While I was growing up, I would read the box scores of the previous day’s professional baseball games.  I would see who had good games and who was entering a slump.  I came across a rookie that was having an incredible year for the Minnesota Twins.  I followed every game and tracked how he was doing in the overall stats.  Kirby Puckett went on to have a great rookie season and subsequent seasons.  That year, he and the MN Twins gained a fan for life.  I followed Kirby’s career until the very end.  I had pictures of him on my wall.  I kept magazines where he had graced the front cover.  I would watch him play on TV whenever I could.  When I graduated college and moved to MN, I went to see him play in person.  I was more than a fan.  I knew every detail about him. 

 So much so, that when I played high school baseball, my coach was upset because I had a front leg kick that was unconventional.  Guess who else had an unconventional leg kick?  Kirby Puckett.  My coach thought that I doing it just to be like Kirby.  I had gotten to the point where I was even mimicking his flaws! 

Without even knowing it…I had become a “disciple” of Kirby Puckett.  I was learning everything he did and said.  I clung to every word and baseball technique he taught. 

Matthew 9:9 describes Jesus calling out to Matthew.. “As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”

This one verse discusses the first step of becoming a follower of Jesus.  You must first answer the call.  Jesus went into the most unusual place to find a follower…into the booth of a tax collector.  This made some people raise an eyebrow since tax collectors were liars, cheaters, and scoundrals.  Yet Jesus called out to Matthew despite knowing full well that Matthew did not meet the profile of a believer, yet.  Jesus called on people to follow him.  To become a disciple.  That is cling to every word and deed of Jesus.  Learn from every single aspect of His life until you emulate everything Jesus did.  Everything.  Matthew did not begin following that day because he was perfect.  He followed Jesus that day because he was a sinner in the need of a Savior.  He responded out of obedience.  Did you notice that Matthew did not ask a bunch of questions.  He didn’t say “I will need to think about it”.  He didn’t say I will need to sell everything slowly to get the best price…he simply got up and followed.  What did he do after he followed?  Matthew was with Jesus every moment he could be.  He was present for healings, baptisms, teachings, and miracles.  Jesus poured his life into all his disciples…Matthew included.

Here is the lesson for today:  Jesus is calling you to be a disciple.  To learn from his teaching…to discuss the different aspects of your life.  You are to emulate him every way you can.  

One of the magazines that I love to read is Fast Company.  This magazine focuses on ingenuity and creativeness in business.  It is a secular magazine that has some great articles.  It is a source to challenge people and demonstrate how to be creative in the marketplace.  I first began reading their articles when I was in business; now that I am in the ministry, I find them even more intriguing.  I like to challenge myself and try apply some of the lessons learned within a church setting. 

In the July/August (2011) edition, There is an article written by Ellen McGirt entitled "Can This Man Save This Girl?".  "The Man" in the title is referring to Matt Damon.  Matt is a well known actor and philanthropist.  I am generally skeptical of actors turned philanthropists!  But, I think Matt is a very bright man and seems to have a good head on his shoulders.  He helped create an entity called Water.org.  The article was discussing their mission of bringing water to third world countries.

Here is an intriguing paragraph:  "In the '80s and '90s, the approach was really supply-driven-'We are here to give you your water project.'" he says.  Dig a well , put up a plaque, take a picture, and scram,"  "People were designing projects for people, not with them."  White came to understand that community engagement (a term rendered almost meaningless by politicians, major brands, and social networking companies) is a life-or-death strategy in the developing world.  "There needs to be a water committee.  At least 80% of the community needs to sign up and raise money for the project, participate in its construction and upkeep," he says.  That's how a project turns from top-down charity to a bottom-up sustainability.  This led him to an important insight - an "orthogonal insight," his geeky term for the kind of thinking in which forces that appear unrelated or irrelevant help solve a problem in an unexpected way. (79-80)"

I have a couple of thoughts on this article and paragraph:
First, this paragraph is spot on true.  We need to teach people how to have ownership and give them the opportunity to participate in the solving of their problems so that in the future they may do it for themselves.  The old way of showing up with a solution would eventually fizzle out after the press left because the people weren't taught how to take care of it.  They had no ownership.  But, when they have to purchase it and put labor into it, they not only feel the satisfaction of accomplishment, they also begin to understand that they don't simply need handouts.

Also,I also like the idea of an "orthogonal" thought.: An insight where "forces that appear unrelated or irrelevant help solve a problem in an unexpected way".    In business and church, we must think creatively enough to take different approaches to problems.  Sometimes it will be unconventional and strange, but will solve the problem way more efficiently!

And remember that God is the original author of the orthogonal insight!  And ultimately Jesus was THE solution to the problem of sin.  Previously God utilized the sacrificial system to highlight sin, but never remove it.  So, when Jesus came and erased our sin, God revealed his grace and mercy on a grand scale!

Summer has come and gone.  I am always amazed at how my boys continue to grow in all aspects of their life.  Many districts have officially started, but Cardinal isn't starting until Thursday.  This time of year always takes me back to a small tradition in my neighborhood growing up...we had a neighbor, Lucy, a widow that lived alone.  She would sit out on her front porch and watch us kids play.  We would end up on her front stoop swinging on her porch swing, sitting on her old milk box, or in her rocking chair.  She would teach us the simple things in life.  She taught me how to braid.  She taught me how to make a whistle sound come out of a piece of grass.  Oh, the games of Chinese checkers too!  She was part cheerleader and part counselor...she would listen and reluctantly give her two cents worth.  Each school year brought excitement and one of the traditions were the kids in our neighborhood would get off the school bus and race to Lucy's house.  She would measure our height on her old white hutch and then give us a whole candy bar!  Lucy has passed on now, but I will never forget how simply she gave back.

God equips those that are faithful.  Sometimes we think that we can't do much, but all Lucy did was be available and use what little resources she could to bless little Clark and Reighard kids that made up our neighborhood in Richland!  If she can do it, so can you!

I am excited to be starting a blog!  Everytime I have contemplated it, I have talked myself out of it!  But, the time has come that I will whittle time away to make room to write a blurb, I mean a blog, each week!