It’s official . . . I’m the Graduation Coach at Youth Middle School

Good morning everyone, I hope you’re having a great day. I’m still getting used to this getting up early thing, but I’m enjoying the new job so far. On Wednesday, I started as the Graduation Coach at Youth Middle School. I’m still learning the details of the job, but they did give me a training video from one of the first guys to do the job several years ago in another part of the country.  Basically, “I am a motivational speaker and I live in a van down by the river.” (SNL flashback for all you children of the 80’s)

Actually, the job is a little bit different than that. It’s really cool. I get to spend time each week with more than 100 students and challenge them, encourage them, motivate them, and just check up on them so that they will excel in middle school, be well-prepared for high school, and head out into life ready to accomplish the awesome things that they can. It’s been great so far…I’ve been able to meet several of the students and have really enjoyed getting prepped for next week when my responsibilities kick in full swing. Thanks for praying for me and encouraging me along the way. I’ll see you Sunday at Church At The Grove.

My community group is the best

So last night I met with our community group again (we meet twice a month on Mondays).  It was awesome because the people in it are great.  We had four that couldn’t make it (schedules/illness), but the other seven of us enjoyed it anyway.  First we talked about all that’s happening on the Food Network and various other reality shows.  Then, we talked about life, jobs, daily things.  Then people picked on me because I actually knew what happened on Project Runway and Shear Genius last week.  Then we laughed a lot about other things.  All this occured while we ate some incredible mexican food…my wife makes some of the best salsa in the world and this awesome dish called Mexican Lasagna…the Holt’s brought their phenomenal special recipe – Guacamole…and we finished it off with a chocolate angel food cake and fresh berries (thanks Katelyn).  After dinner, we talked about and shared some of the things that get in the way of each of us living out the abundant life that Jesus promises…and we saw how each of us deals with our own unique set of struggles.  Mine is “discipline”…I can do anything for about 3 or 4 weeks…but it’s a struggle for me to remain consistent beyond that initial month or so.  We prayed together and then we talked/argued about the relational value of FaceBook.  It was a blast.

If you don’t have a group of people that you meet with on a regular basis…you are making a huge mistake.  You need relationships.  God uses relationships.  Please consider taking the Fall to begin gathering with people from your neighborhood, your work, your kids’ school, your circle of friends, or Church At The Grove.  God works most effectively in and through our relationships with others.

 

P.S.  My job with the school system is up for a vote tonight at the school board meeting.  If they approve me, I will start tomorrow morning.  Continue to pray for me as I take another step into my mission field.  May God use me to help change the lives of students and their families as we challenge kids to learn, grow, develop, and eventually make a lasting impact on this community, our country, and the world.  May God use you in your own mission field, as well.

A job update for those of you that are interested

I can’t tell you how many people in the last few days have asked about my possible career change, and I want to tell each of you Thank You.  Unfortunately, I still don’t know anything about the teaching position…I will keep you up to date as details firm up.

Amy and I are still excited about the door that opened up for me to begin teaching full-time in the local public schools.  How cool would that be to be able to spend 40-50 hours a week with the people (students, teachers, and parents) that God has been connecting our hearts to over the last four years?  I will still be working with Church At The Grove (on a part-time basis) as we continue to develop people to follow Jesus and make disciples.  But, when the idea of teaching full-time came up in February, we realized we would be fools if we didn’t pursue it.  Now, four months later, and ten days from being pseudo-unemployed, we are a little nervous, but still confident that God is going to work the details out.

I would like to ask each of you to pray for us though over the next few days.  As the schools make the final preparations for the start of the school year, I hope to get an official job offer with a few days left to prepare for the new responsibilities.

I hope you have a great week…see you Sunday.

Brushes with fame…part 4

When I was 13 years old, I got the chance to meet royalty…and it changed my life forever. For years, I had heard of this modern-day king, and though I had never had any actual experiences with a “king” before, I had a great imagination of what he would be like. I was way off in my assumptions. I knew that he would be powerful and commanding. I knew he would be strong and courageous. I knew he would be worthy of respect and reverance. What caught me off guard, though, was his love and compassion. Power and strength are crucial to being king. Love is not a critical characteristic. A king can rule with an iron fist and still hold the position of king. However, a king is under no obligation to rule with tenderness and understanding (in fact, in most royal circles, this would be a sign of weakness). But this king was different.

Though I knew a lot about him already, I was surprised to find out how much he knew about me. Imagine that…a king…interested in the life of a “beggar.” I was certainly unworthy of his time and attention. In fact, I told him that…and his response blew me away…his whole life is focused on “beggars”…he already knew my situation and my reputation…and it just didn’t matter. He still wanted to spend time with me. He still wanted a relationship with me. In fact, by the end of the conversation, I realized I would be a fool to reject the offer of this king. So, that night – October 13, 1988 – I talked with him, but not like I had talked with him before.

I told him of my shortcomings and my screw-ups. He agreed that I had really messed things up from time to time. I told him of my insecurities and fears. He told me he understood. I told him that I had destroyed several friendships and relationships. He told me that I could never destroy his relationship with me. I told him that I was unworthy of his friendship. He already knew that.

