plane that they think they are going to step in front of my wife…are you kidding me?
• Not sure why our Church keeps getting hit by lightning. Are you trying to tell us something God?
• I’m reading a great book called “It: How Churches and Leaders can get it and keep it” by Craig Groeshel and asking myself “do I still have it?” If not, how can I get it back” and if I do have “it” than how can I make sure I keep it. I highly recommends you pick up this book. Craig is one of the great leaders of the church today.
• I’m also asking the above questions of my staff and our church ministries.
• I read “The Last Days” by Joel Rosenberg this week. It was and entertaining and thought provoking read. It actually has me considering a series on the end times in 2009.
• It’s under 30 days until the Eagles play.
• My brother-in-law Don has some mad barbecue skills! Pulled pork and ribs baby!
• Michelle just finished reading The Shack by William P. Young. She said it was a life-changing read about the love of God is personified and illustrated through someone else’s eyes. Can’t wait to read it. Thanks for passing it along to us Kathy!
• My dad fell last week and said it made his back feel better. What is up with that?
• I should hit the 10K mark this Saturday. My friend John Rhein is way a head of me but the competition is helping me push forward.

What is beneath the surface in your life? Our actions come from attitudes. in other words our actions are what is on the surface. They can represent or seek to cover up what is below the surface. This is an incredible picture I borrowed from Greg’s blog. It brings new insight to the phrase “tip of the iceberg.”

As we continue to unpack our new series called “Side Effects” my prayer is that God will take us beneath the surface of our lives to see and experience the fruit that the Holy Spirit is producing. If we could look below the water line of your life today, what would we see? Are you just going through the motions? Are you stuck in a rut or do you sense God growing you in these areas of love…in joy…in peace…in patience…in kindness…in goodness…in faithfulness…in gentleness…and in self-control.

Our Fellowship Fan page broke the century mark today. I have to be honest and tell you that I was a facebook skeptic. I know many of you still are. The bottom line is that it is a part of our culture that the church would be remiss to ignore. The church in America continues to get older and older. I don’t know many young people who aren’t on facebook. My daughter and I used to have a competition going to see who had the most friends. I gave up a couple of months ago…her demographic is ALL on facebook…as for mine…oh well. The fact that Fellowship is on Facebook helps us swim against the current of the “aging church.” My guess is that most of you who read my blog are not on facebook. You should give it a try. Hey, I’ll be your friend and be honored to “write on your wall.” Thanks to Greg Davis who gave me the e-book Facebook For Pastors which helped convince me to get started.

Here are some of the positives I have seen in my short time on facebook…

1. It has helped me connect with our students like never before. Most kids in Student Impact I can call by name. I couldn’t keep up before. They send me flair (got to be on FB to understand) and notes regularly.
2. I actually know more about people at Fellowship and friends around the country because of their status updates.
3. Our fan page gives us a “church presence” on FB that allows people another opportunity to connect and put a name with a face. Kind of like the church directories of times gone by.
4. As a parent it is one more way I can see into my kid’s world. Don’t even get me started on this one! By the way - this has been a good thing for my me and my kids and yes I do check their pages regularly. (it is also a “consequence” that comes into play for discipline - my kids hate to be “grounded” from FB)
5. It gives people on FB more access to me. They can send me notes and updates. It is the same principle as blogging. It is rare that I don’t have a few messages every Sunday or Monday about the service.
6. It has allowed me to reconnect with several friends from college that I had long ago lost track of.

A word of warning…just like anything else in life you should do your best to practice moderation…It can be addictive to some people…

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?

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.

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 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.