I had breakfast this morning with my best friend, Corey Mann, and it had been way to long. . . .

slightly confused

something came up that has recently been on my heart . . . .  so . . . asking permission to speak freely. . . . . . I assume you just gave it to me . . . . . . we’re friends now right? . . . .

1.  Why do we have an obsession with black and white?  No, I’m not talking about a racial issue here (that will be some other post). No, what I’m talking about is our incessant need to have black and white answers for things. . . . . . and then. . . . once we have such a clear “for sure” answer. . . . . . we move on assuming that there is nothing more about that topic that needs discussion. . . . . that there is no need to waste time or energy learning more about an issue that has already been “decided“, as if COMING TO A CONCLUSION AND THEN VOICING THAT AS LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE IS THE ONLY REASON FOR LEARNING ABOUT ON ISSUE. . . maybe,. . . . . .just MAYBE,  WE SHOULD LEARN ABOUT THINGS SO THAT WE CAN LISTEN and LOVE BETTER ——Let me voice why, I think, missing this principle - is really wounding the church right now——- 

      One example is . .  . . . Abortion is wrong, absolutely wrong, always. . . . always.  So, the issue that I am talking about is NOT whether or not you think this statement is true, but rather. . . . so what?. . . .  - unfortunately, for many christians. . . . we often think – “well, there you have it – no need to learn more about this issue, the technicalities or anything – all we have to do is just repeat over and over and over how bad abortion is. . . that will just convince everyone” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Let me ask something. . . . which one does God’s heart break more for?  – the aborted baby (who I believe is now in heaven), or. . . . the mother who aborted the baby?. . . . . . . . you obviously no my opinion. . . . and how does our black/white, don’t think about it anymore, don’t listen to the other side stance come across to these mothers?. . . . . .

I have heard countless stories of mothers who have aborted children who will stay as far away from Christians and churches as possible b/c of the pure hatred they feel raining down on them in the presence of Christians. . . . A Christian may say – Yeah, abortion is totally wrong. . . period. . .  – and the mother is thinking . . . . .  wow, ok. . . obviously they think I’m an idiot – you think it is so simple – do you understand the struggles and agony that I went through when trying to decide. . . . the lack of support from family and friends. . . the father. . . . money . . and the church. . . I couldn’t even process this with Christians b/c the minute I said . . . “this is tough, I am having trouble with  keeping this baby “- they condemened me, by closing their ears to my struggle, trying only to persuade. . . even years later. . . . seriously. . . . even years later. . . as if I have not heard that before. . . they pierce me with their unsympathetic eyes. . . . so deep. . . . so painful  - – - do you have any idea that all I want is to be loved and not labelled?, . . . someone to listen to me and not to lecture me? . . . someone to care about me, and not just my mistakes? . . . everytime you say those things “so matter of fact” - it makes me feel worse and worse, dumber and dumber – more and more worthless, . . . Just because I made a mistake – doesn’t mean I am one. . . right. . . . . right? . . . or does it. . . . that is all I feel from you people – no love – no acceptance – no forgiveness – just condemnation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . it is about here that my heart breaks . . . . completely breaks. . . . . . . . . I just hate it when our actions feed into the enemy’s plan for destroying the human soul. . . . shame, guilt, condemnation, worthlessness, hopelessness. . . . the enemy can use all of them so well. . . . . . . .

I know most people don’t even mean to do this – they are just sharing a belief. . . . I just think we can do better. . . what if these mothers heard the message of our love for them long before they heard our disapproval of their actions. . . . they’re not going to come to us for love. . . . we must go to them. . .

 I AM NOT SAYING WE CHANGE OUR BELIEFS, BUT WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR EXPRESSION OF THEM. . . . . . . . b/c we may be changing some governmental policies, BUT WE’RE LOSING SOULS!. . . . . . . and that just really makes me mad. . . . because I want everyone to come home!. . . . and you know what. . . if these mother’s are not feeling that. . . . IT IS . . . OUR FAULT. . . . . . . I know we can do better church. . . . . let’s show love first. . . . .

