Interaction is ALIVE

Wired Magazine wrote last year that blogging is dead. The article goes on to say that services like Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook have replaced this once hot service. So what is the point? Interaction on blogs have slowed way down and is moving to other areas. Why? Because it is easier to interact in Twitter. It's easier to keep up with your friends in Facebook. People want to interact with each other. They want to be able to ask questions and get answers. They want to be able to share their life with others and in return learn, grow, and just maybe earn a little respect. Can blogging come back to life? Of course it can. But only if interaction comes back to blogging.

Here is my plan for interaction for 2009.

Twitter- you can follow me, ask questions, see what I'm doing, and read what I think is interesting all by becoming my friend or following me at http://www.twitter.com/mattmckee. I reply and the most interaction through this service. It is by far the easiest way for my to interact.

Facebook- you can become my friend and get all of my Tweets from Twitter by reading my status on Facebook. You see, I update Twitter and it updates Facebook. So you get all of the benefits of what I am doing but I don't interact as much. I will do better in 2009 with the interaction through Facebook but it is harder. Why? It is an extra step for me to log-in and find your response so that I can then interact. Therefore interaction is not as quick.

McKeelive.com- I will continue this site. I enjoy it. It is a nice form of experession and tidbits of information. Thank you to all of my readers. Here is my promise for 2009 because I don't want this site to be dead. If you comment on one of my post. I promise to at least acknoledge by saying thank you. I hope that we can have healthy conversations even when we may disagree.

Qik.com- I love this little service. Being able to do live video from my cell phone is just stinking cool. If you follow me on twitter or facebook then you will get a notice that I am about to go live and you can actually interact with me while I am shooting video from my phone. You can comment on what is being videoed by going to http://www.qik.com/mattmckee while it is live. If you just want to check out the videos after the fact, then come here and check out the qik feed on the right hand side of this site. I am really excited about this in 2009.

Tokbox.com- This is a a video conferencing site that I am stoked about for 2009 as well. This is where you can video call through your computer for free or get in a "room" with a lot of people and discuss topics. This is the best service for this so far and it is Flash based so it works with Macs and PCs without anything to download. You can become my friend by going to http://www.tokbox.com/mattmckee

And Finally----

E-mail- If you really want to get a hold of me for some reason and you don't care when I get back to you, then send an old school e-mail. My e-mail address is matt@mckeelive.com.


I look forward to the interaction this year. I can't wait to find new ways to learn and be apart of people's lives.

Weekend Review: The Good Parts

Here are the highlights from the past couple of days.

• It has snowed at least 10 inches Friday and Saturday here in Cincinnati. A nice picture to prove it:

• It was nice to play in the snow but spending 2 hours shoveling the driveway was a little much.

• Did you know that you could cancel church? We didn't but more than 400 churches in the Cincinnati area did. Our numbers were low but not that bad.

• Best quote from the weekend comes from my 3 year old. "Daddy I pulled my underwear up to far and my peeper is hanging out. Help Me, Help Me!" I love my son and love my wife for calling his man parts a peeper. That is to funny.

• I spoke at our High School program tonight. I love the Beatitudes. They hit the soul and ring true no matter how old you are.

• Kentucky won a basketball game today that probably put them in the tournament. They had a really rough start to the season but have finished well. I still don't expect them to do well in the tournament but will cheer them on with all I've got.

• I am playing fantasy NASCAR for the first time ever and I picked the winner today. The problem is I don't know if I really care. I am truly a pro football, college basketball type of guy and am struggling with the NASCAR thing. It might be because my wife is beating me.

Until tomorrow when we talk Ministry Monday. . .

Mac Conversion, Step # 1: iPhone

I hear that once you go Mac you don't go back. After much prayer, research, and just wanting to be cool I am making the conversion from PC to Mac. Now I now that many of you will call me nuts and the rest of you will say welcome to the club. And in fact owning a Mac product does make you feel like you are in a club. Even if that product is just an iPod nano. . . There is just something about paying to much for technology that puts you into a club with a secret handshake. I bet all of you PC owners out there didn't even know that there is a secret Mac handshake. I would tell you what it is but I would have to take $2000 from your pocket and give you something cool in return. I know most of you wouldn't like that.

