I started my diet/weight loss plan last Tuesday, and 9 days later (as of this morning), I have lost 5 pounds and I don't think that it is just fluctuation! I'm pretty excited to see some success!  Basically, I have cut out fast foods, soft drinks, sugar (mostly), fried foods, most white bread, and I have added bran (I went from eating no breakfast most days to a bowl of Raisin Bran every morning), whole wheat, fiber rich bread, drinking only water and skim milk, and eating lots of grilled chicken and vegetables. I have also started exercising with weights and feel myself getting stronger. All in all, this is pretty cool! I am surprised to see such quick results.

The biggest thing that has happened, I think, is that I have activated my metabolism. It is working for me instead of against me. I am doing this by eating my raisin bran and working out in the mornings instead of after lunch. They say that if you get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast, and work out in the morning, you are far more likely to lose weight. I think that they are right.

I have become more aware of issues related to diet and health over the past week or so, so when I saw this headline, it peaked my curiosity: Obesity in America: Is Your State Overweight?  Launch the slide show to see how obesity has increased in America in the past 20 years. The most marked difference has occurred in the South.  As a Southern Baptist, where our churches are so predominant, it seems like that this should be something that we should address. Baptists, especially preachers, are known for being overweight and sloppy in their eating habits. I know that I have been, so I don't want to cast stones. But, it would be great if we started to encourage one another to begin to change our lifestyles. We would have more energy, be in better shape, and be able to do what God has called us to do much more effectively.

What do you think keeps us from addressing this issue? How can we address it in a sensitive, loving, yet effective way? How can we support those who are really trying and challenge those who are not? I am interested to hear your comments.

Over Labor Day Weekend, my family and I travelled to North Carolina to see my wife's sister and her husband. We had a great time visiting the North Carolina Apple Festival, camping in a cabin by a lake, seeing Asheville, hiking in the mountains just a little, and driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway. The kids did great and it was a beautiful trip. Here are a load of pictures because . . . well, just because. The first picture is of Caelan and me. I don't normally put pictures of myself up, but this one makes me look like I'm doing something productive, so I thought I'd treat everyone.

It has been a VERY busy couple of weeks. Apart from the normal and not so normal things going on at the church, we are also trying to sell our house and buy another. Potential purchasers have placed a contract on our house and we have a contract on another here in town. Please pray that everything work out. Of course, right when you are nearing the sale of your house, everything starts to break and there is so much to be done. If all goes well, we will be able to get a larger house for the six of us. When we moved into the house that we are currently in 7 years ago, it was just my wife and I and our 7 month old daughter. Our family has grown quite a bit since then and we are bumping into each other. The house we are trying to buy is an old house with a lot of character, hardwood floors, and high ceilings. It is pretty large and we are getting it for a really good price. Everyone in Montgomery wants new construction out east, and they pay for it. So, if you are willing to buy and older house in an older neighborhood, you can get some really good deals. I think that we are getting one.

Our internet at the house has been down the last several days, so I haven't blogged at all. I kind of hated that my last post up for over a week was about college football. That isn't very spiritual of me, I'm afraid! :)  But, since we are on topic, did you see LSU THROTTLE Virginia Tech, 48-7? I am a happy man. Geaux Tigers!

I am headed to India at the beginning of October, and if all goes well we will be moving around September 24. Busy time. I am also having to prepare teaching I will be doing there on a Christian perspective regarding development issues.  In addition, we have started a non-profit called Community Development Initiatives (website coming soon) that will enabling me to interface with business, government, and other churches (hopefully). Through this, I have been invited to teach leadership and character development courses for a government run trade school for students aged 16-24 years old. Now, if I can just get that curriculum written!

In lieu of anything meaningful or insightful from me, I want to direct your attention to a post that Joe Kennedy has put up where he quotes N.T. Wright regarding his perspective on the church. It is definitely worth reading and meditating on. Grace and Peace.

I finally get to watch sports again! College football returns with LSU taking on Mississippi St. tonight. I am a lifelong LSU fan that is also a graduate of Miss. St., so this game is always interesting for me. I always pull for LSU, because you just can't go against the team of your childhood. I cheer for State every other game, even though there is not much to get excited about usually.

