Even so, in my position, I often have to say “No”. I have to consider the amount of money and energy expended as it relates to the entire church organization. Honestly, there are times I feel like the dream killer more than I get to be the dream enhancer, because I often have to be the “No” voice, but the fact is, as with any organization, we operate with limited resources and sometimes saying no is the right decision at the time. In these times, I have to walk the delicate balance between saying yes and saying no.

Some of the questions I try to consider when weighing a decision between yes and no are:

• Does this decision benefit the entire church, or just one ministry? It is okay if it helps only one area, but that has to be a part of the equation in making a decision.
• Is this decision in keeping with the overall vision of the church? Ultimately, it is important that the entire organization is heading in the same direction.
• Has this decision been thought out adequately and any known fatal risks eliminated?
• Does the leader of this area have the experience or expertise to lead a successful venture? If he or she is not qualified for the task, then is he or she willing and able to solicit help from others?
• Are there other areas that have greater needs because of current demand or potential within the organization?
• Will this decision solicit adequate buy-in from the entire staff and organization?
• Is this the best timing for the new venture? Would waiting enhance or inhibit the decision’s success?
• Is the cost reasonable compared to the benefit received for the project?
• Is the volunteer or staff labor adequate to sustain the effort?

In the end, it is often a judgment call of whether to say yes or no, but thinking through the answer is one of the keys to making wise decisions and ultimately to leading well.

How do you balance the difference between saying “yes” and saying “no”?

For more thoughts on leadership, click HERE.

It’s great that churches can learn from each other. Our church has certainly been helped by it, and we hope other churches have found value in what we’ve been able to offer.

But there’s something important to keep in mind as we study others. We have to realize we have different ingredients.

When you do the same things as Ministry X, you can’t assume you’ll get the same results. God has given you and your team unique talents, resources, and vision to reach your community.

We’re better off building a recipe that takes into account the ingredients we have.

What are some key ingredients for your church?

Here are my non seminary educated thoughts on Born Again Virginity.

1. God will make you a new creation…but to the dude or chick who you played doctor with, their creation isn’t new anymore. Therefore your virginity isn’t new again. So maybe we are a new creation with the same beat down body…Until heaven.
2. Isaiah 1:18 – “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool”
Your sins are forgiven. Yes. But You Are not A Virgin. You are a forgiven…whatever…But you still are a…whatever…

What are your thoughts on this?
I think there should be better ways to claim purity as a evangelical community…
How about “I’ve decided to stop having sex with anything that makes me feel warm and fuzzy!”?
I think that works a lot better than “I’m a VIRGIN AGAIN!!!”
I know it’s not as catchy…
But it’s a heck of a lot less confusing.

Theological black hole just opened…
Los

I tweeted this tonight…

Surround yourself with those who haven’t drank your koolaid.

I’m sure your koolaid is tasty. I’m sure your koolaid is the special sauce.
But when everyone around you is drunk on your junk then you turn into an accidental dictator.
Accidental because those who are blitzed with your ritz don’t know it.
They laugh at your jokes when they are not funny.
They will choose your idea just because you are in the room.
They will soon stop thinking and just start doing.
Accidental because you may not even want it, but you are being shielded from reality.

So if you are a leader, and you all are…
Just make sure someone else is bartending at the party that is your life.
It’s better that way…
Los

Change is necessary if organizations want to continue to improve and grow, but change instantly raising resistance from some people. Change requires a certain amount of faith. Faith is much easier to believe, and even to preach, than it ever is to live by.

In my experience, there are at least 4 major reasons why change is difficult. Understanding them and identifying with the resistance of change can assist leaders in helping other team members adjust to change.

The four reasons are:

It’s unknown –One of life’s greatest fears is the unknown. It causes us to resist those things for which we cannot easily discern an outcome.

It’s challenging – Change stretches us out of our comfort zone. Some of us like to be stretched more than other people do.

It’s uncertain – When we change, we are often introducing untested waters. We prefer certainty.

It’s unpopular – The resistance to change is universal. Change invites animosity and tension.

What changes have you been avoiding that you need to make?

Read some tips on implementing change HERE and HERE.

Read more about innovation HERE.

When that happens, it’s a good idea to step back and look at the vision that was cast for the new approach. If you focus on the fact that it’s easier now to get to church, you’ll attract people who want attending church to be easy.

But let’s face it, lazy people don’t usually need more instructions on being lazy In fact, people who are lazy are pretty good at finding more ways to be lazy.

When launching a new location, convenience isn’t the most effective vision to cast. Instead, how about…

“This is a part of our community that we’re really excited about reaching.”

“You get to be on the ground floor of something big.”

Can you share some great examples of casting vision for new locations?

My son, Koben, just turned 9 at the end of October. Ever since he was born, he’s been a daddy’s boy. When he was very young, he would crawl to the window every day as I left work and cry as I would leave. Naturally, weekend trips to the skate park included Koben from a very young age. He goes with me pretty much everywhere to skate. When he cannot skate with Daddy, he’s finger boarding (tech decking) at home on my desk – usually right where my mouse needs to move around! He loves finger boarding because “it’s a lot safer” he says. When he was young he saw me have to go through knee reconstruction and it probably freaked him out a bit. Either way, Tech decks weren’t really around when I was coming up so I’m finding it really amazing to see what kids are doing on them these days. Check out this video below to see some stuff that truly defies the laws of physics and makes no sense if you ever tried to do this yourself. Koben spends hours a day practicing these lil’ tricks.

I have spent the last couple years working on a Master’s in Organizational Leadership at Eastern University. I am thankful to be nearing the end of my program now, but one thing I will miss is my frequent trips to the city of Philadelphia. I have learned to love Philly. In spite of being one of the largest cities in the United States, Philly has a very friendly, residential feel to it.

I am frequently asked for travel tips for the city, so I thought I would share my top 10 suggestions. Knowing you will automatically track down the touristy historical spots, I decided to share my picks that may or may not be in on the standard weekend tour, but places that you do not want to miss. Philly is an excellent city in which to walk, so if you are only visiting Philly for a short time, put your walking shoes on and check out:

The museum area – Even if you are not a museum lover, this side of the city is beautiful and a must see.

Schuylkill River Trail is a 130-miles long stretching along the historic Schuylkill River from downtown Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to Valley Forge National Park. This is a runner and biker’s dream, but a must see even if just to walk a mile or so. Be sure to get to the trail early and watch the rowing clubs practice behind boathouse row along the Fairmount Park stretch of the trail.

Sabrina’s Café - Located in the heart of the Italian street markets on Christian Street, just off 9^th street has absolutely some of the best meals I have ever had at reasonable prices. Known for breakfast, I think their chef knocks dinner meals out of the park.

Italian markets on 9^th Street - The culture here is alive and well. Featuring great Italian restaurants, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, even if you are not buying you will enjoy the atmosphere.

Pat and Geno’s - You will no doubt have Philly cheese steaks while in town. I recommend you try several places. I have other “favorites”, but these are the two famous ones and the ones you’ll want to say you tried. Located on 9^th Street down from the Italian markets, I have my pick of the two in case you can’t hold but one. Read that post HERE.

South Street - At night or during the day, there is always something happening here. For true people watching, this is where the tourists are walking.

Reading Terminal Market - I never get tired of this place. It’s great for food, people watching, and culture. The Amish shops have incredible food at reasonable prices, but there are also many other award-winning places to eat. One of my favorite places is DiNic’s. Try their cheesesteak! I also like the chocolate in the Reading Terminal.

Rittenhouse Square Area - Located on Walnut Street (and other streets), this is a small park, but has lots of character. If the weather is pretty the place will be packed and be a great place to sit and people watch. The area around it has some of the nicest places to live in downtown Philly and great restaurants are nearby.

SEPTA – The regional rail system in Philly makes getting out of the city and discovering historic, quaint villages an easy, fun, and inexpensive day or half-day trip from center city. Try places like Manayunk and Chestnut Hill.

Chinatown – Again, culture and people watching is the best activity here. I’m not a Chinese food fan, but I understand there are some great ones here.

I didn’t mention shopping on Walnut or Chestnut Streets, but if Cheryl is with me, that’s a must do area. Also McGillian’s Pub is one of my favorite places to watch a game and grab some inexpensive grub!

What did I miss?

For a fun family few days, check out the great options available in Philadelphia! Then share your findings with me!

Here are some of the pictures I took:

Using a simple school folder with dividers and notebook paper in each section, and a calendar that fits in a 3 ring binder I have the following sections:

1. Things that I’m reading in the Bible and what I am learning from it.
2. Books that I’m reading and things I’m learning from them.
3. Prayer requests for people I know well. Since I know many things to pray for them, so they all get their own page. I often spend a month on one page for one person before moving to the next page.
4. Prayer requests from various people as they share them or I observe them.
5. A calendar of prayer requests, mostly the ones in number 3 and 4, but it helps me to write them on the calendar each day as I pray for them.
6. Verses that I’m trying to memorize.
7. My personal journal of thoughts I have; written out to God.

To clarify, I do not use this system every day. In fact, I do not use it but every few years for a few months at a time, but when I really want to discipline myself for spiritual growth, this is the system I use.

More than anything, I encourage you to have a discipline for your spiritual growth. Your system doesn’t have to be this intense, but, from my experience, without discipline, you are less likely to mature. For more thoughts on that, listen to my message on the subject HERE or watch the message HERE.

What is your system?

For more thoughts on devotions, click HERE.

