No one got shot in south central L.A.
September 29, 2007 at 2:12 pm | In Community | Leave a CommentTonight is Kristan’s 10 year high school reunion. In my mind I am imagining something like my high school, which had 640 graduating seniors. I think East Burke (Kristan’s school) had fewer than that over the past 10 years combined! So, it’s pretty much going to be us and her friend Kama. That’s cool.
Anyway, today has been really relaxing. Small towns used to really bore me, but I am acquiring a taste for them. All I have done today was relax, make some trade proposals for my fantasy football team, and drive around in a Miata with the top down. Let me tell you, convertibles make driving fun again! Especially on days like today.
So, our website is finished (except for a few things we need to fix), it’s 78 degrees and sunny, and I’m looking forward to a great message by Mladen tomorrow on service…in the immortal words of Ice Cube, “Today was a good day”
Website is up!
September 29, 2007 at 11:24 am | In The Patio | Leave a CommentThe Patio website is up and it looks awesome! There are a few things that need to be tweaked, that that’s natural. I would love to wait until everything was perfect before promoting it, but man I am just too excited.
I have a few website pet peeves:
1. Lack of creativity – Standard templates that just let you fill in information really bother me. I understand that they are a great bridge while something is being put together, but it is not too hard to find someone to do a website in 2007. I know of two churches in Greensboro that both use the same template. The funny thing is they could not be further from each other in the way they approach ministry. A website should say something about who you are (and not just the words you type in)
2. Out of date – Some of our information is already out of date, but you can bet that it will be fixed real soon. When I left the first church I was at my picture was off the staff page within a day or two. In contrast, another church I served at has the old name of the church still on the website (It was changed at least 8 months ago).
3. Confusing – This is probably the mistake we are closest to making. It may be difficult for someone visiting our website to find out information they want to know (when/where are meetings).
4. Under-promoted – This has less to do with the website itself, but it still applies. Contrary to belief no one is going to stumble upon your website randomly and come to your church. That sort of thing happens with churches that actively promote their website and are on the first page of google when someone types in “Greensboro churches”. I know you have the story of the guy who actually DID find your church b/c he misspelled the name of the bar he was looking for and your church came up. That’s the exception…not the rule. Promote your website.
I have more, but the rest are silly personal things. These are opinions, but honestly, I’m right…you need to fix these problems if you have them. The other option is to have a boring, out of date, confusing site that no one looks at anyway. Who wants that?
Leadership Meetings
September 26, 2007 at 10:17 pm | In Chuch Planting, The Patio | 1 CommentI love our leadership team! We may have the youngest team in Greensboro, but honestly that’s what gets me excited. They already rock, and they are going to get better and better.
Bottom line, I wouldn’t trade Jason for ANY worship leader I have ever come across. Also, Stephanie is seriously going to develop into the type of Children’s minister that mega-churches would kill for(in a New Testament, calling people Raca way, not the Cain way).
Most importantly: we click! I mean really click. For the first time in ministry I love going to leadership meetings! It seriously is one of the highlights of my week. If you and your leadership team don’t love it I think you are doing it WRONG. If you are a part of our church you should be thrilled that your leadership loves serving at The Patio so much that look forward to Wed. evenings.
Happy Birthday Jason. It speaks volumes that you would want to come to a leadership meeting (or as you would call it, ”leadership party”) on your birthday!
Go Tigers!
September 25, 2007 at 4:16 pm | In Parenting | Leave a CommentThere is one thing that has never failed (I’ve tried it once) to stop Nolan from crying – Clemson Football! Last Saturday Kristan had to work so the kid and I had spent the early afternoon flipping channels after he ate. For some reason he was fussy. However, the moment he saw the Tigers on TV the wailing stopped and he looked on and smiled.
I can see Hal rejoicing right now.
College football has never been my thing, and I don’t really have a team; however, if Clemson buys me some peace and quiet…
GO TIGERS!!
“Good enough” isn’t good enough
September 23, 2007 at 11:53 pm | In Chuch Planting | Leave a CommentThere wasn’t much to pay attention to late in the Cowboys and Bears game tonight. It was over early in the second half. I stuck around though hoping to see Berrian (one of my receivers in FF) do something. Anyway, near the end of the game John Madden shared a conversation that took place between Dallas QB Tony Romo and last years coach, Bill Parcells.
Parcells said to Romo, “Don’t let ‘good enough’ be good enough”
Although inside the heart of man their is a passion to do great things we often times settle for “good enough”. The problem with good enough is that it is numbing! Good enough happens by doing only what you know works…avoiding risk. Living in safe routine. Routine can be a pretty terrible feeling.
Just the other day I was driving from Wendover to my house up 29North. It’s about a 20 minute drive. Anyway, all of a sudden I was a couple of minutes from my house and I couldn’t really remember anything from the drive. It felt like my brain shut off and my arms and right foot took over and got me home. I can live with that happening for a ten minute drive. I can’t let myself live that way for a year of my life.
“Great” takes work. There is no routine that produces greatness in life or ministry. As a husband, father, pastor, friend…whatever…I will not let “good enough” be good enough.
