on your mark!

How many times have you heard of a huge successful business that started in someones garage? Or what about an athlete that's shattered all the records who thanks his mom for driving him to all the youth practices? If you asked the people involved in great success stories, I bet every one of them tell you of not only the rise to the top, but, also the humble beginning and the great failures they experience along the way.

What about you? When was your great goal achieved? Or, are you still waiting for your epoch moment?

We all have a beginning. The apostle Paul said, "run the race to win it!" But, that race begins somewhere, for me, my race began when I realized my attempts to find happiness had fallen short of the mark and that I would rather be dead than continue without God.

This new project, "Operation: Miami", is also one of humble beginnings, it's starting in my living room. Sure, we'll have some bumps and bruises along the way, but, imagine for a moment the great successes it can have. Imagine the generations of people that will be affected and will start their own beginnings with God. How awesome will it be if we do turn Miami up-side-down?
None of that can happen though if we don't do one thing: start the race.

Please help us out by praying for us often. We are in the race of our life and we need a cheering section. We also need team members and sponsors, please pray that God will provide enough of both.

wipeout

Miami Outrigger Canoeing Club

Okay, not sure where this came from, but, there is a Hawaiian style outrigger canoeing club on Key Biscayne, in Miami. I'm thinking maybe the older Hawaiian population has retired to Miami and the lack of waves on the Atlantic makes for easier rowing?



Hawaiian Outrigger Canoeing Club



You have to hand it to the Miamians though, they look just as intense as their Hawaiian counter parts!





Surfing is also popular in both Miami and Hawaii-

Surfing in Hawaii



Surfing in Miami

Also Rock climbing is popular in both Miami and Hawaii -




Rock Climbing in Miami



Rock Climbing in Hawaii

I now realize that Miami is going to suit me just fine and that Hawaii is a little out of my league!

everything

When I joined the army, fresh out of high school, I knew it would be a change in life style that would sometimes be a little uncomfortable. When I first arrived at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, the bus pulled up, the doors opened and the yelling began (and continued for weeks). The first thing we did was line up and march into a building that had a great big mural on it that said "you are about to become one of the best dressed soldiers in the world". We walked in and were instructed to strip. And strip we did. They took everything, my watch, my favorite t-shirt, my hair, everything.......yep even the 'ol tightie-whities.

Sometimes when we do something, we don't realize how much it's going to cost us until it's being ripped away from us.

In Matthew chapter 8, Jesus had finished up his sermon on the Mount of Olives and was getting ready to move on, in verses 18-22 it says:

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

To follow Jesus meant you have to give up everything, that your whole life will change from what it was and it may not seem like a great thing not having even a bed to sleep in, but, once again he is saying those who are not following him are dead ....... and those who do follow him have life.

Over 92% of the people in North Miami are not going to church. The whole reason we are going to Miami is to re-present Jesus to that 92% and to get as many of them to follow Jesus as we can so that they may have life.

Please pray that we will be very effective in reaching the people of Miami for Jesus. And if you feel like you want to help, please pray about joining the team. Or, pray about sponsoring us for the next couple years, every little bit will help us stay focused on those who need Life.

why we fight

Blog post by Wendy Kauffman:

Last week our oldest son, Jeremy, was at our house doing laundry, as he does about every week. It's funny because when he comes over he still manages to gain control of the t.v. from his younger brothers and sisters and it almost always ends up on the History channel or the Military channel.

This particular time it landed on the HBO mini series "Band of Brothers." If you have not seen "Band of Brothers", it's a series that chronicles the journey of American soldiers through Germany in World War II. It's a very realistic story of bravery and courage but also of the disappointment, doubt and dismay of the soldiers involved.

The particular episode they were watching was titled "Why we fight."

"Why we fight" depicts the first images of the Nazi concentration camps. The prisoners inside were either dead or as close to it as you come. Death was all around and the scene is quite moving and surreal. It was this moment that every soldier knew why he was there... why he fought.

He fought to bring liberation to the captives, redemption to those who had no hope, and life to those headed for certain death.

As we're getting ready for our move to Miami, to start a church for people that don't like church, there are days where my heart sinks in my chest, where I feel heaviness for what we are about to do. What we are asking others to join us in doing. I know there are times when we will doubt, when we will have disappointments and when we will feel like giving up.

