A Captains Blog

Gettin' Down The Road

2009-02-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

Well, once again it has been a long dry spell in blogland.
Life has certainly been interesting lately and that is an understatement.
Being laid off of work is often times a crushing blow to men. We all too often get our value from our jobs. I have learned that real value only comes to our lives from God. the path that He has us on is uncertain except for that He has us on it. It is scary except that He is driving it. It is exciting because He is in charge. For anyone that decided to do something with their life that is basically for other people, there are some interesting moments to say the least.
I had the chance to be a small part of a guy's life this past weekend at an Iron Sharpens Iron conference. And as the story unfolded itself some interesting things took place and not one of them benefited me in any way, just the other guy. God can certainly use some cool stuff to help us be a part of the lives of other people. Christy and I have adopted the saying "it's odd because it's God" and that plays out in our lives almost daily.

I have learned this lately, self preservation isn't a purpose. Think on that one a while.
And this to finish up on, Seek the Lord, Seek the lesson and Seek the laughter in any situation and you'll come out of it better off.

Later,
Captain Dave

There's a Fat Lady Singing

2008-11-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

Well, as they say that's that.
For the very first time in my life I just left a job not under my own choice. It's a bit odd feeling, being layed off, but the future promises to be exciting. I can say that because the past has really been unreal.
I am looking foward to some quiet time, some time to be still and listen. If you have read the book "Wild Goose Chase" you'll get the fact that this is one of the times that the Wild Goose flies. The Spirit moves in and out and all around our lives just as the wind blows. I am excited to see what will come out of this and where God puts me.

Would love to hear about times when you have felt that God was moving you and what happened. So if you have a story, send it back.

A New Season

2008-11-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that life is full of seasons and the only thing that we can really be sure of in this world is that there will be change. Change came suddenly for me a few weeks ago in the form of a job that disappeared. The financial woes that everyone faces in this season of life are hitting every part of society. The church is no different, when there is less money things have to change.

Here in the last days of my employment some things come to mind. I really enjoyed serving the people that I came in contact with, some were sent as a test I'm sure but for the most part it was great. I have no regrets for spending six years and then all of a sudden it is gone. I hold no ill will or feelings towards anyone or any group of people, they are all just doing what they think is best for the church. I have been blessed to have had a staff of associates and volunteers who gave their hearts in service, they would have tried to turn the Titanic around in a bathtub if I just asked them to.

But here is the crazy thing, i don't even feel like the reason that I was placed there was to sell books because in all of what I did - I found the place that God has made me for. It is just nuts but I am excited about what is coming next, Christy and I have a perfect peace about what is happening. We have adopted a saying at our house "It's odd because it's God" and that is exciting.

For me it is time to walk the talk that I have been preaching and teaching to my guys over these last few years, I can't crumble now, that would dishonor God and all of the guys would see that I could talk it but not walk it.

The other crazy thing is that I have made some of the best friends that I will ever have. Some are here still and some have moved away. This is the longest that I have ever lived in one place since I left home as a kid. But, my time here has brought some of the best folks ever to my life.

Well, I guess that I should keep posting what happens in our lives because I know that it will be exciting. For those of you who are not here everyday, I miss the time that we spent together and look forward to more time with you.

Later
Captain Dave

Yep, It's Me Again

2008-08-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well, here I go with some stuff.
I have the pleasure of being a part of a great men's group called Outside The Walls. One of my tasks is to lead a weekly gathering for the guys. Lately I have been talking about "Random Thoughts". You know, the stuff that God just bangs into your head from left field, that shakes you up. One thing that has hit me this week is fear. Or should I say FEAR!
FEAR often keeps us from being all that we can be to serve our great and mighty God. Fear is something that keeps us from our forward motion in our walk.
The question is why? Why are we afraid of anything when we have the Creator of the universe on our side? I have read that "God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go". So if that is true, and I believe it is, why are we afraid of jumping into what He wants? Yeah sometimes what He wants does not seem to be what we can see or into our plans, I get that. But, I know everytime I mention my plans to Him that He has a good laugh and then says "Ok, now really, this is what I want".
I use this illustration a lot but the point is good. Remember when you sat on the floor with your infant kids when they were learning to walk? I sat on one side of the living room and Christy sat on the other and we helped and supported these babies across the room. We cheered for them and said "come on, you got it, come on". We cheered and clapped and hugged them and we were so proud of those baby steps.And then little by little they started to get it, we helped them as they stumbled and loved them through the swerves and werves. I picture Our Heavenly Father doing just that with us along the way. He holds out His Hands for us to walk slowly towards and He supports us when we fall or stumble. He watches us and is proud when we get it right and He cheers for us along the way.
Why would we fear anything that He is asking us to do?
I don't know why but I still get scared sometimes when I know I should go or do what He says.
Maybe one day I'll be able to take more than a step or two without Him grabbing me.

