The things we regret

So, I haven't posted in a long time. I will update all the details, but I had to share this video. This is an amazing video on the regrets we have... It's a very challenging video... Really makes you want to "regret-proof" 2009.


Regrets from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Generation C

An interesting look at Generation C...

Generation C - a look into their world by Dan Pankraz

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: gen co-creation)

Fun commercials

These bring back memories

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday

It's been a while since a "real" post... I've been processing a lot, this is some of what's rattling around in the noggin. None of these really seemed to fit in a single post, so enjoy...

• Would love to hear more about this guy's story. I remember watching him on the Contender.
• We have been rockin the last couple days putting together a new look to our stage.
• The more I am in it... I am loving our new church and the team here. Great people. Authentic. I am pumped for what's ahead.
  
• I've been chewing on this blog post for a couple weeks. The AG has screwed up quite a bit, but I wonder what kind of ripples will come from this.
• On that note... I'm still out on the AG. Not that they care, but my verdict is still out.
  
• This community looks awesome.
• Hoping to get the new Blackberry Storm in about 3 days.
• You MUST MUST MUST check out these guys. Awesome family with an amazing story and company, they are honoring God and putting out some sweet clothes at the same time.
  
• I am really looking forward to a couple days to chill with my family and enjoy Thanksgiving.
• Speaking of family... I am SUPER proud of my wife and her new business, my daughter is pwning the 1st grade and my son is hilarious asking people, "wanna dance hot dog?"
  
• Having fun kickin the social media tires with this guy.
• I've been running the last couple days, it feels good to be active... training not just working out.
  
• Love that youtube is now in 16:9 aspect ratio
  
• Finished my run to today to this song... there is some interesting truth contained in the lyrics: these are the ears that ring with hate, this is the voice of silence no more, we the people... are we the people? this is the moment that needs to breathe, this is the test of flesh and soul... This is the cloud that swallows trust... This is the black that uncolors us... This is the face that you hide from... This is the mask that comes undone.
  
• It would be so killer to be able to scream -sing- growl like James.
  
  

To all those I've ever clogged before...

Any pro-dumper knows that you utilize the multi-flush method...

Mario 'stache

dumbest thing EVER!

the best part is when there are two guys running on the treadmill at the same time. this is beyond the tandem bicycle.

Choirs make a comeback

You have to at least watch until 4:22... trust me.

Who is my neighbor?

Linkin Park |MTV Music

Used this video at our service tonight. We talked about how this video relates to the message in Luke 10 where Jesus is asked "who is my neighbor".  Who my neighbor is has changed.  With social media and internet connectivity we can be a "neighbor" to someone half way across the world.   How can we walk across the street to someone that is numb?  How can Christ followers take a step in the right direction to care for those that are numb?

Star Wars acappella

Engaging youth through social media

There is no doubt that getting a teen's attention is hard enough, but trying to do it in a social media frenzied world is even tougher. There is also no doubt that social media can be utilized to enhance a student ministry's effectiveness.

Some of the tips from this report are:
• Clarity. Many student ministry sites are not clear what it is that they are trying to accomplish. Is there a clearly defined reason for having a presence on the www?
• Many Small Niches. This is huge. In our massive world, we have grown extremely small. The world is merely a mouse click away. We can chat with a missionary, real time, on the other side of the world. How can student ministry sites provide avenues to connect with many small niche elements?

These seem like opposites, but I wonder if they actually play off of each other to enhance the usefulness of the site. Read the rest of the tips here. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Engaging Youth Through Social & Mobile Media

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: marketing facebook)

Nerd Coffee Cup Holder

Frozen photographs

These are some amazing photos...

As real as it gets

This is too cool. Check it.

Hi my name is...

This kid changed his name, for the fun of it, to... Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine The Hulk And The Flash Combined! How awesome is that! They call him Captain for short. Read the full story here.

The early years

Thought I'd share a picture of my early years. Thanks to my cousin Doug for the link.

Dark Knight + Toy Story 2 =

Sbux coffee and your vote

UFO guy

Rockin out

I've been home just long enough to update my wife on some of the wins from our U-Rock event tonight. Because our group is called United and we were featuring our new RockBand 2 game our leaders liked the name. To go on record... I had NO idea! We had just about half of the students participate in the RB2 contest and they were very into it.  Students arrived early for the night and started right in on the RB2 and didn't stop... ever! That would be great, but we had about 22 other game systems there. We had a PS3, some Wii systems, 360's, and then the old skool... super NES & N64. All in all it was a great night. 

I am so proud of our team doing so great tonight. Chris totally went above and beyond! He seriously hooked us up tonight.

