Month: March 2007

  • Introducing… YMX Hosting

    We’ve actually had a nice response to this… YMX has gone into the web hosting business. So, if you need a host for your blog or would like to get your own www.yourdomain.com for whatever else, check out YMX Hosting.

  • Letting go of something…

    I don’t know what it is about us guys… but we like to bite off more than we can chew. We like to think that we can do it all.

    I can’t. Or rather… I chose not to.     I must not be a "real man" who can do it all. So, I dropped one of the things in my life that was causing me a massive amount of stress.

    For an indefinite period… no more grad school.

    I need to focus on the massive wide open doors of ministry in front of me and stop trying to kid myself that I belong in "serious academic" study. My job right now is to be a husband, dad, and pastor. That’s important enough for me.

    Perhaps one day the door will open again and it will be obvious for me to continue? But for now, I’m closing that door by choice to focus on other things. You know what? I feel better for doing it too. I feel like it’s one great big stressful ball of stuff I don’t have to think about for now.

    Amen.

  • Immediate Response

    Slide2_1
    About two weeks ago I had the pleasure of filling in for Bob as he was on his way to San Diego. The text and audio are available on the church website.

    I know that some of my readers don’t know much about me or even what I sound like… so here you go.

    Immediate Response text

    1. Immediate Response audio     

  • MainStreet is in 36 hours

    I am probably overly cheesy. But I am pumped about tomorrow’s MainStreet.  For one thing… we’ve outgrown our original location and have had to move up to take over the "big church."

    I’m also pumped that other people are pumped about what we’re doing. Seeing kids be excited at a rehearsal… even the annoying run around and can’t stop talking sort of excitement… is SUPER FUN to see.

    Perhaps that makes me a 30 year old goober. But I still get jazzed when I see people jazzed about doing an event to teach people about Jesus.

    And, it’s Duct Tape Man’s birthday. And, some member of the cast will be getting a pie in the face. Does it get better than that?

  • What do I look for in an attender of a church?

    I was thinking about this in light of some "tongue in cheek" conversations lately about me. Everyone seems to know what they are looking for me to do and be… believe me, I don’t ever and can’t possibly measure up to everyone’s "list."

    So here’s my quick list of what I’m looking for in a church attender:

    • Faithful: Makes attendance a priority (Want a number? 45+ Sunday’s per year),   makes the church’s vision a priority in their lives, prays for the church, gives to the church, talks positively about the church, deals with conflict in accordance to what Jesus teaches.
    • Available: Not wrapping their entire lives up in the church, but is available to serve in accordance to the gifts God has given them. 1 Corinthians 12 teaches that the church body is made up of many parts… unavailable parts mean that the church is handicapped in it’s mission.
    • Teachable: They learn from God’s word with open ears. As James writes, the exemplify the difference between "hearing" and "receiving."

    This isn’t a new list. This has long been taught by Sonlife… and I like it.

    There are a lot of people trolling the community for "the perfect church" in their eyes. As if fallible people could somehow create something infallible? Along the same accord, I wonder how many people trolling church’s are willing to ask themselves, "Am I a good church attender? Am I willing to be faithful, available, and teachable at any church?"

    So, before you compare people to your ideal… make sure you’re looking at yourself with "sober judgment." Romans 12:3

    And my responsibility is to live up the expectations that God has for me, not those of public opinion. Praise God for His abundant grace and mercy!

  • Amazing Grace

    Amazing_graceKristen and I saw the movie Friday night with friends.

    I liked it on a number of levels. First, I didn’t know anything about William Wilberforce. Not that the movie portrayed much more than a small portrait of his life, but I feel like I learned some things after going to the movie… how many movies can you say that about?

    It was a novelty to see this movie for three reasons:

    1. It told a gory story without the gore.
    2. It presented Christians as compassionate, passionate, world changers.
    3. It wasn’t cheesy.

    That said, it’s worth seeing. DVD or the theater, it’s worth it.

  • A Good Dog

    Mp_photojournal_040Stoney really has developed into a great family dog. Sure, he farts a lot and he hates squirrels. (Though, hang out with the McLane’s and you’ll see those a two pretty normal qualities.) He is a very good dog for our kids.

    In the last couple of days I’ve noticed Megan and Paul playing with him a lot. They’ve "discovered" that he is really fun to play with and lay on and toss his toys. And he is very gentle with them.

    Today I’ve watched as both kids have taken turns tying a jump rope around his collar and leading him around the living room. He faithfully does what they ask and has managed to not run them over so far. I love that about Stoney. He’s been patient with our kids as they’ve gone through phases of liking him and hating him.

    It may sound strange. But I also like the fact that my kids always have a dog to play with and even talk to. I think it’s one of those cool things about growing up around a dog.

    p.s. Yes, we are still getting a cat. Just haven’t found one yet.

  • Swiss Invaded Someone?

    Liechtenstein_castle
    This story will make you snort milk out of your nose. The Swiss military, renown the world over for their absolute neutrality… accidentally invaded their eastern neighbor Liechtenstein.

    "We’ve spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it’s not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.

    Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

    Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in
    Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault
    rifles but no ammunition. "It’s not like they stormed over here with
    attack helicopters or something," he said.     Story

    I actually visited the Liechtenstein with my mom a long time ago. It was a pretty cool place that I’d like to go back to. I guess I’ll have to ask Swiss military how to get there. Or, at the very least, use the compass on my Swiss Army Knife.

    HT to Patti

  • Tara Grant Murder

    Just heard the news conference. Sad news from our area.

    Sheriff Hackel just announced that they found Tara’s body in her garage.     Her husband is the "one and only suspect" and they are currently looking for him. Apparently he took off last night when the sheriff’s executed the search warrant on their home. Right now the man’s lawyer is on the news saying that he is "deeply concerned of his well being."

    What a sad ending to a very odd mystery. Let’s hope that justice prevails in this case.

    Update: I don’t have any inside information of any kind. But the news is reporting that they’ve found Steven Grant.

    Update 2: There is a press conference going on now at 8:00 PM. It appears Steven Grant is in the hospital with frost bite and hypothermia, they are planning to transport him to the Macomb County Jail sometime tomorrow. Mrs. Grant’s body is at the morgue, there was an autopsy performed today and they are planning a funeral now. The second part of this story is going to be the prosecution. There is already a public battle about the search warrant and everything else.

    Her sister Alicia also gave a statement. She is obviously thankful for all the efforts in finding her sister, gives praise and thanks to God, and expresses some family thoughts about Tara. She called this "a most gruesome act." She closes by reminding all that the families faith in God is their cornerstone at this time.

    It’s hard to express what the community is feeling right now adequately. Romeo/Washington is a small town in suburban Detroit that isn’t used to murder. There hasn’t been a crime of any type in this serious in many years. And while no one I know really knows the Grant family, there was a sincere outpouring of concern and emotion for the kids today at church. It’s interesting to me since the community just doesn’t know how to react.

    Final update: I’m amazed the there are still people coming for information on the murder of Tara Grant. If you are looking for answers about why God allows this type of thing to happen in the world, please email me at mclanea@gmail.com or check out my church… First Baptist of Romeo

    Here’s the story on CBS’s website. Discuss in my Newsvine thread.

  • When God Blesses Your Socks Off

    Last night a member of YMX and friend sent me an email that just dropped my jaw. After exchanging a couple of emails to make sure we were really talking about the same thing and that he wasn’t kidding… the emotions of someone offering such a blessing to us started to sink in.

    It’s amazing when God’s people do something that is a pure blessing. It is incredibly encouraging… which is what I told him. To which he replied, "Encouragment is what we do.
    That and make fart noises with our armpits."