If you want to hear some other "Random Thoughts" go to http://www.mcgregor.net/ and find the Outside The Walls podcast and see what's up. I would appreciate any constructive advice as well.

Well, gotta go. We'll do more later.

Peace-
Captain Dave

Many Moons Ago...

2008-06-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well it has been many moons since my last post. This is really difficult for me b/c I feel like I don't really have that much stuff to talk about.
My Buddy Rusty and his wife Tina and the kids were down last week and it was great to see them. Rusty had a whale of a time on an overnight fishing trip, he loved it and wants to do it again especially in the summer.

My little girl Hayley turned five last week and tomorrow I will be officially on the downhill side of life. YIKES!!! It goes by fast.

It is really odd that the last ten years of my life have been the best. The best friends that I'll ever have have all come around, I have been blessed with two amazing kids, my wife is incredible (even when she isn't) I would not want to be with anyone else in the world. Christy is just perfect for me and I am seriously lucky.

The best thing in these past ten years was coming to know Christ, what a change. I will never be able to explain all the mysteries of God's work but, my life being changed is undeniable. What a gift. That gift has also led me to the thing that fires up my heart more than anything else.
Have to save that story for another post.

To all my family and friends i say thank-you for being around, I love you all and feel so lucky to have all of you in my life. We have all had ups and downs but were are 'pressing on'.

By the way, the new Relient K C/D comes out soon and I can't wait. Those young guys are great, give them a listen sometime.

Well gotta go, talk to ya' again in a couple months.

Living in a Techno World

2008-04-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you that know me, you realize just how limited I am related to things that are technical. I am just getting the hang of computers. Things with lots of keys and screens and knobs and buttons scare me.

The other thing that scares me is public speaking. I mean really, who gives a rip about what I have to say. This combination makes this whole Blog thing very weird to me.

I had the pleasure and honor of doing not just one but two Podcasts today. Now you may ask well, how many Podcasts have you done so far in your life there Big Boy? Well that's an easy answer. Two, and they were both today.

I humbly and with a great deal of care am leading our men's morning Bible study. It will be available on the MBC web site at some point. The series is called 'Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude'. And let me assure you that it is not the gospel according to Jimmy Buffett. It is about setting our attitudes in line with the Attitude of Christ. It is at least a good idea for a series, we'll see how well it gets done.

And then this morning I was asked to be on the "Mark and Miller" show. Which is a cool show that a couple of our pastors do each week. It can be heard also on the MBC web site under Podcasts. Once again I felt honored to be a part of it and I had a blast. But, I had to ask again who cares about what I have to say. My friend David and I had fun chatting about a few things and maybe even made a point somewhere along the line.

I am excited that David is going to be preaching a good bit in our near future, he has a great style and is very relevant. I am sure that many people will be blessed and challenged by his messages. I know I will.

So, for a real low tech guy this was an exciting day. Maybe there is hope for me yet in a Techno world.

Captain Dave

My Service Light Is Getting Dim

2008-03-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those days or times when your service light goes dim?
You know the little red light in the corner eye that shows how much is left in your battey.
Well, mine is getting dim. Sometimes work and stuff and life just gets to ya'. And when it does you know that you need a jump start. Well sports fans, Captain Dave needs a jump start.

It seems like the only thing I really look forward to is what I get to do with Outside the Walls. Now I'm not talking about my family, I always enjoy my time with them. As a matter of fact today was the first Sunday afternoon that I have had off in a very long time. I spent most of it on the floor wrestling with Dylan, we had a blast. Christy was out at a bridal shower and Hayley fell asleep on the way home. The boys had a big time.

Apart from my family I am spent. I am having a difficult time motivating myself, maybe it is a sign, maybe I need a vacation, I don't know. What I do know is that God has made this men's ministry deal become so important to me that I really want to do just that. I don't know what that means or looks like but........I know that is where my heart is at.

So, any great suggestions on how to move on when you have been stuck would be appreciated.

Way busy and not a real good blogger

2008-01-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a while I know but, as far as bloggers go, I'm a good reader.

My wife and kids have been out of town all week and I have been way busy.

Here is a really great thing that happened a couple of weeks ago. I was invited to go out to California to a training session at Every Man Ministries. Man what a great week. My buddy Wayne went with me and we had three days of very intense training on Intentional Men's Ministry. Man those guys do it right.

The Saddleback model is incredible and we got every bit of it handed to us. This was the very first of it's kind and was by invitation. We had six guys from across the U.S. whose hearts are all about Men's Ministry and transformation. We had a great time with Kenny Luck, Tom Crick and Howard Mazer. We even had Rick Warren walk in unexpected and give us about 20 minutes on his views of Men's Ministry. Wow, that was cool.

