Random Thoughts on not so Random Thoughts

Thoughts on theCUBE

2010-06-05T16:33:00.005-05:00

We started this journey two years ago when the question was asked by our church leadership, what are we going to do with this new building that will be erected soon? I prayed really hard over that question for several months, and I kept being led back to the two school buses that unloaded over a hundred kids just a block away from our church. In my eyes, we were no longer building a youth room, a gym, a worship center, or anything really of the sort. We were building a destination. A place where kids will experience Christ's love first hand. A place where we would use the resources that God has gifted us with to help families with teenagers have a safe place to send their kids after school.

And that's how Afterschool @theCUBE was born. Props to one of our youth group students for the name theCUBE. When you see our new building, you understand why.

Here are a few thoughts about our little 6 month experiment:

It was essential that we had our 2 paid workers. They were the glue that held the whole thing together. They knew the kids by name, and the kids knew them. Evangelism is done best through relationships. Our workers proved that this was 100% true.
God's timing and my timing were very different (Lesson learned!). Originally, I didn't want to have theCUBE open on Fridays. I thought no one would be there. Fridays turned into our biggest day for attendance, at one time having as many as 65 kids there at once.
Having a solid, stable volunteer corps was also essential. I'm sure they felt under-appreciated at times, but I can't say enough about how important it was to have someone present who was a little older than our paid workers. It gave parents piece of mind, our church leaders confidence in the program, and best of all, it allowed us to have more kids at theCUBE!
I should have budgeted more money for food & drinks!
You can't always say yes to every request. Know your limits. Know your purpose. I got asked several times to do a lock-in for the Afterschool outreach or to open up on days that there were school holidays. Those things didn't fit within our plan or purpose, so we didn't do it.... no matter how tempting it was to have great numbers at a lock-in or a day where kids didn't have school.
Stuff breaks when it is used a lot. I'm actually surprised more things didn't break.
If we had charged families for this program, even a small amount, I don't think it would be nearly as successful. But since we didn't try that, I don't know that for sure.
If you build a big building and it sits empty, who are you really serving?
For every naysayer, there were 10 people thrilled that we were reaching kids who don't know Christ. It's important to listen to concerns, but even more important to make sure you don't lose sight of Matthew 28:19-20.
When the program started to become "successful", my first thoughts went towards how we can bring our youth group kids and our CUBE kids together. As I prayed about it more and more, I realized that wasn't really that important. Yes, Christ wants us to be one body, BUT there are lots of churches that do lots of things very differently, yet we can all resolve to the mission presented before us in the aforementioned Matthew 28:19-20 passage.

What a ride it's been. There have been some amazing lessons learned along the way. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next...

Sing so loud it hurts...

2010-05-20T16:27:00.002-05:00

I had the privilege of worshiping with some good friends and colleagues this morning up at Salem Lutheran Church in Tomball. It was our monthly gathering of DCE's and DCE Types for the Houston area. Salem has always had awesome facilities and they stepped it up a notch with their new community center. Even more so with their Student Ministry room inside the community center where they have worship... the same place we worshiped this morning as ONE body.

Usually at these meetings we worship, then break into some small groups for some discussion time on various topics. Today though, Duffy (Salem's Youth Pastor) really felt led to just worship. I'm glad he did. It was some really moving, refreshing worship. And it wasn't my voice that was hurting after singing, but my back. That's how you know you were really singing... because when your back hurts, it means you were using all of your lung power to sing praises to God.

When was the last time your back hurt from singing praises out? I know it had been awhile for me...

Perry Noble Thoughts...

2010-04-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

Ran across some thoughts from Perry Noble, Senior Pastor at New Spring Church... thought they were interesting...

* We can’t lead publicly if we aren’t yielded to God privately.
* Do people leave your services saying, “That was a great service.”? Or does God say, “Wow that was a great service.”?
* Satan doesn’t want to split your church—he wants to spilt your staff.
* God most often puts his most powerful gift in his weakest vessels.
* It’s not a bad thing when people leave your church.
* You don’t need to close the back door to the church. The church is a body. If you close the back door to your body… (well... you know). Sometimes an enema is the best thing that could happen to a church.
* People can say what they want about your church but no one can deny the presence of God.
* We don’t want to build a monument and become a museum. We want to continue to be a movement.
* Without Him, we suck…and you do too.
* ABOUT THEIR MUSIC: Yes it’s loud and we like it that way. Some of our senior citizens bring and wear their own earplugs.
* If God tells you to say “balls” in church then say it. Everybody will love it…well, the men will love it. The women who buy their sweaters at Cracker Barrel will hate it.
* Know who sets the rules for me and my family? ME. If you don’t do it someone else will and it will kill you.
* I believe there’s been a major breakdown in communication between the church and Jesus.
* The communication breakdown is this: instead of asking Jesus to build HIS church, we’ve been asking him to build OUR church.
* If you think you’re perfect and your poop don’t stink, God can’t use you.
* I believe that every church in America is one or two changes away from doubling in size.
* Every denomination in America for the past 30 years has been declining. If that was you’re money you’d be doing something about it.
* You will never be comfortable hearing the voice of God if you’re not comfortable with change.
* When’s the last time you went and bought an organ music CD and played it in your car? (So why do churches have organs?)
* Everybody here can look at another church and call the change that church needs to make….but can you do it for your own church?
* How many of you would be willing to give your life for your kids/grandkids to come to know Christ? Okay….how many would be willing to give up your style of music to save your kids/grandkids? (Ouch!)
* If what’s going on in your church is manageable then God’s not there. You can’t manage a move of God.
* I’ve always thought it was weird that people plan revivals.
* Don’t ever let the money drive the decision. Let the voice of God drive the decision.
* If it’s God’s will... then it’s God’s bill.
* Pastor, your job when it comes to youth ministry: make sure they have enough money.
* Why do so many teenagers show up to our church? We spend money on them.
* We’ve got to get out of the business of competing with one another (other churches) and instead start completing one another.
* When you pay attention to a jackass, you can’t cast vision.
* The jackass in the church is the person who always screams, “I want to go deeper.”
* You’re only as deep as the last person you served.
* You wanna go deep? Let’s check your giving record and see how deep you really are.
* The people who say, “Y’all are just into numbers,” are the people who have no numbers.
* The reason I’m obsessed with numbers is because I was one of those numbers.

