60 Musings in 60 Seconds! Happy 60th Pop!

In lieu of Michael Durso's 60th birthday, here are 60 reasons why I celebrate him today...

1. Thanks for sending me to bed - you treated me like one of your own.
2. Thanks for the track 'Others May, You Cannot'! I still have it.
3. I can't hoot with the owls by night AND soar with the eagles by day.
4. Thanks for saying 'If I'm true to my teeth, they won't be false to me.'
5. Thanks for being the consummate writer of the 'love note'!
6. Thanks for reminding us 'The weakest ink is better than the strongest mind! Write it down.'
7. Thanks for great family vacations at Winter Clove.
8. Thanks for putting me on plane for the first time on my 15th birthday
9. Thanks for asking me to come work for you!
10. Thanks for 'reasoning' with me when I wanted to leave.
11. I'm sorry for hitting your leg after hip surgery
12. I hated when you came home with the news that Pastor Cymbala beat you in tennis
13. Thanks for taking me to the fresh wind fresh fire conference in Houston
14. Thanks for letting me water the flowers again - after I killed them.
15. Thanks for letting me travel with you to Lee University.
16. Thanks for trusting me to keep an eye on the house.
17. After your eye surgery - you looked scary with a patch and beard.
18. Thanks for sweating over the grill every summer while we eat, drink and think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
19. I'll never forget how you led Chien Ming Wang and his wife to the Lord.
20. You who are spiritual, restore gently! I have no one else like you.
21. Thanks for taking me on the prison visit, but I can't thank you for the health bar - gross.
22. Thanks for letting me take water from your office fridge
23. Thanks for the countless food bills you paid.
24. Thanks for recommending me to your Balduchi contact so I could get the job at Agatha and Valentines in college
25. Thanks for reminding us that it was easy for Solomon because of the work David had done to secure the future
26. Thanks for getting up at 5:00AM to take us to the airport when you could have sent us in a cab.
27. Thanks for teaching me how to tip.
29. Thanks for showing me that it's better to give than receive.
30. Thanks for taking the hoop down when the neighbor complained - even though you had every right to keep it up.
31. Thanks for getting up every morning to read and pray. I can still hear the creeks of wood panels as you paced back and forth praying for all us.
32. Thanks for giving me the daily light and addressing it to 'my son in the Lord'.
33. Thanks for trusting me so many times to lead the people in prayer and to speak
34. Thanks for saying 'Look at that tree, It's TREE-mendous!
35. Thanks for sending me texts messages after I speak.
36. Thanks for leaving the bathroom door open - it's how I learned to shave!
37. Thanks for the Hugo Boss shoes - I still think they looked good on you but I'm glad you thought otherwise.
38. Thanks for wearing all our gifts with pride.
39. Thanks for giving me the thumbs up when I told you about Lisa.
40. Thanks for marrying us - great message about Aquilla and Priscilla.
41. Thanks for dedicating Aaron
42. Thanks for dedicating Corey
43. Thanks for walking me through the decision to take internship in Maryland.
44. Thanks for calling me in the mountains of Guatemala, while I was on missionary trip - how you got the number I'll never know and it was the only time the phone rang - 14 days.
45. Thanks for taking care of yourself
46. Thanks for showing up to all the funerals
47. Thanks for reading those devotional to us every morning - even when you knew we didnt want to hear it.
48. Thanks for showing us up at the annual christmas push up contest
49. Thanks for loving Maria
50. Thanks for being a great father to adam, jordan and chris
51. great pastor
52. great husband
53. great leader
54. great grandfather
55. Thanks for checking in on Lisa and the kids when I'm the on the road.
56. Thanks for introducing us to Dr. Forster - Lisa's idol
57. Thanks for taking Lisa and I to Jimmy's Bronx Cafe to check her out - if it didnt work out; the flan and cafe con leche would have been worth it.
58. I wish i would have had this idea when you were 30 - I would have been done already
59. Thanks for 'modeling' HUMILITY
60. Happy 60th Birthday!

A Kind of Dream Come True...Sort of

It's No Secret - I have a short list of teaching pastors who quite frankly inspire me - period!

Rev. Michael Durso
Rev. Dr. John Piper
Rev. Dr. Tim Keller
Rev. Dr. AR Bernard
Andy Stanley
Mark Driscoll

...to name a few! My criteria is pretty simple:

Sound Doctrine
Intellectual Rigor
Creativity
Authenticity
Skill
Humor
Relevance
Longevity
Intentional Focus

As I mentioned, one favorite is Rev. Dr. AR Bernard.

In the last year or so, I've had the opportunity to collaborate on ministry projects with his church, the Christian Cultural Center - most recently on a co-sponsored event we did together called Bizarro World - a student & leaders conference.

Set up:

Growing up at Christ Tabernacle, there were three precious women in our church who started out in ministry with Dr. Bernard at Household of Faith. They would say to me all the time 'we love you because you're like our old pastor.' I found out years later they were referring to Rev. Dr. AR Bernard. I promise there is a point!



For obvious reasons, I've never told THIS story (because it sounds like a lie in my dreams) but after I preached my first weekend sermon ever at Christ Tabernacle - a man handed me a sermon at the end of service and said to me: 'please listen to this message, you remind me of him'! To my shock and utter surprise, it was a message from Rev. Dr. AR Bernard. After the compliment, I needed a thorn in my side to accompany my new found revelation.

Fast forward January 2010, I was leading a small breakout among a list of speakers at the conference we were co-hosting. Due to a last minute schedule change, my workshop was moved into the main sanctuary - no big deal, right?

We'll I've watched Dr. Bernard from a distance at services, conferences and on television - now I was getting the chance to teach MY workshop from HIS pulpit - no big deal, right? For me, a kind of dream come true...sort of!

I seized the moment and made one request which was graciously honored by the staff at Christian Cultural Center: I asked for the CCC engraved posted notes Dr. Bernard uses when he teaches on television - and thanks to Elizabeth Fernandez aka LizPix - I now have the proof forever. Thanks Liz!






Whether I LOOK like him or TEACH like him really doesn't matter - but I've treasured the 'kind of dream come true sort of' moments along the way because they encourage and challenge me to stay committed to the course...to stay committed to the call...and to stay committed to the craft of being the most effective communicator possible.

How about you? Do you take the time to consider and catch the little things God might be doing for you 'along the way'? I'm sure I've missed plenty of opportunities to appreciate the providence and sovereignty of God, but I'm glad this moment is recorded in the books - actually in the blog!

Luke 2:19
...she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Ralph