Some of my favorite moments:

• getting a song dedicated to me.
• seeing some very creative costumes.
• rocking out to some talented students performing RB2 songs.
• Freshman guy with chocolate on his face after consuming LOTS of candy saying ... "dude, it's like a five o'clock shadow... with chocolate".
• seeing new students getting connected with new friends.
• connecting with parents and seeing them love what their kids are doing.
• scaring kids as we were cleaning up.
• the guy that said that there needed to be more groups like ours around.
• a guest of a volunteer that loved it and just may give church another chance.
• our leaders that did SO great.
• coming home exhausted after knowing I gave my all today.

I'm sure there are more... hopefully I can post a picture or two soon...

Lured in

Vote or else

Man up

Love this carving.

Obama's cowbell

This is about as political as I will get here. But this is about all either of these two are good for. Hopefully he quits his day job and focuses on his cowbell skills. He can change the cow bell.

Shattered

http://view.break.com/593947 - Watch more free videos

Handlebars

It was fun while it lasted...















most are glad it's gone.

go BIG or go home

Go big or go home... I believe that at the core of this saying is a biblical principle.

Urban Dictionary defines "gbgh" as an expression the speaker says to the listener to encourage the listener to be extravagant, to go all the way, and do whatever you are doing to its fullest - and not flake out. A phrase describing a Champion's lifestyle. A way of life. An attitude.

To be extravagant... to go all the way... to do what you are doing to the fullest. A champion's way of life. Kind of sounds like an Urban Dictionary take on some bible stories.

It is my belief that God desires that we go all in on whatever we do. A lot of people have described this as the willingness to risk. Yes, risk is involved. Going big might mean stripping away the excellence to be authentic or being excellent in all you do. It might mean stepping out in faith and believing God's promise in your life.

Too many churches and Christians would rather go home than go big. When we go big we run the risk of missing the mark. But is the mark the goal? When God called people in the bible to go big the mark wasn't the goal, but the willingness to go all in and go big. When we take a step out the end result might not live up to our hopes, but in no way does it make the step a failure.

Tonight is an exciting night. We are baptizing students. Even if it was only one student that would be great, but as of right now we have about 50 students confirmed to get baptized. Who knows how many more will step up and go all in tonight. I love these moments!

It's time to go all in. I feel like there is more to say on this, but it's still stuck in my head. Hopefully it will get worked out soon.

Fab 5 team killers

This year's Catalyst has stirred up quite a bit of conversation. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it this year. Dave Ramsey's session has been the hands down favorite of the conference.

Here is some of what I have gathered... and some of what I've been chewing on...

Dave Ramsey:

The 5 things that bring about confusion or disunity:
1. Poor Communication
2. Gossip
3. Unresolved disagreements
4. Lack of shared purpose
5. Sanctioned incompetence

Thoughts on going #2... Gossip

Your negative comments should go to a supervisor and your positive comments should go to a co-worker or someone that works for you. Don't talk about your problems with people who can't fix them. That's gossip! I have seen and experienced the destructive force of gossip. Gossip is so easy to do and to be a part of; it is a battle to not jump in and destroy. It takes so little strength to gossip. There is no risk of authentic relationships involved in gossip. I certainly haven't perfected this one, but I am determined that I will not play a part in gossip. My personal character and integrity is worth more than a few fleeting moments of lame conversation.

I have been in a work environments where a lot of these things have been present: incompetence, gossip, disagreements, and lack of shared purpose. Yes, they are destructive and drive a serious wedge. As a leader these 5 things must be fought fervently and fought daily. I don't know how to say it any differently... stop everything and evaluate the fabulous 5 team killers. Don't take another step until you are sure that you fighting the 5. They can creep up.

Meet Jack

Let me introduce you to Jack. My kids decided to name our Halloween pumpkin Jack.

This past weekend we took a trip to the pumpkin patch. Glenda suggested that it be a mobile-free family time, which was a great idea. We had a great time at the pumpkin patch, then again it's hard not to when it's 80 degrees and sunny... in October! After eating too much kettle corn and jumping off the bales of hay we finally decided on which pumpkin we'd take home.



I have great memories of carving pumpkins. So, I was excited when it came time to carve up our pumpkin and I was sure that my kids were going to love it too. The excitement was building as I cut around the pumpkin stem to open the pumpkin up and show its "guts".



As I slowly lift the "lid" on the pumpkin guts, both of my kids gag. Emma runs into the bathroom acting like she's going to throw up. I had to practically bribe them to pull the seed and goop out. That was my favorite part!



After they dug in they found out they loved it.

When it was all over they wanted to carve another pumpkin. They were so proud of Jack.

New Star Wars fans

It started with the Star Wars Lego videogame and has come to this; my kids love Star Wars. Watching the movies brings back a flood of memories. Lately, every conversation has been about Star Wars. So, in honor of my kids and the fun of seeing them having fun with Star Wars.

