Just wait till he gets to 14….
Goodbye Ebay & Paypal
This past week I deleted my Ebay and Paypal accounts. I had both accounts for many years but found myself using them less and less thanks to the popularity and lack of fees at Craigslist. I had thought about moving on from them but decided to stay in case I couldn’t sell something on Craig’s I would have the option on Ebay. However when I sold a cell phone near the end of last summer I was really annoyed at the fees between Ebay & Paypal. On top of that I got a random email at the beginning of this year saying that any money sent to Paypal would now have to be held for 30 days before I could withdraw it. Even though they tried to spin it positively I sensed it was some sort of punishment. While after talking to five reps from Paypal, including management, they were unwilling to remove the hold even after admitting it was put on to my account for “no apparent reason.” This was poor customer service, especially for someone who rarely used the service and never had any disputes or issues.
So do you have an account you rarely use any more? I invite you to join the freedom of deleting your account as I did. I figure with all of the sites and organizations I join monthly it is wise to occasionally prune back the ones I rarely use.
Cool App: Paper Karma
One thing that I am passionate about that I don’t share enough of on my blog is technology. Whether it is my phone, iPad, TV, PC, or PS3 I love to talk tech. I had been thinking about doing a series on app’s that I like and consider this my first installment! I hope that it becomes an avenue for us to discuss apps and perhaps even allow some of you to discover some cool apps that you weren’t aware of.
Do you hate junk mail as much as I do? Do you have little time to do the work necessary to trim it down abit? 
It is available on both the Android and IOS markets for: $Currently FREE (links below)
6months.
Crazy the turns that come in life…
As I sit this weekend and see many of my Facebook friends share about Winter Camp I find myself getting a little reminiscent. Winter Camp was one of my favorite annual events in ministry…like even back when I was an 18yr old punk volunteer. I still remember taking a group of 8th grade guys out at 2am (don’t recommend this) to throw snowballs at the girls cabin and getting yelled at by the youth pastor. Never would have dreamed at the stage that I would become a youth pastor a few years later. I remember in the fall of 04′ heading out west in my Chevy Blazer, saying goodbye to family, friends and a church that I loved into the unknown. When knew it would turn out to be 7 years? I met made some great friends out there…enjoyed much of the adventure and definitely matured into the man I am today. This month marks 6 months that I have been back in Michigan. Even after leaving my position at Sunset the plan wasn’t to return to Michigan, I still felt a purpose out west and planned to finish my masters out there. However after a school years worth of driving a school bus, praying nearly everyday for God to open new doors and instead finding them shutting in my face I began to consider moving back east. Mix in with that I couple of calls from a crying mother and family member struggling to adjust to Alzheimer’s & Assisted Living. People constantly ask me if I see myself returning to the Northwest someday…and my honest answer is I have no clue. I stopped making 5 year goals 5 years ago… but could it happen? Absolutely…a piece of my heart remains in those rainy, evergreen covered hills.
So here I am…still very much in transition, trying to figure out what is next. I remain committed to finishing my Masters degree (another year or so), helping family and making new relationships.
Not my will but Yours be done…
Floating Thoughts
- Another awesome weekend at NorthRidge…like even more so than normal. The ironic thing is I almost stayed home!
- Eh Valentines Day is tomorrow. A greeting card holiday designed to remind me of my relationship status and to fill up my Facebook newsfeed with humblebragging: ”I have the best wife in the world” “My husband is sooo great he made me dinner!!!” “I love my boyfriend so much!”
- Did my taxes for the first time myself thanks to TurboTax. I was surprised that I was getting money back. #needit
- Speaking of $$$ back…I found a buyer for my iPad2 so I plan on upgrading to iPad3 once it’s released in a few weeks!
- Also money related; I took a part-time job driving drugs around town…no for real I will be driving pharmaceuticals around to various nursing homes & assisted living facilities. Still need to find something with insurance however.
- After seeing a couple of trailers for the Hunger Games I’m excited to see it.
- Watched the Grammy’s last night. Loved: Adele, Rihanna, Katy Perry, & Jennifer Hudson’s tribute to Whitney. Thought Taylor’s song was kinda forgettable…along with her annoying pretend shock face like that was her first standing ovation. And the Beach Boys??? What a snooze…can’t believe they got a pass out of their assisted living facility to play for the show.
- Can’t believe I’ve been back in Michigan six months. Still very much in a transition phase and I’m ready to be done with it.
Jumping Ship.
