Friday, May 30, 2008
Gettin' on the ebay train
My wife and I got busy today putting items around the house aside to sell on ebay. It's been awhile since I've fiddled around with selling stuff online but we're getting serious about getting out of debt after being a part of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It was an awesome 13 week course that I would highly recommend.
Okay, I'll admit that getting out of debt is not the only motivation to hock the stuff that we didn't put in the last garage sale. But it's also because I am tempted to pile even more debt on so I can get a macbook. My laptop died a year ago and I've been using an old model that someone donated to me but it's having issues getting online. I'm ready to make the jump to just using a laptop (no desktop) and mac just seems to make the most sense. The church is sucking air to pay salaries and keep the lights on (just like just about every church, business and family out there) so it looks like once again I'll be springing for this myself. So...anyone want to buy some stuff?! :)
New technology makes me feel old!
I'm still getting used to all the gizmos and whirly-gigs that can be added to my new blog. I'm fairly tech-savvy, but getting back into blogging after being away for a year or two, I'm seeing how incredibly quick technology changes. I'm feeling very old right now.
I just spent about 45 minutes trying to make sure that people could rss me through feedburner...and I'm not seeing where it made any difference. I'll have to play with it more when I get back from camp.
I leave tomorrow for IMPACT, a discipleship camp for students in Toccoa, GA. It should be a good week. I'm a little nervous being a new diabetes diagnose-ee at the schedule, pace and lack of sleep that happens at this camp. I'll post again as soon as I get back about it.
I just spent about 45 minutes trying to make sure that people could rss me through feedburner...and I'm not seeing where it made any difference. I'll have to play with it more when I get back from camp.
I leave tomorrow for IMPACT, a discipleship camp for students in Toccoa, GA. It should be a good week. I'm a little nervous being a new diabetes diagnose-ee at the schedule, pace and lack of sleep that happens at this camp. I'll post again as soon as I get back about it.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Are you LOST? I am, and love it!
Oh My Gosh! Once again LOST does not disappoint. I just finished watching the season finale and I am blown away by the writing. Just as the path to the story line starts to become more discernible (questions are being answered, things start making sense) and then another turn and you're wondering what just happened. I love a great story - one that can make you run the whole gamut of emotions, and draws you in to the point that the characters are people you know and care about. Great stuff! I can't wait to see where they take it next. If you're not a fan of LOST because you got into it too far in to the story line and nothing made any sense when you watched one episode, do yourself a huge favor. Find a friend who will let you borrow the previous seasons on DVD, lock yourself in a room for several days and CATCH UP! Join the rest of us who are totally addicted and utterly clueless as to what it's really all about. If you are familiar with the show and want more info (theories, behind the scenes, and synopsis of the characters and story line) there are a number of sites and blogs to choose from. One interesting and pretty long blog was "A Complete Theory..." on Dark UFO. There's a ton of theories out there, just part of the fun and part of the LOST experience.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
To Greet or Not to Greet
Tonight as I was leaving the church after a committee meeting, I held the door for a young woman and her daughter entering to attend an awards banquet for a local gymnast team. Outside, a group from my meeting were involved in what looked to be an animated discussion. One of the men was making the point that many schools and organizations were using our facilities but we weren't taking advantage of the opportunity to welcome them into the building and help them feel comfortable. We were basically just providing a meeting space. He recommended having a team of folks to take turns acting as church hosts for the various ceremonies, concerts and plays.
A couple thoughts came to mind.
Honestly, my first thought was that I didn't need yet another reason to stay late at church. As a minister, my family many times gets the short end of the stick because there is always something ministry related that I could spend all my time doing. In fact, I'm trying to get folks in our church away from being tied up with "church stuff" every night of the week. I was looking at maybe an hour with my kids before they had to go to bed (and I also needed to eat dinner and mow the lawn - I know I'm not alone with this kind of scheduling challenge). I'll comment more on this in another post.
