Hello Ol’ Friend…

I’ve missed you.

Missed you in ways that have resounded within the recesses of my soul for too long.

So much to say.

So many filters in the way.  Longing for the day of speak easy, and speak freely.

Someday…even soon I think.

Anyway, one step at a time.

Feels good….

The Perfect Hiding Place

Eccl 12:12 – …much study is wearisome to the flesh.

Never fails, my most richest moments with my Creator often follow fun.

Case in point – tonight a 10 pm game of Sardines (think Hide and Seek) in an unfamiliar 3 story condo with 20 teens.  Pitch black (other than the glow from my mistimed iPhone Tweet), not a sound, even breath holding to preserve the perfect hiding place.

Note to self, do not let Joe Sanchez use restroom in the middle of game again without first confirming that no one is hiding under the sink.

As adults, why don’t we play more?

Study, study, work, work.  Good and necessary. But even the author of Ecclesiastes understood the Biblical principal of play.  We were designed for fun, ahhhh but life often does its thing.

Game over. Teens still laughing about the scares and misses.  And something feels right inside of me.  A nod to God, and I feel His smile too. I sense Him confirming what I tend to forget.  Step away from “life”. Set your self apart from your routine. Laugh, be silly, play Hide and Seek.

Find YOUR perfect hiding place.  Just be sure the cabinets are clear if you have to gooooo……

When Grace Strikes…

i’m hanging out at the beach this week, hoping for a fresh filling of Him. what i love best about the seashore is the storms. though the angry clouds are often a precursor, the bolts of electricity still surprise.

grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. it strikes us when we walk thru the dark valley of meaningless and empty life…it strikes us when, year after year, the longed for perfection does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. yeah, that’s when grace strikes….ragamuffin

15 Things I Know…

1. I must go through the valley to stand upon the mountain of God.
2. When I’m tired and thirsty He is there.
3. In this walk, it’s never about me.
4. A slow drift takes me miles from where I want to be,  in a matter of minutes.
5. I need others.
6. There are days that I must choose to love.
7. When I choose to engage in Praise and Worship, He is so tangible.
8. Love God, Love others.  The rest is just static.
9. When I am right with my Abba Daddy, my gifts are free to flow and bless others.
10. Livin’ – When I don’t allow myself to get caught up in the pomp and circumstance of life. When I finally stop taking myself so seriously. When I embrace the moment and remember what life used to feel like, and go for it.
11. Nothing brings me greater joy than to watch my girls walk in the gifts that God has given them to advance His Kingdom.
12. There’s my Faith, my Family, then anything Apple.
13. I’ve missed writing.
14. I’ve been hooked on grace lately. Early in my Faith walk I was hooked on the law.  Today I want to be somewhere in the middle.
15. I love you Jesus….

Friday Before Easter Sundays

Guess it’s always bothered me.

Why is it some churches choose to use Good Friday as an extension or overflow for their upcoming Easter services? While we all know Sunday is coming, to ignore the significance of the Crucifixion somehow sells short the risen Savior. Click here to see how one church did their “Good” Friday service.  If I were king for the day, its how I would have all churches do it.

Who Killed God…..

Rappers Delight

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We All Need Someone….

I get it, took me some time, but I do get it now.

Click here to see if you get it too…

When Tweeting is Just Too Long….

You know Twitter as the web’s latest obsession.  Well, as with every new obsession comes something like this:

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Noooooo!!!!!!

I had a chance to catch up on a few past episodes of The Office yesterday.

If you are a fan, you know that Michael Scott, the manager of the office hates Toby – the HR Director.  No one was happier than Michael when Toby left the office last season.

Just once I wish I could express myself like Michael does here. Check out this classic clip when Toby returns:

10 Things A Leader Must Do

Over a pipping hot mug of Hazelnut coffee and a perfectly toasted slice of whole wheat bread with a thin layer of peanut butter and a not so thin layer of honey….

Are you a leader?

It’s time to stop asking that silly question.  As a Christ-follower, we are all leaders.  And like it or not, leaders have responsibilities.  Check out what John Maxwell has to say about you:

10 things you should do as a leader prior to reaching age 40:

1. Know yourself
2. Settle your family life
3. Determine your priorities
4. Develop your philosophy of life
5. Get physically fit
6. Learn your trade
7. Pay the price
8. Develop solid relationships
9. Prepare for the future
10. Find purpose for your life

Over 40?  It’s not too late – it’ll just take a little more effort.  You have a calling on your life.  It’s time for you to answer it….

“Most people spend more time planning their grocery shopping than designing their future.”
- Tom James, Personal Development Coach

Classic Debate

I just finished my last intern class of the semester – I love hanging out with these young minds….so much potential!

I ended our class with a video clip that Jerry Batista shared with me – a spirited debate on the existence of Satan from Nightline.  The fact that we covered Screwtape as one of our studies made this clip relevant (whew).

Did God create evil?

Check out the debate:

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Oh Praise Him….

thanks Andy….

Thank you God for my girls….

Hard Questions

As I read through The Monkey and the Fish I’m taking inventory of my service to God through my local church.  My answers to these tough questions reveal much to me:

- Are people’s lives really any different?

- Is my community and city really being transformed?

- Is hurt and pain really being marginalized in my community?

- Are people becoming David-like in their obedience and faith?

- Are we forging real and strong relationships with people who are not like us?

Where Real Work Gets Done….

A new paradigm shift in work spaces?

I tweaked Chris Brogan’s blog to fit me.  I just love his insight….

I do most of my work at Panera, Borders and Barnes and Noble. Although I have 2 “official” offices, it is rare that you will find me in either for too long.

