I’ve been in Cambodia now (with my wife and three daughters) for over a week, and we’re getting ready to celebrate Christmas here. This post doesn’t really have much to do with Santa at all, but more about what God (the giver of the true meaning of Christmas – in His Son, Jesus Christ) has given us.

We’ve snapped over 2,000 photos this past week, but more importantly, we’ve been soaking up what that same God is doing in the lives of people here. Just yesterday we had the privilege of experiencing joy (park of large inflatables) in the lives of over 40 at risk (sex trafficking) young boys and a great staff that leads them.

I jumped into the fun by climbing to the top, following the lead of a young boy that has HIV. A young boy whose grandmother now takes care of him, and has to deal with him being beaten up at school. Thankfully, God has brought a great leader into his life who is on a mission to provide genuine care for him at the boy’s center. The grandmother agreed that he could come yesterday – a miracle! The smile I followed up to the top of the play area was priceless, and I was deeply inspired by the simple love and care that little people like him needs.

We’ve seen lots of Christmas decorations here in the 70+ degree weather in Phnom Penh. Colored Christmas trees, lights hanging around spirit houses and palm trees, inflatable Santas, etc. It’s sad that they not only mimic some of the American culture when it comes to music and other things, but now they are being misled during this season. Thankfully God is working so greatly in the lives of some awesome adults here, who know where these young children will truly find joy. They’ve accepted the challenge of not allowing the many pedophiles to find joy in stealing these children’s humanity within the world of trafficking. It’s impossible to stop it all, but they’re doing all they can!

I thank God for the gifts He is giving me this Christmas, by allowing my family to appreciate the love He has for the world. Thanks to a friend for posting a photo of the disturbing billboard she saw (Santa gives more to rich kids than poor kids), reminding me just how much children don’t need Santa Claus. The difficult challenge is that we’re tasked with sharing the joy with them that they really need. Might seem like such a complex issue, until you see just how simply God can break it!

I’ll try to keep this as short as I can – since I’m trying to rest, eat better, start my 4 minute walk exercises, etc, etc, etc.

Every day of life we get is borrowed time that the God who created us has given. Thankfully I know just how much He loved me and sent His Son to die for me. Without that understanding, I’m not sure I would have dealt well at all with the anxiety or stress that an event like this could bring with it.

The plans and path that I am going to follow are going to continue to be whatever God desires. What I want or what you want doesn’t really matter. God chases after us and never leaves us, including during the worst moments like I lived through this weekend.

I can’t describe that to you – that’s impossible. I woke up today and wore the shirt that you see in the picture, a shirt my bro got for me while on tour last month with a bunch of awesome rap artists. I’ve also included 30 seconds from the Signed Up To Die song (buy on iTunes here) that goes along with the shirt (Christian rap artist – Thi’sl) for you to listen to below. He’s a man of God that has stared death in the face while living the gangster life in St. Louis, and reminds me that even death doesn’t have a hold on us since Christ died to give us life that is eternal.

Thank you to all of our friends and family (online and IRL). God sure used Facebook to circle some prayers around me, that was an amazing encouragement. My church family knows what true love means, and I thank God so much for the example they are to me of His Son, Jesus Christ.

It’s my prayer that some friends and family actually come to know Christ through this. There’s nothing more I desire from life but that.

So excited to live another day for my heavenly Father! Worrying is not something He encourages at all, so I pray that you’re able to live this journey with confidence along with me!

I believe we’re past the point of trying to make the cross “presentable to our culture”. My talented friends that also happen to have a faith in Jesus Christ need to start saying that they’re trying to catch up with Hollywood or the elite creatives in culture. I can’t recall a time (even when the church deserved it) when any friends or family of mine that live outside of the walls of Christianity blasted the church for sucking at creating media and creativity. Are ideas like Church Marketing Sucks really just an attempt for people to complain for not getting recognized? What’s the point of saying “we suck” if “you don’t” suck?