The kitchen looks a lot different w/o the uppers. Will look totalls different in a few hours! #fb

2009-09-08T08:30:00.001-05:00

Thankful for our General Contractor!

2009-08-22T13:46:00.000-05:00

I am very thankful for our General Contractor! This is next door to Canes. They lost about 100 ft of an upstairs wall...

Saturday Night

2009-08-15T20:12:00.000-05:00

Can't beat a 16th Bday party for a fun filled Saturday night!

Brett Bortnem

Gas war

2009-07-15T16:06:00.001-05:00

There's a gas war going on btwn bucees and chevron @ entrance to greatwood on 99. Down to 1.99/gallon!

Brett Bortnem

Astros game tonight! Thanks steve & mary! #fb

2009-06-02T20:01:00.000-05:00

Jerry tries to explain rss to the plt. It was quite humorous #fb

2009-04-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

Jerry tries to explain rss to the plt. It was quite humorous #fb

Finally got my braces off!

2009-04-03T14:06:00.001-05:00

Finally got my braces off!

National Cathedral

2009-03-20T12:18:00.001-05:00

Our trip to the National Cathedral. Amazing architecture!

Thanks!

2009-03-14T19:27:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Bob for some awesome seats at the Rockets v. Spurs game!

Something about weather

2009-03-14T12:14:00.000-05:00

I just got back from a trip to Lowes and was amazed at the hospitality. Normally, when you walk in, you're lucky if you can find someone to help you, but this time, not only did someone help me, but I had conversations with 5 different employees!

I really think an abnormal change in the weather, like what we're having today affects people's attitudes. The same thing happened after the hurricane. Anyhow, just a random thought...

More fun stuff

2009-03-07T18:44:00.001-06:00

Right before we got yelled at by some guy in front if us for something that wasn't intentional.. Oh well.

Ministering in 10 Seconds or Less...

2009-02-25T14:09:00.002-06:00

I get my fair share of 10 second sound bytes. When I am at the gym on the elliptical (I've lost 15 pounds and counting! Woohoo!), I usually have three options for programming: CNN, ESPN, or local CBS.

At the time of day I am there, Wolf Blitzer's "Situation Room" is on where in general, no single guest can talk longer than 30 seconds at a time, unless they are cutting to a presidential news conference or something.

To me, it is frustrating, because I like to hear complete thoughts by these guests and am usually genuinely interested in what they have to say, but producers at CNN, Fox News, or wherever must think otherwise.

It made me start thinking about how I minister to people in the church. I feel like I am often writing and speaking to a sound-byte culture, so I must tailor a sermon or message in that way. You know, come up with some catchy phrase that incorporates 20-25 minutes of material into 10 words or less.

Is that really what God wants us to do as ministers of the Gospel (and I'm not just talking about those of us that do it professionally!) I mean, do we really remember the sound-bytes 1, 5, or 10 years down the road or do we remember the substance behind what we heard.

I like to think that in the long-term it's better to focus on the substance, not just the delivery. But at the same time, remember that we are in the midst of a radical reformation of spiritual thinking that may for now, only remember your 10 second sound-byte.

Inspection

2008-10-30T14:18:00.002-05:00

It's the end of the month and I am getting my truck inspected and getting an oil change. Might as well kill two birds with one... giant... stone.

Sitting in one of these waiting rooms is a lot like sitting on a half-crowded bus or an airplane. What I mean is that I am amazed at how people are willing to talk so loud on their phones and talk about topics that most people wouldn't deem appropriate to share with strangers, yet they do it anyhow. The lady that I am referring to happens to be telling her friend on the phone that she is pregnant, that she is showing so much more than her previous pregnancy, and well, more details about sickness, and well... stuff that you just don't share in public.

Anyhow, it's just one of those things... please be conscious of what you're talking about and when you're talking about it!

Ike Info

2008-09-13T10:03:00.002-05:00

We're doing okay in Greatwood. We got power back on around 9:00 a.m. which we thought was very strange, but thanks be to God. It went off again for about 30 seconds, but then back on since. We'll continue to pray for those that were affected much worse than us and the entire Southeast Texas area.

Our back fence is pretty much toast. I'll put up pictures later of that fun future project.

The winds were definitely howling last night, but we feel very blessed that things weren't worse.