So Team Whittaker would love your prayers as we pick up and move the family to Chicago.
I’ll keep this brief…
God has blessed us with an amazing community of friends here in Atlanta.
Some of us have decided that we want to be part of a movement committed to daily living out the Transformational Love of Jesus in the City so that we can change the World.
And the way we plan to do this is in a community called Soul City Church…in downtown Chicago.

Team Whittaker is moving with a few other amazing families to downtown Chicago to live, breathe, commune, fellowship, and take part in doing church 7 days a week in the city and I can’t wait.

I’ll post more tomorrow but I just wanted you guys to know the goods.
Love you guys!!!
Los

Oh. And welcome to the new blog.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (James 1:26 NIV)

Do you ever struggle to say the right thing? Have you ever suffered from foot in mouth disease?

We all at times say things we shouldn’t say. Recently, while talking to someone that had just been offended by awkward questions about her life, I was reminded that there are some questions that, while probably well-meaning, are better left unasked unless you know the other person well. Some questions are simply not good conversational questions and they are often more hurtful than helpful.

Here are the ones that instantly come to mind:

When are you going to retire? One, it insinuates an age. Two, it is often interpreted that you think the person should.

When are you getting married? This is often a sensitive question. It could be the person wants to be married, but hasn’t found the right person to marry. It also could be the person has no desire to be married.

When are you having children? This could be one of the most difficult and awkward questions on the list. It often is received as more painful than it is inquisitive.

Which child is yours? This is often asked of blended families or families with adopted children. Most likely, the parents feel as though ALL the children are theirs.

Are you pregnant? If you make a mistake in your diagnosis, you are in obvious trouble.

How long have you been married? For blended families, this question can be embarrassing. If they have children older than the years of their marriage, they can see you doing the math in your head.

The bottom line is to avoid asking questions that may be seen as too personal for a casual conversation. The end goal is to think before you ask.

What would you add to the list? Have you been offended by other people’s questions about your life?

For more posts of encouragement, click HERE.

The best ideas may originate elsewhere

The best leaders know they will never have all the answers

So they:

• Listen, read and study
• Spend time with other leaders
• Value those on his or her team

Have you learned that you don’t have all the answers?

For more thoughts on leadership, click HERE.

Nate, our resident funny guy, now a freshmen at Moody Bible College in Chicago, will be home for Thanksgiving. This morning the three of us at home received this email: (Please remember he is 18 years old and has a very colorful personality. Don’t be offended by his attempt at humor.) Personally, I thought it was hilarious.

Dear family,

If you are receiving this email it is because you are, willingly or unwillingly, (although, to be precise, Ron and Cheryl were willing, and Jeremy and I were unwilling in the sense that we had nothing to do with the formation of our family) part of the Edmondson family Thankful tradition. As you know, due to Ron’s poor leadership and apathetic family world view, we failed to fulfill our annual commitment to be thankful last year. Because of the broken covenant, and my lack of confidence in Ron to regain control of the reins in our family derby called the Thankful tradition, I am taking it upon myself to lead our family back to morality, and most importantly, spirituality (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18).

In order to make up for our departure from the Edmondsonic Covenant, I am requiring us all have 20 Thankful’s this year. You may deem this too demanding, but I assure you, that is only because of how soft Ron has become. (Sometimes I’m forced to ponder his sexuality as well.)

You have a week to complete your list. I know you will be blessed as you find joy in being thankful.

I loathe having to force my command on this issue, but all authority is from God. Therefore, I urge you to follow through with my request. For it is written, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”

God bless you as you embark on the thankful journey lain out before you in this the 2010th year of our Lord.

Love,

Nate

Isn’t it fun to watch your children take on the traditions you started with them?

For more posts on Family, click HERE.

Marketing gurus Phil Cooke and Brad Abare appeared in a livestream chat this morning on Conversant Life. These guys are two of the most sought-after consultants in the field of church and religious media communications.

Hearing them talk about Christians / media / church / communication / change / effectiveness is amazing because of the way they compliment each other. They really spark one another’s ideas and their seasonings & expertise just flows.

I should say that we all serve the Center for Church Communication, the nonprofit parent of Church Marketing Sucks. But, that’s not why I’m recommending this stream. It’s simply because the material they have in the archives of their heads is pretty spectacular. Encouraging us to be who we are uniquely in the body of Christ, accept changing culture rather than resist it, be transparent & tell “your” story, all very interesting stuff.

A couple of key take aways include:

• Culture is more important than vision. If you develop a unique, inviting, rich, spiritually inviting culture your vision will fly. If not, no matter how compelling the vision, it will fail.
• Dialog over monologue. People want to be talked “with” not talked “to” or “at”. Conversation is valuable.
• Next generation leaders would like the former generation leadership to “carry with” rather than “pass on to” them the truths & principles they’ve learned about the Kingdom of God.

The stream will be archived and if you missed it (starting tomorrow) you can find it at the Conversant Life site. Well worth your hour.

Fill in the [blank]
Los

I was tempted to say, “No, we just work that one hour (in our case three hours) and then we are done”, but I remembered that typical cliché’ joke aggravates me and this guy was not trying to be funny. He simply didn’t know.

I tried to explain some of what my average week looks like. Activities of a normal week include items such as:

• Preparing to preach…Bible reading, prayer, research…
• Church administration and budgeting…
• Counseling, coaching and disciple-making…
• Managing and leading a staff…
• Writing…
• Vision-casting…
• Planning and dreaming…
• Networking…
• Community involvement…

Of course, it is ministry, so there isn’t really a “normal” week. Each week has its own unexpected circumstances, but these are the things that have to be done in a typical week. I also realize our church is different from other churches, so other pastors have different responsibilities. For comparison purposes, we are a mid-sized 4 year old church averaging about 1,500 per week attendance. The size of the church usually does alter the role and responsibility of the pastor.

What did you think were the responsibilities of a pastor between Sundays?

For more posts on ministry click HERE.

I decided to get a second television so I could watch the Superbowl while my kids watched “18 Kids and Counting” or whatever they’ll be watching. So I went back to the small business. The sales guy remembered me and showed me four different televisions that might work. He quoted me a price. I decided to compare prices and went to a mega-store. The salesman showed me probably 40 different options, all priced considerably less than the smaller store. My heart was with the small business.

But I bought from the big business…

Why? They had more options and better prices.

In a multi-site church, you can worship with a smaller group of people at your campus. You can be deeply involved with Christ in your specific community. At the same time, you can experience the options and excellence of the large church.

This certainly isn’t the only or best means of doing ministry, but we have found it effective to minister to those God has sent and reach more along with way.

1. This is the tormented ragamuffin soul in the midst of a heavenly place.
I feel like that is who I am. Tormented but in peace.

2. The major reasons why I get invited to lead worship places is not becasue of my vocal runs. It is because I quickly build trust in a room of people and they trust me to take them on a journey towards The Throne. And when I do it…I laugh and have fun. I’m the happy hype worship dude.

3. Saul’s Conversion tat in the forground with me blurred in the background writing.
Um. That’s it.

So…What speaks to you and why?
What doesn’t speak to you and why?
Rip them apart and build them up.
Remember…I’m an artist.
So give me a compliment sandwich…
You have till tomorrow afternoon so retweet and ask your friends and grandmothers…
Remember…EP…Not full length album
ready…set…talk…
Los

Alli and I were fortunate enough to see the premiere performance of Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson’s new Complexions Contemporary ballet while in New York. Alli had identified it as something that she really wanted to see and since it was opening while we were in the big city, we took the opportunity.

Amazingly, I found tickets for opening night at the Joyce Theater in Chelsea, a small modern dance theater. Even more amazing than that was that they were affordable.

The audience was treated to two brand new ballets from Rhoden and Richardson, Dirty Wire and Mercy (2 movements). The first ballet was set to an interesting ambient noise-like music and is described as:

In this complex world of communication, Dirty Wire looks at the advantages and disadvantages of being able to connect instantly; how those instant connections affect our relationships, what they do to intimacy and how negotiating distance becomes a new element in our bonds.

The entire first act consists of Dirty Wire…45 minutes of beautiful and innovative dance performed by phenomenal artists. It’s a powerful piece, but I felt myself more drawn to the second act, Mercy:

…an epic work with abstractions depicting passion and kindly forbearance with a yearn for grace and permanence in the sacred and spiritual deliverance of mankind. It poses the question: to what degree does humanity have to go in order for there to be some kind of relief? Mercy looks at the desire to advance without violence but shows the inevitable challenges in doing so. Although abstract in its format, Mercy hopes to provide a context for real images of pleading, forgiveness, indignation, grace and pity.

The description provided in the playbill is so apropos to this ballet and is somewhat unnecessary. Much of this is very obviously communicated in the dance, particularly when assistant choreographer Desmond Richardson emerges and dances with the company. It’s powerful stuff.

After the limited engagement at the Joyce Theater in New York, the company will head out on tour in January, focusing on Southern states initially, then heading overseas to Australia (February 2010), Spain/France (March 2010), Germany (May/June 2010) and Israel (July 2010). There are periodic U.S. dates sprinkled in and performances in Pittsburgh, Portland and New Bedford, MA (April 2010).

If you are a fan of dance, particularly of ballet — and even more specifically, Alvin Ailey-esque ballet and Complexions comes to your town, I implore you to go see it. There are a couple different programs. We saw the one with the new ballets, but the others look just as compelling (particularly Rise, which includes the music of U2).

Unfortunately, the ballet is not coming to Kansas City, but if it’s coming near your city, go see it.

This post could not be possible without the help of Teddy Getz from the Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He helped me obtain the high-quality pictures and information about the tour.