Score prediction: LSU 38  Miss. St. 13

Anyway, LSU is ranked #2 in the country and have been picked by many to play for the National Championship. On the pro side, the New Orleans Saints are being picked by many to go to the Super Bowl. Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when both LSU and the Saints were on top. I hope it continues.

So, pull up a chair, grab the remote, say goodbye to your families, and enjoy the next four months of finally having something to watch on the weekends! Football is finally here!

Geaux Tigers!

Some guys in our church have decided to levy a challenge: Starting September 2, we are going to enter a contest to see who can be the biggest loser. You've probably seen that show on television. Well, we are going to make a pact for the next four months to change our lifestyle so that we can get in better shape, lose weight, and become healthier. We will hold each other accountable and encourage one another. Unfortunately, I really need to do this. I'm 33 years old, and the spare tire around the middle is starting to grow. I was always really skinny in high school and college, but those days are gone. With each passing year, I add another 5-10 pounds. If I don't start to reverse this, it won't be pretty in another 5 years. It already isn't pretty.

So, in the spirit of the gluttony resolution that was submitted to the SBC this year, we have decided to do something about it. I noticed a considerable weight gain last year when my son Caelan was diagnosed with cancer. I didn't understand it, but I just seemed to be piling it on. I was (and in many ways still am) under an enormous amount of stress. Well, according to an article that I read on MSN today, stress can be a major trigger for weight gain. Check it out HERE.  So, in addition to a healthy diet and regular exercise, I also need to get regular sleep and find a way to let things go instead of holding onto them so tightly. I can be a pretty intense person at times, and I think that is having an affect.

So, as another means of accountability, I will post here each month how much weight was actually lost. I pretty much have to do this or else suffer the consequences of public humiliation. That might seem like too much pressure for some, but I welcome it. I do not binge eat or snack during the day, so the biggest things for me will be to get regular exercise, get enough sleep, stay away from sweets and fast food, and do not eat late at night.  If I can do those things, I think that this will be successful. So, here we go!

Two years ago, my homeland was hit by the worst natural disaster to ever affect the U.S. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. I was born in New Orleans, as was all my family, and grew up just across the Mississippi state line in Picayune, about 45 miles northeast of New Orleans. Biloxi was 45 miles to the southeast. We were about 25 miles from the coast as the crow flies. Katrina came through and her eye passed right through my hometown, dumping 5 trees into my Dad's house. On September 2, I led a team of around 30 to Ocean Springs, MS, where we established and ran a Red Cross shelter. Some of our folks moved down there and have not come home. They continue to help people rebuild through a ministry that our church helped start called Pathfinder Mission. You can read all about the eleven days that changed my life in a series of posts that I wrote last year called Katrina Remembrances.

I have been home many times in the past two years. Things seem to be coming back, albeit slowly. People continue to struggle and the nation's attention has moved on. Of the billions and billions of dollars that were approved for rebuilding in that region, very little actually ever made it down there. Even less made it into the hands of homeowners. There was a lot of flash and many promises, but people have mostly been left to their own devices through whatever aid and insurance that they can piece together. The Church has helped tremendously and people have taken notice. I still grieve and I still pray. I hope that you remember as well.

Joe Kennedy invited me to join a group of bloggers and write about the spiritual disciplines. I told him that I would not be able to write on all of them, but I would pick out a few. Tuesday was the day that I was supposed to write on simplicity for our little collective, but I was too busy and my life was too complex. So, I thought that I'd wait until Wednesday, which is a much simpler day for me. As I was thinking about this topic, I thought that this would also make a great subject for my monthly article in our church's newsletter, so to simplify, I am using it there as well. A message of simplicity in life is needed for all of us at all times, it seems.

In thinking about the word "simplicity," I think about what it is by first thinking about what it is not. I find that modern life is really fast paced. Does anyone else agree? The world is full of complexity. We are bombarded with a gazillion images and advertisements a day. We are constantly preyed upon for our money, our energy, our time, and our devotion. We have hectic schedules, non-stop demands, and responsibilities that won't quit. Many of our marriages are filled with relational landmines instead of being safe places to grow, change, and enjoy life. We feel like we are never enough for the challenges that face us each day. So, we try a little harder, pull the mask down tighter, and hope that no one sees the real us, warts and all.

