The Best of. . . , Dallas Cowboys, and Gold Shoes

Last night I returned from a trip to Dallas, TX with two of my friends, Rich Palmer and Paul Imhoff. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook then you know what happened most of the time but for those of you who do not I will give you some highlights. Here goes. . .

We flew out Saturday around 12:30pm from Dayton, OH. No checked baggage and pre-printed boarding passes meant an easy check-in process. The flight was not bad until the landing. You know it has to be someone's first time to land sometime. I really don't think it was his first time to land but it was a little rough and I heard a lady behind sigh in relief. We landed about 2:00pm central time. If you have ever flown into DFW airport then you are aware that the rental car process can be a hassle. Saturday was no execption. We didn't leave the airport with our rental car until after 3:oopm. Seriously, can you guys at DFW please come up with a better way to deal with this? That's ridiculous.

Anyway, we heading over to grab some late lunch. I told the guys about the best burger in the Dallas area could be found at Johnny B's in Southlake, TX.

I recommend the double with cheese and their hand cut fries. Have a cardialogist on speed dial and enjoy every last bit. This was the first Best of . . . that we were going to enjoy on this trip.

We then headed over to the Best Place to watch a football game. It also happens to be the Best Hotel as well. What am I talking about? Well here is the outside.



It's known as the Gaylord Texan and they have a sports bar in it that is called Texas Station. Here is a picture of the wide screen TV. (not a great pic taken with the iPhone but gives you the idea)


You can watch 9 football games at one time. That's what I am talking about.

We then heading over to Fellowship Church for their Saturday night service. This is of course the Best Children's Ministry anywhere. Rich and Paul came out saying, "WOW!" and it was really good to see some of my old volunteers and friends. This was my first time back to Fellowship to attend church. It was great and strange all at the same time. It made me missed it tremendously and made me glad that I was gone all at the same time. Now that is what I call weird.

After church we went to get the Best Steak in Dallas at Bob's Steak and Chop House. This was not my plate of food but it is from Bob's. I go with the smashed potato and not the baked.



Notice the carrot in the middle of the plate. You don't order the carrot but after you taste the Best Carrot ever then you realize you are so glad that it is there. Oh and by the way, Bob's took us almost 4 hours. Our waiter named Shawn was hilarious, not meaning to be but we found him that way and one of my good friends Mike Wyrick came to join us late in the meal. It was a great time.

After dinner we went to the Worst Hotel in Dallas. OK maybe not the worst but it was really bad. Travelocity did not do us well on this one. The name of the hotel was the Wyndham Garden Hotel located at 635 and 75. It was under renovation which was desparely needed and the place just felt dirty. If it wasn't already paid for then we would have gone some place else and should have gone to the Gaylord Texan instead. Consider yourself warned.

Sunday was a huge day. It started off great. We went to get the Best Pancakes anywhere not just Dallas. We went to the Original Pancake House. Here is a picture of my plate taken with the iPhone.




If you are wondering what this is it is called the "Apple Pancake". I like to call it a little bit of heaven on a plate. The apples on top covered in sugar and cinnamon are incredible.

After breakfast we went down to see the Grassy Knoll. Here is a pic of the grassy knoll on Sunday.



I thought it was quite ironic that there is no more grass. I also liked the guy who was standing next to it trying to sell books about the conspiracy. I didn't buy any books or pictures. We did get to see at least 2000 motorcycles though. There was some huge biker rally going on downtown. It was nuts.

After doing a little more site seeing downtown we headed to the Cowboys vs. Bengals game. One of my close friends had graciously given us tickets to the game. Not only that but he gave us a parking pass as well. We showed up early to the stadium to make sure and tour the place. Rich and Paul had never been there and this was the real reason for the trip. So we hung our parking pass on the rear view mirror. The guys directing traffic just kept waving us towards the stadium. To the point of to where it was only a sidewalk between us and the stadium. I took a little pic to show you.





