The Jonny Smith Regime

New Blog - Check it Out

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:10:00 +0000

http://theajthomas.wordpress.com/

Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:47:00 +0000

I have decided to put this Blog on an indefinite hiatus. I may return to blogging at some point in the future but for now I'm taking an intentional and probably long term break.

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 9

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Finish First Toastmasters Level

This is a pretty straightforward goal but it's gonna take some definite work. Finishing the first level means doing 10 speeches with different goals like good organization, vocal variety, and using visuals. I have already done the first one which means I have a month to do the next 9. With the summer break we take that means I need to do about 1 a month for the next year. Finding prep time will be a bit of a challenge but they are mostly 5-7 min so it's not like there is that much to prep. The big challenge for me is figuring what to talk about and that's the part that will hold me back more than anything. I don't mind talking about faith and church but those things are such a huge part of my life it's kind of hard to figure out what else to talk about. My first speech was about that and I know it's gonna come up in some others but I don't want to get some experience talking about other subjects and to not come across like super preachy. In order to keep this lack of topics from becoming a hold up I'm looking to put together a list of 9 topics to talk about over the year. That's where you come in. What are some topics that you think you might enjoy hearing me talk about for 5-7 min?

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 8

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Be More Friendly

It's become crystal clear to me this year that I am not a friendly person. Maybe it's my social awkwardness, maybe it's the fact that I'm an introvert, maybe it's just lack of practice being around folks I don't know. I'm not one to strike up a conversation with someone I don't know or even smile and make small talk most days. I tend to be a look down and stare at the floor type person. The truth is I'm awful at this and there are a dozen reasons for me to be at least good if not great.

While I don't feel some burning need to fit a mold or be like anyone other than Jesus (he does seem like a friendly guy though) I see folks who have that ability to make friends easily, to strike up conversations with strangers, brighten the day of people they don't know, and build a relationship with nothing more to work with than being in the same place at the same time and think tot myself that's a skill, in fact that's a way of life I want to emulate. (Dang that was a long sentence.) This will be the hardest of these goals for me. I can't schedule it in. I can't just encourage some natural tendency in me. It's uncomfortable and awkward and if I'm being totally transparent kind of scary for me. I'm going to just have to dig down, man up, risk embarrassment, err on the side of overdoing it, and be friendly. On the Bus, at the office, in the store, with my neighbors, I stink. I want to do better.

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 7

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Unplug from Tech and Media more.

Maybe this goes against the trend or maybe it will make me less "relevant" or something but I intend to have less technology (or less frequent use of it) and less media (or more intentional use of it) in my life on 09. So what does this look like?

Only 1 TV in our house instead of two, this will be easy since the other one died anyway. It's in the rec room so you sort of have to intentionally go watch iot rather than it just being on. I'll be intentional about what shows I follow but plan to watch less TV "just for something to do."

I'm going to follow less blogs and do so less frequently. I'm going to cut way back on the number of friends blogs I follow, after all most folks update weekly at best, and I'm going to streamline the "professional" blogs I follow. For example I'll likely dump Seth Godin's RSS. Great blog but he posts to frequently (yes it's possible) and says alot of the same stuff. I kind of feel like I've had the experiance. I'm dropping Batterson's Blog because it tends to be fairly personal with a few inspirational thoughts lumped in. Nothing I can't miss. But I may also pick up some new ones if I find they are solid.

I'm going to check those blogs, and facebook, and email less frequently. That's probably one of the greatest productivity killers for me one one of the things that distracts me from things that aren't urgent but are important.

I don't have a PDA or smart phone so that's a non-issue. And although I'm not ready to make this a goal I do hope to replace some of my media usage time with reading. Slow and steady wins the race for me in that department.

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 6

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:57:00 +0000

Journal More

Another simple one. I have use journaling in the past as a tool on mission strips or as part of a prayer exercise but I want to take it to the level of a discipline for at least a good chunk of this year. I have a lot of stuff running around my head these days and rather than keep it there or try to structure it and refine it to the level required to share it with others, for example on this blog, I'm going to write it out. Some of it will be what happened today, some of it will be prayers, some of it will be questions and just thinking out loud, but I think it will be a good experience for me to journal it out. I've never found a ton of value in going back and reading journal entries later but have heard that's what you are supposed to do so I have tried to keep them neat and tidy and structured but not this year. This journal is going to be a bucket that I open up my mind and puke into once a day. If 100 years from now archaeologists want to dig through it to try and find out what I ate that will be their problem.

