Etentional.com | Thoughts on purpose

Your way out of conversation mud

2011-04-11T17:11:00.003-04:00

Well since I haven't REALLY blogged anything in over 2 years (outside of book reviews), I thought it was time to start it up again.

In my recent message, "Power of 10", I spoke about the tendency to get stuck in conversation mud in which you have to take a shower afterwards. You know the kind. Generally you would be looking around to make sure the person you're speaking about isn't near you.

Thankfully, there is a formula in the New Testament to rid yourself of this tendency - it comes from 1 Timothy 1:5. Here it is:

Love (A pure heart + a good conscience + a sincere faith) = No meaningless talk.

Paul (the author of 1 Timothy) warns us that "when you wander away from these, you resort to 'meaningless talk'."

Here's another way to look at it:

Love (believe the best about people + don't do anything you have to lie about later + love God) = A clean mouth.

It's amazing how much better you'll feel, and how much people will value your company when you live a life devoid of meaningless talk!

Book Review - Decision Points (George W. Bush)

2010-12-22T17:38:00.002-05:00

I was very impressed with this book. It's a large book with a lot of information in it. Overall, regardless of how the situations actually played out, I feel like I know what the former President was thinking and going through. I appreciate that.

A few specific thoughts:

- I enjoy the way the book is laid out. Rather than a comprehensive view of his time in office, the book is organized by major 'decision points' that defined the presidency.

- I'm amazed at how candid he is, about a lot of different subjects. Nowadays, I think people find true honesty refreshing. Reading it, I know I sure did.

- He has a strong tie to his family. After everything he's been through, he still values strong connection to his family.

- He knew the mistakes he made in various times of the presidency. He recognized those times and learned from them.

This was a great book! It has a ton of detail in each chapter that really gives you an appreciation for each of those decision points.

Book Review - Billy Graham: His life and influence

2010-09-08T23:18:00.004-04:00

Well, first off, I was excited to read this book because it's not the kind that I usually read.

I have to say, WOW! I loved the book! It's a bit long, weighing in at just over 300 pages, but it was so good.

The author, David Aikman, did a tremendous job putting the life of a man into a book format. By the time I was done, I really felt like I had insight into the life of Billy Graham.

My favorite section of the book was in the middle, when Billy's life with the presidents was detailed. I loved hearing the stories and how he interacted differently with each of the presidents. I also learned the history of Chuck Colson - very enlightening.

In all, it's a tremendous book. Several times, the autobiography of Billy Graham is referenced. This makes me want to read it!

One of the things that struck me was how the book ended. After 60 years of service, the book ends with a tribute to his Wife and kids. The things he accomplished are mind-boggling, really. But to think of the relationship he had with his Wife - now that's the good stuff:

"Billy Graham could not have survived the pressures of his six-decade long career as an evangelist in the public eye without the companionship, encouragement, and support of his late wife, Ruth Graham, who died on June 14, 2007"...

Continuing on into the afterword: Billy says of Ruth, "Ruth is my soul-mate and best friend and I cannot imagine living a single day without her by my side. I am more and more in love with her today than when we first met over 65 years ago as students at Wheaton College."

Great man. Great story. Great legacy.

Book Review - Wild at Heart: Revised and Expanded

2010-04-23T10:57:00.002-04:00

I received my copy of “Wild At Heart: Revised and Expanded” a few days ago. I was so excited to read it again.

I remember reading the original book 10 years ago. What a difference that book made in my life. Such real, raw, true concepts.

As I read the revised and expanded version again, 10 years later, it was like having a conversation with an old friend. I had forgotten some of the things that were talked about in the book.

My favorite statement from the revised version is when John is talking about if his book would stand the test of time. He quotes the book of Matthew, “You will know them by their fruits”. He then writes, “A cut-to-the-chase test. You can hold it up to reveal a church, movement, man, or nation. What is the fruit? What does it leave in its wake? I’ve found it to be an immediate and revealing test.”

I can definitely say that Wild at Heart has passed the test of time. I appreciated reading it again. My only critique is that I would prefer the revised content to be highlighted in some way, rather than mixed in with all the original content. That said, still a fantastic book. One I highly recommend.

Book Review - Living Life in the Zone

2010-04-07T10:38:00.003-04:00

I thought this was a good book. The thing I liked about it especially was that the book was presentable to a large group of men. It is a book you can bring into a men's group and not worry about alienating anybody.

The only criticism I found was that a lot of the examples and viewpoints came from a sports perspective. I found that as other men read the group, they couldn't identify with the examples because they didn't have a sports background.

Other than that, I thought it was a great book. I recommend it for a diverse group of men that need a book to read & discuss.

Tired & Sore

2009-01-04T19:01:00.004-05:00

I had one of those nights last night in which I didn't sleep very well. Actually, I woke up every hour.

I kept having weird dreams - dreams that were, no doubt, leftover from last night. We played maui (a card game - however you spell it) with some friends. It's basically crazy eights, but with a bunch of extra rules. Plus, when someone wins a round, they get to make a new rule, on top of the old ones. When you go on to the next round and forget any of the previous rules, you get cards thrown at you until you figure out what you did. Fun, but frustrating.

So I kept having dreams where I would be looking for 3's, 7's, etc. then worrying about the rules.

It occurred to me that as I got up, pretty tired, that I didn't sleep because of the game we played last night. I was feeling the effects of a fun night.

Then all these other memories of the last two weeks came running through my head, and the effects of them:

My right arm is sore from playing the Wii with some friends, and later renting the game ourselves.

I've gotten a headache in the last few days from laughing so hard.

My stomach has hurt as well from laughing so hard.

I am sure that I weigh more because of so much eating that has gone on with people the last couple of weeks.

I thought to myself that this is what I will remember from the holidays and time off this year. The people that we were blessed enough to spend time with, the fun that we had, and being 'sore' the next day.

So, to summarize - we're tired. We're sore.

We love it.

2008 in review

2008-12-30T12:07:00.002-05:00

I just took some time and read through my blog entries for 2008. I was pretty amazed.

Having never done a blog before, it was really nice to be able to look back and see what 2008 looked like for me. I noticed a trend though - I have had fewer posts these past few months than when I started. I'm going to try and blog more in 2009. It was invaluable for me to be able to look back and remember the year.

Here are the highlights:

Started a blog
Had an amazing youth conference, “Re-Created”
Collide worship band recorded 2 original songs
Met my goal of reading at least 1 book/month
Traveled to Washington DC with friends

Met Mark Batterson – author, pastor
Was inspired to start a coffee house that’s open for business during the day and have an auditorium built on that would function as a church on the weekends.

Said 'see you soon' to our good friends, David & Jodi Eash as they made the move to Illinois, on their way to Wisconsin ultimately.
Led worship (along with the other Youth leaders) for one night during Collide - the only time this year!(The kids are probably thankful for that)
Read ‘Communicating for a change’ – transformed the way I prepare and deliver messages.
Put our house on the market, only to take it off due to financial difficulties. Wondered what God was doing, discovered what He was doing 3 months later (when we decided to move back to Montana in 2009)
Had countless Fridays going out of town spending time with my Wife (loved those days!)
Held our 1^st annual watermelon eating contest – watched people throw up from eating watermelon (we even got it recorded!)
Kicked off the ‘We Are Family’ series – outstanding time for the church!
Joined Twitter
Joined Facebook
Spent the fourth of July in Rockford, IL with David & Jodi.
Bought a Wii, became a tennis & bowling pro (yes, that's a highlight)
Through the 21 series, I established a ‘New Normal’ and began running. I ran 3.5 miles for the first time in my life.
Welcomed my newest nephew, Trey Mitchell Redden, into the world.
Had a great unexpected weekend in Chicago with friends before going back to MT for a couple weeks. (Why didn't Bob Evans have Ribs that night?)
Spent 2 weeks with family & friends in MT

Got a tattoo (that my oldest brother drew) to honor my parents
Toured Gates of the Mountains
Climbed MT Helena with the coolest kid I know (my brother Bridger)
Had conversations that would ultimately affect the next several years of our lives

Attended my first demo derby (there was even a Superman car there. He was horrible. He got creamed right away)
For a date night, we had dinner by campfire in the backyard. Then our firepit exploded.
Attended the LifeLinks Leadership conference in Medicine Hat. Got to meet up with old friends, as well as make new ones.
Attended Catalyst One Day in Granger, IN. Got to see Andy Stanley and Craig Groschel in person. Learned so much that day.
Made the decision to move to Montana in April 2009.
Celebrated my 30^th birthday in Chicago at Medieval Times

On top of the highlights, I have to say that this year I felt like I learned a lot about myself. How I interact with people, my strengths, my weaknesses, what makes me tick - that also has been invaluable to me.

Looking forward to what 2009 brings!

Shopping Done?

2008-12-20T20:23:00.002-05:00

Everyone knows what Black Friday is. Well what about Black Last-Weekend-Before-Christmas?

We went to Battle Creek today for a relaxing day out of town. Hit some stores, the mall, etc. It was absolutely crazy everywhere! People going nuts to get that last-minute gift.

But, I can't complain. With all the craziness that was Battle Creek, we did end up having a great day and we got all our shopping done - with 5 days to spare!

Medieval Times

2008-12-12T08:19:00.002-05:00

So excited for this weekend! This morning we leave for Schaumburg, IL - home of Medieval Times! It's something I've wanted to do forever and Leslie has planned for us to make a weekend of it as we celebrate me turning the big 3-0.

Bring it on.

What's Next

2008-12-07T16:24:00.002-05:00

Here is an update of some things coming up for Leslie & I.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbV-8HkTIEk

The Next 5

2008-11-16T20:32:00.003-05:00

Last week we met together as a staff for some 'saturated' pancakes.

As we were all finishing up with our breakfast, we had the beginnings of a really good conversation.

The question was a philosophical one - what will the church (not just GCF but the church as a whole) look like in the next 5 years?

It really had me thinking for the rest of the week. So I thought that I would jot down a few things that I think are going to be critical for the church, as well as the people in it, in the next 5 years.

1. Transparency

Without a doubt, this is huge. One of the biggest problems in the church today is that people have hurts or issues they want help/counsel with, but they don't speak up because all they see is perfect people in the church. They end up thinking they're the only ones who are dealing with ___________.

If the church is going to grow and be a force to be reckoned with, we have to be willing to be real and transparent. Now I'm not talking about glorifying sin or being given license to sin, I'm just talking about being real, transparent & honest with each other. Because here's the truth - when we're transparent, it gives other people permission to do the same. If the church is going to be viewed as a safe haven, where all are welcome, transparency needs to be part of it's DNA.