Gobena Coffee Story from Danae Lehman on Vimeo.

Check out more of the story at Gobena.org

What’s your favorite coffee?
Los

Now one of the things I’ve been blessed with is having a family history that is really good. My grandma was a prayer warrior. After she died, we got to read from her prayer journals and this was a woman who lived a 1,000 miles away but seemed to really know me as she prayed for me. My parents are people I can admire (ok, I’m biased). My mom just makes people feel comfortable and want to speak with her. We say she has the spiritual gift of “Gab”. I’ve watched her checkout at the grocery store and just ask one simple question and the clerk will just lay out her issues before her. In those times, I’ve seen my mother show them the grace of God. I’ve seen my dad run a business using principles in the Bible – undeterred when people said that business had to conducted with a little bit of “under the table” financing or entertainment that wives didn’t need to know about. My dad’s business boomed while others struggled. When he retired, I watched him “work” for our church’s denomination serving in whatever capacity was needed to make sure churches were supported in reaching out to those in their communities. I have a sister who works as a counselor. When 9/11 happened, she was compelled to move to New York and help. Now she works at a counseling center attached to a large church in Georgia. She helps women get through things no human should have to endure. She helps military families deal with the constant deployments. She helps teens re-engage with the life they were meant to live; not the lives their current choices have set them up for. (Check out her blog and podcast to get you really thinking) I know I am really blessed to have these people as my family. While no one is perfect, we celebrate our times together and its a joy to be around them.

I know this American missionary who works in a country where missionaries are not allowed to work. As he was crossing the border, he was taken into custody. They questioned him for several hours. After a lot of different questions, they asked him how he could afford to live in their country when he didn’t have a job there. His answer, “My father is rich!” (He didn’t lie, he was referring to his heavenly Father – God). That explained things to the border guards and he was released.

No matter what kind of family you come from – know that there is a Father who wants you to be a part of His family. The family is not perfect (by any means) but the Father is.

 

Too often we shot gun versus rifle our day. When we try to accomplish too many tasks in one day, we are seldom effective at very many of them. The more scattered your plans, the less effective you will appear and appearance most likely will mirror reality. With the shotgun approach, a person tends to run from activity to activity quickly, but never really accomplishing any one project well.

The key to having a successful week is to carefully plan a realistic list of activities for each day, with specific objectives, and rank them from the most important to the least important. Then check off each item as you work through the list, accomplishing as many as you feasibly can per day.

You will be surprised how much more you can accomplish when you use the rifle approach to planning instead of the shotgun.

Which weapon best describes the way you structure your day…shotgun or rifle?

Choose your weapon wisely!

For more thoughts on innovation, click HERE.

Pray like crazy that you don’t reach new people, so your church will stay small–just the way you like it!

Here are some more options:

• Start new churches. Instead of trying to bring people in, let’s send some people out.
• Start or participate in a network of house churches. (In some ways, that’s how I see our church. The purest form of the church is the LifeGroup. My LifeGroup is in many ways my church. Then all our groups meet corporately with the larger body.)
• Start new campuses.

The bottom line is, we must remember that the church doesn’t exist for us. But we are the church, and we exist to glorify God and to reach the world!

Other thoughts?

A month or so ago I got to have dinner with Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance and ideator behind The 99% Conference.
It was accidental, unbelievable, and future shifting.
It once again brought me to the realization that most of the time, this small little church bubble we live in is exactly that. Sooooo small.

If you could have dinner with a NON CHURCH LEADER…
Who would it be?
Los

Tonight was our big date night in the city. We had tickets to see Complexions Modern Ballet at the Joyce Theater (which was amazing), but before the performance, we had one of the greatest meals I have ever eaten.

I was a fan of Harold Dieterle’s as soon as I saw him on Season One of Top Chef [proof 1 2 3]. In fact, I even put “eat at Harold’s restaurant Perilla” on a bucket list I made in May of this year.

Tonight, I actually got to check that off tonight.

What you’re seeing in this picture is the tasting of Colorado lamb, my entree at Perilla.

I started with the Crispy Calimary & Watercress salad. It had mint and pecans and a chili-lime vinaigrette. Alli started with the Baby Red Romaine salad, which had bartlett pears, stilton cheese and spicy pecan vinaigrette. I tried both. They were so balanced and amazing (you’ll see a theme begin to develop).

For the main course, I had the lamb trio — grilled rack, crispy braised belly, homemade cheese & parsley sausage. Alli had their Red Kuri Squash Agnolotti with chanterelles, grilled halloumi & brown butter-hazelnut sauce. We also got the Farro Risotto on the side to share. We followed it up with a piece of the pumpkin pecan pie with caramel sauce and pumpkin ice cream.

I don’t think that we could have made a bad decision. Frankly, I’m fairly certain that everything on the menu is phenomenal because everything that we had far exceeded my high expectations. Our service was exceptional. The decor is appropriate. The music…well, I don’t know who makes their playlists, but it might as well have been me.

One more thing: at the end of our meal, I told our server to please give our compliments to the chef and that I was a huge fan of everything. She said, “Well, he’s here, would you like to say hello?”

Um…YES PLEASE.

I thought that she was going to bring Harold out to the table…no, she came back and waved to us, signaling us to come with her and we followed her back into the kitchen where I got to shake Harold’s hand and thank him personally for the meal. I admit that I was a bit starstruck, but who cares? It was awesome.

I can’t state this too strongly: our meal was legendary. It’s been 4 hours since it ended and I’m still thinking about it. Thank you so much to Harold and the entire Perilla staff for making our dinner very special. It far exceeded my experience at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. Oh, I didn’t tell you about that?

All in due time…

Cheryl and I love to travel. One experience we have enjoyed over the years is our time staying in bed and breakfasts. In this post, I want to dismiss the false impression that real men do not stay in B & B’s.

For those that do not know me, I would not normally be considered a “soft” man. (No joking allowed here from our staff…Remember I have power!) I am not into many things considered “girly”. Cheryl and I often joke that she could have chosen romantic or comedic. Well…at least I keep her laughing! Still, depending on the place we are visiting, this man often prefers to stay in a bed and breakfast to a hotel.

Here are 5 reasons why:

B & B’s are more private. The greatest fear I have heard men mention is the lack of privacy, but in most B & B’s I have felt more separated from other guests than in a standard hotel. (We make sure to always ask for a private bath.)

B & B’s have great food. If you like breakfast, which would you rather have, the make your own waffle/store-bought pastry breakfast, or a gourmet breakfast cooked by wanna-be chefs?

B & B’s are often more comfortable. Many of the rooms that we have stayed in are almost like getting the luxury suite at a nice hotel.

B& B’s make the wife happy. Speaking on behalf of most the men I know, that’s always a good thing! J

B & B’s feel European. If you have ever spent much time in Europe you know that the average traveler there is accustomed to bed and breakfast stays. There is probably a B & B near you. You can pretend you are traveling Internationally.

Surprise your wife with a weekend getaway! Book a stay in a bed and breakfast and surprise her with a night away. Here’s a great resource to find a bed and breakfast next time you travel: Bbonline.com

What have your experiences been with bed and breakfasts?

For more posts on marriage, click HERE.

Their statement raises some questions:

• When is a church just the right size?

Is 12 just right? How about 120? Maybe 3,000?

• When does a church become too big?

Is there a magic number? Is it when all the people can no longer meet in one service? Or one campus? Or one state? Or one country?

If you like a small church, I guess you can find one and pray like crazy that you don’t reach new people, then the church will stay small…just like you like it.

Or… more tomorrow.

Starbucks. Johnson Ferry Rd. and Paper Mill Rd. 1:30 pm. South Entrance. Patio Table By Main Entrance. Heather and I working on bills and such…

Me – What?
H – Nothing.
Me – What?
H – I saw you look at her butt.
Me – No you didn’t.
H – Yes I did.
Me – No you didn’t…because I didn’t. You can’t even see my eyes when I turn that way.
H – Yes I can. I can see your pupils.

I turn my head to demonstrate…I can see her out of my peripheral vision…Suck…

Me – Well I wasn’t intentionally looking at her butt.
H – So you did look at her butt.

Dude walks out of door and I look at him…

Me – See. I looked at his butt too. It’s just eye level as people walk out.
H – Well that’s even worse. I’d rather you look at her butt. Now I’m twice as worried.

Sometimes you should just say, yup.
Los

Why do some people go to small churches? Why do others go to large churches?

This is certainly an oversimplification, but track with me.

People tend to stay at small churches because they are:

1) Needed

Each week, someone is counting on them to pass out the red attendance folders, vacuum the floor, fill the communion cups, or help organize the choir robes. They are needed.

2) Known

People love small churches because they are known. If they have a toenail operation, someone knows. If they miss church, someone calls. If their pet cat gets hit by a car, someone cares. They love being known.

All things equal, why do people go to large churches? The answers vary widely:

• The church has a good Mother’s Day Out.
• The videos are cool.
• The church has great music.
• The junior high pastor pays attention to my kid.
• They have a class for widows.
• They have a class for addicts.
• They have a class for everything including annoying people.

People have tons of reasons to go to large churches.

But why do they leave? Typically because they don’t feel:

1) Needed

The paid staff does most everything. The professional band is too good for most. The yard is mowed by a company. The daycare workers are paid. If there is no place for me to use my gifts, I just might leave.

2) Known

If a person misses church and no one calls, it hurts. If someone is in pain and no one knows, again, not good. One can be in a crowded church building and still feel all alone.

What can we do to help people become needed and known no matter what the size of the church?

