Saturday night thinking

I have been working more at home lately. That means I am in the office more with my wife. That has been nice. Not always, but most of the time. She is fun to be around. I think I like her. I am thinking of asking her out. I hope she says yes.

Church is tomorrow. And I always wonder just how many people will show up, what God will do in their lives, and what new and interesting people I will get to meet for the first time. It’s always a new day every Sunday.

Krispy Kreme, rolling off the racks, is still hands down best donut in the Universe. Yes. I said Universe!

Preaching a series on relationships this month. It should be kind of crazy. We are introducing interactivity tomorrow via text messaging. That could be amazing or it could really stink. We shall see.

Signed up for Netflix today as a trial. I wanted the online move option. So far, I haven’t seen too many shows worth watching. We did watch the Office season three. Very funny.

I need to catch up on comments to the blog. Poor neglected blog.

Just another day

It is just another day around the world. Not here. The U.S. celebrates today as our independence day. And I am glad. It’s a day where we can sort of put down our political alignments. It’s a day where we can lay aside our personal agendas and rally around food and fireworks and family and friends. So it’s an important and significant day. And there is no doubt we can’t fully imagine what so many people have done to make sure that we have our freedoms and opportunities and everything else we enjoy in our country.

But around the world, it’s just another day. And for me, the challenge is not to simply celebrate our freedom, but also to think more globally and think more widely. I get to go to a Starbucks and enjoy a $6 beverage. That same amount could supply food for a week for a few people in another country. Freedom? Yep. I have it. But I am starting to get really convicted about my excesses compared to what is a critical need elsewhere. I think God is stirring me about this. It’s just another day of starvation. It’s just another day of homelessness. It’s just another day without health.

Not trying to be a downer. But to much is given, much is required. And with every right, there comes responsibility.

Brisket

This has nothing at all to do with church planting. But I am about to throw another brisket on the grill. Got any favorite rubs or recipes? MMMMM

Kind of an unusual week

This week has me filled with all kinds of ideas and thoughts and emotions. I have been off my normal routine. Not bad. Just off. Staying up too late for no real good reason. Working in weird spurts. On and off. Crazy.

I need to re-establish a rhythm in my life. I feel my disciplines are slipping a bit.

I also feel like things are heading in the right direction in several areas. I just feel great about a lot of things.

It’s simply not enough

My effort is just not enough. My hard work is not enough. My prayer is not enough. My self will is not enough. My looks, brains, cash, or charm are not enough.

No matter what, without God’s power and resources at work, nothing I have in and of itself will ever be enough. But with God’s power and resources, I can do all things that He asks me to do.

I find I look at what is happening around me and think that I just need to plan more, work more, organize more, think more, pray more, rally more. And there are times when that is needed. But really, I have to have an unbending, unending, unrelenting belief that I must have God at work with me to get done what He has asked me to do. I can’t afford to forget that or I will be pretty lonely doing my thing without Him!

Get your geek on

It is amazing how much shifting that is taking place on the internet. And the internet is defintely driving change in our world. The internet

     Breaks down city, state, and country boundaries

     Uncovers information that might normally been kept quiet

     Provides other angles and perspectives that might not usually be heard

     Provides opportunities for discussion that were limited by time and space

     Mashes together opinions and prejudices and forces the conversation

Getting your geek on will help you dive into conversations and discussions and begin to actually hear what is being said instead of writing it off or dismissing it because it is a differing view point.

Tough Sunday

Today was crazy. We had all kinds of video problems and sound problems. It all came off at the last few moments before the service. Yikes. It was tough sledding and it really threw me off my rhythm. Lot’s of people out again today. I know of three families that had illnesses to deal with and a couple other families on vacation.

But I can really tell that our church is becoming more than just me preaching or our worship. It’s turning into community more and more.

I am kind of worn out. I spent a lot of time this week on tweeking church stuff. This next week, I need to focus more on our series on marriage.

I am not the I R S

So a few weeks ago, I posted about the information on the I R S stim u lous check. I spaced these apart because the traffic on that search is ridiculous and it really messed up my blog stats BADLY.

I have received the following questions to date:

1. I have not seen my check yet. Can you tell me where it is.

2. I recently moved. Here is my new address and the last four of my social security number.

3. I was supposed to get $1200. I only got $600. Can you tell me why?

I am amazed people don’t understand where they are writing, who they are posting to, and the information they just leave hanging out there.

SO FOR THE RECORD, I WILL TRACK DOWN YOUR STIM U LOUS CHECK FOR $150 an hour!

Baseball

Went to the Round Rock Express game tonight. Great fun. I enjoyed hanging with friends and sitting with my wife. My wife is seriously the neatest girl I know. She is totally secure in herself.

As always, there is someone at the game you secretly hope gets hit with a foul ball. It rarely happens. And tonight it didn’t happen but there definitely were three candidates.

A church has to be a place for “foul ball candidates.” We have to create an environment where anyone is welcome no matter what they do, what they say, what they mess up, or how they make us feel.

The simple approach

I am finding I need to keep simplifying. I remember in high school or middle school or sometime about reducing a fraction to its lowest number. I think we over-complicate life.

We overcomplicate our emails. We overcomplicate conversations. We overcomplicate relationships. We overcomplicate solutions. Jesus seemed to be a very un-complex individual. Deep yes. Complicated. No. I read once that 75% of all His words were once syllable. Wow. Simple. When He rolled up on a scene to bring peace or correction or order, He really didn’t use a ton of words. When He prayed, He really didn’t use an intense amount of profundity. Deep. Yes. Complicated. No.

My prayer for me is to have the ability to un-complicate things. Help me!