Thursday, September 4, 2014

IOU Conference - Kingdom Calling


The Following are the Sound Cloud hosted audio recording from my Keynote addresses at the IOU Conference for University aged students at Frontier Lodge in Quebec CA.
*The recordings were done with an iPhone*

The theme for the weekend was Kingdom Calling. The Sermons each built on each other to answer the questions of:
What is God's Kingdom Like? 
and
What is My Role Within God's Kingdom?

-Part 1-
This message sets the foundation by looking at Deuteronomy 6 and 17


-Part 2-
This message focuses on the Covenant relationship between God and humanity.


-Part 3-
This message transitions to Jesus' parables describing the Kingdom of God


-Part 4-
This message is about responding to God's Call on your life

Monday, August 25, 2014

Why Shakeology Isn't A Normal Meal Replacement Shake - What I've Observed In The 1st 2 Weeks My Wife Has Used It.

Disclaimer:
In the name of complete transparency I will start off by saying that my wife is newly associated with Team Beach Body, as a Coach. The links used in this post are tracking links in which it is possible for her to receive a commission for. However, that is not my motivation for writing this, we hold a similar affiliation with Advocare and I have never been tempted to write about it. 

Background:
You may have noticed that I have been a bit absent from blog posting this summer. The drop off in posts happened when my wife Kim gave birth to our second son on June 25th. George and Jordan are just under a year and a half apart and our hands have been full. Having one kid is difficult and two under two is a bit of a workout. 
My Excuse for Blogging Less.
When my wife and I began dating in May of 2007 she was a full-time coach. In fact she had 2 coaching gigs, one at McMurry University, and for competitive cheer at Beamers. On top of all that working out she did with her athletes she was a regular at Golds Gym and particularly loved Les Mills Body Pump - the owners of Golds were regularly asking her to consider teaching the class. She was full of energy, full of life and you could see it in the way she walked and talked. She was healthy, really healthy. Its one of the things I loved about her, how she took care of herself. At the time I was still in very good shape myself having been a cross country and track athlete and health was a quality I valued. 

Fast forward 7 years and here we are. My wife just spent 2 1/2 years either pregnant or nursing and still has a few months to go in nursing Jordan. Needless to say, her body has not really been her own for some time and it had believe it or not effected her. Many who know her have always and still saw her as a high energy individual who does more than most people with a smile on her face. Its like she never stops... and it is true she doesn't.  However, she has not had the same bounce in her step or emotional energy that comes from being as healthy as she was when we started dating. 

I mean, it is a normal thing to have different energy levels and declining health when you compare 25 to 32 years old. I know that for me 20 to 27 has been really difficult on my health and fitness. On top of that, having a miscarriage followed by two kids in such a short amount of time is bound to have an impact. In general we are a fairly healthy couple, we try to eat fresh and healthy foods and take the boys/dog on walks down by the lake, we have even done workout programs together. Life still had its impact on our health and waistlines. 

My Observations:
Just over 2 weeks ago my wife tried a sample of Shakeology to see if she was going to have an allergic reaction to the non-commercially grown mushrooms. Good news is that she had no reaction. She decided to purchase the PiYo Challenge pack that comes with the workout program that mixes Pilates and Yoga together, and a one month supply of Shakeology. She decided to become a coach in order to get a discount (Get a 25%discount on all future orders by becoming a coach) so that instead of $160 plus shipping and tax, the challenge pack as a coach was only $153 after shipping and tax. Considering that a month supply of Shakeology is normally $132 after tax, and PiYo is normally $72 something after tax means she got a considerable discount ordering them together. 


In the past two weeks I have noticed in her a significant change in her energy levels. That bounce in her step is much closer to the way it was 7 years ago, virtually turning back the hands of time in the ageing process. On top of the renewed energy, she has dropped 4 lbs and 6 inches (2 off waist, 1 of hips, 1.5 off each leg) in 2 weeks. I am really quite proud of how well it is working for her. 


Introspection
Thinking about it now I am wondering when I can muster up the guts to start a challenge myself. I have several pairs of pants and a few suits that I haven't been able to wear in over 2 years that would certainly be wearable if I could have even close to the same results Kim has had. 

My experience:
I have sampled Shakeology and must admit that I have also tried to use other meal replacement drinks in the past attempting to fit in those suits. The biggest difference I can remember is that with Shakeology, I was full. In all seriousness I usually finish a meal replacement and find myself looking for second breakfast 15-20 minutes later, yet with Shakeology I was only able to finish half and I didn't get hungry until 2 PM. The people that make it must have guys in mind when they created the product. 