Permission
September 21, 2007 at 7:43 pm | In Chuch Planting, The Patio | Leave a CommentI think every person wants to do something amazing for God. Just today I read a blog by a person in our church who really captured that passion. It seems like more often than not those amazing things stay somewhere between the idea and dream section of the brain. In my opinion there is one major thing that keeps us from jumping off the cliff -
Permission.
We don’t know that it doesn’t matter if we succeed or not! It sucks to be in an environment where you are told that something is too big for you to do. If you believe that God is calling you to do something big – then JUMP! Our job as a church isn’t to tell you what you can and can’t do. Our job is to equip you as best we can and then pick you up (and celebrate your attempt) if it doesn’t work out.
Perry Noble has a great blog that really reminded me of all the feelings of stepping out to church plant. Take a moment to read it, but let me warn you, it could lead to turning your world upside down,
Of course, thats a good thing!
Apologies to all Shitzu owners, but…
September 20, 2007 at 11:38 pm | In Chuch Planting, The Patio | 1 CommentSo, this evening a few of us went for a walk around the neighborhood during our small group time. As we strolled down Pepperbush we came across this guy with a couple of dogs walking the opposite way. The dude was unusually friendly, inviting us to come over and pet his “friendly” shitzu. I don’t like shitzu, but I like neighbors so we went over. As I kneeled down (way down, dumb short dogs) I hear the guy say, “hey, you look familiar”.
Honestly, I hadn’t even looked at his face yet…I couldn’t take my eyes off that stupid shitzu. Seriously, its like walking a furry cat. Just open the door and hope he comes back by nighttime.
Anyway, I look up and it’s this guy, Gus, that was in my very first class at UNCG. No exaggeration I haven’t seen this guy in almost 10 years, but I remembered his name. IN YOUR FACE everyone who thinks I’m not relational!
Maybe that last sentence is why people think I am not relational…
So we spend 7 minutes catching each other up on the last 10 years and go our separate ways. We will see him again at the block party next week.
The awesome part is, a year from now, if Gus is “Coming Alive” through what God is doing in our church we are going to have a pretty amazing story that began a decade ago with two guys who were as far from God as possible. I love that stuff.
Survivor: China
September 20, 2007 at 9:07 pm | In Check it out | Leave a CommentSurvivor heads to China for this season, and what a fun first episode! The Christian finds herself in a sticky situation that will likely end up with her earning her the label of a hard-nosed fundamentalist. Kristan’s favorite person was voted off (I won’t spoil it for re-run watchers). There are already seeds being sown for big fights down the line!
OK, all the females this season who wore dresses and heals out to their site deserve to all go to an mud-caked exile island for a week to think about what they’ve done. IDIOTS! How are you going to win challenges in prom dresses?
My sleeper pick: James the gravedigger. He is a beast!
I love this show!
I stole 117$ from a NFL nosetackle and lived to tell about it
September 19, 2007 at 11:48 pm | In Check it out | 6 CommentsWhen I was 11 years old I stumbled upon my first lost wallet. Since then I think I average about one lost wallet a year (or money clip…whatever). In Mexico City I once came across a wad of pesos that had to be the equivalent of at least 500 dollars US. A guy with a big tattoo of a cross on his arm told me that we couldn’t turn it in b/c the authorities would steal it. By his logic the right thing to do was to cut out the middle man and split it between the two of us. Somehow, due to my broken Spanish, he got all of it. I’m pretty sure that I would have felt bad anyway so oh well.
Anyway, the first wallet I found had 117$ in it. You might wonder why I remember that so well. The answer? Because I stole it. Not all of it mind you. I gave 17 dollars to my friend Mike Reuter in order to keep him quiet (he was with me). He ratted me out though.
So my mom calls the guy and it turns out to be retired 6-time NFL pro-bowler, Curley Culp. Yep, I stole 100$ from a guy who once broke the helmets of 3 of his teammates…during a scrimmage. My mom made me hand the 117$ back over to this 300 lb. nose tackle separate from the wallet to teach me a lesson. Curley gave me an autograph, but I think he was kind of mad about the $.
Anyway, I completely forgot about that until last night. I woke up at 330am laughing at a dream I had of my friend Martha telling Billy Zane to “zip it” and “stop giving bad advice”. All of a sudden Curley Culp came back from the deep recesses of my memory.
No mask. No cape. No problem
September 18, 2007 at 2:56 pm | In Movies | Leave a CommentThis is the tagline for the most recent installment in the Die Hard series with hero, John McLane. I know it’s like 6 months old, but I just now read the yahoo summary. Growing up I loved the Die Hard movies. As an eight year old I watched the 1st one over and over like my buddy Caleb watches Finding Nemo.
Yippie Kay Yay!
I think what draws the audiance to McLane is how he sucks at just about every part of life except killing bad guys and ticking off his superior officer. Marriage, parenting, and interpersonal relationships all come difficult to him. McLane is an everyman. An everyman capable of single-handedly ending international terrorism…but an everyman just the same.
That’s the appeal. McLane can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound. No one wonders where McLane gets “those wonderful toys”. A hero like McLane lets us believe that armed with uzi and a boatload of expletive laden, cheesy, post-”put a bullet in the brain of a bad guy” remarks, we could be just like him.
The world needs heroes.
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