Man the bar just keeps getting raised higher and higher for creative marriage propsals. Usually not into these sort of videos but thought this one was especially cool and was filmed in my second home Portland Oregon.
Author Archives: godsidekurt
The Iron Lady
Watched The Iron Lady tonight, a movie which is a biopic of Margaret Thatcher. Overall I thought the movie spent too much time in her older years, stumbling through her memories and failed to display her full glory. As one reviewer wrote: maybe we shouldn’t expect any more from Hollywood portraying a conservative. If you like these kind of movies; alittle history mixed with alittle fiction than I think it’s worth a watch.
I penned a few thoughts after watching the film:
- Even the greatest leaders among us are still human
- Aging is one of the hardest parts of life
- The very people who supported you one minute can turn on you the next
- Life is so short
- Leaders fail to lead if they focus on how people feel about them
- Sometimes the right thing to do is the hard thing to do
- Governments always fail which attempt to care for it’s people rather than empowering them to care for themselves
“We shall stand on principle or we will not stand at all.” Margaret Thatcher
Know When To Pull The Plug
I host a men’s small group at my place every-other week. It’s a fun group of guys and I love being able to open my home and entertain. We have been meeting consistently since November and are on our second study together. When we were looking for a new topic for our study I surveyed the group and we landed on learning
how to study the bible more. I suggested Rick Warren’s: Bible Study Methods which is the classic “go-to” book for the topic. This week we were going to go over the 4th chapter/method and I sensed that we should pull-the-plug on this book. For the past four meetings half the guys admitted not doing the study (if they showed up) and half of those left were complaining about how much time it’s taking to complete it. No doubt this study involved a decent time commitment compared with our previous study however the reality was that this wasn’t working for the majority of our group.
Where some leaders might have doubled-down on the guilt and pressed on in the study…I gave up my own personal desire for the benefit of the group. I believe this is a sign of growth on my part as in the past I don’t know as I would have been so sympathetic. In the end perhaps the most vital aspect of leadership is knowing when to be flexible and when to be firm.
It’s Ok to Disagree.
In the wake of our Presidents announcement of supporting gay marriage this past week it was interesting to see the various responses out there. Perhaps what has troubled me more than him offering his support is watching the backlash from the media and various people around the net against people who disagree with this position. It got me thinking that we don’t know how to disagree anymore…especially on a polarizing issue such as this.
I tweeted this earlier this week: One of the greatest fallacies of our time is that acceptance & tolerance = agreement.
Whatever the issue may be, I think it’s very immature when you express disagreement people throw you into the “intolerant” and “un-accepting” category. The fact of the matter is that I can absolutely accept and even tolerate someone and complete disagree with their actions/choices. This happens every day of our lives with smaller issues and I would argue is an essential part of healthy relationships. Think about the best relationships in your life: isn’t how you disagree on matters a far better indicator of relational health than how you agree on various matters? When you disagree with your spouse do you yell and throw things? When a friend wants to somewhere different for dinner how do you respond? Furthermore what makes relationships exciting is getting to know people different from yourself…learning how to flex and flow, discovering what really matters to you. The best relationships in my life has been the ones that stretched me, challenged me to think differently. What a boring relationship and what a boring world it would be if we all agreed all the time.
No doubt there are extremes on both sides of this issue…but the reaction along with the polls indicate this issue is still far from being settled in our country and let’s remember part of creating a “more perfect union” includes acceptance and tolerance coming from those on both sides of this issue.
Seminary Update
Just finished another semester at Western and thought it might be a good time for an update. After moving back to the Detroit area last fall I transitioned to Westerns Distance Learning side of the seminary. Thankfully I am able to finish my Masters this way and it kept me from having to switch to a new school. I made a significant 
decision recently to change my degree from a Master of Divinity to a Master of Ministry & Leadership. After listening to a bunch of wise counsel this seemed like the right decision which will save me money and remove 30 credits consisting mostly of languages. Fact is with the computer programs out there today at a pastors disposal, I just didn’t see the value in memorizing Greek & Hebrew… especially when I don’t plan on teaching seminary any time soon. 