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 5

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:50:00 +0000

Encourage other leaders more.

This is a pretty simple one I think. I'm going to look for ways to be more encouraging to other people in church leadership, other pastors. I know it makes a difference when people from outside my situation take the time to encourage me and give me a little bost and so I want to do that more for others. I have some ideas to go about it but it's ultimatly not rocket science so...

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 4

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Continue searching for a mentor.

For several months now I have been sensing a need in my life to spend some time with an older, more mature, more experienced Christian man, for lack of a better term a mentor. I'm not looking for guy who can coach me through all the challenges of ministry but maybe a guy I can bounce stuff off from time to time. What I'm really hoping to find is a man I respect who is way further down the road of life experience and following Jesus than I am. A guy I can talk to, pray with, learn from, and a guy who can look me in the eye and tell me things I need to hear that I'm not smart enough to know and tell myself. I don't picture anything overly formal just consistent and rich. Maybe a weekly breakfast together that I pay for.

One of the admittedly few drawbacks of of leading where I do is that we don't have any of the true dear old saints. The folks who have that richness in their lives that only comes from years with the Lord. I've looked around the city and thought through everyone I know of here and so far haven't come up with a solid candidate so I'm going to keep looking, keep meeting folks in town here, keep my ears open for folks who might be moving this way, and keep praying for a mentor this year.

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 3

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:08:00 +0000

Do less extra circular church stuff and more community stuff.

Opportunities to get involved in church stuff outside the main focus of my actual responsibilities are endless. There are interdenominational pastor get togethers. There seem to be a favorite pastime of church leaders in Halifax. Sometimes one wonders if we are more concerned about getting the lost to Jesus or just getting together with each other. There are district events and comitties, christian non-profits doing events and innitatives, camps, conferances, and special events to speak at, and the list goes on.

There are also some opportunities to be involved in the general community here at Halifax. There is my Toastmasters Club (more on that in a future post) an animal shelter I have been thinking about volunteering at (basically just to play with kittens)and otheropportunities I beleive will present themsef in the comming months if I keep my eyes and ears open.

I tend to default to saying "yes" to church stuff because it's fun and comfortable and seems like "a good thing to do." I don't really have a defult for community stuff because frankly I haven't been p[aying attention that long. Because you can't do everything my default for the next year will be no to church stuff (although I'm sure I will do a few things)and yes to non-church community stuff and my prayer is that God will open up some cool opportunities for me to be involved in Halifax. Maybe it will be something recreational, maybe it will be sitting on a board or committie, I don't know but I'm gonna make decisions in such a way that I can do less extra circular church stuff and more community stuff.

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:15:00 +0000

Regular Prayer Times

I'm at the office a little early for one of our late Saturday night prayer times so I figured I hit up the next installation in the series. While I will readily admit that I don't spend as much time in daily prayer as I should (who does? how would you know if you did?) the thing I need the most is regular extended prayer times, sort of like mini retreats. I find when I take these times (I used to do it more regularly) that I can always fill up and hour or two and can almost never fill more than 3. The problem is I let way to much time elapse between these experiences. My goal is to take the bulk of one afternoon a week to pray, listen, think, process, and journal. I will need to pick a consistent afternoon and schedule it in but I'm not sure which one to go with yet. I'm leaning towards Monday because it's a day where I'm not generally up to any mental heavy lifting but am very much in a mood to just chill with God. It's also a great way to start the week and download all of my thoughts, worries, hopes, and fears before my day off on Tuesday. Having an office downtown should make this discipline easier. Not that I can take that sort of time effectively in the office but because it gives me easy access to some big old (one of them is 250 years old, one of the oldest in North America) churches that are open all day where I can go for some sanctuary and some coffee shops that are great for journaling.

9 Goals for 09 - Pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:37:00 +0000

I've been thinking a bunch lately about some things I want to focus on in the New Year and so over the next several days I will unveiling my 9 Goals for 09 starting with #1.

BLOG DIFFERENTLY
I feel like this blog needs a direction. Not sure what it is by I intend to reflect, experiment, and change. Sometimes I think I'd like to do a church and ministry oriented blog but I don't have enough to say, enough authority to say it with, and I'd like to keep blogging as a part of my recreation not my occupation. The Regime started as en entertainment blog. An opportunity for me to vent my creative and comedic steam and this is fun but it actually creates pressure. At times it has been an issues and discussions blog but frankly thats not something I have the mental energy or passion to try an sustain. I could always go full on "cat blog" and just make it regular updates on what I've been up to , random thoughts, and pointless stories. Frankly I'm tempted but then what's the real point?

