C.S. Lewis - "Jesus, The Only Complete Realist"

I love the writings of C.S. Lewis. I have been thinking about this quote I heard in a sermon recently. I have been thinking about it in terms of my own life and what it would look like for a high school student to understand this!

"A silly idea is current, that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives into temptation after five minutes simply does not know it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it; and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means--- the only complete realist."

May the fight of my life be to fight temptation to become increasingly more real...completely real like Jesus!

Welcome to the planet Tanner!

Julie's sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy last night! Tanner looks just like his brother Makai. What a good looking guy!

It was great again to be reminded of the detail God goes to when he creates human beings! His fingernails are perfect! What a way to worship God!

This whole experience has me fired up to welcome our 3rd in February!

Domesticating our youngest son!

Josiah, the Potty Master

I came across this hilarious chart to reward your kid for potty training. I just want to thank my son Josiah that I didn't have to buy it! Way to go bro! Potty TRAINED! Your mom and I can't express the gratitude we both feel that you can now go potty on your own and we don't have to open up one more of your diapers!
Seriously, the kid is potty trained and we are loving life. What a celebration! And this got me thinking...we need to start celebrating more as a family! Sure we celebrate monumental moments like potty training, but what about the little things, like when Josiah came in to get a drink and then asked for a drink for his brother and took it to him! I would do well to start doing this in my marriage too!

I thank God for my boys and the fact that I have until the end of February before I have to change another diaper!

Finding Neverland in Littleton, CO

This weekend I finally watched this movie that captured the heart of my wife earlier this summer. I have to admit something, I didn't really have a childhood, and I really couldn't give you a lot of details about the story of Peter Pan. Growing up I was more concerned with the Denver Broncos and any other sport I could watch or play!

This was a powerful movie for me personally. Here's the big take home for me.

How can I help my sons use their imagination? Throughout a good portion of the movie Barrie starts interacting with these four boys and there is scene after scene of them playing "make believe" and the boys are loving it! This is done in stark contrast to the boys grandmother who thinks they should be proper and go to bed on time.

When I start thinking about my parenting skills, I have never thought about my skill of creating Neverland in the life of our family. Sure, we will go hit the ball or build a tower in the sand, but we've never gone out into the garage, with our used toliet paper roll weapons looking for the big hairy guy who wants to take our Cheerios from us...or something silly like that.

I think I have fought this because I don't want my boys living in a dream world all the time. For example, Barrie's obsession with the dream world was one of the things that cost him the reality of his marriage. So, I want them to know how to deal with reality, even at a young age. But I don't want to be like the grandmother who was so obsessed with reality that she prohibited her grandson's from any kind of imaginative play!

So there has to be room for both! I am looking forward to "Finding Neverland" in our house as the weather grows colder and our basement becomes a jungle of exploration, or our bedrooms become places where jumping on the bed is allowed because that is simply what boys love to do. Or what about wrestling all over the house and letting the boys jump from the couch on to me as they crush me to the floor? I have a feeling I am going to like what we find in Neverland!

The Most Passionate People in the Church

I have started my second read of this book. I want to share with you a quote that comes in the introduction. "...the adolescent brain is wired for passion; young people feel it in their bones, proclaim it in their hopes and their hormones, act out its power and herald its promise for the imprecise art of human life." This is a must read!

I remember reading a report this past year that said the group of teenagers in the U.S. today is close to 80 million. The Echo Boomers, the next great generation has arrived on the scene and we, the church, need to seriously consider what role we are allowing the next great generation, the most passionate people in the church to play.

Just a thought...what would the bride of Jesus Christ look like if the group of people who are wired to live for passion had a dominate voice in praising and proclaiming the PASSION, Jesus? How would our youth ministries look different? How would our corporate worship services be different? How would we spend our money different?

I have to admit my bias, I think this is the most important age to work with in the church. Now I know that the church is made up of a lot of generations, but I don't want to ever lose sight of the fact that these wired teenagers have the capabilitiy to unleash passion in the church unlike any other age group in the church. In everything they do, they are screaming for a passion to live for!

Just sit back and think how many students exist that are wired for passion. Then think about what would happen to the world if those 80+ million encountered the passion of Jesus and dropped their ipods and follwed him!

Broncos Training Camp

Today marked the start of something wonderful. Noah and I went to Broncos Training camp along with Tim and Kellen. Both of our boys are 4 years old and it's time to start getting them fired up about the Broncos! Sitting there today with Noah was extremely special for me because this is one of the passions I share with my dad. I can never remember a time when I didn't watch games, go to games or talk about the Broncos with my dad. This is definitely one passion that will be passed on from one Luebcke to the next!