After deciding to make the switch, I knew that I was going to have to have a conversion process in place. The first step in the process was an iPhone. Here are some great pictures of my new friend.









You will notice that in the second picture that I am still using T-Mobile and not At&T. Yes I bought an unlocked iPhone off eBay. I am one of the 2 million users in the United States that is using the iPhone on a network besides AT&T. That is right, 2 million. Am I proud that I am using it on a network that it is not intended? No, but when your place of employment only uses one carrier, I didn't see the need to carry 2 phones around and waste a lot of money. This was my main struggle to begin with and why it has taken me so long to get this phone.

So what do I think of my new friend? Let me just put it this way. . .

Days of importance in my life:
1. The Day I accepted Jesus Christ
2. The Day I got married
3. The Day my kids were born
4. The Day I got my iPhone

By the way I got my friend on Thursday and have been playing with it ever since. This is the main reason I haven't blogged since Wednesday. It makes you want to use it. Unlike phones I have had in the past, it is great to use. The interface is wonderful and very easy. My 3 year old, Patriot, loves it because it is so easy to use. He has already dropped it on a hard floor and it made it. I am sure it will make that trip many more times before it is all said and done.

The pros:
1. The camera on it is great. I was very surprised by how good it really is.
2. The YouTube feature is incredible. My boys watching Sesame Street anytime is worth the price of admission.
3. It works well, very well as a phone.
4. The internet interface is the best I have seen on a phone. There are some of its features that I would love to have on my laptop.
5. The iPod interface just makes you feel cool and being able to rent movies is huge.
6. iTunes in your pocket. Is that iTunes in your pocket or are you just happy?
7. The keyboard is very easy to use. Have you seen the theme of easy.
8. It is unlocked so any sim card will work in it.

The cons:
1. No video camera. Not that my last phone had a good one but it would be nice to have one.
2. I can't figure out how to send a picture to my wife's phone so that she can use it as her wallpaper.
3. You can't use the YouTube player and send it to your TV like you can videos from the iPod portion of the phone.
4. It doesn't sync with Google contacts. That is where I had all of my info stored and I had to transfer it to Yahoo so that I get all of my contacts on my phone. That was a hassle.
5. I bought a unlocked iPhone and can't update it until they come out with another hack.

So there you have it. I have a new friend that they call iPhone and we are getting along really well. Now onto the second step of the Mac conversion. I will let you know later what that step is going to be. If you could go MacBook Air for work or iMac for the home which would you do?

This is more important than Sign Wednesday

Last night I found out that one of my mentors passed away a few months ago. This man was absolutely incredible and I am very sad that I missed his funeral and missed being in Dallas. I am not the best in keeping up with people who mean the world to me and John Weber meant the world to me. John was the chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys for many, many years. John was my first contact in Dallas before I ever moved there thanks to a mutual friend. We would have coffee very frequently over my 5 years while living there. He took me under his wing and taught me about being faithful and what it meant to be an encourager. John made one of my dreams come true when he let me minister along side him with the Dallas Cowboy's players, coaches and staff. Yes I know that I am late in saying goodbye to an amazing guy but John you will be missed. I know that you are enjoying heaven and I can't wait to be there with you someday. I am really blessed to say that God had our paths cross even if it was just for 5 years. Thank you for being an inspiration to me and to the world.

Here is a very nice video tribute to John.

I've got that sick feeling and could use your help

Sorry for those of you who have tuned in for 2 min Tuesday. I left church on Sunday and have been sick since. In fact, Jessica and I both went to the doctor yesterday and got a prescription for our illness. So tune in next week for another installment. I hope it is as good as it is in my head. That could just be the medicine. . .

If you are the praying type then lift one up for my family and I. This is the first time that Jessica and I both have been sick like this. We both just want to lay down on the couch and not get up. Of course our 3 year old and 1 year old will not have that.

On a totally different note. . . I am becoming a big fan of Codeine. Is it time for more cough medicine?

Date Your Wife Now!

First, a big thanks goes out to Jessica's parents but especially her mom for keeping the boys last night. Jan you really are a blessing and I appreciate you more than I say.