So you know about a year ago I endeavored into a new love…
Photography.
Not my own…but others.
I have fallen in love with the shots of old friends like Leah Vis, Daley Hake, Trevor Hoehne, and new friends like Jasmine Star, Promise Tangeman, and Jeremy Cowart.
Jeremy is a part of something really spectacular I wanted to tell you about…
It is called Help-Portrait and the skinny is this…
It’s a movement of photographers, coming together in every major city, to use their photography skills to give back to the community. On December 12th, photographers around the world will be grabbing their cameras, finding people in need, and taking their picture. When the prints are ready, the photographs get delivered.
Yep.
It really is that easy.

So. Do you take pictures? Would you think about giving a gift of a picture to someone who might not ever have one of his or her family?
You don’t need to be a rock star photographer. Just someone with a heart to give…hope.

Jeremy hit me up to share this with you guys and at first, honestly, I had no clue how this could “help somebody”.
Until I watched this…

I am going to be a part of this…
Will you?
Give someone back their dignity on 12.12.09…
Los

Having not seen the first one, I didn’t know what to expect.

It was funny, completely owned by Janet Paone, who originated the role and played Vivian Snustad, the uptight Lutheran matriarch of the kitchen.

The food at the New Theatre is edible, but extremely beige. It’s buffet food, so…well…I don’t really need to say anything else about that. The service is very good.

As far as value for entertainment goes, it’s a very nice evening out.

Last week Guy Kawasaki directed his readers to a piece called 5 Ways to Create a Future-minded Non-profit. The timing was a great read for me as I get more deeply involved in working with the Center for Church Communication, a non-profit group that “helps the Church matter”.

For me, reading the article allows easy application for ministry trends and the importance of leaders strategically resisting attrition, lack of innovation, failure to change, misplaced values, etc.

Here what the 5 trends look like when applied to the Church:

Shifting demographics. With new generations dreaming of their place at the table, churches must learn to share leadership with younger congregants. Top-down leadership gets rejected by next generation believers in favor of team dynamics. Thus, it’s critical to allow baby boomers to step sideways and share leadership opportunities at every level of church operations.

Technological advances. Social-media technologies provide churches the opportunity to gain greater exposure, but they also require church leadership to be comfortable giving more people a chance to speak out. And we must accept the reality that conversation is going on whether or not we’re participating in it. We’ve known for quite some time that the broadcast model is dead - dialog over monologue, conversation over one person megaphoning, etc. The perceived threat of opening up the backchannel is now a moot concern - since most people have access to cell phone browsers in their pockets.

New ways to collaborate. With the advent of new technologies, churches (and parachurch organizations) can just as easily work with an individual located across the country (or world) as they can through their local parish or church. And today, individuals would rather connect with those they share values with rather than those who are simply geographically close. Furthermore, these connections often morph into movements, networks, alliances, etc. (formerly known as denominations). Collaboration itself is seen as a fundamental value, so isolation / independence is viewed as a dead end.

Greater interest in service. There’s no doubt about it, the next generation speaks the language of volunteerism, but churches need to keep in mind that people have many different reasons for serving and ought to tailor their opportunities to individuals’ interests, gifts & talents. In fact, if your church ministry philosophy is straight, rather than have people to get the jobs done, you have “jobs” to get the people done. Serving is the key to each individual discovering their individual gifts & calling in God, so the fact that it’s en vogue right now to do so is a sure fire win.

Blurred lines between nonprofit and for-profit. There’s a greater emphasis on corporate social responsibility & justice and the emergence of organizations whose primary aim is to “do good”. These groups are challenging the Church’s postmodern identity. Formerly, it was the church who was to care about society. But the Church fell down on it’s responsibilities in many people’s eyes, creating opportunity for other organizations to rise and take on some of the responsibilities that might have been the Church’s. And, social justice & global environmental concerns aren’t just for rock stars anymore. Masses of conscencious people believe these are stewardship issues. Churches now have opportunities for new partnerships with these groups and can link with everything from recycling organizations to social services. In fact, for many young people, feeding & clothing the planet, eradicating stupid poverty, ending the slave trade, etc. are considered the outward works of their faith.

Understanding these trends can greatly benefit the Church at large. And, can often explain why rather than build a multi-million dollar building, young people are more given to using free technology to facilitate their ministry endeavours, networking and collaborating (even globally if necessary), tithing their time and working to improve the common good, rather than just the good of their own church facility or members.

It’s great to see social media being used effectively to engage people in causes, particularly financially. There’s a lot we can learn from this.

When God blesses your ministry with a wave of impact and growth, you’ll be wise not to expect it to last forever. (If it does, you’ll be an exception—not the rule.)

If the wave slows, don’t try to recreate it. Those who continue to keep doing what used to work, generally miss anything new God wants to do.

If the wave dies, thank God for the ride you just enjoyed and watch for a new one.

Alli and I had the great opportunity to go see Rob Bell’s “Drops Like Stars” tour at the Uptown Theater tonight.

I’ve talked about Rob Bell on this blog before. Read my post from last week, Rob Bell vs. Joel Osteen, and my review of Velvet Elvis if you want a bit of a primer.

Bell’s “Drops Like Stars” tour is basically a two-hour multimedia sermon focusing mostly on the concept of suffering.

Suffering connects us in a way that health and wealth and money cannot.

His two-hour presentation covers four major issues:

1. The Art of Disruption, or how we are very good at making plans on how our life is supposed to go, but never does.
2. The Art of Honesty, or how pain has a knack for bringing out our truest selves.
3. The Art of Elimination, or what can you let go of?
4. The Art of Possession, which is not the same thing as ownership.

I loved every moment and every lesson and every story of his talk. Bell’s message is on point. His delivery is conversational. He’s funny. He understands people.

One of his true gifts is his ability to teach and present. He engages the audience in so many ways, not just through his content (although that is a wonderful start), he does so through his rhythm and timing, through his body language, through the tone of his voice. He is so amazingly talented, not just in his interpretation of scripture and spirituality, but also in engaging his audience in the challenge of his words.

Bell is phenomenal at what he does, whether it be teaching sermons at his home congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, or writing books like Velvet Elvis and Jesus Wants to Save Christians, or touring different cities and helping people to come to comprehend the purpose of suffering as he does on the Drops Like Stars tour or just inspiring regular folks like me.

If you’re the least bit interested in anything I’ve had to say about him, next time Bell is in Kansas City, I highly suggest going to check him out. You won’t be disappointed. And I will most certainly be there.

Thanks, Rob.

I’m getting really beardy. It must be winter.

Also, if you want to donate to support Movember and men’s health, go here. I’m not participating, but it’s a good cause.

A few months ago, I blogged about my artwork making it into the background of some random music video by an unknown band named Owl City. I tracked down contact info for the band and ended up doing some Owl City artwork for a tee. In the last few months, Owl City has exploded to #1 on the Billboard charts as well as on iTunes, LaLa, and many other sites. It’s an unbelievable story. Adam Young, literally, wrote the album from his parents basement and was too shy to be in the music video. After some convincing, he agreed to perform in front of the cameras for Endeavor Media. Read more here. I recently saw Owl City perform at the House of Blues and could not believe how tight/perfect the performance was! I felt as though I was watching a young band that had been reared by Disney productions and had been performing since birth. It was nearly a flawless performance. I hit up Danny and Steve from Endeavor Media to find out about their work on the Owl City video and see what else they are up to. Here’s what I asked them:

Endeavor’s done some amazing music videos for a variety of artists over the years. How did Endeavor get into doing music videos and how long have you guys been around? What is your role?

Danny: We got started when we were in school. We met each other there and started creating music videos there. It’s been almost 5 years now. I produce the music videos and do all the emailing and money stuff.

Steve: Thank You! We got into music videos almost accidentally. We did one locally about 5 years ago, realized that it was fun and decided to keep specifically pursuing it. We worked for a while building a demo reel and worked hard to shop it around to as many record labels as possible. We started with little to no budgets and just kept working our way up, still are. I direct and edit.

What have been some of your favorite videos to work on and why?

Danny: Owl City was fun because we got to go shopping for vintage toys that were things from our childhood. I mean, who wouldn’t be stoked to get to play with toys for a few days as a job? I also really enjoyed the House of Heroes video we did because we basically had complete creative freedom to make the video. I love my job, so I enjoy working on every video for the most part.

Steve: I really enjoyed working on Erin McCarley because it was in Paris. It was fun to walk around the city and film. After the shoot I had the chance to explore the city alone one night and ran into a large group of fire artists that were gathering from all over Europe to illegally perform on the streets. I also enjoyed Owl City. The noise and commotion from all the toys was hard not to laugh at, It just sounded ridiculous. The DP, Jeff VanderMolen, had his kids come to the set for a bit and their eyes lit up like christmas. fun times. The Chariot was fun because I got to animate and it didn’t matter if the animations were bad. It was like drawing as a kid again.

How did the Owl City video come about? Word of mouth?

Danny: We have worked with the label in the past and they asked us to write a treatment for the track. They ended up loving the idea and a few weeks later we were shooting the video.

The Owl City Fireflies video is really amazing. What is the creative process for that particular video? Do you develop ideas and present it to the band or did they have ideas already?

Danny: It all depends. Typically we develop the idea as a treatment and pitch it to the band/label/management – then they choose the director and treatment they feel best suits the song and video. In this case, we came up with the idea.

