This is the great advantage of working with the local church in Haiti through Praying Pelican Missions. You will be the guest of local ministry leaders, people who are living with zika every day, who will go above and beyond to make sure that every detail of the trip is well thought out and safe for you. This extends far beyond mosquitos! Where you sleep, what you eat and drink, where we travel… all of these things are done in a way that manages the risk for you.
There’s no guarantee that you won’t get sick.
And you know what?I got sick with Zika [or something just like it.] I started feeling ill on my flight from Miami to San Diego last Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning I was feeling very sick. And by Wednesday afternoon I was so sick and delirious that Kristen made me go to Urgent Care. From there I spent Wednesday through Sunday recovering to the point I am now.
Did I have Zika? Was it something else? What was it? The truth is we’ll never know for certain because I wasn’t tested for anything because I’m not high risk for complications, only pregnant women are. I had most of the symptoms of it but among my symptoms are a bunch of other possibilities, all with the same treatment of rest and hydration. Frankly it doesn’t matter!
Getting Sick Isn’t the Point
Going is the Point.
You could get sick with the flu at home. You could get food poisoning on a cruise. There will be places in the United States to contract Zika (or worse) soon enough. The simple fact is, for me, that getting sick on a mission trip bears no consideration from future involvement. I wasn’t thrilled with being sick, I certainly don’t recommend it as a way to lose weight, but all-in-all I’d rather go in obedience than accept the risks of disobedience.
We don’t do missions because we want to see the world or try new foods or experience new cultures or take risks.
We do missions work because God sends us to be His hands and feet.
About that Trip
17 ministers from 15 North American ministries spent last weekend visiting with church leaders in Southern Haiti.
Together we explored the possibility of ministry partnerships that may manifest itself as a short-term mission trip or even deeper, like a church-to-church partnership that conjoins two sister churches to walk together in common purpose, we even saw one team member returning feeling a call to begin a non-profit to help fund teachers in rural schools where teachers regularly work without payment of any kind. (The going wage for a professional, certified teacher is $125/month!)
The headline to this story isn’t that I got sick.
The headline is:
Six Years After the Earthquake God’s Mission to Redeem Haiti is Running Full Speed Ahead and You Are Invited!
A youth worker from Arizona posted in a Facebook group:
Do you any of you carry during youth events? Concealed or open?
A shocking number of practicing ministers responded affirmatively. They carry a gun while working with teenagers.
A minister of the Good News of Jesus Christ standing before his flock armed with a loaded handgun.
Let that sink in.
It’s simply unfathomably wrong to me. Yes, Americans have a right to bears arms. But a representative of Jesus bears sacred rites that far exceed the man made rights of a nation-state.
Here are three specific reasons I believe it’s wrong for a pastor to carry a handgun in the course of his duties:
1. It’s Contrary to the New Testament Narrative of Pastoral and Apostolic Work
On Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Remember the Garden? Jesus, the Second Adam, was tempted one last time by Satan.
Whereas Adam and Eve failed the test in the garden:
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Genesis 3:4-5
Confronted with controlling the knowledge of life and death, Adam failed.
But Jesus did not. This is at the very heart of understanding the Gospel message. This is why we celebrate Resurrection and the conquering of sin in the first place! In the Garden, tempted with control over his very life, Jesus conquered death… not with the sword… but by power that comes only from the Father.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Now, gun advocates cling to phrases from the New Testament to try to justify their right to carry a gun or protect themselves. Let’s peak at the oft referred to Luke 22:36, He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.) They take this as Jesus commanding his disciples to arm themselves for self-defense… which surely means you can own a gun for self-defense, right? But don’t forget… that sword Jesus told them to go get? That conversation took place the night of Judas’ betrayal. That sword that Jesus told them to get is the same one he told Peter to put away. Oops.
And still people cling to this?
Of course, you don’t see many people preaching with a purse and a bag, or even a sword. This is the maddening joy of literalism! Literalism allows you to contextualize what you want while ignoring other aspects of the same verse! Why is it that this somehow justifies owning a handgun for self-protection in the home when the men Jesus was talking to had no home? Why is it about carrying a gun at all? Why don’t Christian bookstores sell purses, handbags, and swords in the pastoral resources department? That is, after all, so precious a command.