Every now and then I get emails from a student wanting to show a youtube video of this or that. . . . a lot of the time they are just funny, or silly, etc….., but I was surprised to find this one the other day from one of my freshman. . . . for a moment I had forgotten the era that I was in. . . I was not a huge fan of this show, but I watched every now and then, and this is something that I needed to see and hear today

A long time ago I watched this really good episode on Touched by an Angel, I’m sure you remember the show.  Well I found the ending to it and it is a really touching story.  The episode is about this little boy named Petey that finds out that he has cystic fibrosis and has only a short time to live.  Petey told his parents that he wants to die at home, and that he also made a list of things to do before he dies. His items include:

Learn to play the piano,  find a home for Fluffy (his pet iguana), find someone to sing with Mom,  find someone to shovel the snow.   Celine Dion tells Petey and his mom that she will sing a song for Petey.  Peteys mom finished writing the song and told Petey to cross it off the list. 

There were two items on the list.  The second to last was that he wanted a flag put up that said Petey Lives Here.  There was only one item left on the list then, Go to Heaven.  This video shows the last part of the episode when Petey dies and they cross off the last item on the list for him.  I knew you were into youtube videos and such so i thought you would be interested in this one because it had a really powerful story and it was really touching how all Petey’s neighbors gathered at his house to sing the song to him before God took him to heaven…

This just reminded me. . . . . . . . anything on my childhood list of dreams that I have not gotten to yet?. . . . why not?. . . . . . . . what am I waiting for?. . . . Maybe it can’t happen tomorrow or the next day, but maybe I should re-open the dreams God placed on me when I was little. . . .

Amazing! So, myself and about 8 others headed off to Little India, Chicago on Saturday morning – it was pretty much an all day trip. We arrived at a place called the friendship house:

Friendship center

Here, we were welcomed with a hot cup of Chai tea, which I am picking up that in India, they have this about every 1.5 hours. . . . random knowledge moment. . . here it goes – in order for India to all be on the same time zone (which is something the government wanted) they actually are 10.5 hours ahead of us!

Ok – back to the good stuff. . . we met with Mark for about an hour, where he shared some of the work that the Friendship center does there amidst the Hindu and Muslim culture (i.e., ESL, tutoring, host cricket TV times, bookstore, etc…) – fascinating stuff!

Then we met Suunita (sp?). . . . . . . . . wow!. . . . tough to describe this litte power-packed-5′1″ – 60 year old. . . . . except for – she spoke with a true sense of humility, gratitude, wisdom, and authority. . . one of those people I could have listened to for hours!! (Reminded me a lot of my Grandmother – Ferne Baldwin). She spoke of some of her past in India, with an emphasis on helping understand more of Hindu culture and the religion itself – very helpful. I really felt the presence of the holy spirit with her. . . .seriously. . . she was amazing – constantly addressing differences between us, and simultaneously passionately expressing our underlying similarities as human beings!. . .  Here she is (I squatted down a bit   ).

Suunita (sp?)

After both presentations, we went out onto Devon (sp?) street, and ate lunch at the Indian Garden . . . . The best way I can describe the cuisine is. . . . there was a lot going on in my mouth! – spicy – but not in a really “hot” way, just. . . . well. . . there was a lot going on inside of my mouth   and it was good!

my plate

 

and remember – no using utensils , and no using your left hand!! I feel like I can now rival my 18 month old on eating with my hands!

 

As we walked around during the rest of the afternoon – we really got a beginner’s sense of what Indian culture will be like, it was a great way to bond with each other and become prepared for what is to come. . . . . . . . . God is awesome!

 

 

I really got a lot out of Chapel Friday. A man by the name of Tim Elmore came to talk to all of us about leadership. . . . now I love leadership issues, so I was all in. . . here are some of the highlights:

1. There are Habitual leaders – those that are naturally gifted to lead at almost anytime, and there are Situational leaders - that’s the rest of us – who can lead when a situation matches our gifts, abilities, and passion

2. Leadership is NOT a position. . . . . it is a disposition – seeing things differently and then going first in that direction

3. We all need to create a LIFE SENTENCE – that is, . . . . 20 years after you and I are dead, there is going to be some people sitting around a table talking, and one will ask who was that Ted Bryant guy?  And someone else at the table will say oh, he was the one that ___________________ . And there you have it. . . . . . . we all will be summed up in one sentence some day. . . what will my life sentence be?. . . . don’t wait. . .  figure out what you want that sentence to be. . . and then fulfill that work in your life!

