Locked out
Week One - Beard Challenge
After 7 days I figured it was time to trim up a bit. I do not like mustaches so I cut it off and trimmed up my neck area. I was looking on some beard sites like beards.org. What I am going for is commonly called a “Chin Curtain”. My modification I like to refer to as an “amish-afgani”. This would be a mix of…
and 
or like Bush…
This is going to be fun!!!
The Valley of the Real
I successfully reloaded my MacBook Pro tonight. I felt like starting over… there was a ton of “experimental” software and changes I did to the box as I was learning. I also decided not to load Parallels. We don’t need no stinking Windows. That will free up some hard drive space. Yeah.
I jumped on Pownce this week to see what it is all about. I guess this will be a Twitter” alternative. Twitter was sucking air this week. This may be something Sojourn could end up using… we will see.
I finished “On Writing” tonight. It was worth sticking to the end. Good story, although seemingly disjointed from the rest of the book. I learned some things that will hopefully help me as I learn to write “more better”… 
My biggest problem, it seems, is keeping my thoughts on target. I am very scattered in my thinking… lack of focus or Adult ADD or retardo/schizo. I am not much on daydreaming a fiction piece. Real life, to me, is always better than fiction. Perhaps telling my own story and embellishing it ever so slightly would be a good place to start. I have lots of stories. I’m not sure I want to lay myself on the written alter of sacrifice. I usually attempt to run from my pass at all cost. (That is why I have not returned your phone calls… sorry… nothing personal) When coming face to face with the past or the “past” leaves me a voice mail, I usually feel like vomiting and attempt to become as recluse as possible. This also usually consist of playing Michael Hedges (as I am at this moment) non-stop and methodically hashing through the memories as well as journaling instead of blogging.
Why am I telling you this? Therapy perhaps… Somewhere in this wreck I want to believe there is someone else who “gets it”. I want to believe there is something that transcends my written words and gets to my soul.
Michael Hedges is calling…
Stephen King - “On Writing - A memoir of the craft”
I have never been a Stephen King fan. As a matter of fact I have never read one of his books… until now. I am reading “On Writing - A memoir on the craft“. I am one hundred pages into it and must confess, I think the guy is amazing. Early in my “faith” I was always warned that bringing Stephen King into my house would cause home demon possession much like Amityville Horror. I guess I always expected the walls to start bleeding and weirdness like that.
The first half of the book is an honest memoir of childhood and what led Stephen to become a writer. It is a confession of sorts, dealing with alcohol and drug abuse. Many of the stories/books became cries for help. I am in the second half of the book. This is dealing with more specifics of the “craft” of writing. The book thus far has been a huge inspiration to work harder on the craft of writing and learning how to effectively communicate thought the written word.
It has been a good diversion from the standard religious/theology/spiritual/leadership books I normally read. Refreshing…
Tags: Book, Stephen King, Writing
Beard Challenge - Day One
Beard Challenge - See progress here
Pastoral pederass and the protection of a Good Father!!!
I just finished reading Craig Groeschel’s book called “Confessions of a Pastor - Adventures in dropping the pose and getting real with God”. This was a really good read. I read it in less than a day. The book is basically about him getting honest with himself and with God, becoming transparent, and becoming vulnerable. I am glad I read it.
I have learned some valuable lessons this week. There are many books and blogs that I have refrained from reading, because I see so many Christian, Pastor, Posers somehow becoming a infected with trying to become just like their favorite, new, mega-church, pastor. It is a Christian Cult of Personality. Seriously, it turns my stomach and makes me want to vomit. So there was a time I surveyed everything they were reading and put it on my “banned book list”. I did not want to be a “fan boy” or a stalker of a hip and trendy super cool, pastor dude. I have just recently started listening and reading some of these guys, because (ONE) many of then have some good things to say that are valuable to my spiritual growth and my future as a Pastor/Elder/Leader. (I would be a fool to not learn from these guys) (TWO) I won’t become some pastoral pederass (see The Big Lebowski or Urban dictionary) and think I have to hang posters of Craig Groeschel or Andy Stanley, etc on my office wall and dream of the day we will call each other on the phone and about ministry, family, or vacation together at the lake.
