Archive for October, 2009
Free Music on Amazon
Just discovered some free music on Amazon courtesy of Lifehacker.com. It’s Philip Glass Sampler and it’s classical music. And I love it. Great music to read or write to or just chill out. Can’t believe it’s free.
whyChurch Series Starts Sunday
I have a love-hate relationship about my time in the Army. Hated the 18-20 hour days. Hated being in the woods 20 to 30 days at a time. Hated the cold, wet marches with 45lbs of gear on my back. Hated the food for the most part. We had a lot of different meanings for the letters MRE.
But I loved the toys and getting to blow things up. I loved having a mission that focused all of our decisions. Loved the leadership development, having a team focused on an important task where much was at stake. Putting our lives into the effort. It really wasn’t just a job. Loved the process of developing leaders — where the goal was to develop people to be better. And I loved serving my country. It was hard but it was rewarding.
What’s this got to do with whyChurch? Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at Jesus’ mission for the church, what WH is doing to fulfill that mission. We’ll take a trip down memory lane as well as look at the future of what implications His mission has on us.
Here’s a nugget from my notes so far:
The mission of God can be first seen in Genesis 12 with Abram and gets sharper in focus leading up to the arrival of Jesus. Jesus brought a laser focus to His mission by using simple, powerful stories that captured the heart. These simple – not easy – stories were given to us so that the focus would be on DOING the mission, not defining it, dissecting it, or discussing it.
E-cards for iPhones
I was about to send Amy an e-card today and realized…she can’t open it on her iPhone. What to do?
Go to ecardlets.com. It’s pretty cool, pretty basic. Looks like you can even design your own card and send if you have the time.
The Q & A From Sunday Last
A few of you have asked for the questions…
Here’s the link for the audio. It’s a bit long to go through all of the questions here but I want to hit a couple of highlights.
It’s always fun to read Song of Songs…always…especially in church. That’s all I’ll say about that.
Amy is a rock star. I mean, she really is. Amy hit it out of the park with her insight and answers. I’m glad Western Hills got a deeper look at the incredible woman she is.
I think the Q&A revealed how important dialogue is in discipleship. It’s why Life Groups are so huge in the maturing process because Life Groups provide the perfect context for asking questions, real questions and getting real answers.
Harvest Report
The journey of the Harvest thus far:
The Past 30, The Next 30
A Little Sacrifice Now…
Why The Debt And Why Now
Exodus 36:5
A Gentle Rebuke
So what happened Sunday? We had over 17k dollars come in towards the debt…which means there is 19k left…which means in the span of 9 months we’ve gone from 100+k in debt to 19k…which means we are on track to be debt free for 2010. Praise God.
The point of it all was not to just get out of debt to get out of debt – which would have been reason enough. The point is for us – the Church – to start putting our money where our vision statement says we put our money – helping people. Being out of debt allows the church to spend money on ministry, in people, helping others.
Next series – whyChurch?
The McDonaldization of YS?
If you haven’t heard by now, let me help you get the rock that you’re living under off of you. Mark Oestreicher – lovingly referred to as “Marko” – was ‘released’ by Youth Specialties on Monday by Zondervan. I’ll pause a minute and let that sink in.
There’s much that isn’t known at this point. Why? Was this in the plans since day one when Zondervan bought YS? Did the trips to Michigan finally push Marko over the edge where he went through the Zondervan office threatening bodily harm to all suits with a rubber chicken? Will YS now be the newest addition to get your youth version Precious Moments? Does Zondervan have any clue what they’ve just done to themselves?
Here’s what I DO know – I hurt. I hurt for Marko and his family. I think he’s ‘deep’ enough, ‘mature’ enough to know that his value and importance are beyond the title and position he held at YS. Not that this lessens the pain at this moment. In the long run – he and his family are going to be just fine…better than fine.
I also know the reason so many youth workers loved YS because they knew they were getting a quality product that spoke to youth culture relevantly. YS was committed to ministering to the hearts of youth pastors and youthworkers. Not because it was a ministry plan but because people like Yac and Marko knew that relationships matter most, more than curriculum.
On the other side of the fence, Zondervan hasn’t published a relevant youth ministry book on their own in years. The “Big Boys” of Christian publishing have been irrelevant in student ministry for years. Graphically, subject wise, language, the vanilla-ness of it all. They still write for white, suburb, upper-middle class, non-divorced families that live in the south. Most of us haven’t noticed it or been bothered by it because of YS.
I wonder if that’s changed now. I wonder if the future of YS is really a “Back to the Future” for the rest of us. And to me this is the real tragedy of the week. I’m completely confident that Marko will find a place to land, to minister, to continue his impact on student ministry for the Kingdom. He’s not the loser here.
