The Insomnia Chronicles

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Hey, IF you use Firefox for Web browsing, be sure to get the NEW 3.0 version - I really like it! Just click the Icon & download it for FREE!

online quiz

I'm really grateful for the internet and the online access that it provides for relationships, study resources, current events, shopping, networking and more!  I have reconnected with many old friends and begun lots of new ones through this amazing tool. 

I really strive to USE it and not have it USE me... that is, benefit from it without abusing my time and relationships.  I don't want to be more 'REAL' online than I am face-to-face.  So, like with any good thing, I must use discretion and self-control.  I'm curious about your thoughts about this.  Please take a few minutes and contribute to the discussion by answering the following questions:

1. How many minutes or hours are you online per day?
2. How many times per week do you blog?
3. List your online communities (facebook, myspace, etc).
4. How many email accounts do you have?
5. Do you make online purchases? Favorite site?
6. Do you twitter?  Do you follow others on twitter?
   
7. Do you do online banking and/or bill pay? 
8. Do you Instant Message (care to share screen-name)?
9. Would you say, you're online too much?

What question would you like to add to the topic?

Another thing with me:  I hardly ever post any pictures of my kids (or minors) - even on the rare occassion that I do post pics, I remove them within 24 hours or so.  Two reasons:  I don't want to encourage the exploitation of children and I also want to preserve their rights to privacy.

    10.  Any thoughts on this?

Ok, that's it for now.  Have a great Sunday (or whatever day it is that you read this)...

Faith, Hope and PORN?

Christian dating web site BigChurch.com's motto is "Bringing people together in love and faith." A pointed quote from the Old Testament ("A man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Gen. 2:24) precedes the site's Bible-verse search library. Further testimonial from a fresh-faced woman leaves little doubt as to the site's higher purpose: "I feel like my prayers of finding a respectable man have been answered! Thanks BigChurch!!"

So it may surprise users that BigChurch.com has a decidedly promiscuous corporate parent: Penthouse Media Group Inc. (NEWSWEEK May 19, 2008 Issue).

So, do you suppose that 'porn-brokers' are God's chosen agents for orchestrating the sacred, miraculous and wonderful gift of marriage??

Ick.

40DAZED!!

I can honestly say that the last 40 days have been the greatest 40DAZE of my life.  Our times of daily prayer, fasting and study of His Word have been miraculous. We read the Bible, outloud, continuously, cover-to-cover in 65 hours and 35 minutes (starting on Wednesday afternoon and ending early yesterday morning) - so powerful! And we just completed our first weekend with two services:  NightLight - Satrudays at 8pm, and the Awakening - Sundays at 11am. Wow!!  Just living by the simple PRAY FIRST lifestyle has really changed so many things in me and us...

You ever have one of those "good tired" feelings?  You know, when you're exhausted but so glad for the reason you're so torched. That's how I feel.  It's not just a physical thing because of the fasting or all the extra work (and sleeplessness) this weekend...  it's spiritual too.  It's like reaching a new mark in the weight room, yeah, I feel like I've lifted more than ever before in the spiritual realm.  That's so God! So, I embrace the tenderness from the workout because I know I'm getting stronger and doing things at a level that I have not been able to in the past...  more prayer is now required.

As promised, I want to share the opening video from last night's NightLight - so, here it is for your enjoyment - I think it's amazing & powerful... let me know what you think!

Lastly, I want to leave you with the quote of the day (for me, at least)... one of our faithful attenders, whose whole family is part of our church, walked into my office this afternoon and said, after being in both services:

                "Pastor, you did a "#@&*" good job!!"   ~ ha! Classic!  (edited per request)

Collide.

a promotional word:  for all of you that use a lot of media with your ministry - which is really a must in today's culture - you got to check out Collide Magazine.  both the print magazine and online blog provide excellent sources for inspiration, innovation and encouragement.  allow experts in technology & media to train & empower you in presenting the Truth in unique and relevant ways.

