New Book Coming Soon!

My friend, and co-worker, Kem Meyer is releasing her first book!  Very exciting!  

How we communicate as churches is critical to how the gospel is brought to this world.  Kem is amazing at this!  It is ready for pre-order on Amazon right HERE.

Anyone Need Help with the Bible?

Have you ever wanted to memorize the order of all the books in Bible?  I had the same problem and I wanted my kids to learn them as well.  So, I wrote a couple of songs that I thought might be helpful.  They are meant for kids, but I've found that adults find them useful as well.  Who needs Bible tabs?  We don't need no stinking tabs!

You can download the songs for free HERE.  Let me know if they work for you.  God bless.

A Prayer for President Obama

On this historic day, where the peaceful passing of power takes place.  Where a person who would not have had full voting rights 60 years ago, now is our President.  It seems right that we should pray.  Here is my prayer for our next president:

Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, set up your kingdom in the midst of Barack Obama.  I pray that he would have courage and wisdom to make decisions that would honor You.  I pray for strength for the journey and integrity to live without regret.  That his responsibilities as leader of our nation do not overwhelm him to the point of taking care of his family.  

I pray for Michelle, Father.  That her character and strength would only further her husband's resolve to live a Godly life.  That she, herself, would make a huge difference in this world and thus encouraging other women to do the same.  I pray for their daughters, Malia Ann and Sasha.  That they would be able to live lives still as children.  Though it will be different, I pray that they are shielded from some of the harsh realities of the world.  I pray protection over this family.  May they listen as you guide their every step.  

I pray for the people around our President.  That they would be people of integrity and that their counsel would be valuable.  I pray for great discernment during times when the path seems unclear and great understanding of the deeper issues that are at hand.  I pray for a soft heart for him, Lord.  May he keep humility deep in his soul.  Your word says that no leader is placed in power apart from your will.  I trust that you will use this man to allow the Church to be the Church.  The hope of the world.  He has said it himself that government is not the hope of our world.  I pray that he sees a strong Church in the coming years.  A Church willing to humble themselves and pray and so doing, see the healing of our land.  And beyond that the healing of the world.  

Jesus, forgive him when he sins.  Just as you forgive each of us.  May his conscience quickly convict him of wrong and bring about repentance. Holy Spirit, you are in the business of renewal.  You know that our country needs it.  So I humbly ask, that you would renew the Obama family.  Each day provide them new mercies.  Bless them richly with your favor.  God, I do ask that You bless our country - not in some selfish way that we would hoard what we have and oppress the rest of the world.  That we would, due in part to President Obama's leadership, be a blessing to this world.  That Your kingdom would come and Your will would be done here on earth as it is in heaven.  

This I pray in the mighty name of Jesus.  The strong Son of God.  Amen.

A Song for MLK

This is a beautiful song by one of my favorite singer/songwriters, James Taylor.  Taking the time to remember a man (Martin Luther King) who was a great example of courage and leadership through immense resistance.     

Anybody using Boxee?

Free internet TV.  Could be where we're all headed?

Thinking about checking this out.  Any wisdom?

quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo.

NY Times article here.

I LOVE THIS GAME!

Does anyone else LOVE this game?  I waited 3 Christmases to get this one.  My daughter, Sophie, and I love playing Rush Hour.   

I like it because:

1. It's simple.  No complex rules - Have you ever played the new version of Life?  Oh my!
2. It's lasting.  You can play it over and over again with the same cards and it's still fun.  It doesn't get boring quick.
3. It's smart.  It stretches your mind while having fun. 

Thinkfun is a great game company.  Love their products. 

Just found the online version here.  Happy driving.

What messages are we sending?

Have you ever been in a situation where you are at a table for coffee with a friend and they get a "tweet" on their phone and they take the time to answer it?  Or that cell phone call that interrupts dinner?  Or that email that "bings" on the computer that has to be taken care of before bed?