Take R2 with you where ever you go...



















Star Wars in your driveway...

Probably one of the best posts I have read. Not enough people shoot straight. Not only does Perry say it like it is, he is right on the money! This is a difficult subject to speak truthfully and speak conviction in love. Most people and denominations err on the side of legalism.

My favorite line that seems to sum up the post is...

"It’s SO SAD when pastors will talk about how bad it was that Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup…and then they will turn around and sell their ministry for an orgasm!"

My guess is that this post ticked a lot of people off and that's probably a good thing. This topic isn't spoken in love enough. Stuff like this needs to be openly discussed with pastors, church leaders, board members, men in the church... The question isn't if, it's a question of when and will you be ready for it?

I'd love to hear your thoughts... read the post and let me know what you think.

Top 10 advertising slogans of all time

"Where's the beef!?"
"A Diamond is Forever"
"They're G-r-r-r-eat!"
"Gimme a Break, Gimme a Break"

These are among some of the most memorable advertising slogans of all time. Fast Company's article is great. Digg.com started the groundswell. There are so many great ones I can't even imagine having to rate a top 10.

What's your favorite?

Seriously Ridiculous

I have been out in Sacramento the last couple of days at the YS conference. Their theme this year was "seriously ridiculous". I liked the theme. It was kinda frustrating because free wifi was hard to find, so there was a seriously ridiculous lack of blogging. I will be posting more on the conference soon, for now, let me introduce you to spiderman.

Creative fizz

Alka Seltzer has gotten creative. They have gotten these guys to document their "Great American Road Trip" very creatively linked back to Alka Seltzer.

Bent Objects

Just came across this guy's work. I love it... it is so creative.

Verizon Blackberry Storm

Could it be as big as they are saying? Is something revolutionary really coming to Verizon?

Open up a can

This is hilarious! Thanks to Mark for a good laugh today.

Simple Leadership

I love meeting with leaders. This past Sunday started a new chapter. We hosted our first leaders meeting at our home. As we sat down to start the meeting, it seemed like time slowed down and I processed through all of what was taking place and some things that needed to happen for the meeting to be a win. Here's some thoughts on making a leader's meeting a win:

• Do it... what's stopping you? Why you do what you do won't and can't be transfered in quick passing moments. Leades on the team need to be invested into... they must be invested into or they will find somewhere else to go. Leaders on the team need just that to know who they serve with. Planning that first meeting is tough, just do it.
• Location... be intentional about the location where you host your meeting. I always prefer to meet in my home. The home is a warm and inviting environment. Meetings in my home have always felt more open and relaxed.
  
• Define the terms... why are you meeting? What are you trying to accomplish? Is the meeting going to focus on group discussion? Are you only interested in transferring information? In the meeting I hosted my focus was on discussion so I had to frame it correctly to invite discussion to happen.
• Safe... this is especially important for a meeting focused on discussion. Help the team understand that the topics that will be discussed are open for discussion and that you value their input on the topic.
• Don't assume. Never assume that people understand what you are trying to do. It is always better to explain yourself than to just assume that people understand.

That's it for now... still working on this. I am sure there's more to this. Thankfully these simple leadership points helped our kick off meeting to go great.

Five Hundred

A quick post as I get ready to jump into an all team celebration. This past weekend our 3 campuses joined together and did a huge baptism service. It was an unreal day. The energy in the place was off the charts. At my campus we had 34 people signed up to be baptized, which alone is awesome, but during the service the invitation was given for anyone that wanted to join in and be baptized to just jump in line. When it was all over we baptized 99 people on Sunday.

Yesterday as the numbers came in the total for all three campuses came to 500 baptisms. The stories of life change are so amazing. I love the fact that we are getting ready to celebrate what God has done and look ahead to what God is going to do out of this.

Redeeming Relationships

An interesting conversation got me started on this... Relationships. Many times a relationship that needs work is easier to cast off and start over. Divorce. Church hop. Quitting a small group. Quitting. Firing. Relationships. They take work and it's easier to skip out than do the work it takes to make the relationship great.

Is it really easier or just more convenient? I don't believe that it's easier. Ending a relationship is just as, if not, more messy than redeeming it.

There is no doubt it takes more effort to redeem a relationship. We love hearing the juicy details of drama. We'd rather not have to make the effort to dig in and see the relationship through the mess of redemption. Maybe it's that the grace required to redeem a relationship doesn't come easy. Sadly, the church could do a much more stellar job of redeeming and restoring relationships.

So, as I've started processing... here are some thoughts on redeeming relationships:

1. Initiate. Take the first step. Don't wait for anyone else or any circumstances to make the timing right. Honestly, the time will never feel right.