This weekend

2008-09-08T12:43:00.004-05:00

So before summer rolled in, we had this ambitious project of making a new patio in the middle of our backyard... well... summer started and it just got overgrown after we had worked so hard on it. But, more out of necessity than anything else (we needed dirt for our front flower beds) we decided to start tackling it as well as our beds around our house, our front flower bed and plant a tree all in a weekend! Here are some pictures from it...

Great Thoughts by Someone I Don't Know....

2008-08-04T09:39:00.001-05:00

Read this article...

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip - Day 10

2008-07-14T14:48:00.000-05:00

Day 10 (July 14th)

We’re on the road and expect to arrive in Sugar Land sometime between 6 & 7 p.m. We’ll have the students call all of their parents when we’re on the beltway. All students will be required to help unload the cargo van and get their tools first, then we will open up the bottom of the bus and let students get their bags off of that. We have lots of “church” and community tools that will need to go to the youth room which is why we’re unloading that van first.

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip - Day 9

2008-07-14T14:43:00.001-05:00

Day 9 (July 13th)

It’s Sunday and we’re headed for Amarillo via Albuquerque, NM for lunch. The hotel stay was nice and it was a packed hotel because of some other large groups. Most were just happy to be sleeping in a bed. When I made my rounds at 11:30 to make sure everyone was in their rooms last night, over half of the students were already asleep! (That never happens)

We’re staying at a church in Amarillo and plan to eat at Olive Garden tonight which is just a half-mile drive from the church. We’re also hoping to get on the road a little earlier than planned Monday morning in hopes that we get back a little earlier too. The students will call about that when we know more.

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip - Day 8

2008-07-14T14:41:00.000-05:00

Day 8 (July 12th)

We loaded up the bus Saturday morning and some had some tearful goodbye’s to new friends and the community we have served for the past week. Some can’t wait till next year, some can’t wait till Monday night when they sleep in their own bed! Either way, we left for Durango around 8:00 AM in our swimsuits and ready to go rafting!

We arrived in Durango and ate at some very packed restaurants. From this point on, we are traveling with Trinity Klein Lutheran Church so while convenient for our drivers and the fun of getting to eat and stay with new friends, it makes stopping for meals and lodging a little more difficult because we now have 120 everywhere we go.

After eating, we headed to the rafting place where they would bus us to our drop point for our whitewater rafting trip. Parents, don’t fear, there was only one Class 3 rapid and the rest were 1’s and 2’s.

About halfway through our excursion we took a break at a park along the river route and lo and behold the bottom dropped out of the sky and it began to pour. At first, we thought, well, we are already wet, so no big deal. But then the wind, hail and sideways rain rolled in, as well as a temperature drop, and suddenly we were all very cold. If only we could control the weather! We stayed under a shelter at the park, huddled close, for about 30 minutes and then as the rain started to let up, decided to get back on the river. The rafting company was very accommodating throughout including bringing a bus for anyone who wanted to stop at the halfway point because of the rain (Only our bus drivers obliged because they can’t afford to get sick!) and brought some sweaters for those in our group who were getting a little too cold.

Once back on the river, most of the rafts made record time over the next 5 miles because it was so cold, but everyone still had a great time. One of our adults Karl Miller and I were joking that since our church prayed for us to arrive safely last week when we had bus troubles, they should be giving thanks this Sunday morning that we all made it out of rafting alive! (It was a joke though… we were never in any real danger, just a little chilly!)

After rafting we found our hotel, took some hot showers, went in the hot tub, then went out to eat in downtown Durango. We had wanted to eat as a large group, but unfortunately, no where in town could hold our group as one large group, so I think on Sunday night, we’re gonna eat as one big group before debriefing our entire trip.

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip - DAY 6 & 7

2008-07-14T14:39:00.001-05:00

Day 6 & 7 (July 10th & 11th)

Thursday’s daily theme was Love Out Loud: Forgives. The students aptly name Thursday as “cry night” because inevitably the program later that night puts some tears in your eyes. This one was no exception.

Many crews finished up their assigned projects Thursday and got to relax a little on their sites before getting reassigned to a “one day” project. Thursday and Friday is often when the paint wars happen and such so if your student comes home with a shirt covered in paint, ask tem which day it happened. You just never know.

As mentioned before, the program on Thursday evening was emotional and many of our students concentrated on those they wanted to ask forgiveness from and those they needed to forgive in their lives. Our youth group devotion time continued in that spirit later that evening.

On Friday, many of us headed to our new one day projects and ended up on sites with a couple of crews that we may not have been with before. Personally, I was at a site with another one of our adults Kelly Knopp and we were supposed to remove nails off of a deck and replace them with screws, stain the entire deck, attach handrails to an exisiting staircase off of the deck, dig up an existing sprinkler line, mow & weed-whack the front yard and move a pile of wood-chips away from the house. It sounds like a lot of work for one day, but when you have 12 people working, it goes fast. Of course Kelly and I found ourselves frustrated working on the handrails as we tried to make cuts on 4 x 4’s with a circular saw… that means a cut on each side and trying to match them. Let’s just say… several cuts were made even when we did measure twice and three times!

On Friday night, the residents we had worked for all week were invited to our evening program and many of them joined us. It was a time for us all to thank God for the good work he had done in the community that week. We also met with our crews one last time, shared memories of the past week, gave lots of hugs and then it was care card time!

Care cards are short notes that students and adults write to each other throughout the week affirming each other during their time at camp. The deadline to write the cards is 11:45 PM Friday evening, so many people were scrambling to get them done.

