productively lazy

that's the new phrase i'm coining after this week. honestly, i look back over this week (and maybe even spilling a bit into the week prior) and i simply cannot believe how much i've 'achieved' while at home with my kids for the long weekend (and the long evenings leading up to it).

i guess i've earned it. all those resumes. it was like being sent to HR hell. and, of course, i'm in between atlases (the next writing week begins dec 5).

but all that is really just lame justification for why i spent soooo much time in my pajamas over the last 10 days or so.

it's been magical.

it's been good dad/kid time too. i didn't do all of this with my kids (certainly not the R-rated movies or M-rated games), but i did do an awful lot with them on my lap or snuggled up beside me on the couch.

to say we've 'bonded' would be to under-represent the fact that we more oozed-together with sheer fantastical lethargy than just 'hung out.'

anyway, this is what i did:

i've read 3 novels

the man who was thursday, by GK Chesterton
- boring, then brilliant, mystery about anarchy and theology

behemoth, by scott westerfield
- teenage SF about an alternate WW2, very cool

academ's fury, by jim butcher
- pure pulp, love jim butcher's dresden files, but am still undecided about this series


i've watched 5 movies

law abiding citizen, starring gerard butler
- think 'saw' meets 'mission impossible', definately rated-R

the hurt locker, starring jeremy renner
- no plot, but totally scintillating

get him to the greek, starring jonah hill and russel brand
- this was the filthiest movie i've ever seen...please, mom, don't go rent this and get mad at me :)

tangled, starring mandy moore
- this movie was great except for the singing. the singing was crap. it wrecked everything else.

jackass, starring johnny knoxville
- the original, watched purely for Carmel's benefit :)


i've finished 6 video games on the PS3

fallout: new vegas
- game of the year, i think...but somehow i screwed something up and will need to replay it from the beginning. oh well.

call of duty: black opps
- great story. not much of a multi-player guy, so it was too short, but still great.

star wars: the force unleashed II
- loved this.

nier
- this was fun, but very...japanese

spider man: shattered dimensions
- this was stupid X2

james bond: blood stone (still got 2 levels to go on this one, i think)
- this was super fun, easy, but super fun


i've watched two cartoon series (about the 1st half of each)

robotech: the macross saga
- because transformers weren't the first robots in disguise...sadly, however, anna now wants to grow up and be Min Mei (my apologies, future son-in-law, for the sing-song voice and persistently hurt feelings)

voltron: defender of the universe
- honestly, i don't know how anyone could make a cartoon this convoluted, weird, and dumb...and yet, it's great. jake's new favorite.


and, just to make myself sound a little bit spiritual after all, i've read richard rohr's 'the naked now' and 3 separate books on the liturgical calendar (from an anglican, cathlolic, and methodist perspective).


not sure what i'll do this week. hopefully more of the same before i have to go back to being an adult with a job and responsibilities and stuff.

we'll see :)




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still searching for staff

...and it's exhausting.

400+ resumes for the executive pastor job and 90+ resumes for the communication designer job.

and i've been the one to sift through them all, not trusting either the timeline or the discernment of a committee

(we're fond of avoiding committ-ia, here :)

i choose to place my trust in god that he'll bring us the right people in both positions. our church is in a great spot right now, and the right hire(s) could really propel us forward.

i think that's what god has in mind.

so let's keep praying.

D


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concerning ordinary time

i'm having a devil of a time figuring out 'ordinary time.' it's the time between times during the liturgical calendar - after christmas, prior to lent - and there's very little material on why it matters

except by those who say it matters simply because it is not special

(do you understand why i find that an unsatisfactory answer?)

thankfully i've received a little coaching from len sweet on the issue and i think i've got a way forward. suffice to say it'll be a different way forward than either the catholic or the mainline way forward, but it will focus on episodes during christ's life that establish the basis for the church and our mission.

it'll be cool.

it's new material for me to sink my teeth into, and it'll be new stuff for us to explore during the cue.

more later.


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pray for wisdom

that's what i'm praying for...and hoping for

wisdom concerning the finances of westwinds
the future of westwinds
the plans and vision and dreams of westwinds

wisdom for my family
for my schedule
for my limitations
for my future and my development

wisdom for my heart
and my mind and my spirit

wisdom

"get wisdom, get understanding"

yup.


over the last 3 weeks i've conducted over 100 phone interviews, read almost 500 resumes, and made plans for a half-million dollar visionary push at the winds

big stuff

thankfully i don't have to make these plans, or these decisions, on my own. i love working with Jvo - dependable, loyal, jesus-loving - and i'm grateful for both our finance and elder teams - great people, greatly skilled. i'm also thankful for people like conrad lowe (consultant), linda stanley (at leadership network), len sweet (author), and dad (dad :) who can speak wisdom into our scenario and give us good insight.

but - at the end of the day - this church is our responsibility to steward well before god.

we have to make the decisions that affect everyone, and we have to make wise decisions.

i have to make wise decisions.

me. for him.

so i'm praying for wisdom.

please pray too.