2. Be quick. Don't wait. Tomorrow never comes and the relationship won't be restored over time. Time seems to have the opposite effect.

3. Lead. Start from a position of grace. We don't often feel the necessity of grace until we've lived this out. We all need grace in different amounts and at different times. It is much easier when we start with offering grace as a road to redeeming a relationship.

4. Be open. Most likely I have gotten a few of the details wrong. Be prepared to be wrong... at least on a couple things.

I'm sure there are more... this is something I have been digging through for a while now. There will certainly be more on this topic.

Unscripted!

There seems to be a ministry trend where we put a lot of effort into programming out a service down to the last drop. Programming is great and good planning is important but it's not everything. The programming doesn't own the service. With all of the programming we can miss the unscripted moments. The unscripted moments seem to end up leaving people most changed. God often uses our unscripted moments... those moments where I often cringe and think "ouch... that's gonna leave a mark".

Have you had an unscripted moment lately that made you cringe and think ouch? Those are actually great moments. They are moments to be fully aware of because some of the best things can happen in the unscripted moments.

I have been thinking about this past week of ministry. My unscripted moment of the week was using slingbox at our student service to interact between our campuses during a Q & A. We had a six second delay. If you know programming, six seconds is an eternity. At every delay, yes there were more than one, I would cringe because the transitions were so off. In reality the students loved the unscripted feel and totally engaged in the questions. I am blown away with the awesome questions from our students.

It's super easy, as a leader to get wrapped up in the moments that are unscripted and make us cringe and loose sight of the big win. Overall the night was a big win. The questions spurred on great discussion and led the students to grow relationally and spiritually.

My prayer is that I can be aware of the unscripted moments and celebrate those rather than cringe.

Holy Hair

I think the hair is my favorite part of this picture. Maybe a close second is the name of the group or that they all look like dudes. You can even listen to this in stereo! It even sold on ebay.

Election '08 decision maker

Can't decide who to vote for? Let them fight it out with Kung-Fu election!

Hey! Look over here...

Made ya look.  

For some reason this is a fun game for my kids.  "Hey dad, look an elephant!  Ha!  Made ya look."  This game could go on for hours.  As I drove to work today I turned off a few distractions.  I feel like there have been quite a few things distracting my attention lately.  Disclaimer: sure, there are times that some distractions are good.  If you've been focused in on a project; it's good to take a break and distract your attention for a bit.  Ok... that's over.  For the most part distractions are not beneficial to the end game.  I remember my first accident; being distracted at 16 by my radio led to me crunching the front end of my Z.  Those events are fixable, but being distracted from something eternal...  

The events this morning got me processing what are the distractions that I don't see right now.  Some leadership circles might term it "sideways energy".  I wouldn't even give it that much credit.  What distractions do I know of that I can change?  I think that one of the worst distractions as a follower of Christ is to get distracted off of purpose.  We don't have to be led into some big, huge, destructive, divisive sin, just distracted from our purpose and meaning far enough to cause a crash with eternal ripples.

You're welcome

In honor of the manly efforts of mustache week... you're welcome. Gotta be tough with the scruff.

Run in the Dark

This past Saturday I ran in a 5K. It was so much fun. The Community Storehouse sponsored the Run in the Dark 5K. Sam and Emma were so funny, they loved it that I was running in a race. Sam was sure that I was going to win. The Community Storehouse is a worth while group to support and was a great excuse to jump into doing some running. About a year ago I was working out consistently with the goal of doing a triathlon. I am determined that I will get to compete in one.

The best moment was coming to the finish line kicking it in and seeing my family cheering. Emma reached out her hand and chased me across the finish line in her flip flops. She is looking forward to running a race soon.

Mustache week '08

Thanks to Josh for tipping me off to Mustache week '08. Here is invite post...

Gentlemen,

Across the ages, one thing has stood out as a beacon of masculinity. A symbol of manhood. A declaration of the Y chromosome. That eternal symbol of the male is the mustache.

As a tribute to its glory (and as a sign of unity) we, the men of the world, will be sporting the most glorious of all facial hairstyles in the coming week.

Consider this your official invitation to Mustache Week ‘08.

Mustache Week ‘08 will be taking place from Sunday morning, September 21st through Friday night, September 26th. The only thing you need to participate is an actual mustache. (No going to Costume Castle and purchasing one!)

At some point during the week, a group picture will be taken to commemorate the event for future generations.

This will, no doubt, be the greatest week of our lives.

I started growing mine yesterday, we'll see how it turns out at the first shave of the week. This is going to be fun...

Are you in?

Risk

If you've never failed you've never lived.

If you've never risked you aren't living.

My son the artist

I received a text from my wife with these pictures attached. She said that Sam wanted to color... that he did.