Instead, what we see is Jesus’ followers doing the exact opposite. Not only did Jesus not defend himself in the Garden, not only did he command Peter to put his sword away…. Christian tradition holds that each of the men in the garden with Jesus went on to suffer a similar defenseless death as Apostolic leaders. (With the exception of John, who apparently died of old age.) Moreover, the Apostle Paul and the first generation of pastors planting churches all over the world did not arm themselves as they traveled! In fact, the example of Paul giving his life to the cause of Jesus while remaining defenseless was the great catalyst of growth for Christianity in the first 100 years.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
The cult of Judaism known as The Way, had they armed themselves, would not have survived the first century! The secret sauce of Christianity’s spread under the thumb of the Roman empire was that it was not an insurrection of the sword, it was an insurrection of the heart. Pax Romani would have never allowed a militia of armed religious leaders gathering up people! But men accused of overthrowing Pax Romani with a message of love and forgiveness? This proved unstoppable.
To argue that a Christian leader should arm himself in the course of his sacred duties is to deny the very actions of Jesus and first century Christian leaders. You cannot read the Gospels, Acts, or the Pastoral Epistles and argue otherwise.
2. It’s Contrary to the Historical Position of Pastor Throughout the Centuries
When I saw that Facebook post I instantly thought of the martyrs.
Can you imagine Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Flemming, and Roger Youderian being known not for dying at the hands of the Huaorani but instead tried for crimes against humanity as they defended themselves on Palm Beach? “They threw spears at us so we shot them.” (Read more)
But don’t forget the preachers, who for millennia have gone before us.
Can you imagine Charles Spurgeon, pistol in hand, preaching these words on April 14th, 1840?
Let us stand to our preaching like soldiers to their guns. The pulpit is the Thermopylae of Christendom where our foes shall receive a check; the field of Waterloo where they shall sustain a defeat. Let us preach, and preach evermore! (Charles Spurgeon, sermon The Model Home Mission and the Model Home Missionary, April 14th 1840)
Maybe he’d squeeze off a few rounds right there, just to make a dramatic point?
Can you imagine an armed Billy Graham? How about Billy Sunday in his Chicago White Sox uniform with a sidearm… just in case? You know he preached to the drunk and scoundrels of his day, surely that was less safe than a church youth room.
And what about military chaplains? You know… men who go into combat to minister to soldiers. Surely those guys have sidearms… you know, just in case? No. Throughout history chaplains on the battlefield have been unarmed.
A man kneels before an Orthodox priest in an area separating police and anti-government protesters near Dynamo Stadium on Jan. 25, 2014, in Kiev. (Rob Stothard/Getty Images)
Just two years ago Ukrainian clergy of all Christian traditions bravely stood, unarmed, in the lines between unarmed protestors and the government-controlled, heavily armed henchmen sent by the former president to gun them down.
What about those men’s right to defend themselves? Why didn’t they arm themselves instead of being murdered in the streets by their own government?
Throughout history you will see that clergy– when acting in good faith– rarely arm themselves. Instead churches are places of sanctuary and refuge from the battles of the day. And you would be hard pressed to find clergy with concealed handguns in the pulpit while teaching the word of God!
3. It’s Contrary to the Needs of Today’s Teenagers
Look, let’s say you forget the New Testament narrative. Let’s say you discard completely the historical role of the pastor. Let’s say that you’ve only got the teenagers in front of you to serve the best that you can figure out yourself.
Do the teenagers in your youth group need to see a person teaching them the bible or taking them on a mission trip with a handgun? How can you say “Put your life, future, and faith in Jesus” while showing them with your actions that you don’t? A teenager is wondering, “Is this stuff true? Can Jesus really transform my life, the way I think? Can Jesus give me a new life? Can he forgive my sins… like for real?” and the actions of the youth pastor who is standing there with a Bible on his phone and a gun on his hip seems to contradict the whole thing. “He doesn’t put his life in Jesus’ hands… look, he has a gun. He decides who lives and dies.”
So play it out. Let’s say that you’re playing Chubby Bunny with 30 teenagers and a man walks in with a gun. Is the only possible resolution to that scenario that the youth pastor pulls out a gun and kills that person in the youth room? The power of Christ is limited to bloodshed? I pray not. What happens if a teenager gets pissed off and runs into the youth room with a baseball bat or a knife? Is the youth pastor going to discharge his weapon at a teenager he’s been called by the church to minister to? I pray not.
Let’s pray not.
So why is the youth pastor carrying a gun in the first place? I can only guess at the reasoning.
Where Are the Heroes?
When I saw the Facebook post this morning my heart sunk and my mind raced. I hurt for my tribe. Are we so insecure in our faith that we arm ourselves to go to work? At a church. A CHURCH!!!!
Surely, we don’t live in a country where a youth pastor is so fearful for his life that he arms himself while teaching the Word of God, do we?
And it made me wonder… Where are the Heroes?
Surely, someone can speak to the nonsense? Surely there is a voice that people respect enough to listen to and admit that their behavior does not reflect the position they hold nor the faith they profess.
