Concert... Awesome

I love going to concerts. I spent the better part of my college years (and savings account) going to concerts. I have yet to outgrow the itch to watch a great band live. It's really hard to top John Mayer when it comes to a modern day concert. Tonight I had the opportunity to see John Mayer for the 5th time... I can say without reservation that he gets better every time I see him. He has matured as an artist, a performer, and a guitar player. It's amazing to watch him play... it appears so effortless and fluid... he's really amazing at his craft. It was also an extra bonus tonight that Ben Folds happened to be the opening act for John on this leg of his tour. Ben requires a sense of humor and sometimes a thick skin to appreciate... I apparently have both :)

Thought I'd share some pictures with you all. Jen and I had great seats (5th row, Floor)... I wish we had a better camera, we could have captured some great photos... I did what I could with our little Canon Powershot. Oh, and the guitar pick is real... I didn't catch it, but I watched John throw it and apparently was the only one paying attention. No one picked it up, so I grabbed the spoils as soon as the show was over. Enjoy the pics....

Day 1 at CAMP!

Believe it or not this post is coming straight from my bunk in the "Lebanon" cabin at Camp Lebanon Retreat Center (picture intended as proof). I'm amazed that a little Linksys router can send me a signal across the lake... but it's happening.... we live in a strange world!

Really excited to be here at camp this week. It's tough being away from Jenessa, home, office, life, etc.... but it's also really nice to be out here in a place that I love spending time with 110 high school students. I love these kids... I see them once a year and it's like I'm their best friend... nothing like the first day of camp and all the hugs and hand pounds ("daps" for all you hip readers) that are given out. I look forward to this every year, and it never gets old!

I am definitely getting my share of quality (really high quality) worship between Young Adult Camp and this Senior High Camp. Mike Gaines and his band absolutely rocked out last weekend at YAC... Mike is so gifted, I am excited to have him on my ministry team! This week we have the pleasure of having 2 of the brightest young worship leaders in Southwest Ohio co-leading the worship band. Aaron Barnes and Travis Flynn flat out brought it tonight at the kickoff service. They played 8 or 9 songs total... it was invigorating to watch the students worship God. Can't wait to see how God moves in the next 4 days! I'll do my best to keep you all posted.

HOT ROD!

I'm not sure why, but this blog has taken on quite the music & movies theme the past couple of weeks. I assure this is not, nor will ever be an entertainment blog.

That said, it's safe to say that I'll be looking forward to this movie all summer.

Go here for a much longer trailer... this movie will be a classic.

Sneak Peek Post

Last night I had the opportunity to check out the new movie Evan Almighty down at the AMC on the Levee. The movie doesn't open until June 22nd, but Journey Church's media guru hooked us up with some sneak peek passes.

To tell you the truth I was little worried about the movie going in. You see, all of the church people have been hyping this movie. Study guides, small group materials, and web-sites rallying the cause of this family friendly Bible promoting movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for family friendly, appropriate humor, and I'm definitely for anything that puts God's story into mainstream culture. It's just that typically when a bunch of Christians rally behind something, there's a good chance it's really cheesy, and will only serve to further alienate disconnected people from the local church.

With all of that said. I was pleasantly surprised. The movie was hilarious! (Can Steve Carell be in anything that's not funny?) Wanda Sykes nearly stole the show... she is so funny. It was not cheesy, or corny, in fact it was quite revealing, and carried much truth in the midst of all the humor. In fact, there was one scene where God is talking to Evan's wife (Joan... Joan of Ark) about prayer, and how God answers prayers. He said:

"If you pray for courage, do you think I'm going to give you courage, or the opportunity to be courageous... If you pray for your family to become closer, do you think I'm going to give you warm fuzzy feelings about one another, or give you the opportunity to grow closer as a family".

Quite a different perspective on prayer. What are some of the things that you are praying for that you are waiting for God to simply bestow upon you, when in reality he is giving you the opportunity to act, do, or be what you are praying for. Maybe we should start seeing opportunities as answers to prayers.

