Today's Mutchup

Worth the risk to open....

2011-05-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

And it has culminated in some intense conversations that were probably long past due for me. On second thought, no not probably....they WERE long past due for me.
I finally opened up the vault and took out some junk and denied realities I had been keeping for years.

And because I have shared them, I no longer have to carry them alone. There are many other things still within me, but for now I am grateful for being able to share a piece of myself with someone who was willing to patiently, and gracefully listen.

A band on the rise....The Civil Wars!

2011-01-14T00:48:00.000-08:00

Keep a watch on this duo...Joy Williams and John Paul White of The Civil Wars! www.myspace.com/thecivilwars

Bring on the Wonder, Part 2

2010-12-10T00:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry everyone, but I'm still stuck on this whole wonder theme! Many elements of my life have been speaking into this recently, so I'm gonna roll with it and hope it's insightful for you too!

When the world was new to us, wonder filled every moment. Who knew what astonishing revelation might unfold before our wide, child-like eyes. Magic filled each breath. Possibilities hid behind every corner, ready to unleash the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

How sad though that the child-like wonder gets sucked right out of us as adults. We traded in our amazement at the mysteries of God for some cut-and-dried “faith” that’s overly sliced and diced.

I won’t hold myself up as the pinnacle of Christian practice by any means, but the older I get, the more I see God restoring the wonder in my life. Something about maturity in Christ recaptures our childlikeness. Anything is possible! What can He not do? If we’re not tracking with that kind of “inverted maturity,” we instead turn into grizzled and bitter veterans of the spiritual war. I see far too many people on the path to that cold, hard anti-faith.

Bring on the Wonder

2010-12-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

Sarah McLachlan does a phenomenal cover of a song, Bring on the Wonder by Susan Enan. The lyrics and the melody remind me of the innocence we have as children that sadly becomes broken and lost as adults. She's singing of happiness and the Wonder, but how that gets repressed as an adult. Perhaps she found again the beauty and wonder she saw in the world when she was a child. To regain that, even for a moment, completely changes your outlook on life. As we grow older there's a tendency to push away the Wonder in the midst of our busy, stressed out lives...believing there's no time for such nonesense. But oh how this song draws me back to the Wonder and awe of a child, especially now that it's almost Christmas! That's truly been my prayer that we never lose the Wonder and when we do that there will always be something/someone to bring it back to us!

Hope you enjoy the song and the lyrics below...Bring on the Wonder! : )

Bring on the Wonder
I can't see the stars anymore living here
Let's go to the hills where the outlines are clear

Bring on the wonder
Bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long

I fell through the cracks at the end of our street
Let's go to the beach,
get the sand through our feet

Bring on the wonder
Bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long
Bring on the wonder
We got it all wrong
We pushed you down deep in our souls for too long

I don't have the time for a drink from the cup
Let's rest for a while 'til our souls catch us up

Bring on the wonder
Bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long
Bring on the wonder
We got it all wrong
We pushed you down deep in our souls, so hang on
Bring on the wonder
Bring on the song
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long.

Hello Morning Glory!

2010-11-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

It would be easy to dismiss this film as typical lighthearted Hollywood fluff that carries no real message (other than a 2 hour escape). The interesting thing is that it's really not an escape - we are tossed right into the workaday world of a manic TV producer. Additionally, though it has plenty of light moments, it also carries a bit of depth in breaking down a couple of lead characters.

Rachel McAdams plays Becky Fuller, morning TV show producer. Becky is a cute, driven, frantic, EverReady Bunny ball of energy who watches multiple TV's and carries on multiple conversations, all while texting incessantly. She's hired by Jeff Goldblum in his final attempt at resurrecting ratings for "Daybreak," in last place to "The Today Show."

The story gets interesting when Becky recruits/blackmails news legend Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) to co-anchor the show with Diane Keaton's character. To compare, Keaton's character will kiss a frog or don a pink tutu and has mastered the perpetual smile so necessary for morning TV. Ford's character may not have smiled since 4th grade and views the mission of TV as delivering news and hard stories and information.

The conflict in the story comes from Ford's character (labeled the world's third worst person), whom the world has passed by, and McAdams', who is the eternal optimist. It's pretty obvious they will somehow save each other, but still I found it entertaining to watch the process. Although I'm grateful there was no May-September romance between McAdams and Ford...just creepy that would be!

The film itself, directed by Roger Michell (Venus, Notting Hill) and Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada), does a nice job with insight into those whose personalities are bound tightly to their job. Even though it's not at the level of "Broadcast News," it offers enough depth and comedy to really make this a worthwhile film to see!

Giddy in Him!

2010-10-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

Such a beautiful & intimate picture of who we are in Him....

"I am overtaken by a cloud of giddiness. I turn to show Him, holding my art up in front of me, arms outstretched, my toes thump, thump, thumping in excitement to match my racing heart beats. As if He didn’t know, as if He wasn’t there all along, as if He wasn’t the provider, the sustainer, the interpreter, the helper, “the source without a source” (- Thomas Aquinas).

And yet, in this moment, he doesn’t remind me of his involvement. He just enters into my delight. He beholds my art and we share a moment, with my shoulders raised up to my cheeks and my eyes squinting with uncontainable excitement. What was once just an idea in my head has now materialized. I am holding it. And I am, in my own giddy, CHILDLIKE way, telling him thanks." ~ Mandy Steward, Messy Canvas

http://www.messycanvas.com/2010/10/a-childlike-giddiness-saying-thanks/#comments

2010-10-15T01:31:00.000-07:00

Marylin Chandler McEntyre in her book Caring For Words in a Culture of Lies http://www.amazon.com/Caring-Culture-Marilyn-Chandler-McEntyre/dp/0802848648 says, “Words are entrusted to us as equipment for our life together, to help us survive, guide, and nourish one another. We need to take the metaphor of nourishment seriously in choosing what we “feed on” in our hearts, and in seeking to make our conversation with each other life-giving.”

Use Your Past Wisely

2010-09-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

There is nothing more damaging to your future potential than spending your present dwelling on the past. Whatever has happened is over. Glory or defeat, once the clock struck midnight, the day was done. You are reborn each morning, and who you are each day is defined by what you do that day and that day only. You are not your past. You are only your present and your present actions will determine your future. Yet allow the past to instruct you so you can be wiser moving forward, but don’t let it continue to suck you backwards and beat you down. Look back for lessons, not excuses.

Never Be the Smartest Guy in the Room

2010-09-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

"Nobody should aspire to be the smartest person in the room. First of all, if you think you are, you're probably not. And if by some chance you really are, you've got the hardest job in the world because no one can do much to help you. In his memoir "Open," Andre Agassi made a wonderful point about his long-standing rivalry with Pete Sampras. Agassi observed that without Sampras as a rival he might have had a better record, but that the competition with Sampras made him a better tennis player. Being pushed to new heights should be what we all want, whether you're a junior copywriter, or the CEO."

Please read the entire blog article "Never Be the Smartest Guy in the Room" by Phil Johnson http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=145861 It's really worth the read!!

Trader Joe's

2010-08-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Really interesting piece on Trader Joe's...definitely worth the read! I had no idea they were this big and who actually owns them!

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/110437/inside-the-secret-world-of-trader-joes

Peeps Can Change...

2010-08-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

Marshall Goldsmith, author of "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" http://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There/dp/1401301304, has stated that personality testing can lead to stereotyping which I'm inclined to agree with. To say my personality type is this and is unchangeable is wrong thinking. This may seem like a “Duh!” moment, but it's surprising how many people talk about personality testing as though people can't change.

Goldsmith commented on a common misconception surrounding the new emphasis we now see being placed in the build-on-your-strengths movement. The idea of building on your strengths is an effective life strategy but not an excuse. He stated:
The build-on-your-strengths idea makes total sense when it’s at the level of the occupation. For example, Tiger Woods should be a golfer, not a stand-up comedian. He’s building on his strengths becoming a golfer and he shouldn’t be a stand-up comedian. On the other hand, I think what happens on the build-on-your-strengths stuff, is people misinterpret it. So they would say, “Well, Tiger Woods is a great driver, so he doesn’t have to worry about putting. He can ignore his putting.” He really cannot ignore his putting. It’s part of his job. If you’re a leader and you’re great at strategy but terrible with people, you can’t just sit there and say, “It doesn’t matter.” It does matter. It all matters. You can’t sit there and ignore part of your job and say “I’m not good at that therefore I have an excuse to ignore it.” All that does is reinforce a useless stereotype.

While most advocates of build-on-your-strengths do not encourage that, Goldsmith is right. The idea is often misinterpreted. We must build on our strengths and minimize activities that call upon our weaknesses, but our weaknesses have to be dealt with. And that requires some behavior modification. Too often it can be taken as an excuse to do-your-own-thing and not a position to grow and learn from. We can’t let ourselves fall into the trap of saying, “That’s just the way I am” because it’s hard to change. It may be the way you are, but you can be better. You can grow if you decide to. And as a leader you have an obligation to.

Seriously...I'm serious!

2010-08-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

"The best thing you can say about any movie's soundtrack is that it can stand on its own, and that no matter what you think of the movie, the soundtrack is full out amazing!!!" And such is the case with ALL three Twilight Soundtracks (yes, you read that right!) To some, this may already be common knowledge...I just happen to be a little late to the party! But whatever! I'm serious...regardless your stance on these flicks, you need to check out the 3 soundtracks!! Just a stellar mix of artists & bands...Muse, Paramore, Linkin Park, Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, Ok Go, The Black Keys, Metric, Band of Horses, Florence & the Machine, The Bravery, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Soundtrack-Various-Artists/dp/B001ED7C58/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1281578695&sr=1-1

So let me know what you think!

Numb or Alive?

2010-08-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

Question: If God gave you the choice between being numb and being healed, which would you really choose? The fact is most of the things we bring to God in prayer probably fall into the category of pain-relievers. We want our nuisances to go away, our impatience to be satisfied, and our guilt and shame to subside.

Fortunately God loves us too much to merely numb us into complacency and give us spiritual ibuprofen to mask our lack of shalom. I have a growing sense that many of the things I most resist in my life are actually there to play some part in my healing.

Playing Large

2010-06-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (a quote mistakenly attributed to Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address, but instead was written by Marianne Williamson (A Return to Love, p 188-189.)

This isn't the first I've read this quote nor will it be the last. Each and every time I read it, I'm convicted and stirred by it, but I've just never taken the time to consider why exactly it does. It amazes me that I've always thought it best to shrink back, to downplay certain aspects of myself so others wouldn't be insecure. But I'm finally seeing and realizing more that most of my life is lived in fear, particularly fear of what others think. Could it be that God shines His light through a confident me, rather than a shrinking away me? I wonder how many of us play small because we think that's more holy and acceptable. Traditionally I think many of us have been taught that humility means glorifying our weaknesses so we don't upset anyone else's strengths. Yes, there is a place (an important, rudimentary place) for humility, but there is also a confidence that feeds true humility. It's a confidence that comes from knowing glory rests inside us like a gift. If God has given us such an amazing gift as light, power, joy and a renewed, redeemed life, why do I/we hide like His gifts are things to be ashamed of? Glory, God's glory, resides in my heart. I don't know about you, but I'm stirred to play large. Playing small is living a tentative, fearful life, and personally I'd rather play large, risk being misunderstood, so that more glory for Him will flow out of me, not less.

The Real Thing...

2010-04-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

"The life of faith should be the easy part. So much of the Church is Martha, when Jesus praised Mary."

I read this quote the other day and it really caused me to stop and consider the burdens I/we needlessly and sometimes mindlessly carry. Christ’s yoke IS easy and His burden light. But living the consumerist, suburban, Christianized lifestyle that we call "normal" is actually what’s hard. Could it be we don’t understand the easy yoke because we've never shouldered it? Instead we see the genuine yoke as too difficult, while we take on the faux version and then fool ourselves into thinking it’s the light, real thing.

Holding it together...

2010-04-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Imagine a morning where the sun didn't rise, birds stopped singing, rivers ceased to flow, grass stopped growing, flowers never bloomed, rain never fell and stars stopped twinkling, even on a clear, moonless night. Any one of these things would turn our world upside down, yet God, in his infinite wisdom, holds it all together.

Thank God today for something obvious that normally escapes your notice. Something huge. Something we rely on every day but would fall apart without it. This is God's nature, to maintain the world we live in; He's the one holding it all together, thankfully.

Hidden Talent...