Surely, someone can help a fellow minister of the Gospel understand that the Second Amendment of the United States is subservient to our God who holds power over government and nations? He is the author and finisher of life. He feeds the sparrows. Like our old preacher Ray Pritchard loved to say, “He is God and we are not.”
And yet…. Where are the voices pulling people aside to say that preaching while armed is wrong? Where are the steady voices reminding leaders that the power of Jesus is bigger, better, and more awesome than the perceived power you feel carrying a gun while teaching teenagers in a church?
My fear is that we’ve exchanged our heroes for Christian celebrities. A hero stands up for what’s right, says and does what needs to be done, and doesn’t worry about making people made. A celebrity? He offends no one. He protects his brand. He murmurs to his friends while saying nothing to his fans.
We need fewer celebrities and more heroes.
Where are the heroes?
Where?
I see none.
My Heroes Didn’t Need Guns
I am thankful for the youth pastors in my life who were heroes to me.
My first exposure to youth group came on an army base in Germany. Ironically, we met in a middle school about 100 yards from a firing range where helicopters and mortars and tanks regularly practiced their crafts of destruction.
Our volunteers were soldiers. And the students they ministered to had moms and dads who knew combat. Not the stuff you see on TV, they knew the real thing.
Did Dan arm himself? Of course not. He fears only God. He respects his role in lives too much. (Though, like myself, Dan doesn’t mind guns for sport or even target shooting.) I learned a lot from him about whom and what to fear. Even now, as we’re both a little older, Dan continues to teach me that lesson. Life has thrown him some pretty nasty curve balls but his hope, his future, and his day-to-day… they remain in Jesus.
We need heroes like Dan. I pray that each teenager who walks into a church gets the pleasure of learning from a man or woman like Dan, a hero of the faith, unconcerned about anything else but the primacy of the risen Christ, even his own life.
This is my third review of Nest products. (A Google company) Also see my reviews of the Nest Thermostat & Nest Cam
Becoming a homeowner has unleashed something deep inside. We went from 7+ years of renting across the street, where we barely locked our doors or thought about where we lived much, to wanting to make sure that our investment is well cared for and looked after to the best of our abilities.
I suppose that’s as natural a response as an ironic one?
That said, as soon as I saw what Nest Protect offered I knew I wanted to give it a try. Since our house had been rented for the last 20+ years it had an array of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that mismatched, were untested, and were oddly placed. You can imagine a tenant just placing them wherever they thought was needed or where they thought might suit their needs. But we had no idea how old any of these detectors were nor how well they may or may not work.
With that in mind, I bought three. One for the hallway near the bedrooms, one for the garage where we store our company’s product, and one for the Tiny Office.
What is Nest Protect?
Here’s the official description:
The Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm speaks up to tell you what the problem is and where it is. It can even send an alert to your phone if an alarm goes off or the batteries are getting low.
The simple act of beeping has saved thousands of lives. But a beep only lets you know that there’s a problem. Somewhere. In an emergency, you don’t have time to guess what’s wrong. With Nest Protect, you don’t have to. Meet the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm.
Adam’s Description:
It’s a $99 smoke/carbon monoxide detector that talks to all the other overpriced Nest stuff in the house. But hey, it talks to you and checks itself, so that’s cool.
The Good
There’s a lot to like about Nest Protect. It’s good looking, it’s got a lot more features than your standard smoke detector, and they work in concert with one another. So if there’s a problem in my garage it’ll give a verbal warning to the rest of the house PLUS it’ll alert me on my phone.
Installation
Out of the box you turn it on by pulling a little paper tab. From there, you go through a very simple setup process using your mobile phone or tablet. Basically, this pairs it with your Nest account and gets it connected to your home internet. One of the things I really like is that after you setup the first one with your phone you can literally just take the rest of them out of the box, put them next to an existing Nest Protect already in your house, press the big button, and it’ll connect itself to your Nest account and wifi. Doesn’t get much easier than that!
After you’ve got it connected (and you’ve named it) you just install it like any other smoke detector. Nest Protect comes with all the screws and mounting plate you’ll need. If you have the battery operated one it comes with a set of batteries that are supposed to last 2+ years. If you have the wired one, you just wire the mounting plate to the electrical box, then the Nest Protect snaps into the mounting plate. In our house, I wired ours into a ceiling junction box, the mounting plate fit nicely on the electrical box, now the Nest Protect essentially acts as the face plate on that junction box.
Installation took approximately 10 minutes per location. Really, really easy for the do-it-yourself-er.
