HOPE DEALER In Amishland

Here is another link about my new favorite political topic. A new article out today is yet another refutation of the global warming religion. I'm all for taking care of the earth, but it is not the greatest moral issue of our day. If you've watched the interesting but propaganda filled, "Inconvenient Truth," here is another interesting non-partisan response. click here On another note, tomorrow we're asking the question, "What Drives Your Life?" So what does? The world is driven by sex, money, entertainment and so on... Ultimately it is meaningless but very seductive. We are constantly tempted to sit in the driver seat of our lives and do what we want whenever we want to. This is a huge question, what is driving you? Is it stuff or eternity? Consider it, think about it and evaluate. The stakes are eternal. More to come on this topic...

We're kicking off one service this week at 10 a.m.! I'm pretty stoked about it and I'm looking forward to our new series, "DRIVE." We're going to have a number of guests the last 3 weeks that will give us a bigger perspective of what God is doing around our country and around our world. The first 2 weeks we'll be talking about what drives our church and what should drive our lives. Good stuff...

Seth Godin posted this on his blog the other day (sethgodin.typepad.com). He is a pretty brilliant guy who makes you think about what is and maybe how to change it. I love this post, thankfully our church leadership team does not fit this description. Reasons and excuses Most organizations need a good reason to do something new. All they need is a flimsy excuse to not do something for the first time. And they often need a lawsuit to stop doing something they're used to. This would be a great site to pass along to your boss, or if you are the boss, you should read it. It's very challenging and makes me feel like there are obvious answers to important questions related to whatever our profession or business may be.

I was messing around with my new laptop this week while trying to get re-organized and I took some pictures. The picture above was done in one of the new programs and is a pretty funny distortion of my head, I think. My head is pretty huge! It got me thinking about the message series that we just completed on Sunday mornings. We called the series, 'it,' and it was all about making a difference with love. I oftentimes wonder if I am really making a difference, how about you? I hope that my reality isn't skewed and my head is simply inflated with unrealistic ideas of who I am and what I'm doing. This past week my parents visited with 3 (out of 5) of my adopted siblings. After 2 days they left and I realized this amazing thing had happened. I thought that when they left my house it would be a disaster. It wasn't. As I walked around my house this past Saturday, I realized that my mom had cleaned and actually left everything in better condition then when they

This past Tuesday night (June 12) at 6:46 p.m., Colby James made his grand entrance into the world! Everyone is doing great and we are getting adjusted to baby number 4. He was 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 inches long. I will re-enter the blogisphere next week, until then, Happy Dad's day...

Tomorrow morning (Tues.) at 8 a.m. Michele will be induced. Our new baby will be here in a matter of hours! It's hard to believe that Michele is 2 days late, especially with #4. My theory is that the baby is a girl because she is making us wait while she is getting ready to come out. What do you think, boy or girl? Let the guessing begin...

I just found out that my wife isn't pregnant after all! I've been duped all this time, the fake belly, the poor sleeping habits, it was all a cover... just teasing. Michele still hasn't given birth! Everything is cool, just hoping to have that baby soon. In other news, the Paris Hilton/OJ story is moderately ridiculous, wouldn't you say? Check out this video from Jay Leno's monologue last night on the Tonight show, it's put everything in perspective. click here. Also, interesting video on the mainline and catholic churches doing creative ministry. I think it is legit, not sure what I think about U2charist. Check the video out for more. click here. At least they are attempting to reach more people with the incredible news of Jesus Christ. One last story. Did you read about the guy in the wheel chair stuck on the front grill of the tractor trailer going 50 mph? Some people will do anything to get in the news! click here. Anyway, hopefully some

Tonight could be the night! Hopefully #4 will show up in the next 12 hours or so. Hopefully my next post will be of my new baby that I don't have a name for. If you didn't check out the last post, take the time, a great laugh! Also, I was looking at some of the news headlines and wanted to post some, just in case you missed it... * Rudy Guliani, the Republican Liberal, was interrupted by lightning strikes multiple times the other night while he was explaining his pro-choice stance. Coincidence? You decide, click here . * NASA chief is vilified for giving an educated opinion in regards to global warming. More proof of the global warming religion, no dissenters allowed, even if you are intelligent and informed. Read his remarks, click here . Does anyone feel like this is the evolutionary theory of the universe re-visited? Facts or educated dissenters not allowed unless you agree. A great example of critical thinking and logic in America once again. I guess I just d

I just talked to my wife who went to sleep a few minutes ago and she is feeling like tonight could be the night for #4 to arrive. Pray that we have a girl since we still have not agreed on a baby boys name. Also, we had a fantastic staff planning meeting today as we prepare for this fall. Our church is blessed to have some phenomenal leaders and I'm still wondering how I got them all to work with me? Moving on, in honor of a conversation that I had the other day with one of the deacons on our leadership team (Roger Burke), here are a few Harry Caray impressions from Will Ferrell on SNL . These are absolutely hilarious. Beware of any other vids connected to the each link, couldn't find the complete vids on youtube. The first link is Harry Caray on the weekend update with the infamous hot dog cloning talk . click here The other one is Harry Caray on 'Space the final frontier.' click here Have a good laugh and a great night! Hopefully my next update will

We started this pretty cool series this past week at our church called, 'it.' It's all about taking what you have and using it to serve and love others. We're partnering with something called ark almighty (you can find a link on our site www.freedomlife.tv) which is a spin-off of the soon to be released Evan Almighty. It looks pretty funny! Anyway, I talked about how Jesus used this little boys lunch to feed thousands of people. Many times I feel like I don't have a lot to offer, but that story in John 6 reminds each of us that God can take whatever we have and do pretty incredible things with it. Case in point, God has given us stomachs, who would have thought that you could fit 59 1/2 hot dogs in there at once? Click here for the disgusting details. I'm not sure what he could offer you other than to polish off your left overs...but God has given you something that you can use for Him. So what's your it and how about using it this week for him?