Please pray that during those times we remember why we are there, why we fight, the reason why God has called us to love and serve this community. For the liberation of the captives, Hope for the hopeless, and a life in Christ in a dying world.

Also, please pray that we always remember that we can not and are not doing this alone!

frantic

As we draw ever closer to the day we will be leaving Missouri and moving to Miami, to start an outreach for the poor and a church for people that don't like church, our heads are starting to spin at how busy we are becoming. There are still a lot of things un-done and a lot of needs to be met.

 

During August, we are doing a big push to raise the funds necessary to not only get us to Miami, but to help us to settle there. Right now, we need help more than ever. Our financial need is a bit of a worry to us, please pray that our faith is strengthened every day.

 

Also please pray about helping support us. Starting a new church will be very hard financially. We do not expect to get a salary from the church for the first few years, until the church becomes self supporting through tithes and offerings. So, we are asking you, our friends and family to help support our family for the move, pre-launch and first couple years while the church is getting off the ground. Please help today, if you can. You can either click on the donate button below or email me for other details.

 

Also, if you would, please share the blog on your facebook wall, which will help draw more followers and get the word out about the awesome things God is doing in South Florida and the crazy things he has us doing there, like opening a cafe' to feed the homeless and starting a church for people that are very far from God.

 

You can really help us by praying for the following things:

• that our move will be smooth and without incident 
• that God will prepare the hearts of Miamians that we will be meeting 
• that we will find the perfect house quickly and that it will be big enough to host meetings, parties and a family of 7 
• that we will hear God's instruction every day 
• that we will get plugged into the community quickly 
• that God will provide all our needs while getting the church off the ground 
• that God will provide the perfect people to join the launch team 
• that we will be able to develop good relationships with the other churches in the area
• that thousands of people will be affected by Gods love and that we turn Miami up-side-down

life stinks

Upon occasion, bad things happen outside our control. It's true, sometimes life stinks and when life stinks, we loose faith in God and we ask why. Why did this happen to me? - Do you really love me God? - God do you really exist? Then the if only's start - if only I had talked to so and so before they died or if only I had prayed more or if only I would have worked harder, I wouldn't have lost my job. And then the guilt sets in and we think - this bad thing happened because I have not been reading my bible lately - or - I haven't gone to church - or - because I had bad thoughts about this person - or - this happened because of my sin - it's all my fault.

We all process bad things in various ways and often it's blaming others, God or ourselves or all three.

In John chapter 11, it tells about Lazereth, a friend of Jesus' that got sick and died. In verses 32-35 it says:

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept.

Even bad things happened in Jesus' life and in this instance Mary thought it best to blame Jesus for not being there when they needed him the most. However, the grief and pain she experienced was real AND the grief and pain Jesus experienced was real. He knows what it's like to be you. He knows we are living in a fallen and corrupt world and sometimes life stinks.

The thing is, Jesus cries with us, he hurts with us, he is beside us and in him we can be comforted knowing someday he will wipe away every tear and there will be no more sorrow and no more pain.

But, not yet.

judgment day

In 2004 an Iranian man proposed to a woman and the woman turned him down. He was so enraged at the rejection that he threw acid in her face, blinding and disfiguring her for life. After the process of law, in 2008 he was sentenced to submit to acid being poured into his eyes by the hand of the victim. Today, was judgment day. As he was on his knees with his face up, she was handed the acid and as she held it over his face, which must have seemed like an eternity to the man. She drew it back refusing to return evil for evil and proclaimed that she forgave him. Giving him back life as he knew it.

With Miami being the 4th rudest city in the U.S., it does not take a lot of imagination to realize there isn't a whole lot of love being spread around. This will probably be one of our biggest challenges, because it's hard to love people that are rude to you. You naturally want to see them fall flat on their face, get a bloody nose and bleed all over themselves right before they have to go into a big meeting or something. It just feels good to see people get what they deserve.

A lawyer asked Jesus how he could have eternal life and Jesus turned it right back on him and asked what the law said about it. (In Luke 10:27-28) He answered, "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself." "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

It seems Jesus is saying that Love is the essence of life. Without it, we are just walking around, dead in our own skins, but with Love, we truly live.