WEB

I just re-did our church website and would love it IF you would please check it out and then come back here and leave me some feedback.  Not too much is different, but I needed to bring it up to speed and make some much needed changes. I had to recreate the entire site due to a destroyed hard-drive, so it's been a labor of love... honestly, I really enjoy this stuff.  So anyways, check it out when you can... Thanks! 

just click HERE to visit: REAL CHURCH

By the way, the following is a list of the countries that have recently vistited our website - amazing & humbling:  austria, canada, israel, sweden, saudi arabia, turkey, thailand, germany, seychelles, UK, belgium, argentina, brazil, netherlands, taiwan, ukraine, usa. 
 

real church live

Hey, I updated our church website - nothing drastic, just some new pics and fonts - but I think it's cool... so, please check it out & give me some feedback. Just click below...

REAL CHURCH

note: you may need to hit refresh on each page you visit to bring up the new version (if you've ever been to this site before - if not, you're fine) - thanks for checking it out and praying for us.

iPhoney... who me?!

yep, i thought about it... a lot. 

too much.

i researched it.  watched the commercials.  studied the specs.

justified the purchase.

then i began rehearsing (with myself) all kinds of hypothetical conversations  where i defend my reasons for owning it. 

others, knowing i'm a mac enthusiast, assumed i would be first to own one.

green light. it's mine.

then came the voice.

nooo... not THE voice! call it the voice of reason, or the voice of the Spirit, or whatever... to me it's THE VOICE.  and, it began asking the questions: "why do you need it again?" ...  "is that really how you should spend 500+ dollars right now?" ...  "did you run this purchase by the Father?"  ...  "where did the desire to own this come from?"  ...  "can it / should it wait?"  ...  "when was the last time you splurged on me instead of on you?" ... gulp.

i have a pretty cool phone already... it works good, has great reception, and has a less expensive monthly plan (for same amount of minutes).

i'm a pastor, church planter, child of God. 

i have a FREE wireless, digital connection with the Almighty that's unlimited & always available.

owning the iPhone, for me, may lead to me becoming an "iPhoney" - trying to live a life beyond His leading.  i might tend to spend too much time with a gadget and less with the creator.

this isn't the first time that mac's little apple logo has hung on "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" for me. and, like other times in the not-too-distant past,  i had picked it of the branch, shined it on my shirt, and lifted it to my lips. 

but this time the THE VOICE overpowered the serpents. and i refused to take a bite. whoa!  so close to finding myself wearing those fig-leaf boxers ... AGAIN!

so, back to the motorola tree! 

for me, it's a matter of obedience & common-sense.

Think Different.

I love being a MAC (apple) user. Over the years I have worked in settings that required me to use PC's  and others that rolled MAC.  There's no comparison. I think one of the things that makes MAC so much better is that they are the underdogs - tech heavy-weights (PC/Microsoft) have forced Apple to be more creative, unique and user-friendly. As a result, they have a chip on their shoulders and are constantly thinking outside the box.  Today their machines are designed for the creative, artistic, visionaries. IF all you need is a glorified typewriter, calculator & web-browser, PC's are fine but for web-design, video production, graphic arts & design, music composition or digital photography MAC is so much easier.

I can hear all of you PC users grumbling - relax...  and read on...

I've seen the comparison's made with PC's to the established church and MAC to the emerging church. With this in mind, people have made video parody's to the all familiar TV commercial "hi, I'm a mac, and I'm a pc" (... see YouTube).  I can relate to that...   there is a rigidness to the established, denominational leadership that almost seems to resent and resist those of us challenging their methodology.  I've been lectured, as a church planter, "this is how our fellowship works" - "you need to do things the way they have always been done" ... what if our fellowship is broken or out-of-date? What if there's a better way?

Mac is certainly a company that speaks my language and embraces a message that I'm trying to proclaim with my life and through our church. The following is one of their magazine ads from a few years ago, see if it resonates with your heart.   

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Think Different.
                                                                              - Apple Computer Advertisement

p.s. click on photos to enlarge them - they're pretty cool.  oh, and also, please take the Bible survey (lower left column) if you haven't already - it helps us with some research.  thanks!!