Steve: The label gave us some background on the artist, he stays up at night, lives with his parents and writes in his bedroom in their basement. They said they were looking for something to possibly show that side of him. After much thought and many listens to the song, the idea finally came at night, right before falling asleep. Thats usually how it goes. We get some general and vague direction from the artist or label and develop from that. We formally write everything in a treatment based on the budget and send it off.

Did you have any idea that the band would blow up the way they have? They were virtually unheard of 4 months ago. I remember when I designed a tee for them, they weren’t even ranked on iTunes and shortly after they launched up to #3… and now they’ve been at #1 for about a month or so. Do you have any other videos lined up for them?

Danny: We went into it knowing the song was very catchy, but I don’t think anyone totally expected it to reach as far as it did. He had a strong online following prior to getting signed, and that just exploded as his song hit radio. The label is probably going to let the current single live for as long as it can on radio before the release another single, but I’m guessing early 2010 they’ll have his next single off to radio. We’d love to work with Adam and Owl City again, so hopefully something pans out.

Steve: We really wanted to do the video because we could see that it had potential, but we had no idea it would get as big as it is. As I would show some folks the rough edit to get a general response, I started seeing that the song had a wide range of appeal. People would continue to sing the song after watching the video and hearing it for the first time. My nieces and nephews would get excited about the toys in the video and want to see them again and some of the older folks watching it would feel nostalgic about the older robots and stuff.

The video is shot in one room. Seems like a relatively simple shoot, yet the video is… well, epic! I think it really helped to put them on the map. Have you won any awards or are you up for any awards that you know of?

Danny: We haven’t won any awards but the video has reached #1 on VH1 Top 20 Countdown and that is a huge achievement for us.

Steve: No awards, just grateful that it is doing as well as it is. Can’t ask for more.

I was super stoked when someone tweeted they saw my Vertigo poster in an “Owl City” music video! At the time, I had never heard of the band. I’m super flattered someone chose to use it. What amazes me most is that each toy/prop in that room has a purpose. They are all retro toys and the video focuses on the elements in the room. At times, there are even close ups of the Vertigo poster. Did it just fit the vibe or how did that come about?

Danny: Our art director, Merissa Lombardo, is a mutual friend and she just thought it would be suiting for the set and vibe of the video and it definitely helped decorate the walls and bring the room to life.

Steve: I LOVE THE POSTER! It worked very well and fit the vibe perfectly. The close ups made for nice texture that was true to the art direction. I also love the T you designed, very nice stuff!

What type of cameras/lenses are you shooting with? Are you using dolly’s or any other cool gear we should be aware of?

Danny: We shot this video with the Red Camera. It’s a pretty impressive HD camera that we’ve been consistently using for the last 2 years.

Steve: We shot with Zeiss superspeeds and some macro lenses for the ECU’s of the toys. most of the toy shots were handheld or set up on the fly with sandbags, toys, my leg, or whatever was in reach to set the camera on. We had to move fast, like bunnies, to get everything done.

Do you have any upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?

Danny: We’ve just been writing a bunch of treatments waiting and hoping to land some of those as well as doing some misc editorial and commercial jobs here and there.

Steve: Nothing booked!!!

Any last words or advice to aspiring film makers?

Danny: Take every chance you get to learn and grow. We love answering questions and helping out people who are interested in perusing filmmaking and in what we do, so feel free to email us and we’ll gladly respond.

Steve: keep aspiring! Its the golden age for aspiring film makers. There’s plenty of opportunities, technology is in our favor, but there’s not as much money as there once was, which will challenge you to be innovative with what you have. We’re by no means groundbreaking, but we’re trying our best to make things happen independently. No reason why others can’t try as well. Don’t be intimidated by high brows that seem to know every video and film and who directed them. You don’t have to be a genius or the best to make films/videos (although I’m sure it benefits those that are). Keep fInding new sources of inspiration!!

Thank you to all of those who serve and sacrifice so that I can live free.

Seriously. Thanks.

I have seen many pastors make promises during the wave only to later eat their words (or be bound by a promise they wish they’d never made).

• We’ll never do a fundraiser!
• We’ll never borrow money!
• We’ll be in the new building by June of next year!
• We only hire staff from within!
• I will always teach live and in person.

Many ministries experience the “wave” early in ministry. They might assume it will last forever. Be careful you can keep the promises you make.

Try not to make immature promises you won’t keep.

(Ok. Enough of the food analogies. It’s been a while so I thought I’d throw them in for entertainment purposes.)

BLING EFFECT
All that glitters ain’t gold!!! Turn pretty much anything into gold with this Midas touch.

!

INTRICATE PATTERNS IN ILLUSTRATOR
Create intricate patterns in Illustrator using a pattern brush.

AUTUMN LEAVES
Create an illustration using some very basic techniques in C4d and Photoshop. Only available with a subscription to www.cineversity.com.

INK BLEEDING EFFECTS
This tutorial recreates an effect similar to the one used in an older Gnarls Barkely music video.

3D TEXT WITHOUT A 3D PROGRAM
Create 3d text using Photoshop and Illustrator. Part of the PSDtuts.com Plus program.

HOW TO CREATE A LOGO (properly)
A short tutorial taken from the Echo Conference sessions on creating a logo properly using Illustrator.

FREE LIGHT STREAKS AND TUTORIAL
Download free high res light streaks and learn how to use them in a few short minutes by following this tutorial.

This question was brought up as I was listening to Rob Sheffield’s Love Is a Mix Tape on the way home from work tonight. Sheffield is a music writer and his book — the concept at least — is really smart. Can our lives be told through mix tapes?

Do we even know what mix tapes are anymore?

I got to thinking about Kurt Cobain and his suicide because Sheffield talks about it in his book (SPOILER ALERT! Cobain kills himself!) and how when he died, how all they did all weekend was watch MTV for the news…something…anything about Kurt.

It reminded me of when the King of Pop died in June. Because his death occurred under such strange circumstances and he was a curious, quirky guy, the reaction on the web was weird. Some were quick to remind us of his questionable relationships or the way he burned through money and others did their best to remember him as the genius he was.

Then I thought about the demographics of the people who use the web — punk kids with blogs, hipsters in skinny jeans with Tumblogs, Twitterers — and I got the feeling that they’d be all over Cobain’s suicide. Not only would it have broken Twitter into a Fail Whale loop, I think it might have brought internet giants like Google and Facebook to their knees. I get the feeling that even YouTube would have struggled to support the onslaught of streaming and embed requests.

This is not a post about how Kurt Cobain was a better artist than Michael Jackson or that one of them contributed more to music than the other. I was just thinking that while the reaction to Michael’s death was huge, I get the feeling that Cobain’s might have been even bigger, given the demographics of those who are most active on the web.

What do you think?

Watch out! Your spiritual enemy is roaming and looking for someone to devour.

While riding the wave:

• You will be hiring fast.
• You will be plugging new believers into significant roles.
• You will be working grueling hours away from home.

At times, you might feel invincible. At other times, you’ll feel overwhelmed and scared. At all times, you must realize Satan will attack you.

Put up your guard. Have the highest level of accountability. Take time off. Rest. Listen. Pray. Reflect.

You must watch for warning signs. Too many great spiritual leaders have fallen off the wave, hurting themselves and others.

Decide you will do whatever it takes not to be another casualty. Ride the wave. But do it carefully.

Finally.

It’s been a long time coming. His two good seasons, including his single-season rushing record 2006, were behind one of the greatest offensive lines in history. He no longer runs with any passion or toughness. His off-the-field antics have just gotten to be too much.

While it’s possible that he lands somewhere else, I don’t care. I applaud Scott Pioli and Todd Haley for getting rid of him. There are others in the locker room who are not happy, but none of them are a complete embarrassment to the organization like Johnson has been over the past several seasons. There are some who think he was just getting what he wanted. I think that we’ll find that all he got was the opportunity to go be someone else’s problem.

He’s not a Chief anymore.

And that makes me glad.

The wave is when God seems to do more than you can handle! During the wave, your buildings aren’t big enough, you can’t hire fast enough, you’re just hanging on for life.

This week we’ll talk about how to ride the wave.

Let’s start with some basics:

• You don’t create a spiritual wave, God does. The ride you’ll take isn’t a result of your creative ideas or masterful leadership. God will certainly use those things, but He is the One who causes and directs the spiritual progress.
• You can work with the wave or fight against it. When God is doing something special, you’ll want to cooperate with what He is doing. I honestly believe when God starts to do something new, too many church leaders get afraid and work against what God is trying to do.
• The wave probably won’t last forever. When God blesses you supernaturally, ride the wave. If it starts to die down, don’t try to recreate the wave. Pray for the next one and ride it when it comes.

The theme was “Give Your All” and the focus scripture came from the 12th chapter of Mark — the story of the widow’s mite. And while I love that story, it was used enough in the service (including in my children’s focus moment right before my sermon). I wanted to bring something a little different.

So I talked a little about Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion. I met Gary at Big Omaha and we had a fun interchange during his Q&A. His passionate approach to business got me thinking about what a passionate approach to God might look like.

I guess that’s enough of an intro.

I will say this, however. For the five years that I’ve run this blog, I’ve never actually posted video of myself giving a sermon. I’ve posted partial contents before and I’ve given a bunch of sermons at different congregations, but never actual video. This is kind of a momentous. So please be nice.

You can view it at Vimeo, too.

My mom taught me the common truth, “You can’t please everyone.”

From my observation, ministers seem to be more vulnerable to people-pleasing than most professions.

In reality, we should be the most resolved of all not to live for the applause of men but the approval of God.