2010-03-31T01:54:00.000-07:00

On a winter afternoon Harry de Leyer returned from an auction with a big gray horse that his children named “Snowman.” He was a good riding horse, but when a neighbor offered Harry twice the amount he had paid for Snowman, Harry agreed. But he soon regretted his decision as did Snowman. And that’s when Snowman’s hidden talent showed up! The neighbor’s fences were high, but Snowman repeatedly jumped them to be with Harry and his family. So Harry decided to buy Snowman back - and the rest is history. Snowman kept winning championships until the ultimate dream, The National at Madison Square Garden, where he was named “Horse of the Year” two years running. Snowman was a jumper, but nobody would have known had it not been for the fences that separated Snowman from Harry. And Snowman had every reason to be grateful, because Harry had arrived late at the auction that day after the best horses were sold. The big gray gelding that became Snowman was rescued from the only other bidder…a man who intended him for the glue factory.

I just love this story and the fact that it's true makes it all the more amazing! The Psalmist said, “The Lord…redeems your life from destruction.” (Psalm 103:2-4) Amen for that truth! When others write you off, God sees what you can become. Andrew Bonar said: “Kept by the mighty power of God…every day we escape dangers we’re not aware of…if we…saw the snares the enemy lays for us…how we’d adore the Lord who enables us to escape them all.”

Forgotten God by Francis Chan

2010-03-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

Reading this book (Forgotten God) probably won’t be easy. No matter what tradition you come from, you likely carry baggage and harbor stereotypes when it comes to the Holy Spirit. It’s going to require laying aside your baggage and stereotypes so you can be open to what God is trying to teach you. Are you willing to do that? ~ Francis Chan

What Crazy Love does to challenge Christians to rise out of comfortable and lukewarm faith, Forgotten God does to upend Christians’ agenda for keeping the Holy Spirit tame and in-check. Throughout the book’s 7 chapters, I found myself making frequent stops to, literally, do a double-take, re-reading a paragraph or point and high-lighting it, or diving for my bible.

By the end of the book, I left Forgotten God with more desire, and more places exposed. This is not a spiritual self-help book, instead I think it's a ‘discover more about God’ book that, if approached honestly and openly, will result in a deeper understanding, a deeper relationship with God the Holy Spirit. I highly recommend this book!!

Here's a great take away quote:
Nowhere in scripture do I see “balanced life with a little bit of God added in” as an ideal for us to emulate. Yet when I look at our churches this is exactly what I see: a lot of people who have added Jesus to their lives. People who have in a sense asked Him to join them on their life journey and follow them wherever they feel they should go, rather than following Him as we are commanded. The God of the universe is not something we can just add to our lives and keep on as we did before. The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is not someone we can just call on when we want a little extra power in our lives. Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us, He died and rose again so that we could forget everything else and follow Him to the cross, to true Life.

Same Kind of Different As Me

2010-02-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

Being alike doesn’t mean we agree; it means the stuff by which we disagree is the same. This is important because we need to see that as different as we may appear superficially, deeper down, we have much in common with everyone, and when you encounter someone who is different, it would be good to celebrate both those differences and the stuff that makes us all the same. Because, at the core, we all belong to God. There's a book entitled Same Kind of Different As Me that totally captures the way in which we are different and very much alike. I highly recommend it!!! http://www.amazon.com/Same-Kind-Different-Modern-Day-International/dp/084991910X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267054235&sr=1-1

Use words only if necessary...

2010-02-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

The Gospel is waiting. It's waiting not to be spoken, but to be lived. The Gospel is waiting to be believed and to be put to use in your life and mine. It's not just a static message; it's a living, breathing testimony. The Gospel needs much more than paper to be printed on; it needs a life it can imprint.

"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Cor. 4:1-2).

The success of the Gospel today doesn't depend on how attractively it's packaged, but on how honestly real Christians are living out their lives in the world. It's not just the Gospel that does it. It's not just a message. It's the Gospel in you and in me. Nothing needs to be done to the Gospel except to be lived. In other words..."Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words."

Power of Encouragement

2010-02-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

They’re walking all around you today. They were walking all around you yesterday. They will be walking around you tomorrow. All around are people whose lives are a mess either because of choices they made or that someone else made that’s impacted them. Think about it, who isn’t messed up in the Gospels? Jesus. That’s it. Everyone else is an absolute mess.

The entire entourage that followed Jesus was a jumble of broken people. Somehow, they found a home with Jesus. Somehow they found acceptance. Somehow Jesus talked past their hurt and anger and spoke to their deepest fears that they really were accepted. That they really were loved. That there really was hope.

The writer of Hebrews deals with this very issue. “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:13) It also says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

These verses talk about us focusing on others. Notice there is no exception clause there for those people who also have it hard. We’re all supposed to be encouraging each other. Encouraging them onto to “love and good deeds.” It talks about avoiding the hardening effects of sin by encouraging one another. This is the power you have, I have, we have; this is the power that God has entrusted all of us with.

Of course we can all think of ways that other people can encourage us more, but I want to challenge you to consider how you can encourage others. What will that look like for you? What will it look for you to encourage and spur others on to good works? Think of at least one person you can encourage by tomorrow. Then go do it.

May you see the power of encouraging others no matter what is happening in your life, and may you be encouraged today that no matter what is or has happened in your life, God has given you a tremendous opportunity. He has given you tremendous power. You can be a catalyst for those around you to live as God intended them to live.

Some of my fav Christmas tunes!

2009-12-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

“Glory To God In the Highest” – Downhere / How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas

“Love Came Down at Christmas” - Jars of Clay / Christmas Songs

"Here It Is” – Over the Rhine / Snow Angel

“Mary Did You Know” – Jason Gray / Bethlehem Skyline

“It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” – Shane & Shane / Glory In the Highest

“Eastern Star” – So Elated / The Bewildering Light

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” – Alli Rogers /The Silent Stars

“Adore Him” – Kari Jobe / Adore Him

“I Saw Three Ships” – Bruce Cockburn / Christmas

“Raise The Tree” – Trent Dabbs / Ten Out of Tenn Christmas

“Feliz Navidad” – David Crowder Band / WOW Christmas Album

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” – Lanae Hale / Bethlehem Skyline

“What Child Is This” – Matt Wertz / Do You Hear What I Hear

"His Favorite Christmas Story" - Capital Lights / X Christmas

So what are some of your favorites?

Don't forget the stories!

2009-12-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

Today I was catching up on some of Phil Cooke's recent blogs http://www.philcooke.com/ and came across this one which was totally dead on and a good reminder for all of us!

""How can you be a Christian in Hollywood?" The question still gets asked by well meaning believers, and I'm often stopped at conferences and workshops and asked to share the experience of how I ended up in the entertainment industry. I was raised a "preacher's kid," so early on in my life, I understood the power of great preaching, and the importance of communicating effectively - although I never had the slightest desire to be a preacher myself. But it wasn't long before I discovered the power of the "media pulpit."

Today, in a culture where few attend church anymore, the moral climate of this country is determined by movies, radio, and prime time television. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the average teen will spend nearly five months of this year watching TV, surfing the web, and listening to personal music devices. The reality is, television programs, rock & roll radio, and movie theaters are "church" for this generation - sadly, that's where young people today learn their morals, and codes of behavior.

But in spite of that great need, most films, television programs, radio specials, and websites produced by Christians are still poor quality, and have a limited audience. That's because for most Christians, the message is everything, and we've forgotten the power of a great story. It's interesting that when you study the life of Christ, you discover he didn't give theological lectures or teach doctrine. He simply told stories - powerful stories that changed people's lives. Stranger still, he usually only explained the meaning in private with his disciples - not with the larger audience.

I've always found it fascinating that Jesus Christ came to establish a faith that would transform the world, but was willing to risk just three years of ministry on telling stories. Today, most of us would have started a university or Bible College, created a statement of faith, written a systematic theology text, gotten involved in politics, started a non-profit organization, or at least started a partnership program for fundraising. Don't get me wrong, all of these things can be critical in ministry, but the fact that Jesus' priority was storytelling should tell us something about its power.

A great filmmaker once said that facts go straight to the head, but stories go straight to the heart. Most Christian filmmakers spend all their time trying to force a Christian message into the film, and they forget the most important thing - to tell a great story. You might take issue with that statement, but the fact is, no matter how great the content of your message, if no one watches long enough to see or hear it, you've failed. So that's why I tell preachers, teachers, writers, artists, filmmakers, and media professionals - tell a great story first.

I think it was old time movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn who said: "If you want to send a message, call Western Union." Great media projects aren't about sending messages, they're about telling great stories. Jesus understood the power of a story, and it's something we need to be reminded of today."

Choose differently

2009-12-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

My post today centers around a beautiful story an artist friend, Christopher Williams shared in his current newsletter www.myspace.com/christopherwilliams (pleeeease check him out...he will blow your mind in a most melodious way!!)

"I arrived and found I had a solid hour to take a snooze to prepare for my show. I found a deserted couch in the back room of the coffeehouse and laid down only to be awakened by the sound of a piano being played just a dozen or so feet near my sleepy head. Instead of getting annoyed at the disturbance, I took it in for what it was...old standards being lovingly played by an elderly woman wearing a bonnet who was rekindling some piece of her past by gliding her fingers across the black and white keys. I stood hidden from her view in the darkness of the back room and watched as she played with heartfelt emotion. She finished and then walked into the middle of the coffeehouse and introduced herself to a stranger sitting in a comfy chair. They got to talking and I remained in the background taking it all in - as I've been thinking alot about my story and what a gift it is to be able to travel and intersect with moments and other peoples stories along the way; really praying that I would have moments to see story unfold...and here it was before my eyes.

Grandma Corrie, as she is known to locals, goes to the Catholic Church on the corner every afternoon for Mass and then comes into the Ikebox coffeehouse...and as I learned, often stops to buy people cups of coffee; and that is exactly what she did that afternoon. Giving a $5 bill to her new friend, she asked him to buy himself a mocha, and to keep the change. The gentleman, dressed warmly to protect from the Oregon rain was of capable means to buy his own cup of coffee, so he hesitated to accept this gift from a stranger, yet finally and reluctantly he accepted her kindness. They sat and talked for a while longer, sipping on their coffees...and I witnessed him physically relax as they spoke their stories sweetly to one another, as just moments ago, they were complete strangers.

And what happened next I will never forget. Grandma Corrie, old enough to be this gentleman's mother, stood up and took her place behind him in the midst of the conversation and she began to rub his shoulders and neck slowly. He stopped talking, as she bent down and whispered something to him. I will never know what it was she whispered...but I believe it was a sweet reminder that he is loved, and possibly a prayer for him and his story...and then she kissed him on the head."

I don't know about you, but this story really captivated me....total strangers stepping into each others stories...just for a moment of time where everything faded away into a complete and genuine moment of life happening. What an amazing gift! I truly hope that we all can witness, take part and step into moments like this during this holiday season in spite of the busyness we're surrounded by. Sadly, the busyness tells our story to build itself upon what we buy and give to one another, more so than what we can speak into one another. What a beautiful thing it would be if we took the time to choose differently...

Mulling a thought

2009-11-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Cor 3:6-7, NIV). As I read this today it got me wondering...in that same light, should we also say that God makes things shrink (Job 1:21) for whatever reason?

So thankful for...

2009-11-26T22:48:00.000-08:00

On this Thanksgiving Day, I'm thankful for so much. Thankful especially for rice and beans that sustained me and my family these past three days and gave us much perspective and insight. Grateful for my family and friends and for the things I've learned this past year and the ways I've grown.... and thankful in advance for all the things I still have yet to learn. And boy am I ever grateful for second chances and that God doesn’t hold our mistakes against us. I’m always so amazed how He uses our poor choices to teach us something new that we may not have learned otherwise. And yet thankful doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about His unconditional love for us....it never grows old or tired....it's always new and fresh day in and out!

Here's hoping your day has been filled with joy, love, peace, and thankfulness. And very few regrets!

Waiting...

2009-11-07T23:08:00.000-08:00

I keep waiting for my life

I keep searching through my mind

I keep wandering around

God only knows what I think I'll find

But I'll look anyway

And I'll arrive one day...