D




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what a week!

i finished the advent atlas and got it off to the publishers, have had 11 phone interviews, reviewed over 50 resumes, completed planning/strategy for the remainder of this years' teaching schedule, had 7 one-on-one meetings, finished 2 books...

and it's only wednesday.

sheesh.

it's been humbling to hear the great stories of so many people eager to work at the winds (we're hiring 2 new positions for 2011, remember); but saddening to have to inform 6 different people today that they are no longer in contention for their respective positions.

man, that's tough.

we've had 75+ applicants for the comm. designer job, and 350+ applicants for the XP job, and i've got to whittle down the comm. applicants to my top 3 by friday.

i'll need to get to my top 100 XP candidates by Dec 15.

sheesh.

have i said that already?

in the meantime, i'm working hard and putting a lot of energy into finding us a space for our upcoming youth facility and second campus. we're down to two locations: spring arbor road (the old almac pharmacy) and west ave (the old hollywood video store).

pray for us, and for our entire church leadership, that we are wise, prayerful, and attentive to God

D




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Location:whirlwind

advent artwork

happy birthday to the church of the resurrection

submerged

in my basement, writing on advent, drinking coffee and eating sour kids with my dog

i'm 3/4 done the first draft, am working with a new editor (my friend Caleb is all tied up, and i'm using his friend Julie)

in between frantically trying to remember every appropriate memory, i'm also sifting through XP candidates and applicants for our communication designer job, working on the 2011 ww budget, and wondering why i haven't bought one of those ultra-cold-weather jackets from columbia.com

v for vendetta is my companion read for this project (i find graphic novels to be a nice reprieve from theology) and it is amazing. alan moore is a brilliant writer - a literary power, really - but he mostly wrote graphic novels (all of which i have now read). he also wrote a traditional novel, but it was really dull.

sad, that.

i've also grabbed a bunch of chesterton's novels (at the recommendation of mojo, a prof at SAU) and am working through the 'codex of alera' novels quickly so i can read brandon sanderson's latest in the dragon reborn series.

dork much?

i've got a couple other projects on the go: an american gospel/apocalypse with my friend and sometime research assistant ryan phillips...think of it as a salvation history for the USA much like the OT was for the jews (more on that later, i think...though it might be a cool piece to present at the michigan theatre, as a kind of outreach)

also, ken brewer (also at SAU) and i are working on a beginner bible. it'll include the covenantal scrips from the OT, all of luke (with additions from matthew, mark, and john) and acts chapters 1 + 2. a total newbie will be able to read these 100pages or so and get the complete story of god and the world, with special emphasis on the time between the birth of christ and the birth of the church. it won't be a teaching atlas, just a reader comprised of various selections of scripture. look for it around easter.

and speaking of easter...

plans are still moving forward for our youth center and our second campus. i'm geeked. god is all over this - with great facilities being offered to us at great rates and with a recent donor who suggested he'd be able to donate up to $50K in matching funds over the first year.

god is good.

ok - back to advent

D

leading worship with the iphone

WW Kids Journey does it right on Halloween

ghostly car commercial

halloween origins

(found this on theonion.com)


Halloween Origins

Every Oct. 31, children dress in a variety of popular costumes and go door-to-door collecting candy. Here's where that Halloween tradition, and several others, came from:

Haunted Houses are based on Victorian England's "Scare Manors," places where children who didn't mine enough coal were sent as punishment

Giving children candy at the door began when early American settlers realized it was a lot easier than talking to kids about the meaning of death

Much like people today, pre-Christian pagans would throw toilet parchment all over the tree outside their mean alchemy teacher's house.

Jack-o'-lanterns first debuted in 1981 as part of a marketing scheme to promote Monsanto's invention of the pumpkin

The song "Monster Mash" borrows its melody from a medieval Gregorian All Saints' Day chant entitled "I Worketh In The Abbey Into The Darkness One Night (O Monster Of Salvation)"

Bobbing for apples was originated at a Halloween party by a group of people who were patronizing an armless friend

In 1928, Nathaniel Darder of Worcester was the first guy to give out treats in a strategically loosened bathrobe

According to modern-day Wiccans, most of today's Halloween traditions are actually blah, blah, blah


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got this amazing story about monsters, reprinted here in it's (anonymous) entirety

Monsters in my life

Religon has always been in my life. Strict lutheran family and church raised me. Yet, I never felt God loved me.

