24/7 Life

Well, It’s time for An Anthology of Thoughts to come to an end. Over the last year I have had a lot of fun with this blog, but the last few months I have been wanting to take my blogging in a different direction; thus the lack of posting on this blog.

My new blog is titled “24/7 Life” and is really being birthed out of inspiration I found while reading the book “Cold Tangerines,” last Christmas. This book was written by a woman named Shauna Niequist and is based on the idea of recognizing the blessings in everyday life.

I know, it sounds super simple and it is. But as simple as that sounds all too often we find ourselves taking everyday blessings for granted.

I know I do.

For that reason, I am starting 24/7 Life. This blog will be my attempt to recognize and appreciate the little things in life. Hopefully it will also bring awareness to the people that read it, in terms of appreciating the little things in their own lives.

So, I wish you a Merry Christmas from An Anthology of Thoughts and I hope to see you over at 24/7 Life.

Thanks for reading…

http://247life.wordpress.com

The Experiment has begun

Last night The Crossing launched its “Fast Experiment.” It is essentially a month long fast designed to created change, personally, spiritually, culturally, globally, etc. If you are interested in finding out more about it, I would encourage you to visit, www.newlifecrossing.com.

Lead Now

Well, I spent most of the day at a young adult leadership conference and heard some very good speakers. The last one I heard, I wasn’t a fan of at all, thus the early exit. I kind of felt like I had gotten everything out of the conference that I was going to.

It’s pretty exciting to see people passionate about reaching out to young adults. While the the simulcast that I was at was small. God’s doing some great things at a lot of churches.

My Sleeping Literary Mind

Do you ever feel like there is a part of you that is sleeping? It’s like deep down inside there is a part of you that is hibernating waiting for the warmth of spring to show itself. You know it’s there.

You can hear it breathing, but it’s still.

Dormant.

I’m sitting in my office right now at the desk you see to the left, waiting for a worship service this evening and I feel that way about writing. I know deep down inside that I’m supposed to write. Probably not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But at some point, I believe my literary mind will groggily awaken, yawn, and the process will begin.

But it’s frustrating. It’s almost like an out of body experience. I can see myself writing. I can hear myself mulling over the syntax and yet, when I actually go to write anything of any substance, I flat line and there is nothing…

I can’t wait for spring and the awakening of what I can only believe is an important part of who I’m supposed to be.

Barack Obama

President Elect, Barack Obama.

I’m excited and I’m scared. Glad God is in control.

Coaching Forza

I met with my buddy Bryan today down at Forza and talked about What he’s doing to raise the bar at the shop. He’s talking with a company about doing some consulting in regards to the operations and the business side of things but we also talked about me becoming involved with life coaching some of the employees.

Forza is very much a community oriented company and to be able to further that by pouring into the employees would be incredible. Forza would become more than just a coffee shop but a training ground for students and young adults. A place where they not only earn money but uncover their passions and develop their skills. If I had the opportunity to work at a place like that I would have gobbled it up.

We’ll see how things progress but it looks like this may kick off in Jan.

W.

I went and saw the movie “W” last night with some people from The Crossing and I have to say. The movie wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Bush wasn’t necessarily portrayed in the most positive light but it’s wasn’t the bush bash that I was expecting. The truth is, a lot of the things that made him look bad in the movie, made him look bad in real life. Was there a spin, yes, but it wasn’t too over the top.

I actually would recommend seeing it.

Simple Church

There is a book called “Simple Church” that our staff read a while back and essentially it was about simplifying your programing and making the main thing the main thing. Great principle. I still wonder though, do we as the Church, still make things more complicated than they need to be.

Think about it, Jesus was about two things, loving God and loving people. He wasn’t about anything else. Now that’s simple church. Granted, it’s not easy church but it is very simple.

The distinction between simple and easy is important because if we begin to think that “Church” is easy, we’ll become complacent. Additionally, the very nature of living in this sinful world is not easy. There are lots of temptations, trials, and tribulations, however, the mission of God in this world is still nonetheless simple. Jesus broke it down to two things, love God and love people.

What would the Church look like today if that truly was what we were about?

Is The Church Being The Church

Over the last couple weeks I’ve been mulling over some questions regarding the role of the Church, the effectiveness of the Church, the ministry philosophies of the Church ,etc. Here are some of the questions I’ve been toying with

1. Does the church, complicate the mission of the Church (big C)

2. Do we over think things when it comes to how we go about facilitating ministry?

3. What would it mean for a church to say, “we are so committed to serving that we are going to take a Sunday off from services each month to go out and serve our community?”

4. Isn’t ministry just about two things, loving God and loving others?

5. What is it that draws someone to church for the first time?

6. Are people drawn to church environments or Christians who practice what they preach?

These are just a few of the many questions I’ve been struggling through. What are your thoughts?

“Where Faith And Life Intersect”

I just got done launching a blog for The Crossing. It’s going to be a place for ministry leaders to share what God has been doing in their hearts as a result of The Crossing, as well as for them to give thoughts or insights into the young adult culture. It’s going to be a fun site to keep up on.

Check it out…