Let me just say that Jessica and I do not date enough. We have been married for 8 years and have been off and on about the whole date night thing. I know that it is my responsibility as the husband to make sure this happens and I have been lazy at times but this weekend I got it right. You see Jessica and I celebrated Valentine's Day early this year. We took just one night away from the kids and had a blast. It was as if we were truly dating again. You don't have to spend a lot of money. You do have to have someone watch your kids. Other than that, get creative and have fun.

If you have not dated your wife in a while take this week and schedule time to do so. I am sure she deserves it and I know that both of your will enjoy it. I mean seriously, dress up and go out to a great restaurant, buy chocolate, and laugh. That is what we did and I can't think of a better night.

Jessica, I love you! Thank you for loving me.

Off Topic: I'm Alive

The Good:

• Breckenridge is an incredible mountain to ski on. It is huge.
• Ministry happened this weekend at church and I wasn't there.
• I like hanging out with teenagers. I don't know why. . .

The Bad:

• I came away with a right knee that is tender, tight, and a little twisted. The mountain won.
• I got called, "A fat David Beckham". Something about my eyes look kind of like his but that was it.
• The bus routes at Breckenridge stink. Free is not always good. It just means you don't complain as much.

The Ugly:

• If you were friends of mine on Facebook then you would get to see new pictures of me on the trip. If you aren't then you don't have to see the ugly "Fat David Beckham".

I will be posting pictures and videos from the ski trip. So come back for spills, chills, and some pretty sweet tricks by students.

Now back to the regular scheduled programming. Tomorrow is Sign Wednesday and next week's 2 Min. Tuesday will be a Super Tuesday (Hint).

Free Thought Friday: Breckenridge

I leave in 20 min. to go to Breckenridge, CO. I have never been to Colorado to ski. I have skied many times but not west of the Mississippi River. I am so excited it is unbelievable. I will be there until Monday. If you are in the area or know of a great place that I should check out, let me know. I should have some good pictures and video from this weekend so stay tuned. They will probably show up on Ministry Monday because we are taking a group of students from Horizon. Just another perk of the ministry.

Free Thought Friday: Trespassers Will Be Baptized

Did you go to high school with someone who was really ambitious, smart, and had everything together? I mean you know the type. The person who always got better grades than you did. Was the president of something while you were the vice president. They went to Harvard while you went to a small college in your home state to play a sport. Did you have someone like this?

I am proud to say that I did. Of course at the time I didn't take the opportunity to push myself as hard as she did. I didn't even take the opportunity to become closer friends and should have. I do know that she made me think and on occasion even made me laugh. By all means I know she laughed at me enough. God puts people in our path and I think it is up to us to take advantage of those opportunities. I was to immature to know that back then.

Who am I talking about? Her name is Elizabeth Emerson Hancock but I know her as Emy. She graduated from Harvard and was Miss Massachusetts in 1998. Not bad for a girl who grew up in Richmond, KY and graduated from Madison Central.

Why do I tell you about her? She is coming out with a book. The title is Trespassers Will Be Baptized. It will release in June but you can pre-order it now on amazon.com.

Here is book the description:

Book Description

Growing up Southern and Baptist in Eastern Kentucky, Elizabeth Hancock's world revolved around Sunday School, foreign missions projects, revival meetings and of course, the Kentucky Wildcats, who "glorified God through their goal-shattering, soul-shattering play." Hancock chronicles her childhood misadventures with sardonic wit, detailing her and her sister Meg's mischievous - if harmless - abuses of power (stealing Guess jeans from the Africa donation box, or hawking backyard swimming pool baptisms during her neighborhood's annual yard sale) and lovingly recalling the wisdom imparted by her long-suffering parents as they ministered to their unruly flock. TRESPASSERS WILL BE BAPTIZED marks the arrival of a talented new voice in a coming of age story that is by turns comical and affecting.

Congratulations Emy on writing your first book. I am proud to say that I know you now and knew you when.

Happy New Year and New Line Up

Happy New Year! As many of you go and make your New Year's resolutions, goals, or just visit your priorities today I wish you the best. I am not going to make a big stance against any of this type of action. We both know that New Year's resolutions normally don't last so I hope that this year is a great year for you and your family. I hope that you are moved to the point of change and that you are changed to the point of success.

