This past week has been very hard for some friends of mine.  I can’t even begin to imagine what they are feeling and thinking right now. I’d probably be pretty ticked off, really sad, confused, wanting to cuss, scream, punch a wall, yell some more, question and then repeat it all again. This past week a friend from college and his wife lost all 6 of their babies in their 20th week of their term. Below is a copy of the blog post from their pastor and my friend Dustin. Please join me in praying for the Tippings and their family.  My prayer is that God will let them hear stories of how their faith through this changed someone’s life.  I pray for peace and the ability to sleep at night.  I pray for a huge impact on the Kingdom.  God please do something huge through this.  Please prove yourself faithful again through this tough time.  Allen and Courtney, you are in our prayers.

Here is what Dustin wrote. 

There have been very few times in my life that I have had the privilege of sitting on the front row of a concert or event. The few times I have though…I must say, it is AMAZING. From a distance it all seems fake and far off. From the front row you can see things play out, that unless you were sitting up close and personal you would never get the chance to experience and learn.

Over the last 9 days I have had the privilege of sitting on the front row of what has been the most amazing display of faith and trust I have ever seen. This week I watched as 2 of my best friends (Allen & Courtney Tipping) lost there 6 babies who were delivered preterm at 20 weeks. Now you may be thinking….How or why in the world would you call that a privilege? I think once you read what I saw from the front row…you will understand.

FROM THE FRONT ROW

FROM THE FRONT ROW…I heard Allen say over and over again…I love you Courtney. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I heard Courtney tell Allen over and over again…I love you Allen. FROM THE FRONT ROW…Courtney asked me to check on and take care of Allen. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw Allen massage Courtney’s feet. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw Allen taking a minute here and there to read the words of His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched Courtney ask visitors to simply read her scripture. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I heard Allen say, “I don’t understand God, but I trust Him.” FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched Courtney graciously thank Doctors and Nurses for helping her. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched Courtney take her hand from holding her tummy and point towards her heavenly Father and say, He is giving me strength. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched Allen kiss Courtney’s forehead over and over again. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I heard Courtney tell Allen that he needed to rest. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I would watch Allen and Courtney pray together. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw Allen molding into more and more of a man of God. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw Courtney’s love for Jesus grow. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched Courtney fight for her babies. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched as Allen didn’t sleep for 30 hours straight as he continued to rub Courtney’s forehead with a cold towel. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched as Allen took Blue Gatorade flavored ice chips and feed them to Courtney (Court loves blue Gatorade). FROM THE FRONT ROW…I watched Allen feed Courtney sweet potatoes. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw a couple trust God and His truth more than their own thoughts. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw a faith like I have never seen before. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I grew as a pastor because I saw what it really means to take care of someone. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I grew as a husband because I saw Allen serve His wife as Christ served the church. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw 2 parents love their children. FROM THE FRONT ROW…I saw God Glorified through Allen and Courtney and I am sure I will continue to see the name of Jesus lifted higher and higher through the lives of this amazing couple.

Allen…Courtney…. THANK YOU. You are both amazing and it is a blessing to get to walk through this life with you guys step by step. Renie and I both look forward to hanging out here on the front row as God continues to work in and through you. We get a unique perspective into your lives and I wish the world could see it as we see it…….because they would see an amazing picture of Jesus. It’s a privilege!

Yep, everything shut down in the upstate yesterday because of the snow storm.  I love it when you see a yard that has no prints on it, no foot paths and no evidence of a snowball fight.  Its a blanket of pure white.  The problem is with in a few hours you have a bunch of kids that have run all over it, built snowmen, had snowball fights and the ground is muddy and dirty. What was great is now gone.

Just a reminder that somethings in life that we love and are beautiful will not always be around.  Take advantage of them while there here.  Spend quality time with your spouse, take the kids out to dinner, invite the neighbors over, bring that friend you’ve been praying for to church.  Life is full of opportunities.  Take advantage of the ones God has given us.

The words of Paul are awesome in Ephesians, “Be very careful, then, how you live–not anwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…”

If you were at Catalyst in October you know the powerful chorus that Steve Fee led us in called Glory to God Forever.  Well, I’ve finally found a recording of it here and wanted to share it.  Btw, if you are a worship leader, the chords are on his site, here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8BZj4i8Auw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

I watched Schindler’s List this past week.

It was the first time I had seen the film.

It was disturbing.  I am glad that Spielberg made it though.