Zondervan are losers in this. Not that kind of loser…well…okay, that kind as well. They’ve lost/fired a prophetic voice for student ministry. In an arena where relational equity is everything, they just shoved that out the door and who knows when they’ll earn that back.
I wonder if the real losers in all of this mess is us. Will we get yet another few years of safe, irrelevant, vanilla curriculum from a company that is going to do its best to not offend anyone? Will we go ‘back to Egypt?’ Or will two crazy guys start making books in their garage again and on their Macs and start the revolution all over?
Here’s hoping that happens…again.
A Gentle Rebuke
This Sunday is Harvest Sunday and as of right now, we have 42k on the debt. What does it mean if the debt is gone after this Sunday? It means we’ll spend 78,000 more dollars on ministry next year than we did this year without increasing our budget. Part of that will be for a full-time student pastor. The other part we want to spend on children.
What happens if we don’t meet the goal?
I was sitting in our Church Council meeting last night and this question was asked. I hedged. I blinked. I hesitated. I was about to give the good, spiritual, encouraging answer but it was painfully obvious I didn’t really feel that way. The leaders around me patiently waited. “So…Grant…what happens if we don’t meet the goal?”
I was honest with them — “I’ll be disappointed. I AM disappointed.”
A hush filled the room. It was the quiet before the rebuke. If the question was a test, I pretty much failed it. I knew it the minute the words left my mouth. I didn’t answer the question. I told them how I felt but how I felt wasn’t the question and how I felt (as often times feelings are) was out of sync with reality.
An older, wiser, deeper leader spoke first…gently but firmly. “You know, Grant…the worst thing that happens is we are now on pace to get out of debt in March of 2010. And we’ve done that in the worst economy in decades. And we’ve done it while only being 4% behind budget. And we have a vision for what God is calling us to do in 2010.”
I looked up. There wasn’t a frown in the room. They were smiling. And I got a much needed dose of encouragement and huge reminder why God calls us to lead in community.
This Sunday will be awesome…no matter what it.
Crow Never Tasted So Good
So the Broncos are 6-0 after smashing the Chargers in the mouth. Can I say for the record that Shawn Merriman is an overrated airbag? For the life of me, I don’t understand the hype. He’s got ZERO sacks this year and didn’t make a tackle for loss all game. In fact, since his injury and banned substance suspension – he’s been pretty average. Yet…his mouth still runs.
The defense is real. Doom is a beast but last night should give Bronco fans reason to pause. If Brian Dawkins goes down, this team could be in trouble. He does so much for this team, a presence the Broncos haven’t had since Atwater in the heydays. The second quarter BDawk was out with an injury. This is also the same time when San Diego scored most of the their points and went up and down the field on the Broncos like practice. BDawk comes back in the second half, no 3rd down conversions and only 3 points. That’s not a coincidence.
Marshall still makes me nervous. His unsportsmanlike penalty cost the Broncos a 1st and goal opportunity. He’s got to get his head right ALL the time. Royal shows us one more way he is the ultimate professional and hopefully why he will be a Bronco for a long time. The returns were awesome but after the game never have I seen a WR so happy that didn’t have a single catch. That’s right…he didn’t catch a ball and he was elated that the team won and he could help. Refreshing.
Bye week…means one more week as an undefeated team.
why church? next series..
Here’s a sneak peak at our next series….which starts on November 1.
You Version Live Basics
LifeChurch has just recently published one of the coolest little things for the mobile phones. It’s called YouVersion Live. Basically, it’s going to allow those who have a web-enabled phone to read the bible, answer survey questions, respond to questions, take notes, get the speaker’s notes, and much more all from their phone.
Sounds great but how do you set all that stuff up? How do you run it in a live service? I’ve run into a couple of problems in getting it set up. This post is for those who come after me…allow me to save you a few hours of frustration. (I’ll add some screenshots later. If you have any other suggestions or helps, leave them in the comments.)
How To Start a You Version Live Event
First, go to youversion.com and sign up. The login is located in the upper right hand corner. If you need further instructions on how to sign up…just step away from the computer now and get help.
Second, click on Community tab. It should have this huge “New! YouVersion Live” call out. On the far right, there is a ‘Create a Group’ link. Click on that. My group name was Western Hills Baptist Church. You can make one for your small group, youth group, women’s group, men’s group – whatever.