This year I will have a new blogging line up. It is something that I have been thinking about for some time and it is time to implement. Isn't that the case with a lot of other things in your life and mine. I digress. . . The new line up will look like this:

Ministry Mondays: faith is huge part of my life and I can't get away from that
2 minute Tuesdays: 2 min. of video each week for your watching pleasure
Sign Wednesdays: I am a sign geek and that is OK.
Tech Thursdays: technology should improve our lives
Free Thought Fridays: I have to have some way of ranting and rambling
The weekends are wide open.

Does this mean I am going to post everyday? I can't promise that but I can tell you that I will stay focused. If something out of the blue comes up then I will make sure and give you a heads up.

So to a new year, a new line up, and turning the big 3 0 this year.

I am spoiled. . .

I have talked about the perks of being a pastor in the past, but sometimes you just have to revisit certain topics. Especially when you have the opportunity that I had last night. You see each year the staff of Horizon Community Church is invited to a Christmas Party that is sponsored by a local company. This event is huge and held at the Cincinnati Music Hall. For Jessica and I we take this opportunity to freshen up the wardrobe by buying something nice to wear and really calling it a night out on the town. Jessica looked great last night and I was blessed to call her my date.

Why is it such a big deal? Each year they bring in a singer for a private concert. They have brought in Frank Sinatra, Faith Hill, Kenny G, and many more. This was the 48th year of this party. The 1st year we went Jessica Simpson was the artist and it was a little lacking. Sorry Ms. Simpson but you were a mess that night. Last year they brought Michael Buble in and he was very good. He was not great but he was very good. Last year I said it could have been better if they had brought in Harry Connick, Jr but I was sure that he would be very hard to get. After the singer each year then you get a free buffet and another live band for dancing. It is in one word, SWANK. Seriously it is one of the nicest events that I have ever been too.

Who was there this year? The only person that could have made it better than last year. Harry Connick, Jr. was live and loud last night. The band was incredible and Harry has a voice and a half. The sound guy made it sound like a CD and not some crappy stage show. The lights were right on cue. Needless to say the show was great, not good, but great.

You know, I love seeing people grow spiritual. I love to see kids get what it means to be a Christ-Follower. I love challenging leaders to change the world. It is hard for me to say though, that nights like last night make the job of being a pastor anything less than being great.

Thank you to the family that invites us every year. Thank you to Horizon for letting us go. Thank you to my wife that puts up with me on nights like last night. Thank you for good food and a great show. Thank you.

Today I am Thankful for. . .

. . .how much grace God has shown me over the years
. . .a loving wife that shows it in more ways than I can express
. . .2 boys that are absolutely adorable even if they didn't sleep last night
. . .a family who stop anything to help out anyone in need
. . .a church that believes in me and my ministry
. . .friends that laugh at my stupid jokes and give to charities that they don't know much about
. . .readers that keep coming back for some strange reason
. . .pumpkin pie and pineapple stuff
. . .technology that improves my day and it is getting better
. . .creativity from people like you that inspire me

Today what are you thankful for?

Let's get Political?

No, this is not a political blog and no, I am not going to tell you who you should vote for, especially if you don't live in the U.S. This blog is about ministry, marketing, technology, and family but today I want to focus and highlight one of my friends.



His name is Phil Heimlich and he is running for Congress. Specifically he is running for the House of Representatives to win the seat for the 2nd District of Ohio. I have known Phil and his family for over 2 years now. You will not find a leader who is as strong yet humble as Phil. I have been impressed by his faith and his willingness to stand up for it. Many times I have sat back and wondered if politicians really do have faith or if they are just speaking about it because it is the right thing to do for the campaign. I am glad to see that this time it is for real.

Why do I tell you all this? Because this week of Thanksgiving reminds me to be thankful for who God has put into my life. Because to many times I think we can look at the leaders of our country and get frustrated. We can feel like there is no hope for our nation. I hope Phil does win and not just because he is a friend, but because he could bring a little bit of that hope back.

On a side note. . . His dad is the one who created the Heimlich Maneuver. Yes I laughed the first time I heard that too. And yes we do joke around the dinner table about calling him if someone is choking. The nice thing about Phil is that he would joke about it too.

If you want to know more about Phil or about his campaign then you can visit his site at www.philheimlich.com. If you drop him a note, tell him I sent you. I think he will get a laugh out of it. So here is to you my friend, I pray for you and your family often and I hope God blesses you and your campaign.