Waiting pretty much sums up my life, yet what it is I'm waiting for I couldn't even begin to tell you. Maybe it's direction, inspiration, purpose, or an epiphany of sorts, I don't really know. It's incredibly frustrating especially when you see your peers moving forward with a direction and progressing in their lives (not that I'm not thrilled and excited for them), and you're still here at the same point you were a few years ago...no further ahead or behind. But what I do know is that I'm called to wait for whatever that might be. I think waiting is the hardest thing to do for any of us. Forty-three times in the Old Testament alone we're commanded, "wait on the Lord." I guess waiting forces us to recognize we're not in control and it humbles us in ways we need to be humbled.

I think of the analogy of the trapeze artist. For a moment, which must feel like eternity, he/she is suspended in nothingness. She can't go back, but it's too soon to be grasped by the one who'll catch her. And she must wait in absolute trust. If she doesn't, it obviously could have major consequences for her. I guess I'm in a vulnerable place like this right now...I've been letting go of what God has called me to let go of, but I can't feel His hand catching me yet. And that's where the waiting part takes over. There are some days where I just feel like I'm free falling and wonder when He's going to catch me already! It's hard, plain and simple, and I don't always embrace it as I should. But then again Moses waited 80 years for a ministry that lasted 40 - two thirds of his life was spent getting ready. It's a reminder to me that life isn't measured by its length but by its effectiveness and impact for God. So wait I will and trust that He'll catch me (eventually).

Creative peeps

2009-10-18T23:50:00.000-07:00

In his article, (Un)Common Traits of Creative People, author Dean Rieck states that “Creativity is really just a matter of how you approach things. It’s how you act or react to new circumstances. Your proclivity to look at things in a different way, To question. Experiment.” He goes on to suggest that we “Think of creativity like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets. To increase your creativity, you simply need to act in creative ways and do what other creative people do”.

So, what do creative people do? They…

~ Have the courage to try new things, while risking failure.
~ Use intuition, as well as logic, to produce ideas.
~ Like to play. Humor and fun are the ultimate creative act.
~ Express what they feel and think.
~ Find order in confusion and discover hidden meanings in information.
~ Motivate themselves by tasks, rather than by external rewards.
~ Explore solutions to challenging problems.
~ Challenge assumptions and ask hard questions.
~ Connect old ideas with new insights.
~ Push the envelope to expand the boundaries of what is possible.
~ Test new ideas, and compete with others, based on results.
~ Watch how other creative people solve problems.

Anything else?

Way to go Volkswagen!!

2009-10-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

I thought this was an uberly fantastic and creative idea by Volkswagen in Stockholm, Sweden. They have created a site called Rolighetsteorin.se or www.thefuntheory.com. The site features several videos all dedicated to the idea that "fun" is the easiest way to get people motivated to change. The three videos that are up there so far show how to make people not FAIL when putting litter in a bin, How to get more people to take the stairs than the escalator, and a teaser video of how to make recycling more fun.

"The campaign has just started up with a number of experiments in which the theory—that fun can change people's behavior—is tested in various situations," says DDB Stockholm creative director Andreas Dahlqvist. One of the most charming tests is a staircase in a Stockholm subway station that was converted into working piano keys—a way to convince commuters to take the stairs over the escalator. Another test uses sound effects to make throwing rubbish away properly a cartoon-like experience.

The Piano staircase resulted in a 66% increase in people taking the stairs than the escalator, and the fun noise making little bin resulted in about a 70% increase in litter in the bins!!

The real perils of life

2009-10-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

At 25, Lance Armstrong was the world's top-rated cyclist. Then he underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor and testicular cancer. Doctors gave him a 50% chance of survival. After he recovered one doctor admitted that he'd only given Armstrong a 3% chance. When asked if the rigors of cancer treatment had depressed him he said, "No, I thought being depressed would be detrimental. It was a very positive time in my life."

From then on Lance wanted something more; he wanted to race again which wouldn't be easy to say the least. At one point in his come back he actually quit right in the middle of a race, something he'd never done before. But he came back from that setback and went on to win, not one, but seven consecutive Tour de France races (1999-2005). An extraorindary feat and comeback! After winning his first Tour de France, he said, "If you ever get a second chance in life for something, you've got to go all the way." He shared something else which I thought very profound ~ "Without faith we're left with nothing but an overwhelming sense of hopelessness every single day, and it will beat you. I didn't fully see until the cancer, how we fight every day against the creeping negatives of the world, how we struggle daily against the slow lapping of cynicism. Dispiritedness and disappointment, these are the real perils of life, not some sudden illness."

Keep it REAL

2009-10-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Recently while on a visit to Seattle (Bainbridge Island), I went to THE BEST toy store on the planet, The Calico Cat http://www.calicocattoys.com/contact2.htm. I was there for over 2 1/2 hours and my friend and her 11 and 13 year old boys had to drag me out of there!! Anyway while there I saw the coolest version of one of my favorite childhood books, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. It's a tale about a stuffed rabbit who belongs to a little boy. He wants to be Real, but doesn't quite know what that means. So one day he asks the Skin Horse, "What is REAL?" The Skin Horse replies that when a child "REALLY loves you, then you become real." I think the Rabbit's next question is even more telling, "Does it hurt?"

In our culture, "Keep it real" has become a popular catch-phrase. But how often do we actually do it? How often are we truly real, authentic, open, and honest with people? As the Skin Horse tells the Rabbit, "Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby." When we're real with people, we have to take off that glossy, air-brushed exterior we like to show the world. Being real means we have to let stuff we aren't proud of hang out, let the pain and the brokenness be seen by someone else. When we're living authentically, we let people see beneath the surface of our lives to the bumps, bruises, tears, and stains.

The story continues on that the Rabbit "wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him." Like the Rabbit, I think we're all afraid of the price of being Real. But there's also hope, because the thing that transforms us from the way we are into REAL is love. And the Skin Horse assures us that "once you are Real, you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

The process that the Rabbit must go through to become REAL is a lot like the process Believers go through called "Sanctification." We are justified and saved (legally declared innocent) when we accept Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Once this happens we start the process of sanctification, which means becoming more and more like Christ. It's a hard process, and it's definitely not comfortable, but the results are eternal. As our lives begin to reflect Christ's life more and more, we become more and more the way God intended us to be. And as this happens and we find our identities in Christ alone, we actually become more REAL in our everyday lives. If we're becoming what God intended and find our identity in Christ alone, then we don't have to worry about whether the cool and popular people like and accept us. As we are sanctified, we are freed to live life in an open, honest, authentic, and REAL way.

The boy did love the Rabbit until he became REAL. And thankfully God will love us until we are holy, sanctified, and real.

Book Signing / Fundraiser for Pat Tillman Foundation

2009-09-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

Jon Krakauer will discuss and sign Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. (Doubleday, $27.95). All of Jon Krakauer's books will be available for purchase and signing. In Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer draws on Tillman's journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him, and extensive research on the ground in Afghanistan to render an intricate mosaic of this driven, complex, and uncommonly compelling figure as well as the definitive account of the events and actions that led to his death. Infused with the power and authenticity readers have come to expect from Krakauer's storytelling, Where Men Win Glory exposes shattering truths about men and war.

Apparently Tillman was a huge fan of Krakauer's and had been carrying a copy of Krakauer's "Eiger Dreams" in his backpack when he was killed.

Hosted by Changing Hands Bookstore, Saturday, October 3rd at Dobson High School, 1501 W. Guadalupe Rd., Mesa, AZ, 7pm-9pm - Tickets are $36 and include one copy of Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. Tickets are only available at Changing Hands Bookstore 6428 S. McClintock Dr. Tempe, AZ 85283 / 480.730.0205 Can't attend? If you'd like an autographed copy of Where Men Win Glory please call Changing Hands at 480.730.0205 to pre-pay and we'll have one or more copies signed and reserved for you and can be shipped. Doors open for the event at 6:00 pm. Event starts at 7:00pm. For more info: http://www.changinghands.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=430606

Mish Mash

2009-09-23T08:28:00.001-07:00

So much stuff to blog about, but can't seem to get anything written!! I think I'm suffering from the blogging blahs maybe and/or lack of time?! Anyway, I'm gradually working on getting myself to blog. It really is true the longer you let something lapse, the harder it is to get back to!

Aside from that I thought I'd share this and get your input....A catholic church in England unveiled this statue of Jesus showing an artists interpretation of how He might look today including a modern beard and hairstyle as well as some jeans. The parish priest said, “You are always looking for new ways to enrich people in the experience of Christianity and it is good people can be open-minded to appreciate it.”

So what’s your reaction and thoughts to putting Jesus in jeans? My initial reaction... what is he doing? dancing or rapping? And baggy clothes? that's so last year! Jesus should be in skinny jeans, preferably designer...like 7 for All Mankind. And of course, the most important burning question for Christianity..."what products would Jesus use for his hair?" ; )

Mindset of success

2009-07-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

If you manage any people, if you're a parent, an athlete, a teacher, a leader, etc. you need to read this piece The Effort Effect by Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck. The article examines her thirty-year study of why some some people excel and others don’t. She postulates that people have two kinds of mindsets: growth or fixed. People with the growth mindset view life as a series of challenges and opportunities for improving. People with a fixed mindset believe that they are “set” as either good or bad. The issue is that the good ones believe they don’t have to work hard, and the bad ones believe that working hard won’t change anything. The view we adopt of ourselves profoundly affects the way we lead our lives. It also reveals that your mindset can determine whether you become the person you want to be, and whether you accomplish what you are truly capable of. Dweck also released a book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success that expands and further details this topic. I definitely plan on reading it!

Here's a sidebar from the article called “What Do We Tell the Kids?” You have a bright child, and you want him/her to succeed. You should tell her how smart she is, right? That’s what 85 percent of the parents Dweck surveyed said. Her research on fifth graders shows otherwise. Labels, even though positive, can be harmful. They may instill a fixed mind-set and all the baggage that goes with it, from performance anxiety to a tendency to give up quickly. Well-meaning words can sap children’s motivation and enjoyment of learning and undermine their performance. While Dweck’s study focused on intelligence praise, she says her conclusions hold true for all talents and abilities. Interesting....

To let go....

2009-07-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

To let go doesn't mean to stop caring, it just means I can't do it for someone else. To let go is not to cut myself off, it's the realization that I don't control them. To let go is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences. To let go is to admit my powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands. To let go is not to try and change or blame another, I can only change myself. To let go is not to care for, but to care about; not to fix, but to be supportive; not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being. To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to effect their own outcomes. To let go is not to be protective, it's to permit another to face reality. To let go is not to deny, but to accept. To let go is not to nag, scold or argue, but to search out my own shortcomings and work on them. To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes and relish each moment. To let go is to try to become what I dream I can be. To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future. To let go is to fear less and love more.

"I will sing you to me"

2009-07-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

I recently watched the movie “Australia” with Nic Kidman and Hugh Jackman and thought it was a really good film, both historical and whimsical. But what stood out for me the most was one line "I will sing you to me" (definitely an awesome song in that line waiting to be written!!) There was a little boy in the film named Nullah, who is half white, half aborigine. He was a dreamer, the epitome of what I think we all embrace and love about children. Don't they live with so many less constraints in life than we do? Anyway, he would sing people to himself. The aborigines believe that songs can draw them to each other and to nature. Every time he had to leave his new mom and dad, who essentially adopted him, he would say, don’t worry “I will sing you to me”. The whole story is about this child, who is basically an orphan, finding a new life, with new parents. It causes me wonder how often God is "singing us to Him" and we don't even realize it or listen....

The Happy Prince

2009-07-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

One of the most moving stories I've ever read is Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince." Despite Wilde being jailed for debauchery by order of Queen Victoria, he at least understood that the Gospel isn't pretty. It's not about success or excellence, but about the bloodied remains of the Messiah nailed to lumber. If you're not familiar with Wilde's story, I really encourage you to read "The Happy Prince" at this link.

The story tells of a gilded statue named "The Happy Prince" erected in honor of a long-dead prince who was known for his lightheartedness. As winter approaches, the bejeweled statue becomes friends with a stray swallow on his way to the warmth of Africa. The swallow is concerned at the statue's sadness over the plight of the downtrodden in the city, so at the statue's request, the bird begins stripping all the gems and gold leaf off the Happy Prince and giving them away to the needy. In time, there is nothing precious left of the statue, and the dedicated swallow who once told exotic tales of Egypt to the statue, is chilled and exhausted.

Wilde's conclusion to his story:

The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the Prince, he loved him too well. He picked up crumbs outside the baker's door when the baker was not looking and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings.