2. Relationships

Can't stress this one enough. It's often been said that people will walk in the front doors of the church for the preaching (or the music or the _________), but they stay for three reasons - one of which is relationships.

I believe relationships are critical to every aspect of our lives. The church needs to be a breeding ground for relationships. Real, authentic relationships of people doing life together. Inclusive rather than exclusive. The people that you actually WANT to hang out with on a Friday night. People you count on for good conversations. People that watch your kids. That's what makes coming together on a Sunday morning so fun. The church needs to be a family, where there's always room for more.

3. Power of God

Let's face it - there are some big issues out there. People are ashamed of their past, are just 'surviving' in the present and are worried about their future. We are living in a time where one sermon ain't gonna cure our problems, and the latest self-help book won't make a dent. We've got significant questions and we need significant answers. More than any other time when I've been alive, I see people having an open mind, and legitimate need towards the supernatural side of God.

I think too often that which we fear imprisons us. We see so many things that make us apprehensive towards the things of God that we are willing to not even take a chance.

I can safely say that I was the same way. I had plenty of questions and I saw enough people to keep me out of the church for good. Then I got to a point in my life that I didn't have all the answers. I got to a point where I said, "ok, I'll check it out". I'm glad I did. I'm glad I didn't let that which I feared, imprison me. Because it was at that time that I decided to have an experience for myself that I encountered the supernatural side of God and my life hasn't been the same since.

Critics say that God is a crutch for weak-minded people. I can't change their opinion. But they can't change mine either. I would encourage such people to have an open mind and to walk with God for a bit and then tell me what the weak part is - I'd love to see it :)

4. Communicating for today

I love this topic. Simply put - the message can't change, but the packaging HAS to change.

Gone are the days when people sit and listen to a 2 hour sermon. It's a waste of time. Yep, I just said that. I believe it's a waste of time for the people listening and the person that prepared it. You might have some great revelation that God himself spoke to you, but if it's wrapped in the middle of a 2-hour long sermon, it's safe to assume your audience won't get it. The mind can only absorb what the butt can endure. Better to split up a talk that long into several messages. Sunday comes again next week, just like this week.

I believe that our job as leaders, especially those that communicating is part of their responsibility, is to present the Bible in a way that is honoring to God. Communicating in a way that is a catalyst for producinglife change in the people that are listening to it.

Personally, I'll use whatever method I can if it means that a person will understand the Bible more than when they came in. That means videos, movies, dramas, music (both secular and Christian), dance - whatever it takes for a person to have a love for the Bible, and ultimately, for God.

5. Growing & Going

I admit, that sounds a bit churchy, but for some reason I like it :)

I talked quite a bit about this in my last message at GCF. Again, simply put, it means we take responsibility for our faith and then we use the growth we are experiencing and share it with the world. That means that there is more to our spiritual walk than Sunday morning.

Here's a great quote I recently heard: "What you put in your mind eventually gets to your heart. And whatever is in your heart becomes your pursuit." Our spiritual growth needs to be what we are pursuing. Only 12% of people today attend church. That means statistically, your friends will have a spiritual conversation with you before they walk into a church.

We need to grow, and then go. It's vital.

Well I admit that got long, but those are the 5 that I see. I'd love to hear your comments and/or some trends that you see.

My list

2008-11-11T10:24:00.002-05:00

I talked on Sunday about my task list and how everything on it was very 'right now' sort of things.

As I look at my list today and for the upcoming weeks, it is very different. There's still some 'right now' tasks on there, but 80% of my tasks are all future-planning type stuff that either require me to organize or think creatively.

Love it!

Sunday

2008-11-10T08:19:00.002-05:00

Had a lot of fun giving the morning message yesterday. I got to speak on a topic that I really enjoy - revolutionary spiritual growth (how you grow as a Christian).

I tried a new approach to sermon prep. My goal was to do the whole sermon without notes. I've seen it done before and it really impressed me. I've always wanted to have the information so a part of me, that it just comes out, without notes.

Consequently, that took quite a bit more work.

Usually what I do is start with a bare bones structure for the sermon. A lot of that taken from Andy Stanley's, "Communicating for a change". After my structure is complete, I will write out the sermon, word for word - just to get all my thoughts down on paper.

Usually at that time, I'll just study what I've written, etc. This time I broke down the sermon into paragraphs and assigned a one sentence intro to the paragraph. I then memorized the one sentence intros and the general flow of the message.

I really enjoyed it. I felt freed up - I wasn't relying on a piece of paper. Now the sermon didn't go exactly as it was on paper - never does! (Which I'm thankful for!)

Funny thing happened while I was speaking - I was differentiating between spiritual growth and revolutionary spiritual growth. To illustrate that, I was explaining four habits of spiritual growth, equating each one of those to the ingredients of a strawberry smoothie - which I was making on stage (apron and all!)

Once I blended the smoothie, I took a drink of it and a lot of the powder mix must have been underneath the straw. I got a big gulp! It was pretty funny to me!

If you missed any part of the message, it will be posted on the GCF Website.

America

2008-11-05T08:01:00.002-05:00

I was thinking this morning about the election results and just how much of a history-making night it was last night and how for the first time in history, we have an African-American president. That in itself is amazing.

I was also thinking of our friend, Deo Mwanje, from Uganda, Africa.

When Deo was here a couple weeks ago he was watching all the campaign coverage with us. He said something that is ringing in my ears this morning.

We were discussing how politics work in Uganda. He said that they are similar to the US in that the country becomes divided with party loyalties, etc. He said that remains even after the election. All the drama we've seen from the two campaigns - he said that it's like that all the time in Uganda.

We went on to discuss how it's different in America. Oh sure, America is definitely divided pre-election. Some McCain supporters, Some Obama supporters. But as we're now on the other side of the election and we see the results, I believe that we are able to rally behind a leader and get some things done. It doesn't mean that we're all going to magically agree on everything we've been talking about the last few months, but there is a coming together. Almost a 'ok, we've got clarity at the wheel -- let's get down to business'.

I'm thankful this morning that we as a country can have spirited conversations, make our voice heard, and in the end, no matter who wins, be a country that can come together after it's done and accomplish some things.

Medicine Hat

2008-10-26T17:06:00.002-04:00

Every October LifeLinks does an international leadership conference in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.

The experience at this year's conference was incredible on several levels. It was good not only because of what we heard there, but also because of the people. We saw a lot of old friends and also made some new ones.

I have so much stuff to process - I actually didn't want to read on the plane on the way home because there was so much stuff in my head already.

I'll be blogging a bunch of my thoughts from the conference in the days to come.

Definitely worth the trip.

Quarter of a point

2008-10-21T08:14:00.004-04:00

I play in a fantasy football league in Yahoo where you pick different players across different teams. How well they do reflects on your score - if the QB you choose scores a touchdown in his game, you get 6 points, etc.

My team, the Barbaric Barbarians, went ahead and pulled out the victory by a quarter of a point. That is by far the closest game I've ever seen in fantasy football.

I actually thought I was going to lose - I had Morris & Welker from the Patriots left - both playing last night. Morris was my trump card - I was hoping to get 25+ points out of him. He got injured and went out at the half.

Somehow I squeaked out the victory. By a quarter of a point.

Go Barbarians!

Remembering

2008-10-19T16:07:00.002-04:00

We had a trememdous amount of fun today during our service.

A couple weeks ago our worship leader, Ross Eicher, asked everyone what songs they would like to hear during an upcoming worship service. He let everyone know that he would comprise his worship list today from those songs.

What a great idea.

There were songs that I haven't heard in years. When the familiar chords began to play, I instantly remembered my days of leading worship at Lighthouse Church in Helena, MT. It was a church plant that was being pastored by my first pastor, John Swanson. It was in that church that I really learned a lot about life and ministry and made some friendships that are still foundational to my life today.

Hearing those songs today and remembering my roots was a good reminder for me. It made me realize that one of the dangers in ministry for me is that sometimes I confuse my own Christianity with my job. It's the fine line between giving out & receiving. Today was a good day to sit back and receive. It was fun to take that trip down memory lane.

Ross even managed to put "Awesome God" in the list. :)

Praying for the Kennedy's Today

2008-10-15T09:19:00.001-04:00

At GCF, we have designated today as a day to pray for Lee Kennedy and his family. Lee, with his wife Pat, moved to Houston, TX for work and has been battling stomach cancer over the past year. Today we will be praying for Lee and his family, and for a complete miracle in Lee’s body.

Please take some time today and offer up a prayer on behalf of the Kennedy's.

Hawks v. The Pack

2008-10-12T15:27:00.003-04:00

Today the Seahawks are taking on the Packers. It's actually a game that I got invited to go to in Seattle. A friend of mine had tickets 7 rows up from the 30-yard line.

Due to some schedule things, I couldn't make it. What a bummer!

The good thing though is that this will be the first Seahawks game I've actually gotten to watch all year - not a lot of them make their way over to Michigan via regular programming. If the Hawks aren't playing the Bears, Colts, Lions or Packers I probably won't see the game.

There is a bit of conflict within me though. Even though I'm a Seahawks fan, Aaron Rodgers from GB is my Fantasy Football QB AND I have GB's Defense. So I don't think I'm going to be able to have it both ways. I'll either have a great day in Fantasy Land, or the Seahawks will win. Not sure which one I want to happen. I guess it depends on how well I'm doing with my other players.

At any rate, I'm excited to be watching the game. Go Hawks!

Update:

Just got the above picture from my friend, Jerrad. That picture was taken from his seat!

On my way to 5

2008-10-10T21:26:00.002-04:00

Today was a day that I had to push it.

I did my exercise routine today - part of which includes running. My top has been 3 miles. Well at 2 miles I felt pretty good, so I decided to see if I could push it and go 3.5. I am proud to say that I did it - ran 3 1/2 miles - felt really good. Although I will say the last .2 miles were a bit tough.

I've been doing something I haven't done before. Usually I'll listen to music on my phone's speaker but recently I have been using headphones - really liking the difference! Now I don't have to listen to me breathe hard!

On my way to 5! Never done that before!

Dinner by campfire

2008-10-02T18:34:00.003-04:00

Came home to a nice surprise tonight.

Leslie informed me to expect something special tonight. It's Thursday, which is always like a Friday night for us (I get Fridays off) so I wasn't sure what she had up her sleeve.

