Wait a Minute!

Waiting for a meeting…thought I’d blog to help the time pass.  Truth is, been in one of those “waiting seasons” lately.  You know the ones, where it just feels like there is a lot in your life on hold…waiting for a break, a decision, a turning point.  For me it’s awaiting the arrival of our baby in October…it’s awaiting an offer….it’s awaiting winter to finally be done in Wisconsin.  Not a big fan of waiting, don’t know many who are…that said thought I’d at least try to pull out some positives of a season that is inevitable at times in our life:

1.  Waiting forces us to take stock of what’s right in front of us more.  We take notice and appreciate more the things and people we often take most for granted.

2.  Waiting forces us to slow down and really take stock of where we’re at in life, and where we’re going.  If you’ve ever done a maze you know that sometimes to take a step forward requires you to slow down, think, and in some cases take some steps back to get yourself on the right track. 

3.  Waiting makes the arrival so much sweeter.  Whether it’s awaiting the arrival of a newborn, a job, an opportunity, a reunion with loved ones…there are things and people in life that are worth the wait.

4.  Waiting brings opportunity.  Opportunity to either let it frustate or in some cases resucitate our faith.  Slowing down long enough to hear the whisper of God in the midst of the noise of life and busyness.  To trust that at the end of the day God is in control and has our best in mind.

Anyway, what’s your thoughts…what are some positives you’ve found in your seasons of waiting?

Reaching Out to Vegas

(Blog excerpt from Swerve.tv) The Strip Church is doing some pretty aggressive things to reach into the heart of Las Vegas with the message: Jesus loves Sin City. As an outreach of XXXChurch.com, the Strip Church is not only serving those at brothels, strip clubs, and adult trade shows, but also ministering to the many visitors who flow through the Las Vegas Strip.

Craig Gross and his team just launched a new site at http://stripchurch.com to share their efforts and offer some great opportunities to get involved. They’re partnering with churches and individuals so groups can come and serve on the front lines of their mission.

Does Satan Exist?

Watched the Nightline: Face-Off on Thursday Night…interesting forum, debating the existance of Satan…ultimately it was more a debate on the reality of God.  The forum consisted of Mark Driscoll (Pastor, Mars Hill in Seattle), Annie Lambert (Founder of Hookers for Jesus), Deepak Chopra (New Age Author), and Carlton Pearson (Pastor & Author).  Included a clip of the debate…check out the whole debate by going to the Nightline website at http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/  you can also read more about it by going to the Mars Hill Blog at http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2009/03/15/mars-hill-church-to-host-abc-nightline-debate/

Interested to hear some of your thoughts from the debate.

Men Should Get Pregnant.

Great comedy clip…thought you might get a kick out of it…check it out…

Water Walk?

Thought this was a great idea in terms of bringing to light the mission and need in Africa for the most basic of needs…clean water.  Check this out, it was done by Liquid Church, one of my favorite multi-site churches in the country…a church that just get’s it! 

When Surreal Becomes Real.

Amazing… is all I can say!  My wife and I got to hear the heartbeat of our child for the firstime today! Much like tuning in a bad AM radio, after a few minutes we heard this rapid 160 beats per minute…little heart.  It’s funny something seems to happen when you hear it…it’s this unique mix of utter joy, excitement, and fear.  What once seemed so surreal became in a simple heartbeat so very real…we’re going to be parents.  You know I can’t help but think that when it comes to our faith it’s not much different for those around us.  They can hear all the talk, all the theological arguments for God, we can pass out tracts until we’re worn out…but my guess is that the idea of God, the reality of God’s presence in our lives never truly becomes real until they encounter His heart being lived out through us.  I like what Paul says in 1 Cor 13:1…“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would be only a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.”

The Road Less Traveled.

I thought I’d share a video from Francis Chan below that really challenged me and reminded me that truly the goal as Christ-followers isn’t to simply to play it safe.  Jesus speaks of the road of faith as a narrow road, in other words it’s the bumpy, dusty, dirty, rugged road that can’t help but make us uncomfortable at times…it’s the road less traveled…it’s the road that when we have the courage to take it leads us to a life of adventure, a life of trust and dependance on God, a life of true fulfillment.  Anyway, check out this video…love what Francis says here…

Good Stuff.

Sitting in Freeport sipping on a no-whip, skim…mocha…trying to watch the weight you know.  Anyway, can’t help but be excited for the days to come at our campus.  The new series that starts this weekend is a great follow-up to the Bucket List.  Entitled “You’ve Kicked the Bucket…Now What?” it’s going to touch on all those questions so many of us have about life after death.  The stage is going to get a new look for the series as well with tons of candles (and yes…they’re fake) to give that somber chapel / funeral home look…yep kinda creepy I know…but cool nonetheless…you’ll have to check it out.  Anyway, lots to be excited about…we’re coming off our fourth week in a row of a 100+ adults in the service…we’ve got spontaneous baptisms coming up on Easter, which will be amazing to be apart of…and this weekend we’re announcing the addition of a Worship Leader to our Campus Staff.  Like I said…lot’s to be excited about as God continues to do things beyond our expectations and plans….”only God.”  Anyway, invite your friends, neighbors, the mailman out to the campus this Sunday..they won’t regret it.

Did You Know?

As a closet reality show junkie myself…thought this was an interesting reality show factoid to ponder.  Anyway check it out…any thoughts?

Half of American Idol’s Top Ten are Worship Leaders or Have Church Ties (originally published on Todd Rhodes blog)

According to MTV.com: “more than half of this year’s crop of finalists — including Danny Gokey, Michael Sarver, Kris Allen, Scott MacIntyre, Matt Giraud and Lil Rounds — either have a strong affiliation with the church or are worship leaders in their communities.

“I think that Christians probably watch the show all the time but maybe don’t admit it. But this gives them someone to root for in this cast who is not just talented but also follows their faith, and people want to get behind contestants who align with their views,” said Joanne Brokaw, who writes the Gospel Soundcheck” column for the spirituality Web site BeliefNet.com. “Christian music has always had this cheesy label attached to it, and this shows that a Christian singer can have artistic integrity and they are people who can really sing.”

House on the Rock.

Last weekend Holli and I got away to a place called the House on the Rock.  Apparantly you can’t live in Wisconsin without seeing this place atleast once.  Have to say in a word…weird!  It’s like a monument to being a pac-rat, as you tour one room after another of this guys very unique collection of oddities.  There were some cool things to check out…some pretty cool shag carpeting throughout…a 90 foot whale structure…and some great countryside views.  Anyway, it was fun just getting away with my wife…hanging out and relaxing…really need to do this more often.