30 DAYS TO A WHITER SMILE!!!

      I have an obsession. Call it O.C.D., peculiar, self-conscious, whatever. But when it comes to my teeth, I am obsessed! A normal day for me is brushing, flossing, and using mouth wash 4-5 times. I have no idea why. It's something I have dealt with for about the last 10 years or so. So before coming into work today (while brushing of course), I was thinking how my obsession relates to our walk as Christians. At this point you're probably thinking "this dude is off his rocker." Allow me to elaborate.
      First I had to ask myself "Why do I do this?" The question wasn't at all hard to answer.
1. When I smile, I want people to see my shiny ivories. I want people to think "wow, he has pretty teeth."
2. I don't want people to think "holy crap, his breath reeks!"
      Then it occurred to me how hard I work to hide what's behind that "pretty" smile. I'm putting up quite the facade. Although much of what I think never becomes vocal, the smile I work so hard on is just a cover-up. When someone just really ticks me off, I try to just flash the pearly whites and walk away. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing, but it causes me to hold it all inside...which leads me to my next point of this bizarre blog.
      Last night at AMPED I issued a challenge that will start this Monday, January 24. It's called the "A.P. 30 Day Challenge". My lesson was all about the benefits and biblical reinforcement of having an accountability partner (hence the "A.P.") I mainly pulled this lesson from two verses - one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament:
1.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 -  Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
2.  James 5:16 - Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
      We discussed how when it comes to choosing an accountability partner we can't just settle for whomever. It takes one important thing...PRAYER! We must ask God to send the right person our way. It also takes time. People don't just earn our trust over night. Trust is time-proven. Just like when investing, we don't choose a single stock that's only been around for a year. No, we choose a mutual fund with a good track record. (Thanks Dave.) We also need to find someone who is on the same page as us spiritually. If that person isn't living his/her life for Christ, we may be good for them, but they will just be a stumbling block for us. You will NOT find a suitable accountability partner in gossip groups! One thing we've tried to ingrain in our students heads is that if someone is gossiping to you, they WILL gossip about you. An A.P. must be trustworthy and discreet. And finally, once the A.P. is in place, we must get past the mundane and surface level conversations. We must move beyond:
                                                     "Sup?"    "Nuttin"
                                       "How's it goin?"    "Fine."
                 "Think it's gonna snow today?"    "Hope not."

      So what's the A.P. 30 Day Challenge? Starting this coming Monday, January 24, our students must choose someone to pray with a minimum of once a day for 30 consecutive days. They will each be given a sheet of paper that they both must initial each day after praying together, and they must both pray! Each one prays for the other. After all, that's what an accountability relationship is - two sided. They can pray together one of two ways: either in person or verbally over the phone...no praying via texting! At the end of the 30 days, we will be taking those that didn't miss a single day out to eat to celebrate.
      Obviously, without giving them ample time to pray and find the A.P. that's right for them, they don't have to be 100% transparent. The point of this activity isn't to find a life-long A.P. It's to get them in the habit of having one, holding that person accountable, being held accountable, and praying and caring for someone other than themselves.
      Jackie and I would appreciate your prayers for the next 30 days for AMPED. We believe this will be an eye opening and life changing month for them.