As I came home, she told me that we were staying home for dinner - sort of. As she led me into the kitchen, She directed me to the back window, where I saw two lawn chairs setup in front of our fire pit, along with wood, paper, matches, hotdogs & marshmallows.

A nice fall evening outside, dinner with my Wife, and getting to build a fire. Is there anything better?

Thanks, hon.

Outstanding Video

2008-09-29T13:03:00.003-04:00

We're begun a series at GCF entitled, "Revolution".

It's all about understanding basic Biblical practices at a heart level. The 'Revolutionary' part is not the concepts - these concepts are nothing new. These are the same concepts that have been around for 2000 years. The Revolutionary part is us actively participating in them and making them part of our lives.

A couple weeks ago we covered Revolutionary Evangelism. Check out this video that I just watched on the subject. It's honest and straightforward. It challenged me.

http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/index.cfm?hndl=details&tab=MM&id=7868

Eagle Eye review

2008-09-29T08:38:00.002-04:00

Eagle Eye opened up this weekend - it's the new movie with Shia LaBeouf.

We went to Three Rivers on Friday to see it. Decided to go to the early 11:00 show. Out of the whole theater, we were there and 2 other guys. 4 people. I wonder how they make any money on those early matinees?

In any case....

The movie was great - it reminded me a lot of Enemy of the State (with Will Smith and Gene Hackman). Even though there were similarities, there was much left to figure out. Great story, great action - great movie. We were highly impressed with it.

Don't wait to rent it - definitely a theater movie.

Hopes up....then utterly destroyed

2008-09-19T19:53:00.003-04:00

So there Leslie and I were at Wal-Mart, getting some groceries, when we passed the RedBox machine. We both perused the selection of movies when we both decided on a movie to get: she wanted "Baby Mama", I wanted "88 Minutes".

It seemed we were at an impass. We couldn't remember who got the last movie rental pick. So we walked around Wal-Mart as we decided.

Then we came up with the idea that the decision would be won over a came of rock-paper-scissors, best 2 out of 3.

Round 1 came and went, I won. Paper covered rock.

Round 2 came and went, I won again. Again, paper covered rock (we laughed quite a bit at that one).

So we went around, got some groceries as I basked in my victory.

We checked out and I was like a little boy at Christmas going to get my movie.

We started the RedBox machine up, went to pick out the movie.....and....what's this? It's not there? IT WAS OUT!!!! AARRRRGGGHHHH!!!

My loving Wife assured me I could pick something else out, but there was nothing we wanted to see. So, after all that, we rented.....you guessed it.....Baby Mama.

I do get a nice consolation prize though: home-baked chocolate chip cookies :)

The Derby

2008-09-18T10:19:00.002-04:00

Almost ashamed to admit this, but I've never been to a demo derby before. I went last night to the one at the fair. Other than eating crud (didn't quite get to C3 last night) and paying for it later, it was a great time.

I'm convinced that there is no more guy-oriented thing than what I saw last night.

I pictured how demo derbys were invented - probably two guys that had $500 beater cars were hanging out together, complaining about how each of their cars were on their last leg. Then one said to the other, "Hey, rather than continue to drive these cars, how about we rip everything out of them, weld the doors shut, then crash into one another until one of us can't move anymore".

"That'd be fun, let's do it."

Thus, the first demo derby had been established.

What a cool thing.

The Abnormal

2008-09-17T08:34:00.003-04:00

Been thinking the last couple days about, and been inspired by, those people you meet in life who are abnormal.

I don't mean weird. I mean abnormal.

There are people in all walks of life, in various arenas, that have decided that they will not be normal. They will be abnormal. They are abnormal because they make abnormal choices. Instead of sleeping in, they get up early and exercise. Instead of coming home and plopping down in front of the tv, they engage their family. Instead of their Christian walk comprising of Sunday morning, they carve out time in the week to meet with God. Abnormal choices, abnormal results.

Again, these are abnormal choices. They don't reflect the majority. The easy thing for us all to do is to be normal. To 'go with the flow'. Take whatever life gives us. Let the world establish our routine.

But as I look around and see the people that are really excelling at things - especially those that are known - I see things they did early in their life to produce abnormal results.

The danger for me is that I am comforted by the majority. When I'm not doing any one particular thing, I talk with someone else and find out they're not doing it either and I find comfort. A silent acceptance comes over me of, "Well he's not doing it either, so I'm ok".

I think that's what's led me to where I am now.

I've been feeling rather undisciplined lately in a lot of different areas. The last couple of days I've been realizing it. It's been nothing major, but I'm a firm believer in the choices you make today will form your tomorrow.

So, I decided I want to be abnormal.

I've identified 8 areas in my life that I want to be abnormal - sort of my 'C8'. Every day I want to make abnormal choices that will benefit at least one of the C8 areas. A great day would be where I touch every one of the areas.

In case you're curious, my C8 areas are:

1. Communicating - actually spending time praying, rather than getting up to pray and falling asleep then waking up just in time to go to work. This is a season in life I really need to be listening.

2. Cardio - getting back to the running routine I established in August. I WILL run 5 miles.

3. Consumption - watching what I eat (darn value meals make it SO easy to eat cruddy)

4. Canon - I really prefer reading the Bible thoroughly, taking time to study the context and things that were happening in that day. I've tried the plans where I read X amount/day. For me, sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. I've gone back to what works for me.

5. Contemplation - It's amazing what thoughts run through my head in an average day. Been trying really hard to "take every thought captive" (2 Cor 1:4-5).

6. Calling - Anything that will make me better at what I do. That includes reading authors, having challenging conversation with people, taking further classes, etc. I'm a believer that we need to be continually innovating the way we do ministry. We can run into trouble when we start doing ministry from memory.

7. Creating - As many of you know, I also have a graphic design business that I own. If I'm not learning new techniques, I'm relying on the old ones. Not good in a technology-based business.

8. Companion - I want my Wife to be spoiled. I want to have good conversations and quality moments with her. I never want to stop courting her.

The funny thing is that a list like this could feel overwhelming, but it actually does the opposite for me. Now that I've outlined the goals, and I've decided that I probably won't hit each one every day, it gives me freedom to know that I HAVE hit certain ones. (Proverbs 29:18 - Where there is no vision, the people perish)

When I see someone who is in great shape I get inspired to get back running. I hope that we all live abnormally and inspire others to do the same.

Why I love fall

2008-09-16T19:37:00.002-04:00

Fall has got to be the best season of the year.

Each year I debate whether I like spring or fall best. Well, it took me 29 years, but I finally figured it out - Fall is the best season of the year.

Here are my reasons:

It's not 90-some dang degrees outside anymore.
You can sleep with a window open.
Leaves start to turn colors that are all shades of awesome.
Football!!!!
Fantasy Football!!! (This year is my year!)
Reruns = over New Seasons = Begin (incidentally, the season premiere for House and Smallville happen this week!)
Brisk evening walks.
The holidays are right around the corner.

Gotta love Fall.

Object Permanence

2008-09-08T08:10:00.002-04:00

I read something interesting this weekend that made me think.

It was out of John Eldredge's book, "Walking With God" (a great book!)

He writes about object permanence - the understanding that just because you can't see a thing right now doesn't mean it no longer exists.

Think of the stars - you see those every night, but then when the day comes, they're gone. They haven't gone anywhere - you just can't see them anymore.

I thought about that in terms of our faith. It's so easy for me to be full of faith and ready to act right after I hear God speaking something (when the stars are out). But then, after a while when some time has passed (the day comes and the stars vanish), how quickly I lose heart and begin to wonder. Just because I can't 'see' whatever it is anymore.

I guess that's what Paul was talking about when he wrote in Romans,
"But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

That's why we're encouraged to focus on what is unseen (eternal things), rather than on what is seen (temporary things). (2 cor 4:18) If I keep focusing on the fact that I can't see the stars right now, I'll lose hope. Rather, I need to focus on what is unseen, remember what God has spoken, combine that with faith, and know that if God has spoken and promised something to one of his sons, He will be faithful to fulfill it.

That's His nature.

Food Poisoning?

2008-09-02T19:44:00.002-04:00

Ever have one of those nights when you wake up every half hour? And when you do sleep your dreams are so wacked out that you don't want to go back to sleep?

Yeah, I had one of those last night.

We ate some fast food yesterday for lunch that I think I picked up a little something from. Felt fine before eating, but afterward my stomach was a bit off all day.

We got home from a fun labor day with friends. About 7:30 I plopped down on the couch, feeling cold. I knew that wasn't good. Took my temp - it was 100.9. So at 9:00, I went to bed.

The night would follow with waking up a lot, then having to visit the facilities a lot. Needless to say, I was pretty useless today. I went into work to do some things that needed to get done, then came home early to get some rest. Feeling better now, but there's still a headache that is hanging on.

I checked out WebMD and looked up food poisoning - all the symptoms fit. My fever has subsided and I think I'll feel fine tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to sleeping tonight!

a reason to pray

2008-09-01T21:23:00.002-04:00

Some very sad news today:

Judi Ahumada passed away suddenly at her home around 1:20 p.m. today.

Please pray for God’s peace and comfort for Lupe, the children, Gloria Whitmore (Judi’s sister), and other family members as well.

Dealing with a death is never easy - it's even tougher when it's sudden like this. As you read this, take a moment and pray for the family.

Please - it's important.

Wow....

2008-08-29T12:49:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it's been 9 days since I've blogged. Nine days!!!

So I felt a little guilty - decided I better put a blog entry in.

And there it is :-)

Made it back

2008-08-20T10:49:00.004-04:00

We made it back yesterday to Sturgis. The travelling went SOOO well. We were praying for a boring day of travelling and that's just what we got - no running to the gates or mechanical delays like we had on the way out.

Leslie has put up quite a few pictures on her facebook album - check them out. I hope to put up some of the pictures I took as well - I attached a couple of them to the blog here. Living in MT for 26 years, I forgot how beautiful the area is. This trip was a good reminder!

It was an amazing vacation - and it actually felt like a vacation! We were able to spend quite a bit of time with family as well catch up with some friends as well.

Great trip!

A brother's rendering, a family's honoring

2008-08-11T18:21:00.004-04:00

As many of you know, my family lost both of our parents last year. While it was definitely a painful experience, my brothers and sister have grown even closer together.

My oldest brother, Jim, is quite the talented artist. Always has been. About 9 months ago he told me that he drew something to honor Mom & Dad. He showed me a picture of it. I really liked it.