Maybe I'll make some major changes, maybe I'll just bring a little more focus, maybe I'll start blogging more regularly, like several times a week. Or maybe I'll just shut the whole thing down and call it a good run and if inspiration strikes again sometime start a new one fresh. Whatever it looks like I will blog differently in 09.

Popular Wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:27:00 +0000

It's been a pretty sharp learning curve since starting Deep Water. It seems like every week there is another new concept or challenge to wrap my brain around. I think I've been learning some pretty cool stuff but I have been slow to share it because a) I haven't had enough reflection time to let a lot of it crystalize into something I can readily describe and b) I don't want to be the guy who does something that seems to work once and instantly declare it a universal principle and himself a genius for framing it. That said here is something I have am learning in the process.

In the church world there are all sorts of little axioms and truisms that I usually refer to collectively as "the popular wisdom." Some folks live by these ideas as if they were part of some lost book of the Bible. They wouldn't dream passing 80% seating capacity or hiring and anything other than a secretary (or Executive Assistant) second. Others are brave and creative and ignore these little "gems" in favor of a homegrown and context specific approaches they came up with all their own. Both are idiots.

The truth is this. The popular wisdom is popular for a reason, it's often right, but it isn't universal truth either. Don't always follow it but your a fool to completely ignore it. My suggestion would be to use it as a baseline and a way to frame your discussion.

You are filling up your worship service; when is it time to move or add a second service? The popular wisdom is 80% but what if your seating is really comfy and spacious and the people you are trying to reach are used to being ushed into packed seating? Maybe you should wait until 90%. What if 10% of your seating stinks because of location or comfort or sight lines and no one want to sit there? Maybe you should jump closer to 70%. Or what if you have average seating in an average room with relatively average people? I'm guessing 80% is your number.

You should hire a secretary second. What if you are good at letting technology deal with a lot of that stuff? Children's ministry should be a top priority. What if you are in community of retirees with loads of seniors housing. You should keep your sermons under 22 minutes because that's how long sit-coms are. What if your people are wired more like Lord of the Rings or The Dark Night fans (but thats a post for another day, one I should probably do)?

Long story short. Pay attention to the popular wisdom but don't blindly follow it. Let it help you make decisions but don't let it make them for you.

Underrated

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:01:00 +0000

This world is full of stuff that doesn't live up to it's hype and it drives me nuts but I love finding things who's wonderfulness far exceeds the credit they get. The following are things you should check out but probably haven't because they re underrated.

Sussex Golden Ginger Ale - This sweet nectar is a great beverage when you don't want to guzzle something down you just want to nurse it while you watch TV or read. It's potent and refreshing.

Dragon's Den - This is arguable the only decent this CBC has ever produced that isn't comedy, sports, or kids. It is fascinating, educational, and entertaining and has some of the most compelling and believable human interplay or any reality tv show ever. It's also a very original concept with a great cast. It's on Monday nights and I almost never miss it. And right after that comes...

Big Bang Theory - Best new sitcom in years (I'm looking at you The Office). It's a belated coming of age nerd fest. The characters are original in that they are not 20 something pretty people (I'm looking at you Friends) but familiar enough to be understandable and predictable in the good sense of the word (I'm looking at you Star Trek conventions). I think what I like most about it is that it is character driven as opposed to story or gag driven. Among the many great characters Sheldon shines, even hen he is just standing in the background of a scene he is hilarious. He's one of those show making personalities like George, Joey, and Carl.

ProPresenter - I won't bore you with the nerdy details but if you use presentation software for church media you should switch to Propresenter. It's a lot like media shout except it actually does all the stuff it claims but better and faster and prettier and easier. It's for Mac though. I think Mac is underrated to but I doubt any one would believe me.

Church Planting - I think people have given to much emphasis to the challenges and potential problems and not enough to the potential and fun. I'm not saying everyone should do it. You definitely need certain skills and opportunities but I think at the end of the day the thing that stops most folks who should consider church planting it not a lack of gifts or support but just a plain old lack of guts. On a related note:

Not Owning Building - Every time I hear a church needing to raise money to fix the parking lot or put a new roof or replace the carpet I think how glad I am to be in rented facilities. Our church has more than doubled in size since we started a year ago. We don;t have to go to two services, we don't have to build a new building, we just have to move a couple theaters down. Guess what it's going to cost us to triple our seating capacity? $50 a week. Awesome.

