It is hard to believe that in less than two weeks I will be back in beloved Uganda. I consider it such a joy and priveledge to travel across the world once again to share love, and to be loved by some of God’s most precious children. I simply cannot wait to meet the children at Blessed Hope Orphanage and build them some new beds.

I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone that has once again supported me through this process through your prayers and your financial support. The people of Uganda have a special place in my heart, and I hope that God has a lot more in store for my journey involving this incredible place. I hope that it won’t be too far along before Abby and I are packing Gideon and Abel’s bags and bringing them alongside us as we step outside our own little world and into the lives of our brothers and sisters thousands of miles away.

It is so easy to find yourself believing that the life you lead, and the little world that we all live in is “the” world for everyone. We substitute our little bubble for the world at large, and lose our convictions and slip back into issues of entitlement of self pity. I am so excited to blow my bubble up once again, in hopes of never returning! My bags are not yet packed, but my  passion, conviction, love, patience, energy and humility are in my carry-on, so I think I am ready to go.

I am excited to share about all that God does in and through our Sweet Sleep team while we are in Kampala. I am excited to share stories and pictures upon our return, and can’t wait to hold those beautiful little orphan children in my arms and in my heart.

June 2, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

This is an exciting week, for myself and so many others across this globe that hope to see an end to the atrocities that have been facing Uganda for well over 20 years. Following unprecedented efforts from advocates across the country, Congress passed the landmark Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act on May 12, 2010. It is amazing to think of all of the committed activists and Congressional champions who have labored to get this bill this far. Groups like Resolve Uganda and Invisible Children have made it their life’s work to improve the lives of others on the other side of the globe.

President Obama, now it’s up to you. Sign the bill and commit to seeing one of our world’s worst human rights crises finally ended.

In less than a month I will be on the ground in Uganda, and I cannot wait to see this beautiful country once again, filled with some of the most beautiful people I have every had the privilege of meeting. And it will bring me even more joy if it can come at the same time that our nation makes a historic move in upholding justice and assisting in the rebuilding of a nation that has been through so much. Right now, as I sit in my office, I can’t help but feel inspired by the three young men who flew to Southern Sudan with a video camera in hopes of finding a story, and have now brought so much hope, healing, and pride back to the people of Northern Uganda. To Bobby Bailey, Jason Russell, and Laren Poole, I salute you, and stand in awe of what you have been able to accomplish through the vehicle of Invisible Children. Thank you for your passion, your vision, and your fortitude to see the longest running war in Africa come to an end.

May 14, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

With Mother’s Day right around the corner, it only seems appropriate that I write a little bit about my mother this week. Some of you reading this blog may have had the privilege of meeting my mom in the past, and others, well I am sorry but you are simply missing out. I have been blessed in many ways in my lifetime, but very few rank up with the fact that I was born into the Warneke family, with my mother as the matriarch.

As my wife Abby, stays at home to raise our two little men, I am constantly reminded of the blessing that it was to have my mom waiting at home when I returned from school, or being the last one to head off to school, spending my mornings with her at home. My mother and father have supported me in ways I can’t even begin to explain. Every crazy idea or pursuit, they have been there showing me support. There are not too many moms that support there sons as they take off a semester of college to sleep in their car and drive cross country. There are not too many moms that will support their son as his wife heads to work at an orphanage in South Africa for 2 months without him. There are not too many moms out there that welcome in 20 of their son’s friends into their home at 6:30 in the morning every Wednesday of high school. There are not too many moms that will sacrificially care for their own parents in such a loving way. There are not too many moms that continually pray day in and day out for their children to know the Lord. There are not too many moms that take up kayaking in their 50′s. There are not too many moms that can make anyone feel like family in their homes.  There are not too many moms that have the patience to lovingly raise 5 children with grace, humility and a servants heart.

I am a better man because of the mother who raised me. I am a better man because of the examples of love, forgiveness, humility, service, and joy lived out by a woman I respect, admire, and love. One day, I hope that I can live closer to my parents, so my boys can get to know better the mother that I love, and the grandmother that now so desperately loves them. Happy Mother’s Day to one of my true heroes of the faith!

And Happy Mother’s Day to my wife Abby, who is grace in the flesh every single day for the 3 boys God has placed in her care. Abel and Gideon are so blessed to have you leading, loving, and guiding them through this crazy thing called life. I am proud of the mother that you are to our boys. Thank you for putting your own needs, desires, and wants so often to the side to care for our precious little guys.