Features I Like
nest Protect
Nest App – Homescreen
Nest Protect – Status
Nest Protect Settings
Nest Protect Activity Sensor Settings
Nest App – Settings
Nest Protect
I really like that all of the smoke/carbon monoxide detectors in our house work in unison. This is normal in a commercial building but a nice luxury for a residence. If I’m in my office and there’s smoke in the house, my office Nest Protect will announce, “Attention, there is smoke in the hallway!”
I love that Nest Protect works with other Nest devices. For instance, let’s say carbon monoxide is detected. Nest will automatically disable your furnace until you clear the warning. Or, let’s say there is steam in the shower, Nest can tell the difference between steam and smoke, so you can set it so that it turns the HVAC fan on to clear the steam. Or, if there’s a little smoke in the kitchen, Nest will ask you if you’d like to turn the HVAC fan on to clear the smoke. Likewise, if you have Nest Cam’s installed in your house, any alarm instance will automatically trigger video to start getting recorded, even if you don’t have it scheduled to record at that time.
I like that there is an activity monitor built in. Basically, Nest Protect is always working and it can detect if someone is home. So let’s say you leave but forget to tell your Nest Thermostat? Protect will detect that you’re not home and set your HVAC system to “away” so that you aren’t heating or cooling when you’re not home. Boom, a penny saved!
Like with all things Nest, I really like how easy the status of everything, and a history of everything it’s capturing is easy to spot, and easy to save. You can do all of this on any smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer. Plus, since you can use a third-party service to export stuff outside of Nest. I’ve got it set-up to export everything to Google Spreadsheets, so I have a full log of every time my HVAC system turns on, smoke alarms are tested, and links to video every time the cameras detect motion. That’s all really, really cool.
One last little feature I really like is that it’ll act as a nightlight. In the middle of the night, with all the lights off, when it detects that I’m walking down the hallway it lights up a white LED glow. That’s a silly feature to like but it’s totally useful! (You can even set the brightness on this feature in the settings.)
Things I Don’t Like
Outside of the price point, I don’t really have any complaints about Nest Protect. It’s easy to install, easy to maintain, and works. That’s about all I’m looking for in something like this.
If I had to make up a complaint it’s that you don’t get to precisely schedule the monthly checkup. You give it a window to do it and it happens without much warning. It’d be nice to get a heads up alert maybe 5 minutes before it happens, because if you’re not paying attention it’s weird when the testing begins. But that’s super, super picky!
The Money Line
If you’re looking for some reassurance that your home is safe while you’re away, the $99 price point of Nest Protect won’t bug you. We have three of them installed in our house right now, I wouldn’t mind getting 2-3 more. So I guess that’s my recommendation!
I’m normally a “get stuff done” kind of person. Early in my career I had an attitude that it didn’t matter what you tossed at me, I was going to get it done on time or early no matter what.
Over the past several months I’ve not been able to keep up that pace. At all. I don’t have all the why answers figured out. But I do have a few things I’ve been thinking about, not as excuses, more like personal understandings that things are permanently changing for the better.
In short, I’ve got to figure out how to live life differently within my capacity.
About Capacity
I do have a capacity. I do actually get full. I used to try to see how much I could take on. The more I took on the better I felt about myself. This was a thing of pride… and also a thing of coming up from poverty. I knew I could take on a lot, I’d proven time and again that I could… and frankly… that capacity felt limitless because I could always find more. I could always make myself a bit more hungry than someone else. But that tank isn’t infinitely bottomless. There really is a time when you fill up the tank. I can’t get to everything because I’ve just got too much to do.
Circumstances. Some of what’s been different the past 8-9 months has been a very big transition to our new house. From house hunting to mortgage stuff to moving to making adaptations to make the new house work for our family, this season has meant that I couldn’t push past capacity and steal time/energy from other things to take on more. When my work day is over, it’s over. Off to Home Depot or whatever.
Self-care. I’m not 25 years old anymore. I don’t want to be 25 years old anymore. That’s not just energy, that’s about self-care. When I would take on more and more and more I started to hear from the shadows of myself… “Is this success? Is this what you need to feel successful?” From those shadows I had to make some changes. At 25 I had a lot to prove to the outside world. Pushing 40 and I’ve got a lot more to prove to myself about what kind of life I want to view as successful for the next 20 years of work/life stuff. Working unlimited, always taking on more, isn’t good self-care and it’s not the success I want for myself.
Family first means work second, period. Look, I am not going to miss it because I’m too busy with work or anything. My family is the my most important thing to invest in for this phase of life. If I screw it up now I’ll regret it the rest of my life. If that means I put a cap on what I can do, okie doke… that’s what I’m going to do. This isn’t that hard of a choice.