Where I think the problem resides is when the artists that have accepted what Christ did for them on the cross sell out and JUST create media. Sort of like some bands crossing over and removing Christ out of their songs in order to sell albums, right? I know, I know…….I hear the “God didn’t command us to just create churchy things” arguments all of the time. I would disagree with that and, believe it or not, the Bible would side with me there.

This is where I am in life, and have had some honest discussion with artists I respect about this recently. I see myself (and of course others) shooting photos of pointless things. Creating websites sometimes that just feel shallow. Why? Obviously that’s where the money’s at. Isn’t that why all people crossover from living and breathing their faith to the cross being their life support……there’s no life in you, but someone else is keeping you around for some reason.

I’m sick of it. I’m making it a point (started recently) to be on a journey of purposely connecting with clients where it’s almost certain I won’t get a penny for my work, but more importantly, the finished products are guaranteed to point people to the cross. Asking myself if it’s really possible to sacrifice and suffer a bit (or a lot) through the work I do.

Have you found yourself taking on work just to bring in money? Is it safe to do some high quality work to pay the bills and let God get only 10% of our work like He often gets from our wallet? I’d also love to hear how some of you might have overcome this and sacrificed your time as well. Or maybe you hate my God? I’d love to hear from you as well.

This world needs God
But it’s easier to stand and watch
I could say a prayer and just move on
Like nothing’s wrong

But I refuse
‘Cause I don’t want to live like I don’t care
I don’t want to say another empty prayer
Oh, I refuse

To sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Enough about that. Here are a few things that are going on in my world. I’d love for you to leave a comment and let me know a thing or two that’s going on in yours!

Saved up a few hundred dollars from designing websites, and am starting to invest more time + money into a dream of mine, the Digital Disciples network. Marla and I will be making that happen by driving down to Charlotte next Thursday for a free STORY creatives meetup with Ben Arment, Sarah Cunningham, and many more awesome people. You can see the details here, and be sure to share it with friends in that area that might be interested! I’ll be sharing Digital Disciples for a few minutes, but am most excited to meet some great people and support some great things!

On the way back from the meetup, we have the privilege of stopping by Charleston, WV and attending Matt Holley‘s (and Krista) wedding. They both live here in Columbus, but originate from West Virginia. I’ve gotten to know Matt via his involvement in the Jared Mahone band, and a trip we took together up to (ironic – see above) the first STORY conference in Chicago. Excited for them!

Speaking of Jared Mahone……if you haven’t checked out their music, I’d recommend doing it before finishing reading this. They’ve just started a Kickstarter Campaign this evening to fund $10,000 in 64 days for their next album. You’ll want to stop by that page and check out the video Matt Holley (from above paragraph) created! I helped them update the site tonight for that, and also snapped this photo this week for the promotion of it.

Have a great rest of May 21st. If we don’t meet again, hopefully I’ll see you on the other side, LOL.

My intent is not prideful, thinking that I can’t learn a thing or two from Mr. Maxwell. He did guarantee that I (and the rest of the crowd) would learn “something” from the 90 minutes we got to spend with him. My intent in writing this, as I always pray is my goal, is to not just listen to people because the world thinks something of them. It’s to listen to them and channel EVERY thing they have to say through the truth of God’s Word, regardless of their accolades or the amount of followers / readers they have.

So here’s the truth (if the blog goes long, it goes long). I wasn’t expecting this when coming to the event, but while on the way out Kary asked me what I thought. My first response was (knowing that John’s a devout follower of Christ) “He didn’t share anything at all from the Word of God”. That might seem harsh. You might suggest that I give him a break, or that I shouldn’t expect him to preach to us since his area of expertise seems to relate to business.

I can tell you that I did learn at least 1-2 things when listening to him. But hearing him being neighbors with Joe Namath, having a meal with Gail Devers, consulting the United Nations, blah blah blah blah blah……..shouldn’t and doesn’t impress me. And honestly, knowing he’s considered the leadership expert, I was thinking an evening listening to him would have left me wanting an encore. If you read through my notes from yesterday, I’m sure you’d agree that most, if not all, of the 10 tips he shared with us could be found somewhere else. It’s not hard understanding that all of this “worldly wisdom” has been around for a long time.