May 5, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

I apologize for the awful pun above, but I wanted to share a little from my thoughts on a passage in Luke, where Jesus called the first disciples. In both Matthew and Mark, we find Jesus walking beside the see of Galilee, he sees a few fisherman, and says, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” And they listen, they drop their nets and follow. It is a pretty remarkable display of obedience and the power of God. But today, I want to focus on the scripture from Luke and change our setting from the see of Galilee to the  Augusta National Golf Course where The Masters are played annually.

I am going to need you to use your imagination today, and put yourself in the shoes of a golfer. The power of the story in Luke, is that this call of the disciples comes directly after the greatest catch of these commercial fisherman’s lives. They are obedient to this Rabbi, even after their greatest success on the water, and without having the chance to enjoy even a bit of the glory involved.

So let’s take the leap into the year 201o, and pretend that you are a golfer named Charles Hackney. You have been struggling on the PGA tour for the past 4 years without much success, and you are just getting by. Remarkably you did just enough last year to get invited to The Masters in Augusta. You make it through Thursday and Friday without much drama and manage to make the cut to play through the weekend. Come Saturday, you have the worst round of golf in your life. You are embarrassed, your caddy quits, and you are thinking about faking an injury so you don’t have to show your face around the clubhouse on Sunday. However, your plans change when a Rabbi comes along and offers to carry your clubs for you on Sunday. To your amazement, and to the amazement of the entirety of the spectators you have an incredible round. You have 3 eagles, 9 birdies, 6 pars, and not a single bogey, a course record. But then your caddy asks something pretty remarkable of you, he asks you to leave your clubs and scorecard at the 18th green and just walk away from it all. He says he has something much better in store for your life.  You happen to obey and your life is now filled with adventure, grace, joy, and purpose beyond your wildest dreams.

I know this is a bit of a stretch, but it is not far from what happened with Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. Our version of success is very different from that of God. We are called to be obedient, not just in our failures, but our successes as well, and to understand that God’s better is always better! “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

Read Luke 5:1-11 for a companion to this blog.

April 28, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

I heard on an evening talk show the other evening that they had found a “rider” for Sarah Palin left on an airline, and it peaked my interest into the ridiculous lives of celebrities. I stumbled on a website devoted entirely to the outrageous riders of actors, singers and musicians, and I was oddly drawn to a rider for Carrot Top.

Now I am not poking fun at Carrot Top, but the length of his rider, and the specifics involved were quite Madonna-like. And with all of his ridiculous requests, I was drawn to rethink my relationship with God, and the ridiculous requests that I far too often make of Him. As easy as it is to poke fun at the requests of stars to be treated like royalty, we so often do the same things with God. We often commit ourselves to God, to serve Him, to love Him, to keep Him priority one, but in our hearts we write out our own  often silly conditions on how God is supposed to deal with us. We make conditions on how comfortable we would like to be, on who we are willing to serve, and for how long, and just how much we are willing to sacrifice for God.

Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we are a society obsessed with ourselves, and we as Christians have become, “born-again lazy” (a term from a wonderful book, Starving Jesus). We make silly demands on God for health, wealth and happiness all of the time, in big ways and small. Our faithfulness waivers with the wind, and I believe it is high time that we throw out our “riders” that we so carelessly make with God. Let’s stop picking and choosing when it is convenient to be a Christian, and instead live the lives that Christ called us too. Let us live lives of devotion out of necessity, because that in the end is what we were made for!

Visit the following link to view other celebrity riders: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/

April 21, 2010 <> Mike Warneke

I have the honor of preaching this coming Sunday, and I always enjoy the opportunities to share from my heart. This coming Sunday I will spend some time contrasting the early church in the book of Acts with the American church of today. I am going to discuss how the “me first” culture has infiltrated out church life, and how so many Christians seek out worship, studies, and even pastors that will meet their needs first and foremost.

I cannot imagine the thrill that it was to live in community as the early church did; being of one mind and one purpose. I have been serving on the Worship Task Force at our church over this past year. We are tasked with evaluating our current worship styles and making the proper recommendations to move us forward into the future as a healthy, growing and vibrant place to worship. There have been a lot of great discussions during our time together and also a few hurdles along the way. It is amazing how quickly we resort to protecting the kind of worship that we want, myself included.