All in all, it was a good movie. I highly recommend it to you. Great for the family, great for kids, great for adults. Go see it. Oh, and just for the record, I would probably give it 4 SchruteBucks!

The Jetsons era has arrived

"In the future packages will be sent to distant lands through beams of light." (If you know where that quote comes from, I'll give you a prize).

I simply cannot believe the world we live in. Everyday I am amazed, and I take for granted the wonder of the technology around me. It is absolutely stunning to think about how it has changed our lives.

When I see things like this... I am amazed. My jaw drops, and I think: "Oh my gosh, what all am I going to see in my lifetime." And then I think: "Wow, Apple is going to take this and make it like 20 times cooler and easier to use".

Go here, watch the three videos (less than 1 minute each), and be amazed.

Finale Time Part 2

I promised some reviews of the other shows I watch, so here goes:

LOST - This was an awesome season. I got a little nervous half way through the season that it was going down the drain, but they did an awesome job of ramping up the intensity in the last 10-12 episodes. The finale could not have been more dramatic. I loved it... it had twists, turns, drama, and it furthered the storyline (somewhat). I can't wait to see what they do with the show next year. I think they get rescued, but some elect to stay on the island... the show will then continue in 2 parts, showing those still on the island, and those not on the island, and their pursuits to either return or move on with their lives. Rating: 5 SchruteBucks
The Bachelor - This is a GREAT story!! Jenessa watched the entire season of this show. I watched most of the episodes with her. You know the show... it all boils down to the 2 hour finale where the guy picks between two girls (both of whom he apparently "loved"), and then asks one to marry him. Well, we DVR'd the show as usual, and were watching something else in the mean time. I kid you not... the minute the show we were watching ended, and we hit "Delete show", it kicked back to our other tuner (the one recording Bachelor), just in time for us to see and hear: "Tessa, will you marry me". Jenessa gave me a look that could kill... we deleted the show, and moved on with our lives. I effectively added 2 hours on to my life, and I could not be happier. Rating: 25 SchruteBucks (it was that good.) American Idol - Didn't watch the finale. Two hours for a simple announcement is ridiculous. Add Ryan Seacrest to the mix and I almost poked my eyes out. Fast forwarded through most of it... did stop to watch Blake perform with Dougie Fresh. That was awesome... Blake is a performer, he will be a star, and I will buy his album. All that said... the girl won. I'm not even sure of her name... Jordan something? Whatever, she'll be mediocre at best... Can't wait till the next time they start making fun of people again next season! Long Live Simon! Rating: 1 SchruteBuck

Boston Legal - Still have 4 episodes on my DVR... this is not good. I love the show, it just hasn't been a priority in my life recently. Sorry.

Finale Time...

It's that time of year... All of the spring shows are wrapping up with their season finale specials. This means 2 things: 1.) The Dooley DVR will get a much needed rest for the next few months. 2.) I have some strong opinions about some of these shows... I will share them here:

1.) Heroes - The first season of this show was incredible. I'm a sucker for anything superhero, so I was hooked all season. The plot was very solid all year, it was constantly interweaving the different characters, and was definitely building a serious climax for the finale.... or so we thought. It became very clear at the final commercial break with only 10 minutes of show time left that this was going to be a disappointment. The whole"Save the World" part of the show turned out to be quite lame, and extremely predictable. It appeared as if the writers spent a lot of time on every episode except for what I would consider the most important episode. Rating - 2 SchruteBucks

2.) The Office - Funniest show on TV: without question! If you are not watching The Office, you simply are not in the loop with about 80% of my comedy... this could explain why some of you think I'm not funny. The finale was great... Michael Scott made me uncomfortable the whole time... you know it's a good episode when you are talking out loud to the screen saying things like: "Don't say it..." "Don't do it...." "Not in front of her boss....". SO FUNNY! Jim is back in Scranton. I think that Karen will stay in NY, and leave Dunder-Mifflin. Ryan (the temp) got a corporate job with the company.... he will have a recurring role, and it will be hilarious to see him bossing his former bosses around! Can't wait till next season! Rating - 4 SchruteBucks