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip - DAY 4 & 5

2008-07-10T15:35:00.001-05:00

Day 4 & 5 (July 8th & 9th)

Tuesday was much the same as Monday as we continued work on our projects and interacted with our residents. We learned about serving all day long and concluded the day with a humbling footwashing activity with our crews. We learned the Jesus was the greatest, humblest servant of all.

On Wednesday, we only worked a half day and then took a trip to Natural Bridges National Monument. There are three bridges at the monument. Two of them we looked at from viewpoints… very close to the edge… and at the final one, many in our group hiked down to the base of the bridge. (See www.myfom.org for pictures). It was a magnificent site and something you will want to ask our students about. Even though it was a little warm, we all made it and enjoyed it. The hike back up to the bus was a little much for some of us, present company included, but we all made it.

We drove back into Blanding and ate a pizza buffet at R & R Pizza. They don’t usually serve a dinner buffet, but when I promised them 60 people, they happily put one out just for us.

Our evening program was preceded by a variety show in which we had Steve, Tim and Keith do a “Stomp” act. We have it on video, but you’ll just have to show up to the Stockholder’s Meeting to see it! One of them landed a little funny in practicing for the stomp skit and is limping around today.

On the injury front, most everything has been minimal. We’ve only made one trip to the hospital for what we thought was strep, but it turned out to be a little less serious than that.

We’re past our halfway point of the trip. Many of the students and adults are looking forward to whitewater rafting on Saturday. Almost all of our crews have students from the church that we are going rafting with as well as traveling home with in a caravan (Trinity Klein Lutheran Church).

I’ll write more tomorrow!

Blanding, Utah Workcamp DAY 3

2008-07-08T17:24:00.004-05:00

Day 3 (July 7th)

We had a full day of work with our first day and many of us found ourselves on projects we were excited about, but also a little nervous wondering if we were in over our head.
The weather was hot and then it would rain for a little while, then get hot again. The rain was a r refreshing break, but we found that there could still be humidity in Blanding even at this elevation.
When we all got back to the school we showered, played four square, volleyball, went to our evening program about what it takes to love out loud (theme of the camp) and then had devotions in the football stands by the football field. We sang "How Great is Our God" at the top of our lungs so all of Blanding could hear it!
Many of our nights ended a little later than they should have (lights out is supposed to be at 11), but we all got the sleep we needed. Everyone is staying generally healthy with the exception of a few blisters here and there.
I'll try to get more pictures up soon, but that takes a little longer to do than I have at this internet point right now!

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip DAY 2

2008-07-07T20:16:00.001-05:00

Day 2 (July 6th)
Most of us woke up earlier than we expected thanks to a few phones that didn’t get adjusted to local time, but it was nice because it made for a relaxing morning before our bus driver arrived for us to load up on our journey to Blanding. It should take about 4 hours for us to get to Blanding, we’ll have lunch there and then on to San Juan High School where we are staying for the week!
We arrived at the high school and have pretty good accommodations. The guys are is a little warm to start with but the fans made up for it.
We all received our crew assignments tonight and got to know our new friends. There are, as always, several painting projects, but we have quite a few students assigned to some roofing work and building porches, decks, and wheelchair ramps. It is pretty clear that our students will be stretched this week! I’ll let you know how Day 3 goes soon… which is also our first day of work on our sites and our first chance to meet our residents!

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip Day 1

2008-07-07T20:15:00.001-05:00

Day 1 (July 5th)
There was nothing too exciting on the road between Fishers and Amarillo. We stopped in the Wichita Falls area for breakfast and on to Amarillo for lunch. We also got our new driver, Michelle, who will be our driver for the rest of the week. We left Amarillo around 1:30 p.m. and got into New Mexico pretty quickly.
Unfortunately, about 40 miles into New Mexico as our elevation began to rise, so did the temperature of our bus’ engine! We finally had to stop somewhere around mile marker 240ish and let the engine cool. We also gave our students a treat at Dairy Queen and enjoyed some nice, cool weather. What we were hoping would be a 20 minute stop turned into an hour long adventure. It was complete with two of our students buying some authentic “whips” which they are now required to store away in their bags for the duration of the trip. However, they did keep us entertained as we waited for the engine to cool and they learned how to use their new toys to injure themselves.
We continued our journey to Albuquerque for a rather late dinner at the Coronado Mall food Court, but most everyone was happy because it wasn’t the same old fast food again. We finally arrived in Gallup at First United Methodist Church around 11:30 local time, many of us having only slept a couple of hours of not so restful sleep on the bus in the past day. We laid out our sleeping bags and most everyone was asleep by 1:00 a.m.

Blanding, Utah Workcamp Trip - DAY 0

2008-07-07T20:12:00.001-05:00

Day 0 (July 4th)
We all arrived to FOM, some of us even a little early to watch the Oyster Creek fireworks from the roof, and separated all of our tools, bags, etc. Everyone arrived by 11 p.m. and we hung out in the youth room for a little while. Pastor Jerry led us in a short devotion and then we ate some pizza and celebrated Nick’s Birthday with some cake!
We still had about an hour and a half before the bus arrived, so we hung out some more in the youth room, did some dancing, and just relaxed. Our cargo van crew continued to work to fit all of our tools into the van… needless to say we left a few things at the church!
When the bus arrived with our first driver Frank, everyone was really excited to load it up and with some very full cargo holds, we were on the road by 2:00 a.m. on our first full day, Saturday, July 5th.

