Innovate Day 2…Its All Making Sense Now.

I don’t even know where to begin. Granger does an amazing job in presenting their message with everything they do. Guy Kawasaki, Mark Beeson, Tim Stevens were the keynote speakers today. I would post the notes but you should check out Tim Stevens blog for those, Tim also has links to other people that are posting about Innovate.

One of the things that we at Living Word are trying to figure out is what makes Granger so successful. Obviously God is causing the growth but what kind of atmosphere do we create for God to add to the church. The one thing that has stood out in my mind other than the great customer service and a great show, is the fact that people feel like they are a part of something that is changing the world. Maybe this is from my skewed bias as an outreach pastor, but in pop culture today, everyone is going “green”, and they are listening to Bono talk about One. People are beginning to get a world view. They want something more than just their jobs to define their lives. We have Christ and a mission, but people that are not on this journey have…what? Even with their family and the causes that they fight for, which are noble, there is still something more that they need to fill that eternal craving on the inside of them.

 

I know its late.

www.chucknorrisfacts.com

Innovate Day 1…The Whale That Spit Me Out and Great Incite On People

Innovate starts tomorrow but today we had some pre conference workshops at Granger Community Church (GCC). Jody, Bruce and I were in the First Impressions workshop with Shelley Arredondo and Mark Waltz.

Even though First Impressions is not directly my ministry and I don’t oversee the welcome team, I was able to take some great incite and a fresh perspective on people. Here are some thoughts:

• First impressions happen in an instant
• If you’re able to listen to customers from their perspective, not everything they say will make sense. Not everything they do will be right but you’ll know more about what you have to do because of it”-Peter Von Stolk, founder of Jones Soda
• In order to understand your audience you have to ask the question “What is the culture talking about?”
• Jesus didn’t “draw the line” all the time. He let them hang around…some got it, some didn’t. When He did draw the line, the ones who were with Him, stuck (one good thing for us is we are not asking our people to drink our blood and eat our flesh. Only to live the life God created them for).

Great first day! I will be posting some more later.

Oh yea. I felt like Jonah today being spit out of a whales mouth. This is a slide entrance from the first floor of GCC into one of the kid ministry rooms. So cool!

Great Pastors of the 21st Century

I was talking to several people about how we have the best pastors in the world at Living Word. Out of all the great pastors of the 21st century I could not see myself learning under anyone else. They are truly pastors after Gods own heart. Thank you Pastor Steve, Connie and Micah for being who God created you to be.

Got a New Word in My Vocabulary

What a great wedding (and not just because I officiated it)! I watched Barry’s face as his bride to be walked down the isle. You could tell he was trying not to smile from ear to ear because his mouth quivered a little. There was love in his eyes. And she did not stop looking at him the whole way down the isle. I stammered through a few words but no one seemed to notice. If the bride and groom were anything like me at my wedding, they didn’t hear a thing I said. Marriage is a beautiful thing. After reading the vows over and over again it made me love my wife even more.

Congratulations Barry and Ernestine!

I love you Jennifer. And everyday I understand what it meas to love you more than the day before.

New Suit New Tie…I can now Hitch!

Ive got a new suit and a tie. Tomorrow I will be officiating my first wedding! Barry Brooks and Ernestine Denning will be Mr. and Mrs. Barry Brooks. Their wedding is going to be beautiful. The music selection is not the norm, but it has a gospel and jazz feel…very nice. I will have some pics uploaded later.

On another note but the same song, I had to learn how to tie a tie. Now, I have plenty of ties but they have remained tied for…about…6…maybe 7 years. Thats why I was glad to run across this great website called tie a tie. Its like he made the site just for me! I now know how to tie a Half Windsor…no problem

Well, tomorrow I will have a new suit and freshly tied tie to “hitch” Barry and Ernestine.

Blog from the Phone

This is a voice note that I created using Jott.com. You call Jott from your cell phone and it transcribes the call to e-mail or sms. In the Getting Things Done world, thats one less inbox I have to check. Now you can even blog with Jott.
Click here to listen

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Monome VS Tenori-On

I love music. Especially the kind that you cant turn up loud in your car because it is so bazaar, and not like anything you hear anywhere other than in basements or deep in the internet. I was looking around on Youtube and found this new really cool insturment called Tenori-on. I dont know too much about it but it seems to run like a drum machiene but with a light show added (im sure there is more to it than that). When I was looking around for more info I stumbled across Monome. Same idea but the Tenori seems to have the ability to run your fingers across the buttons like keys on a piano. However the Monome special edition 40h gives part of it sales to Heifer, and that is pretty thoughtful. Its good to see companies care about people before their profit. Both look to be real great to work with and I want one. So if anyone wants to get me one I will be a very happy boy. I

Tenori-On

Monome

DJ Maj/The Band/Liquid and Your Mom

What a great show we had. Dj Maj, Liquid and the band were amazing. They riped my ears off and stuffed them with some great sounds. I had the opportunity to sit backstage and talk with everyone (thanks Aaron). They were down to earth and very easy to talk to. They were also very mission minded. They came with World Vision, so Jen and I came home with a kid named Mohamed who is from Israel. Dj Maj was probably the second album I bought after I gave my life to God, so it was an honor to meet him. And everyone else…Dj Maj would be nothing without his band. Thanks for a great show!

Who Goes to Church on Saturday?

We had our first Saturdays service @ Living Word and had a great turnout. 60 families signed up to take the “big” step to Saturday night and we had around 250 people the first night. This new service makes for a little more work but gives us more room to reach out to more people. This was also the first week of our new series “Identity Theft“. So much is going on and everything seems to be changing. I Love Change!