Had an awesome night at our benefit concert for Blood:Water Mission this evening.  We had a ton of families and students come out to enjoy the event.  And let me say, both Josh Wilson and Shane and Shane put on an awesome show.  In the words of Randy Jackson, those guys can blow.

Thanks again to all the awesome volunteers at C3 who make these events all they can be -  you guys are awesome!

Next week we launch our new series, “Hey Jude…”  You don’t want to miss this one.

with pre-vacation.  What is “pre-vacation,” you ask?  It’s the few days leading up to actual vacation.  I would argue that pre-vacation is almost as good as the real thing.  You have the planning, the anticipation, the thoughts of relaxation.  We head out this week for some time at the beach, and the whole family is looking forward to it - you can even sense the excitement in our 1-year old’s face.

Here’s hoping our expectations are met!

OK - here’s the primary reason my blog had been so sporadic over the last 3-4 weeks.  After my wife decided to enter a triathlon, I also got the bug to compete in one.  I’ve always stayed in pretty decent shape, but I was getting bored with my workout routine, which consisted mainly of strength training and running when I felt like it (which wasn’t that often.)  I knew training for a tri would bring much more variety to my workouts and also offer some much needed motivation to take my body to the next level.

I’m now about 8 weeks into my training and I’ve been blown away at the improvement I’ve seen in each of the disciplines (swim, bike, and run.)  So, on Tuesdays, I’ll be focusing the posts on my adventures in training, and maybe a few things I’ve learned along the way. 

Today I’m going to give a shout-out to swimming.  If you’ve never made swimming part of your workout and you have access to a lane pool, I would strongly encourage it.  Here are a few reasons:

• virtually no strain on your bones and joints (If you struggle with knee, hip, ankle problems - the pool is a great way to still get a good workout.)
• It’s a great combination of technique, strength, and cardio.  I don’t believe there is a better full body workout.
• All those benefits, and you don’t sweat like a pig.

Please share the love and comment about your favorite (or most dreaded) workouts.

Everywhere I turned I was reading rave reviews about the independent film “Bella“, so this weekend we finally picked it up.  This film was incredible for a number of reasons, but here are my top three:

• A great film thrives on a great story - it doesn’t need obscene language, special effects, or lewd scenes.  This is true of Bella.
• The film celebrates life in every arena.
• Main character looked like Jesus and played soccer.

After watching the film, it was an incredible reminder that everyone has a story - and that story touches and affects every part of who they are.  Taking the time to understand and recognize the backstory is what allows us to extend grace.  So…

• as a Christ-follower - are you sensitive to the backstory?
• as a leader - are people a means to an end, or are you making investments in their story?
• as the church - are we celebrating life in Christ through people’s stories?

We closed the ONE PRAYER series this morning with Perry Noble’s message Make Us Dangerous.  It was the perfect concluding message for C3 as we enter what could be classified as our “second season” in the theaters.  Here were my notes:

-Do I follow Christ with a continual sense of anticipation?

-Jesus isn’t scared of who you were, because he understands who you were created to be.

-Do we listen when Jesus commands us to do the impossible?

-More importantly, do we believe Jesus when he commands us to do the impossible?

-If you’re consumed with your personal problems, you’ll never experience the “dangerous life.”

I believe I was most convicted when Perry asked if we live with a sense of anticipation.  Every day of walking with Jesus should be one that keeps us on our toes.

Don’t forget about our benefit concert next Sunday @ the Avalon Park Bandshell!

with my Carrabba’s experience last night.  Seriously, it might have been one of the top 5 meals I’ve ever eaten.  (It didn’t hurt that it was date night with Amanda with no kids!)  If you have a chance to go in the next few weeks, don’t pass up their Beef Brasato (it’s a special, so I’m not sure how much longer it will be available.)  It’s a slow cooked short rib served with a red wine vegetable sauce - amazing.  We capped it off with tiramisu and some cappucciano.

Carrabba’s is one of my all time favorite restaurants.  I’ve never had a bad experience either with the food or the service.  Carrabba’s, along with most of the Outback family restaurants, does not serve lunch, and it shows in the focus they can put on training and quality at dinner.  Another great example of a company doing less for more.

Yes - I’m resurrecting my blog from the dead.  Pushing the Limit is ready to throw off the grave clothes and return to life.  It was nice having a break, but I’m ready to jump back in.  As a result of my time off, I’ll be refining the focus of the blog to match it’s original intent - to discuss and dialogue ways we can push the limits in every aspect of our lives, whether it be in leadership, personally, physically, or spiritually.

If you’d like to stay updated on our family (which I will still do occassionally on this blog), please be sure to check out my new favorite blogger. 

So here will be the new set-up:

Sundays - I’ll continue my “sunday night rewind” discussing the day at C3.

Mondays - Focus on leadership principles

Tuesdays - “Triathlon Tuesdays” will be a look inside my training for this triathlon in August.

Wednesdays/Thursdays - A peak inside where God is stretching and challenging me.

Fridays - “it’s friday, i’m in love…” will be returning

Here’s to new beginnings!

I might need to re-title my blog to “sunday night rewind,” since these have been the only posts in recent weeks.  Hang with me though, I’ll be relaunching in the next few weeks with a more refined focus.   I’ll be bringing back “friday, i’m in love…” and posts will be targeted to live up to the title “pushing the limit” - so please stay tuned…In the meantime, be sure to check out my wife’s new blog I’m Just Sayin’.

As for today, we had an incredible Sunday after taking last week off for Memorial Day wknd.  With launching the One Prayer series next week, we did a little prelude to keep us on point and avoid the dreaded mission drift.  Byron reminded us to keep our eyes open for opportunities - to have compassion on the people that we encounter everyday.

The highlight of the service was the closing interview with Alexi, a young lady who came at the invitation of a friend about a year ago, and today has a brand new life.  We then closed the service with a video highlighting all the baptisms from the last year as we sang God of This City…

Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city

Great day today as we closed out the Phobia series and ended the weekend with a baptism service this evening!  It never gets old seeing God change lives - tonight we saw an entire family get baptized!

This morning Byron touched on a fear that so many of us have experienced at varying degrees - what if God won’t…  Often we believe God is able to change our circumstances, but there are times he doesn’t.  Here are my notes:

• We look for God to move in a moment, when he often wants us embarking on a journey (Luke 17:11-19).
• The journey can be difficult to understand and will require extreme faith (Luke 17:14)
• The only thing that would have kept the lepers from being healed is if they refused to GO.
• Sometime we need to wait on God, but most of the time God is waiting on us.
• What do you know to do, but aren’t doing?

Don’t forget next weekend we’re taking Sunday off - enjoy the Memorial Day wknd with your friends and family.  And all you volunteers that show up every week at 6am - enjoy sleeping in! 

Yesterday we had Joe Sangl in town to lead us in the Financial Learning Experience.  I’ve seen a lot financial seminars/classes in my life, but this was AWESOME! (That was a little shout-out to Tommy Boy for those keeping score.)

Joe took a subject that on the surface can be incredibly boring and challenging and made it engaging and simple.  I think everyone left ready to gain control of their future by applying the principles from the FLE.  If you missed it, be sure check out his website!

If you’re a pastor or church leader - get Joe to your church!  It will be one of the best investments you could make.