Turkey Bowl

The Turkey bowl is almost here...and I already feel sore. What happened to the time when lock-in's seemed like a great idea and playing flag-football didn't result in one removing their insurance card from their wallet? I just realized that I am getting old...how cow's in Iceland!

The Geriatric Deception

Okay, so this afternoon I had lunch by myself at McDonald's. There was this cute old couple in front of me. It's funny how things can change in a blink of an eye. After waiting for their food the old man started to talk to people on how Native Americans are millionaires and need to be kicked out of the united states. As he proudly walked himself to his set (sporting his WWII hat) he began to inform his wife (quite loudly I must say) that the United States has become a whore to other nations. "Everyone needs to speak @#$%ing English" he stated (or should I say yelled). His wife sat there and agreed with him and almost urging him on to puke out his old-school propaganda. The funniest thing about it was that fact that he would have to take breaks in his semi-public pronouncement. He would take, then take a break. It was like a he was moving from one chapter to the next of his hate ridden social comment. Here are a couple points that I thought of while I sat and ate my food:

• Hate is an ancient evil...and has no boundaries.
• I thought this guy was possessed by the devil himself. I almost ran to my car and grabbed my handy bottle of holy-water.
• McDonald's seems to bring out the worst in people.

The weekend review

This weekend was completely jammed packed with too much stuff. I really thought that it was going to be a relaxing time...so I thought. Here are some exciting details:

• Took a really cool girl out for coffee and books.
• Ate pizza with a bunch of junior highers and played Pit (my favorite game).
• Took some pictures for the band I'm in (Vox Citadel).
• Had an incredible Sunday program.
• Ate more pizza with a bunch of junior highers at a Sonset (I'm sick of Gelato Pizza)!!!
• Did some early Christmas shopping...I hate waiting in line to buy something!

Overall a wonderfully busy weekend. I love coffee!!!!

Dell movie

Check this out. It's uber-funny, not to mention blog worthy.

My Life for the Past Two Weeks

Well, life has defiantly been interesting this past two weeks. Without having to write a 42 page dissertation on it, I'll just toss out the hightlights and lowlights.

Hightlights:

• I registered for my classes in the Spring. I got into all of the one's I wanted.
• Tonight will be our first student leadership meeting. I have been prepping for this like crazy...it should be fun!
• A new girl might in the horizons, well see how that goes. She is absolutely brilliant!
• I drove home last weekend. Awesome time to see the family and my dog...Good times.
• God has blessed our Junior High ministry. Leaders are coming out of the woodwork!
• Things are coming together for Texas. I fly out next month to see a friend and visit Southwestern. I'm very excited about this.

Lowlights:

• LCT (just kidding)
• School
• My sarcasm
• insomnia
• Lack of coffee (God help me)

hope everyone has a uber-cool week!

Burnout or Frustrated?

As I sit here at this computer terminal in the CBU lab, I am reminded of the ministry God has placed me in. It seems that I am always talking about ways to improve it or creative ideas to reach students. Nevertheless, I am constantly thinking about middle school ministry. My friends have brought to my attention that I need to talk about other things. You know balance. But with that said, I find myself verbally discussing these ministry topics to publicly find other perspectives in direction we are going. It seems that what I lack in foresight, others have a distinct observation that helps.

Am I burnt out or frustrated? I would say no to burn out but yes to frustration. I am frustrated that the programs we have implemented (key word there "we") are being tendered only on Wednesday and Sundays. Students need relationships. They need leaders to call and say "what's up?" and to know and pray for their needs. This in not only a bi-weekly obligation...it's our duty! Andy Stanley once said "All leadership is a stewardship, it temporary, and we are held accountable to it." We are held accountable to it!!! This scares the poop out of me. Have I been faithful to this pledge? Have I been proactive to this premise? I like to think I have...but have I? I think with all of this frustration, I need to re-focus on casting my vision for middle school ministry and to make sure that the team that God has entrusted to me also understands "the win." Don't get me wrong, I am a blessed man to be in the company of such wonderful leaders that love middle school students. But even so, we need to push for excellence...our students deserve it!