Here are a couple of thoughts I had:

1. There is no other way to explain evil like the Nazi’s murdering than sin.  Just like sex trafficking today, it is an evil I can not wrap my mind around.
2. Most of the Jews were in slavery by the Nazi’s for 5-6 years.  That was horrible in it self, but it put perspective on the Jews in Exodus who were slaves for 400 years.  Imagine the feeling of walking out of Egypt after 400 years!  I can’t read Exodus now without thinking of this movie.
3. The most powerful scene is at the end of the film when Oscar Schindler announces the war is over and at midnight-everyone will be free, except for him.  As he is leaving his factory he breaks down and cries that he could have saved so many more.  You see, he spent his fortune buying Jews from Nazi camps to work in his factory to save their lives.  He cries that he “wasted” so much money.  When he sees his car, he says he could have got 10 more people with its value.  He sees his gold pin and says he could have saved 2 more people.  He saved over 1100, but once he realized it was over, he looked back with regret. He say’s I didn’t do enough.  What a strong message for today.  Will I look back with regret that I could have done more?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPHvLtitxug&hl=en&fs=1]

A powerful movie to say the least.  To see evil and sin so obvious and to see suffering beyond imagination makes me want to scream for justice.  The same evil exists today and we have an obligation to stand up and fight it.  We must fight against child sex trafficking.  We must fight against religious persecutions in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.  These issues are too big to fight alone.  We must work together.  In the movie, Schindler approaches another factory owner and tries to convince him to “buy” more workers so they can save more lives.  This is what we must do today. We must come together.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing-Edmund Burke

Being an entrepreneur is fun…most of the time.  I get to be involved with a lot of cool stuff like Free Chains and World Causes, trying to end child sex trafficking and other injustices in the world. I get to work on projects that have eternal significance.  I get to read, study and learn about new ideas.  I get to meet with awesome leaders and mentors.  I get to preach the Word and challenge students to live in radical ways.  Its awesome.  But there are usually two parts to my day.

So, yesterday my day looked a little like this…got up around 6ish.  Spent some time studying, replied to a dozen emails.  Worked on some details for a speaking engagement for March.  Worked on the details for a website to be built for a new project we’re launching this year. Went to lunch with a friend and discussed some various topics. He’s a musician and we talked about his new CD, and maybe the chance to do a benefit show for Free Chains. (Go buy a CD would  you?) From there I went to a 2 hour meeting to talk about some strategic items for our ministry, the new project, and also a new business idea.  It was a great meeting.

That was the end of “Part 1″ of my day.  Part 2 is as follows…

I drive an hour to a little town called Six-Mile to sell an insurance policy to the sister of a long term client in her double wide.  Half way there my GPS loses signal because I’m in the middle of nowhere.  Very nice people I will say though.  They offered me the beverage of my choice and they also happen to be Clemson fans.  All in all, it took about 4 hours out of my day to make what I’m sure most of you make in 30 minutes, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do as they say.

I wonder if Paul liked building tents.  I bet he would rather have spent all his time preaching, but he couldn’t.   Sometimes I wonder if its for a “lack of faith” that I still drive out there.  I mean, “if God calls you, He’ll pay for it” right?  Isn’t that what we hear?  Couldn’t my time be used in more productive ways?  In those times I come back to Paul and realize that God obviously has a larger perspective than I do about “what I need to be doing” and “what I need to be learning.”  One thing I do know, I can talk with more authority now about trying to follow a God-given dream to those that are considering it or who are in the middle of it.

Maybe one day I can start to have a typical day for a social entreupeuner and ministry leader…or maybe I already do.

In an earlier post I talked about going and loving your spouse today.  How did you do that?

take out the trash?

write a note?

make dinner?

cut off the tv and talk?

My wife and I have been doing the Love Dare that was seen in the movie Fireproof. If you are not familiar with the book or the movie, I would suggest giving it a look.  The movie was a low budget film and in some parts it showed, but the message was powerful.  The Love Dare has been a great experience because it requires an intentional effort on each person to put into the marriage.  What we’ve found out is that having a great marriage does not come easy.  It takes a lot of focused effort over the long haul to become what you want it to.  It does not happen by luck, accident or mere coincidence. I’ve seen this in other areas of my life like getting back into shape.  Its hard.  It takes discipline.  Its so much easier to not be in shape than to be in shape and I think its the same for marriages.  But if all you do is pound burgers and coke, eventually your heart will stop beating.  The same is true in our marriages; if all we do is do what is easy and serve ourselves, our marriage will stop beating and die too.

The heart of the movie, the book, and our experience is that a marriage built around love and service is only accomplished with Christ in the center.  Only when we model our marriages after his example will we reach the relationship we desire.  It requires serving when we’re not appreciated.  It means loving when we’re not loved in return.  I am so blessed to have a wife that cares enough about our marriage and loves Jesus enough to love me when I’m not lovable.  To serve me even when I’m a jerk.  What I see in her is a living example of the Gospel. Here is a scene that says it better than me…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUNGW-KyKFk&hl=en&fs=1]

The point of something being fireproof is not that it will never be burned in a fire,  but that it will be able to make it through a fire when it comes.  Paul says it this way, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”

Husbands, go do something to show your wives you love her. And I don’t care what kind of mood she was in when you last saw her!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3b2jw1rjBc&hl=en&fs=1]