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Why? God has really expanded our ministry lately. Redeemer is growing and my involvement in Acts 29 and Coaching has increased to the point that I have to let something go (i.e. this Blog).

We’re launching a new website for Redeemer. So, check in there occasionally to see what’s up. Also, you can email me at anytime.

I said: “So, have they told you what the sign of the beaver is yet?”

Sterling said: “No.”

To which I replied: “Dam.”

We had a good laugh.

Today, I found out that that joke is making it’s way around Sterling’s 6th grade classroom. Alas! Now, I’m a little worried that the teacher is going may just call me on it. But I’ve worked out in my mind how I’m going to handle it. I’ll say that I’ve learned my lesson & I won’t repeat it in public.

The night began with dinner at Carrabba’s. I had my favorite (Pasta Weesie) & she had her’s (spaghetti with a big fat meatball on top). We talked about our day, colored & played tic-tac-toe. She won again… darn!

Next we went to a card store. Basically, the idea was that we read cards. And any card that we would normally buy for the other to express our love we would give it to the other – right then & there. And then we put the cards back on the shelf. I promise after almost everyone Kate exclaimed, “Aww… that’s sweet!” We both gave each other at least two dozen cards & hugs. It was cheap & she loved it so much that when we left she said that she wanted to make it into a tradition.

After that, we walked down to the craft store to pick up something she’s making for Sterling’s stocking. Then on to Petsmart & she picked out a ball for her to give our dog for Christmas. That was followed by a quick trip to Marble Slab Creamery. We laughed & licked the whole time.

If that wasn’t enough, we voyaged on to Barnes & Noble. I stopped by the military history shelf on the way to the Children’s section. Kate read Clifford & Bernstein Bears books. I sat on a miniature stool & read the introduction to “Hitler’s War on Russia.” Oh, what a pair we are!

And then finally… we came home… all by 9pm. Whew! What a date.

Oh… I’ve got to add that at 10pm Lindsay came home after being out with Sterling. They had done two things: eat at Cracker Barrel & go to the Bristol Motor Speedway to see the Speedway in Lights… for a second year in a row. She said the good news was it ONLY took them 1 hour to get through it. That was half the time to see the lights as it did last year. Needless to say, she was exhausted… yes, again. Lindsay & anything NASCAR are polar opposites. She wouldn’t do it for anyone else. But she’ll do anything for her boy!

Well… kind of.  To understand your unique design, email me or contact Jim Fickley.

For more base jumping videos like this, click here.

The first conversion is what I’ll affectionally call the “Deep South” conversion. Sooner or later we all experience it. On day, we wake up & realize that we’re very, very naughty. We’ve done all kinds of things like turned our backs on our family & friends. We’ve realized that we’ve hurt others.

So, we convert. We convert to moralism; to “doing good.” The extremists in this camp are the fundamentalists that walk around like they’ve “figured it all out.” Of course, most of us are not that extreme. When you & I convert to this belief system, we “wrestle our sin to the mat,” “pull ourselves up from our bootstraps” and “wise up!” We see the world through a lens of truth & cast our conservative vote. We settle into a “Christian” ghetto & volunteer at church.

The second conversion is what I’ll laughingly call the “West Coast” conversion. Just about all of us do this as well. This conversion comes when we’re so exhausted from doing our duty & trying please others with our very best. But we end up making this change because it’s just not working & we cannot keep up appearances anymore.

So, we convert to relativism. The extremists in this camp rebel against authority, party hard & walk around like they’re the center of the universe. But these are just the extremists. More often than not this conversion says, “all of those moral religious folks are hypocritical!” (Of which, they’re right.) It also defines truth as being authentic about my junk to others, tolerating other people’s junk & yet loving them unconditionally. When we experience our “West Coast” conversion, we often avoid religious types, “live and let live” & help the needy.

Now before I move on to the third conversion, allow me to make a few observations on the first two: at first glance they appear to be polar opposites. The first emphasizes truth over love and the second emphasizes love over truth. But on the heart-level, they’re almost identical. They both are merely an outward change; worldly drugs that deceitfully promise survival & success through the behavior. In a word, both are an attempt to save oneself. And although there may be an outward conversion of the behavior, inwardly there is no conversion of the heart.

The third conversion is Christ’s. This conversion makes an impact because it originates in our

innermost parts and then spreads to our behavior. It is a conversion that involves a heart-level repentance that results from a realization that my efforts to save myself are fruitless. It’s an acknowledgment that my efforts to promote truth or to love well are merely the survival techniques that I erroneously use to justify my existence. And so this conversion humbly looks beyond ourselves to the work of Jesus Christ to justify, open our senses to God & empower us to live (both inwardly & outwardly) according to His truth & love.

My question for you today is:

Which conversion best describes you?

Don’t click away to the next page too quickly.

Think about it.

To reflect on this more, click here.