A couple months later, he asked me (as well as the rest of the family) what we would think about the picture becoming a permanent part of ourselves. After taking quite a bit of time to think about it, we all decided to do it - we decided to get a tattoo of our brother's drawing as a tribute to our parents.

What the picture symbolizes:

Bison Skull - symoblizes Montana
Black Cowboy Hat - it is a picture of the hat my Dad wore all the time. Notice the hatband. The artist did a GREAT job encorporating that in there. Looks just like the one Dad wore.
Ruby eyes - For Mom. Her favorite stone was Rubys.
The cross - brings everything together.

The experience was definitely memorable. First time for me in a tattoo shop. But this shop was voted best in Montana (it was in Missoula). I thought it would be excruciatingly painful, but it actually wasn't too bad. It for sure wasn't a cake walk, but it was tolerable. The thing that hurt the most was when the color started to be filled in. The artist did a great job taking liberty with the color and making the whole thing look great. My brothers and sister will be getting together in the next couple days for a family pic.

T Minus 2 Days

2008-08-06T08:18:00.003-04:00

Just wrapping up some last-minute details before we go. This trip isn't too bad, compared to other trips we've prepared for. Usually it feels like a mountain of details to attend to before leaving, but thankfully, things are coming together pretty nicely.

I had a subconscious quasi-goal (so really not a goal) to organize my Outlook inbox. I saw yesterday that it was reaching close to 3,000 messages again. I think I remember the number being somewhere around 2,947 messages. Yeah, I keep email. Probably more than I should.

So I wanted to organize it but every time I start I get overwhelmed and decide to do other things. It would take me at least 2 or 3 hours to do that. I can think of better ways to spend my time.

At any rate, things are coming together. I talked with my youngest brother, Bridger, yesterday (16 years old). It's always good to talk to him, hear about what's going on in his life. Yesterday he told me about a job situation that he had and how he put in his 2 weeks. The boss told him to not worry about fulfilling those two weeks, and that he was free to not come in (amiable parting, which was good). So after Bridger told me that he said something that made me laugh out loud. He said in a big gushy tone, "Yeah, now I can spend the whole time you're here with you, never leaving your sight."

Looking forward to it bro.

Unexpected blessings

2008-08-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

As I wrote a few days ago, Leslie and I traveling back to our home state of Montana for a few days. We are so excited for this trip! It has been a year since we've been back. Too long to go without seeing your family.

Our flight leaves on Friday, out of O'Hare. There our some friends of ours that offered to drive us to the airport on Friday morning (very nice of them). On Sunday, they came up to us and said there has been a change of plans. They're not going to drive us on Friday morning because we would have a hard time missing Chicago rush hour traffic.

Instead, they informed us that they made an executive decision have booked a hotel for us in Chicago and we will be leaving Thursday night. The whole thing is on them.

I was speechless. I tried to offer to chip in half for the rooms, but that was about as useful as a screen door on a battleship (tell me what movie that's from).

So, now we are leaving a little earlier than I thought with some unexpected blessings on the way!

Caring to confront

2008-08-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

I don't like confrontation. I never have. But I realized that sometimes it's necessary.

There's a story in the Old Testament concerning King David and some confrontation that he was on the receiving end of.

To paraphrase it, after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband's death, God told the prophet Nathan what had happened. Nathan's job was to go and tell David that God saw what had happened and that there would be consequences for David's actions.

I'm guessing that Nathan wasn't exactly overjoyed when he got those marching orders.

However, he still did it. He still went up to David said, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" and laid some pretty heavy news on him.

I wonder - how did Nathan feel after that conversation?

I've had some events happen in recent days where I had to be the 'Nathan'. Like I said, I don't enjoy confrontation. Not one bit. But, I do it. You see, I believe that as a leader, if you don't confront the issue, you condone the issue.

So however unpleasant confrontation is, sometimes it's just simply necessary. If I say that I really care about the person(s), then that includes caring enough to confront them. In a life-giving, speaking-the-truth-in-love, biblical, non-hurtful, no-agenda way.

Fortunately I have picked up some skills along the way from some wiser men in my life that helped me with this topic as well as read some books on it, but it never gets easier.

Thankfully, I don't have to do it every day.

Create Your Own Worship Experience

2008-08-01T21:08:00.004-04:00

As I was perusing the internet, going to a few places that I like to visit, I saw something that I've never seen a church website do before.

Check out www.newlifechurch.org - it's the website of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. On the lower-left hand corner of the site, click on 'Create your own worship experience'.

You choose three songs, and the sermon that you want to hear (announcements are automatically built in).

What a fantastic way to give guests an idea of what to expect at your church! This seems relatively easy and simple to do, but the thing is that it's creative and innovative! Perfect for our Web 2.0 culture.

Brilliant!

T Minus 7 Days

2008-08-01T15:32:00.002-04:00

Until we are once again in Big Sky Country!

We're heading out to our home state of Montana for some R&R. Really excited about this trip. We have some cool things planned for our time out there. I'm looking forward to spending time with our families as well as some friends we haven't seen in a while.

I'm glad that we have people staying in our house & watching our dog when we leave - I feel better about that then leaving him in a kennel.

7 Days - so that means this coming week will be tying up loose ends and make sure everything's covered for when we leave!

Car Issues, Part II

2008-08-01T09:34:00.003-04:00

We decided to take the Blazer in to the shop to see what was wrong with it. Thought it would be a minor problem. Maybe the spark plugs, etc.

The guy called me on Thursday and by the tone in his voice I knew something was up. He said it needs a fuel pump and sending unit. Going to cost right around $480.

So I think we have decided to wait on that repair. Maybe contemplate if we want to do it. The Buick is an easier (and cheaper) fix right now. A friend offered to help me fix the window and even got the parts for way cheaper! Woo-hoo!!

Well it's Friday today - a day off! Don't know what we're going to do yet. We have a lot of busy work to do in preparing for our vacation next week.

Car Issues

2008-07-29T15:13:00.003-04:00

We've known that our car(s) have issues - not news to us.

We decided to be proactive with the repair of our Buick this week and got a little surprise.

The driver-side window doesn't roll down correctly - looks like one of the motors died. So I called the shop. I expected somewhere around $100 to fix it. So needless to say I was a little surprised when he told me that if it was the regulator, the bill would be $311. If it was the motor, $200. He said it might be both ($511 for those doing the math).

Yeah, so $500 to fix a window. Just one. On a car that has 190,000 miles. Hmmm...let me think about this. What would Dave Ramsey do?

So we are thinking of getting our Blazer fixed, which at this point, is sitting in front of our driveway not being able to start. We'll get that to the shop and see what they say.

Ah, car issues.

2 Things I've never done...

2008-07-24T22:59:00.002-04:00

I didn't set out to do these two things today, but at the end of the day, I can safely say I did two things I've never done in my life:

1. Watch a movie that has the same title as the series that is happening at church. Yep, you guessed it. We picked up 21 and watched it. It's a movie based on a book. Pretty predictable through the whole thing - the end was amusing. Not a great movie - pretty average.

2. Run 3 miles - That one actually surprised me. Today was a day to run and I thought I was going to get in 2.5 miles but I was feeling really good at 2 miles so I just decided to go for it and do it. Felt so good! I've never done that before!!

Dark Knight & Secret Life of the American Teenager

2008-07-23T07:56:00.004-04:00

A couple of reviews this morning:

Dark Knight:

Went and saw this last Friday. Caught a matinee showing. I really enjoyed this movie. Of course I heard all the hype having to do with Heath Ledger's performance - let me tell ya - it lived up to it! In my opinion he was by far the best villain in a superhero movie I've ever seen.

He was believable because he wasn't a comic book on screen - I actually believed that he was just crazy and happened to wear white make up for some reason. Really enjoyed his performance.

As a whole, the movie was great. Better than the first one. I think it was the best one they've done yet. My only qualm was that I didn't really like the effects put on Batman's voice. It made him sound too dark - almost monsterish. I happened to see "Batman Begins" on TV a couple days later and his voice was nothing like it was in "Dark Knight". Other than that - great movie!

Secret Life of the American Teenager:

I'm not really sure what to think of this show yet - it's only aired two episodes, but I think it's going to have quite a following. Basically it's like a modern-day 90210 with the issue of teen pregnancy thrown in. Honestly, I haven't watched it too much. The last two weeks Leslie has watched it when I've been running so I catch the last part of it. However, there was one scene that I would like to address....

In yesterday's episode, all the main characters are getting ready to go to church. One of the girls, apparently the Christian in the show, is evidently going for the 'right' reasons. All of the others are going with a date - almost as if it was the prom - to make other characters jealous.

Well, in one of the scenes before they get to church, two of the characters are at an apartment. The girl is dressed in a tight mini-skirt, asking the guy, "I've never been to a protestant church before. Is this ok?" The guy stares her up and down and said, "Uhhh....yep".

The girl then proceeds to make advances on the guy asking, "How much time do we have before church?" Implying that they have "just enough time".

The guy shoots her advances down saying that even though they've been together once already, sex before marriage is a sin (Why it wasn't a sin the first time they did it, I have no idea). The girl says, "Oh, I think God wouldn't mind if two people that he made came together before church". The guy said, "I think he would". The girl says, "Well then we'll just to confession after church." The guy says, "We don't have confession." The girl then replies, "Well then what do you have?" After thinking a second the guy says, "Guilt, Regret & Shame - that's about it". She then says, "Why would I want to sign up for that?"

Exactly. Why would anyone want to sign up for that?

It's no wonder that the church has a negative image with the 18-30 year old generation.

Guilt, Regret & Shame. Sadly, a lot of young people in that generation would agree with that statement. What's even sadder is that I believe they agree with it, not knowing that they've been sold a bill of goods that in no way represents what Christ came to do. They have seen and heard so much negativity towards the church and Christians, that they are unwilling to have anything to do with Christ.

They don't see the incredible power that Christ offers. The power to break addictions. The power to live an authentic joy-filled Christian life. The power to not be a slave to sin anymore - the power to live dependently with the Creator of the universe.

They just see guilt, regret & shame.

So what's it going to take to change their minds? I'll tell ya after 10 years of working with young people, a debate with them won't do it. You can win the argument and not accomplish anything eternally.

What's going to do it is authenticity - being real. It's you and me living out our life in such a way that they see Jesus. When young people see more of what we're for than what we're against, maybe then their view of the church will start to change.

It's a big job. Starts with you. Starts with me.

21 - On my way

2008-07-22T18:16:00.002-04:00

We've started a series at GCF called "21: Your New Normal"

So for my 21, I've chosen to begin running. I've never been a runner, but since my family has a history of heart conditions, I figure it's best to get ahead of the game.

