A Musical, Track Sign-ups, Birthday Party. UK Basketball, Blue Flame, A Bengals Game, and Volunteer Appreciation

The above title are just some of the things that happened this past weekend. Let me break them down for you.

• Friday Night and Sunday morning we had our annual Children's Christmas Musical. Friday Night is special because we bring in a group of Inner-City kids and do the show for them. We then have a Christmas party for those kids and the expressions on their faces are incredible. I was really proud of my team and the kids this year. The musical really was an excellent presentation and showed how serious we take Children's Ministry.
• Saturday morning was the 3rd opportunity to sign up for the spring session Indian Hill Recreation Track. Yes I also coach track and we will have somewhere between 60-70 Kindergarten-6th graders run this year. This is a great way for me to meet families outside of the church walls and be apart of the community.
• Saturday we celebrated my one and only nephew's first birthday. Happy Birthday Caedmon! Your Unk loves you a lot.
• Kentucky got served a big piece of humble pie on Saturday by Indiana. Billy Gillespie is not bringing the best out in players yet. I really hope he can turn this team around.
• We had dinner club on Saturday night and then played a game where one of my answers to a real question was "Blue Flame". It really took me back to my college days.
• Going to the Bengals game on Sunday wasn't bad if you were either sitting in a box or in one of the four rows in front of the boxes. Thanks to Rich I got to stay dry and watch the Bengals win a game.
• Sunday night we had a volunteer appreciation event for our Junior High and Senior High volunteers. We had a small but nice catered meal and played laser tag. It was a really fun and I learned one thing. If you have the chance to pick between the surgeon and the police officer, the police officer is much better at laser tag. I am just saying. . .

Now that is what I call a weekend. Jessica about killed me because the schedule was to full but I had a blast.

Tech Thursday: Jott

I first blogged about Jott in April of this year. What is Jott? Here is what the CEO says: "We let you use your voice to quickly create email, text messages, lists and reminders. Push a button, speak, and you’re done." So why write about again? Because they made improvements. Did you know that you can now Jott to Blogger, Wordpress, and Typepad? You can also Jott to Amazon and create a wish list for your friends and family. You can Jott to Zillow, which is a real estate site, and they will send you all of the info on that house. But my favorite new improvement that they have made is the Jott to Google Calendar. I am a huge fan of Google as you well know and use their calendars as my way of life. Now instead of calling my assistant or forgetting about appointments, I can now call Jott and they will add it to my calendar by a simple phone call. How awesome is that?

Of course you can Jott to a lot of other things but I don't at the current time. So are you Jotting? Do you find it useful or is it just me? Let me know what you think?

On another note. . . What improvements have you made that are worth writing about? Or better yet, are you improving? I hope that you are and I hope it is blog worthy.

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.

Gene Appel sighting

Gene Appel, Lead Pastor at Willowcreek, spoke at our church today. Why would a guy who normally speaks to more than 20,000 a weekend come to our little church in Cincinnati, OH? Today was a very special day at our church. Today ended our official capital campaign. Gene was kind enough to come help us cast our vision. It was very nice to meet Gene and to hear him for a 2nd time in person. The first time was 2 and a half years ago, the same weekend I had a going away party and he was speaking at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX. So a big thank you to Gene for helping us out. We really do appreciate it.

Go Elf Yourself!

Sorry but I just had to put that as the title. So what am I talking about it? Well you can go to http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1117710275 and see Jessica, Patriot, Azlan, and myself in something that I find hilarious. I am serious. It is that funny. I do warn you though, it is addicting.

By the way, thanks to Joclyn Sutton and Andrea Goslee for sending this to me. I really did laugh out loud.

Sign Wednesday: Mega Churches

I found the next 2 signs to be very interesting. They are very similar in nature and goes to speak a lot, I believe, about the growth of Mega Churches. The first sign is a map of the fastest growing metro areas in the United States. Here is the graphic/sign:



The dots represent cities that have at least a population 20,000 people in April of 2000 and have seen significant growth since then. Now take that sign and compare it to the second sign. The second sign is that of Mega Churches and their location and concentration in the United States. This sign is from the New York Times. You can click on it to make it easier to see.



Does anyone else notice that they are basically the same image? What do you think this tells us?

Here is what I think:

If you want to have the best possible way of having a church plant succeed then start one in an area that is seeing incredible growth. Of course this is not a guarantee but your chances are much better. My former pastor, Ed Young, would say that most of this is dumb growth and you can't really count it. I mean there are more Mega Churches in Dallas/Fort Worth than there is in Lexington, KY because there is simply more people. It is easy to get caught up looking at churches in metro areas that have millions of people that live there and are averaging 12,000-30,000 in average weekly attendance. These churches are successful and are reaching a great mass of people. I think it would be more interesting though to find a church that is not in a growing area but is growing like crazy.

I wouldn't. . . unless . . .

How many times have you said, I wouldn't. . . I couldn't. . . I shouldn't. . . and then you go ahead and do exactly what you said you wouldn't, couldn't or shouldn't do? Doesn't the word unless have a lot to do with it. I know that I have said that I wouldn't stand in line for 2 hours to save $10, I mean unless my wife, my brother, my mother, and other family members wake me up at 3:45am the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping. That's right, yours truly, has been doing the Black Friday shopping for years now. I always said that I wouldn't, couldn't, and shouldn't but when you save $250 on a printer that you had to hunt all over Office Max for after they told you they were sold out but you didn't believe them and found one hiding in the front of the store. There is some gratification behind the whole thing. By they way, if you have never gone Black Friday shopping then here is a nice video to show you what it is like:



It can be nuts. So nuts that police get involved and have to mace some people. True story from a local Wal-mart.

Anyway, this post is not entirely about Black Friday. It is about the motivation behind people doing stuff. I know that I have had people tell me that they wouldn't want to teach in the elementary ministry or hang out with students. They say they aren't very good with kids and they don't want to have to spend the time it takes to learn a lesson. They say I wouldn't, I couldn't, and I shouldn't. Until one day when one of their best friends ask them to be a co-teacher with them. Then all of a sudden the word unless comes into play. I then check back with the person who said they wouldn't teach and now they wouldn't miss it for anything. You see people really do need motivation. People need the unless factor. For me I can't think of a better way to get more volunteers in your ministry then to have the people that are serving ask their friends to join them. I also can't think of a better way for stores to have a great sales day then to have all toys 50% off.

Today, I want you to look for the unless factor. I want you to think about the unless factor. When you find it, people are going to have a hard time saying I wouldn't, I couldn't, and I shouldn't.

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?

Sign Wednesday: Since we're getting political

This goes along with my theme this week. I don't know why I chose politics for Thanksgiving week but the New York Times had a great post about political signs and I thought you should enjoy it as well. The 14 illustrations are by Ward Sutton. Thanks to Jonathan Cliff for sharing it with me.

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.