Calm Before the Storm...

2008-04-24T13:39:00.002-05:00

I very much feel like I'm in a calm before the storm mode...

Confirmation is this Sunday at 2 p.m. in it's own special service. And now I'm wondering what I'm forgetting. The details are taken care of... certificates printed, bulletins printed, rehearsal done, music done, MediaShout done, gifts gotten, lunch organized, cake ordered, punch... Oh crud, I forgot the punch!

Seriously though, life is always like this... rather than focusing on "What we are remembering", we are always looking at what we are forgetting. And that's not a lot of fun for anyone. I think God doesn't like us to dwell on how much we forgot Him over the past week, but instead give thanks for how much we are remembering him because he is such a big part of our lives.

Maybe I'll try and spend this weekend focusing on remembering everything He has done for me.

New 12-String Guitar

2008-02-28T12:37:00.002-06:00

Lauren got me an awesome birthday present!

I'm famous!

2008-02-21T21:39:00.001-06:00

I'm famous!

http://www.click2houston.com/video/15368360/index.html

Dinner Theater SNL Celebrity Jeopardy

2008-02-06T10:21:00.000-06:00

Last one!

Dinner Theater Weekend Update

2008-02-06T09:55:00.000-06:00

This one had pictures to go along with what they were saying on the screen.

Two more...

2008-02-05T16:50:00.000-06:00

I've got two more videos to post but they'll have to wait until tonight or tomorrow. They are Weekend Update and Celebrity Jeopardy.

Dinner Theater Props

2008-02-05T15:36:00.000-06:00

Dinner Theater Dating Game

2008-02-05T13:55:00.000-06:00

Dinner Theater Movie Theater Skit

2008-02-05T13:36:00.000-06:00

Dinner Theater American Idol Rejects

2008-02-05T11:52:00.000-06:00

Dinner Theater Addicts Anonymous

2008-02-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

Dinner Theater Reporter & Cliff

2008-02-05T10:39:00.000-06:00

Dinner Theater More Cowbell

2008-02-04T16:42:00.000-06:00

I'll put more up tomorrow. This is one of our big fundraisers called Dinner Theater. This is a spoof from the SNL More Cowbell skit. It's unedited, sorry about that. I'll put all the skits and their source files up soon so you can download yourself.

We made...

2008-01-30T11:31:00.000-06:00

Well, Dinner Theater is over and as exhausting as all of last week was, it was well worth the effort. We brought in over $6000 in that one night with a few more donations still trickling in. We still have a ways to go with our overall fundraising total, but this is a great start. When our counters were going over the money, the lady doing it had accidentally combined our totals with our weekly offering totals and thought it was what was donated at our DT. So she came in and asked me how much I thought we made and I estimated around 6000. She said she though it was around $20,000 and I almost fell on the floor. We figured out the mistake, but for a minute there I thought we had our fundraising done for the next two years. Oh well!

My question of the week is what are you doing for Superbowl? We don't have anything yet but were thinking of hosting a few people at our house?

Running from the Law...

2008-01-15T10:10:00.000-06:00

Last night at our small group, the topic came up about how our world today seems to think that "anything goes" and even practicing Christians seem to justify their actions with the grace that God has on us. As I sat and listened to one person in our group talk, I realized why I believe that we may rely too much on God's grace.

As a society, we have completely taken away any mention of the Law mostly because we don't want to offend someone who may not believe in the same things we do. So instead of God's grace freeing us from our sin and the eternal punishment that we deserve, instead, we now look at God's grace as freeing us from the conviction of sin which has provided to us by the Law.

On a very simple level, we see this in youth sport's teams. No longer for kids under 10 or so can a team lose, instead everyone wins and no one is a loser. We are teaching this next generation that life is always fair and that no matter how hard they try, they WILL always get what they want.

I guess the short and sweet of it is that God's grace was intended for us to feel and be redeemed from our shortcomings and our instinctive nature to sin. Don't you think it's time that we start feeling like we have messed up so we can bask in the glory which only Jesus Christ can provide to us because of His death and resurrection?

(P.S. - The passage that started this conversation was 2 Timothy 2:14-26)

Guitar Hero...

2007-12-27T11:06:00.001-06:00

Yes,

I picked it up yesterday at Best Buy.

Actually... two of them for our XBox 360.

Merry Christmas...

2007-12-18T12:50:00.000-06:00

Isn't this what it's all about?

Chuck Norris

2007-12-04T15:16:00.000-06:00

Chuck Norris.

New Huckabee Video

2007-12-01T21:29:00.000-06:00

Just an FYI, this is a personal blog that is shared on other sites. Any information shared in this blog should by no means be considered an endorsement of any political candidate by Fishers of Men Lutheran Church or any of its representatives in any official capacity. With that said, I found this video intriguing:

Thanksgiving Dinner - XBox

2007-11-21T09:31:00.000-06:00

Don't Tase Me Bro'

2007-10-30T14:10:00.000-05:00

I got to do a "ride-along" with my friend Mark the other day who is a police officer in North Texas. One of the first things he showed me when we got in the car was the "help" button on his radio in case something happened. Although it was nice to know, I felt pretty safe considering the shield that protected me from any prisoner in the backseat, the pistol by his side, the shotgun in the middle console and the taser that we picked up on our way out the door. If all else failed, I could surely figure out how to use a taser!

