I reset the clock above and added another 24 hours. I hope you think it’s worth the wait!

Does your church value outreach and service?

Does it value it enough to shut its doors to make it happen?

A couple of weeks ago Lisa and I were driving past Grace Community Church, a church we’ve visited before in the past. As we were driving by I saw a sign by the road the intrigued me. In bold letters it read, WEEKEND SERVICES CANCELED NOV. 2 (keep in mind that this is a church with about 3,000+ attenders).

I figured it would have to be something major for a church that size (or any size for that matter) to completely cancel services for one weekend. Below the “SERVICES CANCELED” headline on the sign I read why, “…for a weekend of service.” They were canceling their weekend services to go out into the community and serve.

“We wanted to engage in a different kind of service by sending Grace people out into the community to serve others in one of 80 projects. Over 3,000 people served on Saturday and Sunday and shared Christ’s love with our neighbors in Indianapolis and Hamilton county.” - Dave Rod - GraceCC.org

I can’t tell you how much I respect that Pastor and the church leadership for valuing service and outreach enough to put their money where their mouth was.

Here is a video re-cap from the Weekend of Service.

Watch it and be challenged.

(RSS Readers: click here if you can’t see video)

It’s the final countdown…

Friends applaud, the comedy is finished.
Ludwig van Beethoven, composer, d. March 26, 1827

Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.
Oscar Wilde, writer, d. November 30, 1900

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Nathan Hale, American spy, hanged in 1776

If any of you have a message for the Devil, give it to me, for I am about to meet him!
Lavinia Fisher, hanged for murder on February 18, 1820, while wearing her white wedding dress gown

Das ist absurd! Das ist absurd! (Translation: This is absurd! This is absurd!)
Sigmund Freud

…and now for a final word from our sponsor…
Charles Gussman, a television writer who wrote for the soap opera Days of Our Lives.

Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub.
Conrad Hilton when asked if he had any last words of wisdom

I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.
Humphrey Bogart, actor, d. January 14, 1957

If you could choose your “Famous Last Words,” what would you say before you died?

So for my first 90-second video project, here’s a short video from this past weekend. Our friends BJ & Cherith came down from Fort Wayne to visit us. We had a great time hanging with them.

Our Weekend with BJ & Cherith in 90 Seconds
Weekend With BJ & Cherith in 90 seconds from Brad Ruggles on Vimeo.

I’ve always had an obsession with superheroes and comic book characters.

When I was 6 I was at my Grandma’s house playing upstairs. I tied a blanket around my neck like a cape and pretended to be Superman running back and forth with my fist in front of me and my cape flying behind my back. In that moment I was the Man of Steel - unstoppable, inspiring, invincible!

Invincible, it seems, from everything except crashing through windows.

I wasn’t paying attention where I was “flying” and crashed through the window at the end of the room resulting in a trip to the hospital and some stitches in my thumb. Still have the scar. Perhaps Iron Man would have had a better defense?

I have to say though, after all these years I still think Spider-Man is probably my favorite. Like Superman his alter-ego is an ordinary, somewhat clumsy guy but when Peter Parker puts on that suit, watch out bad guys! I think the suit is one the things I love best about Spidey. You could be the most socially-backwards, unattractive person there is but if you put on the Spider-Man suit and sling yourself into a room you’ll get immediate attention.

It’s Friday and many of you are already having trouble keeping grips on reality so let’s have a little fun.

If you could choose, what type of superhero* would you be? What are your powers?

* yes, there are different types of superheroes

I’d like to think that I’m a pretty honest, straightforward person. If you ask me, I’ll generally tell you what I think. I especially try to be open and transparent on my blog where I hit topics that some may consider controversial head on.

But the truth of the matter is that many times I’m less than truthful. I can spin stories with the best of them. I can stretch the truth and exaggerate the details. I lie to and hurt the worst person of all - myself.

The simple truth is that I’m an expert at lying to myself.

Through the years I’ve grown accustomed to telling myself half-truths and, even worse, believing them. Perhaps you know the kind of lies I’m talking about.

• I don’t have what it takes to be successful
• I’m not ‘hip’ enough or ‘cool’ enough to run with that crowd
• I’m not a good father/husband
• I have to hide who I really am for people to like me

These small lies and half-truths are some of the worst falsehoods we can tell because we’re deceiving ourselves. We’re choosing to believe something that isn’t true about the one person on this planet we know better than anyone. We allow the seeds of deceit to take root and grow until our minds become a jungle of lies that prevent us from seeing the truth - the truth about what our Creator says about us.

We each have the God-given power to make those lies become reality. What starts out as a complete lie, when believed, can soon grow into reality.

Alexander Pope, in his Essay on Man said it this way,

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is man.
Plac’d on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion, all confus’d;
Still by himself abus’d or disabus’d;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;

I’m constantly amazed that God created us with the amazing ability to manifest the reality of what we believe. This will that he created us with allows us to choose what we believe - not only about God and other people, but most importantly about ourselves.

What are you choosing to believe about yourself? Does it line up with what God says about you? Are you buying into the lies you’re telling yourself hook, line and sinker?

Take some time in the next couple of days to get alone somewhere and ask yourself if you’re believing less that what God says about you. Recognize the lies you’ve believed and replace them with the truth.

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

** this is a repost of a guest blog post I wrote for Crystal Renaud **

The latest Nooma Video, Tomato is premiering at Neue. It will be streaming in its entirety for the next 24 hours only. Head on over there, watch it, then come back here and discuss.

Do you ever find yourself telling a story in a certain way to make yourself look better?

We pick up at a very young age from the world around us that it’s about winning or impressing. We leark quite quickly that the way to get ahead is to take the path of ascent, to climb higher and higher.

We spend all this energy maintaining this false self, carefully protecting and preserving this image that we’ve created. Jesus invites that part of us to die. The part of us that always has to be right, always has to be better, always has to look good.

Think about how many broken relationships aren’t going to get any better until somebody is the first to apologize. Why is that so hard? Because when we say we’re sorry we admit that our hands aren’t clean, that we may have contributed to this mess - saying you’re sorry is a form of death. It’s a refusal to carry on the false self and prop it up, it’s a refusal to maintain that perfect image of yourself.

Jesus invites us to lose our life so that we can really find it.

I don’t know about you but the message of this video hit me between the eyes.

Discuss.

I’ve come to the realization that my blog has a voracious appetite.

Every morning when I wake up I can hear it calling to me.

“Write on me! Feed Me!”

And of course I willingly oblige it.

Throughout the day it wants little snacks. People have read what I’ve written and leave comments. So many great comments. Every time a new comment appears on my blog and I’m at my computer I’ll immediately read it. Every single one.

On the days when I happen to get a really great response to a post I’ve written I immediately begin thinking of what I need to write next to top that.

Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t view my blog as an obligation or something I have to “keep up.” I love the opportunity to share my thoughts and passions with you. I’ve enjoyed connecting with so many amazing new people that I would have never met otherwise. I love the challenge of expressing my thoughts in a unique way that will provoke thought or action. I love my blog.

I have just come to the realization that my blog, like so many things in life, can sometimes demand more time and attention than I’m able to give. Its appetite can be so great that other things in my life begin to starve. My relationships begin to take a hit.

I’m not sure what this looks like for me but I’m realizing that my blog needs to go on a diet.

No, I’m not going to shut it down or stop writing, but I am going to become more conscious of how much time I spend on it. Every so often I’ll “weigh in” here and see how I’m doing and try to be honest about when I’ve cheated.

So that’s what has been rolling around in my head this morning. What about you?

Is there anything in your life that needs to go on a diet?