Why?

* “Bookstores have books, which are full of ideas. When I work here, I can pluck a book off the shelf, get an idea, and get a new perspective on my project.

* Bookstores and cafes have fresh food and lots of people anxious to serve me the food. It means I can focus on what I’m doing and not worry about the sustenance part.

* Bookstores have big parking lots and lots of room to hold brief, cafe-shaped meetings with a few people. They’re not the best place to conduct official business, but they’re perfect for brainstorming and idea gathering and status delivering.

* Bookstores are usually staffed with pleasant people who don’t do what I do, so they’re willing to chat for a few minutes, but won’t bury me in the details.

* Cafes and Bookstores are actually fun.

How come so many people still go to the office? People’s biggest answer usually relates to collaboration. It’s harder to get stuff done when everyone’s spread out.

The second answer seems often to be “we can’t tell when people are working or not.”

That’s the one that bugs me. It just means that management and measurements need tweaking.”

More coffee?

Lord, Keep Me Safe??????

“The desire for safety stands against every noble human endeavor.” – Tacitus, Roman philosopher

If I really believe that my purpose here on this earth is to glorify my Creator Jesus Christ, then I must stop praying the “Lord, keep me/us safe” prayer.

Instead my prayer needs to be – “Today Lord, through whatever means necessary, be glorified through me.”

….and then be man enough to pray it.

A Parable – Who is the Monkey?

A hurricane stranded a monkey on an island. In a protected place on the shore, while waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed to the monkey that the fish was struggling and needed assistance. Being of kind heart, the monkey resolved to help the fish.

A tree leaned precariously over the spot where the fish seemed to struggle. At considerable risk to himself, the monkey moved far out on the limb, reached down, and snatched the fish from the waters. Scurrying back to the safety of his shelter, he carefully laid the fish on dry ground. For a few moments, the fish showed excitement but soon settled into a peaceful rest. – An Eastern Parable.

So rich with layered meaning…so analogous to all that is important to me.

Who is the monkey for you?

For me, its simple.  The monkey is the institutional church of today….

Keep Running

“Right now a lot of men who have considered themselves successful are suddenly feeling as if they’ve fallen behind, perhaps irredeemably so.  Many men are dealing with this sudden economic downturn by taking out their frustrations on themselves – working harder, stressing more, and in some cases, simply giving up.  Too many of us identify with our self worth with the material trappings of our success, and when the foundation of that success begins to crumble, so do we.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Sure, taking the lead in the race feels good, just as eating others dust can put a catch in your throat, but where you are right now is for only right now. Success isn’t about always being in the lead; success is about running a good race and recognizing that the lead position changes from moment to moment.” – Stephen Perrine – Editor of Best Life

Pre-Confessions of a Closet Calvinist

Confession: I have always been a closet Calvinist (a theological system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things….ALL things).

It’s been an inner struggle forever! My (perceived) free will versus the sovereignty of an All Mighty God.

The collective cultural theological pendulum seems to swing between the two.

Is it swinging back to Calvinism? From an article in Time Magazine entitled “The New Calvinism”:

“The New Calvinism offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don’t have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by “glorifying” him.

Ted Olsen, a managing editor at Christianity Today, was quoted recently – “everyone knows where the energy and the passion are in the Evangelical world” — with the pioneering new-Calvinist John Piper of Minneapolis, Seattle’s pugnacious Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Seminary of the huge Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible sold out its first printing, and Reformed blogs like Between Two Worlds are among cyber-Christendom’s hottest links.”

Mohler? Head of the traditional conservative Southern Baptist Convention?

Mohler says, “The moment someone begins to define God’s [being or actions] biblically, that person is drawn to conclusions that are traditionally classified as Calvinist.”

Is it safe to come out yet?

Facebook

Facebook – a sociologist’s dream come true.

If you are not on it yet, you are really missing out.

Value?

Just this past week a friend of mine connected with her son at a critical time in his life on Facebook.  She tells me that he would have never opened up face to face or on the phone the way he did on Facebook.

My teen girls give me a hard time – say that my friend count is not “real friends” – I think they are just jealous

How many friends are too many? Check this out from Facebook’s in-house sociologist:

The famous Dunbar number, or “theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships”, is generally accepted to be about 150. However, in a recent interview with The Economist, Cameron Marlow, a research scientist at Facebook, shared some interesting stats on Facebook users’ social behavior patterns.

His findings: while many people have hundreds friends on Facebook, they still only actively communicate with a small few. Or to quote the author of the article, “Humans may be advertising themselves more efficiently. But they still have the same small circles of intimacy as ever.”

Here’s the data from Marlow:

The average male Facebook user with 120 friends:

• Leaves comments on 7 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall
• Messages or chats with 4 friends

The average female Facebook user with 120 friends:

• Leaves comments on 10 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall
• Messages or chats with 6 friends

The average male Facebook user with 500 friends:

• Leaves comments on 17 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall
• Messages or chats with 10 friends

The average female Facebook user with 500 friends:

• Leaves comments on 26 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall
• Messages or chats with 16 friends

In other words, Facebook users comment on stuff from only about 5-10% of their Facebook friends. And as has been shown by many other studies, women communicate with more people in all cases than men.

“People who are members of online social networks are not so much ‘networking’ as they are ‘broadcasting their lives to an outer tier of acquaintances who aren’t necessarily inside the Dunbar circle,’” Lee Rainie, the director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, says.

It’s all about connection.  Social media is here to stay.  If advancing the Kingdom of God is what you live for, its time that you embrace tools like Facebook and Twitter.