3.) Desperate Housewives (or is it Households?) - I love this show. It's so real... sure there are some really over the top situations, but for the most part these 4-5 families are dealing with the same things that we, along with everyone else around us, are dealing with. The finale was sweet... It was cool to see Bree and Orson back in the mix.... they are so shifty! Gabby made a mistake marrying the politician/mobster. Is Edy really dead, or will Carlos slide in to save her? Susan and Mike are in love... blah blah... it is good to have Ian off the show however! Lynette and Tom are such a team.... If you can't find something to like about them, and relate to them in your marriage/parenting, then you aren't being honest with yourself. They are the biggest reason I watch the show, as their storyline is typically the most believable. Very cool show... Looking forward to next season. Some really cool church should probably rip this show off and do a teaching series based around it. Rating: 4.5 SchruteBucks

This post is really long... I'm going to have to split it into two separate pieces. Look for more reviews from these shows later this week:

LOST (Who lives... who dies... can't wait till Wednesday night)
American Idol (Go Blake!)
Boston Legal (4 unwatched episodes on the DVR right now... yikes)
The Bachelor (The funniest thing happened. This is more for my wife than me... honest...)

Disciple....Apostle.... Huh?

I'm really excited about the new teaching we are starting this weekend at Journey Church and BIG Student Ministries.

In the "Disciples" series we will be looking at three things that Disciples of Jesus do. We'll be looking at three examples from the Gospels of people who made a conscious decision in their life to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Can't wait to teach on these three stories!

I'm currently sitting in a teaching session at the State office of the CHOG. The speaker got on a little bit of a rant earlier talking about disciples and made the following statement:

"Too often in the church we disciple people for 60 years and never apostle them."

The idea behind the statement is that we can often teach, train, equip, foster gifts, and strengthen people, and then miss out on the part where we send them out to do the work. He was speaking in reference to Jesus sending out his disciples as apostles in Matthew 10. He equipped them in verse 1 (and of course throughout their journey together), and then He sent them out in the later verses. He didn't simply disciple them... he "apostled" them.

It is the vision of Journey Church to be a community that disciples and apostles people. This is laid out clearly in our Vision: "To shape the moral and spiritual climate of West Chester and beyond by gathering a community of Christ followers who emulate Christ, embrace one another, engage the culture, and empty themselves into others."

Sign me up for that! I love working at a church that has a clear vision to shape people in the mold of Jesus who will in turn shape people in the mold of Jesus.

Little Switzerland and Snowmen on a Golf Course in May

What an unbelievable title to this post. That should win some sort of web award!

Jenessa and I spent this past weekend visiting her family in the northeastern part of Ohio. The occasion was her youngest sisters Junior Prom. Jenna is such a beautiful girl (see picture as evidence). She is the little sister I never had, and I treat her as such. Trent (her boyfriend) and I had a nice little chat while I was there. I hope he's not a liar, that would not make me a happy big brother. :)

Jenessa grew up in a little town called Sugarcreek. You may know it as Little Switzerland. Or you may simply know it as "Amish Country". I used to constantly tell new people that we met that Jenessa used to be Amish. She is not amused by the joke.

I must say... I used to loathe going to that part of the state (NOT due to the in-laws, please don't read into that...), simply because of the lack of anything modern, and the overabundance of horse manure on the streets. However, I have recently changed my tune about the Great Northeast {Ohio}. It's nice to get up there once in a while. No wireless internet , almost no cell phone service, not a lot to do, simply time with family.