Slow down to grow. This last thing is the only thing that’s specifically “about” my work. One of the things that I’ve been learning as we (the Cartel) continue to grow is that my desire to take on too much doesn’t help us grow, it actually keeps us small. I think I used to believe “To be the best you have to beat the rest.” But now I think, “To be the best you’ve got to be more focused than the rest.” You grow by building capacity, not by backfilling a lack of actual capacity with faux capacity.
When You’re Past It
All of that is to ask this: When you’re living life past your capacity what do you do? This is uncharted territory for me so I’ve had to learn this.
The answer is that when you’re past capacity you can’t give up, because if you give up you’ll just drown. Instead, just make progress every single day you can.
I believe heavily in the flywheel concept. Big projects are easy to keep moving if you just keep them moving. But if you let them stop? It takes a lot of effort to restart.
Hence, just keep everything moving the best you can.
In August we will have lived in San Diego for eight years, making it the longest place Kristen and I will have lived in our adult lives. (Chicago, 1994 – 2002; Romeo, 2003 – 2008)
While we’ve fallen in love with and great enjoyed everywhere we’ve lived… there’s just something special about San Diego. While the tagline might be America’s Finest City we’ve become smitten with a place that grabs your heart in unexpected, sometimes non-touristy spots. Here’s a few snapshots of places that have given me goosebumps over these past eight years.
Sunrises over San Diego Bay
https://www.instagram.com/p/zFZca_sjtY/
https://www.instagram.com/p/4J0g6wMjgp/
While tourists slumber, San Diegans take in the sheer, raw beauty of San Diego’s bay. Some of my most haunting moments of solitude have come on a glassy paddle across a silent bay to the bass-laden flats in Chula Vista, watching the sunrise over the mountains, light pouring over where darkness had taken hold. In this distance you hear revelry play on Naval bases while gradually the city wakes up to make noise.
Watching the tiny blue line burst forth into an indescribably sunrise, goosebumps.
Beach Bonfires
https://www.instagram.com/p/5yNlUIMjrV/
While tourists leave our beaches and head for their hotels, locals don fleece to flock to the fire pits partaking in the glorious ritual of a beach bonfire BBQ as the sun sets. Whether at Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, or our newfound favorites in Mission Bay… sitting around a fire while the day slips into night is always magical. Goosebumps.
Viejas Arena
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDUiuq5sjnX/
I couldn’t be more proud to be associated, if only as a fan, all that’s happening at San Diego State University. The development phenomenon goes far beyond the success of football and basketball… but it is symbolized by what happens at Viejas.
Selling out an NIT game in 12 minutes, goosebumps.
Christmas at the San Diego Zoo
https://www.instagram.com/p/xDUY3HMjqh/
Definitely a “locals only” kind of tradition. Each year, after the presents are opened and with supper digesting, San Diegans head to the San Diego Zoo to stroll.
Have you ever heard the lion roar? It’s sound fills the entire park. Goosebumps.
Landing at San Diego airport
https://www.instagram.com/p/nVuEI4sjlL/
Confession? I dreaded flying home to O’Hare or Detroit’s Wayne airport. It was good to be home, but it was never quite like landing at Lindberg Field.
There’s nothing quite like sitting near someone on a plane who has never landed in San Diego before. You see aircraft carriers, the Coronado Bridge, and then… you fly between some skyscrapers before landing right next to the harbor.
Coming home after a long work trip, goosebumps.
Here’s to many more years of San Diego goosebumps.
Last week I mounted a TV in the Tiny Office, connecting it to the new edition of the Apple TV. The previous edition of the Apple TV has been the backbone of our cord cutting efforts and while I did also purchase a Smart TV with Roku built-in for the house, my exclusive Mac usage in the office meant that Apple TV makes the most sense.
What is Apple TV?
Here’s Apple’s official description:
TV is a major part of our lives. We gather together around our big screens to watch big shows and big events. Yet somehow, the overall experience of TV has continued to stagnate. Until now. It all starts by recognizing that apps are the future of television. HBO NOW, WatchESPN, Netflix, Hulu, iTunes — apps are quickly becoming how we watch today. So we built a new foundation around this vision — with a new operating system called tvOS, innovative ways to connect with your screen, and a smart use of Siri to search for something to watch. This is the new Apple TV. This is where television is headed.
Adam’s Description:
It’s is a small, internet connected media streaming device. It connects your TV to the internet and your home network essentially turning your TV into a giant computer monitor.
The new Apple TV remote. The matte black area above the menu button is a touch pad, with a click to select. (Only about 15% bigger than the old Apple TV remote, too)
The Good
I was slow to get on board with Apple TV. I actually had one for about 2 years as part of my travel kit when I speak before we started using it at home. But once we got rid of cable TV the Apple TV has become more and more important to us.
