Books, General, Popular Culture

This is the Morning Report…

Good morning! I had a great and lazy weekend. I hope that all of your were as lucky. Although I sat on the couch all day Saturday I did manage to catch up on (and even finish) some reading.

I finished Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner. What a great book. It delivered what it promised by causing me to look at the world, experts, and conventional wisdom with a skeptical look and a wink. Go get this book.

I began reading David McCullough’s 1776 on Sunday. Hey, my dad’s a history teacher. Back off!

This morning (6/13) I picked up a copy a CD with my morning coffee. Starbuck’s music partner Hear Music has a excusive deal to sell Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill Acoustic: 10th Anniversary Edition until July 26th. The album sounds great. It is the decaf Alanis for you morning commute.

General

Simple Dream

I had someone ask me recently what am I trying to accomplish with the campus ministry.

The Campus Ministry is steadfast in making disciples of Jesus Christ who in turn make disciples of Jesus Christ.

There it is plain and simple.

Ministry

Coach’s Responsibility

One of the most difficult aspects of the campus ministry here is the lack of unity between our teachers. When I first arrived, many teachers were all too happy to tell me their problems with Teacher X or how Y Church was doing such and such wrong. It drives me crazy. I wish that I could model the right attitude and say just the right things to build unity between our faculty. These problems were here long before I arrived but I don’t want them to be here when I leave. I feel that God is calling me to build bridges. Ok, so how am I going to accomplish this? Good question. Right now, I’m reading about Coach Wooden. Coach Wooden knew how to lead teams. He led his UCLA Bruins to 7 national titles in a row! In the book Developing the Leader’s Around You, John C Maxwell explains that Coach Wooden knew that leaders have a responsibility to the people that they lead.

A Leader’s Response to the People They Wish to Develop
1) Appreciate them for who they are
2) Believe that they will do their very best
3) Praise their accomplishments
4) Accept the personal responsibility to them as their leader

This is a good start. For me, 2 and 3 look to be the most difficult. Some teachers here are hard to believe in and harder to praise. I sometimes wish that Jesus had made following him easier. It comes down to being willing to carry out for yourself what you expect others to do.

I will choose the difficult path. I will lead.

Popular Culture

For those about to “Slurp”

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Living in this small southern state is ok.
We have a Best Buy and a Barnes and Noble. We have 2 (count ’em 2) Starbucks. We have a Moe’s. We have a couple of malls. We have a great park. We even have a good movie theatre.
The one thing I miss about Dallas is… a 7-Eleven. I loved having that orange convenience store right down the block from where I lived. If it was 104 degrees in the shade there was a nice Slurpee in my hand. Tired after a long day at work? Have a Big Gulp. Brrrr… It’s cold. I think I’ll have a cup of joe. The possibilities for refreshment were endless. Now it seems that Apple and the Slurpee are combining their powers to bring people music with their beverage (a la Pepsi Co).

Apple and 7-Eleven have kicked off a new promotion to give away 8 million songs from the iTunes Music Store. According to the official rules, specially-marked 32 oz. Slurpee fountain cups at participating 7-Eleven locations will have a 12-digit alphanumeric code redeemable for one free song from the iTunes Music Store. It appears every cup is a winner.

So, if anybody out there in bloggdom needs to quench their thirst with a great big Slurpee and doesn’t have iTunes, drop me an email and I’ll tell you where you can send your winning tickets. Enjoy your summer everyone!

Link

Theology

World On Fire

The world’s on fire it’s more then I can handle
I’ll tap into the water try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able

Popular Culture

The Variables Rock

Coldplay‘s latest album, X&Y, is a classic. It starts with an awesome track entitled, “Square One,” and resolves exceptionally with “Twisted Logic.” My favorite tracks (“Fix You,” “Swallowed By the Sea,” “Talk”) will no doubt go down in Coldplay history as defining moments. I cannot wait until September when the wife and I will celebrate our 4th anniversary with thousands of our closest friends listening to these songs live. A great band and a great album.

General

Speaking Tonight

Tonight I will be speaking at church. The difficult part is that there are so many different people there: Teens, parents, bluehairs, CEOs and babies. In the grand scheme of things that kind of diversity is good. In the preparing a lesson scheme of things it is a challenging thing. A very challenging thing.

Theology

More from ONE

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On Friday I recieved this email from Rick Warren concerning the ONE Campaign. If you are a “faith leader” please email Rick at rick@peace.gs and tell him that you would like to sign this letter below.

Do something. Anything. Help.

Dear President Bush,

Because:

· ONE billion people around the world live on less than ONE dollar a day;
· The US government spends less than ONE percent of its budget on fighting global AIDS and poverty;
· Americans are uniting as ONE across political and religious divides to support action to overcome the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty.

At the G8 leaders meeting on July 6th we urge you to:

· Help the poorest people of the world fight poverty, disease, and hunger at a cost equal to just ONE percent more of the US budget on a clear timetable;
· Cancel 100% of the debts owed by the poorest countries;
· Reform trade rules so poor countries can earn sustainable incomes.

We urge you to lead an historic deal with other nations to help Africa and the poorest nations overcome global AIDS and extreme poverty. Together as ONE, we can Make Poverty History this July.

Sincerely, U.S. Faith Leaders

The Goal Is Soul