UPDATE: for clarification... Sam asked Glenda to color with a marker.  He was coloring with this marker on our bed.  The canvas that he chose to create his masterpiece: his face and our sheets.  He looks so proud of his wonderful picture.

Truth Fears Nothing

Teens and Video Games

Fox news reported on Pew Internet national survey. The study illustrated just how ingrained video games have become in youth culture. It's a great article that shows just how enormous the video game market has become. The article says that 97% of teens are playing video games. Check it out.

Little bit of bragging

My daughter is brilliant.

Ok... time out... I know that quite a few parent like to brag and think they have a smart kid. Some parents even like to declare to all of traffic that their kid is on the honor roll. But my daughter's first grade teacher just told my wife that she tested out "off the charts" today. I am so proud of my little girl. I am also very thankful that my wife passed along her "smart genes".

Truth

One of my new favorite shirts is from the Jedidiah Hope Series. I picked it up a couple of months ago. I am a huge Jedidiah fan. I still remember my first Jedidiah Risk shirt almost 6 years ago. My new shirt features a phrase about truth that sealed the deal that this shirt would be coming home with me that day. It reads...

Truth Fears Nothing

The phrase has stuck with me. Does truth really fear nothing? Do people believe that? Do we live that? What about the church and truth? Sadly, it's just the opposite, people fear truth?

Why is truth feared? truth hurts... truth is messy... truth is hard to do in love.

Even still I am afraid that we fear the truth all too much. What's worse this fear seems to be prevalent especially in the church. We talk a good game; we are all about truth, but in the words of Jack... "you can't handle the truth". We'd rather fake a good game then have to deal with the harsh reality that we don't have it together. No wonder that authentic relationships are hard to find and so desired. Young leaders crave someone that is authentic and willing to, in truth, fear nothing.

There are a couple areas that this "truth-avoidance" sticks out the most.
• Church leadership... when the truth gets too personal it's rejected.
• Sacred cows... when the truth affects my ministry then I don't want it.
• Perceived truths... perception is everything. In many churches perception and appearance seem to be more important than heart condition.

Craig posted about the power of truth. It got me thinking about truth... how warmly do we welcome truth in our lives and in our ministries? It's been my experience that it's not too warm, maybe more like a cold shoulder. I value people that can speak the truth in love and receive it in love also. Just one of the many reasons I love the authenticity of the place we are in right now!

I like the truth. The bible actually says that it will set you free. Do we really believe it?

A lesson in puddle jumping

As the storm came through I would occasionally peek outside to check the status. At best it was a rainstorm with a moment of high winds. For the most part the DFW area only experienced a light bit of rain today. We are praying for the TX coastal cities that were hit so hard. The pictures and video of what happened in Houston and Galveston are unbelievable. So many of our church staff have relatives that are affected by Ike.

At one point I stepped outside and it seemed to be a perfect opportunity to have my kids come out and play. The kids had been inside all day and were getting a bit stir crazy. I had no idea they'd have so much fun. We ended up walking around the block. The longer we went the more the kids jumped. At one point I had to roll up Sam's pants so that he could keep jumping.

We found the drain where the water was rushing to. We sent leaf boats down the drain and jumped around. I was reminded of a few things on our puddle jumping walk today.

• Go for it... I didn't have to teach my kids how to jump in the water. I showed them the best puddles and they jumped. How many times do I know the right thing to do, have it pointed out, and yet wait to think about if it's right or not?

• Carefree... I saw this quite a bit on our walk. Emma's socks were getting wet and Sam's pants got soaked, but they didn't care because they were having a blast.

• Laugh a lot... there was no shortage of laughter on this walk. By the end of the walk the kids had even made the spashing into a game. I am convinced that there are too many adults that have lost their ability to laugh and have fun. The saddest part of all is that most of these adults think they are being a better Christ follower this way. Some how there's an equation with honoring Christ and being boring. Just to clarify, I totally disagree! A Christ-like life is the most exciting life. A God-honoring life is more exciting than the greatest day of puddle jumping. Jumping in puddles is good for the soul.

Watching my kids jumping around and laughing today made me remember a time like this for me. One particular rainstorm I jumped onto my BMX bike and rode all day. I was soaked. It was great. Somehow responsiblity equals not taking any risks. We even term it as calculated risks. Can a risk be calculated?

Get out... find a puddle... and jump. It's kinda fun.
Live life and experience some laughter.
Live the life that Christ has said we can.

Hurricane Day

This week has been spent watching and waiting to see what Hurricane Ike would bring to the Texas coast. My family has been through just about every type of weather, but we've never see a hurricane. We have also never seen what it's like to prepare for a hurricane that is hitting 275 miles away. The news has said that we could see tropical storm force winds, rain, and the potential of tornadoes that spin off. Many people in the Dallas area have friends and family in the Houston/Galveston area.