Fill out all the stuff but there is something to consider. At the end of that form there is a “Keep This Group Private” button. I was tempted to click this because I hate S. P A. M. But if you do this…makes it very hard, ney – impossible for people who might be sitting in your audience to find you and join in. Plus, it will take a couple of days for your stuff to go live if you choose the private option. I chose to keep our group public, something to think about. Congratulations, you’ve created a group.
Next, click back on the community tab. You’ll have the following options as a sub-menu: Feed, Groups, Contributions, Likes, Tags, and Live. To create a Live Event click on the Group tab…NOT the Live tab. (I’m not here to explain the menu choices…just the navigator! ha ha) You should see the group you created in the list. Click on the group name.
It should take you to a screen that has the following choices on it: Manage Group, Create Live Event, Upcoming Events, View Group Members. We’re wanting to create an event so click on that link. The menu is pretty self explanatory but be careful with the time settings. It’s a bit finicky and you can’t just type away a time in there. It’s one of the funkiest drop down menus in the world. It will take a bit to get used to it.
The publish date is when you want people to start being able to find the event online or on their phone. You want to make sure this time is earlier than your start time to give folks a chance to find it. Duh, right? Hold is the opposite of publish. So if you want the even to disappear after you’re done with it, put a date and time here. If you don’t put one, it will stay visible afterwards. The significance is that people will be able to get the info that was shared during the live event but obviously won’t be able to participate.
Now the fun but awkward part. You should be looking at a screen with all these cool items to play with. All the stuff on the right hand column can be dragged/drug/whatever to the left hand column. Once in the left hand column, you can click and edit the settings. Things like Bible verses, questions, polls, you can even put a twitter box in there that people can tweet the event.
Notes are available to put up and the users can take their own notes – although I’m not sure how helpful that is on a phone. I guess if they are sitting at a PC during a conference, they could scream through some notetaking then upload it for the rest to see. Nevertheless, it’s a cool feature and one we’ll be playing with in the future. When you click the “Preview” button, it will show you what your stuff looks like on a mobile phone.
Then there is the DASHBOARD button. Dashboard does NOT do what you think it should do. It is not a dashboard that will allow you to fix and edit your presentation in real time. It’s just a window that shows you the results of your questions and polls. If you are going to use this in an audience to show the results, this would be the window you’d want to show on the projector. But if you want to edit your presentation AND have the results shown at the same time in two different monitors – you’re going to have to do a couple of extra clicks.
How Do I Edit My Live YouVersion Presentation?
Great question…and there isn’t a magic button that allows you to do this. First, notice the web address of your presentation when you clicked the “Dashboard” button. It should say something like – http://www.youversion.com/events/(4 numbers)1136/dashboard. The /dashboard is the key here. Delete it and instead put /edit at the end of address. That should take you right back to the ‘edit’ screen that will allow you to add, delete, and edit the presentation.
To put the Dashboard in one screen and the edit in the other, open another web browser window and put the event address in the presentation window, while leaving the edit address in the other.
Feel free to add any other hints or stuff I missed in the comments. Screenshots are coming.
Fields of Faith
I got the honor and privilege to talk to a bunch of high school students tonight at the FCA Fields of Faith event…which due to the rain and cold ended up being a Gym for Jesus. This is a shorten version of the talk last night:
“Every generation has a chance to change the world” U2 tells us. I believe that’s true but why then has so little of the world changed? The ’60′s generation tried to change the world by proclaiming what they were against. Didn’t really change the world because now they teach history in high schools.
The 70′s and 80′s come along and they tried to change the world be focusing on themselves and their lack of a clear identity – Generation X. The 90′s was about GREED. 2000 forward is you and the lie we’re trying to sell you is that you can change the world if you have enough information.
The problem is none of this has really worked and it’s not going to work in the halls of your high school. I think the secret to changing the world around you is found in John 9. The man was born blind. Jesus comes along and makes two mudballs big enough to cover his eyes with his SPIT. The man is blind, not deaf. He can hear Jesus coughing up spit to make these mudballs. He can FEEL the slimy mud made of another person’s spit on his face.
Disgusting. Right? Huge insult in that culture to put saliva on another person’s face. Even though the man was blind, he had dignity, right? This is the secret for changing the world.
The man wanted whatever it was from Jesus’ hands more than he wanted anything that he already had. Dignity. Blindness. Possessions. Whatever he had, as valuable as it MIGHT have been, he was willing to trade it all in for whatever Jesus had in his hands – as disgusting, messy, degrading, and nasty as MAY have appeared. He trusted Jesus that much.
If you want to change your home, start trading with Jesus with whatever of value you think you have for WHATEVER is in His hands. Follow him, trust him, desire him first. That will change your character which in turn will change your world.