So, with nothing left to get in the way, I asked him if there was any way he could forgive me for my stupidity and disobedience. He said there was…his Son had already “paid” my debt…so he forgave me. I asked him to guide me and teach me how to live a life that would be worthy of respect. He agreed. I asked him if there was any hope for me. He said there was…hope unlike anything I had ever known before…hope that would last even beyond my life here on earth. That night, he went so far as to seal our relationship with an eternal adoption. That night, he told me I could call him “Dad”. That night, he called me “Son.” I called him “Savior.” He called me “Friend.” I called him “Lord.” He called me “His.”

When I met God personally, my life changed. I met the King. I met the Creator. I met the Famous One. I have never been the same.

Thank you God for the love you showed for all of us. Thank you God for the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus. Thank you God for the life you offer us. Thank you for changing me.

P.S. His offer is available to each of you as well. I would love for you to know more about Him. Email me if you want. Or check out this video if you would prefer. Whatever you do, don’t give up on exploring faith in the God that “loved the world so much that he gave his only Son.”

Brushes with fame…part 3

In 1998, I headed down to Fayetteville for a make-shift 5-year high school reunion.  It was fun to meet some of her friends that I had heard stories about…and to learn a little bit more about this circle of people that had been such a huge part of her life for so long.  One of the girls I met that night was Tiffany Arbuckle…the lead singer of an alternative rock band called Plumb.

A couple days ago, Amy called me to tell me that her friend Tiffany was listed on Wikipedia.  How cool is that?…to be listed as an entry in a worldwide encyclopedia.  I can’t even Google my name and find anything – I’m buried somewhere in cyberspace under the Larry Craig story (and nobody wants to be associated with that), people’s Jenny Craig stories (hooray for them…but I’m still anonymous), and “Craig, Daniel Craig” (aka “Bond, James Bond”).  But, for Tiffany, she is all over cyberspace.  They even had a song on the Bruce Almighty soundtrack in 2003 : “God Shaped Hole.”

Anyway, another person I met is famous…way to go Tiffany.

Have a great week!  We’ll see everyone at Church At The Grove this weekend…don’t miss out!

 

P.S.  Our friend Jason Williams (read “Brushes with fame…part 1“) still hasn’t actually appeared on the Hopkins show, but we’re holding out hope.  Some of his family said there is a big “in-grown toenail” episode coming up that he may appear in…isn’t it great to be picked on by family and close friends?

Brushes with fame . . . part 2

Most people have heard of a group named DC Talk (very popular among Christian circles throughout the 1990s), but few know the back-story of the band…how they shot to the forefront of Christian culture…and how I took them out of the shadows and into the spotlight musically. I moved to Georgia in January 1983 to pursue a music career (not really…just go with me on this one). Six years later (and after much frustration with the music industry…so that’s a lie too), in the Fall of 1989, the youth pastor at my church and I headed up to Gwinnett Place Mall to hang out and run a couple errands. We stopped at Joshua’s Christian Book Store and looked through the new tapes (for those of you that don’t remember, in between 8-tracks and CDs, came these little plastic cases with a long roll of brown tape inside…through the wonders of modern technology, scientists and engineers were able to encode music on that tape). Anyway, while looking through the tapes, we came across this one (the hair proves it was the 80s):

My youth pastor said, “Hey Craig, this looks pretty cool…hey wait…I know these guys!” Yes, it’s true, Matt Fry (currently the pastor of Cleveland Community Church) had gone to school with a couple of the guys and now they clearly needed our help. He called them up using the phone number on the back of the cover and we arranged to bring them down for a concert at my high school. In the Spring of 1990, 501 people showed up for a free concert at Shiloh High School featuring DC Talk. They had driven down that morning…all three of them in a two door hatchback of some sort (if I remember correctly). They were tired and weary (not really…they were doing great) and asked me to help them get through the concert that night…they needed me to sing (actually rap) the third verse to one of their songs: The King (Alleluia!). I couldn’t tell them “no.” So, because they needed me, I took the lead on that third verse while they sang backup.

I can’t say for sure, but it’s hard for me to believe that they would have made it through the concert without me. And, perhaps as a result of that single night, they had the courage and energy to put out two albums later that year, and four more after that. With millions of album sales, a movie, and even a couple things published, DC Talk could definitely be considered “famous”…and I was there to help them along…I was there to “make it happen” so to speak. For years, there has been talk about a reunion tour…I haven’t had any conversations with the guys about it, so I would have to assume that it’s not true. No, I never actually “laid down any sweet rhymes” on any of their albums…I had a high school career to complete and the “touring life” was no life for me…but deep down in my heart…I know that I played a huge part in their success.

Okay, okay…yes I know that I’m delusional…they wouldn’t recognize me if their life depended on it…their only reason for letting me sing was because they really had nothing to lose…they were an unknown Christian rap group from Virginia doing a free concert in Georgia…they knew they were safe. But, I can still honestly claim that Toby Mac, Michael Tait, and Kevin Smith (aka Kevin Max), sang backup for me right before they went big…and that’s a pretty cool brush with fame.