I look forward to a day when I can simply worship, without a contemporary, or traditional, or even casual stamped in front of it. How silly we all must look to those outside of the church, and to Jesus as well. What happened to the unstoppable force that was the early church in the book of Acts. Persecution, imprisonment, and even death couldn’t slow down this rag tag bunch of disciples. And now all it would take in most churches is a new hymnal, a change in worship times, or a different coat of paint in the sanctuary to make everyone retreat and find a new home church.

All I can say is where is our focus. Are we coming together to worship the Risen Lord, or to make sure that our own needs are being met? Are we coming together to help carry each others burdens, or to keep a checklist of who is absent, and who just happens to be wearing shorts that particular Sunday? Have we been so focused on the Bible study, that we have almost entirely forgotten about the Bible doing? Now don’t get me wrong, we should get something out of worship, any time we are in God’s presence we will be blessed for it, but our focus cannot be on our benefit, but upon showing our gratitude, love, and joy that comes from the grace found through the cross.

We have not yet finished our task force, I just pray that when all is said and done we can simply count it a privilege that we get to talk about how we worship God at all. And I pray that we will learn to come together to SIMPLY WORSHIP the Risen Christ, the Creator of the World, the Living God.

April 14, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

Well this is “Holy Week,” and for some reason my life has not exactly fallen in line with the title of this week for the church. This week has thus far been filled with frustrations from many sides, and I unfortunately have not responded in a very “holy” manner.

Scripture says, “Be holy as I am holy.” That seems to be a lot easier said than done doesn’t it. Well for this week, in light of my own indiscretions, I have decided to write out an Easter Prayer. To those few folks that read this blog regularly I hope that this blesses you, and draws you a bit closer to the Risen Christ.

Heavenly Father, I come before you on this day with much humility and on the brink of shame. You call me to be holy, and yet so often I am but an embarrassed servant who has once again gone astray. As I approach Good Friday and Easter morning I am reminded of the path that your Son, and my Savior, Jesus walked.

I am reminded of the pain, the suffering, the abandonment, and I am also reminded of the countless times that I make a mockery of that pain by the way in which I live my life. Wake me up Lord God. Wake me up to your nail-scarred feet. Wake me up to your miraculous resurrection. Wake me up to the peace of your forgiveness and grace.

Rescue me from myself. Rescue me from the things I run after that only draw me farther from your plan for my life. Lord convict me of my wrongful ways, and help me to stand firm in my convictions. Help me hold on to my convictions as if they are the very thing allowing breath to enter my lungs. Help me Lord on this path to your empty tomb, to become who you have always desired me to be. Help me be the father, the husband, the son, the brother, the servant that you have called me to be. Help me to throw away words like justify, and rationalize from my vocabulary and my life. I am born-again lazy, oh how I want to be spiritually fit for you Lord.

Thank you for your gift of life. Thank you for your gift of love. Thank you for your gift of laughter. Thank you for your gift of children. Thank you for your gift of your creation. Thank you for your gift of a Son willing to die in my place upon a rugged cross. Thank you that I serve a risen Christ. Thank you for your gift of the Holy Spirit alive in my life. Thank you for being a God that I can trust, a God whose better is always better. You are my God, and I am yours. Help me be holy, as you are holy!

Amen.

March 31, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

With Palm Sunday quickly approaching, and the news of celebrity infidelity leading the headlines at the grocery store, I can’t help but think of our failure as human beings to stay faithful in our relationship with Christ. I am always reminded during this time of Lent of how quickly the crowds were swayed from yelling “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him!” And sadly we are still this mixture of faithful follower one minute, and wrongful accuser the next  to this day.

The church is called to be the bride of Christ, we are called to be faithful, and to love Christ as a husband is to love his wife. Sadly these words no longer hold the strength that they used to, in a society that faithfulness, and trust no longer seem to be the moral standards we hold ourselves to. We are bombarded, and often obsessed with the destruction of celebrity couples, and sadly when we spend so much time looking outward, we often fail to take stock of our own relationships. We fail to give the attention and energy to the relationships in our lives that matter most.

As a father of two little ones, I am so often giving the crumbs of my day to my wife Abby as we finally share a few words in bed after a long day. And if my wife is getting crumbs, I often find myself starving Jesus. I find myself giving myself to so many other noble causes that I forget who my true love is! I am reminded of the words of Derek Webb in his thought provoking and gut-wrenching song Wedding Dress:

If you could love me as a wife/ And for my wedding gift, your life/ Should that be all I’ll ever need/ Or is there more I’m looking for

And should i read between the lines/ And look for blessings in disguise/ To make me handsome, rich, and wise/ Is that really what you want

I am a whore I do confess/ But I put you on just like a wedding dress/ And I run down the aisle/ I’m a prodigal with no way home/ But I put you on just like a ring of gold/ And i run down the aisle to you

I pray that as this Lenten season progresses, we could all grow one step closer with contentment, and even joy, in the fact that we are yoked with Christ, and that truly is all that we will ever need.