It is just wild what happens in a persons heart when God really gets a hold of it for His purposes. I just can't explain how much desire I have to very deeply involved in this area of ministry. There are lots of men out there who just don't know where to turn for help when the lions are about to cut them to shreds.

God is Large and in Charge and we can never lose sight of that. Lately, I have been asking these questions in classes 'How big is God?' and then 'How big is your god?'. Those are two very different questions. We may believe and say the God is in charge and that we trust Him. That is until the lions attack. Then, we have to fix things ourselves or doubt that God will come through. Often we get in His way and mess up the plan. Sometimes I think that He actually waits until the answer is just humanly impossible so He can show His glory.

Another cool thing happened last Sunday. I got back into the store after Sunday school and there were two people waiting for me. They asked if I was Dave and cautiously asked why?

They asked me about a book that I had featured called "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day". I pointed to it and told them that I was leading a class based on the book in our Men's Ministry. They said they were aware of that and introduced themselves. They were Mr. and Mrs. Batterson, the mom and dad of the author, Mark Batterson. They were really nice and quite blown away by the attention to their son's book. Wow, stuff has been cool lately.

A Real Lion Chaser

2007-12-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

I have been given the pleasure of leading a class, along with a couple of fellow lion chaser, based on the book "In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day".
So, the other night I was going through the book and writing down all of the characteristics of a 'Lion Chaser'. It is amazing how far I have to go to be a Lion Chaser. During all of this my four year old daughter starts to scream Daddy, Daddy. So, I ran to her rescue.
Later that night I was telling my wife about Lion Chasers and Hayley walks up and says "Daddy, you are a real Lion Chaser, you can kill bugs". A wasp had found its way into her bedroom.
I don't know if the author would have put this in the book but, at my house, a Lion Chaser kills bugs.

Where did that come from?

2007-12-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

Started reading a new book, well new for me anyway.

In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson.

It is a real good read if you have not seen it yet. A little seen almost obscure verse is so full of God's power.

The author really has challenged me.

I just wonder would I chase a lion into a pit on a snowy day? Not likely, I live in Florida and I hate snow but, it could be a Florida Panther on a rainy day.

Point is that this is a real good book and I would suggest reading it.

I pray that as my lions show up that I will be a lion chaser.

Thankful- Really Thankful

2007-11-20T21:36:00.000-08:00

I now that everyone is talking about being thankful this weekend. All of that begs the question, what am I thankful for? What are you thankful for?
My life is really busy and crazy sometimes but, I wouldn't trade it for anything. God has truly blessed me with an incredible life. I have an Amazing Heavenly Father who loves me, way more than I deserve. He overlooks all of my faults and allows me to carry on-everyday.
I have a wonderful wife who also overlooks most of my faults, she does call attention to some that are especially unnerving. I have a beautiful daughter who thinks that I can fix anything and kill any yucky bugs that invade her world. To Hayley new batteries in her toys constitute fixing stuff. I love being her Daddy. My little boy is really getting fun, Dylan already makes eyes at the chicks, he'll be a real smoothie one day. Just like his Dad.
I have been blessed to have a few really great friends who I just love to be around and share life with. It doesn't really matter if we are all close in proximity all of the time, I know that I can count on them and I hope that they can count on me. For guys, a Band of Brothers is so important. Thankful is a state of mind and I don't mind my state at all. It is a great place. To those who are a part of it- I surely love you all and thanks for making my world wonderful.

On the way to God today.......

2007-11-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

The information that we have about the life of Jesus is so valuable. What a treasure we have been given. His life is a lesson. That makes me wonder about what kind of lesson my life is to those who are watching.
I had an aha moment today. I taught Sunday school and tried a new approach. In a set of verses that teach us one lesson there lies a valuable message that was given to me. God used this lesson to bring comfort and direction to a lady who was visiting for the first time. Not just our class, I mean Sunday school as I understand it. She has just given her life to Christ.
She lost her husband recently and said that the message toady was just what she needed to hear in order to have some perspective on how to move on with life.
What a humbling experience it is to be used by God.
In whatever we do we should strive to be His light in a dark world. Let His light shine through you. If your eyes are bright with His light then so will be your heart. Let your heart guide you and every once in a while look yourself in the mirror and ask "How's your heart?"
How's that Tina????

What now???

2007-11-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there is a real struggle between the vision that we see for our lives and reality. That whole battle has me quite perplexed at this point. I read a great book last night about leadership. It is by one of my favorite authors called 'Making Vision Stick' by Andy Stanley. I was really haunted when I read the last paragraph and found that he was talking to me directly. It is just incredible how God puts the smallest things in our laps and they have HUGE impact. As always, we'll just wait on His timing and see what unfolds.

I guess it starts now

2007-10-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it is time to start.
My blog career starts now on a challenge by a friend.
We'll see what this holds for the future of blogging.