All posts by mjfelker1980

Collecting Experiences, Conferences, Discipleship, Ethos, Leadership, Ministry, Resources

Unplugged Conference

Unplugged Day 1 is in the books. Registration began at 9am this morning and we wrapped up with dinner on the national mall at around 6pm. What a day it was!!!

There are only about 50 ministers here for the conference which has made for a very personal and informal (in a good way) meeting. I have never been to a conference where we all went around the room and introduced ourselves. Definitely a new experience for me.

Mark began by telling us his prayer for Unplugged. First, he prayed that there would be some divine connections made between us. Without doubt I had some great introductions and some divine conversations today.

Secondly, Mark prayed for some paradigm shifts to happen. Not sure I experienced any shifts today but I did get plenty of clarity. I think that being able to see your paradigms clearly can cause you to shift a little.

And finally, Mark prayed that we would walk away from the conference with some God ideas. I do believe that “1 God Idea is better than 1000 good ideas.” No doubt.

The focus of the conference is to look at The 5 Greatest Challenges That Leaders Face. We looked at the first 3 today:

The Motivation Challenge
The Vision Challenge
The Personal Challenge

I am excited to see what tomorrow holds.

Awesomenessness, Collecting Experiences, Conference, Discipleship, Ministry, Youth Ministry

DC is for Conferencing

I’m making my way to the nation’s capital for the Unplugged Conference today.

I am so stoked. The conference should be a very intimate and challenging two days of conversations and dreaming. I’m looking forward to hearing from Mark Batterson and Jud Wilhite and I’m looking forward to a cup of Ebenezers in the morning.

I’ll be staying with my bro-in-law and will take the metro into Union Station each day. I like taking mass transit too bad there is no subway in my little town here at home.

I’ll post my thoughts and experiences each night. You can also follow me on Twitter. Keep me in your prayers for safe travel, rest, and growth. Thanks.

Peace,
Felker

Books, Buisness, Customer Service, Popular Culture, Questions

Upgrade My Foot

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I ordered a book from Amazon yesterday and when I completed my order I was offered the opportunity to “upgrade” my purchase to allow for online reading of the book. This would allow me to begin reading the book immediately and allowed for searching inside the entire book and even allowed me to print. The cost: an extra 5 bucks. No big deal right? Well, hang on.

Why is there a fee involved? I ordered the book from Amazon. Couldn’t they just allow me free online access to the book I just bought. Why add the 5 bucks? Wouldn’t it make more sense to give away the digital copy than to charge extra for something I’m getting in a few days anyway. There’s not publishing costs, no shipping costs, zero overhead. It just doesn’t make sense.

It turns out that I have previously purchased 6 books that are available for online access. The prices range from $1.49 to $7.20. There is no set price for upgrading either. What’s that about?

Crossway Publishers gives away the digital copy of books you purchase through them. Like Amazon they are completely searchable. You can print and copy just like Amazon. Crossway books are available for immediate download once you purchase the physical copy.

So if a small publishing group can give away the digital copy why can’t mighty Amazon? I’m just asking.

Discipleship, Ministry, Preaching, Wrestling With Scripture

What Bwings Us Togewah

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I had the opportunity to preach yesterday and so I picked a pretty bold topic to speak on. I chose Marriage. I’ve spoken on Leadership and Vision. I did a series on Starbucks and the Church. I’ve even tackled dangerous emotions like jealousy and anger. But I wanted to stretch myself yesterday and felt very good about the message I was able to share with our church.

It felt a little tricky speaking on marriage because I don’t have all the answers. I’m only 28 and we’ve only been married 7 years. We don’t have kids or teens. We’ve suffered little turmoil. Despite this I felt a strong push to speak about making our marriages a priority.

What I felt I really accomplished yesterday was to get couples talking. God was definitely present yesterday and I pray that he will be glorified in the lives of our marriages from here on out.

My message was taped yesterday so hopefully I’ll get a copy of it. If you’re interested I send you a copy if they come out alright. Just let me know in the comments section. Thanks.