Thought of the day

If you live young enough to fail then you might just be old enough to succeed.

--Matt McKee

Happy Birthday Azlan!

One year ago today my youngest son was born. He cried and I cried. I cried because I saw him for the first time. He cried because he saw me for the first time, and said, "Come on God, you couldn't do better than that for me." Today we have tears of joy and laughter. By the way, he is a stud. Just look at the picture.




You gotta pop your collar!

To my wonderful wife...

Jessica,


I love you!

I hope you have an incredible day. You deserve it.

Happy Halloween

Yes, I said HAPPY Halloween! Why is it so wrong for a pastor to see today as a good thing and not something horrible? I don't understand it. Tell me what other day of the year that you have all the kids in your neighborhood stop by your house. Tell me another day of the year, besides Christmas, that exhibits the concept of it's better to give than to receive better. Halloween is not a horrible thing. Will bad things happen tonight because of stupid people? You better believe it, but it did yesterday to and you didn't get any candy.

Please don't look at Halloween as a boycott event. See it as an opportunity to dress your little girl up as an angel and tell her that someday she will be one. See it as an opportunity for your little boy to be a kid and not worry about being made fun of for dressing up. See it as an opportunity to build community with your neighbors who don't have a clue that Jesus loves them. See this is an opportunity to be the talk of the town by giving out the best candy. See this as an opportunity...

Tonight I will celebrate Halloween. I will pull the fire pit in the front of my house and start a fire. I will set up the outdoor furniture in the front yard. I will give candy to all the kids and see their smiling faces. I will be as accessible as I can. I am not going to hide. I won't pass out any tracks about hell. I will talk about Jesus if I have the chance but if I don't talk about him, I think that's OK. I am not going to worship Satan, but tonight will remind me that I am like every person that comes to my door and I too need grace and mercy. You see, Halloween is just like all other cultural events that aren't inherently Christian. You can leverage it to build relationships for the future or you can boycott it and lose the opportunity.
Leverage the opportunity...

My Trip to The Big House

This past Saturday I made my first trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan. I went with Rich Palmer who has season tickets. He is a huge Michigan football fan and I could care less about the team, but I have always wanted to go to The Big House. We left at 8:00 am for a 3:30 pm game. This gave us plenty of time to do some tailgating and exploring what Ann Arbor has to offer. The city had a great college town feel to it. A lot of local shops and restaurants that have character and history. The campus of Michigan was larger than I expected. My favorite building was this one:

It looks like an old castle and I love old castles.

Anyway, on to the experience. We show up to the stadium and it was very under-whelming from the outside. I was expecting something more like the University of Tennessee's stadium. You know, on the outside it should look huge and it didn't. After driving around the stadium the looked for a place to park. We could either park on a golf course for $40 and tailgate there or park in someone's front yard for $20 and tailgate with the house. We chose the house. It was strange pulling up into someone's front/side yard but this is tradition. Everything was tradition. You could feel the tradition all around you. If I had to guess, I would say that going to a Michigan football game felt the same in 1950 as it did Saturday. The same house is letting cars park in its yard and the community is wrapping its arms around a team.

We set up shop and pull out the snacks. I wasn't shocked when everything that we pull out has the Michigan logo on it. If you don't like Michigan then this whole scene would have made you throw up in your mouth, but if you appreciate passion like I do then you would have been disappointed if there was anything else. Tailgating was good not great. The weather was not the best, for it rained most of the time, but the closer we got to game time the better the weather got.

It was game time and we head to the stadium. Remember, at this point I am very under-whelmed by the stadium. I mean this is suppose to be The Big House. You know, the stadium that seats more people than any other football stadium in America. I see all the people in their school pride. By the way, why does Michigan fans have the ugliest hats? Seriously I think there should be a sign when you enter into Ann Arbor that says, "Bad Hat, USA". I really should have taken pictures, but I digress.