When we move to Miami to start a church for people that don't like church, we are going to teach them how to Love, so that they can begin to Live.

marginalized

In a very good article by Dan Kimball called "6 common perceptions of Christians" he writes:

"Alicia, a 24-year-old that I talked with at the local coffeehouse, made this observation: Church leaders seem to focus more on acting like businessmen, raising funds to build bigger buildings for their own organized religious corporations, than they do on taking the time to teach about social action for the poor and marginalized. I think Jesus would’ve cared more about raising money for the poor than building yet another mini-mall church."

I have to tell you this was the very reason I stayed away from church for many years and even after God brought me back into church, it's remained on mind. I think the church has marginalized the poor so much that now the world in turn has marginalized most of the church.

When we move to Miami, to start a church for people that don't like church, we want to break through the "fortress-church" mentality and go out into the world and heal the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the poor and set the captives free. One way we're going to do this is get involved right away with feeding the poor by volunteering with organizations that are already doing this. There are very few "soup kitchens" in Miami and they are spread far apart and not easy to get to. While volunteering, we can assess the need and find the best place to open a free cafe' for the poor.

self illumination

(Reuters) - South Korean scientists said on Wednesday they have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Yonhap news agency reported.

A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, the report said.

The researchers, who completed a two-year test, said the ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog's food.

I don't know about you, but, I want some! It definately has "best prank of the year" potential. However, if you were a ninja it would totally blow your cover.

ripped

A few years ago, when Wendy and I started a youth group from scratch in the Columbia Vineyard Church, our vision was to reach kids that were very far from God. It was very soon that we started getting kids that came from terrible home situations that were living in foster care. One particular kid, James, was our first outside the church kid to come in. He was an amazing kid that felt comfortable where ever he was. It wasn't long before he had us all by the heart. Within two months, he was moved into another home and was not able to come anymore. Our hearts broke.

We just couldn't understand how God could give us a kid like that and rip him out of our lives just as fast as he got there. It was then that God spoke, he said, "you have to love 'em while you got 'em". That phrase became our unwriten mission statement. You never know when the last time you are going to see someone is.

I've been reading in Colossians and was struck by something Paul said in Chapter 4, verse 5. It says:

"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time."

I love this! Not only does Paul imply that we will have interaction with non-believers and that we should be wise when we do, he goes further by saying walk towards them. In other words, be purposeful in going where the non-believers are and on top of that, use the time you have with them like you may not get another chance.

It's so important to not only search out the lost, but, love 'em while you got 'em, because they might be gone tomorrow, forever.

supply and demand

Just got back from a long weekend in Springfield, Missouri where Wendy was attending the Jordan Essentials yearly convention. I spent all of Friday and Saturday at the pool with the kids along with a few dozen other dads. One thing we found out is that there is only a handful of other Jordan Essential representatives in the state of Florida. This is a little scary for Wendy since she will be the only active rep in South Florida. She is pretty used to having good support locally from her up line. A convenience she will have to learn to do without. This will cause her to have to be very innovative in getting the word out about the superior skin care products that Jordan Essentials sells.

When you think about it, it's going to be the same story for starting a church in Miami for people that don't like church. We are going to have to be very innovative in getting the word out that we are there. It's kind of funny how we are going to be facing the same challenges in everything we do when we first get to Miami. I guess it will be a way to keep us focused on the mission.

Please pray that when we get to Miami that we will be able to tap into different groups of people and will be able to network. Where there is no network of people, please pray that God will help us be innovative in creating networks.

clay dough

I love the idea of recycling. Not for the usual reason of saving the environment or being a good steward of the earth, which is all okay. I like that we can take a resource like aluminum or plastic and use it to hold a beverage and then when the beverage is gone, use that same resource to make a park bench or an engine block.

I guess it goes back to my days of playing with a can of clay dough. You can make all kinds of different things with clay dough and when you're done, you stuff it back in the can and put it away for future use.

I like recycling because that's what God does. He takes old used up and broken people and sees the important resources they are and reshapes them and turns them into something new.

hope

I was talking to a Realtor that's looking for a house for us in the North Miami area. I made the statement that I was suprised there were so few churches in the area (42) and I asked her why she thought that was. Her reply was that people in the area are just not that interested. I was going to ask her why she thought so, but, before I could, she explained. She said, "I am one of Jahovah's Witnesses and I have noticed when we go out that people just don't want to hear it."

One of the great things about being a follower of Jesus is, there is hope, real hope. We have the greatest message there is, the message of reconciliation between God and man. The thing is, you don't have to be an awesome speaker or preacher to share this message. Anyone can do it!

