Well it is not every day you have a monkey on you. These would be pictures of the monkey saying goodbye after a day at the Newark Naz. Kidzone event. Eventually you can find more pictures of this event at www.newarknaz.org

Today was baptism at church and thirteen people of very different backgrounds declared their faith in front of family and friends. It felt right and good. What feels even better is knowing that this evening part of the worship band is playing at Camp Echoing Hills and even better is the fact that a portion of our youth group is there for several days serving the needs of wheel chair bound young people. I am praying that they will be filled with compassion and a sense of gratitude. There seems to be a lot of complaining and grumbling around these days and there is nothing like a trip to the hospital or a funeral home or a camp like CEH to adjust ones attitude. Life is not all that bad so live each day with a God perspective. Learn to love Him and be grateful for these are the days He has made.

May you also someday get to hold a live monkey. (Or was the monkey holding me? Judge for yourself!)

Here is a quote from my good friend Aristotle:

"Young men have strong passions. . .They would rather do noble deeds than useful ones. . .They think they know everything and are always quite sure about it. This, in fact, is why they overdo everything.

Old men have lived many years: They often have been taken in. . .The result is that they are sure about nothing and under-do everything. They "think" but they never "know". . .they always add "possibly" or a "perhaps" . . . They guide their lives too much by considerations of what is useful and too little by what is noble. . . they lack confidence in the future for most things go wrong, or anyway worse than one expects."

So. . . we know that this is not always true across the board but it is a good reminder to lead with courage and not a faint heart. Safety is not the goal. Transformation is the goal.

Transformational leaders: Change the situation, change what can be talked about, change the rules, talk about goals, symbolize.

Power is the basic energy needed to initiate and sustain actions or to put is another way, the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it. Leadership is the wise use of this power.

Thanks for letting me talk to myself and remind myself of some key points.

Yours for random thoughts, wes

Summers are very interesting and feel very different than the rest of the year to me. Maybe it is because so many people from church travel in the summer. (Whoever started that necessity?) Maybe it is because my wife is home during the summer. Maybe it is because my daughter is out of school and my son in home from college. Maybe it is because we all tend to relax a little and enjoy more daylight. Maybe it is idea that mowing the grass and trimming things is important. Weeds live in the summer. Flowers have to be planted in the summer. Flowers have to be watered in the summer. Grills have to be fixed in the summer. Things have to be painted in the summer. Rooms are talked about in terms of "doing over."

Enough rambling. Good news for those of you who read but couldn't comment in the past. You should be able to now comment even if you are not a member of Blogger.com. Give it a try. I would like the feedback. Three cheers for Willy for being my almost one and only commenter.

Good Morning!

Happy Thursday.

I am too busy to write and besides that I have nothing significant to say.

I wonder if anyone misunderstood my words today? Sometimes speaking and leading a church can make one feel like they are running out of gas. Of course when there is a pump with "Humble Gasoline" you are never allowed to run out! Ha!

I know that God has given us a vision to follow as a church but sometimes when I am tired I wonder who will really step up and go with us. How is it that so many remain uninvolved? Can we really expand to new frontiers of ministry without a major commitment from more people?

I feel like I am running out of gas because I am anxious to see the improvements that are so necessary on our existing building. It will take more money than we have yet received so I guess I will trust God to touch some hearts and pocketbooks.

I am running out of gas because sometimes coming up with intelligent things to say that are meaningful and lifechanging for such a diverse crowd of people is almost more than I can do at times. I guess I will have to keep trusting God to give me messages and by the way I wish God would just email them on a weekly basis!

I guess I shouldn't write on Sunday afternoon! Here comes the summer ready or not.