It's time to go in. We go to our section to enter. Now here is the number one thing that I didn't know about the stadium. You enter in at about the top of the stadium. Most of the stadium is below you. It is like a big bowl and you enter in on the rim. Right when I stepped into the one level monster bowl it hit me. Once again I felt the tradition. I was swept away by the crowd of fans. I was amazed by the band and let's be honest, college bands are normally not that impressive. I knew just by walking into the stadium why so many show up. It was all about the feel. Now don't get me wrong. It was not about the feel of the cold, hard metal bleachers or the feel of the concrete that was poured in the 1920's. It was the excitement. It was the feeling that you are now apart of something much larger than yourself. It had a wow factor that you didn't get until you experienced it.

The football game was OK. The Michigan fans were scared until the second half when their team decided to play football. That was another feeling that I felt that day. You could tell that everyone in the crowd thought it was the Appellation State game all over again but this one turned out a lot better. The cheers were good not great. My favorite one was when they other team had to punt and the whole stadium started doing what looked like the Florida State tomahawk chop and at the end of it yelled, "You Suck". Rich said this was a sign to tell them to go back to their bench but it was way to much like Florida State's motion.

Overall it was a great trip. It was great to hang out with Rich. It was great to have very good seats. It was great to feel tradition. Sometimes I get so caught up in what is going to be next that it surprises me to stop and do something that has been the same for over 70 years and really enjoy.

I am not ready to say, "Let's Go Blue", but I will always appreciate The Big House. If I ever get the opportunity to go again it will be an easy Yes. Thanks you Rich for the experience and next time the weather will be better.

A Roller Coaster Day

Have you had a day when you go through every emotion? Saturday, September 22nd was one of those days for me. There is a famous speech by Jim Valvano that talks about days like this. I quote:

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special. "

Why was it such a day? My oldest son went through surgery and come out great. I got to baptize 4 kids that are very dear to me. I also saw Kentucky win another football game and start the season 4-0. It was a day in which I cried, I laughed, I hugged, I loved, I cheered, I feared, and most of all I was loved in returned.

I hope that you have days like I did yesterday. They wear you out but life would be empty without them.

What does your office look like?

What does your office look like? Is it in shambles? Are you proud of it? Right now at this very moment I can't say that I am proud of my office. One because it is in transition and two because I never put my heart and soul into it. I feel bad for the second part, but I am about to change that tomorrow. You see with my new position at the church I get a new office. Really it's because we hired a Spiritual Growth Pastor and he the location of my current office would be better for him, so I get to move. Now I am very excited about this. The biggest reasons are that I get to start from scratch, it is a larger space, and it has outside access that no one else in the office has, not even the Senior Pastor. I am feeling pretty special.

With today's post I thought I would give you a little insight into what my new office is going to look like. Here is the inspiration behind the theme:

No not the bed, but the wall decorations. This product is called Wall Pops and it is basically removable wall paper. I love the retro feel and the bright colors. It also goes well with the Black, Orange, and White of the Cincinnati Bengals. Just a coincidence, maybe. So I have my theme of black, white, orange, green, and retro. I needed some big statement item for the floor so I bought:

Oh yeah, Orange Shag Carpet. Now who doesn't want orange shag in their office?

I also needed some new seating to go into my office. I told you it is pretty large so I went with 2 of these:

And one of these:

Yes it is a futon and no I don't plan on sleeping that much in my office but it is better to be safe than sorry.

I also picked out a new desk. It looks like this:

There is one final piece that I want to tell you about. Besides the whole thing having a theme and color scheme that is fairly creative I wanted something unique. I wanted something I hadn't done before. No I didn't have a Starbucks put in my office but that is a good idea. I wanted something that when you looked at this thing that you made a comment. So I went with this:

I went with a clock that has no numbers, no glass, no frame, nothing but hands. The hands are quite large as well. The hour hand is about 20 inches and the minute hand is about 30 inches.

Why?

Why put this much time, effort, and money into an office? Because it matters whether we want it to or not. Because you are not the only one who walks into your office. Because your office says everything about you. Because at the end of the day I would much rather have a cool office that I am proud of than one that I can't think, create, or invite people into.

Are you being a good steward when it comes to your office? If there was a tour of your church would they make a point to stop by your office because of the effort that you put in or would that make an effort to avoid your office because your don't try to make it a place worth a tour?

So when I am done with my office I will post some pictures and you can tell me what you think. I hope that it is so inviting that if you are in Cincinnati, OH that you will stop by.