4. Esther was amazing! – young (14), in a foreign land (captured by the persians), and female, . . . . . . . oh, and with God’s help, she single handedly saved all of the Jews in the world. . . . ummm. . . I guess that’ll do!

5. There are four things we can learn about taking risks from Esther ch. 4:

      a. If I don’t step out and take a risk – my fate will not differ from the rest of the crowd

      b. If I don’t step out and take a risk – God will bless someone else who will

      c. If I don’t step out and take a risk - I may lose more than an opportunity

      d. If I don’t step out and take a risk – I could miss my God-given mission and work in my life

 6. Attendance is NOT faithfulness

 Go and watch this 2 minute video and be inspired – VIDEO HERE

So, I am just geting done teaching my class ~ feeling pretty good about – we had a lot of fun. . . as always ~ when I go to the water fountain to get some water. Just then a Bob (a colleague) says to me “hey just saw your wife and kids. . . like 15 minutes ago” . . . . WHAT!! . . . I was a little bummed, because I thought for sure that she would remember that I teach from 11-noon .  So, I moped back to my office only to find this on my door:

My heart started to melt. . . . then I went inside to find this on my wall:

and the topper was this on my desk. . . my favorite!!

She knows I love surprises . . . . . of course she knew I was teaching. . . . . . man! . . . . she is soooo good! I called home and Elliana and Kya talked my ear off about how they were in “stealth mode” . . . lol. . . . I love it!!! Thank you God. . . . I am a very grateful for the woman you have allowed me to partner with in this adventure. . . I will do my best to the husband you have called me to be!

Can you believe this has almost 5 million hits. . . . I love the muppets. . . my brother-in-law reminded me of this the other day – ha!!! Let’s the start the day off with some Mahna Mahna

I know that I feel pressure sometimes. . . pressure in most areas of my life – like many of you. In fact, I actually thrive on pressure, but I never want pressure from others (peers, girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, authority, parents, friends, teachers, coaches, boss) to DETERMINE who and what I become. . . . I can only trust Jesus for that. . .

Dr. Bob Laurent spoke last night about Satan’s temptations in the desert to Jesus in a new way from the perspective of whom Jesus wanted to become. . .

#1  - Stone to Bread: This was a temptation to be the People’s Messiah - because such a miracle would convince people that He was the Christ – it would fulfill their expectations.

#2  – Jumping from the Temple: This was a temptation to be the Torah’s Messiah – fulfilling scriptures to the point where the religious leaders would believe that He was the Christ – it would fulfill their expectations.

#3  – Authority over Kingdoms of the Earth: This was a temptation to be the Kingly Messiah - that could wield power and authority and control. . . . so that all would obey His expectations of them.

So, why did He turn all of these down?  Because He wanted only to fulfill the expectations of his Father. . . . He became the Suffering Messiah. . . . . not so much concerned with obedience or the expectations of people or religious leaders, but focusing on eliciting love, which can only happen. . . . . by loving. . . which takes passion. . . . which takes being connected to suffering. . . and yes, . . . that was his CHOICE. . . . remember –

You see, . . . for Jesus to save others, he couldn’t save Himself. . . . . the same truth can be found in our lives. . . . . for you to save your marriage, you can’t save yourself. . . . for you to save your family, you can’t save yourself. . . . for you to save your friends, you can’t save yourself. . . . . . . . . . . we can’t have it both ways. . . . . what we want . . . . and what someone else needs. . . . this is the essence of submission and servanthood. . . . . . this is the essence of Christ

so, things/desires/selfishness in our lives that come from pressures in this world to be this or that. . . let’s choose the radical way. . . let’s die to self. . . . . . . . . . . seriously. . . . . .and watch what happens!