I really like the new edition. I think it’s well worth the $149 upgrade. The addition of apps and tvOS is huge, already leading to the release of 500 apps. I also really like the new remote… it’s really the star of the show. But the star of the show, feature-wise, is the edition of Bluetooth! No more pointing the remote at the TV. And you can sync Apple TV to other Bluetooth devices! In my case I connected my wireless headphones and instantly replaced my need for a nice sound system in the office.
No need to buy a mount, just zip tie it to your wall mount.
Installation
Installation takes less than 5 minutes. Take it out of the package, plug it into the wall, plug the HDMI into the device and the back of your TV, then turn it on.
If you have another iOS device connected to your home network just turn on Bluetooth and select the Apple TV, your iPhone or iPad will actually set-up the Apple TV for you. (This didn’t work for me) Going through the manual setup process took a total of 2-3 minutes, add your iTunes login credentials and wifi password and you’re done.
You can buy mounts. But since this device is basically invisible after installation, I just zip tied it to my TV mount and called it good.
Features I Like
I already mentioned the two new features I like most, the new remote and the the addition of Bluetooth. Beyond that I like that the new edition has 32 GB of storage for movies, music, and games. And I really like that tvOS has opened up Apple TV to act a lot like Apple’s line of phones and tablets. Instead of waiting for Apple to add things, like in previous editions, you can go to the app store and add whatever you want. Plus, if you’ve already purchased the iOS version of a game you can add the tvOS version of the game for free. (Sssshhh… we haven’t told Jackson that the office TV has games!)
As of right now, my most used apps are the CBS All-Access app, WatchESPN, and Netflix. But I really like some of the other apps.
Another little thing that I actually enjoy is the new moving screensavers. That might sound silly but they are STUNNING. For real, you can watch them all here.
Things I Don’t Like
If you aren’t already invested in Apple stuff, particularly if you’ve not purchased movies and music through iTunes, I would recommend Roku instead of Apple TV.
The ongoing battle with Amazon means important apps are missing. As of right now there are a few major things missing that make Roku better. Namely, Roku has Amazon Video [for Amazon Prime members, huge!] and Apple TV doesn’t. (Amazon doesn’t even sell the Apple TV….) But Apple TV is also missing the Sling app. You can still use Sling on your Apple TV, just through AirPlay, which somewhat degrades the experience, especially in contrast to the Roku which has Sling natively and broadcasts it in full HD. But it’s also missing the ability to play Amazon Music, which is what I use instead of the overpriced, overhyped Apple Music.
The remote degrades Bluetooth headphone playback quality. I’m not an expert, but I think the Bluetooth frequency is relatively limited in what it can handle. So if I’m streaming a podcast from Apple TV to my headphones, if I do anything with the remote, which also uses Bluetooth, the sound quality will degrade and stutter until the remote goes to sleep. I think that might be a bug, but it’s an annoying one until Apple addresses it.
The Money Line
If you’ve got an older edition of Apple TV, it’s time for an upgrade. If you’re thinking about dropping cable… you probably want to go ahead and invest. It’s a beautiful interface and Apple has already shown that they are going to continue to invest in tvOS. (Here’s a list of new features in yesterday’s update)
The addition of the app store, Siri, games, media storage… really, Apple TV is another step towards giving you the media you want when you want it.
It can be difficult—at a glance—to reconcile the Jesus we see in the New Testament with much of the Old Testament. But when we dig deeper, he is there, in the lives and stories of some of our most beloved Old Testament heroes. These ten youth group sessions for middle school and senior high youth groups include studies of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samson, Hosea, David, Adam and Eve, and Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz.
About a decade ago I read a lot of Spurgeon sermons. I mean, a lot of them. And one of the things I learned from old Chucky was that no matter where you are in the text, you start with the text and end at the cross. I’m not saying that Eric did this with Finding Jesus in the Old Testament, I’m just saying that one of the things I like about this new curriculum is that it’ll help youth workers do that. I’ve got a personal thing that we should be teaching students way more Bible than we do about topics of the day… so it makes my heart happy when we can get teenagers in the Bible and help them see Jesus in the midst of it all.
The Real Jesus – A Devotional
Jen Bradbury
After a year-long journey researching what teenagers really believe about Jesus, youth worker Jen Bradbury began to notice familiar gaps between common beliefs about Jesus and what the Bible actually tells us about him, culminating in her ground-breaking book, The Jesus Gap: What Teens Really Believe About Jesus. Now, in The Real Jesus, Bradbury addresses the questions head on in a book specifically written for youth themselves: Who is Jesus? Was he God? Was he human? What did he teach? What did he do? Did he sin? And why did he die?