I think there is some divine connection when we unplug from the digital world. I think we become more in tune with what God has to say to us when all of the distractions are minimized. For instance... I watched a sermon on my computer in it's entirety for the first time in a while. No i-Chat to disturb me, no e-mails bouncing in, no blog updates to read... simply my headphones and a beautiful sermon about God's grace for humanity. I cried at the crescendo of the sermon... the speaker used an unbelievable illustration that I will never forget seeing. I don't think I would have cried during a sermon in my everyday context. God used Amish country to shake me up.

Since I mentioned it in the title, I better refer to it in the post. I saw several snowmen on a golf course yesterday. It was unbelievable... I can understand there being one, but 4 in the course of 18 holes... that's unreal!

Wondering where and how this is possible? I challenge you to go golf the only Top 100 public course in the tri-state and see if you don't find some snowmen as well!

Free Stuff... Seriously

Okay, I know there are some of you out there who will think this is bogus... that's fine, you are allowed to feel this way. I however would like to win some free stuff.

I read this on Josh Clark's blog. Who is Josh Clark and why should you trust him? He is a really cool Christian Author / Student / Web-Designer from Lexington, Ky. You should trust him because he advised me on how to receive a free Apple Macbook Pro, and it actually worked. In fact, I'm just going to steal Josh's entry from his blog.... why re-invent the wheel. Click the link at the bottom of this post, be my friend... lets win prizes together.

Blingo: A search engine powered by Google, but with a twist. Use their site to search and you still get the same Google search results, but each search is a chance to instantly win any of these prizes:

• Brand New Ford Escape or $20,000 cash
• $5,000 Cash
• Home Theatre Package or $2,500 cash
• $2,500 Cash
• $1,000 Cash Every Thursday
• $25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate
• Fandango Movie Ticket

Simple as that. Just search like you normally do, but each time you have a chance at winning (up to 25 chances per day, though you can do more searches than that).

Blingo Friends

You can also refer people to Blingo, and when they sign up under you they become one of your “Blingo Friends.” Then, if any one of them wins a prize, you get the same prize, even if it’s a new car.
People who sign up under you can still refer other people as their own Blingo Friends.

So sign up as one of my friends and start using Blingo! Then if you win something, I win something!

Here’s the link:

http://www.blingo.com/friends?ref=xfHH3zIq9jaVrfDjQkHengOzhBI

Passion: Hope for the Hokies

There are a lot of good movements out there doing things to advance the Kingdom, and spread God's love to the nations. One of my favorite organizations out there is the Passion Movement, lead by Louie Giglio. My generation is blessed to have Passion paving the way with their outstanding conferences, awesome worship leaders, and tremendous love for college students.

This website is a simple example of the kind of people who supply the vision for Passion. Pass this link along to friends who might be in need, or download the tracks for yourself if you feel the need to.

www.hopeforthehokies.com

Jon McLaughlin

Seriously... two posts in 2 days about 1 guys album.

I wanted to give a quick update. Jon's album "Indiana" is currently 5th on i-tunes top albums list. Keep the love coming... it would be really cool to see him climb to the top of the list (remember, it's only $7.99). Also, I ran in Target for a minute with my lovely wife today and saw Jon's album on the new release rack for only $9.99.

Go here, here, or here to check him out.

For listening pleasure, I recommend the tracks: Industry, Human, and the single Beautiful Disaster.

Sweet Sounds and Shameless Plugs

You may not know this about me, but I love music. I'm quite eclectic in my tastes, so don't be surprised when you hear me recommend albums that are quite different... although that is not reflected in this current entry.

A couple times per month I'll throw some albums / artists out there that are currently on my "Hot List".... okay, I don't really have a "Hot List", but it sounded right so I just let it flow.

1.) Jon McLaughlin - Indiana : This guy is actually a quasi family member by marriage. We've hung out together, we were in the same fraternity (at different schools), etc... Bottom Line: if you don't go buy this album, I will be personally offended! You can pick up Jon's brand new album "Indiana" on i-tunes right now for only $7.99. That is a steal for a beautiful, full, 13 track album! GO BUY IT!