 

3 areas of concern for me:

1. Tact.  There seems to be a breakdown in social "tact" that just isn't right.  The twitter or facebook that "must" be tended to says something about value in a relationship.  At the cost of "cheating" the person who is present, a person will answer a text or tweet.  Something is not right.  Watch out for how many times we say "I've gotta take this."
   
2. Availability.  We're just too available to people.  Though cells and instant email is good in many ways, we've got to learn to set limits.  As people who lead people, are we available ALL THE TIME?  I hope not.  At a certain point in the night, we should "put the phone down and walk away.  Just walk away."  Emails answered at 2AM give the impression that we do and should be working ALL THE TIME!
3. Identity.  It scares me that a whole generation of people are being raised up that believe that their worth can somehow tie into how many hits or comments they receive on a blog/facebook/twitter.   It also scares me that I can easily fall into this trap as well.  

Our job as leaders is to set the example for others.  These are three areas that I'm working to be more intentional on.  Any thoughts?

iTunes Anywhere!

Apple just announced that iTunes is now available on both Wi-Fi and now it's cellular network.  This is good news when you're out and about using the Shazam app and want to download the song you are hearing in Mall bathroom.  Um...  Is that a little too much info?  

Article here.

5X5@5

The five members of our Senior Management Team from Granger Community Church are going on a multi-day retreat this week to pray, plan and strategize for the coming year/years of ministry.  

My friend, and teammate, Adam Callender came up with this idea:  

For the 5 leaders of our church, pray 5 minutes at 5pm for this entire week. 

I love to see the pastoral heart of Adam in this.  Here was his email to our staff:

I don’t think I need to convince anyone that this is a very important time for Granger, not because of budget, but because we have a whole community, country, and world that needs to know Jesus TODAY, all while we face challenges like we have never faced before. Because of that significance I’d like to ask you to join me by praying for them this week. I will be praying for our 5 pastors for 5 minutes at 5pm everyday this week. With that here are the five things I’ll be praying for:

· Their families—that God protect them and show them love and peace while they are away

· Wisdom and Discernment to make sense of our current situation

· Unity—that God grows them together as one during this time

· Strength—to persevere for the 5 days of meetings and conversations

· Courage—Mark (and I believe God) made it very clear to us last year what his One Prayer is for His church and I don’t think that has changed today. Pray for courage for them to lead boldly not cautiously, so we can be a courageous church that gives glory to God.

Again, this is what I’m doing. You may choose to do more or less but I do encourage you to do something special this week.

Adam

I'm with him.  If you'd like to join us, please do.  

FOOD DROP '09 - Family and Friends

I had the great chance yesterday to serve at the Food Drop '09 where we feed literally thousands of people in one day!  Unloading boxes of food and personal care items from Feed the Children and then getting them to people and food pantries across Michiana.  What a privilege!  What an honor to be the hands and feet of Christ.

I got to do this with my family.  This is our first year of actually going to the apartments where we could deliver the food face to face.  I think it was a great experience for my girls; putting a face on the boxes that we had loaded in years past.  We are praying for the people we delivered the love of Jesus to.  For Wes who lost his job 5 months ago.  For Sky who wants understanding in her family.  For Paul who wants to move forward and not stay stuck in a rut.  Our family is praying for these people.

I also got to do this alongside friends from the GCC Creative Arts team.  These crazy people give me life.  I pray for them and I know they are praying for me.  I love doing life with them.  It is so fun to serve with people you really love!

Special Time

A few nights ago, our family did what we call "special night time stuff" (catchy, huh?).  This is a time where about 20 minutes is spent one parent to one child where we ask each other questions and we tell true stories.  (We tried the make believe stuff, but it didn't fly.)  They like to hear about our pasts.  Adventures when we went to camp, how we were when we were their age, vacation stories from when we were young.  We try to do this every week 2x so that each kid gets contact with each parent.  

