GOODBYE GIPPER!


Ronald Reagan
1911-2004

THE GROWTH OF WIFI

The growth and expansion of wifi (highspeed, wireless internet access) is an exciting thing to watch. Recently, Fast Company featured an article about San Diego's effort to become the most "wifi" enabled city in the nation.

Another great example - Chaska, Minnesota. Soon, the entire town of Chaska will be wifi enabled and will offer the service to its citizens for about $16 per month.

Need wifi? Search your town by clicking here.

JOSS STONE



If you hear some serious groovin' coming from near Chicago, it's me. Actually not me, it's Joss Stone. Holy crapppppp.

I am convinced it is utterly impossible to listen to this CD and not move around. It's kicks some serious tail. This girl's style is unbelievable! Check her out here.

MINNEAPOLIS 4





Free wifi is a wonderful thing. I'm sitting at Sebastian Joe's in Uptown Minneapolis. I took a quick swing by the Walker Arts Center and snapped a few pics. I'm going to get caffeined up and head out of here.

To Chicago I go.

MINNEAPOLIS 3

Heading back to Chicago tomorrow early afternoon... Had a great week here in Minneapolis. Last night I was given the opportunity to speak at the Wednesday night worship gathering at the church I've been working with the past few days. There was a great connection with the group and it was a real honor sharing our story and what God is doing back home in Aurora.

A few pics from the last day or two...


Christ Church, Minneapolis 6.2.04


Speaking @ Christ Church, Mpls. 6.2.04


Crema Cafe, 34th & Lyndale, Mpls. 6.3.04 (Very productive meeting environment...)


Crema Cafe, Mpls. 6.3.04


Jamey's nugget, Mpls. 6.3.04

ONLY IN MINNESOTA



Saw this on someone's license plate tonight. I couldn't resist...

MINNEAPOLIS 2



It's going great here in Minneapolis. Spent a few hours today with the staff from Christ Church International. They are a church in transition located in the inner city of Minneapolis. They are a multi-cultural church and staff. Our time together was awesome. We talked about church transition, reaching the unchurched of our communities, etc... These guys have an awesome heart to connect with their local community. Tonight I am speaking at their mid-week service. I'm going to share some thoughts that I shared a while back in a series we did at The Orchard called, "More Ready Than You Realize" based on the book by Brian McLaren.

We had a great lunch w/ a few of the staff today at Figlio in Uptown. Great place - an "old" favorite. (Can't do a blog post without talking about food, right?)

Gotta fly...

(Picture from left to right: Stephen Crawford, Darrell Geddes, Jamey Johnson, me, Peter Shu)

MINNEAPOLIS




After arriving in Minneapolis it didn’t take long for me to realize how much I miss this city. It’s a great town. As soon as I got here I shot over to the Starbucks on 54th & Lyndale to catch up the day's emails.

The south part of Minneapolis is a great area. Very neighborhood-ish feel to it. Several independent coffee shops, great restaurants, etc…

Connected w/ my friend Jamey Johnson tonight (he's the tough lookin' dude in the pics above). Had a great dinner at Pizza Luce – ordered the Baked Potato Pizza smothered in buttery garlic baby red mashed potatoes, topped with broccoli, fresh diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese & diced bacon served with a side of sour cream. CAN YOU TASTE IT?!?!? It was fantastic… And I am stuffed.

Tomorrow will be a busy day – meetings all day. I’m hoping to take a few nice pics of the city to post.

Stay tuned…

TUESDAY

It's a beautiful morning here in Chicago. It helps that the sun is shining (for a change...).

Not much to say this morning - except that the past few days have been good. Good in the sense that I have come to some great realizations about myself which I will have to share at a later time.

I will be in Minneapolis the next few days and will keep in touch in the blogosphere.

Gotta go - staff meeting prep time.

See you up "Nort"...

SUNDAY



What a day... About 20 hours ago I reluctantly woke up to begin my Sunday. By the time I got through my first (and only today) cup of Starbucks I was ready to fly.

Our worship gatherings went great today. It's always awesome to see so many new faces. What's even more awesome is when these "new" faces become "relaxed" faces and then watching people connecting to what's happening. We themed our services around Memorial Day and ran into some great video footage to use. We also had military presentations by retired veterens and an ROTC group. It all came together very well.

This afternoon we went to the annual Greek Festival in St. Charles. I was proud to introduce Ted and Kathryn to Greek food (gyros, kabobs, athenian chicken, baklava, pastitsio, etc...). Elise got her face painted and spent the day showing off her new "tattoo". (The pic is of the shoes worn by the traditional Greek dancers - children actually...)

While at the Greek Fest, we met a family who visited The Orchard for the second time today. They are an unchurched family who heard about our church from some friends. It was great meeting them and hearing about their background, etc...

So now I am going to bed. Tomorrow will be a big family shindig and then I'll be shooting out of town for a few days to work with the leadership team of a church in Minneapolis.

Later...