Home Archive by category "Adventures" (Page 4)

Category: Adventures

DELIVERED!

As soon as my plane hits the tarmac in Chicago, I am already thinking about when I will be able to hit a Portillo’s hot dog restaurant. Famous for their themed restaurants, great food, and speedy service, Portillo’s has been a family favorite of mine since 1993! (Don’t miss the Chocolate Cake Shake!) While I may be almost religious about getting some Portillo’s on every visit to Chicago, there is certainly nothing spiritual about a great bacon cheeseburger or crinkle fries or a large ice cold Coca-Cola. Which would explain my surprise on my recent trip to Chicago to see a Gospel Presentation on every table! But there it was, as plane as day! Instructions on how to be DELIVERED from the burden of sin. It’s as simple as A-B-C. I couldn’t believe when I read, “Delivery is as easy as…” A – Appetite. ADMIT your appetite for sin and realize that no sin will ever truly satisfy. Know that ALL have sinned, and fall short of God’s perfect standard. That’s the bad news. The Good News is that Jesus came and only he can truly satisfy and He has paid the penalty for our sin. B – Big Decisions.…

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Teaching My Son Innovation at Burger King

So I was sitting at Burger King writing while my son was enjoying a kid’s meal and playing in the play area. He was delighted because his meal came with a cool Monster Truck! After a while, he noticed that there were two more Monster Trucks under the play area that had apparently rolled there. We discussed how some poor kids apparently lost their toys and probably left in tears. Luke said he wished we could retrieve them, but they were impossible to reach. One of them was extremely far away, and the other had broken into the two pieces it originally came in, wheel base and top shell. The space under the play area was locked and only accessible by an employee. I said to him,“They are only impossible to get if you lack the will to accept the challenge and the ability to use the resources at your disposal.” Luke said,“Huh?” I replied,“Do you know what a challenge is? It’s when you decide to attempt something that appears impossible, using what you already have. Let see what we have available to us and try to get those Monster Trucks! The worst that can happen is that we’ll fail.”…

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Hobbit Huddle – The Lure of Adventure!

The Hobbit came as a delight to me. I knew it would be visually stunning and the music would be sweeping and amazing to listen to… but it also rose above the usual fluff of meaningless formalistic drivel that passes for entertainment today. While much credit must be given to the author, Tolkein, Peter Jackson has done wonders to bring it to life, and capture the wonder of this timeless story. I am not one who is bothered by the three movie approach, but looking forward to it. When I go to a movie, I ask, What is the Message of this story? What are the timeless truths? What are the transferable principles to real life? What drove the author to write the story? Why did the movie maker create this? What can I learn? The Hobbit is loaded with life lessons that should not be missed. Some are obvious, others are more subtle – the subtle ones are the more powerful ones. In this post, I’ll start with the obvious: The Lure of Adventure. Bilbo, forgetting his Tookish roots, has settled into a life of comfort because of the culture in which he lives. It is not a bad…

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The Mountains Are Calling…

John Muir said it best years ago… The Mountains are Calling and I Must Go! As I reflect on the upcoming 6th annual Yosemite Summit, I am amazed at all that God has done in my life and in the lives of so many men who have traveled with me to this amazing place over the past five years. Many have asked me, “How long will you keep doing this?” I usually answer, “at least until next year,” because I don’t ever want to assume to plan ahead of the Lord (James 4:13-15). But I know this:  I need this time away, and I have seen the incredible impact it has had on other men. Let me just share a few of the things the guys last year shared with me: The greatest impact was hearing God’s voice and calling me to a personal mountain top experience.  This experience allowed God to change my life there at that moment.  He drew me close to Him, and there He freed me from the bondage that filled my soul.  This spiritual impact has allowed me to continue on a journey daily to be in complete oneness with God. The biggest “take away”…

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Disney Models Making the Most of a Bad Situation

I just got home from a week at Walt Disney World after CPC Orlando. I was lucky enough to be at Magic Kingdom the same day as the President of the United States! (or was I?) When we entered the main gates we discovered that Main Street was closed to normal low class citizens such as myself and my family: A nice wall said, “You are not important enough to get to see Main Street today.” (See the metal detector door?) Secret Service agents and other White House personnel roamed around where we were unable to go. So how were we to get to the rides? We had to enter through a side gate and go around the ugly backstage of Main Street… not the best of circumstances… right? But leave it to Disney to make a bad situation into something fun and unique! Too bad a camera doesn’t capture sound (Apple, are you working on that?) There was lively music playing, employees with Micky gloves on waving us through, giant flags and floats from the parades to see. Disney took what could have been a very negative situation and made it into something fun and festive! They even set…

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