Sandwiches - One of the most wonderful and diverse food types ever. Sandwiches, subs, hamburgers, burritos, donairs, and more are all incarnations of this delicious invention. I love sandwiches. They can be a snack or breakfast or a light lunch or a full meal. Absolute culinary brilliance.

This Facebook Page - HERE

What do you love that you think is way underrated? Let the rest of us in on the goodness!

Ode to My New Office

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:59:00 +0000

You are right downtown, smack dab in the middle of Barrington St. A location like that just can't be beat.

You are old and cool with large oak doors and I work on your 5th and highest floor

You ceiling drain pipe is a noisy creature but I choose to see it as my "water feature"

Your previous tenant always makes me grin, what a weird spot to have the offices of a lesbian sex toy shop in.

Your selection of bars just can't be beat, there are 11 on the block across the street.

But if in the mood for more Wesleyan fare there is a Tim Horton's just over there.
Greco, Captain Sub, Sushi, and Just Us too, and that's all within 400ft of you.

You are 3 blocks from the public transit Metro Link making the drive home shorter and cheaper than by car, I think.

My mental health it has improved and I'm generally in a more cheery mood

"Grand Parade" park within a block is found, and St Paul's, my second favorite church downtown.

And on and on could I go about you but I'm at you to work so work I should do. (but you are great)

Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:30:00 +0000

note: I have been rather slack in my blogging lately but it's not for lack of things to talk about. In fact i have had tons of stuff to think through and process but little time and mental energy to dump it here. We will see what the next little while holds. Maybe the christmas break will yield church related posts about insurance, office space, staffing strategies, and facility issues and approaches. But for now...

The malls have decided it's christmas so i figured a Christmas post would be in order. It's no secret that I'm not fond of Christmas. At best you could say I'm not into it. On my worst days it's a pretty active dislike. Lots of reasons but I don't want to enumerate them here. Today I'll be positive and talk about what I do like about Christmas.

Music: I don't like most christmas music. When i was a worship leader I hated having to do carols. But I absolutely love Bing Crosby's Christmas stuff (praticularly "Mele Kalikimaka", "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas", and "Christmas Is a' Coming") and my all time favorite Christmas song, Tom Pettey's "Christmas All Over Again"

Lights: I like christmas lights, I like sitting in the low light of them inside and driving around and seeing them on peoples houses. They make me happy.

Santa: I like Santa. He's a nice guy. We have seriously considered putting our presents under a giant Santa instead of a tree. Santa is awesome.

The Break: I love the mellowness and downtime of Christmas. We intentionally make Christmas as low key as possible around our house. It's just great to stay home, wear warm comfy clothes, take naps, watch movies and TV, and hang out with family.

Egg Nogg: Particularly Baxter's Light Egg Nog. I can down a litre of that sweet goodness in about 5 min. I wonder when the Grocery store will decide it's christmas? Mmmmmm nog!

Election Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:09:00 +0000

McCain lost gracefully

The Republicans at his speech made complete asses of themselves and are a reproach to the nation

The biggest thing McCain lost on this campaign was his honor and I feel sorry for him on that count. I like him and I hope he gets to do something to be remembered by beyond the once great guy who compromised his integrity for the sake of an un-winnable election.

The news media gave being unbiased a reasonable effort (until the winner was declared)

Coolest part of the evening was watching Civil Rights Movement leaders get to see a black man elected president.

Scariest thing about Obama's victory is his support of infanticide, ironic from a man who would have been a prime candidate for abortion himself.

Coolest thing about Obama's victory is that he may very well have the goods to bring America together.

It remains to be seen what Obama will actually do. Most of what I have heard from him are stirring generalities. I think platitudes would be going to far, and he may have an actual plan but I don't think we have heard it yet.

That said I think an America united around a decent plan will go farther than an America divided about a great plan.

Glad it's over, it was getting pretty old.

I thought it was hilarious how often I heard completely unfounded, unsupported, and easily arguable statements to the effect of "only in America could..."

I also thought it was hilarious that CBC covered the election night.

18 - 24 months ago...

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:42:00 +0000

I was leading a group of 20-30 teenagers, most of whom I had known for years. Now I lead a church of 90-100 20-30 year olds the vast majority of whom I have met in the last 10-12 months.

I was a worship leader and therefore spent a lot of time messing with sound gear and tech stuff. Now I still start every Sunday with an hour or so of messing with gear.

I preached 8 times a year and was supposed to fill in gaps when the Senior Pastor was away. Now I preach 47 times a year and it’s my job to be the primary expositor of the word for the congregation at Deep Water.

