LITTLE ITALY & CATCHING UP OVER TAPAS



Spent a few hours at a Starbucks on Taylor Street in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood today working on my message for Sunday. Decided to head into the city before traffic got crazy.

Connected w/ a good friend of mine tonight who was in town (Jamey Johnson). Had a great dinner at Emilio's Tapas Bar in Lincoln Park. Great, great food. If you've never had Tapas and you live in the area you need to try it!! For the suburbanite in you, there is also a location in Wheaton. Here's what we had:

PATATAS CON ALIOLI - Emilio's famous potato salad with garlic mayonnaise

TOSTADAS DE MARISCOS - shrimp, scallops and monkfish, served on toasted country bread, with avocado and fresh greens

PAN CON TOMATE, JAMON Y QUESO - tomato bread topped with Serrano ham and Manchego cheese

SOLOMILLO CON PIMIENTOS - grilled beef tenderloin rolled in cracked pepper, with sauteed onions, peppers, caramelized onions and horseradish sauce

...and some other pork dish that was pretty good. Oh yeah, and just so you know, tapas are small servings - sort of a Spanish version of Chinese Dim Sum.

Good stuff...

As always, it was good to catch up w/ my Minnesotan friend, Jamey. This guy is quality - and I mean that (even if he hitchikes in the middle of winter... sorry, inside joke.).

(Awesome to see you Jamey. And I love the new hairstyle!)

YIKES!

This is scary. Celebs w/out their makeup on.

(Thank God for Revlon.)

AWESOME VIEW

It would have been INCREDIBLE to have been here last night (New Year's Eve)!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!



A few of us got together tonight to celebrate the entrance of the New Year with a little Asian stir fry and a U2 DVD. Good times...

Hope this year is the best ever for you and your loved ones. We're one hour and ten minutes into it and so far it seems pretty good!

Happy New Year to my blogging community!

POM WONDERFUL



When I was in New York, my friend Abe and I stopped off at Dean & Deluca for a quick coffee & breakfast and I saw a drink that I had been wanting to try for a long time called POM Wonderful. POM Wonderful is pomegranate juice and each bottle contains the juice of 3 (I think...) whole pomegranates. When I returned home to Chicago I discovered that Whole Foods near my home carries POM and it even comes in several different flavors: tangerine, cherry, blueberry, mango and of course straight pomegranate. Pretty good stuff and very healthy (contains antioxidents). A tad bit on the pricey side (in Manhattan I paid $4.50 for a 15 oz. bottle), but about the same as a typical Starbucks espresso drink (and much healthier).

MADCOW

Worried this whole Madcow thing? If you think your cow might be mad, check this out.

(Thanks Adam.)

NEW CD'S...

Picked up some new CD's the other day. Among them:

The latest Evanescence called Fallen. Good stuff... Someone on Amazon.com used the word "eclectic" and I think I agree.

Sting's new CD, Sacred Love. I've been a Sting fan for a lot of years so I enjoy almost everything he does. Although, I have yet to be as impressed by a recording of his since his live CD that he recorded on 9/11 just hours after the tragedies entitled, "All This Time". It was recorded in Tuscan, Italy and is one of the best live albums I've ever heard.

Ok - Seal has done it again with his new CD entitled, "Seal IV". It takes forever for this guy to come out w/ a new album, but when he does it is almost always INCREDIBLE. Buy this CD.

Also picked up Coldplay's CD - "A Rush of Blood to the Head". I had a copy of this CD but lost it. These guys remind me so much of early U2. Great, great album if you are an early U2 fan.

Let's see...what else. Oh yeah - John Mayer. Latest album, Heavier Things - pretty good - a few good songs but not as good as his last album. I like this guy when it's just him and his acoustic. He pulled out the electric for this album and did a fine job, but just not my preference when it comes to John Mayer.

That's all I can think of. Oh yeah, I got the latest Peter Gabriel compilation thinking I was getting his new CD. Woops. Ebay here I come baby.

What are you listening to?

TOL (THINKING OUT LOUD) ABOUT COMMUNICATION

I’m thinking out loud tonight about communication. Specifically communication in the context of the local church and they way we (as pastors/ministers/talkers or whatever we might be called) communicate to our emerging culture.

Looking back over the last few years of my life I can’t believe how dang intentional I’ve had to become about communicating in a way that would (hopefully) engage the listener. (...especially when it comes to speaking to an unchurched person in their 20's - 30's)

I can remember a time when my communication “style” was all about getting a specific response/reaction from the audience. The problem with that approach was that if there wasn’t an immediate “response” then I would immediately make the stupid assumption that people were not challenged or that perhaps I somehow failed as a communicator.

It’s not easy changing that mindset and approach.

One of the things that I’ve tried to do more and more lately is to think of ways to help connection happen between myself and the group that I’m speaking to. There are probably a lot of ways to do this, but what seems to work the best for me is the use of personal stories and illustrations. Oh yeah, and humor. Humor is always a good thing (as long as it’s funny to someone other than myself).

Authenticity is also huge – not coming across as, “I’ve got it all figured out and let me tell you how to become like me” – but admitting (at times) that certain subjects are even difficult for me and that I’m on this journey just like they (the listeners) are. Vulnerability might not always be easy – but it helps open up hearts.

It seems that before I try to help connect someone to God, I must first connect with them. If I fail to connect to them (as a communicator), chances are that I may not do much good in connecting them to God. a.k.a - the old John Maxwell quote, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” In other words, it is vital that I “earn the right” to be heard. And one of the ways that I earn that right is to help the listener feel like I can relate to them.

It also involves taking the listener on a journey. For example, I can get up on a Sunday morning and open up by saying, “Today we are going to learn about how God really wants us to have a good attitude no matter what we are going through.” Well that sounds nice to “churched” people and it is a true statement – but to the typical postmodern listener this comes across as a very black and white statement (and premature declaration). And without taking the time to build my “case”, walls might shoot up, and then I’ve done more harm than good.

Rather than open up with the end result of what the message will say, why not back up and take the group on a journey to discover that truth? And in the process answer the questions that you know people are asking and/or addressing the arguments and “other sides” that people are familiar with.

Lots to learn...

Any thoughts?

MISS THE RAPTURE?

Check out this site. Email your loved ones a letter after the rapture has occurred.

Ok - a couple of questions:

1. Who pushes the send button on these emails? Some guy who they pay NOT to convert?

2. What exactly will the email say? Dear ___________, Guess what? You're screwed for about 7 years.

3. Who thinks of these things?

Ok. Enough said.