I'm a pretty active guy but I've never considered myself really physically fit. So my goal is to develop my cardiovascular system above anything.

I actually started this before we kicked off our series, but I am continuing with it purposely so that it in fact becomes my 'new normal'.

I set a new record for myself on Sunday - I ran 2.5 miles, followed by 50 pushups and 50 situps then 150 bicep curls, which just about made me unable to lift my arms afterwards.

Feels good to be progressing towards something with a goal knowing that so many other people are also pursuing their 21!

Jonathans

2008-07-22T18:09:00.003-04:00

In 1 and 2 Samuel is the story of Jonathan - King Saul's son and David's best friend.

I got to talk to a good friend of mine last night. One that I haven't talked to in a few months but that didn't even matter. We didn't miss a beat - talking about how each one of us was doing, etc. We went over some good times, some struggles - just about everything. It was a great way to spend a few moments.

When I hung up the phone I thought, "Yep, that's a Jonathan."

I'm fortunate in my life to have several guys around me that have the attitude of, "I got your back" - just like Jonathan did with David. Just like two brothers.

It's fun to talk with and hang around people you have that connection with - it doesn't matter what happens in life in terms of location or time - something remains constant through the years and miles. It's good stuff.

I'm thankful for the Jonathans.

Trey Mitchell was born last night!

2008-07-18T16:22:00.002-04:00

My oldest brother Jim welcomed his second son into the world, Trey Mitchell!!

Both baby and mother are doing well!

Blog for 21: Your New Normal is up

2008-07-16T14:32:00.002-04:00

Just finished putting up a blog for our upcoming series 21: Your New Normal. You can get to it by clicking here, or by typing out www.twentyonedays.com.

I'm excited to see this get used. Hopefully be a way for everyone to have an ongoing conversation through the series.

Thirsty or refreshed?

2008-07-16T07:54:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've done some thinking these past couple of days about our tongue and how it's used - basically just a word picture symbolizing the words that come out of our mouth.

The Bible says that the tongue is the hardest muscle to tame. That's quite a statement, but I believe it.

As I was reading through James, where it talks about the tongue, I read over this verse:

James 3:9 - "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

You ever have conversations with people that make you feel like you just drank a big glass of salt water? How about the other side? When you finish speaking with someone and you feel totally refreshed and energized for the rest of your day. Now, which conversation would you rather participate in?

That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about purposing to put an intentional filter on our tongues in which the only things that will come out of it are life-giving, fresh water statements.

It's tough to do. I fail at it. It's so easy to switch back and forth, even in the same sentence: "They're really great people, but _____" But that's not going to stop me from making a goal. My goal is that when words come out of my mouth, they will resemble fresh water more than salt water. Can't have it both ways. It's one or the other. With my words I want to be known for hydrating and replenishing people with fresh water rather than dehydrating and leaving them thirsty with salt water.

Imagine what a world we would live in if everyone put into practice what the third chapter of James encourages us to do.

Good conversations

2008-07-15T09:13:00.002-04:00

I'm convinced that a lot of the memories that we carry with us are a result of conversations that we have had.

Maybe that's why the Bible talks so much about the power of the tongue - specifically how there is death and life in it.

Spent last night having some good conversation with a group of guys. It actually reminded me a bit of my high-school/college days. Just a group of like-minded guys that were getting together to have some conversation, at the same time sharpening one another.

Great way to spend an evening.

Sunday Reflections

2008-07-13T21:44:00.002-04:00

What a day!

This has been one of the most packed Sundays that I can recall in recent memory, but at the same time it's been one of the funnest.

We had a great service this morning. Worship was incredible. The presence of God was extraordinary. I love sincere worship! So amazing! Then we had a guest speaker from Germany, Hans-Claus Ewen. He gave a powerful message on "The Power of Touch". It was a great message on the importance of being involved in a local church. That topic has been resonating in me recently and this message was icing on the cake - I'm a local church guy all the way!

Then we headed out to lunch with Hans and a few of his friends that were in the area. So good to talk to people that are coming from different situations. It's good to see their spin on life and hear about some of the paths that they're on.

We then stopped at home long enough to change our clothes then we were off to a day at the lake with some friends! What a perfect day to spend outside!

We played a bit of cornhole - guys vs. the girls. I'm not going to gloat here and say who won, but let's just say the guys won. Both games. It was great fun. Makes me wanna get a cornhole set!

Then we headed out onto the lake followed by some dinner and good conversation. Got home tonight and did some exercising (with a very bored dog). What a day!

Wii are in the game!

2008-07-12T12:44:00.003-04:00

It's official - we are proud parents of a new Wii! Got some unexpected money from my business so we decided to take the plunge!

The arm was sore this morning!

Crazy Week

2008-07-08T17:36:00.002-04:00

This week is crazy - a couple of big things happening:

Uganda Team is leaving - that's right - this team has been planning this trip since November. They head out on Saturday at noon from GCF. They're going to be gone from July 12 - 31st. Pray for them - that's a long time to be gone. Especially for the ones that this is their first out-of-country mission's trip. I have high expectations for this trip - we have developed a great relationship with the leaders in Uganda and now we're sending some of our very best young people over. Should be a great time! Luke is leading this team over. He's going to have a great time!

21 Series kicks off - I'm really looking forward to this series. The whole premise is that studies have shown that it takes 21 days to build a habit in your life. Well, knowing that, what habit would you start in your life? What's a habit that would become so part of who you are that it would redefine what was normal to you? That's what we'll be talking about for 4 weeks. I'm excited about the interactive elements in this series - establishing a new habit is always tough but it's a little easier when you have people around you to help you. (A chord of three strands is not quickly broken - Ecc 4:12)

Crazy week, but we are heading to the beach on Saturday. Really looking forward to that! Going to celebrate a friend's birthday - hopefully I walk away without a sunburn!

GPS's, The Rain & Rockford

2008-07-03T09:23:00.002-04:00

We made it to Rockford!

We are going to spend some the weekend with some friends of ours that recently moved.

Some other friends of ours let us borrow their GPS for the weekend - how sweet that thing is! I had my doubts about how it would do, but it took us right to the door of where we want to be - even navigated us through Chicago - which was great! I gotta get one now!

There was so much rain! I think we must have driving with the storm. Seriously, I felt like Noah - I found myself saying out loud, "When is it going to stop raining". I think the windshield wipers were mad at me.

So, now we're in Rockford looking forward to hanging out for the weekend. We'll probably take it easy this morning and afternoon then head for dinner tonight then a parade tomorrow. Good to be here!

We Are Family - That's a wrap!

2008-06-29T15:18:00.002-04:00

Well we finished with our series We Are Family. Today was a blast! After summarizing the last three weeks of the series, we heard some real-life stories of people that had gotten together and experienced family. Some great stories!

Right before we were all dismissed to enjoy all the cake and drinks, Ross had 200 balloons ready to be dumped from the balcony - what a cool moment! Really glad that everyone stuck around to talk with one another and enjoy all the cake that was brought in!

Changed things around

2008-06-28T15:53:00.002-04:00

So I added a new graphic and changed some colors around - gotta mix it up a bit!

Great Video

2008-06-26T17:13:00.002-04:00

Check out this video (click on the video on the front page) I came across on the internet. It's for a new series that Cross Point Community Church is doing - very cool video.
It reminded me of Rob Bell's Nooma videos.

Reactive vs. Proactive

2008-06-26T08:21:00.002-04:00

We just had another one of our all-day staff meetings.

We've been doing these regularly with the purpose of taking some time to be together, pray together, and plan together.

One of the things that we did yesterday was look ahead to what's coming up and put some things in place.

As we were planning and brainstorming, I began to think about and contrast being reactive vs. proactive.

Any leader or book on leadership tells us that in order to lead, you have to be proactive. Leading, by definition, is being proactive. It's looking ahead and making plans accordingly. Following, by definition, is reactive - whatever comes up in life, you make your decisions accordingly. When you are being proactive, you are leading and hopefully others follow you. When you are being reactive, you are following someone or something.

As I was thinking about all of that, I was reading the story of Samson this morning and began thinking about all the ways that he was reactive, when he should have been proactive, and how that eventually ended up being his downfall.

Keeping Samson in mind, I then thought about the nature of sin. One of sin's chief characteristics is it causes you to be reactive. Think about that. Nobody is ever proactive with sin. Nobody wakes up in the morning, excited to go and sin, thinking, "Well today's going to be a great day. Today I'm going to go and _____". That's because when you sin, you are a slave to it and nobody is excited to be a slave. (John 8:34 "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.")

The point? The point is that when we sin we are being reactive. When we are being reactive we are being followers. If that's true, then the rhetorical question is: when we sin, who are we following?

Now, I realize that none of us are perfect and we all mess up - the Bible confirms that in Romans 3:23 when it says, "All have sinned". The thing that I'm getting at though is when we sin, we sadden the heart of God because we believe, for that moment, whatever lie our enemy is whispering to us. And we know that he [The Devil] is the father of lies (John 8:44 When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.")

Just a good reminder for us to remember the words of Proverbs 4:26-27:

Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Do not turn to the right or to the left;
Remove your foot from evil.

Twitter

2008-06-25T21:21:00.003-04:00

Well, it's official. I have joined Twitter.

I think the idea behind Twitter is it keeps people up to date with you, in between your blog posts.

I'm going to see how it goes here in the next week to see if I actually use it. I've really enjoyed following people and seeing what they're up to on a day-to-day basis.

So I wonder if someone's going to design something to keep us all connected in between twitter posts (or commonly known as 'Tweets')

You can access my account here

The Weekend

2008-06-24T14:04:00.002-04:00

Sunday was great! The Michiana Jones video was excellent! Props to Jon Yoder and the Miller Family for producing a quality work! That will be one that we watch again. We had a laugh when we were watching it - Leslie appeared twice in the video without even knowing it. Through some reflections and wide camera angles, she snuck in their twice!

The message went well. It's funny - no matter how well I think a message goes, inevitably, after every time I speak, I replay the message in my head. "I should have said..." or "I wonder if I got my point across when I said....".

I was doing shadow boxing with the message until about 3 PM on Sunday. I haven't had that happen for that long in a while. It was about at 3 PM when I was tired of thinking about it and decided to take the advice in Psalms where it says "Be still and know that I am God" Ps 46:10.

I got some time to listen to the message today and it came across completely different than I thought - which was a good thing. Just goes to show you that a person's perception defines their reality!