Is that an accurate picture of modern life? For many of us, it is. Unfortunately, we look to complex solutions to fix our complex problems. We follow steps, plans, and procedures, all designed to make us happier, wealthier, and more advanced. We grab hold of everything we can to ease the pain of living in a world where we get disappointed, hurt, and where we fail. We forget that we have a Savior. Jesus is here to save us from our sins and the power of this world every day. Do we look to Him for more than a ticket to heaven?

With Michael Vick's admission of guilt regarding involvement in a dog fighting ring today, I've been thinking a lot about the role of character in attaining success. No one would dispute that Mike Vick is a supremely talented quarterback, although he has had some trouble passing the ball. But, internally, his life was obviously a wreck. Jeff Gordon, for Fox Sports wrote an interesting article where he talks about how much money Vick has lost from his failures (around $100 million), and he also lists other atheletes who have made similar mistakes. Very talented, but no internal moral compass.

Starting in September, I'll be doing character training and leadership development with a facility here in town that helps train young people with job skills. It is a residential facility and it receives around 700 kids, ages 16-24, per year. They are asking me to to an intro course and then a 4 week exit course dealing with what these students will need, apart from their expertise in their field, to excel in life. Many of them come from difficult backgrounds and have not been given guidance the way that they should. Hopefully, in some small way, I'll be able to help. But, as I was thinking about the curriculum today, my thoughts turned to Mike Vick.

During his admission speech today, he claimed to have found Christ. I hope so. What he did was truly horrible. He tortured and killed dogs in a dog fighting ring. Of course he can be forgiven and can turn his life around, but he has already lost so much. So many of us engage in behavior that we think is no big deal, but we really do pay a price. We pay a price in that we do not become all that God intended us to be. We merely exist instead of step into the good works that He has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10). Even if we are not doing something REALLY bad or against the law, many people still live selfishly and arrogantly, as though there is no cost to sinful behavior. We are waiting for some type of price to be paid through external consequences, it seems. Sometimes, that happens. It is very painful when it does, But, whether or not external consequences are levied, it does not change the fact that we always pay consequences within ourselves by not walking with God or being what He planned for us. Sometimes the largest consequence is found when we look ourselves in the mirror and realize that we could have been and done so much more - that others were depending upon us and we let them down.

Character does matter. But, a selfish life is also a wasted life.  It seems that Michael Vick is learning that lesson the hard way. I pray that the rest of us, myself included take heed.

So says Eugene Peterson as quoted by Michael Spencer from Peterson's book, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity.  This perspective is important not just for pastors, but also for Christians who are serious about what their relationship to their church and the Lord should look like. I have heard people who come to our church of around 200-250 people say, "I love the preaching, teaching, worship, fellowship, and sense of spirituality and focus on Christ that you have here. My children made friends and we love their Sunday School teacher. We have made friends and have never been in such a warm, loving spiritual environment where the Bible is taught and people take their relationship with God seriously. We just don't know if we can be in a church this small>. We are used to really large churches with a lot more options and activities." Seriously. I have heard people, who see themselves as mature Christians say this very thing. There are times when it can be legitimate (if it involves an issue with a child or a special needs situation), but often it belies a desire for entertainment and trendiness over a desire for spiritual growth. Years ago, I once heard someone say, after they had left a smaller church for a large mega church, that they were so happy that they could now just show up at church and not have to do anything. Everything was already done for them and they could just sit back and receive! They had been Christians for years, and this was their perspective! They judge by the outside appearance and, as pastors, many of us seem to encourage this and try and build upon it to attract people like this for reasons unknown to me, unless it is for their money and to "grow our church." It is very disheartening. So, with that as a background, perhaps that is part of the reason why Peterson picks up on this crisis in pastoral leadership. His words were very convicting for me as well:

Here's a couple more photos of New Orleans in the early morning from a few weeks ago. The first is of the sunrise on Lake Ponchatrain at the seawall. When I was a kid, we lived about 8 blocks from Lake Ponchatrain and my Papaw and Father used to take their aluminum boat and go fishing and crabbing out on the lake. I remember going to the lake many times. We were always surrounded by water. The second picture is just a side view of St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter as the rising sun is hitting it. Both pictures were taken SO early in the morning, so the light wasn't great, but I like the shadows and the light breaking upon the dark. By the way, in case you haven't noticed, I added several photo albums in my right sidebar. You can check out some of my favorite pictures in one place now. Eventually, I'll get a flickr account or something.