I am amazed that even yesterday the weather was absolutely beautiful and people were out and about like normal. Since we didn't know what to expect, we figured we had better heed the warnings. Glenda picked up a couple movies and found a great deal on Lego Indiana Jones (I guess we are counting on having power). When they got home last night the kids got really excited for "hurricane day". The news reports slowly downgraded the wind strength and amount of rain the Dallas area was going to experience, but we went ahead with the "hurricane day" plans. We've had quite a day having pancakes for breakfast, playing Lego Indiana Jones, and watching Fox news' reports of Hurricane Ike's path. Glenda did awesome planning a fun family day.

Apache, bumper boats and go-karts

It was quite an eventful day...to say the least.

The last two Fridays we've been trying to do more of the "Friday-day-off-routine-traditions-stuff". We hit up a new coffee shop and enjoying it. Today we started with an early Sonic lunch with my daughter at her school. Sonic is literally on every corner! I feel sorry for those that don't have a Sonic on every corner... ok I don't. After lunch we headed off to the rest of the Friday traditions. Today we added dinner to the event plans.

A family favorite is having dinner on the patio at Central Market. On arriving, there was a shock... someone parked an Apache helicopter in the parking lot! Sam was pumped! The kids were so excited to see this sweet machine up close... ok, so was I. After a quick photo shoot, we grabbed dinner, then off to U-Pick.


U-Pick was our North TX multisite event. I had a blast hangin with some awesome students and leaders at Mountasia... unlimited go-kart + unlimited bumper boats + unlimited mini-golf = unlimited fun!


Makes for a good night. Whew... what a day. Now off to prepare of the aftermath of Ike.

The Renewed Mind Is The Key

You'll be tempted to stop watching, but hang on to at least 1:53.

you are SO cool

Thankfully I have never popped a collar. It seems a lot like pinch rolling your pants... years later you'll wonder, "what was I doing?"

Just one more reason

This just one more reason I am a fan of this sport. There is no feeling like running someone over. I have delivered a few great hits. You never forget it and neither does the guy you left cleat marks on. This is a great game.

Questions for Guys

Proverbs 27:17... I love concept of iron sharpening iron; but like Tony says, "it's usually just two dull rocks passively talking about sports." Or maybe it's someone that thinks they've got enough people around them and they are doing good enough. How are we doing at being authentic with each other? How authentic am I being in my relationships?

Tony posted some great questions for guys. Check them out. Here's a few...

Are you honoring your wife in your marriage’s sex life?
Are you giving your kids the right attention?
What did God teach you in your quiet time this morning?
What have you done right this week in your faith? marriage? family? job?
What is something worthy of celebration in your life that you’ve just kept to yourself? Let’s go party about it!

You've been benched

This is great! I love what's happening through this... This is a great challenge and encouragement to do something positive. This might sound like algebra, but... If Jesus is good and I have chosen to live a life like Jesus did, then wouldn't it be true that good things would be naturally happening? This is a very good thing.



Benched from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

Football Season

Are you ready for football season? I am pumped; this is going to be a great season. These clips are in honor of the start of the regular season games. These locker room speeches will get you jacked. For those that never played, probably be a mini-jack; for those that never played but love the game, maybe a half-jack; for those that played and still "feel" it...

Summer will always mean two-a-days. September will always mean the start of football season, even if baseball is going too long. Fall will always feel like football season. Friday nights will always be for football.








If you like them you can watch the rest here.

The class of 2012

Each August for the past 11 years, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college. Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally born in 1990.

For these students, Jim Henson, and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.

Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.
They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
IBM has never made typewriters.
There has always been Pearl Jam.
Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.

Check out the whole list.

Your church is...

How would people in your community finish this phrase?

Is the message you think you are sending the same message your audience is hearing? Our intended message isn't always what is heard. Many times our best attempt at being culturally relevant sends "our" message with an outcome that falls short of what we had hoped. I am a student of how people view the "Church" and the local church; even more specifically, my church. Pop Goes the Church has a chapter in it titled Molly Your Church Sucks. How many times has this phrase been used? Probably too often...

I love the collision that happens when God's timeless truth is communicated through culture. It is a life's goal of mine to do the best I can to arrange these collisions and celebrate what God does as real people encounter God in a real way.

There are plenty of ways to get your community buzzing about your church. I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume that we all desire that the buzz is positive, but there are times it doesn't go too well. So far the buzz on this one isn't so positive. Negative buzz is so hard to recover from. I'd really be interested in understanding the intention behind this church sign.

"We meant that as a loving warning to teens. … The Scriptures tell us that you should not do what the song tells you to do. The Scriptures are not ambiguous on this issue." - a church in Ohio

There is an intended message and then there is the message that is being heard.