Giving Thanks, Golf, Youth Ministry

Hitting the Links

Had the chance to play some golf today with one of my teens and with another minister and one of his teens. It was such a great day. At one point the wind picked up to hurricane gail force winds and the temperature dropped at least 15 degrees. It was quite a challenge hitting into that wind!

The teen I was with hit his first two birdies ever. He did such a great job! I, on the other hand, ended better than usual having only lost 4 balls all day. Maybe I’m getting better. Maybe.

There is nothing better than just hanging out, hitting the ball around, and enjoying some great conversation. Good day all around.

Books, Discipleship, Leadership, Ministry, Prayer

What Prayer Does

During the flows and the ebbs (of life), however, I remember that the most fulfilling byproduct of a life of prayer is not the satisfaction of checking off a daily to-do- perfect attendance in your prayer closet doesn’t always equal deep fulfillment. The most fulfilling byproduct is also not receiving miraculous answers to the actual prayers, although these are wonderful when they occur. What I have discovered along the path of prayer-life cultivation is that the greatest thrill to a prayer is the qualitative difference made in one’s relationship with God. — Too Busy Not to Pray, Bill Hybels

What a great truth!!! I am totally lovin’ working through this classic. If I typed out all the passages that have hit me square in the face I would be violating some major copyright laws!

If you get a chance pick this book up this summer. It is a much more compelling beach read than anything else out there. Definitely check it out.

2008, Collecting Experiences, Discipleship, Faith in Action, Youth Ministry

Workin’ My Way Back to You Babe

Work Camp 2008 is in the books!

We had a great week painting and fixing houses. The weather cooperated with us this year. No running from storms like we did last year. The temperatures were mild and we didn’t No one got hurt and for the first time in a long time our teens got some press coverage for heir hard work.

I have been doing work camps since 1994 first as a camper then as an intern and now as a leader. The way that this WC was organized I led a group of teens none of which are in my youth group. It gives me a great opportunity to mentor and work with teens that I haven’t had contact with and it gives my teens the chance to connect with other adult leaders from around the city.

I am headed back over to our house today to pick up some supplies and to do a small amount of touch ups. I have been doing a lot of repairs around our house so I’m becoming quite the amateur handy man. We’ll see if I can replace the outdoor water faucet at our Work Camp house today. It is feeling like a big maybe.

Have a great day everyone!

Guilty Pleasure, Popular Culture, Summer, Youth Ministry

Up to Speed

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Since I started blogging back in 2004, I have never gone more than a few days without posting at least something each week. That is until last week.

Last week was my last week of (relative) freedom before the beast that is summer had a chance to take over my life. I left my computer wherever. I failed to return emails. I kinda checked out of cyberspace.

It Begins…
Summer began for me in earnest today. We began Work Camp early this morning and that will last until Wednesday night. We have about 200 teenagers representing about 10 churches painting houses and cleaning yards in the Arlington area this week. I love the idea of teens and adults spending their first week of summer paying to paint other people’s houses in the hot, hot sun. What a great week! Bonus today as a cool front moved in at the end of the work day. Hopefully, we can continue to have mild and clear weather for the remainder of the week.

Summer Staples
I picked up a one volume copy of all of the C.S. Lewis Signature Classics to read through this summer. I have read some (Mere Christianity, Screwtape, The Great Divorce) and there are a few that I have not read (Problem of Pain, Miracles, A Grief Observed). I had already planned on reading through Miracles and Screwtape this summer but then I thought it might be fun to try and read through all of these master works over the next three months. I never tire of reading through Lewis. I get overwhelmed sometimes but never tired.

I Shall Retire to the Nerdery
Another of my summer plans is to decorate my office. Those of you who know me know I love movies and music and animation. What you may not know is that I love comics too. I’m not a total geek but there is just something in me that connects to mythology, storytelling, and folklore . What better place to find those elements than in the comic book heroes that I know and love? So in an effort to find some interesting pieces of wall art I headed down to the closest comic book shop to pull some issues with cool covers. I found what I was looking for but I also got sucked in to a new storyline from my favorite hero, Batman. At the end of this new series RIP… (dum, dum, daaaaaaaaaah) Bruce Wayne will no longer be Batman. Whaaaaaaaaaa? Sounds pretty cool to me. I’ve cross another line toward total geek-out.
I hope everyone has a great week. I’ll talk to you again soon.