God gives us everything we need to feel safe and secure in his presence. That taser could put 10,000 volts of electricity through it's target... imagine if we let the Holy Spirit "target" us and inspire us to do anything for God. Yet, we constantly have to push the Help button. Which to God, he says that's okay. As a matter of fact, I think he prefers it. He maybe just wishes that we wouldn't wait until we're in trouble to press it.

Latest Message...

2007-10-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

I gave a message the other day based on Gary Chapman's book "The Five Love Languages".

You can hear it here.

You can get the handouts here.

I wouldn't normally put this up but this love language thing could revolutionize the way we communicate with those closest to us. Give it a try.

The Ostrich at Studio

2007-10-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

This was hilarious. He always keeps us laughing.

Where's Waldo?

2007-10-08T09:14:00.000-05:00

I am going to do this devotion in staff meeting this morning. Here is an advanced preview:

Where’s Waldo?
by Gregg Matte

Last night I thought of the "Where's Waldo?" books for kids. The pages are filled with interesting "distractions" from the main character. Then, finally, there he is sandwiched between a couple of different scenes. We celebrate our finding, move on to the next page of distractions, and look for him again. After we have been successful on one page we can easily find him the next time. The first time through is the hardest. Then we become used to the clutter and smallness of Waldo's image, and we easily point him out.

Here's how it applies. Mature worshippers know the pages and can handle the mess of the rest of the images. We know how to find Jesus in the commotion. But then we hand the book to others, and they can't figure it out. The distractions are overwhelming, inviting, exciting, and Jesus is drawn too small. So church becomes about attendance, music is just the precursor of the sermon, and the sermon is just “pie in the sky” with no relevance to 2003. Jesus is on the page, no question. We would never leave Him off completely, but He certainly isn't primary.

The goal of spiritual leadership, especially from the platform, is to make Christ primary. Magnifying Him so that He is the largest thing on the page; literally a pop-up book of truth. “HERE’S CHRIST IN FULL 3-D!” But the typical worship service is incredibly distracting. At Breakaway we have almost come to expect the first two tunes to be the “settle in your seats and say hi to your friends” background theme. Unfortunately, as the service continues musicians in the crowd are distracted by watching those on stage, the type-As are wondering if we will go too long, and someone else is wondering how did that lady make her hair look like that. SO…it is the leader’s responsibility to call us to free our vision from the distractions. To identify more than Waldo, to magnify Jesus! God incarnate, the Lion and Lamb, Alpha and Omega, your Savior and Reward. Let’s worship.

My desire and yours is that the church would turn to the page asking, "Where's Truth?" and see a huge picture of Jesus with all of the distractions small and distant in the backdrop. SO, I'm praying for God to remove the distractions, even the ones I like, the pit bulls that are now my pets. That anything that is keeping Him small on the page and hidden in the mumbo jumbo of my world would fade.

How do we do that? How do we remove distractions for people and highlight Christ?

Are you personally distracted? Is your leadership about “doing good” or worshipping God? I’m embarrassed to say I have worried about my performance instead of His power as I have spoken. Galatians 1:10
Are you prepared enough to be able to worship instead of being concerned about the logistics of leadership? Preparation is extremely godly. We often are too lazy or busy to prepare and then try to spiritualize it by saying the “Holy Spirit will take care of it.” Yes, He will and at the same time no, He won’t. Be ready, have vision, and then move forward. Matthew 25:1-13
Lastly, does everything in the worship service point to Jesus? I’m amazed upon amazed at how distracting we intentionally make the page of worship. EVERYTHING must point to Jesus: the lights, the screens, the songs, and the leaders. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m for the cutting edge of creativity. We have a ton of technology at Breakaway each week, from a web cast to video clips. But they all point to Jesus and are done for more than “just cause they’re cool”. Luke 10:41-42

What would you add to the ‘How to’ list? I’m sure you have tremendous ideas I haven’t thought of. But I really believe a leader that is undistracted, seeking to please the Lord, prayerfully prepared, logistically ready, and pointing to Jesus is the kind of worship leader that does more than sing songs or speaker that just hops from one illustration to another. That kind of person reminds us of the importance and honor of worshipping Jesus in the midst of a distracted world.

Where’s Waldo? Who cares! I’m here to worship Jesus!

Founder, Speaker, and previous Director of Breakaway Ministries at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. Breakaway continues to be a strong and vibrant ministry to college students, with over 4,000 in attendance each Tuesday night, as well as countless viewers on live-feed via the internet.

Gregg Matte has also used his spiritual gifts to preach and teach at conferences, camps, and retreats. He is the author of The Highest Education: Becoming a Godly Man and he is the executive producer of numerous praise and worship CD’s for Breakaway Ministries.

As Pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church, Gregg Matte has five areas of focus: Preaching/teaching, Vision-casting, Personnel leadership, Shepherding, and Public Relations.

EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed

2007-10-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed

No doubt... this will be an interesting film and should make for some great rhetoric for the presidential campaigns.

This Practically Wrote Itself

2007-09-26T14:03:00.000-05:00

View from the Customer Lounge...

Ok, so this post practically wrote itself. On Wednesdays, I usually leave work a little bit early and go home for a little while to see Lauren because my evenings are usually a very long night because of Ignition.