• Don’t let anyone talk you out of following God’s voice.
• Don’t let anyone’s criticism distract you from your passion.
• Don’t long for affirmation before you move forward.

Say what God prompts you to say. Go where God leads you to go. Do what God puts on your heart. Let go of living for people. Become obsessed with living for God.

I’ve found one of the best gifts God can give a leader is the gift of failure.

Too many of us are not doing what we feel called to do because we’re afraid to fail.

As I observe the people around me, it seems the most effective have failed far more times than the least effective.

The people making the biggest impact seem to:

1) Try something outlandish.

2) Fail.

3) Learn.

4) Adjust.

5) Try something that works better.

Failure is never final. It is often the first step to success.

If you haven’t failed in awhile, why don’t you try something crazy and see what happens.

When we assume that our way of doing ministry is best:

• We stop learning from others.
• We rarely try something new.
• We quickly see faults in new ideas rather than seeing opportunities.

To reach people no one is reaching, we have to do things no one is doing.

If you think the way everyone else is thinking, you’ll do what everyone is doing.

It is time to let go of old assumptions about how to reach people.

What assumptions about church and ministry are you shedding?

The Message is now available offline!

Now you can enjoy The Message when you’re in the air, on the subway, in remote areas, or anywhere else you don’t have a connection.

If you need help downloading this translation for offline use, the YouVersion blog will walk you through the process. And don’t forget that several other versions are available offline also, including the New Century Version, New King James Version, New English Translation, God’s Word Translation, and more.

A big thanks goes out to NavPress for their generosity in giving people even better access to the Bible!

Too often, what we hold tightly keeps us from following God’s promptings toward something new.

This week I’ll write about a few things leaders need to let go. We’ll start with control.

Too many leaders try to control too much. Our perceived need to control is one of the greatest limiting factors to what God wants to do.

When we control everything:

• We train people to do what they are told rather than think.
• We build followers instead of leaders.
• We put a lid on our ministries.
• We put our faith in our abilities to manage rather than in God and other people.

What are you controlling that you need to let go of?

CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS OF THE TEE SHIRT GIVE AWAY. Special thanks to INVartistnetwork.com for putting up the free tees for you guys to win! Here are your winners:

Jad Limcaco – jadlimcaco@gmail.com - Medium
Jordan Jorras – jordanhorras@gmail.com – XXL
Hayley (nealhayley@gmail.com) – Medium

I have your info and will contact you regarding the shipment of the tees! Thanks to everyone for your comments.

Three tees will be given away. Winners chosen at random although flattery is encouraged.

Over the last couple of months as I went through various tests at the VA Medical Center, Atlanta and Outpatient Clinic in Smyrna, Ga, I begin to wonder about the results of the tests, of the possibility of another surgery, that I began to have a feeling of fear, of anxiety.

As I begin to think about it , I began to realize that it was a tactic of the enemy and I began to focus on the Lord, on His word and to remember that which He has and is doing in my life. The peace that He has given me.

It is only as we focus on the Lord, set our affections upon Him that we can deal with the fear factors in our lives.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” II Timothy 1:7 Amplified Bible.

We draw strength from the word, from the presence of the Lord in all aspects of our lives. We need to act daily. To realize that our Father has not given us the spirit of fear, of cowardice, but He has given us a spirit of power, of love and a calmness that can only come from Him. That we can discipline our mind, our thoughts, to stay focused on the Lord, upon the life changing word of God.

I am learning what it means to walk with the Lord on a daily basis. A day by day walk. I cannot do anything about yesterday and tomorrow is not here. Today is the day that I need the strength, the assurance, the rest and the peace that passes all understanding.

The Lord wants to take us from the realm of theory to the realm of reality, to see that we can walk daily in the life giving power of the word, of the spirit and presence of the Lord.

He is not afar off. The Lord is ever present and in the midst of our lives as we yield to Him. He wants to reveal Himself to us now.

Is there a fear factor in your life? Is there something the enemy tries to use to paralyze you, to keep you from moving forward in your walk with the Lord?

Give it to the Lord! Allow Him to replace it with His presence. Acknowledge that He is Lord of your life and that you desire to walk in the fullness of His purpose in your life.

It is amazing to have that peace, which brings rest to the heart, peace to the soul and an assurance that the Lord is in control, even when we cannot see it with our eyes.

Then, it becomes an act of Faith!

Till later,

Paul

© 2009, Paul. All rights reserved.

©2009 Hill Country Thoughts. All Rights Reserved.

Special thanks to Tim Schraeder for his impressions / interpretations of some of the concepts / dialog / challenges our session raised at Story 09. And thank you to the participants who came to our breakout. Were you there? You’ll see some of your comments and input here in Tim’s notes.

Social Media Pulse What are churches current social media patterns?

• We are living in a world people dreamed of.
• There used to only be a computer at work… then it went home… then to your lap… now to your hand.
• Mobile ubiquity, where everyone has a phone, presents challenges and opportunities for the church.
• There’s an embedded value system in social media [public/participatory, new media].
• There’s value in it that it’s instant.
• Everyone is an equal creator… it’s user-generated content.
• We’d rather buy something someone tells us about than what we are told by businesses or corporations.
• Users have a voice and are able to generate content.
• In a relationship economy, what people say matters deeply.
• We now have greater accessibility to information.
• Churches might move from having “please have your phone off” signs to “please have your phone on” signs.
• The media is affecting our small group communities and the way that they interact.
• We’ve torn down the boundaries of distance; there’s now a worldwide conversation going on that anyone can participate in.
• The definition of “presence” is changing.
• We HAVE to think through these things theologically.
• Is physical presence necessary for you to be a part of and “be” the church.
• Social media allows customization [personalization].
• One size does not fit all … [MySpace, my reviews, my favorites, etc.]
• My can be consumer oriented, but it reflects the fact that media is in the hands of every person and every person has the ability to create media.
• Everyone is a content producer.
• We now watch TV on our own terms [TiVo].
• New generations are being raised with these new ideas embedded in their everyday interactions.
• As technology becomes cheaper and more effective, the Church is confronted with one of the greatest opportunities along with one of the greatest challenges of how to steward it.
• The Men of Issachar were able to see the times and were able to know what to do.
• Let’s go to the next level… let’s find out what we are capable of doing and how are we able to frame it in a Biblical context?
• The word of our testimony is the critical story we have that’s a powerful conduit [Christianity is viral] to reach someone we may have not been able to reach any other way.
• We’ve moved to a digital age.
• It will be normal for us to connect online, first and then meet in person.
• 43% of churches say social media is one of the most effective ways for them to communicate and engage with people.
• Church websites are the front doors to churches.
• 77% of people say the church website was an important part of why they chose to go to church.
• If people can’t connect to your website they may not go to your church.
• People make judgements about a church based on what the church communicates across their website.
• It’s a missiological issue.
• John 17:18
• Facebook is the 4th largest nation in the world if you look at the number of people that are on it.
• Non-Christians do not go to your website.
• Your website is primarily visited by believers looking for information about churches.
• 20% of all data people are accessing on church websites is information for new visitors… that’s a significant portion where you should invest your time.
• Use the web to help people new into the church to get deeper into community.
• Your web strategy should be looked at as an Internet Presence Management.
• What are you communicating online?
• How are you connecting to where people are talking and engaging?
• Where are you present? Where are you absent?
• Who is responsible for your church’s online presence?
• What does it mean to be the Church online?
• How do you define presence? What’s your theology of presence?
• We need to recognize that participatory media is decentralized.
• It’s unregulated.
• We have a lack of control.
• We have to look deeper at our theology.
• A mobile, extended presence can be used missionally.
• Is virtual community real community?
• What is Biblical community?
• We need to define Biblical community before we define online community and if it’s possible to have church online
• We need to ask if we can use an online presence to build real life community?
• We need to intently be on the internet, it’s a mission field.
• We, the Church, are called to be counter-culture… what does that mean at this technological crossroads?
• We are willing to be transparent online, but vulnerability is not often seen online.

Top Social Media Sites

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Private Member Portals [ MemberHub, Monk, Tangle, Unifyer, etc ]
4. GoogleGroups
5. MySpace

• Greatest needs online: events, post prayer requests, get connected, finding small groups and ways to connect throughout the week, integration with their church website and resource sharing.
• Churches are wrestling with how to use participatory technologies.
• The Cobblestone Community Network is a tool that’s been developed to help churches have private communication that’s integrated into social media channels.
• If you don’t set a strategy you’re going to have a difficult time pulling it together later.
• What is your strategy for the community online?
• Pick a horse.
• If you don’t lead your people, they will find their own way and go their own direction.
• This is something we need to pay attention to but we don’t need to know the mechanics of it; you can find volunteers or someone on staff to help manage this.
• Things are easier than they were before.
• There are challenges and effort required but it’s more centered on your strategy.
• Let people tell you how they want to be contacted… be platform neutral.
• Let people choose how the content gets to them.

If You Liked This, Check Out…

• Echo 09
• Kevin Sterner :: Story
• Story :: Skye Jethani
• Story :: Donald Miller
• Story :: Stacy Spencer

Tags: Cynthia Ware, Drew Goodmanson, Story

Systems tend to produce predictable outcomes. When we are innovating and growing, we never know what the outcome will be.

Many “great” ideas bomb. Then God seems to bless some average ideas in a big way.

While we are willing to allow things to get a little messy, we also work hard to make sure we are students.

• What is God showing us?
• What did we learn from the last failure?
• What success is hidden in the last failure?

Our church is currently moving into a season of discovery. Once we discern what God wants us to know, we’ll recruit the right people. Then we’ll build systems and enjoy the ride—until God leads us into a learning and chaotic period again.