My First Convention
I hesitate blogging about something I know so little about. (Allow me to beat some of you to the response to this – ‘that’s never stopped you from talking about _____________.’)
However, this whole convention is an interesting event. It’s part business, part worship, part networking, part reunion. For the last few weeks, I’ve been asking folks what to expect. I now understand their answers. It’s just something you kinda have to experience. It feels like part time-warp back as well as a look ahead. I might as well give up trying to explain it…it’s just different. And different isn’t bad, it’s just different.
Last night I sat in the balcony of the church. At first it was me, Danny Payne, Andy Miller, and Joe Stiles. Four current/former youth workers. Eventually we had 12 other youthworkers find us and then more and then even more. We basically took over this section in the balcony.
For the record, we did NOT get in trouble or cut up during the service/session.
There were two things last night that I came away impressed about.
First, the legacy and impact Peck Lindsay has had across the country. I first met Peck 11 years ago. As an executive director of a two-state convention, you’d expected a polished, uppity, smooth talking leader. Nothing further from that – and that’s a good thing. He took time to listen and invest in an insignificant youth pastor in a small Kansas church in the middle of nowhere. Come to find out, he’s done that kind of thing all his life – invest in people in small but NOT insignificant churches. He’s humble, gentle, with a wickedly funny sense of humor and keen insight. A gentle package of leadership. And last night as person after person thanked Peck, you could literally feel the room just honor this man.
You could also see Peck wanting to crawl under a pew. He hated the attention. But I’m glad he just stood there and accepted the accolades because we needed the moment even if he didn’t.
The second thing I was impressed with was how much money this convention spends on people in the field. 89% of all the money is spent on the mission field, in people. The president said last night, we choose to spend our money on people because buildings don’t advance the Great Commission. I couldn’t agree more. And there is a heart and mind for the world that is present on our university campuses and Native American reservations in our states.
Anyway…I’ll keep you updated.
Oneness or Isolation
Some quotes from Sunday’s service…
From Lynn’s reading:
My husband does not deserve my resentment, but my respect and my love. He may never come to church, I don’t know, but I am content to leave the future up to God.
God never meant for me to handle this in my own power anyway and trusting in Him is the only way I can take my marriage from the hard truth to the throne of amazing grace.
Lynn is an artist with words. Her vulnerability allows us to not only join her on her own journey of healing but it forces us to look closer at own attitudes – which is always a good thing. I’m challenged every time I hear a word from her. I’m thankful to God for her.
Every marriage is moving to one of two places – oneness or isolation. Marriage is never static.
The 50/50 plan of marriage never works. What’s 50% in a marriage anyway? I need the 100/100 plan.
There is no human that can satisfy you completely, make you complete. Only God can do that.
I’m both excited and frustrated with what is coming up this next week. Excited in that it’s a Q & A, Amy will be with me helping me answer the questions. It will be the first time we’ve ever done anything like that…it could be awesome…or it could totally go wheels off. Excited – we’ve already got some great questions to pick through.
Frustrated – there is a part of me that is going….man, there is still a lot more left that we could explore and unpack. Frustrated – not every marriage story has a happy ending and I hurt for those in the middle of the wreckage.
Off to prep for Sunday…
Ridonkilous!!
The Broncs are 5-0 and have already exceeded what I thought they would do. Now all of a sudden the schedule doesn’t look as horrendous as it once did. Washington has turned into a horrible team, Dallas – not good. San Diego – absolutely beatable. Philadelphia and New York are still Super Bowl contenders and will definitely test the mettle of this team.
New England may be down this year, may not be the team we all thought they were, but it’s still New England. I thought our special teams were going to give the game right back to the Patsies. This is still a glaring weakness of the Broncos. A fair catch inside the ten, allowing Pats to down punts inside the 5. A running into the kicker penalty and two offsides penalties…not good.
Moreno looks great when he runs but he is fumbling to much. If he continues, his career will be short. Had Buckhalter been healthy, it’s doubtful we’d seen much of Knowshon in the second half. Eddie Royal had his breakout game. Love this guy. Great player, great competitor. Marshall proved once again why he is one of the NFL’s elite receivers when his head is on straight.
But once again, the defense takes the center stage. They are the leaders of this team so far. Doom is beast.
Hats off to McDaniels. First, you can tell the guys are better prepared than they have been in a long time. No knock on Shanny – he’s a great coach and all-time favorite. However, it’s apparent now that his voice had lost the touch, the relevance with the team. Second, his honesty is refreshing. “I lied” was how he responded to a reporter who asked him if this was just another game. It was and he said it and somehow he was able to win and still show his respect to Bill Belicheck and a team he loves.