How can we influence a positive buzz? Can't we do better?
Thanks to places like this that help make a positive buzz.

No Wheels

When did this start?

Bible In a Minute

Role of Pastors

“I think the role of pastors at this time in history is to be a curator of human talent. They need to learn how to cultivate, how to identify, how to nurture, how to develop and unleash the God-given potential in every person.”

- Erwin McManus

Wow... I don't know of many pastors that are doing this. More are know for what they are against than what they are for. Why is it that we aren't developing and unleashing the God-given potential more?

ht to Tony... read the article in Outreach Magazine

iChat

It was great chatting with Steve and Ro tonight. Thankfully Glenda paused her Webkinz game to join the chat. I love ichat.

Pride goes before

A punch in the face...

Hide and Seek

Everything has become digital. Even the games I remember playing as kid in the schoolyard; they're all becoming digital. There's a new digital version of an old game, hide and seek. I have to admit that I've played this form of hide and seek, just not as tech savvy. With the multitudes of social networks available like twitter, facebook and myspace; add to the game that these networks are mobile this equals users mapping their every move. For some that use these networks to their fullest it can become like a game of marco ... polo or almost like a digital game of hide and seek. Read Newsweek's story here.

Destroying Happiness

Seth had an interesting post about the condition of our happiness today.

Most people have a better standard of living today than Louis XIV did in his day. So why are so many people unhappy?

What you have doesn't make you unhappy. What you want does.

What do you think?

What have I done?

I am not sure what I have gotten myself into...

Football. I love the game: playing, watching, coaching. This week adds a new one, Fantasy Football. What have I done? So, here's my problem... I've never been the "stats" guy. You know that guy that somehow has the steel trap memory to remember every player's stats since 1983. That's not me. I can't talk the trades or debate the draft. And now I am playing a game where it's pretty important to track stats and trades. Either way I am looking forward to it, because if it's football then I'm sure I will like it.

Here is where you come in, I need some help! First, I need to pick a team name. Secondly, if you are a FFL'er and know what you are doing, please hook me up with some tips.

This is going to be a very interesting football season. Are you ready for some football?

box truck

Seeing that we have had more than enough boxes, my kids wanted to have some fun with a couple...

















ok, so I may have helped a little.

Expensive coffee

This is the most expensive coffee I have ever had. I am certainly not the coffee expert, but I have had coffee in a few different countries and even the Starbucks Pike's place original roast. This would qualify as the most expensive coffee I've tasted.

The coffee is an organic... free trade... Jamaican Blue Mountain Blend. Most of the time, I prefer more of a bold, "punch-you-in-the-mouth" feel to my coffee. This coffee was more of a lighter... fruity... organic feel, but I guess it's good to try something new.

Either way it was a great cup of coffee.

Service Opener

This is a video that is shown on our weekend services. John Rolf our creative guru made it. I liked it, so I thought I'd share it here. Enjoy...



Service Opener #3 from John Rolf on Vimeo.

Are you really leading?

A question has been floating around a few blogs. I first read it at a great blog, here. Gary Haugen, president of the International Justice Mission, recently made this statement at the Willow Leadership Summit.

“Just because I’m leading and people are following doesn’t mean that I’m leading them in things that matter to God.”

The question if you are really leading is one that seems like a quick and easy answer, "sure". But then Gary's statement complicates the question a bit. People will always follow, but are they being led in the things that matter to God? This is definitely a question worth asking yourself. The difficulty with the question is that no one can answer it for you or for me. All outsider input is subjective; based one's view of the leader and how that leader has or is "performing".

I am a leader. It's always been there in me. Leading isn't the most warmly welcomed event with people. It's not the most popular thing to be a leader. Being a leader is not something that people want to hear you say you are. In the land of "out wit, out play, out last", Survivor, you get voted out for being a strong leader. This has always been the goofiest part of Survivor to me, "hey let's vote off the leader so we can sit around and wonder what to do." Life too often becomes a popularity contest rather than doing the right thing or the most God honoring thing. Sadly, the church too often mirrors culture in this.

I know that I can lead. In the above statement, I think that the most important part of it is asking if we are leading in the things that matter to God. It is up to the leader to choose to lead people in the things that matter to God. I am glad that this IS the case for my life and leadership. What a heavy weight to bear when a leader knows they are not leading in the things of God. I can't imagine!

How will you choose to lead today? Will it be a personal agenda? Will your leadership honor God? What will you choose? The bible clearly shows that it is never to late for a leader to choose to make the Godly decision and lead in the things that matter to God.

Are you really leading?

40 days of Thor Life

Fourty days and counting... it's seems like such a LONG time since my last post. The last two months have been quite a flurry of activity. Here's a snapshot...