We then watched the Cowboys beat the Bengals from the Fox Sports suite. All the food and drinks you could handle but the best part was the private bathroom. There is nothing worse than waiting to use the bathroom and the facilities you know are going to be filthy. Here was our view from the suite:




Of course after eating during the whole game we decided we need some more food. So after the game we headed to Pappasito's for the Best Fajitas. Why are the fajitas so good you might ask? They make their own homemade tortillas and the secret to the whole thing is the garlic butter that comes with it. Yes I said butter. You take the butter and spread it on the tortilla before anything else and then call your cardialogist again. Here take a look.



Monday morning we got up early and enjoy the Best Smoothie from Jamba Juice. I still can't believe that there are no Jamba Juice's in Ohio, Indiania, or Kentucky. Will someone please buy the franchise rights and open up some stores. Please.

After Jamba we went to Prestonwood Baptist Church. Prestonwood has over 28,000 members and has a over 800,000 sq/ft under roof. We have joked in the past about Prestonwood being the "Baptist Bowl". The place is huge and done very well. I was hoping to meet up with Sondra Sauders but she was out on vacation. We did though get a tour of the place. Take a look at the outside.




Before we left Dallas we found a shoe store that was closing. It said everything was 30%-70% off and then take an additional 50% off the lowest price. Now that is my kind of sale and they happen to have my kind of shoes. I am currently wearing them. Let me know what you think.



Yes those are gold shoes. I wish you could see the details on them. There are engravings of Elvis and such. They actually say Elvis on the back. These bad boys rock. They were originally $120 retail but I got them for $10. That's what I'm talking about.

So all in all I had an incredible trip. Dallas was very good to me. Maybe to good because my jeans don't fit as well now, but I can't wait to go back.

McKee Boys Rap Video

Seriously, this is what happens when Jessica is busy and the boys and I sit down at the computer. I hope you enjoy it.

Quotes from Centri-Kid 2008: Very Funny, Very Sad.

Things happen at camp that don't happen other places. Have you noticed this? Not only do unexpected things happen but some of the strangest things are said as well. The following are actual things that I heard come out of people's mouths while at camp. (I am not endorsing any of these comments just restating them for your enjoyment)

While preaching to the kids and adults in a nightly worship service the Camp Pastor had some incredible words to say to us. In one occasion though his words got away from him.
Camp Pastor: "We all can fart in God's family. I mean, we are all part of God's family. Did I say fart? I really didn't mean to say that."

Tim and I were in the community bathroom when one of the kids from our church walks in and asked what we were doing. The following is a part of that conversation.
Kid: "What are you guys doing?"
Myself: "Tim and I are dropping the kids off at the pool?"
Kid: "If you are dropping kids off at the pool, then what are you doing in there?"
Tim: "That's the best question I have ever heard."

Somehow we got on Momma jokes. Don't ask me how I just know that we ended up there.
Someone: "You Momma so fat, she asked me to kiss her behind and I said which hemisphere."

I got to break up a fight on our last day of camp. It was not kids from my church which made it kind of fun. The best part was there conversation as they pushed and attempted to be tough but not hit each other. (I remind you I do not endorse these comments)

Kid #1: "I'm gonna beat you up if you don't leave me alone"
Kid #2: "You can't beat me up. You're a fagot."
Kid #1: "I'm not a fagot. You're a fagot."
Kid #2: "Come on over here and I will show you fag. That's right, I'll show you fag."
At this point I was in the room with my arms between the two fifth graders. What I was worried about was how this one boy was going to show the other boy. I mean was he going to take off his shirt, put on some high heels, and dance around the room. I was really confused on how he was going to show him. I knew it needed to stop before any showing started happening.

So there you have it. There are just some of my favorite quotes from church camp. I can't believe I heard any of those things but unfortunately I heard them all.