Personally, these are my favorite times!

The “old guard” often resents new seasons. I’m a big believer in working hard to lead the tenured believers toward new life. Sometimes, though, they refuse to move forward.

In those times, we have to help people grow. If we can’t help people grow with the new direction, we need to be willing to allow some people to move on.

During these transitional seasons, I’m always looking for new leaders. Often they arise from right in front of you. There could be faithful people that were serving under others who seem to rise from nowhere when there is a new chance to lead.

When the current changes, keep your eyes open to new people God will raise up.

(By system, I mean any program, structure, philosophy, or culture that shapes and helps produce a desired outcome.)

Once people operate within a system long enough, they often start to do ministry out of “muscle memory.” They tend to do the same things and work with the same people, but the results often start to slowly (or quickly) diminish.

Because this is what “we’ve always done,” people might think we just need to do what we did—better. In reality, God might want you to de-construct some ministry philosophy or system so you can hear His new direction.

For example, years ago we were doing everything you could think of at LifeChurch.tv. God directed us into a season of focusing on only five things. This philosophy served us well for about four years. It allowed us to focus on our core ministries without being distracted by lots of less-than-our-best efforts.

After a few years, it became obvious this season was coming to a close. What used to seem freeing started to become limiting. After prayer, we intentionally broke the established system to learn something new.

This week I’m headed for Chicago and Cultivate 09. Then on to Ben Arment’s Story Gathering. Cultivate will be streaming live and I’ll be doing the interviews with facilitators all day. Who do you wanna see?

• Kem Meyer
• Dawn Nicole Baldwin
• Matt Knisely
• Tim Schraeder
• Maurilio Amorim
• Blair Farley
• Drew Goodmanson
• Jon Acuff
• Phil Cooke
• Michael Buckingham
• Brad Abare
• Kent Shaffer
• JR Kerr
• Sarah Hatter
• Jeremy Scheller
• Terry Storch
• Carlos Whittaker
• Gabe Taviano
• Cynthia Ware
• Tony Steward
• Michael Forsberg
• Brad Ruggles
• Clint Runge
• Justin Wise
• Tiffani Barnes
• Bobby Gruenewald
• Katie Moon
• Cleve Persinger
• Rhett Smith
• Jami Ruth
• Katie Persinger

Get the inside scoop at the event… Text CULTIVATE to 24625 thanks to Jarbyco.

Cultivate: Where Culture, Innovation and Communication Connect

It is said the collective wisdom of a group is more valuable than the expertise of one. Cultivate is a collective wisdom. It brings ministry and marketplace leaders to the table and asks them to leave their formal presentations at home.

Cultivate is about bringing you together with the skilled, the experienced, and the insightful, and together you will drive the content. Together you will discover breakthrough insights.

Cultivate is about organized conversations, and each conversation will be designed to nurture collaboration without confining the experience to a box. Expect to be stretched. Expect to be challenged. Expect to cultivate a new way of thinking.

If you are creative, strategic, and responsible for influencing how your church communicates, there is a chair waiting for you.

October 27, 2009
Park Community Church, Chicago

Hide & Seek from Freedom Media on Vimeo.

Here are direct links to the loops in the pics you see. HERE and HERE and HERE.

Leader: I’m so upset. Nothing’s going right for me. I just don’t know what to do. I could just die.

Group: Pray about it but don’t get involved.

Next Leader: My friends all think I’m totally square because I don’t party and drink. What should I do? (Remember, I grew up in the 80’s – era of cheesy sayings and cheesy youth groups)

Group: Pray about it but don’t get involved.

Next Leader (female): I’m 16 and pregnant. What do I do now?

Group: Pray about it but don’t get involved.

Ok, while the saying “Pray about it but don’t get involved” sounded good, the reality is it doesn’t work. Not the prayer part but the “don’t get involved”. Praying does get you involved. When we pray, we ponder upon what is God’s perspective of the situation. When we pray for the 16 year old whose pregnant, we stop thinking about how she should have listened to us about abstinence and God reveals to us His love for her and how she’s a scared young woman in need of a hug rather than a rebuke. When we pray for that man in prison, we stop seeing him as this wrong doer needing to pay for his crime but instead a person who has already been forgiven by God not by anything he did but by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Forgiven just like I am. Now in viewing this guy in that way, don’t you want to help him understand how he can accept that forgiveness and help him to see himself as how God sees him!!!

As for the pregnant young lady and the man in prison, when they pray they too gain God’s perspective. The reality is that God is bigger than their situations. When they/you pray inside your situations, you put forth a trust that God is bigger than what we are having to deal with. Will the young lady still have to deal with the situation that she’s pregnant and will the man still have to deal with the situation that he’s in prison – Yes. However, through prayer they are actively looking to God to help them through the situation, putting their trust in Him and He is faithful and will see them through it.

So the next time you say you’re going to pray for someone, know that you are getting involved and look to God for the understanding of how. Know that when you talk to God about your own situation, you are looking to Him to be involved in your circumstances and He will be!! So let’s pray!!

Since we are still evaluating the reality & potential of church online the question just keeps coming up: “Of course, [virtual church] is possible. But is it biblical?”

The following is a response to me from Douglas Estes, author of SimChurch regarding his reflections on this post by Drew Goodmanson - Is Online Community real community; Questions about the virtual church?

A virtual church is just as biblical as a Baptist church, a house church, a Lutheran church, a megachurch, a Pentecostal church, a contemporary rock church or a traditional American fundamentalist church. Why? Because the Bible doesn’t prescribe one type of culture or ‘format’ for doing church. Period. I know that most Christians—even pastors and church leaders—will grudgingly admit this in public and not believe it in their hearts though it is the biblical viewpoint. Everyone who is passionate about the church views their version of the church to be the best, most right, most biblical, most blessed, and closest-to-the-New-Testament version of church as possible. This is not wrong but it does become a problem when we try to say that other people don’t have biblical churches (with the exception of churches whose theology/practice fall outside of historic orthodoxy). We can group current criticisms of online church into 2 main areas—and the first area, rightfully labeled, is denominationalism. This may seem kind of funny because I don’t mean that online churches are a new denomination; I mean that some people are reacting to them through the same lens (not our way = different = not biblical). Let’s consider the second area in more detail.

One important part of writing SimChurch was my starting point: I did not start with virtual churches. I started with the Bible and church history. A critical part of the research was investigating both with discernment to see if there would be anything to prevent an online church. The answer is no. And this is not an argument from silence (like those folks who say it’s okay to do drugs because they Bible doesn’t directly say we can’t), this is a ‘no’ from a close reading of the Bible and church history. In fact, anyone who has studied church history understands that God moves the church in seemingly radical directions at times. So far, most of the arguments against online church are the same types of arguments as those leveled at every new Christian group that has come along since Jesus left us.

Many of the criticisms I read seem to be written by people who are using the internet circa 1999. They forget that even older technologies such as Skype allow for a great deal of interaction, except fully physical (there is some physical because you can see the other person, wave, make faces, laugh, etc). More specifically, Drew (and others) cite verses in the Bible that deal with community and then argue that this community must be rooted in physical proximity (but not the SecondLife or Skype kind). I don’t want to (mis)characterize Drew’s argument here; and to be fair, Drew listed a few verses in a 200 word post whereas I wrote a whole book on this issue. Still, I need to point out a few serious problems with arguments like Drew and others use. SimChurch goes into much more detail, but let’s briefly look at the issues:

First, Drew lists 27 verses (all from the New Testament) that allude to community, or more specifically, what he calls “one-anothering.” These verses include loving one another (1 John 3:11) and the holy kiss one (1 Peter 5:14). In SimChurch, I defined a church as “a localized assembly of the people of God dwelling in a meaningful community with the task of building up the Kingdom.” Now, some people may tweak this but overall I feel it is a solid definition of church from a biblical and church-historical perspective (within a Protestant tradition such I come from). I think we can agree that church must be both local and a meaningful community. The problem comes in when we try to take the verses Drew cited and decide the physical extension of them. As with most of the Bible, these verses are communicating spiritual truth more so than physical truths. When the Bible tells me to love someone else, hugging is probably included in this but it is not the central meaning of the verse at hand (it is greeting). I can prove this: We don’t literally greet people with a holy kiss (at least I’ve never attended any church anywhere that does) at church. Why? Because we understand that the spiritual reality of greeting and loving another follower of Jesus is so much bigger than the physical expression. This is not to say the physical expression is not important; it’s just to say that certain physical expressions are just one aspect of it. Please note that I am also not trying to over-spiritualize this issue; I’m neither downplaying nor disregarding the physical aspect just pointing that it is only one part of what it means to have community. Again, consider people riding the NY subway to work—if you’ve ever done this, you know you unwittingly touch a lot of people due to the crowdedness of the train, but no one would consider a subway car (real) community!

Truthfully, none of the verses Drew lists speak to whether a church should meet in a building (been there), under a banana tree in a jungle (done that), or in synthetic space over the internet. In fact, as Drew admitted in his post, and any honest Christian will admit, we don’t get the type of community that the Bible describes in some/many/most/all ‘regular’ brick and mortar churches to begin with! But just because no one seems to love each other (or greet each other with a holy kiss) at First Baptist doesn’t mean we should declare it unbiblical or not a church.