In my eyes, no matter if you’re wealthy and famous or 8 years old and selling lemonade along the street for a quarter, if Jesus Christ has changed your life – your life should be about Jesus. To hear that he’s now creating a coaching network for thousands of individuals, charging them each $4,800 in an effort to leave “his legacy” with others, actually now scares me a bit. There’s a chance they’ll get hundreds of one-liners that they can share with people who might need it, but maybe never be challenged to share who the real life-changer actually is.

What if I were to tell you that I think we need more followers in this world than leaders? People who have the leader in Christ that they need, and if they’re doing any counseling they’re sharing advice from the source that has led many men and women to greatness through the centuries? What are we to think of leaders when we attend sessions like these and then return home and open up Jeremiah 9:23, 2 Corinthians 10:17-18 or 2 Corinthians 11:15?

I guess you probably get my point by now. Leadership to me is a megaphone. When you speak through your megaphone, do people hear the Word of God or your own words? Don’t be afraid to lead, just make sure you’re not standing in everyone’s way as they’re trying to follow the footsteps of Christ.

I’ll post some thoughts I had tomorrow here on the blog after being at the event, but I thought I would share the notes I took from what he shared with you.

10 things to consider when “In The Face of Adversity”:

1. Face reality just as it is. In sports, you can’t hide the scoreboard. When Joe Namath guaranteed a Super Bowl win, he got the rest of the team to believe.
2. Chase your dreams. In the beginning, dreams are free. You have to bet on yourself to make your dream come true.
3. Continue to persevere. Dreams don’t just happen. If you “just believe it”, you can’t achieve it.
4. Nourish your relationships. We are either a plus or a minus in people’s lives. You’re either a taker or a giver.
5. Be passionate about what you’re doing. That’s how you turn things around. You’ve never seen a passionate person without energy. Going uphill takes more energy. I know people who are dead, they just haven’t made it official yet. In good times, plan for bad times.
6. Make good choices. Choices that will help in the long run. There’s a choice you have to make in all you do, and in the end, the choice makes you. All of us are either going into, in, or coming out of an issue in life.
7. Learn from bad experiences. You can either learn from your failures or leave them.
8. Value those around you. Be willing to ask for help.
9. Make it happen. The natural tendency during difficult times is to freeze. The book ends of success are the ability to start something and finish it. The fastest people don’t always win, it’s the people that start first (over supper John guaranteed Gail Devers he could beat her in 100 yard dash…..then informed her the deal required he get an 80 yard head start).
10. Watch your attitude. A bad attitude is totally your choice. The only person that makes me happy, is me.

If you want to buy the song on iTunes (song #14), here it is! Or maybe you want to read through the lyrics? Wow. I think I’ll watch it again!

Click here to view the embedded video.

In one of his acts (view here), he jokes about people wasting their time watching fishing. They’re not even fishing, but I guess at least they’re gathering some food to survive! I could relate to this today when I found myself watching the Masters golf tournament. I’m watching golf, I’m not even playing golf!

I’m in transition (like the rest of the world) and fail often when it comes to loving other people, but when I watch golf I’m always very thankful that I don’t enjoy the sport. Not only does it seem pointless to show a small dimpled ball that you can control it, but a good amount of the golfers I know are talented at escaping from community or making other people feel like they’re worthless when they have no choice but to hang out with them. Escapism is nothing short of dulling the pain, almost like getting drunk or doing drugs in an attempt to not have to deal with the challenge of loving others.

That’s what God has me dealing with today as a creative / geek. Me and my computer. Helping a few people along the way, but for the most part trying to show a shiny gadget that I can have my way with it. If I need your help and prayers, it is that this Digital Disciples network continues to flip my soul upside down. That a few years from now I’ll look back and be disgusted with the geek that wasted a good amount of his life, and thanking God for showing me just how much people matter. How does this make you feel?