A truly incredible weekend

2008 got off to an awesome start for me -- the first weekend of '08 was spent with my father and my son at a men's retreat with approximately 160 other men from Evangelical Free Church of Hershey, PA.

Of course, the question came up more than a few times -- what's three guys from Newark, DE doing with this group from Hershey, PA? The answer to that one is simple, we came to see the guest speaker - John Fischer.

I have been reading John's books and listening to his music for probably 20 years now - his insight is pretty darned impressive. If you ever get a chance to see him in concert or attend a seminar or retreat weekend where he is speaking, just do it - you will be challenged and encouraged. In the meantime, try to get one if his books and sign up to get "The Daily Catch" - a daily e-mail from John that helps put a lot of things into perspective.

Just to give a very simple, scratching the surface kind of review of some of the things John spoke about this weekend:

1) Christians should have a fearless faith - ready to see the world through a wider lens, appreciate more of the creativity, truth, and beauty that exists regardless of the conduit through which it arrives

2) to quote from Proverbs 25:2 - "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings" - so search (or ask, seek, and knock)

3) People today are searching for transcendence, significance, and community -- ideally that is exactly what a church based on the gospel should be offering, you fill in the rest

4) Many of us might need to look into a 12-step program for pharisees (myself included)

As an added bonus, I had the privilege of serving on a Saturday afternoon political panel with former Pennsylvania State Representative Jeff Coleman, Ron Hostetler (former candidate for U.S. Congress), and Steve Hoke (truly brilliant mind - knows more about Constitutional principles than most will ever hear about in their lifetimes). The discussion was moderated by Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

The weekend was also awesome on a personal level -- as mentioned before, this was time spent with both my father and my son -- it was great to get a "guy's weekend" together. We got to talk, share, play Risk, and enjoy a great time meeting dozens of quality people together.

A quick note to the guys at Evangelical Free Church -- you guys put on an excellent event, every detail was well planned and executed, thank you for doing all you did to make this such an awesome experience!

To see several photos from the weekend (including the midnight dodge ball games, the lost hikers, and concert shots), click here.