Which leads me to think about what it is Noah will be passionate about. What passions will I pass on to him? How will I foster within him a passion for living? I think it would do me some good to stop, take a look at 14 years down the road to the start of his senior year in high school and start modeling for him today the passions I want him to know about, and even possess before I have one year left with him in the house. Who said loving the Broncos couldn't make a difference in your life?

The scary thing is...I have Josiah and another one on the way to think about!

Chauncey Billups in Denver, CO

Today on the front cover of the Rocky Mountain News was a picture of over 300 kids at a basketball camp put on by Chauncey Billups. The story was about the free camp he is sponsoring for kids in his community where he grew up. Chauncey played high school basketball here in the Denver area and we all knew he was something special when we watched him in the state tournament at McNichols Arena. While I'm impressed that he is offering the free camp, there was something else that impressed me more. The writer made it a point to say that Chauncey was behind the table getting the pizza ready to serve to the kids. It blew me away! He could easily make an appearance at his camp and let someone else handle almost all of the details, but that's not the case. He is intimately involved in the planning and implementation of what happens at camp...even the pizza, the water and the cups!

While I don't know much about Chauncey and his values we can't overlook his model of being a servant. I mean going from the picture featured here where he is holding the MVP and Championship Trophies, to behind a six foot card table serving up slices of Cheese, Pepperoni or Sausage to kids says a lot about who he is. So often we hear stories of superstar athletes making everything they do all about themselves, even when it comes to helping the community! Today Chauncey reminded us that for him, it's all about the kids in the community.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory

Last week a bunch of us took Noah to see this movie with his friend Kellen. It was cool for Kellen because his mom's cousin is in the movie. Her name is Missy Pyle and she is Violet's

mom! She was also in Dodgeball and Big Fish to name a couple more! I wonder how many steps that makes Kellen's mom away from Kevin Bacon? Maybe a later blog. Anyway, I had to post both Noah and Kellen's favorite part of the movie. As we were walking out they both said simultaneously, "When Violet turned purple and then into a blueberry! That was my favorite part!"

As we were driving home from picking Josiah up from his Nana's he jumped into the conversation, "I like blueberries!"

The Headline After I Die

I am always intrigued with what people write and say about people after they die. This week the news will be writing about Peter Jennings, who passed away from smoking to many cigs. As I was reading about what he meant to our country I found it very interesting what Jonathan Alter, a Newsweek columnist titled his article, "What We've Lost - Peter Jennings used his power to make sure we learned about international news that mattered."

I wonder what the headline for my life will read? I'm pretty sure I am not going to be in Newsweek. So I wonder, what will my wife lose? What will my kids lose? What will my friends lose? What will the story of my life communicate to everyone about what mattered most to me? What we will those close to me learn about what was most important to me?

No offense to Peter or Mr. Alter, but I don't want to be remembered for the use of my power to make a name for myself. I want to be remembered as an individual that lived and promoted the glory of Christ as revealed in His Word and make a name for HIM! Jesus prayed, "Hallowed be YOUR NAME!"

What's more, I don't want anyone to feel like there is a loss. I want there to be great rejoicing that one day we will all be united together where there will be no more tears, or pain, or crying! I want to live eternally here because I was created to live like it forever!

Luebcke # 3 - Fearfully & Wonderfully Made!

Today Julie and I had the privilege of seeing the power of God as we had an ultrasound done on our 10 week-1 day old child! What a worship service! Tears flodded my eyes as I thought about how blessed I am to be the father of another child! Psalm 139 has become so much more of reality to me now that I am the father of children. I love this truth about the Bible! The older I get and the more life experiences I travel through it will always be speaking truth into my life!

I love how David records it in verses 14-16 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Today, I got a sweeter taste of knowing how wonderful the works of God are! Julie and I praised God! To think that the eyes of the creator of the universe have been on my child blows my mind! What's more, God has given me a front row seat in the life of this 10 week old to watch all of the days ordained for him or her until I pass into His loving arms!

Go hug your kids! Go hug your brother or sister! Once your done, worship God for all of His works are wonderful, and that includes you!

Cyber Dan

Here we go! I need a place to get out all of the ADD thoughts that run through my heart and mind at warp speed. I have wanted to make this happen for quite some time, so here it goes! I owe this all to my friend Charlie! You are the man...the true rockstar in my life!