2.) Dashboard Confessional - Dusk & Sumer: I listened to Dashboard a lot in high school in college. While Dashboard is the the king of the emo genre, their latest album proves to be much happier and does a great job attracting new audiences. I think you'll enjoy their tunes... check out the tracks "Stolen" and "So Long, So Long". *Note* I refer to them as Dashboard because that is the band name, but in reality it is one guy named Chris Carrabba.

3.) Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American : Classic. Tough to beat Jimmy Eat World. They always get me pumped when they shuffle through while I'm on a jog. If you've never heard them, check out the tracks "Bleed American" and "Sweetness".

That's all for now... more to come later.

Great Feeling

It's a great feeling when I finish a book. I start a lot of books... very seldom do I finish a book, and if I do it's likely months later.

This past Thursday on the flight home from Orlando I finished the final 2 chapters in an unbelievable book by Rob Bell entitled: Sex God: {Exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality}. I've already decided that this book will be a "mandatory" element of my pre-marital counseling sessions. I already have my first two guinea pigs lined up (thanks Billy and Po).

Rob is a great communicator and a top-notch author... I highly recommend either this book or his other book: Velvet Elvis. If reading isn't your thing, check out his series of short films: Nooma.

Here are a few gems from "Sex God". Soak them up, then go by the book to get the full story.

"The author of Genesis makes it clear that there is something different about humans... something of God has been placed in them. We reflect what God is like and who God is. A divine spark resides in every single human being. Everybody, everywhere. Bearers of the divine image" (pg 19).

"How you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the creator. When a human being is mistreated, objectified, or neglected, when they are treated as less than human, these actions are actions against God. Because how you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the creator" (pg 28).

"It's possible to be married to somebody and sharing the same bed and be very disconnected. It's possible to be married to somebody and sharing the same bed and even having sex regularly and still be profoundly disconnected" (pg. 45)

"As human beings, we take part through our actions in the ongoing creation of the world. The question is: What kind of world are we going to make" (pg. 63).

"God constantly commands his people to remember who they are, where they've been, what they've seen, adn what's been done for them. If we stop remembering, we may forget. And that's when the trouble comes" (pg 74).

"Sleeping with lots of women gives a man the feeling of being a man without actually having to be one" (pg 126).

"The failure to understand the infinite depth of the human soul is often why people who are married have affairs. They stop exploring the person they married. They find somebody who appears more interesting" (pg 159).

"Sex... in its greatest moment is free from power and coercion and manipulation and agendas and fears, when it is simply two people giving all of themselves to each other, holding nothing back" (Pg 166).

The Back of Class

The cool kids always sat in the back of class didn't they? I showed up a few minutes late to the main session today with Dave Ferguson, so I decided to sit in the back.

Here's a snapshot of the "cool kids" I discovered upon sitting down..

















If you are unaware, the back row warriors pictured here are Ben Arment and Mark Batterson (Left to Right). It's been really cool to be able to put some faces and handshakes with bloggers this week. Looking forward to the final day tomorrow. Bill Hybels will close the conference out for us. Not bad as far as closers go....

Conference Notes

Still having a great time here in sunny Orlando. Did I mention yet that my rental car is a convertible (no, I didn't ask for it... they just handed me the keys), and it's 85 degrees here?

Today was a full day. I'm worn out, and about to lay down in this extremely comfortable hotel bed, watch SportsCenter on the plasma screen and take a nap. But first....

Breakout Session this morning with Darrin Patrick at The Journey in St. Louis was excellent. He's a great communicator, and a high level leader. Too much to post all my notes, so here are the highlights from his session on "Team DNA":

"There is nothing greater than working with a great team. However, working with a bad team can kill you."

• Adam had a team.
• Moses had a team.
• Throughout the Bible we see God calling people to build a team before they accomplish a task.

Team is overrated! (If YOU are not qualified ... See qualifications in I Timothy 3)

YOU (Lead Guy) are the greatest resource in your ministry.