This post was suggested and dedicated to my wife, the mother of my children. . . . and too often – the invisible woman. . . I am so proud of her, and I am so honored to be her husband!

Go and build!

I was flipping through my bible again this morning in my quiet time, and I thought I would share a second dose of some things I have jotted down (Earlier post on 9/17), this time from the book of Joshua:

- God is interested more in growing children then us getting somewhere fast. . . that is why we wait on Him

- Joshua = Hebrew name for Jesus

- The walls of Jericho were 80 feet tall. . . that’s a big wall. . . what insurmountable wall in my life needs to come down?

- We don’t risk/be patient/commit because we fear that God will be unfaithful

- How many days into God’s plan do I usually give up? . . . would I have made the full 7 days marching aroung Jericho

- 22:5. . . Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, be faithful to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul

- 24:22 “You are accountable for this decision,” Joshua said. “You have chosen to serve the LORD.”

I encourage you, my brothers and sisters, to march on in the plans that God has set before you in your life – break down the walls that this world has set against the love of Christ!

Introducing the ham in our family tonight. . .Dakota Alan Bryant. . .say CHEESE

Two of my colleagues here at Bethel have recently passed on. . . . One in particular that I knew fairly well. Though I am not grieving like her family, it is strange not seeing her around, and I miss the example of love, strength, and humility that she came to embody. I am posting this video in the honor of those who have lost someone close to them recently:

All of the individuals who will be going to India this Decemeber met last night with Raj. Now, I mentioned a little bit about Raj in my last post, but overall, this meeting was for him to lay out some more details about what each of the teams (tech, water, construction, justice) will be doing and where they will be located. I can’t bring you the whole meeting, so I thought I would give you the top ten highlights for me last night:

10. Sitting next to my Father-in-law, Ron Twedt, realizing that we are going to be doing this together!

9. Getting excited about going to Little India on Saturday to dive in the culture.

8. So excited to get more details on the two villages that we will be ministering too, Karai (10,000 people with the closest well 1.5 miles away – we will be ministering to some of the prostitutes here) and Vellavedu (here are the brick kilns where the bonded slaves are starting at ~3 years old, around 5,000 kilns each with 50-100 people in them).

7. There are 28 states in India (compared to our 50), Tamil Nadu is one of those states, and has 30 districts. . . . last year in just 1 of those districts there were 1,000 baby girls killed right after birth. . . infantcide. . . . you do the math

6.  There are around 4,600 levels in there cast system. . . . that is, . . . the level of worth of someone, Raj told a story of when his shadow crossed over someone of high cast, . . . . . he was severely beaten that day. . .

5.  The fact that we as white people. . . . . are actually above the cast system – somewhere between human and divinity. . . . . nothing like the humility of undeserved deity status.

4. So what do you do in your country to reach the lost?  Well, I said, here at GCC we use culturally relevant media to connect with those outside the church, and we have small groups, and lots of service opportunities. . . what about you? Well, we raise the dead, heal the sick, and cast out the demons. . . . . Yeah, I guess that will work too!

3. The opportunity I may have to eat BBQ rat! — because their field rats are the size of our cats!@!! and they eat them!

2. They will not risk their life by becoming a Christian because of what you teach them, but because of how you treat.

1. Hearing Raj pray in Tamil, and feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit. . . . . I am completely confident that God is going to show up through these teams in a HUGE way!!!!

So, yesterday was a day of 2 picnics. . . the first being of Elliana’s Montessori class at Bendix Woods County Park (over by New Carlisle). She started Countryside Montessori in August and ABSOLUTELY loves it!!! As you can see from the pictures – we had a hay ride (where she got to play in the straw with one of her friends – Jo jo), a cook-out and play time at one of the playgrounds – good times:

The second picnic was to celebrate Raj , who is GCC’s guru pastor in India – overseeing all of GCC’s mission work in India. You see. . . . I am going to India on a short term mission trip this Christmas with the “Justice Team” ~~ parner with International Justice Mission in their fight against bonded slave labor and forced prostitution ~~. There are several other teams going from GCC including Media, Water, Construction, and Vehicle Maintenance teams. So, we all got together to celebrate what has been done over in India already and what wonderful things are to come. . . . . India is dealing with some genocide issues right now, so keep them in your prayers. . .