But my second thought was that he's right. We can't settle for an "if we build it they will come" mentality. It's certainly true, we get a lot of folks wanting to use the church, but using our building doesn't accomplish what we're ultimately about in and of itself. People might be impressed with a facility, but buildings don't produce life change. God does, and He chooses to do it through people. My friend wasn't suggesting a beat them over the head with a Bible strategy, or a fill their pockets with pamphlets gimmick, rather a human touch that has the potential to rub off a little of the Divine more than any stained glass window or really big room. A friendly greeting and a point in the right direction (to the event or the bathrooms) can leave someone with a different impression of a church that might just bring them back.
A couple thoughts came to mind.
Honestly, my first thought was that I didn't need yet another reason to stay late at church. As a minister, my family many times gets the short end of the stick because there is always something ministry related that I could spend all my time doing. In fact, I'm trying to get folks in our church away from being tied up with "church stuff" every night of the week. I was looking at maybe an hour with my kids before they had to go to bed (and I also needed to eat dinner and mow the lawn - I know I'm not alone with this kind of scheduling challenge). I'll comment more on this in another post.
But my second thought was that he's right. We can't settle for an "if we build it they will come" mentality. It's certainly true, we get a lot of folks wanting to use the church, but using our building doesn't accomplish what we're ultimately about in and of itself. People might be impressed with a facility, but buildings don't produce life change. God does, and He chooses to do it through people. My friend wasn't suggesting a beat them over the head with a Bible strategy, or a fill their pockets with pamphlets gimmick, rather a human touch that has the potential to rub off a little of the Divine more than any stained glass window or really big room. A friendly greeting and a point in the right direction (to the event or the bathrooms) can leave someone with a different impression of a church that might just bring them back.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Jon starts back 2 blogging
I've just decided to get back into blogging and I'm pretty excited about building community and making new online friends. I've been reading some blogs to see what's out there currently and I need to get out there even more. Some bloggers have intimidated me a bit because their thoughts are laid out so well and creatively (Seth Godin's blog is a great one to RSS). I find myself saving so many of his posts because of their great insight and practical advice.
I know that I will get more comfortable with the process the more I use it, but the thing that's pushing me is my love for teaching and encouraging. I hope that this blog will do just that.
I spoke with the rest of the staff about the scope and reach of blogging in ministry last week after staff meeting and will continue to dialog with them until we get something going. I'm reading a great book right now on the subject called "the Blogging Church" by Brian Bailey. I would highly recommend it for churches and ministers looking to broaden their influence in the community and around the world.
I know that I will get more comfortable with the process the more I use it, but the thing that's pushing me is my love for teaching and encouraging. I hope that this blog will do just that.
I spoke with the rest of the staff about the scope and reach of blogging in ministry last week after staff meeting and will continue to dialog with them until we get something going. I'm reading a great book right now on the subject called "the Blogging Church" by Brian Bailey. I would highly recommend it for churches and ministers looking to broaden their influence in the community and around the world.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The normal abnormalcy of ministry
I have brought over some of my previous postings in Xanga - mostly so I could remember some of the experiences and thoughts that I've had in the last couple of years.
