Month: March 2006

  • Metemorphasis

    Metamorphasis_butterflyTommorow we are talking about our the changes we go through as we pass from life to death to eternal life. Here is a sample of the imagery we’re using to help create the worship environment.

    Long, but good day. We celebrated Kristen’s dad’s 58th birthday and we sent off 25 pews to the great state of Florida. Don’t feel bad about either of those. Kristen’s dad is as young as ever… he ran 21 miles to celebrate his milestone and is set to compete in next month’s Boston Marathon. And while the pews story has ended here in Romeo, they are beginning a new life in Florida.

  • The Finish Line

    FinishIt’s finish time for me. It’s a great week for finishing projects. There are few things nicer in life than looking at a big project and saying "Yep, that one’s done… what’s next?"

    The really cool thing is that until I get back from vacation, there is no "next" project. I have a few days to just get normal things done and then we’re off to Florida.

    p.s.     Kristen and I are joking about showing up at the church in 2 Sunday’s that has bought our pews… wouldn’t it be fun to find our favorite pew in it’s new location at pop a squat?

  • Sold!

    Pews_004a_1It’s official. The pews at church have been sold. They will be removed this weekend and begin their new life in High Point, Florida. (Strikingly close to where Kristen and I are headed for vacation next week.) Wouldn’t it be funny if we showed up in church and sat in our old pews?

  • some weird things

    Banner6I really consider myself a nobody on the landscape of youth ministry in America. Afterall, while I think Light Force is pretty cool… we’re not exactly bringing in Switchfoot or David Crowder just for fun. We’re just a small group of people who get together and focus on changing our little world… but we also have plans to take over the world! With that in mind, it’s fun to hear from and meet with or chat with people who only know me through YMX. It’s doubly fun because most youth workers are just really cool people.

    But occasionally I get weird contact too. One of these days I’ll list them… but let’s just say now I get the occasional "fan letter." I just got one today that closely resembles SPAM… but perhaps it isn’t, who knows?

  • Resignation Fever

    Sometimes in my world I get caught up with thinking that it’s just youth pastor’s who wrestle with their jobs. That’s just not true. Ray Pritchard, our former pastor in Oak Park, writes about something he calls "Resignation Fever" in the pulpits of America.

    Almost everywhere I go, I talk to pastors who are frustrated and church
    members who are upset. It’s hard to quantify these things, and I do not
    think that it’s harder to be in the ministry today than it was five
    hundred years ago. It’s not like Martin Luther had an easy time of it.
    Jonathan Edwards, arguably the greatest theologian America has
    produced, was voted out of his own church. As Howard Hendricks says, if
    you’re going to be a shepherd, you’re going to get sheep dung on your
    sandals. Call it an occupational hazard. And sometimes ugly things
    happen that embarrass us all. There’s no fight like a church fight.     [Read the whole entry]

    I think he’s right. This feeling of uneasiness creates an impatience in the pews with their pastor’s and the pastor’s always feeling pressure to perform somehow. Can we all just relax? Just for a little bit can we all just be human? Why is it that everyone looks at this from a nuclear position… as if there weren’t going to be conflict in churches or something… when there is a conflict… do we always have to put pressure on everyone? Why not just BE and allow I AM to be God for a while?

  • think small

    Want a preview of tongihts talk from Luke 17? I can’t get over the times "little" or "small" are referred to in this passage. It strikes me that Jesus wasn’t interested in moving mountains so much as he was after every little tiny detail of our life.

    But you’re like, "PA, I can’t possibly make every right decision or handle every little detail in life correctly… what gives?" You are dead on. You can’t do it. It’s why you need to become a new creation. Not even a new person… you need to become something radically different!

  • Just questions

    The recent changes in the church building have led to a number of people asking very good and foundational questions. I love that.

    I love it that, by switching from pews to chairs, we’ve got to think about distributing the elements. What is a good way to do this? What is most honoring? Why am I comfortable with this and not that?

    I love that, by putting in a different stage, we’ve got to think about our worship times together? How can we stage it in a way that focuses attention on God? How can we exhibit freedom or flexibility? What roll does "comfort" play?

    All of these are great things to talk about. No answers just yet… just asking questions.

  • Some fun findings

    Living in a house built in 1871 is fun for a lot of reasons. We love being in a house with history and knowing that many families have raised many kids within it’s walls.

    A truly fun thing is finding little bits of evidence of their existence. One of these "discovery" moments is happening as Kristen is busy stripping the final remnents of wallpaper in the house. The dreaded stairwell. You can tell that before they wallpapered, the family let the kids have some fun with pencils. While this isn’t a good influence on the McLane children, it is fun to see their handwriting on the walls. It will be a shame to paint over it!

  • finally making money?

    Siriuslogoblu_img_lrg_3After my last investment in Sirius (SIRI) the stock promptly lost another $.75. Thankfully, due to two great bits of news, Sirius made a nice rebound. First, it was announced Friday that Volkswagen and Audi will install Sirius radios exclusively in their cars. Previously, some were also shipped with XM. Second, they announced that they’ve passed the 4 million subscriber number. My feeling since the beginning that Sirius will win the satellite radio race. I make the comparison between Sirius and upstart America Online back in the early 1990’s when they were chasing CompuServe. Remember them? They were the "big dog" who brought the ISP to the national stage… but they got swallowed by AOL in the mid-1990’s.

    Texas_roadhouse_1A lot less news on Texas Roadhouse. (TXRH) Things are looking up, the stock… like Sirius… has been making some big gains. As the Roadhouse continues to grow in popularity it my hope that the franchise will surge forward in many new locations.

    What’s next? I’m keeping an eye on the IPO of Tim Horton’s. Since I’m not a hard core investor and this is a new hobby for me, I don’t have a lot of access to IPO’s, but I like to see one of my favorite businesses going public. There is nearly infinite growth potential for this place. Growth is good!

  • Scabies at Romeo HS

    LisaB just sent me an email from school. She said that there is officially a scabies epidemic at the high school. Click here for the CDC fact sheet on scabies. Yuck. And further evidence why Pastor Adam shouldn’t be too touchie!