So the other night, my oldest , asked me, "Dad, are you going to do anything different this next year?"  Earlier that morning I had some prayer time with God and got the impression that I needed to spend "special morning time stuff" with God.  I have been pretty consistent for about 5 months of each day getting up and reading my Bible.  Part of the process has been looking for a word/verse to share with my other blog OneThought.net.  What this has been doing is it has been taking my focus off what I need to hear from God and focusing on what I think others need to hear.  My morning routine has become a bit longer because of this, but I can already sense the benefits to my walk with Christ.  

As leaders of others, we need to protect that which is most central to us - Christ.  It's kind of the put your own air mask on first before you try to help others.  I think once we shift into "output only" mode, it is there that stale religion and obligation can take root.  

Kids' Weekend Fun

It was so great to worship this past weekend with the kids at Granger Community Church.  Check out the service here.

Successful or Faithful?

This morning, I read this:

"God is not easily impressed - but then He never asks us to try to impress Him.  It is as if He turns to us when we are consumed with our own unworthiness and are tempted to avoid meeting with Him, then He cuts across all our excuses and says: 'Relax, I already know you.'

Amy Carmichael captures this feeling of such an exchange in her book His thoughts said... His Father said...

The son said, But I am not successful.

His Father said, 

At the end of the day will My word be,

Come, thou good and successful servant?

If only thou wilt walk humbly with thy God it will be, 

Come, thou good and faithful servant.

We are not called to be successful, but faithful - relax!"

from Celtic Daily Prayer

Speaking of Amazing Kids...

This rocks!!!!


Head Sways and Hands to Chest Galore from Behind the Scenes on Vimeo.

School of (Worship) Rock

I'm proud of these kids.  This after only 1 hour of practicing together.

More to come soon!  With kids singing!

Catalyst OneDay(Later)

So, it's the day after the awesome Catalyst OneDay event that we hosted at Granger Community Church.  More OneDay events are coming to Georgia and Texas in the winter.

I love conferences I think because I like to learn new things.  Only thing is, I've been to a lot of conferences that I seem to not remember a whole lot from even when I take good notes.  I like the the idea of trying to work on a couple or three things, so I thought I'd think back to yesterday and pick 3 things that I felt I learned or was reminded of:

1. Personal spiritual momentum is fueled by greater amounts of time spent in your area of giftedness. (Andy Stanley) This is huge for me.  I think I'm in a season right now where personal walk and using my gifts are lining up well.  I can look back to dry spells when I wasn't using my gifts as I should.  Now to help others do the same thing.

2. Never sacrifice your relationship with Jesus at the altar of doing ministry.  (Craig Groeschel) There will be busy seasons, but make sure you are proactive enough to schedule recovery time.

3. Your people need your leadership gift more than they need what you can do.  (Andy Stanley)  For those of us charged to lead people, this is a kick in the head.  I often get trapped in the doing of things and then don't have time to lead the teams I'm leading.  Delegating by giving people authority (not tasks) helps us to develop the leaders around us.

If you were there and have one to share, feel free.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHT: Got to hang out with Steve Fee and Matt Adkins from Fee. VERY COOL GUYS.

They Say Imitation is the Sincerest form of Flattery

Nice job on this! You guys rock!

More Advent Conspiracy

I'm loving so much of what Advent Conspiracy has to say. Check this out from Rick McKinley - pastor at Imago Dei.



This is the promo which several bloggers in my world have posted:

Creativity in the Church

This is how creativity in the Church does some amazing things:

New Creation from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

Thanks Johnny Keim.

Can or Should?

I've been thinking about this question a lot lately.

There are a lot of things I CAN do each day.  I have a certain set of gifts/abilities/opportunities that I can invest my time into.   The bigger question to consider for me now is, "SHOULD I?"

For me, this seems to be a stewardship issue.  How we steward our time tells a lot about our walk with God.  If I consider my return on my investment, how am I doing in building the Kingdom values in my life?  The Bible often talks about consecrating things - or separating them - for holy purposes.  What does consecrated time look like?  What does today look like?  

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12