Finally. . . . . I love meeting the friends of my kids – - they spend all of this time with other kids at Church and school, and then we finally get to meet them every now and then. This in one such case. . . . . . Elliana is friends with Belle Wegner – Rob and Michelle’s youngest. . . because they play all the time at church together, but we have never gone over to their place, and they have never come over to ours – but here are the two cuties having a deep discussion about something. . . .they were holding hands earlier, but I didn’t have my camera ready!!!

I ran across this video earlier today and wanted to show you guys. It’s from Vimeo, which, I am sure alot of you already know. . . is like youtube. . . but the videos can be bigger, longer, and of better quality -

Too much candy from Capucha on Vimeo.

What comes to your mind first??

How cute this is? Yeah – me too, especially because I have kids that have attempted some of this

You know what came next in my mind though . . . .

How I may be doing this hiding in my own life?. . . Yes, it is very cute – don’t get me wrong, but I am just letting you in on where my mind went next. . . . . . . . . .  we ALL have the ability to hide things from others, and we become very good. . . . . ok. . . . unbelievably good at getting rid of incriminating evidence. . . . . . . . Can I just say one thing. . . . . . . are we tired yet??!. . . . I AM. . . . what’s the point, we’re just hurting ourselves!. . . . let’s let it go today. . . . . . . .  I know that it makes little to no sense at all, . . . . but. . . . . . . God’s love doesn’t care about our baggage, . . . . . . seriously. . . . I think He’s just waiting and hoping for us to hand it over to Him, so that we can get onto our FLIGHT. . . . . . Here you go God, . . . . . I give _______________________ to you today, . . . . . I’m ready to get back on board. . . .Thank you. . .

You guys have already heard me talk a lot about my block class. . . because I really do care so much for my students. . . .

. . . . and I get to have a lot of fun!

Yesterday, I saw the first real signs of the transition from High school to College. . . you know. . . . when the students start saying things like “man, why did we do all of the stupid stuff in high school. . . . who cares what other people think!” – I love this part, because they are beginning to realize their place in the adult world – as they are. . . . not what their friends think they should be. . . . but their own man or woman. . .

Anyways, they had their first speech yesterday in Speech class (the other half of block), and it was on  wisdom they had gained thus far in life. . . . . so, I wanted to share just some tidbits of their wisdom

God taught me how to love, and not judge others through the stinging pain of insults and judgements that others rained down on me

wisdom is not just knowing you are gifted, but knowing how to use your gift for good

wisdom does not just happen overnight – it takes proper trainging, time, and the ability to learn from mistakes

I knew what I wanted to do, but didn’t know the steps. . . . . but I believed that Bethel could get me there

I had always been a Christian as long as I could remember. . . . or so I thought. . . . until I felt loved and accepted for the first time

wisdom is the ability to see the big picture of the present and future, but also the past. . . looking back and seeing God’s hand move

worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of sorrow, but it empties today of strength

which do you have. . . . reasons or excuses?

Praise God. . . . today was just another reason why I love my job:

8:00-8:30 – got to have my quiet time at work

8:30-9:00 – prep for class

9-10 – Lifespan Development class

10 – 10:01 – Got to introduce my good friend Seth Maust at Chapel for 5-star afterschool program – amazing!!!

10:20 – Drove 2 minutes to Gates Chevrolet to meet up with a guy, from Berrien Springs – happen to be coming Mishawaka today to get his car fixed!, who is selling me his King size bed frame for $25 – yeah, I search Craig’s list last night! Thank you God and Craig’s list (like a perpetual garage sale!!)

11-noon – General Psychology class – amazing students, great youtube videos of cochlear implants

noon-1:00 – lunch and got to discuss some things with colleagues

1-2:15 – had flag football practice, yes you read correctly. . . faculty ARE allowed to play in intramurals – of course, our first game is Thurs. at 10:40 pm – - way past my bedtime!

