GREAT, GREAT QUOTE...


"The church is like manure. Pile it up, and it stinks up the neighborhood. Spread it out, and it enriches the world."
- Luis Palau

HOW RICH ARE YOU?

Ever wonder how rich you are or where you compare with everyone else on this small & tiny planet? Check this out and see where you land!

ENLARGE YOUR...

...FONT! After a few complaints, I have enlarged my font. I hope this is easier to read. If not, may I suggest bi-focals... Just kidding.

Later...

Y A W N...

Sitting in Starbucks waiting for a meeting to begin in about 15 minutes... I am so tired today. But it's more than just physically. I hit a wall yesterday mid-afternoon and felt so exhausted and tired - mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc... So, I'm going to take a 4 week vacation to Maui beginning next week.

In my dreams...

I have to stop writing. They're playing some seriously sad music in the background and I'm about to cry. Ok, well not that sad, but I do have to go.

Happy Friday!

BUCA DI EPIC?

In his book, Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century Church, author Leonard Sweet talks about a concept called EPIC. EPIC is used to describe the type of environment that the 21st Century church needs to work at creating in reaching our postmodern (pomo) culture.

EPIC stands for:

Experiential
Participatory
Image Driven
Connected

Monday night I had an "experience" which reminded me how well the "secular" arena creates EPIC environments.

Amanda, Elise and I were on our way (and I'm almost embarrassed to say this - especially living in Chicago where great food is on just about every corner...) to Olive Garden. On our way there, we started having second thoughts about the "Garden" and believe it or not, we were actually having a problem finding one in the area of town we were in, so we ended up going to Buca di Beppo in Lombard.

Now, I've been to Buca zillions of times (in fact, I ate at Buca when it was only one location downtown Minneapolis), but for some reason a few things really stuck out to me on this visit.

As soon as we walked in, we were seated IN THE KITCHEN. Yes, you read that right. We ate at the only table located INSIDE of the actual kitchen (click here)! It was great! Talk about EXPERIENTIAL...

In a way, we participated behind the scenes in what was happening by being right there in the middle of it all. And one of my favorite moments was how whenever they would bring out a new order, they would walk by our table and show us the entree and explain what it was. Too bad I drooled on a couple of them... Great way to PARTICIPATE!

Everywhere you looked there were images of old Italian people, Italian icons, etc... And I can't even tell you what I saw in the bathroom. It's just not right... But this place was definitely IMAGE DRIVEN.

And we felt extremely CONNECTED to what was going on. Every waiter and kitchen staff member stopped by our table to talk to us and actually made us feel a part of a small little "kitchen" community.

With all of that said, I thought it was a great experience and I think there is something that the church can learn from places like Buca, Starbucks, etc... They engage your senses and create a very comfortable place to partake of their product.

BUT, there is one thing that I didn't see them dishing up at Buca - GRACE.

Truly the church IS the hope of the world. So let's take advantage of our product and reach as many people as possible.

Selah.

HOMER WISDOM

For all of us Homer Simpson fans... Click HERE.

HOW DO YOU DRAW CLOSE TO GOD?

I just took a short online test and found out that I am an intellectual worshipper. Don't get me wrong, I don't worship intellectuals, but apparently that is my "worship style". Like I needed a test to tell me that I am an intellectual. (Yeah, right...)

Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta is doing a new series (Andy Stanley, Pastor) called "You've Got Style" and it is all about different types of worship styles/expressions. They have an online "test" that you can take to help identify your worship "style".

You can take the short online test by clicking HERE.

I rated highest as an Intellectual (17 points) who draws closest to God through their minds. (Very surprising actually...)

Then, I was rated the following in this order:

Naturalist - Connects with God through nature. (12 pts.)
Ascetics - Connects with God through solitude and simplicity. (10 pts.)
Activists - Connects with God through bringing about social change. (10 pts.)

What do you rate? Try it out and post it in my "comments" section!

PIC OF THE DAY

What a great example of how we sometimes communicate... :)

CLICK HERE

PRESIDENT BUSH'S SPEECH & THOUGHTS

Tonight, I watched as President Bush gave a short speech to re-cast his vision for fighting terrorism. Although a bit overdue (in my opinion...), his speech was a good reminder to the American people as to why we are waging war on terrorism and making the sacrifices that are necessary to do so. I still have a few questions of my own, but those are for another time.

The thing that is really making my head spin is a simple (and probably obvious) observation. It baffles me how just two years ago, our nation put on one of the strongest united fronts ever witnessed in my lifetime. I can still remember the senators and congressmen/women standing on the steps of the nation's capital singing a patriotic song. At that moment, as strange as it may seem, it appeared that our nation was united in her efforts. We had made a decision to stand up to these cowardly acts and those who performed them.

So what happened?

One word: POLITICS. Ok, maybe 2 words, but they tie in together: POLITICS & PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

A couple of years ago, we all agreed that we had to wage war on terrorism. And that is exactly what this White House has done - in a very focused manner. Perfect? No. But focused? Yes. But now, as we scoot closer to election time, this has become a "personal agenda" war of Mr. President.

I don't believe it.

Do I agree with everything President Bush says or does? No.

Do I think that his administration is communicating as effectively as they should? No.

But do I think that the United States better cover it's butt and stand up for the freedom that we enjoy everyday and hardly even ever have to think about? Yes.

And last but not least, do I think that this is a new type of war that we are fighting and perhaps need to be willing to cut some slack to our government for not doing everything perfect? Yes.

So back to the capital steps. September 12th, 2001. What was that? Perhaps a bunch of crap. Perhaps sincerity. Perhaps a little of both. Or, perhaps it's just an amazing example of how easily people forget and lose focus.

So there is my political talk. Please comment. Make this blog interesting. Disagree with me.