Gotta Get a...

I don't know what the holidays brought you, but if you were given a little Christmas cash by a generous family member then you might want to consider helping out the economy by picking up one of these little bad-boyz. I got this as a gift from my wife and a few of her family members and was able to use it for our drive up to Canada for the holidays.



(For the record, we drove to Canada from PA where we were visiting Dawn's family... we did not make the drive from Texas. I'm dumb, but not stupid.)

Now if only my GPS could get me to leave on time...

Bet You Didn't Know This About Me

Bet you didn't know these little facts about yours truly... check them out here.

I'd be willing to trade salaries...

I Could Be in Trouble...

If they ever pass a similar ordinance in Texas, I could be in trouble.

This Is What Happens When...

This is what happens when you give your kid your cell phone to keep them from squirming while you change their diaper. I promise you, this is completely unedited, unscripted and definitely unexpected!




Learn from my mistakes...

Haircut

Ethan got a haircut today in preparation for a birthday party.

Cuttest kid ever!!!

Pics to come.

What I'm Doing

I'm supposed to be working on a sermon right now, but I'm not.

Yes, yes, I know... it's Saturday... but when else am I supposed to manuscript while on vacation? Nap time is the only time - and just to clarify, that would be Ethan's nap time, not mine as I have not yet mastered the art of manuscripting in my sleep. (Wouldn't that be awesome though?? Talk about taking productivity to a whole new level!!)

But I digress. I am not working on my sermon. I'm doing everything but; including, but not limited to:

• spending some quality time catching up with my feed in Google Reader
• checking my fantasy football roster for any needed tweaks (did I mention I'm playing in the superbowl this weekend... yes, yours truly has rocked the hiz-ouse so far and will be man-handling Jason on Sunday)
• sniffling every 30 seconds because I picked up a cold on our flight
• listening to my mother-in-law give play by plays on her Christmas wrapping experiment upstairs every few minutes
• praying for the Cowboys to win, but only by running the ball (Jason)
• thinking about cracking Sticky Church instead of writing
• wishing my wife were home right now - she looks amazing today
• checking out new batteries for my MacBook Pro

Okay... you get the point. I'm not writing. Shame on me.

Shame on you for encouraging me not to write by reading this post.

Amazing Worship

This weekend we hosted a number of artists for a Christmas concert, including Shane and Shane who did a few numbers off of their newly released Christmas album.

But while Shane and Shane were good - the guy who opened for them was great!!! One of my hand's down favorite worship leaders and songwriters, Phil Wickham, not only opened for Shane and Shane but also agreed to stick around and lead worship in Epoch on Sunday morning.

If you've never heard of Phil Wickham then its time to stop hitting the snooze button and get out of your faux, pop-Christian "worship" slumber. Phil is the real deal. He isn't just a musician who cares about worship because it sells albums, he deeply cares about the church and the church's love for Christ. It doesn't hurt that his music is beautifully deep and poetic.

If you've never heard Phil you are in luck. He has a free album available for dowload on his website - its an acoustic worship set recorded earlier this year in Portland.

Yes, I said "free album."

Download it here.

11:15 P.M.

That's what time we woke up last night to the sound of the Tornado sirens blaring through the neighborhood. I'd only been in bed for 30 minutes, but being a deep sleeper I was out... way out.

I opted not to get up.

Don't be alarmed, I stayed awake and listened for something that sounds like a freight train.

Duplication (Con't)

I talked a little about duplication recently in ministry, but there's another facet to that value that I think is equally important (if not more so...) and yet easily forgotten by all too many men in ministry.

I'm talking about duplication at home.

Far too many of the pastors I network with in ministry have a high regard for family, but don't value it personally. They preach on its importance, they mobilize ministries around it and some even mobilize the church to "protect" the family; but when it comes to actually doing the hard work of being a family, many pastors don't measure up.

I know, I know... "I'm so opinionated." "I must have a chip on my shoulder." But hear me out for a moment before you write this off as a rant:

Statistics show that more than 90% of pastors work at least 50 hours a week - most of the ones I know inch closer to 60 than they would care to admit. Most are out more nights than they are in. In one survey I read, over 70% of pastors stated that their marriage was strained. And these are the men (and women) fighting for our families?!?!

If it's true that we teach what we know but we duplicate who we are then what exactly are we... and what exactly are we duplicating at home if we spend more time discipling other people than our own families? Pastors who neglect the greatest opportunity for impact in the one person closest and most available to them - their wife, kids, families, etc. - are completely missing the point. If you can't duplicate in your personal life, how can you possible do it in your ministry life?

To neglect Christ's value for duplication with those given to you first, while trying to master it with those given to you second is backwards, if not criminal. In fact, I'll just go on record and call it stupid. It's akin to a business that opens and immediately seeks to go global before ever establishing loyalty in their own local market.

The gospel was designed to spread out from the center, and pastors that spend so much time wrapped up in other kids lives before their own, or other people's lives before their spouse's not only neglect their greatest stewardship, they will eventually sink their own ministry.

For the record, taking your spouse with you on a ministry dinner doesn't count as quality time. Coming home in time to tuck the kids into bed doesn't cut it. Farming your kids out to a sitter four nights a week so that you can invest in other people's lives completely misses the point.

If you can't duplicate at home, don't expect it in your ministry. Discipleship isn't just for pastors doing ministry, its for every Christian and it has to start from the center.

Don't neglect the center of your ministry. Let Christ build the church.

Okay, okay... end rant.