2:30-3:15 – had a meeting with my TA about life after Bethel, and the research she has been doing as we try and figure out how to start up my non-for-profit organization

3:20-3:30 – talked to my wife, who has been feeling very ill lately   – we thought we were through with the first trimester

3:30-4 – met with one of my mentee’s Jim Ralstin. . . . . amazing man of God – one of the most mature servant hearts I have ever seen at his age

4-4:20 – met with my new mentee and friend Cam Brundage. . . He is a young man who really wants to chase God with all of his heart – I am honored to be a part of helping him on the journey

4:21 – home to help my wife get over to Bethel on time to teach her night class and also get the kids fed and ready for Journey classes at GCC. . . . that is, until my son threw up. . . .early bedtime then. . .

I went to a memorial celebration of colleague yesterday, Dr. Liz Hossler, and it was very well done – I was able to grieve joyfully at her life and influence over the years. . . . What an amazing woman of God! One of the things done in the ceremony was to read some of the notes that she had jotted down in the margins of her bible. . . . . so, I thought it would be a good time to review my own notes today. . .

Here are just a few thoughts that I have jotted down over the years. . . . most of them I have heard from other people – whose names I did NOT jot down -

1. Whatever you want people to become. . . . you become first!

2. Only strong character can sustain large ministry

3. God gave us a guide, NOT a map

4. A commitment to the Father is a commitment to The Family

5. God uses crisis to grow us

6. Go beyond being challenged. . . . . . be changed

7. We all want to be accepted, and yet we reject everyone else

8. Within two years of becoming a christian most teens no longer have “non-christian” friends – - seems to be dangerously missing the point.

9.To effectively reach culture. . . . you can’t hide from it

10. What am I going to do. . . . . . to make space for God’s WONDER  in my life?

Thanks God for your constant reminders

I needed this today:

Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. . . . . . . . . (Rick Warren, Purpose Driven LIfe)

God already knows He can use you and me, . . . . . we just have to believe it ourself. . . . . . . . . let’s not hide in the excuses of our inadequacies. . . . instead let’s marvel about how God enables us to join that list in bringing up there, down here!   Seriously, . . . . it is soooooo not about what we can do. . . . . . God made the universe and all of creation out of nothing. . . . . . .

   — see more hubble shots HERE

I’m pretty sure that means. . . . that he can HANDLE, . .  and is up to the CHALLENGE of using me and you. . .

I would love to hear how God used you in the last week -

Peace be with you all -

I am fascinated with great athletes. Not because I worship them or think that they have it any better/worse than the rest of us, but because they face up to different types of pressures than me. My friends know that I can be slightly competitive at times – and I actually enjoy pressure. . . . always have. . . . I love to perform. . . . I actually WANT to be the one on the free-throw line, down by 1 – shooting the “1 and 1″ – or taking the last second shot. Not sure where all of this came from. . . how much is genetic. . . and how much is just the fact that my older two brothers always made me go first when trying something new . . . . you can send sympathy cards to 18255 Bri. . .

Anyways. . . because of all this. . . I ran across this preview today for a documentary of Lebron James and his high school friends – they were extremely close, seems like there is a lot here that kids today could learn from. . . . not to mention myself

I have just been in a random thought mood lately. . . . I don’t think it is clinically pathalogical or anything, but you can be the judge of that. . .

5. Should I be concerned that the first reaction that my youngest son, Dakota, has when he’s upset with me is. . . . . . to try and head butt me?

4. So, my daughter calls me at work and asks “Daddy, what are you working on“, and I say “Oh, just some grading some papers” – to which she responds. . . . . “what kind of papers Daddy?  yellow or green, or red or blue – “ 

3. I love it when students wonder how people that are color-blind can drive b.c of stoplights. . . . then I ask them – where is the red light. . . . . ALWAYS. . . . and the green. . . . ALWAYS *ding* – lightbulb

2. Does it worry anyone else, even for a split second, when water fountain pressure right outside the bathroom goes to zilch when I hear the toilet flush inside?

1. Should a restaurant, that I saw driving in to work today, really be advertising “we serve gizzards?”