Free Thought Friday: Weird News Story of the Day

I was searching the web for some good news to blog about today. I came across this story:

Report: Ohio teacher burned cross on kids' arms

View smaller image

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) - A public school teacher preached his Christian beliefs despite complaints by other teachers and administrators and used a device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms, according to a report by independent investigators. Mount Vernon Middle School teacher John Freshwater also taught creationism in his science class and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom, the report said. School board members were scheduled to meet Friday afternoon to discuss the findings by consulting firm H.R. On Call Inc., hired by the district to investigate. The report was released Thursday. School Superintendent Stephen Short wouldn't comment on the report before Friday's meeting, his office said. A message seeking comment was left for Freshwater's attorney, Roger Weaver. The report comes one week after a family filed a federal lawsuit in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on their child's arm that remained for three or four weeks. Freshwater's friend Dave Daubenmire defended him. "With the exception of the cross-burning episode ... I believe John Freshwater is teaching the values of the parents in the Mount Vernon school district," he told The Columbus Dispatch in a story published Friday. Several students interviewed by investigators described Freshwater, who has been employed by the school district for 21 years, as a great guy. But Lynda Weston, the district's director of teaching and learning, told investigators that she has dealt with complaints about Freshwater for much of her 11-year term at the district, the report said. A former superintendent, Jeff Maley, said he tried to find another position for Freshwater but couldn't because Freshwater was certified only in science, the report said. Freshwater used a science tool known as a high-frequency generator to burn images of a cross on students' arms in December, the report said. Freshwater told investigators he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on several students and described the images as an "X," not a cross. But pictures show the images depict a cross, the report said. Other findings show that Freshwater taught that carbon dating was unreliable to argue against evolution.

I am all for living out your faith. I am even for people getting tattoos. My uncle is a tattoo artist. The thing that is the most weird for me in this story is the last paragraph. When Freshwater told investigators that it was an X and not a cross. If you are going to be bold enough to break a bunch of rules and not own up for this one then there is something wrong. I do appreciate Mr. Freshwater's passion. His technique maybe a little off.

Free Thought Friday: Half Marathon?

This year I have decided that I am going to run a half marathon. For those of you that don't know that is 13.1 miles. Why a half and not a full? Well you have to start somewhere and my thought is that I will do a half this year and see how it goes. I am training with my dad and he has run in half marathons before so I feel pretty confident that I can do it. I mean come on, I played soccer in college and was in great shape and never officially ran 13 miles in a row but I know it had to be close some days.

Here are the problems with the goal:

1. I don't really like to run just to run.
2. I play futsal and indoor soccer now but still feel the nagging of old ankle and knee injures. To many to explain but I feel like I am getting old. That's ashame.
3. It's been really cold in Cincinnati and I hate running on treadmills.

Here are the positives with the goal:
1. Quality time with my dad
2. A since of accomplishment
3. A few lbs. might just come off
4. Disciplining myself to run will help in other areas of my life
5. I get a race t-shirt

So there you go. The positives out way the negatives and I will keep you informed on how it is going. Right now I am only running 1 mile everyday. Next week I go to 1.5 miles a day or 2 miles a day. The race is in April so I am taking my time and trying to got he steady route and not my normal let's take the hill approach. Look at me growing and maturing and many of you said I couldn't. Well. . . HA!

New Blog Watch: Paul Tate

Paul Tate, our Creative Arts Pastor here at Horizon, is now blogging. His new blog can be found at http://www.churchcreatives.com. I don't know about the name but I can assure you that if you are a Programming, Creative Arts, or Worship Pastor then you are going to get a lot out of his thoughts.

Paul it is great to see that you are blogging again, even though I don't count your blog that you were doing back in the early 90's. And yes Paul, I am very competitive and I do think that I will have more hits and readers than you. Of course that also makes my ego bigger than yours and I am OK with that.

So go check out my friend's new blog.