The Unis
I have no words. Hideous. I actually liked the helmets…being an Alabama guy and all. But the baby poo colored look plus the vertical stripes on the socks… Hands down this is the ugliest throwback unis of all time. Not even close. The Pats on the other hand – great throwback look. I love the patriot hiking the football, the white look, it’s all just slick looking and quite honestly, they never should have changed their look.
AFC West Update
Jokeland – hide all sharp metal objects from the Kitchens family and other Raider fans. JaMarcus is regressing. They are in roll over and die mode.
KC – You can see what Haley is trying to do. He just doesn’t have the players to pull it off. This is just like the Herm Edwards version of the Chiefs. Can’t close a game. If Haley really is an upgrade over Herm Edwards, he’s got to start winning these close games. Pioli can help him by getting players in KC that are better than the ones he has…even if it’s a temporary fix. That alone would send a message to the clubhouse. Real test will be next year.
SD – Norv Turner has got to be feeling the heat. They are 2-2 and all of a sudden 3 games behind Denver. Yes, they are injured but this is the third year SD has come out of the gate slow, cold, and despondent. I don’t think Turner keeps his job after this season if Chargers don’t make playoffs.
Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Today is Amy’s birthday.
The Broncos are 4-0.
The Rockies start the playoffs today at 1.30 against the Phillies.
The Avs are 2-0 and playing out of sight. (Don’t tell anybody I keep track of the Avs.)
Alabama is undefeated and looks like the best team in the nation.
AND my fantasy football team is first in my division, 3-1.
AND Amy didn’t totally hate her gift of a couple of cook books, an iron, and a 9×13 pan.
Just kidding on the last one. She did hate it.
Marriage is Messy
Yesterday was week 2 in the New Marriage series. I’ve got to say that this has been the toughest series to teach so far. Couple of reasons…first, it gets personal. It’s hard to look out in a congregation and know some of the stories that are going on and not be moved by them. I feel schizophrenic at times – ultimate joy in one row, deep despair two chairs down. I feel involved. I’m not a disinterested third-party just delivering the ‘goods’ of the sermon. I…we…the church…wants to provide help, meaning. Better said – we want to be conduits for the Spirit.
Second reason is that marriage is messy. Anyone who tells you they’ve got it all figured out is either lying to you or woefully ignorant. There are some principles and some insights to grasp. There are definitely some concepts that if you know and apply, your marriage will be better. But I don’t think the mess every gets completely fixed. I think that’s a good thing. Messiness can be fun, spicy. (I like that word – spicy, say it like Antonio Banderas..) But it takes a measure of maturity to appreciate it.
But the biggest reason is probably this – it’s easy to talk about a great marriage, hard to have one. It’s work. It takes extreme grace. Loads of laughter and not taking your self too seriously. Appearances don’t mean anything.
I know people look at Amy and I and think – they’ve got a perfect marriage. Well, those that are close to us will tell you – if by perfect you mean, Amy still forgives me when I invite people over without asking, I at times remember to take out trash and do dishes, and I occasionally can keep my grumpiness on Sunday afternoon to a small roar in the basement – then yeah. No one has a perfect marriage. No one.
It’s possible to have a good, even great marriage in the middle of messiness and hurt. That’s what we’re going to unpack over the next two weeks.
Which leads me to this question – what was the best marriage advice you ever got?
Broncos Real Test Coming
I’m about to go eat at Chick-fil-a but thought I’d post this quick thought about the Broncos and the evil Cowgirls.
I think Denver wins this game…which puts them 4-0…which means I’ve drank the kool-aid on the Broncos being a good team this year, right? Wrong. Dallas has looked ridiculously bad so far in the season. The Carolina game was closer than the score thanks to Jake Delhomme doing what he does best lately – cough up the ball. And they are hurt. Which is not good for them but good for the Broncos. Plus, it’ll be good for Wade Phillips to go back to Denver and do what he does best…lose games that he should win. We would know about that. We had our own Wade Phillips era.
The schedule ahead is brutal but if the Broncos can continue to beat the bad teams – Oakland again, KC twice, Washington – that’s 8 wins (assuming they beat the ‘Boys.) That won’t get them in the playoffs but it’s respectable. Then again…the season is early.
RaiderNation – I’m sorry. JaMarcus Russel looks atrocious, McFadden all of a sudden can’t hold on to the football, and your defense can’t tackle. There’s talent on that team but only Al Davis could make that much talent look that bad.
Off to chick-fil-a. Don’t tell Amy.