But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just strength to fly up to the Prince's shoulder once more. "Good-bye, dear Prince!" he murmured, "will you let me kiss your hand?"
"I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow," said the Prince, "you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you." "It is not to Egypt that I am going," said the Swallow. "I am going to the House of Death. Death is the brother of Sleep, is he not?"

And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet. At that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost.

Early the next morning the Mayor was walking in the square below in company with the Town Councillors. As they passed the column he looked up at the statue: "Dear me! how shabby the Happy Prince looks!" he said. "How shabby indeed!" cried the Town Councillors, who always agreed with the Mayor; and they went up to look at it. "The ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes are gone, and he is golden no longer," said the Mayor in fact, "he is little better than a beggar!" "Little better than a beggar," said the Town Councillors. "And here is actually a dead bird at his feet!" continued the Mayor. "We must really issue a proclamation that birds are not to be allowed to die here." And the Town Clerk made a note of the suggestion.

So they pulled down the statue of the Happy Prince. "As he is no longer beautiful he is no longer useful," said the Art Professor at the University.

Then they melted the statue in a furnace, and the Mayor held a meeting of the Corporation to decide what was to be done with the metal. "We must have another statue, of course," he said, "and it shall be a statue of myself." "Of myself," said each of the Town Councillors, and they quarrelled. When I last heard of them they were quarrelling still.

"What a strange thing!" said the overseer of the workmen at the foundry. "This broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace. We must throw it away." So they threw it on a dust-heap where the dead Swallow was also lying.

"Bring me the two most precious things in the city," said God to one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the leaden heart and the dead bird. "You have rightly chosen," said God, "for in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me."

Sometimes when we're in the grips of excellence and success we become like the Mayor and Town Councillors in the story. Our ability to see true beauty in the less than perfect is thwarted and along with it the beauty of the Gospel.

Food, Inc - a documentary!

2009-07-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

I think this is an important film everyone must see!! Sadly though it doesn't look like it'll be playing anywhere in Arizona!! That just may be an excuse to head to CA to go see it! ; ) www.foodincmovie.com

Check out some reviews:
"I'm not generally in the habit of praising movies for being good for you, but Food, Inc. is more than just a terrific documentary—it's an important movie, one that nourishes your knowledge of how the world works."
- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"Does for the supermarket what 'Jaws' did for the beach."
- John Anderson, Variety
"Don't take another bite till you see Food, Inc., an essential, indelible documentary."
- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"Essential Viewing"
- Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
"3 1/2 Stars"
- Roger Ebert, Sun Times
"Required Viewing. One of the year's most important films."
- Rossiter Drake, 7x7
"You Have To See Food, Inc."
- Corby Kummer, The Atlantic
"See it. Bring your kids if you have them. Bring someone else's kids if you don't."
- David Edelstein, New York Magazine
"Excellent in every respect."
- Pete Hammond, Boxoffice Magazine
"A cleverly written and well produced documentary. Kenner crafts an intelligent, visually compelling argument grounded in old-fashioned investigative research and journalism."
- Maria Garcia, Film Journal International

Bash not

2009-07-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how people have been Obama bashing (trust me, I've done my share), but there's one thing I've come to realize...this country we call 'home' exists only by God's permission and power. Leaders don't determine the future of countries, God determines the hearts of leaders. "The King's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; He guides it wherever He pleases" (Proverbs 21:1 NLT). The stubborn will of the most powerful politician can be directed by God as easily as a farmer reroutes a shallow canal on his farm. So wouldn't it be better to pray for our leaders and trust God to work on their hearts?

When chalk meets the road!

2009-07-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

In my mind, this is so stinkin' cool!!! What a great way to inspire hope and I think the Tour de France will be just the start for Chalkbot's!!

Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Nike and Armstrong's foundation for people affected by cancer, Livestrong, have created a robot that lets people from anywhere in the world chalk messages of inspiration, hope and encouragement directly on the course of the premier French bicycle race.

Users can submit messages via text message, the campaign website, online banners or Twitter for the chance to be printed on the Tour roads by a street-painting robot, Chalkbot. Wieden's executive interactive producer Marcelino Alvarez and technologist-cum-creative Adam Heathcott say that about 90 percent of the messages that have come through and been approved are from Twitter. And because of Twitter's characteristic character limit, the short Chalkbot messages, averaging less than 40 characters, have been some of the most poignant and well-written. Alvarez and Heathcott are both with the Chalkbot in France--see their photos of the robot and chalk messages in situ at the end of the story.

Once submitted, messages are queued and reviewed and up to 100,000 will be inscribed on the roads that make up the course. Approved messages are sent to the Chalkbot, which was developed in partnership with Pittsburgh-based mobile software design company DeepLocal and StandardRobot. Like a giant dot-matrix printer on wheels, Chalkbot sprays a liquid chalk mixture onto pieces of road about eight hours ahead of the Tour bikers. The person who originally submitted the message will then receive a link to a robot-captured photo of the chalk design along with its GPS coordinates as a record of their words in the physical world.

"James Moslander and I were very interested in making a digital experience a physical experience as well, something that exists out in the world that talks both ways," Heathcott says. "We started looking at the different things that exist out in the world for the Tour de France. One of the things we came across that's already being utilized by local Livestrong chapters was chalk. Historically in the races they've done chalking on the roads: messages of support for their favorite rider, hi Mom, whatever."

"Livestrong is an organization that doesn't just exist on a web forum," he adds." It's people that go out and do things to make change in our world, how we feel about cancer and how we go about getting it eradicated. They're out in the world, so making an experience out in the world, instead of one in their cubicle, speaks to people more directly. This campaign invites people from all over, people who can't normally participate in the Tour de France because it's too far away or because they can't afford to travel, to play a part in cancer awareness."

Once the idea for automated chalk messages was hatched, Heathcott thought of friends from Pittsburgh who had worked on street-writing robots GraffitiWriter and StreetWriter in 1998 and later formed DeepLocal and StandardRobot.

Alvarez says the major challenges of the campaign came after the robot was built and programmed. For one, the team had trouble finding chalk paint that's non-toxic, removable and in Livestrong's signature yellow. And then there was the issue of travel.

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is written by one of my all time favorite devotion writers, John Fischer and I thought I'd shared it here! http://www.fischtank.com/ft/

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is proof—credibility—evidence of the fact that God is at work. (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is adequacy—the ability to do what God wants us to do. (2 Corinthians 3:4-5)

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, all rules are off. We're operating under the singular law of love that encompasses all others. (2 Corinthians 3:6)

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is life. The law kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6)

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is boldness to be who you are. (2 Corinthians 3:12-13) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is no need to hide, or cover up, or put on a false front. (2 Corinthians 3:16)

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is hope. (2 Corinthians 3:12)

This weekend, while America celebrates its independence, we celebrate our independence from ourselves and our freedom to life in the Spirit. Risky, unpredictable, transparent, bold, adventurous, transforming life in the Spirit. Happy Independence Day!

Don't jump ship!

2009-06-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

I ran across this recent blog post "Do it as the church" by David Gunner Gunderson (try saying that 3 times fast!) over at Raw Christianity. Everything written in this post resonated with me and David articulates so much better than I ever could the idea of doing things for Christ as a collective body, not as "individual mavericks." In his words (but I highly encourage you to read David's entire post http://rawchristianity.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/do-it-as-the-church/)....

Sometimes we join together with like-minded individualists, and become a group of malcontents. We gather with our like-minded friends, brashly engage in all those grey-area activities that were unaccepted in our previous subcultures, rehearse our common hurts and revile others’ hypocrisies, condemn all the traditionalists, and verbally tear down the establishment (usually without erecting anything in its place). We reflect on our new priorities as so many imitations of Jesus the revolutionary, and we glory in our holy rebellions.

But this is not the answer. We don’t need just another individualistic maverick. We don’t need more Christians failing the church because the church has failed (and see the irony?). We don’t need more reverse hypocrites hypocritically condemning the original hypocrites. We need to bail water, lighten the ship, patch the sails, check the compass, strengthen the sailors, and take courage — not jump overboard.

Yes, we need men and women who will stand in the gap, and this will sometimes take unusual faith and unconventional wisdom. We need modern-day prophets to proclaim the sharp words that the Lord would have us hear. We need to re-examine the grey areas, deconstruct some traditions, pursue fresh obediences, and call each other to an increased faith, hope, love, and mission. But not out of self-seeking ambition and self-righteous reactionism......

Yes, wrestle through the issues. Ask the hard questions. Engage the culture, seek reformation, and act on the holiest of your ambitions. But when you do all of these things, do it as the church. Evangelize as the church, not as the self-representing cool missional guy that’s trying to distance himself from the gathered people of God. Show mercy as a member of the body, not as a young woman trying to prove a point. Protest a political agenda because it stands against the values of the kingdom of God and the gospel of Christ, not mainly because you want to go against the politicized grain of evangelicalism. And be sincere and authentic because you are the purified bride of Jesus Christ, not because you hope to lay the charge of hypocrisy at someone else’s feet. We — we — are the community of faith, those who have been baptized together into the corporate life and power of the Holy Spirit.....

The church is deeply fragmented, and the fragmentation is only increasing. There are times to separate, yes, but there are also times to stand together, even when some to your left are a bit grimy, and some to your right have overdone the make-up....

Life Lessons

2009-06-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you all may have seen this list at one time or another, but I thought it worth posting as a reminder! Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, "To celebrate growing older, I wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. My odometer rolled over to 90 , so here is the column once more":

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Innovator's R different!

2009-06-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

Research indicates that true innovator's brains are actually different from other people's brains. The big difference is that original thinkers - iconoclasts - innovators - whatever you want to call them, see the world differently than everyone else. Too many of us think "automatically" - in other words, we assume the way things should be, take a lot for granted, and don't challenge our perceptions. But innovators don't make those assumptions, and generally see the world the way it is. The secret of being an innovator? Bombard the brain with new experiences. Force yourself to see the world in different ways. Travel. Meet new people. Think from different experiences. Live a life of novelty.

It's no surprise many of our most innovative writers, artists, actors, filmmakers and more were a bit eccentric. They didn't live their lives the way everyone else thought they should. Jesus was a great example of someone who lived outside other people's expectations. As a result, these unusual people produce far more creative work because they refused to see "normal" as normal.

What's your experience? Is there a routine you can break out of? What behavior can you shatter that would give you a new perspective on living?

~ Insightful words from Phil Cooke www.philcooke.com

October 16th!

2009-05-23T02:00:00.000-07:00

Mark that day down on your calendars (October 16th, 2009) because that's when the movie adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are" comes out!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! And don't tell me you've never read "Where the Wild Things Are" a BAzillion times as a kid and/or with your kids!! Plus, anything with Arcade Fire in it, is already pretty amazing in my book!! : )

Check this out!

2009-05-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

Okay I'm a day, but nonetheless this is too cool not to share!! On May 19th, 1966, The Beatles started shooting one of the world's first music videos!! Shot on location at Chiswick Park in West London on a delightfully warm and sunny summer's day, The Beatles made history by recording two music videos (or, back then better known as 16mm films!) back-to-back for the forthcoming releases of Rain and Paperback Writer!!

Death by technology?

2009-05-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's an insightful excerpt from a speech entitled "Informing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman

Technological change is always a Faustian bargain: Technology giveth and technology taketh away, and not always in equal measure. A new technology sometimes creates more than it destroys. Sometimes, it destroys more than it creates. But it is never one-sided.

The Benedictine monks who invented the mechanical clock in the 12th and 13th centuries believed that such a clock would provide a precise regularity to the seven periods of devotion they were required to observe during the course of the day. As a matter of fact, it did. But what the monks did not realize is that the clock is not merely a means of keeping track of the hours but also of synchronizing and controlling the actions of men. And so, by the middle of the 14th century, the clock had moved outside the walls of the monastery, and brought a new and precise regularity to the life of the workman and the merchant. The mechanical clock made possible the idea of regular production, regular working hours, and a standardized product. Without the clock, capitalism would have been quite impossible. And so, here is a great paradox: the clock was invented by men who wanted to devote themselves more rigorously to God; and it ended as the technology of greatest use to men who wished to devote themselves to the accumulation of money. Technology always has unforeseen consequences, and it is not always clear, at the beginning, who or what will win, and who or what will lose.

http://www.frostbytes.com/~jimf/informing.html

2009-04-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

...Just when you think you can't wait any longer...then it's the perfect time. And implanted somewhere in my memory is the same anxious waiting for the baby God to be born in a far away village. And then he was.