These 50 devotional readings will bring the reality of Jesus to life for the teens in your life, helping them answer the same question he asked his friend, Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” The readings can be digested daily, studied by section, or powered through in just a few sittings. Each reading also contains quotes from real-life teenagers and questions to guide the reader into deeper personal reflection.
I loved Jen’s first book, The Jesus Gap. From the moment I heard her research… basically revealing that the Jesus often taught in youth ministry isn’t actually the Jesus found in the Bible… I loved it. She provides a much-needed revelation about my point above that we tend to teach too many felt needs and too many topics instead of teaching teenagers how to read and interpret the Bible for themselves. That said, I’m not just a guy who likes research: I like the “so what” part more. In The Real Jesus Bradbury takes the learnings from The Jesus Gap and reverse engineers it into 50 devotionals that help students connect deeply with the Jesus of the Bible.
So… this is some of my favorite stuff coming out right now. What’s something new that you’ve found that you like?
There is a central, driving question that I think many people outside of the church are asking and those in church leadership are fervently avoiding: If you are inviting me into a life with Jesus is that life better than the one I’m leading without Jesus?
“Does it work for you or are you just trying to get me to come to your church?”
Actually, I don’t just think people are asking that question in an academic-y, wondering kind of way. Real life people are asking me this question.
Statement of Thesis
What I find, from outside of church employment, is that HOW I live the Christian life is much more important towards reaching people than WHAT my religious practices actually are.
Friends, let the gospel permeate the very way you live and you'll be Good News in the neighborhood. Is your life worth living?
This causes confusion because when I’m talking to friends they like the way I live, maybe even aspire to it, but some of the “HOW I live” stuff is oppositional to the people on the platforms at churches. I’m living a life they want but they know that if they step into a church the model for them looks very, very different.
Statement of the Problem
This is a fundamental flaw with a programmatic church, the religious life of leaders fosters workaholic behavior, that's not Good News.
This is what people see. They are struggling with working too much. They have an inborn desire to connect with God (see Romans 1) but the life they see modeled through church is not a life they see as better, it’s really a life indifferent than what they already know.
In fact, they think, asking them to follow Jesus and get connected with a church is actually asking them to become busier and have even less margin.
They want a life worth living and the church seems to offer an alternative busy life not any better than the life they are already living.
In other words, if the Gospel (Good News of Jesus) being offered by the institutional church that people see isn’t really “good news” to them… why bother?
Obviously, the answer is… they don’t bother.
Where Does This Come From?
Theory One – The church is answering a question no one is asking
Programmatic approaches are very old school marketing, "Is my church the best?" In post-Christian context people want the best life!
Back in the day, Seth Godin argues, advertising and marketing focused on features and benefits of products. The idea was that people carefully considered the best product before making a choice. But that all changed in the late 1980’s and 1990’s with Nike’s “Like Mike” campaign. Successful marketing became about identifying with a brand, people didn’t buy Jordan’s shoes because they were the best, they bought them because they wanted to be like Mike. A current version of this might be Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man” campaign.
Is Dos Equis the best beer? [No, they don’t win awards. It’s just cheap Mexican beer.] That’s not the point of the campaign. The point is that interesting people, people with swagger, drink Dos Equis.
Church leadership is often stuck in this pre-1990’s marketing mindset. Programmatic approaches are presupposing that people are looking for the best church. It’s a fundamental disconnect.
People make a choice. They go to a church they want to identify with. And, interestingly, church insiders will openly tell you where they are in opposition to their church because they might want to be identified with it, but not everything it stands for. So you’ll hear church attendees say, “I got to X church but I struggle with their position on women in ministry.”
But, when you’re asking someone to identify as a Christian they look beyond the activities of the church, they look at the people on the platform… who are literally “above” the people in the pews. (As Dan Kimball pointed out 15 years ago… there’s a reason you sit below the person on the platform. It’s not so you can see, it communicates subconsciously that you are below them and you have to “look up” to hear from them.) And the people I talk to? They look at those who work at churches as workaholics, whose life revolves around their work, who have very little social life, whose margin is forced or non-existent… and they think that they are living a better life without Jesus.
The programmatic church is based on felt needs of insiders. But outsiders are asking a question from higher criticism… “Is the life they are asking me to live better than the one I’m currently living?”
Theory Two – Programmatic church answered a different question for a different day
To understand the "why" of church programming, get to know Philipp Spener & Pia desideria (1675) pic.twitter.com/2Q2e34UhnE
For centuries the church offered few programs. The religious life of pastors looked very different from the one of today. Pietism brought into the church the idea that walking with Jesus meant being involved at church outside of the worship service. And, for a long time, this was a good thing.