Well, to give you an idea of why this wrote itself, I am now posting from the Helfman Ford dealership. My left rear window decided to "drop" unexpectedly and wouldn't go back up as I pulled out of the church parking lot. What angers me is that this isn't the first time this has happened. The front left window did the same thing about 15,000 miles ago. Thankfully then, I was just barely outside of my warranty so this dealership covered the cost, even though they didn't have to. I don't think the same thing is happening today though.

This is easy to turn into a life lesson too. We live in this constant state of sin and every time we get fixed, inevitably, we break again. And sometimes we break sooner than later. But the biggest difference here is that there WAS a price paid for our screw-ups. And thank goodness that price paid gives us a lifetime warranty and not just 36,000 miles.

Dragonball & Wii

2007-09-25T10:07:00.000-05:00

Fun Times at Studio 3:16 playing "Dragonball". It's a version of dodgeball that is way harder to not get out.

And a few kiddos playing the new Wii.

Dancing with Jesus

2007-09-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

This is good. Dance with Jesus.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

2007-09-06T14:40:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone.... we had a Wii donated to the youth group today in time for this weekend's Studio 3:16. Woot woot.

I'm also looking forward to "staff development" and "team building" time with the Wii during the week. :-)

Is there such a thing as a good problem?

2007-09-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

I've found myself asking this question recently... Is there such a thing as a good problem? In my life right now, I would say yes there is. The problem that we have at Fishers right now is that we don't have enough adult leaders stepping forward for the various small groups that are forming. The good part about it is that we have had a great response from our youth to be in these groups and that is why we need more leaders. What do you think? Is there such a thing as a good problem... or is a problem always a negative thing no matter how you look at it?

I'll let you know...

2007-08-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

I am reading a book by Doug Fields called Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry. I might be a little late in reading it since I have been doing this for more than that amount of time (Wow, really, since March of 2005 I have been a paid youth worker!), but that's not the point.

To the naked eye, this is a Christian book. As a matter of fact, anyone who sees me reading it would probably guess that I work with youth. So I would consider it an outward expression of my persona, even my faith. But I found myself doing something out of character for me... well, maybe.

You see, I'm not a reader... as a matter of fact, I despise it. But when I am at the gym on the elliptical, books are what help me pass the time a little quicker. Since I started working out in February I have read at least 10 books, all of them about Christian life and ministry. Here is the out of character part though: I found myself shielding the title of this latest book with my gym towel or by my side as I walked around the expanses of Lifetime Fitness.

I was not only shielding my persona from others in the gym, but I was shielding the very essence of who I am.... because I can't be a youth minister without first being a child of God.

Maybe it's just me, but do you ever find yourself shielding who you really are from others? Especially that part of you that just loves God so much? But you are afraid of what others might think.

I'm only about half way done with this book right now, but I think I am going to try and not cover up the cover today and see what happens. I'll let you know...

I have to admit....

2007-08-13T09:31:00.000-05:00

This blog is now syndicated on three different websites: Our youth group website, my facebook and on blogger.com. It seems that we can spread our opinions and our thoughts over all types of venues if we have the time and the will to do it. I am sure I can publish this blog to many places and maybe one day I'll make such a controversial or earth-shattering post that I make it to CNN's I-Report or Fox News' U-Report. I could even start video-blogging too and that would really get me far.

Unfortunately, something tells me that my posts won't quite make it on to national TV. They are already too controversial. I mean, when you talk about trying to live a life devoted to Jesus, that's pretty absurd, even for a conservative Fox News.

Wouldn't it make for a great story headline though... "Man struggles to find himself, and God." It would be an awesome 24 episode as Jack (Brett) goes from hour to hour realizing constantly that no matter how hard he tries to save himself, it's only Jesus that saves. As each decision is made, another decision pops up. And you can't forget the vengeful spy on the inside who constantly tries to undermine the work that Jesus is doing.

Wow.

I hate it when I do this...

2007-08-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

I haven't even looked when my last post was but I'm sure it was somewhere before summer began. I know that simply because that was pre-mission trip, pre-vacation, and pre-National Youth Gathering. And although those three events have passed, things are just gearing up as we head into a very busy fall season.

We have leadership retreats, Back to School Bashes, football games, basketball games, meetings out the wazoo, new small groups, new studio format, new year of confirmation (that is still evolving) and I'm sure there is something I'm leaving out. I guess the bottom line is, life is busy. And when life gets busy... and I did it already... the one event that we start to neglect is our own alone time with Jesus. I didn't even mention it earlier in my list of what's happening in the next few weeks.

Jesus is the only reason we get to do any of this. So maybe as I iron out my schedule for the coming week, my Monday and subsequent days should look a little more like this:
Monday: Wake up, Jesus time, Shower, Jesus time, Go to work, Jesus time, turn on computer, Jesus time, Go to staff meeting, Jesus time, Go to lunch, Jesus time, Work some more, Jesus time, Go work out, Jesus time, Go home, Jesus time, Church pool party, Jesus time, Visit with Lauren, Jesus time, Sleep, Jesus time.

It may seem like I'm exaggerating, but I wonder how much more I would be able to get done if I just made even a fraction of the amount of time that I listed above for Jesus.

I should write something...

2007-02-12T15:13:00.000-06:00

You could probably tell that I have had a really busy month since I haven't written to here in at least that long. Things aren't any less busy... yet... but I figured I should write SOMETHING!

Things that I'm happy about: A wonderful wife, Good fundraising, New Building plans

Things I'm worrying about: Attendance at some of our programs

Back to work...