Eat the meat and spit out the bones… right.
Back to the book… I am glad I read it. I am glad I dropped the $20 to learn from a pastor what it is to be transparent and vulnerable. I am glad others are willing to sacrifice their self, to allow those of who are in their wake, to learn from their mistakes and failures.
I am glad the Lord is breaking me and molding me. I have often wondered why the Lord has been taking long fulfilling his calling of ministry in my life. I look back at all the shut doors and past ministry frustrations/debachals/derailments. I know now had went forward with those ministry opportunities that I would have crashed and burned. I can look back and see the hand of God, shutting doors and protecting me from falling on my own grenade. Those are some of the hardest times I have EVER gone through… yet I can see a Good Father protecting me and guiding my steps to bring my to my destination which is his good and acceptable and perfect will. What an AMAZING DADDY we have!!!
My next tattoo… for real
I spent the most of my summers at Shoney’s on Greensboro, NC. My dad was a District Manager for Shoney’s back in the day and he carried me and my sister to work with him… Free Strawberry Pie
3 days off…
Wendy and I took a much needed break this weekend. We took the kids down to Smith Lake Wendy’s mom and dad’s lake house. There house is situated in an area where there is no cell connectivity or fast/wireless internet. So we were technology free for 3 days. This was an ultimate blessing. There is something cosmic about not looking at a computer screen or twitter update for 3 days. The curse is, when I got home the inbox was full and the voice mail full.
I was able to “catch up” on some much needed sleep. Seriously, the first day I slept… all day. Sleep, bathroom, eat, sleep, bathroom, eat, sleep… I ended up reading more John Stott (The Cross of Christ) and starting the book of Joshua. It was refreshing to sit out by the lake and journal and think and pray and listen and journal and read. I reconnected with some very valuable insights about myself.
I thrive on quite/comtemplative time. This hustle and bustle, go-go-go, urgent, put out fires, yell, scream, produce… is not for me. I have said this in the past, however, I am very serious… some type of new, family, communal, monasticism sounds refreshing. I am still trying to figure out how I fit in the “The City”… listen to Tim Keller’s messages on “The City”. I am not urban… I need to get to core of who I am.
Sometimes having a pioneer spirit is a curse. Ministry is pretty much a pioneer effort right now. Trying new technologies… exploring new environments, pushing limits… Because of this I think I end up biting off more than I can chew… more than many can chew. I think being a good leader requires knowing how to play to your strengths, maximizing effectiveness, and letting others develop/help your weaknesses. The problem is, for me, it is easy to just plow through… with little thought of strength or effectiveness.
I have determined that I need to take a break about every 6 weeks. I mean go way and leave the technology at home. If the world falls apart while I am away… so be it. At times everyone needs to unplug from the matrix and breathe…
While were were at the lake we were able to help clean up some of the tornado damage from a couple of weeks ago. Hauling limbs, logs, trees… chain saw, 4 wheelers, and tractor… see the pics on flickr.
Thinking on Humbleness
I have been meditating on humbleness the last few days.
Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
It is good to be put on one place at times. Pride is such a deceptive thing. Whither in Church leadership or Marketplace management it is easy to think that we are the great, white, hope… “savior of the system”. There is this arrogance, there you feel as though the place would fall apart if you were not running the show. I had this epiphany walking into work a few weeks ago. This place has been running for 39 years before I arrived and it will run another 39 when I am gone. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and work would move forward.
Same is true in Church work. The church or its systems cannot be focused on a man or personality. The “cult of personality” is very much alive in Jesus church to our shame. Whether it is preaching/teaching or technology or cleaning or kids, there should be an active discipleship process. Discipleship does not apply only to spiritual disciplines, it applies to every aspect of the Kingdom of God. It is the biblical, body concept. Everyone working together for the welfare of the body and the promotion of the gospel.
Sojourn Stories - Monica Skinner
We are starting a series in Colossians. We are producing “Sojourn Stories” to play every week of the series.