But in a post-Christian world, the churches programmatic approach offers very little to someone that they can’t get elsewhere. I don’t need the church to provide a social structure, I have one already. I don’t need the church to provide daily religious activities… I’ve got Google, I can find that if I want it. I don’t need Christian music, I can find Jesus in the art of the world just fine. On and on.
My point is that Pietism answered a different question in a different day. Post-Christian realities beg for different solutions.
A fan yelled this at players last week in disgust. His team, the University of New Mexico, were in the closing minutes of a blowout loss to San Diego State. [In fairness, an Aztec fan yelled something similar at Viejas earlier this year.]
The irony of that moment has stuck with me. It’s ironic because his team, the New Mexico Lobos, are a bunch of amateurs. That’s the point of college athletics. It’s played by amateurs.
March Madness
College hoops dominate my free time January through March. As the conference season unfolds I find myself watching more and more and more college hoops. ESPNU is regularly on in the background like muzak while I work. Last night I watched conference tournament games from four different leagues. And by this point in March my attire has dwindled down to all-Aztecs-all-the-time… all red and black all the time.
For some people March Madness is the NCAA tournament. But for nuts like me? Sometimes I feel like March Madness is an actual illness. A happy addiction.
Let’s Not Forget How This Ends
In our collective March Madness let’s not forget how this ends.
There are 351 division 1 teams in Men’s Basketball. Only 68 teams will make the NCAA tournament. And only one team will hoist a trophy next month in Houston.
Chances are very, very good that your favorite teams season is going to end in a loss. Even my beloved Aztecs are not likely to win it all.
You team’s season might end in a blow out or a buzzer beater. But in that moment… are you going to be mad at the team or are you going to appreciate all that they’ve done?
Here’s the advice of a long-time basketball nut:
Don’t let your March Madness turn into madness against the young men for whom March Madness celebrates.
Don’t blow up online, it just makes you look like a hater.
Don’t get a DUI or do something dumb under the influence, blaming a loss on your crimes.
Don’t disavow your allegiance to your team.
Don’t burn your house down. (Though couch burning in East Lansing is a quaint tradition, so that’s fine.)
And certainly don’t scream at players.
Disappointed? Sure. Sad? That’s normal. Bummed for the players? Totally understandable.
But don’t take it out on them, they are a bunch of amateurs.
I find myself going through this mental checklist more and more. In some ways it feels like it’s the greatest compliment I can give someone when we hang out.
First, I know it’s not expected. Let’s say I’m hanging out with someone. The assumption is that I’m hyper-connected to all things online so I must be on it ALL-THE-TIME. The assumption is that we’ll hang out but I’ll be on my phone.
I have that expectation. I’d much rather be known as someone who asks good questions, who listens, and who cares than someone who knows anything about online life. I mean… one is virtuous and the other sometimes feels like I should have my own creeper van video blog.
I like to blow up that expectation by never once looking at my phone. I want to forget that I have a phone. Sometimes I even turn the thing off altogether. Yeah, it turns off.
Second, I don’t want them to notice. When you pull out your phone and look at it, even in a glancing way, you are communicating to those you are hanging out with that your attention is divided… that you aren’t really there. Now sometimes that’s the best you can offer– half there– but it’s still half there. Even if someone claims they don’t care, they notice. They know that they are not the most important thing in front of them right now and that’s exactly what I don’t want.
I want someone to know that if we’re hanging out, our time together is important to me. In that moment they are the most important thing completely worthy of my attention.
Third, I’m sick of just texting with my friends… I want more! I text, message, Facebook, email my friends all of the time. In a lot of ways that’s how we hang out. But when we’re really together, I don’t want my stupid phone to get in the way because I really value our time together. I don’t just say I wish we could hang out more, I really believe that we should hang out more, so I want to make the most of our time together.
Fourth, I don’t want to give them permission. Our phones are designed to be so stimulating that one person looking at their phone automatically gives everyone else who sees that permission to also look at their phones through the power of suggestion. (Test this out in a public place. It’s hilariously true!) So one of the things I’m thinking about when I am hanging out with someone is that if I pull out my phone to check the time then I’m giving them permission to pull out their phone and check their texts and then we might as well not hang out at all.
In short, I think that in an age where we are so distracted by our devices one of the greatest compliments you can offer is 60 minutes of undivided attention.
p.s. I don’t really think this is a new compliment, more like an old one re-phrased.
Can you imagine Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Flemming, and Roger Youderian being known not for dying at the hands of the Huaorani but instead tried for crimes against humanity as they defended themselves on Palm Beach? “They threw spears at us so we shot them.” (
Finding Jesus in the Old Testament