Insomnia, LOST, Popular Culture, Randomness

Jeremy Bentham: Present but Not Voting

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I am still reeling from last night’s season finale of LOST. I won’t ruin the BIG HUGE REVEAL of who was in the coffin here but needless to say, I was shocked. All season long I had predicted that it was Michael’s body but, man-o-man, was I wrong!!! (Credit where credit is due, my wife guess correctly)

Now here is something I found absolutely fascinating about tonight’s episode. The name given to the body in the coffin was Jeremy Bentham. The real Bentham was a English philosopher from the late 1700s and early 1800s. He is most known for his advocacy of Utilitarianism, the idea that goodness is derived from an action’s outcome. True goodness is measured by the impact it has on a situation as a whole. What is done for the greater good and the greatest number of people is deemed truly great. Looks like we have a season of story in there somewhere.

benthamo.jpgThe thing that most struck me about the real Bentham and how he might relate to LOST as we go forward was his corpse. To the best of my understanding, Bentham had his body preserved and stored in a cabinet. One article said that this was due to financial reasons. More likely is that he allowed his student, Dr. Southwood Smith, to preform an autopsy on his body. Autopsies were highly controversial but Bentham and Smith believed that by dissecting a dead body many great things might be learned for the betterment of society. Again, the greater good would be served.

In 1850 University College London acquired the body and presented it on display in their main building. Apparently, the head fell off one day and so the powers that be sculpted a replacement head out of wax but kept the real head in the cabinet. The head, after years of being stolen and being just plain creepy, was removed and is in “safe keeping.” The college allegedly brings Bentham’s cabinet to important Council meetings where he is marked “present but not voting.” According to the Wikipedia article, if there is ever a need for a tie breaking vote Bentham votes in favor of the motion.

So what does this mean for our friend in the coffin? Well, Ben said everyone has to go back so… looks like “Bentham” will be tagging along. Add a little creep factor to this if he sits in on the return trip planning meetings too.

It is hard to believe that I have to wait until 2009 to find out that I’m probably wrong about this. Leave your thoughts and theories in the comments section friends. Have a good weekend everyone.

bentham.JPG

Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Ministry, My Life, Prayer

The Jar of Anger

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10 years ago I was one angry dude. I had more than just a temper. I was mean and surly at the drop of a hat. I was a bit like an emotionally volatile Tasmanian Devil and I cared little about what damage was left in my wake.

The people who bore the brunt of my anger were my parents and my friends. I punched and kicked holes in walls and I even smashed a window once. My anger issues got so bad that I would blank out sometimes. I would remember some of the things I would do or say but there are whole chunks of crazy that my friends would have to tell me about later. It was a miserable experience.

I could make excuses and say that I was bullied or picked on as a kid. I could tell you that nobody liked me and I ate worms. I could make excuses and write off my bad behavior on my teenage hormones. However by say those things I am abdicating responsibility.

The bottom line is I was selfish and immature. I wouldn’t get my way and I flew off the handle. I felt slighted and I would want the world to know about it. Plain and simple.

My anger trapped me in destructive behaviors and stunted me emotionally. I ruined opportunities for relationship growth with friends and family all because I wanted to throw hissy fits. Real mature huh?

Today it is a different story. I have better control of my emotions and I rarely, if ever, raise my voice in anger. My wife has never seen me act out in anger. My friend’s wife, who met me after my change, told me that she has a hard time believing that I was ever angry. She has said that she thinks that we are making up stories from high school. I told her that we could never make up anything that ridiculous. I am thankful that God has smashed the jar of anger that was trapping me. I get a kick out of how great and powerful God is that he has transformed me so much that people have a hard to believing that my old way of living was even real. God be praised!

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

Today, while I don’t put my fist into walls or throw chairs at $2000 projectors, I still have to be on guard. Anger tries to creep back into my life through impatience, pride, and frustration. Like Paul, I will forget what is behind me though. I will press on. May his strength be evident in my weakness. May he continue to smash jars in my life.

May he smash the jars in your life that keep you from truly living.

Peace my friends.