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For the record, this is about as political as you will ever see my blog.

John McCain picked his running mate today. The very first thing I said when I saw a picture of her was: “She looks just like Tina Fey”. If you don’t know who Tina Fey is, then you aren’t watching the funniest show on television. The funny thing is that Tina Fey is a raving Liberal… I’m sure she’ll love the constant comparison’s over the coming months. The bright side is that SNL will have a spot on impersonation of her if she ever comes back to visit the show! You be the judge…. 

These are the ideas floating in my head right now. Each one could probably be a full length blog post, but I’m just far too busy for that today, so you get the cliff-notes version!

• Just read this story on ESPN.com. I love how people in so many foreign countries/cultures honor their heroes and those who succeed. Seems like in America we would give a high five, share six pack, and send them on their way. What does it really mean to honor people’s accomplishments?
• Charlie Hall writes some of the most lyrically beautiful worship music I’ve ever heard. His latest album, The Bright Sadness, is a masterpiece of God honoring language.
• I watched the Obama portion of the Saddleback Presidential Forum saved on my DVR Last night. I plan to watch McCain’s half later tonight. I thought Obama was stale, boring, and full of rhetoric…
• Tonight is a big night… at 6:30, I will be sitting down with a notebook, highlighters, my computer, and aspirations for winning the Fantasy Football League I’m a part of. Can’t wait… spent about an hour last night marking up my notes!
• Wishing that Tom and I were going to Catalyst 08 this October. Today is the final day to purchase the cheapest registrations. We’ll certainly be following along via blogs & twitter feeds! 
• The commercials have officially begun for the Fall television season. I can’t wait to settle back into the routine of watching some of my favorite shows! What show are you most looking forward to watching? 

What is the…

• Last book you read?
• Last CD you purchased?
• Last concert you attended?
• Last movie you saw in theatre?
• Last charitable cause you supported financially?

This Sunday at Journey Church we will be looking at what the Biblical book of Proverbs has to say about the tongue (the kind in your mouth). 

I’m 99% sure that the person preaching will be sharing this story about an apology that came years after it was owed. Better late than never…. Read here. 

Oh yea… you might want to keep an eye on Shaun’s blog (the guy in the story above). He is about to plant a ridiculously passionate church in what is without a doubt the coolest venue I have ever seen. God is about to be magnified in a big way in the ATL.

I’ve had a fantastic weekend so far. The formula isn’t difficult: summer + friends + grill = great time! The past couple of nights Jenessa and I have simply been with people, and it has been great! I love being around friends… few things in life are more invigorating for an extrovert like me than being in a room full of people you enjoy spending time with. I look forward to many more weekends like this one in my life! 

I expect the fun to continue tomorrow at Journey Church as the” Journey To Guatemala 2008″ missions team takes the time to share about our collective experience in Guatemala. I’m praying that people’s ears and hearts are open, and prepared to hear what God has done and will continue to do through Journey Church in the nation of Guatemala.

All the weekend fun has me tired, I must get some rest so I can at least attempt to summarize a week of experiences in my 3 minute block tomorrow during our sharing time. Be sure to check out the “Featured Site” on the side of my blog… it’s ever-changing, but the current link will be a special treat for folks who’ve been around Journey Church for a while.

For whatever reason I haven’t yet delivered my recap and final thoughts from the Journey to Guatemala trip. Part of the reason is that I’m still dealing with what I’ve learned is called “re-entry”. Having never travelled out of the country before, let alone to experience such a radically different culture, I wasn’t prepared for the process of assimilating back into my “regular” routine. Last week was spent building community (with the team from Journey, the Greene family, and the locals in the village of Magdalena), caring for others’ needs, and making a lasting impact on the lives of countless people. This week has been full of yard work, laundry, house cleaning, e-mail, phone calls, blog reading, and meetings. Talk about a change of pace…. 

However, that said, I believe the primary reason is that I have yet to find the words to type to give the experience the justice it is due. It seems impossible to type words into a window and convey all that took place during our week in Guatemala. It’s tough to explain the following through a keyboard: 

• A culture full of people who “do without”, yet smile so much and seem so happy.
• A pastor (Mario) who cares for his community so much, he works 12 hour days out in the field, caring for and connecting with the people in hopes to introduce them to Jesus.
• A missionary family who has had over 600 people stay in their home over the past 2 years.
• The experience of the mother of a rural family living on a 15′ X 30′ plot of land, in a house with cornstalk walls, telling her life story and thanking you for blessing them with what we call a chicken coop and 25 chickens, but what they will call a small business.
• The village of Magdalena, and it’s residents who only live there because they were displaced several years ago by a mudslide… how they seem to truly understand the meaning of the word community.
• The kids at the school. They have at least one hot meal everyday due to the efforts of the above stated missionary family… this was not always the case.
• The historic town of Antigua, and the beautiful architecture within.
• The relationships I (we) forged with Romollo (the construction boss), and Hugo (the bus driver) in the few short days we were there. It felt like I was leaving two good friends behind.

