Month: December 2006

  • episode 2

    A few months ago I started wondering if YMX should break into a new media. The idea was pretty simple… wouldn’t it be cool if members of the site submitted audio content that I could piece together and distribute to our friends on the site.

    Here’s the latest episode

    My favorite part of the podcast is that it’s helpful for people in ministry. Nothing against any of the myriad of podcast out there… but this one is specifically for the needs of youth workers. Another thing I like about the show is that it’s brief. We’ve put a cap on each episode at 30 minutes.

    So, listen online or subscribe via iTunes.

  • Love makes you blind, drunk, and stupid

    In light of the "heavy" post below, this is what happens when you are attracted to someone in ways that aren’t physical. You do stuff that makes no sense whatsoever. You are creative in ways you never saw yourself being creative, and you take wild risks to do stuff… like this.

    On behalf of men everywhere… women… don’t expect a custom cartoon as a way to be proposed to. Settle for the diamond.

  • The Allure of Vanity

    It’s interesting to me how many students are caught in the allure of vanity.

    allure (uh-loo-r) v.

    1. to attract or tempt by something flattering or desirable.
    2. to fascinate; charm.

    Did you catch the root word there? Lure, as in fishing lure, the nice yummy shiny object that makes fish think it’s OK to eat it. But when they bite into it they discover a hook that stabs their mouth, drags them from the world they know, and results in them getting fried up and served for a meal.

    Doesn’t sound so exciting anymore, does it?     Well vanity is pretty exciting to adolescents… they are like bugs to a bug zapper with it. They almost can’t help themselves. Here are the two most common ones I see in Light Force.

    (more…)

  • Growing up

    OK, as a daddy to a five year old girl, I’m struggling a little bit with the "big kid" stuff that she’s doing. I know this will always be a problem and I’m kind of foolish for feeling this way… but seeing Megan do big kid things, which are completely normal, is tougher than I thought it would be.

    Since Christmas, she has gotten her ears pierced and started playing with the pretend make-up that my mom gave her. To make matters worse, the earrings were a gift from my mother-in-law and the make-up was from my mom. My own mother contributing to the delinquency of a five year old? (OK, seriously… I’m going to put the kabash on the make-up. Dress up is OK, but I’m not ready for "real" make-up.)

    I was beginning to be fine with these revelations when I got hit with another one last night. Megan had a friend sleep over. The entire night I was exiled to the kitchen while the girls did girlie things and watched girlie videos. Thankfully, Paul was included in the escapade… but still… how did all of this happen?

    What’s next? Boys?     (Thankfully… Megan will gleefully tell me that boys are yucky.) When you see Megan in a soccer uniform this summer, now you know why. We have to maintain some balance here. Heck, she might even play football.

  • The Leadership Book of 2006-2007

    5dysfunctionsWe just finished reading this book as a staff and I have a feeling a lot of people will be talking about this book in the near future. As is always the case with churches, we’re about 12-18 months behind the curve because this book was hot in management in 2005-2006.

    It is, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. What I like about this book is that it’s written as a narrative. In the story you see how the principles of the book play out.. very real life and easy to apply in a team setting.

    For people at Romeo… get used to this book if you are on a board. You’ll likely be asked to hear or read it. At the very least, you’ll be reaping the benefits of a more cohesive leadership team as a result of applying some of the principles.

    For people leading teams at churches, parachurches, etc… this is the buzz book for church leadership for 2006 and 2007. Pick it up, get ahead of the game and be a part of the conversation. If you are leading a team, at the very least you should read it. According to the authors website, even professional sports coaches are applying these principles on their teams.

    thx to Todd for the reminder

  • Christmas on MainStreet

    Tonight was our last MainStreet of the year. (duh) For something a little special, we combined MainStreet with our Christmas eve service.

    Let’s put it this way… I wasn’t convinced that we could transition from the wild and crazy times of MainStreet into the very thoughtful and joyous traditional Christmas service. That said, I think it got pulled off quite well.

    I am very proud of our MainStreet crew. Tonight was obviously a "tough sell" since there were loads of people who aren’t used to being brought into a kids world… but let’s just sum it up in this simple fact: At the end, I saw plenty of "older folks" doing their best Rockettes interpretative dance. That… right there… that’s a huge success.

    Way to go MainStreet… and off we go into 2007.

  • A very SPAMMY Christmas to you, too

    I came home today to discover that while I was busy working, YMX got a nice Spam bomb. 1500 junks mails in 30 minutes. Merry Christmas to you too Mr. Spam man. [Insert me sticking out my tongue!]

    I hope Santa brings that guy a big fat chunk of coal.

  • Jade Dragon Gift Distribution

    I finally found a dream job for Dave Luke. This is perfect.

  • Great Letterman Clip

    I’m glad this made it onto YouTube, this is classic David Letterman.

  • 5 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me

    5 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me

    Well, since I’ve been tagged on this one by both Patti and Gerrard… I should definitely do something. I wouldn’t want to be “blog rude.”

    1. I strongly dislike some things that most normal people love. I don’t like bowling, all-nighters, Christmas, or celebrating my birthday. Though Kristen takes great pleasure in making certain that I do all of those things annually.
    2. While I’m not a geek about it, I like weird music such as classical, jazz, and the music of Bollywood. In the car I like to listen loud and play the part of the director.
    3. As a child, I had severe allergies to cats and burning leaves. There were many times when I was a kid that I had to go get big nasty shots in the ER and I struggled with breathing so hard that I was sure I would die. In fact, I often had day dreams that God had not allowed me to die so that I could become a superhero. Not sure youth pastor fits that category… because I can’t fly.
    4. I love documentaries and biographies. For some reason I am absolutely infatuated with people’s life stories. I am so self-reflexive myself that I used to tell my own life story to myself over and over again in middle school. My favorite place to disappear to was into a tree. I would climb high into a tree with a book or a journal and spend hours just sitting there. I’m pretty convinced that one day I’ll write the most boring autobiography ever published.
    5. While I am a proud graduate of Moody Bible Institute, I pretty much hated/fought against most of the experience. Let me clarify… I hated living in the dorms because the experience was a little too much for me. As a married student, I got to attend the classes I wanted and that was it. I loved that! The profs are fantastic, just the resident life that left a lot to be desired. Oh, Moody confession… I never went to chapel in the last 3 years of my tenure there. I was exempt because I worked full time. And there were times when I had to listen on the radio to Founder’s Week because I was working. Don’t tell!

    I tag Derek, Todd, and Ken.