Thoughts from All Access in Anderson, SC

Here are some random thoughts and observations from All Access at NewSpring Community Church:

1. There is nothing to do in Anderson, S.C. NewSpring really is the only show in town.
2. Welcome to the south. I miss really nice people. They aren't in Cincinnati.
3. NewSpring has a smaller Fellowship Church type feel too it. It made me miss Dallas/Fort Worth.
4. There is a McGee's Irish Pub in downtown Anderson. This was the number one thing that the receptionist at the desk told us to do. I was only excited because it was really close to my last name.
5. There is no Starbucks and the local coffee shop, Electric City, closes before 8:30 on Saturday night. I told you there is nothing to do.
6. NewSpring has a great staff. They are young, vibrant and excited about showing their community Jesus.
7. We had this question before we came, "How does a church in the middle of nowhere have 8,000 people coming a weekend?" The answer so far... They are all about evangelism. Why wouldn't you invite your friends?
8. The Middle School/High School space has more moving lights and L.E.D lights than the main service. Put that in your priority pipe and smoke it.
9. Don't order a grande peppermint white mocha at NewSpring's coffee shop. They don't have peppermint. It is like a green spearmint deal that didn't quite live up to my hopes.
10. All of NewSpring's staff takes Friday and Saturday off. I think that is awesome.
11. The Middle School Pastor preached nothing but vision to 6th-8th grade students. You are never to young to hear the vision of the church.
12. Brad Cooper, the High School Pastor, drives a mud slinging 4X4. He needs to put some spinners on his 24's and it would be sweet.
13. I miss my family. It is nice to get away but...
14. Perry Noble, the Senior Pastor, preached on parenting in the main service. It was his first time ever preaching on parenting and it was as real, helpful, and inspiring as you can get.
15. I still haven't hugged Tony Morgan.

Blogs I read: ProBlogger

Here is a site for all of you bloggers out there who want to become better bloggers. The site can be found at http://www.problogger.net. The author is Darren Rowse and it is very well written. Why do I enjoy this one so much? Darren is always giving me great ideas to blog about and keeping me focused on blogging. He just started video blogging not that long ago and I am looking into this as well. The biggest problem is that I can't post videos to my blog yet. I am waiting on an update from the 3cords guys. So anyway go check out Problogger and become a better blogger or even learn how to start a blog. Enjoy.

1 year, 100 posts, You liked...

This is my 100th post. I know for many of you that is not that big of a deal, but one year ago today I started this blog. I can't believe it has only been a year. I also can't believe that many of you come back day after day and read what my thoughts are. I appreciate it. I really do enjoy doing this and it's all because I know that I am not just writing for myself but their are a few that get something in return. Here is to a great year and another great one to come.

Here are some stats from the first year:

1. Over 20,000 hits. I know that Clustr Maps says 7,000 but it didn't start until May.

2. You like it best when I do curriculum reviews. Over 1000 hits on the Elevate Curriculum Review alone.

3. 145 comments. Thanks for participating.

4. At least 10 friends made who I have never met in person.

5. 1 son born during this time.

There you have it. Now go do incredible ministry that is marketed well with great signs and unbelievable creativity.

Blogs I read: Tony Morgan

This blog that I am highlighting today is one that I have been reading since I started reading blogs. It was one of the first five blogs in my Google Reader. Why is this blog so important to me? Why am I so excited about Tony Morgan. I believe in his words it would be said like this, "Simply Strategic". Tony has written many books with the words Simply Strategic in the title. He has incredible view of today's local church. His pulse and the churches' pulse seem to be one. It has been amazing to see how he went from Granger Community Church to NewSpring Church. It was about as honest, real, and genuine move from one church to another that I have ever seen. Believe me when I say that this is not normal.

So I think you get the point. I think you should be reading his blog. Here is something crazy. I have never met Tony. I have never been to Granger or NewSpring. I am a fan who would like to meet him, if you can be a fan of someone who doesn't play sports. I am hoping to change all of this. How? Myself and another pastor are going to NewSpring this October for their All Access event. So watch out Tony, I am coming.

OK, I really don't have that much of a man crush, I mean how can you when the guy looks like this:

Check out his blog here: www.tonymorganlive.com. You will be glad you did.

Random Quote: Andy Stanley

The less I do... The more I accomplish!

---Andy Stanley

I couldn't get this out of my head today. Now maybe I can.

Blogs I read: Indexed

I am going to start a series of post about the blogs I read and why I read them. Some of these are going to be very popular ones and others may be ones that you have never heard of. Today I am going to start with one that is a little less known but I absolutely love.