I oversaw a band, 3-4 youth leaders, and very, very occasionally some small group leaders. Now I lead a team of dozens of volunteers each week in a variety of different ministries.

It was a five min drive to the office. Now it’s a five step walk from my bedroom. It was far healthier the other way. Must do something about that.

I went to LBA meetings and threw in my ten cents on where the church was going. Now it’s my job to cast the vision, initiate the discussions, foresee the obstacles, convince the un-persuaded, develop our leaders, set the direction for the entire church, and suffer the vast majority of fallout from any bad decisions.

It was my job to spend the few thousand bucks I was handed on youth events and sound gear. Now I have to raise our funds, create our budget, figure out all the financial systems, work with our treasurer on charitable status and tax stuff, figure out how salaries and housing allowances and EI and CPP and Blue Cross and pension work. I have to make decisions like how much to spend on what, do we get office space, do we hire additional staff, do we save for a rainy day or make hay while the sun shines.

I could take anything that was too big, too scary, too complicated, too hard, or too messy and drop it in my bosses lap to figure out. Now I take those types of things to bed with me instead.

I was responsible to disciple a small group of great teens and lead 5-6 songs every Sunday. Now I am responsible to lead a church bumping up against 100 and everything that entails with no pre-existing structures to support stuff and no pre-existing patterns of ministry to rely on and with limited material resources. Oh yea, and I’m responsible to bring the gospel to a largely un-reached people group who have been accurately described as the drunk and disinterested.

I didn’t find it next to impossible to disengage from work. I never used words like “under stress” to describe how I’m feeling. I never found myself wishing for a break because I felt drained but also dreading my day off because the relative lack of stimulation meant 16 hours of intense boredom. I never drove around late at night asking God to show us how to reach the folks I passed. I never cried about ministry. I never laid on the floor in my office and said to God “this is to big, to heavy, to much. I’m not smart enough, talented enough, creative enough, or strong enough to pull this off. It has to be You, your strength, your power that builds this church.” I was restless, I didn’t feel a clear sense my place in God’s will. I never felt a crushing weight or a burning passion. And now… now I feel overwhelmed and under-prepared, over-challenged and under-resourced, overstretched and under-skilled, overjoyed and under-girded, overshadowed and understood.

Jesus has called me to a mission. I have His Spirit, His power, His Word, His people, His peace, and lots of clean underwear. I am embracing the next 18-24 months and I'm excited to see where He leads, how I grow, who's lives He's changes.

Isaac Speaks the Truth

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:24:00 +0000

Name Dropping and Focus

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Just got back from Catalyst 08. It was a decent event for sure with a few great speakers and several solid ones. They have plenty of room for improvement and if I thought anyone who runs the event read my blog I'd mention those areas but the point is it was really good but if I had to pick between it and the Leadership Summit I'd go to the leadership summit every time.

Several of the speakers there had a tendency to do what came across as name dropping but I guess if you really are friends with "Pastor Awesome" and the two of you were camping together when he told you this story it's relevant to mention his name. But that's not the name dropping I'm talking about - mine has more to do with Facebook. When I first go into Facebook it was a great way to reconnect with some people I had lost contact with and wanted to reconnect with and then it became an easy way to stay in better contact with friends I don;t always see regularly. And then it became a way to collect names of people I knew 90% of the time and the other 10% of the time people who knew me. The problem is facebook doesn't know who I want to hear about and who I don't so it became a useless mess.

At Catalyst one of the speakers mentioned the whole idea of thinking about how we use technology, including facebook, and being intentional about it. I'm sure there are lots of other great things to use facebook for but I have decided that for me it will be a way to keep in contact with people I, for lack of a better term, truly care about. Folks from church, friends from wherever, and a handful of people that I just find interesting. In order to do that I have downsized my friend list significantly. I dumped about half my friends and continue to edit the list. Some of the people I dumped I didn't really know. Some of them are people I met once somewhere but will likely never see again, and some are folks I like plenty but am not close enough to to try and keep up with their life. This allows me to focus more on keeping up with the folks that are left.

Which leads to the lesson I'm learning and the question I'm asking. We have limited resources in life. Most of us get the idea of limited time and money. The smart ones also understand limited energy. But I think even fewer, myself included until recently, understand that we have limited focus. Putting more time and energy into less things (focus) yields a greater reward. I will not be putting any more time or energy into facebook but I will accomplish more "staying connected with friends" because I am connected to less friends. This has huge implications for church but it's a holiday so I'm not going to think it out for you here.
-What areas of your life, work, and relationships are you working on because you are being less effective and productive than you would like to be?
-What if instead of dumping more time, energy, and resources into this area you instead gave it more focus?
-How will you decide what to stop focusing on in order to free up some focus for this area (Jim Collins might call this your "Stop Doing" list)?