So, I take all these tiny hopes and faiths, and string them together as one giant hope and expectation for that same Jesus to revive and refresh us while we are waiting for his return. Like a cup of cold water on a long distance run. This exercise of waiting, and of experiencing a lifetime of little fulfillments, does my heart good. ~ Sandra McCracken

If you aren't familiar with singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken, then you need to be! If you are, then you know what I'm talking about! And oh yeah, the bald guy in the video is Derek Webb, Sandra's husband. Njoy!

Good kick in the pants

2009-04-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

There's a song called "The Motions" by Matthew West that totally pierces my heart and convicts me to the core everytime I hear it and read the lyrics. I really encourage you to read the lyrics and then watch the video clip below. Man, it makes me ask myself if I'm really "being" all I can be for God (and I don't mean just "doing"). Am I truly living my life to glorify Him, an audience of One or am I living to glorify me and the world? Whether you're a Matthew West fan or not, you'll have to admit this song probes deep and really makes you think

This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day without
Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?

"No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more daywithout Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way (I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go)
take me all the way (through the motions)
take me all the way
I don't wanna go through the motions

...absolute humility

2009-04-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

I've always been a huge fan of Oscar Wilde's writings and still very much am! He was honored as "First in Greats" at Oxford. He was the toast of London and was called "Our most quotable writer after Shakespeare." Yet I wasn't aware that his undisciplined living landed him in prison. From there he wrote some incredibly profound words:

"I must say to myself that I ruined myself. Nobody great or small can be ruined except by his own hand. The gods have given me almost everything. But I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease. I surrounded myself with smaller natures and meaner minds. I became the spend-thrift of my own genius. To waste an eternal youth gave me a curious joy. Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in search of new sensations. Desire, at the end, was a malady, or a madness, or both. I forgot that every little action of the common day, makes or unmakes character, and therefore what one has done in the secret chamber, one has someday to cry aloud on the housetop. I allowed pleasure to dominate me. I ended in horrible disgrace. There is only one thing for me now, absolute humility."

In the end Oscar Wilde lost his family, his fortune, his self-respect and his will to live. He died bankrupt and broken at 46.

CONGRATS N PROPS to my music friends!!!

2009-04-25T00:27:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday was the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards in Nashville, TN http://www.doveawards.com/doveawards/ and a number of my friends nominated took home some sweet lookin' Doves!! I'm so very thrilled for all of you and privileged to call you friends!! : ) Y'all know how to rawk the GOO!! ; )

Sue Smith ~ Musical of the Year
http://www.writeaboutjesus.com/Sues_Blog/Blog/Blog.html

Joel Lindsay, Wayne Haun, Shelby Haun ~ Youth/Children's Musical of the Year
http://thistlelane.spaces.live.com/

Josh Havens, Matt Fuqua, Jordan Mohilowski, Dan Ostebo who form The Afters ~ Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year http://www.myspace.com/theafters

Brandon Heath ~ Male Vocalist of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year, and Song of the Year http://www.myspace.com/brandonheath
“I was surprised to receive Male Vocalist of the Year. With this honor, I hope my voice is not just for singing, but for teaching and confessing and questioning my own generation.”

Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes from Brandon Heath on Vimeo.

As if you haven't learned this by now...

2009-04-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

You CAN'T judge a book by it's cover!! "Do not judge according to appearances, but judge with righteous judgement." John 7:24. Never has that verse been explained more dramatically than in the case of Susan Boyle!! Way to go Susan!!!

Unless you've been living under a rock you've no doubt heard about Susan Boyle, the English singing sensation from the TV show Britain's Got Talent. The YouTube clips and other viral clips have been seen by over 100 million people. Living in obscurity her whole life, youngest of nine, learning disabled, bullied as a child, singing in her church and caring for her sick mother, she finally has her moment of glory and the entire world is watching. It makes me smile and cry every time I watch it! She inspires and gives underdogs (like me) hope! : )

So what is it that makes us so emotionally connected to this Cinderella story?? USA Today had some thoughts on the mater....Maybe it's:

• The vindication...it was so annoying when they were making fun of her and it was awesome when she blew them away with her voice!!

• The surprise...."If you have expectations of someone, you need to be prepared to be surprised by them," says Paul Potts, the chunky former cellphone salesman who was the Susan Boyle of Britain's Got Talent in 2007 and has since sold millions of records as an opera-and-standards singer. His second album, Passione, arrives in the USA May 5. It's part of human nature to make judgments based on first impressions, but sometimes we allow ourselves to be misguided by first impressions.

• It's the guilt....there's no correlation between appearance and talent. If Susan didn't look the way she did, would there have been the same reaction? I don't think so! We make snap judgments based on appearance, and when we see those judgments were premature, we overcompensate by going so far in the other direction.

• It's the shame.....Susan Boyle forced people to recognize how often they dismiss or ignore people because of their looks. "Is Susan Boyle ugly? Or are we?" asked essayist Tanya Gold in Britain's The Guardian.

• It's the psychology....we want to believe in something higher, that there's meaning in life and that the ugly duckling can become the beautiful swan.

• It's the hope...there's hope still in this world; that dreams really can come true; that cynical people can be turned around; that maybe our best years are not behind us.

• It's the distraction... With everything going on in the world, this was a feel-good/underdog story.

• It's empowerment... a woman closing in on 50 had the courage to compete with the kids — and blew them out of the water! WooHoooo!!!

• It's the authenticity....Susan Boyle clearly has not been groomed to be a pop star, so we perceive her as the real deal and that's incredibly refreshing.

~ USA Today

The bar has been set folks....

2009-04-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Check this link out Tweamr...the value and power potential of social media impacting lives, seriously!

The world is changing. http://malarianomore.org/ gets it. They, along with organizations of any size and in any industry, were the benefactors. The funds and awareness generated by Mr. Kutcher's brilliant 'stunt' are proof. The power-shift from traditional media to social media is no joke and it's not a fad. It doesn't matter what you think of his movies or TV shows - you have to give Ashton credit for converting the potential energy of his Twitter buzz into real dollars that will improve lives. The world won't change overnight, but this certainly is a milestone....maybe even the dawn of a new era, perhaps.

This is reeeally lame!!

2009-04-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Nationals bench Dukes after Little League-related tardy note

Sheep counting...

2009-04-20T01:53:00.000-07:00

So, is Church Attendance down these days or is Sanctuary Attendance down? What are ways you see sheep grazing these days that make them harder to count? Are we still counting sheep the old way? Maybe all sheep aren't grazing the fields the way they used to. Many are grazing virtually, monthly, and creatively. Hmmm....just something to ponder.

Caffeine...it does "the body" good!

2009-04-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia released a study showing that caffeine makes people more open to logical argument, even when it runs counter to their previously held opinions. The caffeine group, across the board, tested out as being consistently more open-minded than the decaf group. This would definitely lend new credibility to the belief that conversations over coffee are a good thing (but didn't we already know this?! lol)

An open mind is necessary for any relationship to grow. You have to be open to another way of thinking to relate to someone, because we are all different – we have different backgrounds, different gifts, and we see things from different points of view. Lasting relationships grow out of accepting one another's differences. We appreciate each other more through consensus than through conformity.

This kind of open-mindedness in relationships is important for more reasons than just our differences. It is important because we are always changing, and since we are all in process, we have to remain open to that process in each other. My road will not be yours; yours will not be mine, even if we walk together. God has different plans for each of us. Jesus Christ did not die to create clones. He died so He could fill each one of our unique natures with Himself.

And finally, part of who we are becoming involves those closest to us. We are not who we are in a vacuum. We are a product of the people we know and how we have grown together. We shape each other. When this aspect is strong, there is a healthy push and pull at work. “As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.” (Proverbs 27:17 NLT)

Belief has commonly been associated with a closed mind. This is unfortunate because nothing could be further from the truth. Belief opens you up to God and gives you his Spirit to help reinterpret the world around you. Belief is all about discovery, and just as our relationships with each other are not static, neither is our relationship with God. We are constantly discovering more about God and his world, and we are constantly discovering more about ourselves and those around us. ~ John Fischer

So go ahead, pour another cup of joe for you and that friend. Open your hearts and minds to each other and see what happens!

Remotes on the brain...

2009-04-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

Don't ask why I'm even thinking about this, but why are all remotes designed so that the user has to point the end to the tv? Wouldn't it be more ergonimic to hold the remote upright, so you can see the numbers better? The sensor shooter doo-hickey would be on the backside of the remote, so you can easily look at the remote, punch the button and shoot it at the tv. Maybe the sensor shooter is on the tip-top of the remote because it gives the remote control a sense of a magical wand and you a sense of power! You point the stick, it shoots out the tip....Ooooh! Although my idea for the remote control would be similiar to the memory eraser on "Men in Black." Kinda makes me wonder why the producers of "Men in Black" have them hold the memory eraser stick up when using it. Now imagine a remote with the added feature of a memory eraser for when you've just watched a bad movie or tv show? Or better yet take it to the movies and use it after you've seen a movie you can't believe you just paid $12.00 for!! This clearly could have possibilities!

State of Play

2009-04-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

I have been waiting forever for the remake of this movie, State of Play and it's almost here!!! It releases world wide this coming Friday, 4/17 and I highly, highly recommend it even sight unseen!!! In the meantime, here's a clip and a most excellent article about this movie!!

The Last Hurrah of Hollywood's Hero Journalist?

A Friday unlike any other....

2009-04-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

The wounds on his hands bled slowly. Pressure from the weight of his body held back the flow. If there had been no other sounds that afternoon, it probably would have sounded like the slow, steady drip off the eaves of a mountain cabin on a damp foggy night. But there were many sounds. Taunts from the soldiers, weeping and wailing from the women near the feet of Jesus, even careless laughter from children playing haphazardly around the perimeter of the crucifixion hill, oblivious to the significance of this particular execution. Small dark puddles would gather briefly under the top beam of the cross, only to be covered by the shuffle of a guard's feet. And then it would start in again: drip… drip… drip—little droplets seen but not heard. Mary saw them. She stared at the puddle through her bloodshot eyes while his life flashed before her, and it seemed to her that the earth swallowed his blood as if it had been created for this. As if it were drinking its fill and would thirst no more. Then she slowly turned her eyes up to his face, and her breath failed her. He already had her in the grasp of his eyes. It was the first time he had looked at her from the cross, and his eyes were full of the deepest despair and the deepest love she had ever known. In his eyes, it seemed as if she were falling—falling into a bottomless abyss. She looked until she could bear it no more and turned her eyes away so she could catch her breath again. Once more her gaze went to the small puddle in the dirt, and it seemed now that she, and only she, could hear the droplets landing, loud enough to shut out all other sounds....by John Fischer

Powerful words! As a mom, my mind can't even comprehend, nor do i want to, that moment, thru the eyes of Mary, to see her son on the cross.

A heartwrenching saga!

2009-04-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

He said it so we'd never have to

2009-04-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's partly because Easter is almost here, but I've been thinking about something....how would you feel about having to stand on a stage and watch a video of every single sin you've ever committed? The angry outbursts. Selfish motives. Critical attitudes. Jealous intentions. Secret addictions. And so many others! I don't know about you but I'd be praying that stage would cave in or better yet there was a trap door to escape through. I can't help it but it still blows my mind that not only did Jesus carry my sins but carried everyone elses in his body onto the cross so we would stop living for sin and live for righteousness.

When you look at Him on the cross you see the gossiper, the liar, the cheater, the alcoholic, the porn addict, the child abuser, the murderer. And then He put Himself in their place, in our place! In a move that broke God's heart, He poured out all His righteous judgment on His Son. When Jesus cried from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He said it so we'd never have to. What an unfathomable kind of love!!

The London Broil Show

2009-04-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, truth be told I'm not much of a fan of juggling acts. Seen one seen them all, right? At least that's what I thought until I had the chance to see these three guys of The London Broil Show(Duncan, Louie, and Matt) perform at the AZ Renaissance Festival!! These guys were not only amazing, but just off-the-cuff HAHlarious!!! Seriously, it was like SNL does juggling! Here's a video clip of them in action. Now mind you, they aren't in their Renaissance costumes which added a whole other element to their performance (just envision Duncan in a monkey vending suit ...you know the wide-leg capri type pants, little vest, and box monkey hat / Louie in full leprechan apparel with beret'/ Matt in bloomenhoosier short overalls with a German hat...think The Sound of Music look!) Okay...without further adieu....here's The London Broil Show!!! (I never did ask them where they came up with their name. : (
NJOY!!! www.thelondonbroilshow.com

www.thelondonbroilshow.com

CRACK goes the bat!