The blog is titled "Indexed". It is one of the most creative blogs out there. The author is Jessica Hagy and she does all of her post on Index cards. (Hence the name and very clever marketing) The way that she looks at the world is very unique and her approach is very interesting. Here are a couple of samples of her posts that I really like:

She has many more and other graphs/charts to show what she is thinking. She must be a genius. Anyway, it is a great site that gives me a creative break. I hope you enjoy her site as much as I do. Here is the link to her site: http://indexed.blogspot.com

P.S. I know that her sight is like little signs and that is why I like it so much. No need to comment on that.

Would you wait 2 hours?

We have all been there. We walk up to the hostess stand at a popular restaurant and ask how long is the wait. We go to amusement parks and stand in line for a new roller coaster. We even get in line for new technology, concert tickets, and Tickle Me Elmo's. I have even seen people wait an absurd amount of time for gas that is $0.15 cheaper per gallon than the gas station across the street. My question for you today is this, "What would you be willing to wait 2 hours for?"

Here is another great question, "Would anyone wait 45 minutes to get into your ministry or church?"

Commenting on Comments

Why do I care about comments on my blog? Because that says that not only are you reading but you are responding. Responding is the goal of three of my passions: marketing, ministry, and believe it or not fashion. Not specifically in that order.

Anyway, thank you for reading. I mean that but more importantly thanks for your comments. Now don't get me wrong, not all comments have made it through. I do moderate comments because I don't like for you to have to read curse words or inappropriate material. I hope that if you have a blog that you moderate as well. I do publish comments that disagree with me though. I like that we disagree. It means you have an opinion and I hope that your opinion has been thought through and doesn't just come from your feelings.

So when I wrote this post I was at 99 comments. I know many of you out there are laughing that I only have 99 but I feel really blessed. For those of you who get hits like crazy I am still waiting on my 5,000th as well. I am close but not there yet. I should be there by the time I do church this weekend.

So again. Thanks.

Best Blog in Cincinnati gets an iPhone

Just thinking about writing this post goes to show that I have no shame. There is a contest going on right now that ends this Friday about who has the Best Blog in Cincinnati, OH. The winner of this contest wins an iPhone. I, like many of you, want an iPhone, but can't figure out how to make it in my budget. So you can help me out. Go here:

http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/5953g2b1b3

Please vote for this blog. How cool would it be for the Best Blog in Cincinnati to be about Children's Ministry and the Church? I think it would be awesome and I would call everyone who voted for me on my new phone.

Thanks to Rich Palmer for being the first one to vote for this blog and to bringing this competition to my attention. By the way Rich, I believe it is your turn to pay tomorrow.

So go vote. What are you waiting for?

Comment Love

The number one thing that I love about this blog is that the people who read it not only read but respond. Thank you so much for your thoughts, encouragement, and even your disagreements. All are welcome and all are wanted. I am glad that we all don't think alike. I am glad that we are at different styles of churches with different missions and targets. I really do respect you and your ministry. I might think you are a few short of a full deck sometimes but I am sure that you think that about me at least every 5 posts. So, keep the comments coming. That is why I love doing this little thing.

Cluster Flies

I wrote recently about having 2 days off a week and how I think every Pastor should have this luxury. I look forward to my days off so much and this week my family had very little planned on those 2 days. This is very rare. Normally we are booked like crazy but this was suppose to be a very relaxing weekend. When I came home Thursday night Jessica told me that she had killed 34 flies in our basement and then told me to go down stairs and look around. I saw around 50 flies attached to our back door inside our house. That's right, inside and not outside. So the hunter in me came out. I started swatting, banging, and dancing on as many as I could find. They were everywhere and I couldn't find the source. I eventually killed all of the ones on the glass doors and decided that we needed to go get some fly spray. So we left the house and got a fly trap and some fly spray. I got the can that said no poison spray. I do have an infant. When we came back we had about 20 flying around and I killed those but still couldn't find the source.

Note, this is not near our kitchen and they are not coming from the laundry room.