Character of the leader = Character of the team

When you are the leader, people imitate you. They photocopy how you do your marriage, raise your kids, and treat others.

*Big Takeaway* "People will come to your church because of your gifts, but they will stay because of your character."
_____________________________________________________________

Team is underrated! - Choosing a good team

See Mark 3

• When picking a good team, there is no replacement for spending time with God.
• When you spend time alone with God, he is developing your gut, increasing your discernment.
• Chemistry is important - Hire people you like, and can have fun with
  
• Do Stuff - They can't just be fun, they have to have a skill, passion, place to serve, etc...
• Every church should have an internship program.
  
• It helps the church distinguish what kind of people they want to hire without making long term commitments / mistakes.
• It helps develop the young leader.
• Be open with you staff - "Believe the best about one another, and wade through the worst!"
• Hire slowly / Fire Quickly
• Ministry is not about getting stuff done. Ministry is about getting people done.
• Your job as a leader is to create an environment where people can survive and thrive. To create a community where other leaders can excel.

Mark Batterson

I am currently sitting in on a session by one of my favorite bloggers / authors: Mark Batterson. This is actually the 2nd breakout session of his that I've attended. Here's a picture of the one yesterday. Fellow blogger Ben Arment actually snapped the photo: look forward 4 rows and you'll actually see me (and my computer bag).

I'll post some notes from the current session later, but in the mean time, here are some highlights from Mark's talk yesterday on: Maximizing Environments

"Below the level of consciousness the human mind is always processing environments."

• Leaders know how to send subliminal and intangible messages.
• Leaders create culture.
• Leaders are environmental engineers!

7 Keys to creating the right church culture

1.) Be Yourself - Culture starts with knowing who you are and who you aren't.

• A lot of our church cultures are unhealthy because we are unhealthy.
• Life is too short and leadership is too challenging to be two people: The person you are, and the person people want you to be.
• "You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time" - Abraham Lincoln
• You have to choose what kind of people you are going to offend. *Hint* - Jesus offended the religious people.

2.) Stay Positive

• Sharing wins creates an energy and momentum that reduces the size of the looming problems / issues we are facing.
• Church should be the most enjoyable hour of the week (people should feel better when they leave)
• Ministry should be fun (Who you do ministry with determines how fun your ministry will be)
• Pray & Play retreat with staff & leaders (create a fun team culture).

3.) Establish Boundaries

• Family must come first... at the end of the day, a church can find another pastor, but your kids can not get another father.
• Mark gives NCC one evening per week. Evenings are for family.... he'll make an exception once per week.

4.) Little things are Big things

• When Rudy Guliani was elected mayor of NYC, he went after the petty crimes: jaywalking, graffiti, fare jumpers, etc.... The result was that serious felonious crime was decreased drastically.
• Broken windows create subliminal messages (Broken windows are little things that reflect on big things about your church culture)

• ⁃ Misspelled words on worship slides
• ⁃ Unevenly folded bulletins
• ⁃ Typos, dirty floors, messy stage, etc...

• 1% of what you do makes 99% of the difference

5.) Think like a guest

• Unintentional blindness: When we become so absorbed in our culture, we develop blind-spots. These blind-spots cause us to miss out on things that we are doing poorly.
• Do reconnaissance missions: Get out of your culture a few times a year... go to other churches and absorb their culture to expose your blind spots.
• **Book Recommendation** - The Art of Shopping by Paco Underhill
• Paul said that he would become all things to all people, in order that he might reach some.

6.) Exceed Expectations

• Good is not "Good Enough"
• When NCC started Ebeneezer's, they knew that needed to be to pass the "Starbucks Litmus Test". The #1 goal was for people to say "WOW" when they walked through the doors.

7.) Cast Vision Like Crazy

• Most church problems are not Sin problem. Most church problems are Vision problems.
• If the mission and vision are big and important enough, you will not have the time or energy to dip down to the level that will bring you down.
• If you aren't careful you can begin doing ministry from memory... because you are good at it. We stop doing ministry from creativity, and start doing it from memory. We stop creating the future, and start repeating the past.