Favorite part:
The most exciting part of this whole thing to me is it feels like my wife is becoming herself again. She is healthier and happier every day. Its one thing to have energy from a 5 hour or similar (temporary) energy drink, its another for energy to build back as health increases.



If life has gotten to your energy or your waistline perhaps you should give it a try, there is a money back guarantee so what have you got to loose? Answer: excuses.



Wednesday, August 6, 2014

No Room For a Christian Pacifist

The world has been in quite a bit of turmoil this summer. From commercial planes being shot down in the Ukraine, to Schools being bombed in the Israel/Palestine conflict. Here closer to home there has been significant uproar about immigration with regard to the refuge children and the number of deportations. Recently a group of faith leaders and activists including a few pastors from here in north Texas, protested outside the White House and were arrested for their civil disobedience. Most of my life I have been conditioned to avoid entering into such significant debates and taking sides. Perhaps you have been too. Last year at seminary some of our reading challenged me to rethink my stance of pacifism in avoiding big questions. Below is a paper I wrote about it, be prepared it is a bit of a polarized argument. (I think I got a B on it)

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

His Daughter - Viral Video and Why I love it!

The video was shot on a cracked iPhone and played on an out of tune piano. 

Molly Kate Kestner's first take of recording and the video has exploded. Originally posted on Easter Sunday, it currently has over 6 Million Views and counting. She appeared on Good Morning America this morning so I expect the views to go up again. 

Listen to it real quick. Then check out why I Love it below.



I Love It Because:

The story she tells is very close to many stories of faith or lack there of that I have heard over the years. Too often it is assumed that being a Christian means having everything together, and believing in God so much that everything just falls into place. This myth is perpetuated by evangelical pastors that say over and over again that "God is in Control" or "God has a reason." Their message on the surface gives the impression that the crap going on in the world around me is my fault. 

Instead this song takes the reality of the pain that many have in their lives and says God is big enough for the pain to be real and valid. God is big enough to answer the prayers of even those children whose parents are the ones causing the pain. God is big enough for the parent who wants to show their child a better life. 

Maybe your life hasn't been this rough. Maybe you have never felt the pain of and alcoholic parent. Maybe you have never cut yourself, starved yourself, slept around, or been bullied. Maybe you never felt scared and alone, like you can't make it another day. If you haven't then consider yourself lucky, and be sure you smile at the people you see today. Make sure that you show love to anyone you interact with because they may be at the end of their rope and not even know how to say it.

And maybe you see yourself in these lyrics.

Maybe your prayers haven't been answered yet.

But....

If your one of the people who has seen the grace of God in your life. If God has redeemed one of these pain's for you, tell as many people you can that: "There's a God out there who heard my prayer."

If your prayer has been answered I'd love to hear about it in the comments below. If it hasn't then shoot me an email and I will be glad to join you in praying.

Grace and Peace

Jacob Fields




Lyrics -
"Everything's gonna be alright."
She whispers to herself.
She was only 6 years old that night.
As she hid behind that shelf.
Cause daddy had a little too much to drink.
And mama didn't want her to feel the pain she felt.
But she still felt the pain...

Well 10 years they came and went,
and dad was gone.
So she looked for love in other men.
And tried to act strong.
Broken hearts and Scars in only places she could see.
Cause she just wanted, she just wanted to feel something.

And as she sat there on that bed,
thinking bout what those girls said,
tears streamed down her eyes.
She cried...

"If there's a God out there
Please hear my prayer.
I'm lost and I'm scared,
and I've got nowhere else to go.
I've come a long, long way.
But I'm not sure I can make it much farther...
So if you're listening, could you give a helping hand.
To your daughter."

Well her path started to change.
She reached out and grabbed God's grace.
And finally, she saw a light.
Until that night...
Where she decided one drink was alright, 
and one thing led to another.
Next thing you know, 9 months go by, 
she's a mother.

And as she laid there in that bed.
Stroking that small angel's head.
Tears streamed down her eyes.
She cried...


"If there's a God out there.
Please hear my prayer.
I'm lost and I'm scared,
and I've got nowhere else to run.
I've come a long, long way.
But I'm not sure I can be the best mother...
So if you're listening, could you give a helping hand.
To your daughter."

Well that baby grew into a boy.
Who became her pride and joy.
He loved her like no man could.
And her heart felt peace, cause she finally understood.
God's love.

And as she laid there in that bed,
99 years old.
She grabbed her son's hand and said.
"There's something you must know..."

"There is a God up there. 
Who heard my prayer.
I was lost and afraid.
And I had nowhere else to go.
I had no clue, what to do
And then He sent me you."

So if you're lost and afraid, 
and you feel so alone,
don't worry child,
cause there's a Father who will love you as His own.
Just like he loved his daughter.
Like he loved His daughter.