I could go on and on. Hopefully as a result of some of the pictures and words on this blog, Tom’s blog, and the Journey Team blog, you’ve been able to catch a glimpse of our experience in Guatemala.

So now it’s back to blogging about “real world” stuff…. this does not mean that Guatemala is far from my mind though. I leave you with a couple of final pics from our adventure. My wife, my friends from home, my friends from Guatemala & so much more… Well, I tried to post some pictures, but WordPress is being ridiculous and giving some fatal error about lack of memory. Maybe later….

This post could have easily been entitled: “Favorite Moment from Guatemala Trip”. I know, you are probably thinking: “How can you have a favorite moment, you are only 48 hours in!”. Actually, it didn’t even take that long… My favorite moment from the trip happened on the rooftop of our mission’s house on the very first night.

After our group picture on the roof, a cpuple of us hung around for a few minutes to take in the sights & sounds of thr San Cristobal evening. We kept hearing a large crowd cheer, and assumed it was from from a local futbol (soccer) match. A few minutes later, a live band started playing, and we assumed it was a concert of some sort… It was, but not the kind we were expecting.

As the band played and the leader sang words in Spanish that none of us could make out, we convinced ourselves that we somehow knew these songs.

Three songs in, I had a “Big God” moment. The lyrics were still in Spanish, but the music was universal. In the middle of San Cristobal, Guatemala, there was a full blown worship experience taking place. The song I finally recognized was “Take it All” by Hillsong.

It was clear by the energy of the crowd that this was some type of youth rally. My soul filled with the reality before me. Hundreds of teens were bellowing out their desires to the one and only living God! Their words were in another language, but rang forth with a joy, hope and passion that was unmistakable. With great volume they sang:

“Jesus we’re living for your name, we’ll never be ashamed of you. Our praise, and all we are today: Take, take, take it all! Take, take, take it all!”

I wished so badly at that moment that I wasn’t on a rooftop, but that I was right in the middle of it all. Hands raised singing those words to God as an offering of surrender.

It is a moment I will never forget, a moment I will treasure, a moment that I realized how big my God is, and how far reaching his Kingdom is. The gospel of love & grace was on full display, and it wasn’t happening in West Chester, nor Ohio, not even the “Christian Nation” of America. It was happening in a broken down, under developed country, full of people who are “poor” and lacking basic necessities of life. Those teens didn’t have much to offer, and still they sang: “Jesus, Take it all”. That is how big our God is!

Typing this from my iPhone in bed at the ministry center, so forgive me for errors, and short length.

My #1 thing I’m looking forward to – Sharing God’s love in a practical way here in Guatemala, and then taking it home to so the same in my daily life! This week we will be doing several tasks; tiling a floor, building chicken coops, and working at a feeding center, (among others). These are all very good and practical things. The reality is however, we are here to do so much more than that. We are here to do God’s work among his people. We are on a covert mission to share the love of God with everyone we come into contact with through practical acts of kindness. Whether it be through a social service, a physical gift, a hug to a new friend, or a futbol (soccer) match with the children of the town…. We seek to share the love of our Savior with people who may not know him.

I don’t intend to let it stop there however. I am praying, and asking God to show me new ways, fresh ways, consistent ways to do the same in my everyday world back home in Ohio. Sharing God’s love in practical ways should not be reserves for mission trips, it should be a daily practice for any Christ follower! My prayer is that God will make that a reality in me.

My #1 Fear regarding the trip to Guatemala – Not being able to write this post! I had convinced myself that this trip would not happen. Something would go wrong at the airport, with my passport or ticket, or even worse, something would go wrong with the flight. I’m a little paranoid like that! But here I sit, writing this post, and I couldn’t be more excited. There are so many things running through my head, I just can’t wait to see what God has in store for Jen and I (and our team).

Be sure to visit the Jpurney team blog for the latest info. It will probably get a little more love than this site for the next few days (although I will be updating here as well). Find the team blog here: http://cincyjourney.org/guatemala2008

Three down and two to go (well… one if you count this one). Read the previous few posts on this blog for context and details on the below points.

Top 5 things I am looking forward to regarding the Guatemala mission’s trip:

Part of the reason I am going on this trip is to scout out potential projects for Journey Church to own over the next several years.  Since Journey Church started, we have cast a vision for our mission to reach outside the US, but we wanted to take a very targeted approach with our mission dollars and effort.  It is our hope that we can adopt a couple villages in Guatemala and make a real difference in the coming years.  We hope to build feeding centers, install clean cooking devices, and bring clean water to many people.

Read the earlier posts for context. I’m tired of linking… if you can’t find them, I feel sorry for you.