Catalyst Session 4

The morning of our last day started yet again without the lovely Starbucks- I am having withdraws. I am kind of glad that this is coming to an end, yet I find it also bitter sweet. The only down fall I can see is the shear amount of people. Getting to the vendors is a pain, lunch is a joke and it was freezing (I was cutting glass!). The last three speakers were awesome. Here are some highlights:

Louie Gilglio: I have heard of him and know that one of my professors (Jeff Lewis) at CBU helped start the passion movement. Here are some awesome points:

• "...The Church is God's plan to change the world...!"
• Passion is dangerous.
• Are we willing to embrace this life of danger?
• "...It's okay to fail...It's not about me...!"

Kevin Carroll: I never heard of this guy. He was really cool and used props! Some highlights for you:

• Use imagination economy
• What is my red rubber ball?
• Our baggage can help motivate us to better opportunities

Donald Miller: Never read Blue Like Jazz, I heard it was good. Here again some highlights for you to masticate on:

• Theme song: I hate commercial Christianity
• Culture can be cultivated by Christianity.
• He mentioned something about free market economic system. As soon as those words left his mouth....my ADD kicked in...humm...I need to charge my cell phone.

More to come folks...as with my review of Atlanta.

Fork in the Road

This past week I have been at the Catalyst Conference. It was an amazing time as with a time of reflection upon something that I have been avoiding for a while; change.

I am a guy who likes systems. I like things in order, neat and organized. I like to have things well planned out and without incident; I like control. I realized this week that I haven't given God complete control over my life. What I mean by this is that because I find safety in order and convenience I totally disregarded what options God may have in store for me. As I begin my last year here are CBU I find myself looking to the future, and It's not where I thought it was going to be. Please allow me to explain.

I love middle school ministry and my job. I actually look forward to the chaos I experience during our mid-week program, and for what ever reason I feel that God has called me to this little part of ministry. From this passion I have formulated a vision of what I want to see happen within the lives of middle school students...a revolution within their heart, soul and mind. I want to see them running to the Father with arms wide open, tears in their eyes, and a PASSION in their hearts for the lost! I believe that this can happen and will in time. However, this vision can come at a cost, a sacrifice. It is possible that this cost is too high for some. For this zeal is life changing and engulfing. To do this is to deny one’s self. There would be no room for anything else. This is my problem. As with life, I have bills to pay, need gas for the car, sleep for the body, food to eat, and God will provide. I believe this with all my heart, yet, I need to be careful not to be taken advantage of by the institution and stand up for what is right.

As I mentioned above, my future is uncertain at this time. I am now heavily considering going to another seminary out of state and looking at ministry with fresh lenses. Exciting things are about to happen. I must be diligent in seeking God’s choice instead of my own. What I learned: the path of ministry is NOT based upon baking cookie, meaning I follow a recipe (Thanks Peirpoint), its about seeking God and following where he leads you.

I will comment on the details of the last Catalyst session later…hold fast!

Catalyst Day 3

Okay, today was the first day of the arena sessions. Here are my comments on this matter:

Crowd Control- there are so many people here that it is really inconvenient to walk through the vendors. Too many people in such a small place, I will probably need therapy when I get back to Cali.

Seating- okay, everyone else placed their packs on their desired seat. I placed mine behind my seat. It was obvious to me that someone was saving this seat. When I came back to claim my seat, a lady was sitting in it. Humm...the South has great food, but the people here need glasses and maybe run themselves around the block a couple of times. Georgia has some bubbas here!

Andy Stanley: absolutely amazing and not just because I have read many of his books. He took a simple passage and boiled it down to one point "All leadership is a stewardship, it temporary, and we are held accountable to it."

John Maxwell: I have been to his leadership conferences, read his books and was ready to write him off (meaning a cool 45 min. nap). When he started to get all choked up and almost cried (I think he did) over being an influence on a younger generation and how he was humbled by that, I almost lost it...almost! He closed by praying for us...really cool!

Marcus Buckingham: Neat British accent and an even better sense of humor. It was something I could enjoy. Main point: Play your strengths!