I found out that the relationship with God was not good at age 38. It was then that I started to learn that He loved me, forgave me, and wasnt punishing me for being a bad person. This new realization gave me new life, hope, a purpose and a future full of Christ.

My childhood memories are empty besides the severe punishments my siblings and I endured. At twelve I started to physically abuse myself; twelve, parents divorced, then Bulimia set in. At sixteen started looking for love and found it in my daughter. Disowned and alone I raised my daughters. Graduated from high school, college and a masters degree and began teaching, all the while still searching for a love my daughters could not give me. I found it, lost it, and with heartache found my true love; alcohol.

My daughter was raped by two men at age 15 together we tried to keep her alive visiting U of M mental ward four differnt times before she fell into drugs. Alcohol helped me through my hardest times in life. We were together for 12 years before my bottom hit, jobless, homeless, and alone depression had visited me my whole life but know it had taken over. I had found no reason to live, suicidal thoughts consumed me.

My last drink, I awoke in jail, shackled, naked and full of humility and shame. Arrested for my second DUI, felony assult on an officer that would lead me to have to fight for my teaching certificate. I hated myself.

God had provided me with the strength, courage and love, to withstand the pain and humiliation of recovery. His mercy, grace and love saved me. Six years later, I am a better parent and teacher, married, and full of peace. By working through the twelveth steps of AA, I found the real meaning of my life to help others that were in need, as God had provided people in my life and to share my story (testimony). I have been blessed to have the opportunity to do missionary work in Jamica, Brazil, New Orleans with Katerina, inner city Chicago, and local prisons and youth detention centers.
I know now that I can endure anything because I have my best friend with me all the time. The monsters in my life have been defeated by Christ himself.

If you ever need me to share my story to help others know they are not alone, please let me now. I cannot promise no tears.

I have been attending your church since the beginning of this summer, and I love the messages you give.

Thank You.


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getting ready to write for advent

next week i'll be holed up in my basement writing on advent. this will be new for me, as i've never done an advent series before (despite doing numerous christmas series).

in fact, this whole next year will be new for me because we'll be following the liturgical calendar from advent through ordinary time (after pentecost). we just thought it would be cool to put the spin from the winds on the liturgy - both to breathe new life into something, and to validate the traditions of those who've come before us.

so, yeah...advent.

i think it's gonna be cool




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city of jackson releases halloween

(found this article on mlive.com today, but couldn't figure out how to link to it through the blog app on my ipad so i've just reprinted it)


Jackson City Council voted to save Halloween on Tuesday.

At its Sept. 28 meeting, council had passed a motion to encourage children to trick-or-treat from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, not Sunday, which is Halloween.
On Tuesday, Mayor Karen Dunigan said she had heard complaints from numerous citizens about the move so she asked council to go back to the traditional date.

“The city spoke up so it is what it is,” Dunigan said.

Motions to reconsider the previous date and set the new one both passed unanimously. Council is now encouraging children to trick-or-treat from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Dunigan said staff encouraged the move because Sunday night is a school night and also for safety reasons. She said the move was not done maliciously or with intent to anger people.

City Manager Warren Renando said he made the recommendation and a number of cities around Michigan are celebrating Halloween on Saturday. But Renando said he agreed with Dunigan and did not want her to take the criticism for his recommendation.

During citizen comments, two people thanked council for going back to the traditional date.

David Rogers said Halloween might be a minor holiday but it still means a lot to people. “It’s one of life’s little things,” Rogers said.

Mark Kostrzewa said the city has much more important issues to address than Halloween and he was glad the city is keeping the traditional date.
Numerous people criticized City Council for the move on the Citizen Patriot’s website and the Citizen Patriot’s Facebook page.

Dunigan said she still wished people had as much passion about major issues as they did about Halloween.



COMMENT: I do feel a slight tinge of sympathy for the mayor. Making unpopular decisions is hard, and invites a lot of criticism. Criticism hurts, and the mayor is 100% that we should focus our passion on things worthy of our devotion and ardor...but, c'mon, changing trick-or-treating times was a little out of their jurisdiction, don't you think?



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what your facial hair tells her...

Via: OnlineDating.org

city of jackson abducts halloween

apparently, the city of jackson has "moved" halloween from october 31st (sunday) to october 30th (saturday) this year.

no one is allowed to trick-or-treat on sunday, just saturday, because this way 'it won't interfere with school.'

nevermind the fact that every other year halloween interferes with school (by falling on a monday, tuesday, etc) or that oct 31 simply IS the date for halloween (and has been for over 200 years in america).

this year, our local government decided to get involved and make a difference.



in other, unrelated, news valentine's day will be a tuesday morning in 2011, while christmas has been abbreviated to a lunch. thanksgiving, however, will be given an 11-day break from public school (because our children are so far ahead of the educational curve) and moved closer to the beginning of hunting season so the meat is still fresh.