I really enjoyed having Leslie up there with me share the time - she did great! It's so nice to be a team in ministry! I wouldn't have it any other way.

Finished....

2008-06-21T19:28:00.004-04:00

Just wrapped up putting the finishing touches on tomorrow's message. I'll be preaching on "Got Your Back" - one of the things that I love talking about!

I'm looking forward to having Leslie share the time with me tomorrow. Since we're going to be talking about relationships, I thought it would be fitting to hear about a relationship in her life that has meant a lot to her.

I have really enjoyed the creativity coming out of our "We Are Family" series! There have been some great Sunday mornings! Hopefully tomorrow will be no exception. We're going to show a video that will cause one family to not be in the worship part of service tomorrow morning! Details to come...

On a separate note, one of things that I had to deal with with this message (yes, I know I said 'with' twice) was how to fit everything in. I figured that with Leslie and a few others sharing the time, I had 25 minutes, 30 at the most to talk about a subject I really enjoy.

Part of my message was going to be to come out of the story of David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel. If there was ever a duo in the Bible that understood "Got Your Back", it was these guys! Jonathan had the kingdom-perspective to know a king when he saw one. David had the perseverance to keep chasing after the calling on his life when the king was throwing spears at him. Together, they made one heck of a friendship.

But, time ran short, and there was some other things I wanted to get in, so maybe I'll save Jon and Dave for another day!

Reading lull

2008-06-18T16:58:00.002-04:00

So I've slowed way down in my usual pace of reading. I think I burned myself out. Usually I like to read around 1-2 nonfiction books a month. I like if the topics are from a variety of fields.

Well I just read 3 different books on church structure and church planting. After I finished the third, I didn't want to read another book on the subject ever again.

So, I joined with the million other people and picked up a copy of The Shack. This is fun because it's fiction, and Leslie and I are reading it out loud together. A nice break from the pace I've been on.

On the topic of books though I'm hearing good things about Leadership Gold from John Maxwell and John Eldredge has a new book out, Walking with God. I enjoy reading anything from that guy!

Come Together

2008-06-16T16:03:00.004-04:00

What a cool service we had this weekend! We continued on with our "We Are Family" series this past Sunday. The title of the message was, "Come Together".

We knew that we wanted to present the song from the Beatles in the service, but we were unsure how. So, we asked our worship leader if the team wanted to try rewriting the lyrics to reflect the GCF family. Well kudos to Ben Mast! He rewrote it brilliantly! Kudos also to the rest of the team! They performed it yesterday and it was great!

Here's a link to the song, performed live: Click Here

Also, here's the lyrics:

Here come old Ozzy he come cruising up slowly
He got jelly doughnuts he praise Lord almighty
We got Miller Scott and Becky
Got to be kidding me, they got more kids?

Wickeys & Eichers leave no room in the directory
Thousand kids now & they just keep coming
They say, “You sit down, be quiet please.”
But they dance like no one ever could believe

Come together right now family

We got old-timers, we got teenage rebels
We got metal rockers, we got gospel choirs

Some pray down on their knees
Others just can’t help but shout his name through the streets

Come together right now family

It's been a while

2008-06-13T23:40:00.002-04:00

Yes, I realize it has been an entire week since I've last blogged - reflective of how the week has gone. Been absolutely crazy this week! I had a long list of things to do, and I think I got 3 or 4 of them done. That's why I want to post the following article: It's from Mark Beeson, Senior Pastor of Granger Community Church. The things he writes about hit me exactly where I am at - refocused my perspective. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I have plans. I always have plans. Problem is...my plans keep getting interrupted by real life.

See this tire? This is not a real tire; this is what's called a "donut" - a pitiful excuse for a substitute tire designed to replace a real tire if the real tire goes flat. (We all know real tires never go flat. They are constructed with aggressive tread and radial plies - angled less than two degrees rather than the standard bias ply biased at 45 degrees - running sideways across the tire from bead to bead. Our tires have greater flexibility, a lower aspect ratio and greater resistant to puncture. They aren't supposed to go flat.)

So, you can imagine my surprise when Sheila called, late last night, perched on the side of the road with a flat tire. (Her parent's basement had flooded in the monsoon that dumped 11 inches of rain south of Indianapolis. She had spent two days helping them carry everything out of their basement. She almost made it home before the tire blew.)

"You'll never believe this. I have a flat tire."

Rats. "Where are you?"

"Somewhere south of South Bend."

Rats. "Are you OK? Are you off the road?"

"I'm fine. The tire is flat. I got the car way off the road but it is really, really flat. Do you think AAA will come here and help me? I can't drive at all."

Rats. "Let's get AAA called and go from there..."

Life is fraught with unexpected encounters with bile and putrescence. Sometimes you are surprised by unforeseen circumstances. Occasionally a bolt-from-the-blue blows up your plans or an unexpected revelation messes with your mind. Whatever, it means your agenda is suddenly changed.

It happens to me. It happens to you. It happens to your pastor's wife.

Most of the time it is nothing more than a flat tire, but too often it is far more serious. An astonishing blow can flatten you; betrayal, attack, lies, illness, loss or death can derail a person. Sudden disappointment can bring a serious set back.

So, what do you do when things don't go the way you expect? How do you respond when you don't get your way? What if real life keeps getting in the way of your life?

Here's what I strive for in my response to unexpected problems.

First. I try to stop and remember what matters most. What happens to me isn't as important as what happens in me when something happens to me. I remember I need Christ's help for a Christ-like response.

Second. I strive to pray something like this: "OK Lord. I don't like this. I didn't want this. But You are God and I am not. I don't know how You plan to bring good out of this, or how You'll ultimately redeem this for Your purposes, but I know You will. So show me how You want me to respond, what You want me to say and where You want me to engage, so I can serve You as You earth heaven and bring up there down here."

That's what I do. What do you do?

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

(Oh. You'll be glad to know Sheila had the flat replaced with the spare tire "donut" and she got home safe-and-sound. Whew.)

Scents = Memories

2008-06-05T15:00:00.002-04:00

We were in Kalamazoo last weekend enjoying the day off and spending some time at the mall.

As we were in one of the dept. stores, Leslie was trying on some clothes. I found myself wandering around (guys - can you relate?) the store.

I walked by the cologne/perfume counter and noticed a familiar cologne. I picked it up to smell it and my head did a very strange thing - I got a little dizzy and I instantly remembered one of my older brothers - he wore the cologne all the time - especially in his high school years. Then I saw another cologne that I used to wear - I took a wiff and I instantly recalled my college years - the weirdest thing. Then I smelled another one (yeah, I had some time) and it reminded me of a good friend of mine in Great Falls, MT - he used to wear it all the time. The last one I smelled was the one that my Mom used to wear.

It's so funny how certain scents immediately trigger vivid memories.

Simple Church

2008-06-02T14:55:00.002-04:00

I got done reading "Simple Church" a few weeks ago, but just now the notes typed up for it. This book has so much good stuff in it that it took me a while to go through everything. Instead of posting the notes on the blog, I will just provide a link to the file where I've uploaded them.

Click here for the notes

The book is very, very good. It's similar to what Willow Creek did in Reveal. The authors did a bunch of research for the last couple of years on what makes churches effective. The bottom line they've discovered is the premise of the book: The healthiest churches in America have a simple process for making disciples (moving someone along on a spiritual journey) I got a lot of good stuff out of the book - check out the notes. If the notes intrigue you, I highly recommend you read the whole book. Good stuff!

That's a wrap

2008-05-31T17:40:00.002-04:00

What a great day to shoot a video!

We shot a video that we'll be using with our "We Are Family" series. It's so fun to sit around, think of ideas, then watch them being actualized.

I'm really looking forward to this series - I think it's going to be a fun month!

The offer has been accepted!

2008-05-29T17:20:00.002-04:00

Well we just heard - our offer on the house has been accepted! Now we just have to sell ours.

Know anybody that wants to buy a house :-)

Setting the bar

2008-05-28T07:16:00.003-04:00

I've been spending some time reading the books of Timothy. I read a familiar verse today that jumped out at me:

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." - 1 Tim 4:12

This stood out to me this morning. Paul was writing this to Timothy, who was a young pastor that was pastoring a church in Ephesus.

The first thing that jumped out at me is nobody's going to look down on you because you are young unless you are pushing the envelope - Timothy (who I presume was thirty-ish) was going against some ideas and principles that were coming from older men. He was challenging some popular thinking of the day that was flat-out against the Bible. I'm guessing the first reaction from the older men of that age was probably, "Awww...he's just a kid...."

Secondly, Paul set the bar high when he told Timothy to set an example. As I looked again through the list Paul laid out, I couldn't help but transfer that to my own life. Check them out:

Set an example in speech - What's coming out of my mouth? Would people know what I stand for and what I believe by listening to me?

Set an example in life - What do people see when they look at my life? Am I living a life that is above reproach (1 Tim 3)

Set an example in love - Of course this applies to my Wife, how am I doing with the incredible blessing God has given me? Is she excelling? Is she happy? But as well as with my Wife, is there evidence of love in my life? (1 Cor 13:1 - "If I speak in the tongues of me and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol")

Set an example in faith - Am I dreaming big? Am I focusing on what is unseen or what is seen?

Set an example in purity - Am I pure in all I do? (So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God - 1 Cor 10:31)

When an example is set, others are inspired and motivated to reach for that level.

The bar has been set - people are watching you everyday - inspire them to reach for a greater level.

We Are Family

2008-05-27T15:27:00.003-04:00

I'm really excited about the new series we have coming up - We Are Family. (Incidentally, whenever you say the name of the series, you HAVE TO sing it.)

We've been very intentional in not planning a lot of 'activities' on the church calendar during the month of June because we want to make it easy for people to get together. Dinners, barbecues, little league games, movie nights, cards - the things we love to do with one another! June will be a month where we focus on improving the quality of our relationships with one another.

We also handed out clipboards on Sunday and asked everyone to write their names down because another goal of this series is nobody left behind. I'm a firm believer that the local church is a place where everyone can come and do life together and that there is a place for everyone in the family!

We've also got some fun things planned for the Sunday mornings - June is going to be exciting!

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-26T21:42:00.003-04:00

Today wraps up the annual Memorial Day weekend festivities.

We were at the Collide campout on Sunday night - had a really good showing of High School and College students there. I learned that pretzel throwing can entertain people for hours :-)

We also had a great time at the GCF Memorial Day Picnic & Baptism. What a great time for everyone to get together, enjoy the sunshine and have some fun. This year's picnic seemed to go by really quickly.