I’m seeing a growing trend lately that bothers me. I will admit right up front that I’m tempted by it myself at times. So what is this trend? Good Leaders leaving the church. I can think of 5 guys off the top of my head that I know personally that have left the church or are seriously considering it. Whether it’s the frustration of church politics, serving with burnt-out or arrogant pastoral staff who won’t return calls and seem unreachable many are moving outside the church to use their gifts. I’ve known guys who worked in a church world for a decade jump ship for a para-church ministry. I’ve seen other guys get frustrated as the church places more and more responsibility on them while keeping their salary the same year after year. Still others avoid church leadership because they don’t have “everything together”…and who would blame them with how the typical church responds when someone has a “moral failure?” (Check out this article on Mars Hill) Recently I learned of youth pastor I respected being fired because of kicking a water bottle in an apparent exhibit of out-of-control anger at a soccer game. Parents put enough pressure on church leadership till they caved and fired the guy after he had served faithfully there for 7yrs! Good leaders shouldn’t be so expendable. No doubt there can be a freedom that comes working outside of the church world, I’m experiencing that right now in my season away as I focus on school and family. Most of the time I remain excited to jump back into vocational ministry, yet at other times I think about creating a non-profit organization aimed at helping churches be more effective and still other times I think it might be smarter to get a “‘real” job and volunteer at a church. Sometimes these thoughts are motivated by a better understanding of my gifts but usually come when I hear from friends struggling on the inside.
As I said many times before, what is the church left with when all the good guys jump ship? Or maybe better put, what happens when all the guys with leadership & pastoral gifts leave the church? I will let you answer that…but I can tell you for the rest of the guys on staff it becomes a drain. Instead of looking forward to go to work you dread it. You bet as I interview for my next ministry position I’m going to be picky. Yes I’m looking for a place to use my gifts to impact God’s Kingdom, but I am also looking for a place that will invest in me, using time and resources to invest in my development.I want to be part of a church that extends grace not only to the congregation but also to its staff.
Sitting on my kitchen table is a 3X5 card with one of my goals as it relates to my next chapter in ministry:
To be part of a ministry team of like-minded and passionate individuals.
I still think and hope that will be within a local church…but who knows.
Halftime In America.
Once again I was floored with this Chrysler commercial during the Superbowl last night. No doubt a big portion of that stems from growing up in the Motor City, from having a sense of pride in the city of my birth. Having lived outside of Michigan I know what most people think of our city, how many are often confused with our pride thinking it should be shame for living in such a place as Detroit.
What I love about this video is the spirit of optimism it has for this city and our nation. It reminds us that just because we are down doesn’t mean we have to be out. I also disagree that it had a political message behind it, although I understand everything becomes political in an election year. Regardless of your party affiliation, we can all agree that our nation is struggling and that no single idea or person can turn us around. It took us years to arrive where we are at today, years of decisions and leaders that brought us to this point in history. Though at times I struggle to see it, I am choosing to hold out hope for this country…
“we find a way through tough times and if we can’t find a way then we will make one…all that matters now is what’s ahead.”
21Day Challenge
While visiting my dad recently in Florida I picked up THIS journal and decided I was ripe to develop some healthier habits. The big idea behind the journal is it challenges you to commit to some health/fitness goals for 21 days with the hope that many of them would become part of your lifestyle. This is different from a diet in that it extends beyond the 21 days. I am excited about this and trust it will be a worthwhile adventure. Beginning tomorrow Feb 1st I am committing to:
- Eating smaller portions
- Making healthier meal choices
- Not eating at restaurants that have drive-thru’s
- Absolutely zero pop/soda (this will likely be the hardest one)
- Visiting the gym 6 days a week
- Running one mile every day
- Attending at least one Yoga/Meditation class each week
- Keeping a daily journal of what I eat and how much I exercise
Would appreciate your encouragement and feedback along the way…let’s do this!
Gods Way > My Way
Do you ever wonder what you might be missing out on? Whatever path in life you chose I think it is human nature to wonder what might be different if you had chosen a different one. I have been committed to living the Christian life for over two decades now and a majority of that time has also been committed to leading others to chose the same journey. There are many common pitfalls that come on this journey, distractions that are no less real for myself than others not yet committed to being a Christ-Follower. Perhaps one of the largest being that we are missing something, missing out on all the “fun stuff.”
There is a verse in Scripture which beautifully addresses this very temptation and offers us great hope.
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.Psalm 84:10
Our essential problem is we tend to compare living for God vs. living for other things as like eating a piece of tree bark compared with an ice cream sundae! When thinking of it this way who wouldn’t chose the ice cream? However the Bible reveals a profound truth with this verse, God’s way is far better! The math here is stunning: 1 day vs. 1000 days….24hrs vs. 24,000hrs. We are taught growing up in America that more is always better than less aren’t we? What is better $1 or $1000? 24hrs with a loved one or 24,000? Another way of interpreting this verse is: a little bit of God is far better than alot of the world. Which is the essence of the struggle…most of us live our lives to get the most out of this world, to get more and more stuff, more money, more fame, more pleasure, more success.
When you dig a little bit below the surface of this verse we understand even more specifically what it might be saying. You see “the courts” were part of the Temple in Jerusalem. They were the farthest out you could be from the center of the structure and still be considered “in the Temple.” It makes me think of an arena where you would go to see a 
concert or sporting event. In the center on the floor is where the action is at and then the seats circle around that action. The courts would be the hallways around the arena, like where the food and bathrooms were…the hallway that you use to get to your seats within the arena. Whew…not sure how much I would enjoy a concert or sporting event from standing in those crowded hallways…and yet this is precisely what this Psalmist is saying…better to be on the fringes near God’s action then any where else!
What if upon sacrificing our lives for His we discover that we actually have taken the most fulfilling, rewarding path possible?