I finally think I have killed them all and went to bed on Thursday. I woke up Friday and went down stairs and we had another 30 flying around. I got out the spray and went to town. I didn't have time to kill them all because I was headed to a Bible Study. After Bible study I called as many pest control companies that I could find to see if any of them could come out and solve my problem. Believe me when I say it was a problem. In fact we thought it was getting bad enough that we took our boys to my parents' house. I talked to 2 companies that couldn't come out but told me that they were coming in through my chimney and I need to start a fire. It was 90 degrees yesterday, our power went out, and I was starting a fire. I got some strange looks from the neighbors when they saw me go out for fire wood multiple times. The fire seemed to just make them mad. I kept calling and did get a hold of one company that could come out around 3:30 in the afternoon. I thought that wouldn't be too bad and then we could move on with our lives without having to vacuum up flies every hour. The guy shows up and says that what I have in my house are cluster flies. He also goes on to say that it is too late in the season to see these flies, he has never seen them come through the chimney, and they are not normally in houses but are found in barns. The whopper to all of this is that he left saying that he couldn't help me because I had a fire going and the stuff that he would spray would catch my house on fire among other reasons but that was my favorite excuse he gave me for not doing anything. The good news was he didn't charge me anything and told me where to go to get something that could solve my problem. He told me to go to Tractor Supply.

So I went and spent 45 minutes trying to find something that solve my problem and came across an employee who knew what cluster flies were. He also knew the exact product that I needed. It wasn't on the shelf in the store but could on be found "in the back". He brings out a can that stands 18 inches tall and with great big words on it that says "Fly Bomb". I go home, change clothes, and prepare the house to be bombed. I then successfully bomb my house and leave. We spent the night last night with my parents. We woke up this morning and let the house air out. We get home this afternoon and start cleaning up the mess. In total I have killed and vacuumed over 250 cluster flies.

The great news is this: It is now around 5:00pm eastern time and I don't have anymore flies in my house.

The bad news is this: I need a day off.

I won! I won! I won!

Yes ladies and gentlemen you are now reading a winner. Up to this point I was not sure but now I can say that I am indeed a winner. What did I win? I won a signed copy of Seth Godin's "The Dip" book. How did this happen? One of the blogs that is in my Google Reader is called Church of the Customer. This is another Marketing blog in which I highly reccommend. The authors of this blog also wrote the book Citizen Marketers. Which is an incredible point of view in terms of volunteers at church. Anyway, they posted last week that if you commented on their blog then you would have a chance to win 1 of 5 signed copies of Seth Godin's new book. I quickly got on their site and posted a comment. Then, lo and behold I opened my G-mail and saw that I won. So thank you to Jackie and Ben for writing a great blog that we all can learn from and for picking my name out of the hat. I will give a book review of the The Dip when I finish reading it. If you couldn't tell I am probably to excited about this but I can't wait to see if I should stick or if I should quit.

Terry Storch looks like Apola Ohno

Congrats Terry on winning Dancing with the Stars. I always knew you had great footwork.

Seriously, if you are not reading Terry Storch's blog, you should be. He is the best technology person at any church anywhere. He is a big idea guy who challenges me all the time. He now works for LifeChurch.tv and use to work at Fellowship Church. By the way, Terry and I could beat anyone at a hand of spades. I believe our record is 64-0-1. Don't ask about the tie, it is a long story that happened in Brazil.

Last thing...Terry...You should shave your beard and go with just the chin hair.

8 Things I can't believe haven't happened yet

Can you tell me why someone hasn't...

1. Put a good sermon on YouTube?

2. Made a witnessing tool for kids who own a PSP?

3. Put Toby Mac in charge of Children's Music for their church?

4. Paired their Children's curriculum up with a theme park for family fun and learning?

5. Written a great small group study for families where parents teach their kids instead of having babysitters?

6. Convinced Seth Godin to join their church staff and let us all benefit?

7. Talked Google into speaking at their church conference

8. Taken the idea of Webkins and applied to the weekend lessons and Bible verse memory?