Later on that evening, Mike Pierpoint and myself went to Murrita, Georgia to meet up with some of Mike's close friends. We had dinner at this incredible BBQ/smokehouse place. I can die a happy man now!

We haven't tried the Waffle House yet. I want to, but everyone else is dead against it.

Catalyst Day 2

Okay, this day two (officially day one of Catalyst Conference itself). There is so much to describe, comment on, complain about, and rave about that I need to choose my words carefully.

Session 1: Andy Crouch (Culture)
I ran into the wrong room and found myself listening about church and culture. After the first 15 min, I wanted to leave. But, being who I am (or who God designed me to be) I decided to stay. Here are some of the good points:

• God is working outside of the box and many times we tend to look in places "we think" God "should be" working through. We miss opportunity because of this. Drop the filters, agenda, and prestige and let God lead. He does a better anyway.

Session 2: George Barna (Neo-Church)

This session was better than the one before or maybe because it was George Barna...who knows? The hall was packed out and cold. Here are some good points that I picked up:

• God is not impressed nor He cares about whether you have 100 or 1000 people in your fellowship (congregation). Numbers do not reflected the final result. You will lose focus and motivation if you and concerned about numbers. Nevertheless, numbers are important to record and to motivate.
• Statistic's reveal that the conventional church model will not be the norm in 2025. Alternative, home, ect. Church's will become more appealing. People are looking for relationships. Number counting and impressive buildings are not helping facilitate this idea.

Session 3: Rick McKinnley (Neo-Church)

Okay, I thought that George Barna's session was packed out, this one was worst. I sat in the back on the floor (which was more comfortable). This guy reminds me of my old youth pastor Kevin Boesler. Big, laid back and preachy. All good traits (to some) and all bad traits as well (to others). He basically gave defined what church is as describes by the mustard seed parable in Matthew 13. Here are the points:

• Its okay to get dirty in context of ministry and church. In fact, if your hands are not dirty your doing something wrong.
• Dirty means to be engaged in the needs to those who around you, not just the one's who go to "your church".
• Engaged in the needs of others means: giving a sandwich to a bum, paying for a single mothers gas, bringing water to skatepark....etc.

Overall the sessions were incredible! Oh, by the way if haven't already, read the book "Irresistible Revolution" by Shawnee Claribone, AWESOME!!!

We finished the night with dinner at Bugaboo's streak house. Pretty good. The place had animatronic stuffed animals that gave people heart attacks every 30 minutes. Fun times!

Catalyst 2006 Day 1

Well, I made it to Atlanta, Georgia for the catalyst conference. It's my prayer that I walk away with something learned. Here's is a rundown for the first day.

• The flight was short and sweet. I didn't even get through half of the songs on my iPod.
• My luggage was there when I got off the plane. Not going to lie, I was worried.
• Dinner at the Cracker-Barrel. It was fun to see Mike "pig-out" with chicken fried steak.
• My room is nice. Although there is this funny odor...hummmm?
• The continental breakfast (which I missed) smelled great. Thank God for Chick-filet facilitating breakfast!

Okay, now I'm off to the conference. More sarcastic run-downs to come.

I have sold out

I have now join the blogger deal where Google will place decent ads and you can make money having just them there. Pretty cool making a few dollars in a year by using this opportunity. Yes, that's right folks...I am a sell-out.

My Blog

I get the distinct feeling that my blogs are not being read by people. I have formulate this notion by the fact that I only receive comments from my friend Mike (who I think reads everybody's blog) and by this retard who likes to share his useless knowledge on how to make money. So what if I started to say that I hate life and was going to kill myself...would someone response or am I not cool enough. Better yet, what if I stated that I became a Mormon or a Satan Worshiper. I bet you Sunday brunch I would have people coming out of the wood work dispelling these convictions. Maybe I should be fake and post outrageous information so that people can lose brain cells without the use of narcotics. Its all useless!!! What is the purpose of a blog anyway? To communicate? I feel like S.E.T.I. listening into to deep space for absolutely nothing! It is true my blog is boring and unknown. Humm....I feel better now :.)