2009-04-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

Yep, baseball's back peeps! Spring training is over and ball parks everywhere opened today for another exciting season of an American tradition loved by generations of fans. Whether you're young or old, stepping foot into a baseball stadium can be a magical moment—no matter how many games you've been to. The energy is infectious and awesome moments regularly unfold! Take for example what happened in the AZ Diamondbacks opener today...Lopez and Clark double the pleasure, double the fun in opener!! I love expecting the unexpected in baseball....does life get any sweeter than that??!! Well, maybe if it happened with the Yankees, that would've been uber decadent! But hey, the season's still very young and I know my team won't let me down!! Go Yankees!!!

Keep running!

2009-04-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

I saw the most unexpected place in my heart the other day. I saw a girl, who experiences life and often times situations or challenges and thinks "I can't do this…" a girl who even with the things she most passionately desires succumbs to fear and says "I really don't think I can…it's too hard" and to that girl, I say "Look around you. We're surrounded by people running towards a victory…cheer them on. Get outside your own fear for a moment and cheer them on!" Doesn't it change our perspective when we realize we are not alone? Everyone else is being challenged…getting worked over in their own way by life. And if we are not reminding each other, "you're almost there…way to go!", "you can do it…don't give up!" we'll miss out. Life in many ways is a race, yes, but more than that…it's a journey of love, passion, and pushing through pain. We need each other for that, to get through life. If you've never gone to a marathon…go and stand at the finish line and cheer for the people crossing. It may seem like you don't know them, but if you look closely…you'll see glimpses of yourself. And it will remind you to keep running…even when it feels like you can't.

Reading is FUNdamental!

2009-04-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me, knows I looooove to read!! And below I've listed some impactful, fantastic reads I highly recommend!!

The Tangible Kingdom, by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay - Just a REMARKABLE read and in my mind is the way to do church!!! It will rawk and challenge you, honest....so go grab a copy prontO!!! It's one of those books you won't be able to put down!!

The Blessed Life, by Robert Morris - I would say it was THE BEST book on giving that I have ever read! Warning–when you read this book you will want to give something away!!

In A Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day, by Mark Batterson - I think this is hands down one of the best books that I have read in a while. Mark did an incredible job with this work–it is a MUST READ!!!

The Four Obessions of an Extraordinary Executive, by Patrick Lencioni - I could NOT put this bookdown!! Phenomenal!!

Good to Great and the Social Sectors, by Jim Collins - Holy Smoley!! Another must read!!!

The Gutter, by Craig Gross - A missional book that was ahead of its' time!!! The emphasis of the book is on getting out of our Christian ghettos/gutters and into the ghettos/gutters of others. You NEED to read this book!!!

This book raised several questions that I've struggled with for a long time. I'd be curious to get your take on them:

Why do we keep ourselves locked up inside of Christian ghettos?
Why do we isolate ourselves from people who are different from us?
Why do we persecute Christians who value other human beings, and want to build relationships with them?
Jesus hung out with people in the gutter, why don't we?

Nothing happens....

2009-04-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

Love this new campaign for Kit kat. It’s all about the planning and insight behind Kit Kat’s proposition. See for yourself:

http://www.thefirstworldwidewebsitewerenothinghappens.com/

Wonder-baaaaaaaas!!

2009-04-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! Talk about extreme shepherding!! Just a brilliant and funny marketing ad for Samsung Electronics...kudos to them! Viral marketing at its finest!

Expectancy or expectation?

2009-03-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

I've been re-reading Paul Young's The Shack and each time I do, I glean more profound nuggets! He wrote this about friendship....He says that a friendship has an expectancy…when we see each other we expect certain things to happen like conversation, laughter, etc. He explains, “Expectancy has no concrete definition; it is alive and dynamic and everything that emerges from our being together is a unique gift shared by no one else.” But when it changes to expectation……”Suddenly, law has entered into the relationship. You are now expected to perform in a way that meets the expectation of another. The living friendship deteriorates into a dead thing with rules and requirements. It is no longer about you and me, but about what friends are supposed to do, or responsibilities of a good friend.” he continues…..“Responsibilities and expectations are the basis of guilt and shame and judgment, and they provide the essential framework that promotes performance as the basis for identity and value." It's hard to live up to someone’s expectations. And I have to say Paul's words of wisdom for friendships/relationships are something to live by!

In honor of the day....

2009-03-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

10 things you may not know about Ireland:

1.Technically, it is an offense to be drunk in public in Ireland. Regulations introduced last year allow the police to issue on-the-spot fines for anyone caught being drunk in a public place in Ireland.

2. An Irishman founded the Argentinean Navy

Irishman William Brown (known in Spanish as “Guillermo Brown”) is one of Argentina’s national heroes. He is commonly known as the “father of the Argentine navy” and was an important leader in the Argentinean struggle for independence from Spain.

Brown’s family left Foxford in Co. Mayo for Philadelphia in 1786 when he was aged 9 and his father died of yellow fever soon after they arrived in the U.S.

He led an adventurous early life: he fought in the Napoleonic wars, was taken prisoner-of-war, escaped to Germany, before somehow ending up in Uruguay, where he became a sea trader. He then founded the Argentinean navy, when it was at war with Spain.

Today there is a statute of Brown in his hometown of Foxford, Co. Mayo, which was unveiled in 2007, the 150th anniversary of his death. in Argentina, there are 1,200 streets, 500 statues, two towns, one city and a few football clubs named after him.

3. Only two members of U2 were born in Ireland

David Howell Evans, more commonly known as The Edge, was born in London, to Welsh parents. Garvin and Gwenda Evans moved to Malahide in Dublin when The Edge was aged 1. Adam Clayton, U2's bassist, was born in Oxfordshire, England. His family moved to Malahide in Dublin when he was 5, and he soon became friends with The Edge.

Only Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were actually born in Ireland.

4. The British Embassy in Tehran is on a street named after an Irishman

In 1981, shortly after the death of IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands, the Iranian government changed the name of the street where the British Embassy is located from "Churchill Boulevard" (after the British Prime Minister) to "Bobby Sands Street."

British Embassy Staff were then forced to route everything through a side door in the building to avoid showing their address as The British Embassy, Bobby Sands Street, Tehran.

5. Up until around the early 1990s, Ireland had a low per capita consumption of alcohol

When the word "Irish" comes up, "drinking" is never far behind. And today, Ireland alcohol's consumption is very high by international standards. A 2006 survey found that the Irish spend a higher proportion of their income on alcohol than anyone else in Europe. It also found that the Irish were the worst binge drinkers in Europe. So the recent evidence supports the old Irish drunkard stereotype.

But Ireland's alcohol consumption per population was moderate for much of the 20th century. There was a high level of alcohol abstinence in the country – something usually more associated with Protestantism – which was promoted by the Catholic Church.

As the Church's moral authority declined, however, and as the country became wealthier, the Irish started to drink a lot more - finally earning themselves that old heavy-drinking stereotype.

6. A Belfast hospital is a world leader in kneecap reconstruction

During the Troubles, the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast had one of the top trauma units in Europe. At one point as many as 100 victims of "limb executions" were being treated by the hospital every year, whose advances included external “limb scaffolding" that enables partial healing for bone damage too severe for reconstruction.

7. Ireland has the fourth largest stadium in Europe

Dublin's Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, is the fourth largest stadium in Europe. The 82,300-capacity stadium was redeveloped in 2005 and is now the fourth largest: only Camp Nou in Barcelona, Wembley in England, and Olimpiysky in the Ukraine, are bigger.

Rugby and soccer were banned from the stadium up until 2007 because of a long-standing rule banning “foreign” games. The rule was relaxed when the country’s main soccer and rugby stadium, Lansdowne Road, was closed for redevelopment.

8. In the summer of 2007, it rained in Ireland for 40 days straight

Even by Irish standards, 2007 was a wet summer. By August 24, it had rained in Ireland for 40 days - fulfilling an old Irish proverb that says it will rain for 40 days if it rains on St. Swithin's day (July 15). The rain usually takes a break in the summer for a couple of weeks and the rare sunshine sends the country pure mad!

9. Playboy was banned in Ireland until 1995

In 1995 you could get Playboy TV but you couldn't get the magazine, which was banned under the censorship laws.

10. More Guinness is sold in Nigeria than in Ireland

That's right: Ireland is the third largest market for Guinness. Nigeria is at second, and Britain is first.

Sometimes it's just a bad cat day!

2009-03-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

Who's your Mordecai?

2009-03-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

As a little kid, my grandad would share scripture with me about Esther (how many times I’d roll my eyes and not appreciate the wisdom he was trying to impart in my thick head! Lol) He’d share how Esther won a beauty contest, married a king, lived in a palace, uncovered a plot to exterminate the Jewish people and then saved them. Her story showed the importance of being in the right place, and being influenced by the right people. My grandad always said that where you are today is no accident. Mordecai, Esther’s mentor, challenged her and changed her life by saying, “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14) Esther didn’t set out to be queen, but once she was, she had to decide between her comfort and her calling. It’s a choice we all make everyday whether we realize it or not. Grandad would also say that special people are sent to guide each of us. Without Mordecai in her life Esther might never have understood her calling. And without his help she might never have embraced it either. My grandad would always ask me, “who’s your Mordecai, Romi? Who knows you well enough to help clarify your calling? Who loves you enough to challenge you when you get off track, or strengthens you when you want to quit and turn back?” Of course my Mordecai was my grandad, but I was too young at the time to realize and fully appreciate that!

Today, I can't readily say who my Mordecai is. I've been praying for the last 2 + years for God to reveal that person to me, but to no avail. Either the people I've asked are too busy, don't want to make the commitment, or don't take the role of mentoring seriously. I have to admit it's been discouraging and causes me to wrestle with several questions: Does anyone think I'm really worth the time and effort? Am I expecting someone I'll never find? Am I completely unrealistic and missing the forest for the trees? What am I missing?? Maybe because mentoring others is second nature to me and something I deeply enjoy, I assume there are others willing to do the same for me. I mean after all not one of us is a composite of all of life's virtues; we all have blind spots and weaknesses. That's why we need others to speak and invest into our lives, right?? So why is it so hard to find people that care enough to do so?

Can't help myself...

2009-03-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

Bollywood meets hiphop!! Luv this movie and soundtrack as if you couldn't tell!! : )

Rosa Loves

2009-03-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

Rosa Loves is one of the coolest non-profits out there, imho! If you aren't familiar with it, please definitely check it out!

http://rosaloves.com/pages/info

Rosa Loves is less about charity and more about awareness, awareness that we are all a part of something greater and are therefore joined by common threads. Accepting this truth means accepting our place in community, and more importantly, accepting responsibility for each other. This isn't to undermine personal responsibility, but it seems that "personal responsibility" sometimes is used as a crutch - an excuse - to ignore the suffering around us. This chosen ignorance is the architect of deep social chasms that keep us from venturing to burdened and suffering places.

The hope is that people come to experience Rosa Loves not as a charitable company, and not even as a company that does the things it does because they are "good things to do." But instead that people will realize this is what we as people were intended to do.

Rosa Loves is not a "Christian" company. "Christian" should not be used as an adjective. Rosa Loves is a company that seeks creative ways to serve others, not coerce, and do it for the glory of God.

2009-03-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

BELIEVE YOUR VOICE CAN MEAN SOMETHING ~ Jimmy Eat World

Puzzle Pieces

2009-03-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

I just love this piece by Lawrence Kushner in Honey from the Rock and think it beautifully states our God-wired need for community!!

Puzzle Pieces

Some seem to be born with a nearly completed puzzle.
And so it goes.
Souls going this way and that
Trying to assemble the myriad parts.

But know this. No one has within themselves
All the pieces to their puzzle.
Like before the days when they used to seal
Jigsaw puzzles in plastic,
Insuring that all the pieces were there.

Everyone carries with them at least one and probably
Many pieces to someone else’s puzzle.
Sometimes they know it.
Sometimes they don’t.
And when you present your piece
Which may be worthless to you,
To another, whether you know it or not,
Whether they know it or not,
You are a messenger from the Most High.