Some of the highlights for me were definitely the 1st annual watermelon eating contest (Kudos to our 2008 champion Tyler Grim) as well as the Water Baptism - hopefully we will be putting some video on YouTube in the next couple of days. You will definitely want to see those videos. Some things, well, didn't go as planned - we'll just say that :-)

Summer Movies

2008-05-24T09:07:00.002-04:00

We've taken in our fair share of movies already this Summer.

We went to the late show of Indiana Jones last night - pretty decent flick. It gets a little weird in the end, but hey, still good to see Harrison Ford taking another shot at it.

We've also seen Iron Man and Prince Caspian.

Question: Of the three, which is best? (Can you pick up the Dwight Schrute reference there?) If I had to pay see either of them again, I probably would go see Iron Man again. Might be one of the best super hero movies I've seen.

Looking forward to a summer of good movies - The Dark Knight and Hancock are due out soon as well.

Offers and counter offers.

2008-05-22T15:51:00.004-04:00

So we heard from our Realtor - the couple that owns the house would like to have 24 to 48 more hours to discuss it, since the husband works out of town. He said though the couple will probably be countering the offer.

No problem - patience is a good thing!

I got an encouraging email last night that contained the following verse:

Acts 17:26 - "and He [God] determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

That's why I love the local church - such a since of unity and family!

The offer

2008-05-21T16:43:00.002-04:00

So our house has been on the market for a little while now. We have wanted something bigger, but haven't found anything.

We went and looked at a house yesterday that will work for what we want in a house. Just went to the realtor's office today to make an offer. We'll see what happens!

TV vs. Movies

2008-05-17T14:52:00.002-04:00

Gotta be honest - I was pretty disappointed on Thursday night.

We were excited to watch 2 Season Finales of a couple shows we have been watching regularly this year. We had pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, we were let down.

1 of the shows was so-so, and the other was just downright dumb. No closure at all. Not even a little bit. It was like watching an episode in the middle of the season.

Now, I'm all about cliffhangers. I think they keep the audience coming back for more. But, you gotta provide closure in the midst of the cliffhanger. That's why audiences tune in. Without closure, well, Thursday happens.

Now, on the other side of things, we went to see Prince Caspian on Friday afternoon. What a great show! I loved every minute of it. It was a great story, with a great ending. Yes, things are left open for another sequel, but at least there is some closure! Great show.

Communicating for a change

2008-05-13T09:32:00.003-04:00

So I've been a little behind on the whole blogging of books thing - it's funny, I used to have a goal to read a book a month. Lately, I've been doing 3/month. But I know the stats on reading comprehension, so I don't read a book unless I can underline things then blog about them (that's why I'm not a big fan of borrowing books from people)

This post is in reference to Communicating for a change by Andy Stanley. Really good book. It's an entire book devoted to the craft of preaching . How to do it effectively, with life change being the goal - not just information transfer.

I've only written the points down from the 2nd half of the book - the 1st half was really good - it was in a story format, which Andy explains in the 2nd half.

Determine Your Goal

Preaching is a performance – we are expected to do more than entertain. We are expected to be educational, inspirational, theological and engaging.
We’ve got to begin caring more for the people in the audience than the person on the platform
Our approach to communicating should be shaped by our goal in communicating.
Three possibilities:

Teach the Bible to people – usually the goal of the preacher who systematically teaches verse by verse through the books of the Bible.
Teach people the Bible – Preachers who teach this way often use alliteration and multiple illustrations. In both cases, success is measured in terms of information transfer. Knowing information isn’t enough.
Teach people how to live a life that reflects the values, principles and truths of the Bible – Goal is life change.

Preaching for life change requires far less information and more application. Less explanation and more inspiration. Less first century and more twenty-first century
If you decided to preach for life change you won’t be satisfied until the behavior of your audience is transformed.
Which concerns you more: How you did on Sunday or what your people are doing on Monday? If it is the latter, does your approach to communicating support what you are trying to accomplish?
When you commit to preach for life change, your preparation is not complete until you have answered two very important questions: So What? And Now What?

Pick A Point

The communicator should attempt to pick everyone up at the same station and deliver them to the same destination.
You should have a single idea you want to communicated and bend everything in the message towards that one thing.
Most of us grew up hearing messages built around several points rather than one clear destination
We don’t live our lives by points
If life change is your goal, point by point preaching is not the most effective approach.
What is the one thing I want my audience to know? What do I want them to do about it?
Sermon preparation is a discovery process
Your “one thing” should ultimately find its source in the text
We’ve got to be careful not to try and force the scripture to support our ideas and observations – let the text direct us.
Lists go on paper – Single, powerful ideas have a way of penetrating the heart.
It’s not enough just to say it – We need to say it in a way that makes it stick. If you are concerned what happens when your congregation leaves the room – make it stick.
Your one thing is your burden – if you don’t have a burden to unload, you have just a bunch of fluff.
Process for developing a one point message:

Dig until you find it
Build everything around it
Make it stick

Create a Map

The outlining format explained in the book is built around the communicator’s relationship with the audience rather than the content
The basic outline:

ME – Orientation
WE – Identification
GOD – Illumination
YOU – Application
WE – Inspiration

When a communicator rushes through the material it sends a very specific message: “I am more concerned about covering my material than I am about communicating with my audience”
Don’t transition from WE to the next section until you feel like you have created a tension that your audience is dying for you to resolve.

Internalize the Message

Every communicator has notes, but there’s no reason anybody has to know you have notes.
Just like a good story, when you can “tell” your sermon rather than “preach” it, you are ready to communicate.
Constantly referring to notes communicates, “I have not internalized this message. I want everyone to internalize it, but I haven’t”
Every effective communicator must figure out how to internalize all of and memorize the majority of his or her message.
The goal is not to cover everything in your notes – it is to take your audience with you on a journey.
Reduce your sermon down to pieces – not points – pieces. Examples:

Opening question – Illustration – Text – Challenge – Application – Closing Story
Introduction – Tension – Text – Visual – Application – Conclusion

Before you stand to deliver a message, you must own it.
If something doesn’t support, illustrate or clarify the point, cut it.

Engage your audience

Presentation always trumps information when it comes to engaging the audience. Another way to say this: Attention and retention is determined by presentation, not information
How you say what you say is as important as what you say.
When we are engaged, time flies. When we are not engaged, time stands still.
It’s our preparation and presentation that will keep people engaged.
The more interested we are in a topic, the easier it is to engage us with the information. Tension creates a hunger for information.
Your first responsibility is to pose a question your audience wants answered – create a tension they need resolved, or point to a mystery they have been unable to solve.
Information that does not address a felt need is perceived as irrelevant.
Introductions – If I don’t capture my audience’s attention in the first five minutes, all is lost.
Three pairs of questions when developing introductions:

What is the question I am answering? What can I do to get my audience to want to know the answer to that question?
What is the tension this message will resolve? What can I do to make my audience feel that tension?
What mystery does this message solve? What can I do to make my audience want a solution?

English-speaking westerners speak on average 150 words per minute. Studies have shown that speaking slightly above 150 words per minute adds an element of dignity to one’s message.
Faster speakers – up to 190 words per minute – were rated as more objective, knowledgeable and persuasive than slower speakers.
Public speakers need to increase their speed to a number that exceeds normal conversation. Otherwise, people’s brain will get so far ahead of what we’re saying that the lag time will drive them crazy. They will disengage.
The pace of our words communicates the importance of our words.
Slow down in the curves – as you transition from introduction to the text to your point to your application, give people some sort of indication you are making a transition.
Have the audience turn to one passage and one passage only – put the others up on the screen.
Think of yourself as a navigator or tour guide.
Use visuals every chance you get.
Conclusions – don’t rush through them! A hard landing leaves the passengers feeling a bit uneasy.
Add something unexpected to your message – get somebody else to thing about it. Pull a team together.

Find Your Voice

Know who you are, Accept who you are, Be who you are
You need to constantly ask yourself two questions:

What works?
What works for me?

Being yourself is not an excuse for poor communication habits.
Be yourself, but become the best communicator yourself can be.

Start all over

5 Questions

What do they need to know? (Information)
Why do they need to know it? (Motivation)
What do they need to do? (Application)
Why do they need to do it? (Inspiration)
How can I help them remember? (Reiteration)

Don’t allow the pressure to get the sermon finished override your passion to bring something fresh to your audience.
When you get stuck, two things to do:

Pray (this one might take a while)
Go back to the 5 questions.

Faucets and Focus

2008-05-07T22:42:00.003-04:00

You know that piece on your faucet? The one that is underneath the faucet - the one that controls the stream of the water?

We used to have a Brita water filter installed on our faucet. We decided not to go that route anymore and I took the Brita filter off. Since then, we've gone to bottled water. But here's the thing: when I took off the Brita water filter, I noticed that I didn't put that little piece back on. The one that I took off when I installed the filter. The one that controls the stream of the water.

Now, granted, water isn't spilling everywhere. The stream of the water is just a little bit off. Not as focused as it was once before. It's not a big deal, but it is noticeable to someone who has seen the stream before.

I've gone through a time here recently where I've felt like that little piece was missing from my life - where the focus was just a little off. Things weren't spiraling out of control, but like the water faucet, there was a slight difference in the water coming out.

I, like most men I would say, thought that this was going to blow over - that it would work itself out. But it didn't. It came to a head the other night. Fortunately, there were some wise friends around to help me put the little piece back on, and get the water focused again.

It's times like these when the scriptures really come alive - when you're right in the middle of a battle, feeling isolated, and then you remember Eccelesiastes - "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken".

I'm thankful for the cords in my life - the cords that are not quickly broken. The cords that exist silently between friends and family - the cords that prevent each one of us from breaking apart by keeping us all together.

It'll be a cold day in Helena...

2008-05-03T21:39:00.002-04:00

Well I guess it finally happened - a day that I knew was coming, but didn't expect so soon - Jeopardy finally ran out of material for there questions.

We were sitting in our living room, watching a little Jeopardy, when Alex began to read the categories for the contestants. There was one in the middle of the board named "It'll be a cold day in Helena". Well, as you may have guessed, it was all about our home city of Helena, Montana. Amazing!

What's even more amazing (or embarrassing) is that we actually got 2 of 5 questions wrong! Little did we know the population was only 25,000. Thought it had gotten a lot bigger - I guess they count that as surrounding areas.

Never know what you'll see on Jeopardy. A little side note: it was the last category to be answered :-) I guess the contestants weren't too sure of their knowledge having to do with state capitals.