2007-01-01T19:04:00.000-06:00

I head back to work tomorrow, but it has been an interesting week even though I wasn't there that much. A member of our congregation died on Wednesday night in an accident and it has really hit the whole congregation hard in addition to his immediate family. Even those who didn't know this person have been affected by the stories of this member's evangelistic attitude. It seems to me that with just about anyone he encountered he tried to tell them about Jesus. Wow.

And to top it off, he started his evangelism as head of household with his family. I am sure the stories will continue to flow about this guy, how strong of a Christian he was and also how much of an impact he had on so many people's lives. The memorial service is tomorrow at church. I am sure it will be a sad day for many, but also a day that we can rejoice because we know that he is in Heaven.

A Holiday...

2006-12-27T12:44:00.000-06:00

The week between Christmas and New Years is always one of the slowest times of the year for a church worker... which is why I am working a total of about 10 hours this week! It is always nice to get a little rest... but I do think it is going to be the calm before the storm. January is a jam-packed month at church with almost half of the month having some sort of youth activity or meeting.

I am working on a new strategy though of combining Jr. High and High School events... but not necessarily having them there at the same time. For instance, I would do two scavenger hunts, one for Jr. High & one for High School, on the same day with the same clues, etc. We'll see how it goes...

The Bandwagon

2006-12-17T15:08:00.000-06:00

I was on the David Carr bandwagon when the Texans signed him for about the first 4 games. Then I realized just how bad of a NFL player he really was. As a college quarterback, Carr had talent, but that doesn't always transfer into the next level. So what made me blog about this today was that I just finished watching the Texans get hammered by the Patriots. I'm not sure why CBS even wastes airtime on them anymore. Probably something contractual.

And now I just read a headline from the Knicks vs. Nuggets game last night where 10 players were ejected for an end of game brawl. These guys are professional, and whether its interceptions on the field or fights on the court, these guys should do better than this. They are getting paid to play a sport they love. The least they can do is keep it clean and keep it at a level that is expected in professional sports.

Maybe that's why I like college sports so much. When they mess up, at least all they are getting paid is in scholarships, housing, and Christmas gifts and the fans can just say that the player needs more time to develop out of high school.

I was at a conference two years ago and a former lineman who had recently played in the superbowl was a speaker. In his opening comments to the conference he was talking about his team's loss in the superbowl. He definitely said that they all wished they could have won... "he was crying all the way to the bank." As I said before, these guys are getting paid to do a job... will they please do it already instead of whining so much!

Cableguy! (Said in a Jim Carrey Tone)

2006-12-14T14:20:00.000-06:00

Since we moved to the Sugar Factory, we have been without cable. Some of it is monetary reasons, other has just been not seeing a need for it. But at last, I called the cableguy yesterday and they are on their way out next Thursday. I thought I could make it through Christmas without it, but there are just too many Aggie games on over the next few months that I will miss if I don't have my ESPN! And with the impending influx of Hillary and Obama on network news, I look forward to getting my dose of fair and balanced conservative news with FNC.

Pictures

2006-12-13T22:16:00.000-06:00

I have some pictures of when the president was here a few weeks ago. Click here to see them.

Due: Dec. 15, 2006

2006-12-13T22:06:00.000-06:00

I drove up to the mailbox today as I usually do when I am on my way home from work and had much anticipation for all of the Christmas cards that come this time of year. I seem to have a great fascination with how other people who I barely ever see have been doing over the last year. Those long Christmas letters that most people can't stand to read are what keeps me going to the mailbox day after day. I know, it's sad.

But today, there were no Christmas cards. Not even the junk mail ads were advertising Christmas stuff. Most of them had moved on to "New Years Savings." All I got in today's mail were three bills. Two were pretty easy to pay online, but one caught me off guard. The one due December 15th... and considering it is December 13th, you can see why it caught me off-guard. And then the amount of the bill... over $3000. It is... the dreaded tuition bill from Concordia University for my last semester of classes there before I can officially do what I am already doing. I knew it would be coming soon, but I didn't expect the due date to be 2 days later. By the time I received it, the business office there had already closed, so I am sure I will spend much of my day tomorrow messing with that chunk of a bill.

On another note, some new sound equipment for the youth room at church came in yesterday. I took today as an opportunity to put it all in the youth room, clean the place up, and finally get it organized. It's almost completely done and was supposed to be finished tomorrow... but I am guessing it might get delayed if that "Due: Dec. 15, 2006" date doesn't change soon!

Can you see it coming?

2006-12-12T21:04:00.000-06:00

For the second time in just a month, yet another pastor has "stepped forward" with news that they have had some sort of gay tendencies and/or sexual interaction. Unfortunately, I think this is only the beginning of the scrutiny that evangelical leaders are going to get over the next few years. The real question that the media will be biting into is how the church will handle it. With the Catholic Church's pedophilia and homosexual not that far removed from the public eye, the press will definitely make comparisons. I am by no means saying that the church should try to hide those in leadership who are struggling with sin, which really was the first mistake for the Catholic church, but that leaders will likely have to be prepared for intense scrutiny of their sin by the press, associates, and even their congregation, even when they may not deserve it.

OK... for real now

2006-12-12T15:21:00.000-06:00

So I keep trying to blog, but I never really feel like I have enough time to do it and do it right. I keep a sporatic blog over at www.myfom.org for our student ministry, but lately I've had a desire to write a little more in-depth than what I do over there. It won't happen right now... but it will begin soon!