Church hurts sometimes

2009-02-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's because my church has been doing a sermon series on the sins of the Church, but lately I keep running into more and more people who have been deeply wounded by the Church. Things that a pastor or a leader said or did to them, lack of a welcome, a large dose of guilt. By far, the greatest infraction that I notice repeated over and over again in the stories of pain, are instances of judgment. People were hurt because they were excluded or judged by someone at their church. I hope that you can see how much it hurts others when we measure, judge or condemn them. I hope that we can see that the only people that Jesus crushed were the religious hypocrites who judged others. Jesus spread love. God's love is big, broad and wide, and He does not draw lines of separation, only circles that take people in. The Church will never win people by judging them. If you see someone that you don't like, or you don't like what they're doing, just love them. Reach out and give them the gift of grace just like God thankfully extends to us each and everyday. It starts with me and it starts with you...

Be a blessing...start a hug revolution!

2009-02-26T16:30:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's easy to be blessing consumers. We enjoy the good that comes our way and forget that it comes to us for a reason. But the reality is we're blessed to be a blessing. What we have isn't just for ourselves, although blessings do bring us pleasure. What we have is given to us so that we can give to others. Financially of course, but I'm also talking about a smile, a hug, words of encouragement, etc. If you have joy, it's to be shared and given away. Look for the discouraged person. Look for the one whose soul is downcast. Seek them out. Hug them. Lift up their eyes. Help them to see the joy of living (again). Amazingly when you share God's love with another person, you'll find yourself refilled and blessed in the process. Think about it....ALL of us really are blessed in so many ways to be a blessing to others!

Here's what one blogger did (kikielectrique.blogster.com). I realize it's not revolutionary, but it obviously did have an impact of the recipients and the givers:

"Few weeks ago, a couple of friends and I decided to do a free hugs day in Saskatoon. It was friday night, the evening before the D-day that I realise it is pretty much a snow storm outside, in the end of April, bloody prairies!!! ''So what, if it is sunny, we' ll do it anyways'' we said.
Saturday morning, sunny and melty snow outside, we get up, eat a delicious vegetarian breakfast (that's new to me, vegetarianism) and walk to the closest supermarket to get some boxes, after all, we need to identify ourselves that we are selling nothing but giving FREE hugs!

A few ''free hugs'' cardboards later, we are back on our feet to walk to Broadway street, a little bit worried it might not work. How silly we are to ever think that! How could this NOT work? After all like my partner in crime and crazy friend Josiane said: ''we only need one hug to make it work, right?''. She was totally right, the purpose of our act of sharing love and hugs is to do it only (at least) once after all.

Well, it happenned, and we huged and huged for many hours with many random and not random (friends) people who joined us and huged with us. It was amazing, and so rewarding. One word: Wow. People kept telling us we were awesome (smiles) and came back for a second hug! A lady told us that was the best that could happen to her in her horrible day, that we arrived in her life at the right time, its so good to know you can help people just by huging them.

Some pedestrians asked us why we were doing that? Well, we answered, why not? Just for fun! In this individual and stressful world we live in, why not stop a couple of minutes (or hours) to hug people and share the love?"

It's all in the name

2009-02-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have trouble remembering someone's name? You may have asked them for their name but you weren't listening when they told you, and now you have to ask them again. Don't you hate it when that happens? I met a guy last week (his name is Earl, which by the way I've managed to remember) that said he used to have trouble remembering people's names until he realized why. He was focusing solely on his introduction of himself when he met someone new, and not on the person he was actually meeting. Once he got it through his head that the important one was the person he was meeting, not the one he was introducing, he was able to focus on people and remember their names.

How remarkable and remarkably simple?!

"Christians who can no longer listen to one another will soon no longer be listening to God either; they will always be talking even in the presence of God. The death of the spiritual life starts here, and in the end there is nothing left but empty spiritual chatter and clerical condescension which chokes on pious words. Those who cannot listen long and patiently will always be talking past others, and finally no longer will even notice it. Those who think their time is too precious to spend listening will never really have time for God and others, but only for themselves and for their own words and plans."--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

So make somebody's name important to you today. Remember it.

In humility, consider others better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3)

In honor of my favorite president!

2009-02-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

I gotta say, Abraham Lincoln is one person I can't learn enough about! For example, in a conversation that allegedly took place between Abe and his best friend, Joshua Speed who, upon finding Lincoln reading the Bible, laid a hand on his shoulder and remarked, "I am glad to see you profitably engaged.""I am profitably engaged," was the affirming reply."Well, if you have recovered from your skepticism, I am sorry to say that I have not.""You are wrong, Speed," said Lincoln, looking up from the pages of his Bible. "Take all of this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will die a happier and better man."

Three things particularily struck me about this exchange:

1. For starters it's very apparent that Lincoln believed the Bible and relied on Christ as his strength.

2. Lincoln's statement speaks into the cooperation of reason and faith. Christianity is not unreasonable. It doesn't require blind or stupid faith. It requires a reasonable faith. That would be, as Lincoln described it, a faith that travels along with reason until reason can go no further, at which point faith goes the rest of the way alone. That says that faith is not antagonistic to reason, it's just that reason alone isn't enough.

3. Joshua Speed, who was Lincoln's best friend, did not share Lincoln's belief. This is a good example for us, because we usually tend to gravitate, especially with best friends, to people who support the same belief systems we hold. We might have acquaintances that are not believers, but rarely best friends. It's a great example of the kind of friendships I believe we as Christians need to cultivate—relationships of mutual respect with unbelievers.

So who's your favorite president and why?

Who knew?!!

2009-02-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

This is wild, folks!! There seriously are 8 reputable colleges in the U.S. that offer FREE tuition to anyone that is accepted!! Definitely check out the link -http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/22573.html

Word for the day.....

2009-02-12T08:14:00.000-08:00

slumgullion -a meat stew

\SLUM-gull-yun\

noun

Mmm, mmm, mmm, good....NOT! I don't know about you, but this word just doesn't sound like such an appetizing name for any dish, but I guess that’s part of the fun of finding bizarre words. The word’s etymology doesn’t help either: "slumgullion" is believed to be derived from "slum," an old word for "slime," and "gullion," an English dialectical term for "mud" or "cesspool." The earliest recorded usage of "slumgullion," in Mark Twain’s Roughing It (1872), refers not to a stew but a beverage (yuck!) The sense referring to the stew debuted about two decades later, and while there is no consensus on exactly what kinds of ingredients are found in it, that’s the "slumgullion" that lives on today. (from Merriam-webster) So there you go....it's forever changed my perspective of stew.

2009-02-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

The man who said ‘I’d rather be lucky than good’ saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It’s scary to think so much is out of one’s control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward and you win…or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose.

That line is taken from the opening narration from the 2005 Woody Allen film Match Point that I recently watched on dvd. I think for most people, you either have an affinity for Woody Allen films or you don't. For myself I happen to fall into the first category probably because I tend more toward the quirky and ecletic. To me Match Point is a film that yet again reaffirms Allen’s talents as a filmmaker. I haven’t seen such a quality piece of work from him since Deconstructing Harry. His talented cast and crew brought to life a story that focused on the forces of life that are both in and out of our control. The plot constantly shifted directions and remained one step ahead, yet it always kept my interest. The resolution of the film was satisfying because the plot was believably resolved while Allen presented a thematic worldview in a subtle yet unobtrusive way.

I will say Match Point is a bit of a departure from Allen’s usual subjects, but on a larger scale the themes are still very familiar. The film is set in England and opera makes up most of the soundtrack. But before you roll your eyes and groan (yes, admittedly when I heard the opera at the start I did the same), the use of opera surprisingly framed the film amazingly well because like so many of that genre’s tales, this film’s plot had tragic consequences. It really was a good call!

The acting was top rate, especially by Scarlett Johansson (Nola Rice) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Chris Wilton). The characters were real people with believable conversations and motivations. Without going into all the specifics of the plot (you'll just need to see it), I will say that the conflicts Chris (the main character) encountered are universal. They were about choosing between submitting to or ignoring his selfish desires, doing what he wants or doing what is best for others. Like a character in the tragic operas he loves, the chain of events he sets forth lead to dire consequences that disrupts the lives of everyone involved because every decision is affected by things out of his control. He ends up trapping himself in a corner that he himself cannot get out of.

Overall I would definitely recommend this film, it’s an engrossing and interesting movie, one that manages to engage and affect you right till the closing scene. Rating: R

Just had to share this...

2009-02-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here's an excerpt of what a friend recently sent to me to share her thanks and her love for her friends. It was incredibly touching and something I'll cherish for a lifetime. But that's not exactly why I'm sharing it. I share it because she get's "it"...the connection between Jesus and friends. Read it and you'll see what I mean.....

"Interesting how when I first imagined finding Christ, I would close my eyes and try to picture him. What he looked like, what he was wearing etc. I'd catch glimpses of him in prayer now and then, but sometimes I would try so hard and all I could squeeze out in my brain were just features from pictures I have seen all my life. Silly me, all I really had to do was open my eyes. He has been closer than I could have hoped! He is here in person, in the flesh and I get to hug him every time I hug you guys, cause that is where he is.

The point of this email is that I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. I want to make sure, and in writing, that you know how much I value your friendship. I want you to keep this email in your bibles or somewhere close as a reminder that the days you are feeling useless, or like God is not using you, or you are not doing enough, that such thoughts are lies and you are sadly mistaken. God uses you in ways that you just don’t even realize. It is with that, I pray everyone in the world have friends like mine whose heart radiates the love of Christ."

Azincourt!

2009-02-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

If you like reading historical fiction (especially about the medieval period), YOU NEED TO READ Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell!!! He's such a masterful storyteller who weaves a rich tapestry of history and characters making you feel like you're there right in the thick of things! http://www.amazon.com/Agincourt-Novel-Bernard-Cornwell/dp/0061578916/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233516790&sr=1-2

I recently finished it and didn't want it to end!!! I received this book as a Christmas gift from a friend and I gotta tell ya it was one of the best gifts!! It was such a captivating read and I just loved getting lost in the book. That hasn't happened in a long time....maybe I should read more historical fiction, eh?!

Basically the book leads up to one of the epic battles in history....Azincourt. It was fought by France and England, two very badly matched armies that met in atrocious conditions on St. Crispin's Day, October 25th, 1415, that resulted in an extraordinarily unexpected English victory. Even the English thought they were toast since their army numbered a mere 6,000 tired and hungry men against a fresh and well-armed French army of 30,000. It's long been held that it was the English archers who made victory possible and it's through an archer, Nicholas Hook that the author tells the tale and politics of the events leading up to and through the battle itself. But here's a tidbit I just find so incredibly fascinating....consider this stat....an archer at Azincourt averaged a mere 12 arrows a minute and that there were 5,000 bowmen; this means in one minute 60,000 arrows struck the French, a thousand arrows a second. It also means that in ten minutes the archers would have shot 600,000 arrows!! This totally blows my mind!!

Here's a clip about the history of Agincourt (english spelling) from the author's own words....

Football, anyone?

2009-02-01T12:44:00.000-08:00

Better yet, football cake wrecks anyone? These are HAlarious and also great for an ab workout!!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/01/score.html

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/01/are-you-ready-for-some-football.html

A picture IS worth a thousand words!

2009-02-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

My ongoing love/hate relationship with painter's tape....Just thought I'd share.

Dine to Donate

2009-01-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

Dine to Donate is a cool way to eat at Applebee's (http://www.tlcneighborhood.com./) and support dedicated police officers serving abroad. 10% of your bill will be donated to the Centurion Project http://www.centurionproject.org/index.html

when you present a flyer on February 13 and 15, from 12 pm to 10 pm at certain locations. For more information and to receive your flyer, contact Jason Hall at 480-812-5411 or email batmancrazy@cox.net.

Emusic

2009-01-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't heart of this, emusic.com is a good alternative to iTunes for most MP3s you’d want to download, even some of the more rare indie stuff. The MP3s are all DRM-free, unlimited use and transfers, unlike iTunes, and, with one of their subscription plans, you can pay as little as 30 cents a song.

But wait! There’s more! Click here to get 50 free MP3 downloads just for trying the service. And when you’ve downloaded your 50 songs, you can either continue with them at $10 a month for 30 downloads or just cancel your account and you won’t be charged a thing. I did it and it really does work that easily!

So definitely give emusic a try if you haven't already!

Fundys....say what?!

2009-01-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

I recently ran across a great blog post by Shawn Wood (author of a phenom book entitled "200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One"- GO read it!) that speaks a lot into the Repulsed sermon series my church is currently doing. I really encourage you to read Shawn's post below....

