There is a moment at the end of every Masters golf tournament just after the winning putt is made, where the shell shocked winner walks off the 18th green and into the arms of his family. There are tears, hugs and joyful celebration. It’s one of my favorite moments in sports. You see, the Masters isn’t just any golf tournament. It is the Super Bowl of golf. The tournament everyone wants to win and no one wants to miss. This, apparently, includes Tiger Woods. [..]

Almost a year ago, my friend Ben Turner and I were having dinner discussing a book we were both reading when told me about a place called Safe Haven.

This place has changed my life. [..]

I got the opportunity to attend the Catalyst Conference this past week and came back with a notebook full of notes, a renewed energy and a moment that I won’t soon forget.

During the segment to pimp out Compassion International they had a gentleman on stage that told his story of being a Compassion kid. He had the first letter that his sponsor ever sent to him and he read it aloud. The letter talked about God’s love and how excited the sponsor was to sponsor him. There wasn’t anything special or remarkable about the letter, yet it changed this mans life. He was now in Bible college and couldn’t wait to go back to home to teach others about Christ.

Then he was asked if in all those years of writing back and forth with his sponsor if he had ever met him. He said no, he hadn’t. They told him to turn around. His sponsor was behind him and the man completely lost it. Overcome and overjoyed, tears flooded down his face as he slumped to the stage. No words. Just hugging the man who simply cared enough to write. Letters shaped his life. God can use anything.

I immediately put on my calendar, “Write Lucky a letter.” Lucky is my Compassion kid. He gets his money every month, but does he get the love that this man obviously felt? I don’t know, I just know that I need to keep loving and writing and let God take care of the rest.

It’s the best $32 a month you can spend.

When’s the last time you were humbled by someone’s story?

I completely understand that we all have some weird tendencies, but I felt I had to point out one that I have noticed from Pete Wilson. The dude doesn’t throw away his gum. Not sure if he can’t bear the thought of being without it or if he’s not done with it, but he will place it wherever. Here’s some proof.

Those are the only 3 pics I could manage to get, but trust me it’s a daily occurrence. There’s no shortage of gum here at Cross Point either. I guess it’s the little things that make us all weird. Now excuse me while I go put ketchup on my potato chips and drink milk with pizza.

What’s something weird that you do?

One early morning, after a fierce storm had hit the coast, I strolled to the beach for my morning walk. Horrified, I saw that tens of thousands of starfish had been washed up on the beach by the winds and waves. I was saddened by the realization that all of them would die, stranded on the shore, away from the life-giving water. Despairing that there was nothing I could do, I sat down on the sand and put my head in my hands.

But then I heard a sound, and I lifted my eyes. There, in the distance, I saw a man bending down and then standing up, bending down and standing up. Curious, I rose and walked toward him. I saw that he was picking up the starfish, one at a time, and throwing them back in the sea.

“What are you doing?” I yelled.
“Saving the starfish,” he replied.
“But don’t you see, man, that there are tens of thousands of them?” I asked, incredulous. “Nothing you can do will make a difference.”

He did not answer me but instead bent down, picked up another starfish, and cast it back in the water. Then he smiled, looked me in the eye, and said, “It made a difference to that one.”

When I read that parable in the book “The Hole In Our Gospel” the idea of making it personal became clear.

Then I started to think about Jesus and the example he set. I used to look at Jesus’ miracles as Jesus displaying his power to people. Oh wow, Jesus did it again! Great job on healing that leper!

Then it hit me. Jesus made it personal. The stories that were recorded about the miracles he performed are personal stories. Jesus heals a man with leprosy, Jesus heals a blind man, Jesus and the rich young ruler, the faith of the Roman Officer, Jesus raises a widow’s son, etc. Even when he fed the 5,000, the lesson became personal for his disciples.

Jesus was relational. He healed on a personal level. We should do the same. Love and serve others on a personal level and build relationships that last longer than a few moments. One person at a time.

“Don’t fail to do something, because you can’t do everything.” – Bob Pierce