March 24, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

I have really been challenged lately to rethink quite a few of the things that I am involved with. I have been reading a very challenging book entitled The Poor Will Be Glad, and it focuses on issues of sustainability with the poor of the world. So much of our charity, as good intentioned as it may seem, can often turn innocent victims into beggars, and hurting communities into villages dependent on the next handout. We, often out of our own ignorance, are making matters worse, rather than helping when we offer charity, instead of tools or micro finance loans to instill pride, work ethic, and passion in those we are trying to help.

For the last year, I have been selling jewelry, aprons, purses and other little trinkets from widows living in and around the Kampala, Uganda community. I have a dear friend who lives in the city, and when I need more items, I simply wire her some money, and she works with the widows and ships them here to the states. This was never something I really ever intentionally pursued, but I must say that it is one of the proudest endeavors that I have ever been involved with. I have been praying for quite sometime on how to make this ministry grow, but at the same time help the artists and craftswomen live sustainable lives, and not hinder them or the communities in which they live.

Out of these many prayers has been born Ekisa Designs. Ekisa is a “Luganda” word that means grace, and my friend from Uganda also wrote saying, “EKISA does not only mean Grace, but carries a lot of meanings with great messages like to love, care, kindness and whoever hears the word KISA, feels comforted, loved and gets filled up with joy.” I am still in the planning stages of this ministry, but I am excited to continue to dream big dreams for what can happen out of the support of these beautiful women of Uganda. I am hoping not only to support the artists involved, but also hope to offer scholarships for secondary schools for the children that are in their communities and under their care. I shall try not to limit all that can be done through the heart of God. Please be on the lookout for a website later this year with some real focus and direction for this venture.

Photo taken by my friend Kathryn Campbell

March 18, 2010 <> Michael Warneke

Well I must first of all apologize for not writing during this past week. Sickness and life happened and blogging was one of the unfortunate casualties of last week. I am a bit on the mend now, and ready to share what has been placed on my heart.

I have recently been blessed by a number of good books, and I am in a sense in the middle of reading about four of them. It may seem a bit spastic to be in the middle of four different books, but as long as they are not to similar in content, my feeble brain still somehow makes sense of them all. One of those books just happens to be Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson, and it has really gotten me thinking about my everyday choices. I have worked with fair trade coffee c0ops in the past like Equal Exchange and 963 Missions, but I rarely thought about my purchases much beyond that. But our choices matter, and they have a real impact on someone’s livelihood.

The choices we make, the things we choose to purchase, the shops and boutiques that we frequent are a direct advertisement for the way in which those products are farmed, produced, assembled, or what those products help fund. I would have to say that in the past most of us would get a free pass for our ignorance, but there is simply no excuse any longer. We have access to the world like never before, and we have access to how the world operates. With the tiniest bit of research you can find out where your coffee beans were grown, where you the cocoa beans that make your favorite chocolate are grown, and the labor that is involved behind every stitch of your clothing.

The information is there, so you have to ask yourself if you really care. Do you care that the individuals who made your t-shirt are working for little or no pay and are often beaten and forced to work in despicable conditions? Do you care that the coffee you drank to wake you up this morning was farmed by a family that is barely able to survive day to day life? And if you don’t care about your fellow man, then I’ve got nothing for you, but if you do care than this is a call to wake up. As Julie writes in her introduction it can be quite overwhelming to concern yourselves with everything that you wear, consume, or purchase. So start small. Take notice of where your purchases come from.  Here are a few lifestyle choices from an article in Relevant magazine that you can adopt to make some positive changes around the globe:

1. Stop Keeping up with Jonses

2. Pay a Fair Price for Your Coffee

3. Buy Slave-Free Chocolate

4. Eat Sustainably

5. Conserve Energy

6. Support Sweatshop-Free Clothing

7. Reduce the Waste You Create

8. Campaign for Conflict-Free Cell Phones

Philippians 4: 10 states, “I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.” Well the time for concern is now, and there are multiple ways in which you can express it. You can make small changes in your life to help have a big impact on the lives of others. Wake up, and throw your ignorance card away, now that you know you are responsible to act!

March 10, 2010 <> Michael Warneke