One of the things I learned working with political campaigns is that you must have 3 points of contact to make a positive impact on a potential voter. Likewise, when we move to Miami to start a church for people that are just not that interested, we will be canvassing the neighborhoods with mailbox hangers, door mail and neighborhood events (like block parties), because I think everyone is interested in real hope.

counting beans

Interesting statistics -

Of the 2.2 million people living in Miami-Dade County, 160,000 (7.2%) live within a 4 mile radius of North Miami.

Of the 1080 churches located in Miami-Dade County, 42 (3.8%) are located within a 4 mile radius of North Miami.

The average church attendance in Miami-Dade County is 295 people per church.

A projected 12,390 (7.75%) people in North Miami attend church, leaving 147,610 (92.25%) people within a 4 mile radius of North Miami un-churched.

North Miami is the most un-churched area of Miami, why is this? Well, because most of the churches are out in the suburbs, leaving the vast inner-city population unreached. North Miami has the most need and is the area where we want to be located.

Please pray that God will provide a perfect location in North Miami and that we will be very successful in reaching the lost masses.

thrown

I went swimming with the kids the other day, who are all amazing swimmers, even though they have never had an official lesson. We never forced anyone of them into the water ever when they were little. We would dress them in their swim suits and take them to the pool and let them check it out with no pressure to get in the water. This sometimes left them on the side of the pool watching everyone have fun. Soon they were getting their feet wet by the steps, then they were jumping in up to their waists, then, usually by age 2, they were all over the pool (with floaties on their arms, of course).

So the other day, Ruthie, who just turned 9, said to me, "Daddy, I want someone to take me out to the deep end and throw me in!"

When we move to Miami to start a church for people who don't like church, we are not going to force anyone of them into the pool of Christianity. We'll prepare them and lead them to the water, but, it will be totally up to them how far and how fast they'll jump in. Once they do jump in and want to push into more dangerous waters, we'll be there with them. In fact we'll have open "next step" classes for them. One will be called "Going Deeper" and another with be called "Sub-Merge" were they can do just that.

How about you? Are you satisfied with sitting on the steps getting wet up to your waist? Or, do you want to jump in yelling "CANNON BALL!"

focus

Reading Ephesians 2 today which sets out the case of grace and faith vs. working and earning our way to heaven. So, the question arises, "should I try to avoid being perfect and not do any good works (as if that effort would be exhausting) having faith that Gods grace is sufficient? Paul answers that in previously read books - he says "God forbid!"


However, if we try to do "good" things to get in good graces with God, so he favors us and answers our prayers, then, we are simply trying to earn his love.


I believe we should allow God to change us. Eph 2:10 says, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."


We cannot change ourselves, we are who we are which is who God made us to be. When we look to God and simply love him back there is a super natural change that happens. Jesus said I only do what I see the Father doing. He did not do any "good works" without first being shown by the Father what to do. The key is that he was always watching the Father, talking to him, listening to him, waiting for him.


So, what about you? Are you focusing on being good or are you focusing on the father?

Testing, 1, 2, 3......

old junker

I had a friend, when I was 14 years old, who's dad bought him an old '41 Mercury coup that was sitting under a tree for at least 20 years. Most people would look at the old junker and have it hauled off to the junk yard. But, he saw something different. He saw what it could become. I would go over after school and on the weekends and helped him tear it down to the frame. Finally one day I asked him how long it would take to get it all finished and he said probably 3 or 4 years ...... After I heard that, my heart sunk. I was fully intending on cruising around in an awesome old car as soon as we turned 16.

I read Galatians 6 today and it touched on one of my favorite subjects - restoration. All to often when someone close to us trips up and falls, we are ready to write them off and move on with life. I think this is a sign that we have been hurt and don't want to be hurt again. However, it says in Galatians 6:1 "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently...." This has not been my way in the past and I can see now how my willingness to convict and condemn probably ended up hurting them more in the long run. I guess that's why the next sentence says "....But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted."

I think it's important to realize that not only will God forgive people that fall, but, we need to be willing to forgive them too. Otherwise, it may end up dampering the restoration process and that's exactly the opposite of what we're doing here. But, it takes time for restoration and it takes seeing the person as God sees that person. So, is there someone you need to be forgiving?  Maybe you should start that restoration process, it will probably take some time and some hard work, but, in the end it's probably gonna be beautiful.