Previously Posted on Xanga Saturday, December 03, 2005
So sorry for the absence on my xanga. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm glad you guys liked Turkey Lurky. As much as I'd love to claim total originality, I saw a guy do something similar that I used to work for - Lanny Donoho, the most creative guy I've ever met and worked with. He lives in the Atlanta area but it was back in my college days when I had the privilege of helping him with his summer camps down in Panama city beach. I was hoping to do the relax and take it easy thing for a week before Thanksgiving. But that was not to be. It typically takes a couple days just to get into the swing of vacation. I stayed around the house so I could get some house stuff done. I got a little done but not much. I did get to ride my bike some on the Silver comet trail. I'm getting more used to the clip shoes. I rode hard three days in a row and got a bit saddle sore but since then I've ridden some more and I'm getting more and more used to it. It's just so stinking far away of a drive to go to a trail that is safe enough to ride on. After the pastor read his resignation on Sunday I went ahead and went in to the office to be with the rest of the church staff to make sure everything was ok. It was pretty non-eventful, everybody seemed to be fine, so I was going to continue my vacation on Tuesday. That of course wasn't to happen as Kalem called me about 10am to let me know about the wreck that killed Justin Devore Monday night. I went over to the house immediately just to let them know i was praying for them, but there's really not much you can say in such a terrible situation. With the pastor's resignation and all the stress that that brought with it i was pretty paralyzed in knowing how to help in the situation as a minister or as a youth ministry for Jason and his family. It was a long week, but I know it will continue much longer for the Devore family and the Harrison family. Let's keep them in our prayers. Right now I'm just a bit numb. Tired I guess, it's Saturday morning and I've been at the church finishing the clean up on the youth room. Wednesday was ton of fun. We played a game in the HS time that I was a little nervous about, singing Christmas carols but it actually went really well and everyone seemed to have a blast playing it. Middle school, don't be mad that I had to nix the game in your hour, you guys had all the good food. We left a huge mess though, I was in all Friday, my normal day off and Saturday getting it in some semblance of order. I have a trip this afternoon to northeast GA to have a Christmas party with April's side of the family. That ought to be loads of fun. I was supposed to preach tomorrow but they're putting that off for a week or so to protect me from all the craziness that might just happen on Sunday. Hopefully everything will go peacefully. You guys have a great Saturday. I'm giving all of you a virtual hug.
Previously Posted on Xanga Saturday, December 03, 2005
So sorry for the absence on my xanga. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm glad you guys liked Turkey Lurky. As much as I'd love to claim total originality, I saw a guy do something similar that I used to work for - Lanny Donoho, the most creative guy I've ever met and worked with. He lives in the Atlanta area but it was back in my college days when I had the privilege of helping him with his summer camps down in Panama city beach. I was hoping to do the relax and take it easy thing for a week before Thanksgiving. But that was not to be. It typically takes a couple days just to get into the swing of vacation. I stayed around the house so I could get some house stuff done. I got a little done but not much. I did get to ride my bike some on the Silver comet trail. I'm getting more used to the clip shoes. I rode hard three days in a row and got a bit saddle sore but since then I've ridden some more and I'm getting more and more used to it. It's just so stinking far away of a drive to go to a trail that is safe enough to ride on. After the pastor read his resignation on Sunday I went ahead and went in to the office to be with the rest of the church staff to make sure everything was ok. It was pretty non-eventful, everybody seemed to be fine, so I was going to continue my vacation on Tuesday. That of course wasn't to happen as Kalem called me about 10am to let me know about the wreck that killed Justin Devore Monday night. I went over to the house immediately just to let them know i was praying for them, but there's really not much you can say in such a terrible situation. With the pastor's resignation and all the stress that that brought with it i was pretty paralyzed in knowing how to help in the situation as a minister or as a youth ministry for Jason and his family. It was a long week, but I know it will continue much longer for the Devore family and the Harrison family. Let's keep them in our prayers. Right now I'm just a bit numb. Tired I guess, it's Saturday morning and I've been at the church finishing the clean up on the youth room. Wednesday was ton of fun. We played a game in the HS time that I was a little nervous about, singing Christmas carols but it actually went really well and everyone seemed to have a blast playing it. Middle school, don't be mad that I had to nix the game in your hour, you guys had all the good food. We left a huge mess though, I was in all Friday, my normal day off and Saturday getting it in some semblance of order. I have a trip this afternoon to northeast GA to have a Christmas party with April's side of the family. That ought to be loads of fun. I was supposed to preach tomorrow but they're putting that off for a week or so to protect me from all the craziness that might just happen on Sunday. Hopefully everything will go peacefully. You guys have a great Saturday. I'm giving all of you a virtual hug.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
