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