Birds of the air

2008-04-26T21:38:00.002-04:00

So Jesus once said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

That was until today.

Today was all-out war on some black birds that have been plaguing our roof. There were a couple of spots on our roof where the soffit was off, so there were some blackbirds building a nest in there. Well, I went and put the soffit back on a few months ago (ok, last summer) but the persistent little buggers figured out a way to get in there. It's now spring again and they want their home back. Too bad I NAILED THE SOFFIT ON THIS TIME!! TAKE THAT BLACK BIRDS!!

Can you tell I'm excited about this? We took great joy in watching them fly around, peck at the soffit and then fly away. A small victory, worthy of celebrating.

For what it's worth - no joke - there was fresh bird poop on our car window right after we did that. I guess even though the birds have a small brain, there is still room for vengeance and humor.

Free CDs this Sunday

2008-04-24T22:58:00.002-04:00

Yep you read right - this Sunday at GCF our very own Collide worship band will be giving away CDs of their time in the recording studio. They laid down two original songs - "Re-created" and "Nothing Else Matters". Both songs were completely home grown! They sound amazing!

The idea with the free CDs is that they want to record more music, and eventually a full-length CD. If you want to contribute, there is a fund at GCF setup for you to do so!

So proud of these young people! Kudos to Ross Eicher (our worship leader) for having the vision to get these kids into a recording studio!

Confessions of a pastor

2008-04-23T09:09:00.002-04:00

Just got done reading "Confessions of a pastor" by Craig Groschel.

Thought this was a great book. Very honest - things you wouldn't think pastors deal with (until you remember they're human like everyone else).

Here is what I got from the book:

Intro

God called me not to be like a pastor, but to be like Christ.
I was a full time minister and part time follower of Christ.
The reality of God's presence is hard to describe, but it's even harder to miss.

Chapter 1 - I can't stand a lot of Christians

When God changes me, He also changes the way I see others.
We must be different in our actions (1 Peter 1:14-15)

Our my actions different from non-believers?
Serving:

27% Non-Christians serve on an average month.
29% Christians serve on an average month.

Giving:

49% Non-Christians give on an average month.
47% Christians give on an average month.

Eph. 5:3-4
As believers, we ARE the church and we are here for the world. Too often it becomes, "What can the church do for me?"

Chapter 2 - I have to work hard to stay sexually pure

9 out of 10 kids between 8-16 have seen pornography online
Eph. 5:3 - We are to have not even a hint of sexual immorality
Sexual purity is vital - everything is on the line (Marriage, Job, etc.)
Watch for temptation - it's coming. Not if it comes, when it comes.

Run from it when it comes.
You have to love purity more than the sin

Chapter 3 - Most of the time, I feel incredibly lonely

If you're lonely at the top, it's because you didn't take anyone with you.
Do you find it easier to minister then to be ministered to?

Chapter 4 - I hate prayer meetings.

An honest chapter - Craig says that often times there is more "sharing" that happens then prayer. The chapter is a call back to sincere prayer, and less "other stuff"

Chapter 5 - I worry all the time

Again, another honest chapter. Craig goes through his struggles with worry and tells his story of how he is overcoming it.

Chapter 6 - Sometimes I doubt God

A reminder that God says "Without me, you have nothing. With me you have everything" (paraphrased)

Chapter 7 - I feel inadequate

I don't feel like I know enough
I don't feel like I'm good enough
I've made too many mistakes
When choosing the disciples, Jesus didn't pick a single pharisee or saducee
Don't believe everything your fans say about you
Don't believe everything your critics say about you
Your more you accomplish, the more you'll attract harsh criticism.
The only opinion that matters is God's

Chapter 8 - Handling criticism

Consider the source - before you focus on what's being said, ask yourself who's saying it.
A few different options with dealing with criticism:

Listen to criticism when it's appropriate

Proverbs 15:31-32

Friends, family, people trying to help you

Answer the criticism

When it comes without the goal of helping you
Whenever it can help the critic understand your position
Don't turn it into defensiveness
Judges 8:1-3, story of Gideon.

Dismiss the criticism

Hurt people hurt people

Endure

You can't please all people, but you can serve God.
1 Thes 2:4 - "Our purpose is to please God, not people"

Chapter 9 - I'm afraid of failure

The story of the wicked lazy servant - he was criticized for playing it safe - didn't do anything with what he was given, because of fear.
Story of the 5 monkeys - 5 monkeys were in a room with a pole. When one monkey tried to climb the pole, he was shot with cold water. He tried a couple more times, then eventually stopped trying. Each monkey tried the same thing with the same results. One by one, each monkey in the room was replaced with a different monkey, one that hadn't seen the water. When the new monkey would try to climb the pole, the other monkeys would stop him - in fear of getting wet. Eventually all the monkeys were replaced until none of the monkeys had seen the water - but none of them climbed the pole because they were all afraid. They didn't know why they were afraid - they just were.

Surprises...

2008-04-20T22:16:00.006-04:00

GCF's youth ministry, Collide, meets on Sunday nights. Leslie and I are over Broadband, the college ministry. As we were talking with some of our leaders tonight, we began to hatch a plot in which after we prayed for one another, there would be a staged rebellion take place, which would end in us all going out and playing some ultimate frisbee:

How it went down: We had a really good time of prayer when everyone prayed for needs that were mentioned. I then got up and said we were going to watch a Nooma video. Adam Miller, in a oscar-worthy performance stood up and said, "You know, I don't think I want to watch it."

"What?", I said.

"Yeah, I don't really want to watch it" - he then stood up and went and retrieved a hidden frisbee. Then McLaine Dury stood up and started singing "We're not going to take it" - the looks of the others in the group was priceless! A couple of them thought Adam & McLaine had hit a rebellious streak! Classic!!

Had a great time of playing ultimate frisbee. I definitely need to get in better shape. We played on a short field, and by the end of 35 minutes, I was already sucking wind. Great time with the college students though!

The work of the ministry

2008-04-16T14:39:00.008-04:00

There's a lot of good things we learned in Bible School:

New Testament Survey - check.
Life of Jesus - check.
Preparing Bible Messages - check.
How to pour a concrete pad for an air handler - missed that one.

Our air handler at the church went out a while ago so we have been making due with space heaters, etc. Been working out pretty good. But tomorrow we are having the air handler replaced, so today we had to pour a new concrete pad.

Fortunately, one of our Elders, Earl Eicher knows a thing or two about pouring a pad so he was on hand to oversee and help the project. 28 bags of ready-mix later, we have a nice new pad for the air handler!

Never a dull day....

Just in time

2008-04-15T18:28:00.002-04:00

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to file our taxes! We had them done a while ago but for one reason or another, didn't print them out until today. The mailbox pickup is at 5:30 PM - we had ours in at 5:11 PM - so we had a good 19 minutes of margin!

In A Pit...

2008-04-14T21:59:00.004-04:00

Just finished reading "In a pit with a lion on a snowy day" by Mark Batterson. Definitely a good book - it's all about identifying the "lions" in your life and chasing after them.

This book accomplished a goal for me - I have always wanted to read a book in a day. Read this on the way back from DC.

I'm trying something new: as I read the book, I underlined things that jumped out at me, or that I want to remember. I then wrote those underlined things down in my journal, and now on to the blog site. Hope it helps me remember.

Here's what I got out from each chapter:

Chapter 2: Defying the odds

Pray ridiculous prayers
Impossible odds = amazing miracles
We grow -> God gets bigger -> Lions get smaller

Chapter 3: Unleashing your fears

Half of spiritual growth is learning what we don't know. The other half is unlearning what we do know.
Don't put up with mental lions.
Our minds need to be reconfigured - transformed
Conquering fears: You've got to be exposed to small quantities of whatever you're afraid of.
Satan has two main weapons: Discouragement & fear.
Jesus "stepped forward" when he was under investigation - how often do we "step forward"?
Are you living your life in a way that is worth telling stories about?

Chapter 4: Reframing Problems

More than 1/2 of all church plants don't see their second year.
Reframing problems = shifting focus
Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God.
Prayer is less about changing our circumstances and more about changing our perspective.

Chapter 5: Guaranteed Uncertainty

You can't plan Pentecost
Pray like it depends on God
National Community Church fasted for the 10 days leading up to Pentecost.
A relationship with God will complicate your life - but in the way it should be. Sin complicates your life in ways it shouldn't be.
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my sighing" - sighing helps us process grief.
Stop spending all your energy making plans for God and start seeking God.
Faith = Embracing uncertainty.
Your explanations are more important than your experiences.

Chapter 6: Playing it safe is risky

Easy answers = shallow convictions
Faith is not the reduction of risks.
Generally, we're never going to be more than 80% sure of anything - waiting for more could equal a missed opportunity.
Gates are defensive devices. Storming those require offensive measures.
Instead of complaining about culture, we need to start creating it. We need to be making better movies and books, schools, businesses, etc.
Criticize by creating - Get rid of darkness with light!
Small changes & choices become magnified over tim
One courageous choice may be between you and your dream becoming reality
No such thing as risk-free faith.

Chapter 7: Grab opportunity

Low expectations are the byproduct of prayerlessness
The more you pray, the higher your expectations
People who don't live in prayer mode are opportunity blind.
Aramaic word for prayer = "set a trap"

Chapter 8: Importance of looking foolish

If you aren't willing to look foolish, you're foolish
Maturity does not equal conformity
In too many churches, holiness equals cultural conformity. A dress code or verbal code becomes the measuring stick of righteousness.
9 times out 10 criticism is a defense mechanism. We criticize in others what we don't like about ourselves.

Definitely recommend the book - it's an easy read. Very conversational and well-written!

Great morning

2008-04-13T16:52:00.006-04:00

Had a great service today! Before our service, I had a real expectation that God was going to show up. Then our worship team led us into a time of worship where they had all the lights turned off except a couple of them. What a great holy moment that was! Always love when we mix it up! As I once heard someone said, we can't allow the sacred to become stale. Then after worship, we had the privilege of listening to Luke Eicher. Great message about living on purpose. Among other things, I learned that most vitamins are not chewable!

Now we head to Sunday Night Collide - looking forward to it. Jodi Eash will be speaking on intercession! Again, a night to mix it up - the youth leaders will be leading worship! Now if only I can remember how to play a G....

1st Blog

2008-04-12T21:44:00.000-04:00

Well after a couple recommendations that I should blog, I've finally started a blog site. Hope to update it quite often.

Come back whenya can!

Tyler