• My first "southern" camp. It was fun ya'll. Hot. Southern. REAL pulled pork sandwiches.
• Steve and Ro's wedding. Great ceremony. Awesome couple. Looking forward to see how God leads their future. My kids did great!
• Surviving a one-car house. Stressful. Tiring. We are all ready for a second vehicle.
• Summer ministry break. This is the first time in 15 years that my summer's haven't daily go go go. It's really nice.
• Wrona's visit. Swimming. Movies. Laughter. More Swimming. Real BBQ. Rooftop pizza. Stampedes. Fun and more fun.
• Movies. I've seen a lot of movies in the last 2 months. Lots of culture.
• Verizon FiOS. Fiber Optic to your door. More on this later but... try Digital TV and a sizzling 20/5 mbps download/upload speeds!
• Summer Olympics. Loving it!
• Student ministry starts this week. Looking forward to rockin it again. It's gonna be a great fall.

I am doubtful that this list is comprehensive, but it will do.

Verizon and iPhone

I had a conversation with a Verizon employee recently who told me that Verizon was one of the first companies that Apple contacted to contract with to launch the iPhone. He proceeded to tell me that Verizon, get this, turned Apple down! What?! Seriously!? So, naturally, I was a bit skeptical of this until I read this article today.

In this article in Engadget, Verizon Communications' chairman and chief executive, Ivan Seidenberg states, "that the iPhone wouldn't become a mass-market handset". Maybe I am missing some info and I am sure that I don't think that I am an expert in the cell phone field, but hasn't the iPhone been pretty hot for pretty much ever since it came out?

I am still hoping to figure out a way to get my iPhone... some how. If you have suggestions... I'm all ears.

Happy Anniversary

Twelve years ago today I was having a pre-wedding conversation with my dad. We were in a bank parking lot and I was finishing up details for the honeymoon. All I could think about was walking down the isle and saying "I do" to my beautiful bride! Twelve years ago today was a great day! Today I celebrate my beautiful bride and our 12 years of marriage. I am honored to serve her as her husband. I am blessed to have such a loving, caring, brave, courageous, compassionate, and extremely beautiful wife. We've had quite a road to walk the last couple of years and she has taken every step with amazing courage and grace. I am so incredibly proud of her!

Tonight we are going downtown on a hot date! I am so pumped to celebrate with her; to look back at all God has done, to embrace where God has placed us and dream about God's plan for our future.

Babe, I love you... happy anniversary!

Get mini-mized

Fun stuff... check it out.

Trash juice

I don't often get grossed out. This morning was one of those rare occasions. At our new place, a trash can was left behind, with some trash in it. The area here has city trash containers that are distributed to the homes. This week we received our recycling container, but I did see our trash container, until I found it on the side of the house. I opened the lid to get a pretty good whiff of stench. So, needing to get some of our trash out, I shoved a few more bags in and put it out for pick up. This is what I found after the trash was picked up this morning.

There was "trash juice" and grubs all over the bottom of the can. It was probably one of the grossest things I have seen in a LONG time!

Viva la Vida

I would have to agree with this.

Thanks Matt!

Now if I can just figure out how to go see them in concert...

The 10 Most Annoying Songs Ever

Rolling Stone polled readers and asked them what the most irritating songs were. Warning: If you don’t want one of these songs stuck in your head stop reading now.

1. My Humps, Black Eyed Peas
2. Macarena, Los Del Rio
3. Who Let The Dogs Out, Baja Men
4. My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion
5. Photograph, Nickelback
6. Mambo No. 5, Lou Bega
7. You’re Beautiful, James Blunt
8. Wannabe, Spice Girls
9. The Thong Song, Sisqo
10. Believe, Cher

What do you think? Who should have made the list?

Jesus and Dinosaurs

Straight from the beginners bible coloring book... seriously?
























Thanks to Ethur for the hint.

Kung Fu Panda and Star Wars

My son turned 3 this week. Thanks to action figures from a certain fast food chain he was hooked on Kung Fu Panda. He was determined to get to see it, which I didn't mind too much seeing that I wanted to see it too. Also entertaining is now that he's been introduced to kung fu Sam thinks he can do kung fu. He kicking and punching everything, everywhere he goes.

Tonight the family had a blast at Kung Fu Panda. My favorite line was in the beginning of the movie... "there's no charge for awesomeness". I need to figure out how I can work that into regular conversation.

The suprise of the night was in the previews. Star Wars previewed an animated movie. They are really marketing for the next gen of Star Wars fans. It was very interesting, they pick up the story from where they left. It amazing to think that I have gone from seeing the original Empire Strikes Back in the theater to previewing the animated Star Wars with my kids in the theater. They will be able to do a lot more with animation, but it was really different. What do you think about Star Wars going animated?