Since this is a blogpost not a book, let me wrap up by saying that Drew is correct in his conclusion—we need to focus on creating biblical community. Chapters 2–4 in SimChurch go into great detail (for a non-academic book) on what church and biblical community is and how Western Civilization has so influenced this discussion as to make everything about community be tied to the physical where the Bible (primarily, but not only) ties it to the spiritual. In fact, it is the radically-skeptical Western worldview of Descartes and others that has shaped the definition of community for the average Western Christian far more than the Bible has (protests aside). In fact, we could say that if many of the virtual-church skeptics are correct—that to have real community with someone we must be in close, physical proximity with that person—then we cannot have community with God here on Earth because we can’t touch him either. Biblical community, and true presence, is far more nuanced than our materialistic, Western sensibilities can sometimes grasp.

Douglas Estes

Comments?

I get sent 4 or 5 books a week. I have form letters both for authors & publishers saying “unfortunately, I cannot review your book because this space is reserved for discussions about the Church & media technologies”. Sadly, there haven’t been many publications that fit well in this zone. But recently, Zondervan sent me the book SimChurch by Douglas Estes. I sped through it marking up every page, and realized how helpful it was to have a new set of observations about online church. Now there’s a blog tour and a bit further into this post I’ve listed some of the blogs Zondervan invited to review / discuss / celebrate the release of this timely book.

Douglas Estes is a New Testament scholar and teaching pastor and he authored SimChurch to explore the (sometimes controversial) world of online churches. As people (thus the Church) migrate online, we are forced to review our theology and re-assess some of our postmodern assumptions in light of our digital world.

Today I’m posting pointers to the SimChurch site, a list of the selected bloggers who are evaluating the book and a brief video clip from Douglas. Tomorrow, I’ll be posting his analysis of a post previously put of by my friend & colleague, Pastor Drew Goodmanson at his site. (see: http://www.goodmanson.com/church-technology/is-online-community-real-community-questions-about-the-virtual-church/). [Drew & I will be presenting together next week in Chicago at the Story Conference - come join the discussion.]

Here are the SimChurch bloggers:

• Church Relevance
• BibleDude.net
• Returned Sheep
• The Digital Sanctuary
• Lessons from Babel
• Mark D. Roberts
• Tall Skinny Kiwi
• Captain’s Blog

Now here’s a video clip to introduce you to Douglas Estes and SimChurch. Come back tomorrow for his lengthy response to my “virtual church” question.

These timescapes time lapses are motivation enough. (not necessarily shot on Canon 7d… Just gets me excited about photography/video in general. Thanks to Mike Zorger for showing me these.) Hoping a Canon 7d appears along my horizon. Christmas is coming soon!

Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

By the way, wouldn’t these make for some amazing background “loops”?!!!!!

Has anyone bought the Canon 7d yet? What have you heard? What do you think?

It has been through the dark night of the soul, through the battles, through the trials that I have and I am being changed by the Lord.

When it looked like nothing was happening, when it seemed so hopeless, that was the time that I was being made stronger, being molded and shaped in so many areas of my life!

It is amazing to look back now to the beginning when all the events happen. When it seemed I was being attacked from all sides.

From the chemotherapy, the radiation, the surgeries, the recoveries, the battles with social security and the unwanted divorce.

Yet out of all of this, the Lord has and is changing me, enabling me to walk with my head up, my heart open, knowing that I am becoming a portrait of Him.

Through the things that we go through, we are being conformed to Him. Molded and shaped to reflect the character, the love and the passion of the Lord. We are to be a portrait of Christ.

We are to be that canvas. To allow the trials and pains of our lives to be the paint brush that is used in our life to reflect Him.

The finished product, that which others will see, will be that which reflects the Lord, that they will see Christ within, to see the hope, the new life and the new beginnings He has given us.

That others will see the hope that is within.

For is it not all about Him?

Till later,

Paul

© 2009, Paul. All rights reserved.

©2009 Hill Country Thoughts. All Rights Reserved.

I’m really enjoying the book, “Trust Agents: Using the web to build influence, improve reputation, and earn trust” by Chris Brogan. Chock-full of information, and practical advice about how to use it. I posted on Chapter 2 – Action Step #1 – Make It Your Game. You can see it and posts along the way on the book here.

Recommended resource for those wanting to improve your online presence and credibility. What books do you recommend?

It is an honor to be featured in Issue 62 of Advanced Photoshop! That’s one of those things that you always think would be cool (in the back of your mind) but never know how to make that happen. Sort of an unwritten rule on being featured – ”Don’t call us. We’ll call you.” The mag is out of the UK but distributed across the globe. I don’t believe it has hit shelves here in the US yet – probably November. There’s also a great interview on James White right before the Music Industry article that featured my work and interview.

They featured my Lil Wayne tee, Shonlock artwork, Wolfmother Promo Poster, and Wolfmother Australian tour artwork.

The first set was a family hike into the woods by where we live. Its a narrow trail that Krista found that’s a lot of fun to explore. Then there’s Alex’s first scooter ride with me. And finally, a couple of pictures of when we were with the LFC India Team on their layover in Munich for Oktoberfest. All of these and more can be found in the Photo Album.

As you likely know, I have a particular aversion to just throwing up videos for the sake of “instant” blogging. Yet, for the first time, I’ve done it twice in a row. Not really sure why. I guess I’m more observing and absorbing rather than being in a place to provide any reflections. I’ve only been a Google Wave participant for a week but, well to quote Fergie, “I’ve got a feeling….” I think Google Wave could really be a communications game changer.

I’m swimming in the newest technologies, navigating the firehose as they say, looking ahead beyond the Wave. Seems everyone is sort of up in arms about the effectiveness of real time typing….. but what I’m thinking about is, well, to pull it straight from Wikipedia “Speech synthesis - A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal language text into speech; other systems render symbolic linguistic representations like phonetic transcriptions into speech.”

Omnivores - aren’t we right around the corner from a voice markup language, SSML (Tesseract has a disabled code for a handwriting markup language)? Oh, where are my voice recognition futurists…. @terrystorch @JohnSaddington @samsoffes @tonysteward @alldevelopers @anyone? Where are we? Is Google Wave as significant as it seems?

For inspiration you can see Lifehacker - Google Wave Best Use Cases.

It’s been awhile since I posted and I hope you’ll understand. Transitioning off a ministry staff takes time, even more so when we are purposeful about making it a healthy transition. I am so very thankful to Greg Lee for this video post he made, first because I can feel his heart-felt appreciation, and second, because he does such a great job explaining my transition. I love how God has worked through Suncrest to help me grow. I am blessed by how Suncrest continues to care about people far from God and help them cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus. Bill and I will continue to attend Suncrest unless God calls us elsewhere.

So, what am I doing now?

• I’ve decided to take October as a month to unwind, reflect and recalibrate. I’ve learned many things about myself in the last 6 years doing ministry, both strengths and weaknesses. I’m not going to go into those here, but would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t take time to learn from the experience.
• I am involved in two weekly small groups right now, one at Suncrest, one online. Both challenge and stretch me. And even though I’ve chosen to have a month of separation, God showed me isolation was not the answer. I need these groups more than ever right now, and they just ROCK! Thank you!
• I am also part of a blogging team for the book, “Trust Agents: Using the web to build influence, improve reputation, and earn trust” by Chris Brogan. I am convinced that the web is key for the next generation of outreach for the kingdom. The potential is endless and kingdom workers need to learn to navigate this tool so we can leverage it to God’s glory. Can’t wait to hear this group’s input on the book. The discussion has just begun here.
• October is crazy-full of church leadership conferences! For the last five years, our Suncrest Group Leadership Team has enjoyed the GroupLife Conference at Willow Creek. I always loved getting away with my team to learn, eat, laugh and… eat some more. This year I’ll have an opportunity to sit behind the scenes as part of Willow’s volunteer social media team. Hope to enjoy the view from this different ’seat’. Then there’s the Cultivate09 conference (finally meeting my online group leader, Tony Steward, offline) and STORY (by Ben Arment – creator of the Catalyst conference). Both conferences look amazing, can’t wait to ‘tweetup’ with many twitter friends there. Plans are to live-blog as much as possible. Stay tuned!

“Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?” he asked.

The two Yanks just stared at him.

“Excusez-moi, parlez vous Francais?” he tried. The two continued to stare.

“Parlare Italiano?”

Other than a glance at each other, there was still no response.

“Hablan ustedes Espanol?”

Still nothing.

The Swiss guy gave up and drove off. The first Yank turned to the second and said, “Y’know, maybe we should learn a foreign language.”

“Why?” the other replied. “That guy knew four languages, and it didn’t do him any good.”

[Note: Provided by Mike at www.mikeysFunnies.com Also, I just have to say, I haven't met a Swiss person who didn't speak some English.]

As people get more and more comfortable in a community, they begin to open up more and more – revealing more and more of themselves. This is great! Totally awesome as I believe people need to be free to share all parts of themselves with people who truly care for them. However, the Internet is full of eavesdroppers. People who listen in on these vulnerable conversations and take that information and use it for their own personal gain. The biggest culprits are those that prey on the younger generations and the older generations. For that reason, I just want to bring up the idea that all of us online just need to take a few steps to ensure that we can enjoy our communication online without worrying about being victimized.

If you are on Facebook, take a few moments and read this article about 10 Privacy Settings of Facebook and put into practice some or all of the suggestions they have there. I really want people to enjoy being online but to do so in a safe manner. God bless.

To abandon, to dissert, to forsake, to remove, to give up, resign, relinquish, forsake, one who quits the service without permission and in violation of his engagement!

*Orginally posted May 2005

© 2009, Paul. All rights reserved.

©2009 Hill Country Thoughts. All Rights Reserved.