Have a great week…see you Sunday!

Brushes with fame . . . part 1

A friend of Amy’s (and mine) made it to People magazine this week.  Jason and Sally Williams live in Baltimore Maryland.  Amy grew up with Jason and Sally, and I have known them for about 15 years.  Jason is a surgical resident at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.  In other words…he’s good…real good.  Yesterday we got an email that Jason had made it into People magazine on the promo photo for the new reality show: “Hopkins”.  In fact he made it right up front.  We were a little confused at first (thinking he was the front guy on the advertising photo for the series), so we couldn’t find him online.  Then we picked up the People magazine and saw the picture…there he is…in the section of previews for upcoming shows…in the screen shot from one of the episodes…decked out in his surgical uniform, with his hands covered in blood, with his Georgia Bulldogs lanyard around his neck, helping sew somebody up (or cut them open…I’m not real sure).

I haven’t had very many connections with famous people…but I just thought I would tell Jason thanks for giving me one more brush with fame.

“Black cartridge is close to life” – life lessons from our printer

Earlier today, the printer at the CATGrove office began to run low on black ink.  Sandy mentioned that the printer was displaying a message: “black cartridge is close to life.”  That message got me thinking about a couple things:

1.  What in the world does “black cartridge is close to life” mean?  Shouldn’t it actually say, “black cartridge is close to death”?  Or, “black cartridge is running out of life”?  Or, “hey everyone, if you don’t buy a $95 black cartridge for me soon, I’m going to stop printing any words on any of your paper…no matter how important it may be”?

2.  Life is less like a box of chocolates, and more like a toner cartridge for a color laser printer…we do ultimately know what we’re going to get…we just don’t know when.  We are all close to death.  We are all running out of life.

3.  How many of us realize we are “close to death”?  How do we live with that understanding in mind?  What changes are played out on a day by day basis as we live “close to death”?

4.  Finally, what would our lives look like if we lived “close to death and close to life”?  What if we really lived with urgency and understanding that our “life is like a mist.  You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away” (James 4:14)?  What if we woke up every morning and told God that “I am yours today…use me however you wish…lead me wherever you want me to go…I will follow you…I will obey you…I will live in the middle of life and death…dead to myself…alive in Christ”?

Time is ticking away.  We will all be dead someday.  In fact, right now we are all very “close to death.”  At the same time, though, we are also all “close to life.”  We can change the world with the good news about Jesus.  We can offer the Way, the Truth, and the Life to others around us.  That is what we are called to do.

I can’t wait to see you guys this weekend!  Enjoy the rest of your week.

I missed my community group…but they didn’t miss me

Last night, my community group met without me…actually they staged a coup and voted me off the “community group” island…then they met without me and had a great time…while Amy and I sat alone in our sadness and cried over the rejection.

Okay, so that’s not entirely true.  What actually happened is that we started getting together with two couples in their twenties (we’ve added three more people in the last couple weeks) a couple months ago.  We’ve had a blast hanging out, playing Psycho Uno and Heck, talking about life, arguing over theology, and eating some incredible food.  Last night, my 7 year old daughter had a softball tournament game near Mall of Georgia and we had to skip out on the community group.  We talked about postponing or rescheduling it, but decided to just cancel it for the night.  The coolest thing is that, the other couples decided to get together anyway.  They’re really enjoying living life together and building the relationship between them.  Amy and I couldn’t be happier that they are actually enjoying this important part of Church At The Grove…encouraging relationships through community groups.

If you don’t have a group of people that you gather with to “do life with”…you need one.  When August rolls around, be sure to sign up for one…or just start one at your house this Summer with your friends or neighbors…or, if you’re in your twenties, come hang out with us…we’d love to have you.

Enjoy the rest of your week and we’ll see you Sunday!

Stolen Gift Cards

Sunday, June 8th, I turned 33 years old. It was a great day and I appreciate all of the kind words, cards, and gifts that I received on Sunday. I also appreciate all that one of my friends did to bless me on my birthday…though I will not get to experience it.

Today, Amy called to tell me that I had gotten a birthday card from a friend at Church At The Grove. The note on the inside of the card said, “Enjoy Dinner and a Movie on us.” I love movies. And, I love Maggiano’s. This card contained gift cards to both. How cool is that?

Actually, it’s not that cool, because the envelope had been opened and the gift cards removed. Now, my friend is left trying to contact the gift card companies to report the cards stolen and I am left imagining a plate of Chicken Saltimboca and Nona’s Pound Cake. Plus, I will miss out on a great movie after my imaginary dinner.

So, if you work at the post office sorting location that the envelope went through, and you stole my gift cards, and you’re reading this…I just want to say that I hope they burn your food and I hope the movie stinks.

Proverbs 9:16-18 (New Living Translation)

16 “Come in with me,” she urges the simple.
To those who lack good judgment, she says,
17 “Stolen water is refreshing;
food eaten in secret tastes the best!”
18 But little do they know that the dead are there.
Her guests are in the depths of the grave.