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great day

fantastic day at the winds today...so many great stories of people whose lives are being changed, whose faith is coming alive, whose relationships are being restored.

god is good.

on a more personal level, i just want to give thanks to god for all that's been happening during the monsters series. i was so excited to write monsters, but then was forced to write it on the road on my ipad and was initially very disappointed with the manuscript. for starters, it was waaay too short. and it also didn't have any real world relevance. thanks to my editor, caleb seeling (samizdatcreative.com), the manuscripts were "rescued" and we adapted the project into more of a coffee table book that turned out really well.

i love the finished product, and have loved seeing so many people so positively impacted by god through the series.

but i'll still likely re-write it one day, fleshing it out a little more and adding all of the other unexplored bits about monsters that i had to neglect this time around.

anyway,
i just thought it was worth mentioning that i feel happy and grateful and thankful to god for all he's doing in us, in our church, and in our world.

monsters is available on amazon.com here

and on lulu.com here

I haven't had any strange or critical emails in months

From time to time people like myself - Christian leaders, pastors, teachers, etc - get nasty emails. I understand this. After all, we ought to be passionate in our Christian convictions and feel strongly about our beliefs, so it makes sense to me that when our beliefs are challenged we respond aggressively.

I dont't think it's right, and I'm positive it's not the model Jesus established for us, but I understand where it comes from. It's a mix of godly passion and thoughtless immaturity. It's zeal, tainted by flesh.

We all wrestle with the Spirit, trying to cooperate with God to subdue our fleshly impulses. We all fail in some regard. Thank God there's grace for that, and for us too.

But it is ironic when the occasion for the victory of flesh-over-spirit is either church-related or pertains to some aspect of doctrine or Christian living.

That's ok, though, because God's grace still extends to irony, and I'm praying that I, too, will become more gracious and more quickly overlook offenses.

I'm writing all of this as a reminder to myself, by the way, that I have been forgiven of much and am now required to be more forgiving.

I am happy and grateful and thankful to God that I don't get offended easily, but am ashamed at the things that catch me off guard and make me angry. Usually, if I can see something coming, I am well-prepared to handle any scenario with grace (I'm thinking of church conflicts, interpersonal squabbles, confrontation, miscommunication, etc). However, if something catches me by surprise - especially a certain quality of 'somethings' - then I immediately get super-lightning furious.

And I shouldn't.

It is evidence that I must continue to actively and aggressively welcome the Spirit to transform me with the utmost urgency.

Anyway - the thing that makes me so angry and so often catches me off-guard is a religious spirit. How did Jesus ever love Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea (a member of the Sanhedrin)?

More importantly, how can I learn to love them?

I think I've got the 'don't condone their hateful behavior' part figured out. I feel pretty good about 'challenging them on their self-righteousness.' But what Christ-in-me really wants is for me to genuinely love them in all truth, sincerity, and grace.

I must love the anonymous person who writes me a letter, delivers it at night, and calls me a hypocrite.

I must love the blog commentor who accuses me of being abberant and sinful because I capitalized "Jacob" but not "god" in a blog post.

I must love the seminary student who accuses me of being a heretic when I don't use either the King James bible or the ESV.

I must love the fundamentalist who says I serve Satan and am a false prophet because I like rock and roll, smoke a pipe, and wear jeans to church.

I must love the kid who thinks I'm not biblically grounded because I only read 4 verses of scripture one sunday, or because I read those verses in the middle of my sermon instead of at the beginning.

This feels like it's getting ridiculous.

Apparently, I'm not allowed to continue hating anybody.

jeez.

Actually, let's not abbreviate...the person telling me I must abandon the path of scorn and derision is Jesus.

There will never be an end to "those people," though I do hope that the folks who are now among that group will mature beyond it, just as I hope that the ones who replace them will grow beyond it more quickly.

There can, however, be an end to my surprise. There can be an end to my anger.

I would love to see that version of myself, and choose to be thankful and glad every time I see evidence of Christ-in-me growing stronger, even if what occassions that evidence is the reckless accusation of others.

After 6 months or so of no critical emails, I received 2 this week. I was able to quickly dismiss them as emotiomal and unfounded, but the experience reminds me of how much God still needs to do inside me to deliver me from my flesh.




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scene from the passion of the christ