"On January 27th, 1991 Jesus saw fit to save me. I was seventeen-years old and my life radically changed. Jesus captured my soul and as a result he started changing my heart, my mind and my strength.

As a teen-ager it was as if I had just inherited a Lamborghini and had no idea what to do with it. As I became aware of all of the sin that was around me I put the car in 5th gear and raced down the fundamentalist highway of legalism.

I immediately gave up all “secular” music and ingested a steady diet of Petra, Whitecross and Kieth Green. I ditched all of my shirts with buttons for shirts that said things like, “This Blood’s For You”, “God’s Gym” and “Jesus, never leave home without Him”. That’s right I was that guy.

A few years later as I began to “grow” I learned more about all of the things that Jesus Freaks were supposed to wear, how we were supposed to speak, what hair-styles we were supposed to have and who we were supposed to hate. I graduated from Bible College and headed to seminary as a 21 year old who owned eight suits, parted his hair with lots of gel and could hate with the best of them while listening to “Armed and Dangerous” on my Sony walk-man. Seminary here I come. I was a Fundy and the code of fundy’s is:

To count the number of curse words in television shows and boycott is too many.

To bash secular music and film artists and only listen to “Christian” music.

To wear suits that cost more than a young college kid makes in a year.

To talk about reaching said college students while in that suit.

A few years ago I began to “grow” again and I learned about all of the things that the emerging generation was supposed to wear, how we were supposed to speak, what hair-styles we were supposed to have and who we were supposed to hate (well passive aggressive hate that is we just make fun now). I started attending church conferences and reading blogs and as a 31 year old who owned one suit, but lots of cool and hip shirts and jeans, messed up my hair with lots of product and could hate (make fun) of people with the best of them while listening to “Sufjan Stevens” on my I-pod. U-2 fan club here I come. I was a Hip and cool Fundy and the code of the hip and cool fundy’s is:

To drop a few curse words on your blog or “admit” that you did in your sermon.

To bash Christian music and only listen to secular music.

To wear clothes that cost more than the average Kenyan makes in a year.

To talk about how we need to give more dollars to AIDS support in Kenya while wearing said clothes.

Seems to me that we have the same issues, we have just replaced them with different methods. And though we may have put some of the “fun” back into fundamentalism I think it still smells bad to God."

Shawn Wood's blog: http://www.shawnsblogspot.com/

Need a job or need someone to do a job?

2009-01-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Then you should definitely check out Elance http://www.elance.com/ !! I was absolutely amazed by this site! Elance is a global marketplace for freelancers. You search for a job or you post a job you want done, and freelancers around the world will bid on it in a matter of hours. I'm looking into it for myself so I'll see what happens!

We're in this together!

2009-01-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

This simple, yet profoundly convicting video does an exceptional job of capturing the essence of many problems we choose to ignore on a daily basis. One of the more powerful elements is that all the footage on the left is of the Hillsong members doing those things that Joel (the narrator) is talking against. Praying this and the documentary to come will truly trigger a world-altering revolution!!

Fun words

2009-01-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted any "Words" in a while so here are some fun ones from Merriam-Webster's open dictionary http://www3.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/ ...

zephyr (verb) : to move quickly
The man was zephyred into a van by a dark figure.

trafficated (adjective) : containing or supporting traffic
The highway becomes heavily trafficated during rush hour.

yardsail (verb) : to visit or to seek yard sales
Honey, do you want to go yardsailing Saturday?

sandbox (noun) : [U.S. military slang] the combat theaters of Afghanistan and Iraq

masseous (adjective) : having the form of or consisting of mass
Upon examination, the physicist determined the substance to be entirely masseous in nature.

grossify (verb) : to cause feelings of disgust
Ewww you totally grossify me.

irritainment (noun) : entertainment that is annoying

Brittany Spears provided enough irritainment for 2007.

Changing of the guard....

2009-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Wow....hard to believe today is THE Inauguration! Someone recently asked me how I felt about Obama becoming our President. The first thing that came to mind was hopeful. Yes, hopeful. Granted I don't agree with all of his views, but I truly believe God will use him as an instrument for positive change in our country and the world. He's an excellent communicator and I believe he'll be one to keep the conversation rolling!

Maren and Jamie Showkeir, co-authors of "Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment" last month applied some of their ideas about the power of conversation to establish truth and create change, in an excellent piece in the Chicago Tribune. The piece "Obama to the world: Let’s talk" , the Showkeirs write: "In our work with organizations, we encounter many people who, as Obama said in his acceptance speech, are "cynical and fearful and doubtful" about what can be achieved. We, too, have been accused of naiveté (and worse) because we advocate choosing optimism and commitment even when a disappointing history whispers, "This will never work." And we’ve seen firsthand the transformation that can happen when people engage in authentic conversations. In this regard, the president-elect is doing a lot of things right."

These include:
•Obama avoids labels.
•Obama understands that authentic conversations require the courage to raise difficult issues.
•Obama recognizes intention is important. Intention answers the question "What do we want to be in this world?"
•Obama believes in collaboration and partnership.

I have no doubt it will be an eventful and memorable presidency to come! And I definitely encourage you to check out the article as well as to check out their book "Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment" and add it to your reading list. It's already on my "books to buy" list!!

Looking in the mirror....

2009-01-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

I heard a very challenging message at Third Format (http://www.thirdformat.com/) last night on the sin of prejudice. It was such a timely reminder to me that those who aren't believers are of equal value and importance to God and so should be to us. Christ's death isn't only a statement of the extent of God's love, it's also a statement of the worth He places on human beings… all human beings… every single human being. So that whenever you're around people of any kind, shape, color, religious or sexual preference, you're around that which is sacred.

Fred Rogers once said that he always felt like bowing when he was around any human being as if he were in the presence of royalty, because, in his worldview, he was. This is what it means to preach the gospel to every person. It starts with walking alongside people and treating them as those who have been included in that gospel – that they are someone for whom Christ died. Imagine what the world would look like if each of us did this?!

Capital Lights are coming to Tempe...wheeeee!!

2009-01-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

Remember these guys I blog raved about back in December?

Well they're coming to Tempe on 2/4 & 2/5. Capital Lights (www.myspace.com/capitallights) will be headlining and A Rotterdam November (www.myspace.com/arotterdamnovember)
and Philmont (www.myspace.com/philmontrock) to open. Tickets are a mere $5 (not bad for 3 bands). I'm going to check if tickets need to be purchased in advance and will let you know. http://www.extremefaithproductions.com/

Wednesday, February 4th
Bethany Community Church
6240 S. Price Rd.
Tempe, AZ 85283
Doors open @ 6:30 pm / Show @ 7:00 pm
$5
-------------------------
Thursday, February 5th
Arizona Community Church
9325 S. Rural Rd.
Tempe, AZ 85284
Doors open @ 6:30 pm / Show @ 7:00 pm
$5

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, last night this li'l underdog flick swept the Golden Globes, so it further substantiates why I am telling you to do everything in your power to see it!! The movie is striking in so many ways, including its unusual approach in depicting poverty. While most movies sentimentalize or pity the poor, this movie takes a view that’s not all that different from that taken by Jesus in the Gospels.

Based on an Indian novel by Vikas Swarup, the movie centers on Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an 18-year-old orphan who is on the verge of winning millions on a televised Indian game show. With each trivia question, the picture flashes back to an earlier time in Jamal’s Dickensian youth, detailing the extraordinary education that lead to his knowledge of the answers. who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...

Director Danny Boyle filmed “Slumdog Millionaire” on location in India, and much of the movie takes place in the poorest sections of Mumbai. Most of the child actors in these scenes are actual slum residents. One reviewer states, "What’s startling about the scenes is not only the festering milieu – the children skip over channels of raw sewage – but also the way Boyle allows the kids their youthful exuberance. He recognizes both their misery and their vitality. Hardly the sallow urchins of a Sally Struthers infomercial, these children are given their full humanity."

It seems to me that throughout the Gospels, Jesus encountered the poor in much the same way. Luke in particular presents a Jesus who spent time not with the powerful and wealthy but rather the lowly and in need, whether it was the paralytic who was lowered through the roof by his friends or the widow who lost her son. In both cases, Jesus approached them not as a superior being who had come to relieve them of their pitiable suffering, but as a caring, fellow sufferer – as a friend.

Interestingly, the few negative reviews “Slumdog Millionaire” has received have taken the movie to task for exactly this sort of egalitarian worldview. Some reviewers have accused Boyle’s picture of being too “glossy.” Owen Gleiberman, writing for Entertainment Weekly, even said that it “ennobles poverty.” Hardly! Like the Gospels, “Slumdog Millionaire” ennobles the poor! YOU'VE GOT TO SEE IT!!

Change is coming....

2009-01-09T08:51:00.001-08:00

Let's just say I've been working on changing up the look of my blog, but this isn't it by any means! I thought it would be easy enough to find a template from another site and just follow the simple 1-2-3 instructions (am I naive' or what?! haha), but there's a few things I didn't realize. Most importantly, do NOT let your spouse who knows even less than you about blogs try to help you. He really, truly meant well, but he didn't know once you confirm a new template, you lose your widgets. Yeah, so not only did I lose my widgets (my blog role went "poof"), I seriously lost my mind in the frustration of it all. But it's a new day and I know I'll get this figured out eventually. So this is the "in-between look" until I can figure out all the finer points of changing to a different blog template! (Anyone else wonder why Blogger offers so few template choices?!) But if anyone has any advice or would be willing to walk me through this, I'd be incredibly appreciative (and so would Kirk! ; )

Be inspired!

2009-01-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

I know I'm late out of the gate, but NEW YEAR BLESSINGS to all of you!! And many thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my blog!

What I'm sharing today is an amazing true story of kindness and hope (it's a bit long, but so worth the read!) What can we do on a regular basis to model Christ like we see in this article? Imagine if we invested and believed in others like this in our own communities?! Wow! Think of the possibilities!

There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning.
by Rick Reilly, ESPN

"They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?" And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us." And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."
And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.
Hope."

Cry me a river!

2008-12-31T09:16:00.000-08:00

My family and I saw “Marley and Me” the other night and let me say between the 4 of us and the rest of the theater, the water works were on flood mode!! Think Old Yeller 2008! Pheeew!!

Yet despite the saddness, I still very much enjoyed this film, but it was far from what I thought it would be based on the previews I saw. It definitely is NOT a feel good cheery li’l Christmas film as its’ been marketed. It’s a much deeper movie that burrows into your soul and relentlessly pulls and tugs on your heart strings until you have no choice but to cry, weep, sob, bawl, whatever you want to call it. Especially for anyone who has or had a pet, no matter how hard you fight it, be forewarned, the tears will come! And I’m not normally a cryer at movies, maybe a tear or too, but I couldn’t control them during this film. It really was a good movie about real life situations involving love, life, and death. It depicted how joy and sorrow mix all the time in life. Each experience reintroduces us to the reality that the circle of life involves birth, relationships, death, and so much more. Maybe the tears came because it mirrored many events in my own life. Who knows, but all I know is that I was a wreck at the end of it. Some people presume it's only about an unruly dog, however it's so much more than that. It embraces and celebrates unconditional love and how that can and does impact everyone.

"Marley & Me" is about a couple (John and Jen) getting through the struggles of life as they have three kids and move a number of times, but as the family gets bigger Marley’s role gets smaller and the focus of John and Jen turn to their kids and John’s job. The movie intricately weaves a web for the audience to fall in love with Marley despite his issues, so you end up loving him especially as he gets older and is less of a troublemaker.

The only thing I had an issue with is the PG rating of the film. Based on the adult content and inappropriate language, it should have been rated PG-13. I also think this is one of the reasons the film has been getting poor reviews along with the misleading marketing. It's sometimes hard for people to embrace a film when they're emotionally expecting one thing (fun, uplifting ending) and end up with something much different (heartwrenching and a sad ending.) It's almost like a set-up and betrayal. Even so, I still very much liked this film and so appreciate the surprising depth it offered. I definitely would see it again, but this time prepared with a box of tissues instead of crunchy movie napkins! ; ) I really encourage you to see this movie! http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809995057/info

Cake wrecks anyone?

2008-12-28T23:31:00.000-08:00

Seriously there's an actual blog that's devoted to posting about cake wrecks and it's ridiculously laugh out loud funny!! Seriously!!

Check this out:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/09/mixed-signals.html

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/08/cake-wreckin-under-achievers-unite.html