For the first time since starting in 07′ I am taking a class this summer to ensure I complete things at the end of next year. The course is called: “Developing Your Ministry Potential” and was a prerequisite to the mentored-field ministry courses I will need to start in the fall.
The best news is that I see the light at the end of the tunnel! I will finish seminary by the end of 2013! It will be exciting to complete it and actually be able to choose what I want to read again! Hopefully by then I will have figured out a place to use what I have been learning.
Amazing Story.
Wow once again my obstacles seem so much smaller than they did yesterday…
(BTW if this guy ends up being another fraud I’m gonna be really ticked lol)
Floating Thoughts
- It was 88 degrees here today! Sheesh…not ready for that humidity yet. Especially hard when you drive an automobile with no air conditioning!
- Planning a trip to Portland June 18-25th…hope to connect with as many of my Portland friends/family as I can.
- Excited to see The Avengers this Saturday…wish I was going tonight at the midnight release but couldn’t get someone to switch nights with me.
- Trying to stay positive on the job hunt…but it’s tough when you are out of your career path. Excited about a couple of possibilities but could use some more.
- Will be blogging soon updating my seminary progress…decided to take one course this summer for the first time since starting in 07′ to speed up the process abit.
- Reading Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas for class…excited to explore new, less common ways to connect with God.
- Been enjoying MW3 with the combination of new maps and new friends to play them with.
Social Gaming.
I did something this past week that I have never done in years of playing video games: I played with people I didn’t know IRL (in real life). Let me explain alittle further. I have been playing a popular game called Modern Warfare for the past few years and a major part of the game involves playing with others online. Sometimes you interact with people in the lobby waiting to play or boasting afterwards upon shooting them…usually I only really talked with people I knew in real life. Not sure why this is as it has become much more common to talk and play with anyone online…but it just wasn’t something I wanted to do and I usually always had at least one friend on to play with anyways. This week I was playing with my buddy Scott when we got invited to join these guys
“party” to play with them. With some hesitation we joined them. Turned out to be a couple of adolescents who were very good at this game. While Scott and I didn’t add much to their team, they seemed happy to trade their expertise for our humor. We have been continually playing with them for over a week now and it has been cool getting to know about them more and learn tips from them. One thing that stood out as we got to know them was that they had been playing with the other for over 2 years and have never met in real life! Woah if that isn’t a statement on how relationships are changing rapidly with each new generation I don’t know what is. Another guy we played with was in his twenties and shared that he just returned from serving 7yrs in the Army. After Scott thanked him for his service this turned into a discussion on faith and God…crazy stuff.
In the end I’m not very good at Modern Warfare or Words with Friends…but I don’t really play them to win as much as I do to connect with people. This is what this wave of social gaming is all about…students and adults alike are connecting through games like never before. I was happy this week to cross-over and learn a little bit more about the people around the world that I am playing with. Instead of just some random computer generated character running around the screen with a name on top of it, I was reminded that each represents a person like me out there…a person longing for relational connection.
You Can’t Kill Detroit.
“Detroit is tough because you can’t kill Detroit.”
Beautiful reminder that where many see failure others see opportunity.
The Family Circus
This past weekend NorthRidge started a new series called The Family Circus. While the series focuses in on family it also broadly addresses all relationships. I have always been a big fan of the annual relationship series in church…having sat through many and even taught a number of my own…I know it’s vital importance in our world can’t be overstated. This year it is especially meaningful as I start new relationships and am navigating through some family drama. If you aren’t a church-goer or maybe aren’t in the Detroit area you can catch all of the past talks HERE …and if you want to experience a service without setting foot in a church you can participate in church online every Sunday night at 7pm EST HERE.