Best Practices:

⁃ Invest in your leaders
⁃ Take your leaders on a vision casting retreat once per year
⁃ Church planter in Residence
⁃ At NCC they always have a church planter on staff doing a utility role... they have them do a little bit of everything for 18 months - 2 years... Then they send them out and support them for 1-2 years.
⁃ This ensures that a culture of church planting is always around NCC!

Arrival and Session 1

Having a great time in Florida so far. Fun day yesterday.... my flight came in Monday morning, and the conference didn't start until Tuesday around Noon, so I had the opportunity to head down to my Alma Mater to see some old friends and former professors. Got to eat at 2 of my favorite college dives: Fat Boys Bar-B-Q and All Star Grill! Love it.

Day one of the conference was very solid. Had the opportunity to hear from Wayne Cordeiro, the Lead Pastor at a really cool church in Hawaii in the opening session. He shared some great principles in regards to listening and learning from the Holy Spirit, especially in regards to sermon crafting. My big take aways were:

• "You can teach what you know, but you ultimately reproduce what you are!"
• If we want tomorrows church to be men & women of deep devotion, then we (pastors) must be people of deep devotion (same with marriages, parenting, hearts for others, etc....)

How do you gain wisdom?

• Through personal consequence or experience (walking into a wall)
• Through other people's personal experiences (let others walk into the wall & learn from them)

OR

• You can gain wisdom and skill in the art of playing guitar by sitting in a class about guitar, or you can have a one on one session with a great guitar teacher... a master.
  
• You can gain wisdom & skill by sitting in a conference (or a church service) about Jesus, or you can sit with the Master and learn directly from him, about him.
  
• Luke 10:38-42 - Mary & Martha had the opportunity to sit before the Master and learn from him... only one took advantage of the opportunity.

5 Things to bring with you everyday when you sit down with the Master to learn from him.

1. Bring a Bible
2. Bring a pen
3. Bring a reading program to assist you in journeying through the Bible
4. Bring a journal (and a plan to Journal)
5. Bring a daily planner (to eliminate distractions when they come in your mind... just write them down, and forget it)

Back With A Bang!

Rumor has it that there are some people checking this blog for updates. Thanks to those encouragements, I have decided to jump back on the horse. I'm going to dial down the expectations this time... I won't blog daily, or twice daily, or even 5 times a week. My goal will be to post 3 new posts each week; no less, and anything beyond that will be *bonus*

So, to kick things off, I'll be doing some live blogging from the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida. Sitting in a beautiful auditorium for the first Main Session right now. I'm really looking forward to soaking in the wisdom that will be shared by some of the top leaders in the church planting world. I would encourage you to follow some of the links on the right side of this page for some updates from some other attendees and presenters (Arment, Batterson, Ferguson).

Stay Tuned....

The Chaos of our Lives

I am currently about halfway through a great book called "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by one of my favorite bloggers. There have been several things thus far that are blog worthy, but I want to wait to share most of them. I plan to compile all of my personal highlights together when I am finished, and do a quick book summary/review.

This however, could not wait. When I read this, it stopped me in my tracks... not because it was so deep or theological, but because it was so simple and so true. Mark is talking about how God is a 4-dimensional God. He is everywhere, all at once. God knows no space or time. He goes on to quote Genesis:

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Mark then responds:

In the beginning, the Spirit of God was hovering over the chaos. And nothing has changed. God is still hovering over the chaos. The creation story is a microcosm of what God wants to do in your life. He hovers over the chaotic situations ready to create order and beauty. He wants to fill the void.

Do you feel like there is chaos in your life? Surely you do... don't we all sometimes feel like things are spiraling out of control? It's a beautiful thing that we can find peace in the fact that our 4-dimensional God is hovering over the chaos of our lives, just waiting for us to give him permission to restore order, and create something that is whole.