A Confession

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:10:00 +0000

They say confession is good for the soul and so here goes. I have a confession to make. There is side of me that most people don't know about. It's something I have hidden for some time now because I'm ashamed of it. I'm not sure how long I've been like this. I guess on some level I've always known but the last few weeks it's become so much more clear to me. I've experimented and dabbled here and there, on and off, since I was quite young but I've come to the place where I'm ready to embrace this part of who I am. I've tried to meet these needs other ways and while I have managed to keep myself temporarily distracted it would be a lie to say I have been fulfilled.
The truth about me is something that will cause some of the people I love the most to look down on me, some will mock me, many will just not understand. Some will call me a hypocrite because this is something I have spoken out against and mocked others for on many occasions. Some will think me less of a man. Whether you try to blame it on experiences I have had, things I have been exposed to on the internet or a choice I have made ( I think it's a combination of all three) the fact remains the same, this is who I am and although some of you may now have to decide if you can still love me, still associate with me, and still call me your friend I've come to the point where I'm not willing to live a lie any more. I will not hide, I refuse to pretend. And frankly who am I fooling anyway, I'm sure some of you have suspected this for a while now. So here it is, the authentic gut level truth about me: I love cats. I'm a cat person. There, I said it. I love my kitten Princess Sophie von Fuzzybuttons. She is snuggled up on my shoulder right now and it makes me so happy I could cry. She is soft and warm and just plain lovable. I am a subscriber to icanhascheeseburger.com. On several occasions lolcats have actually made me lol. I love to pet my cat, play fight with my cat, and most of all to snuggle with my cat. We took a nap together today, it was awesome. Sure, some cats can be bitches but so can some dogs. That's where they got that name from after all. But a good cat is a great thing. I am AJ Thomas: Follower of Jesus, son, husband, father, friend, pastor, creator, communicator, and cat lover. Say what you will, call me names, think less of me if you must but I will go to sleep perfectly ok with who I am and with a fuzzy little kitty curled up next to me.

Working more and less

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:49:00 +0000

The transition into my current role, responsibilities, and work environment have forced me to reevaluate and adjust some of my beliefs and practices about work. Here are a few of my thoughts.

I need to work more and less. I need to be more focused and productive while I am working but spend less time engaged with work. It's just as draining for me to be at my desk for 4 hours of inefficiency as it is to really hone in get stuff done for the same amount of time.

Down time works better in bulk. A full day off has more restorative kick than 2 half days. Better to pack you day and have your evening free than to work "all day" but in 2-3 hour chunks.

Productivity is the point. Things that put me in the right head space to work are work even if they seem like the farthest thing from work. If taking a break and going for a walk helps me have the idea that's work. If laying down for 20 min makes the whole structure of the message crystalize than napping is work. I need to see my work environment like and artist studio where ideas and inspiration matter not like a factory where punching a clock and being at your post are the highest value. I work best when I work how I work. The goal is not to first and foremost fill a role, keep an artificial schedule, or be doing certain things the goal is to produce and what ever get me there, from spending time in prayer, to taking a shower, to reading a book count if they are making me more productive rather than less. That said...

The unpredictability of my job makes a schedule more important not less. The fact that my job will never fit neatly into a 9-5 box and that I can never accurately predict what my week will hold, when inspiration will hit, and what will be required of me means that rather than throwing a schedule out the window because I know it will have to change I need to embrace it and stick to it. I need to guard refueling time because I never know when I will be asked to give out more than I had planned. I need to be very intentional about disengaging because I never punch out and go home and if I let it the work can always be at the front of my mind. This is not good for me or the work. I need to be intentional about leaving bigger space for the bigger things because they will get swallowed up otherwise. And I need to strategically plan less work than I can get done in a week because when I'm planning know I don't know everything I will need to do that week, maybe even that day.

It's the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Pretty Stoked

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:35:00 +0000

I'm not sure when it started. My first memory is reading "The Chrysalids" in high school although I certainly got way more out of it when I listened to it a few years back. Maybe it was watching "The Stand" for the first time, or "The Langoliers", I'm not sure. The first time I remember being able to articulate it was after I watched "28 Days Later". Currently it shows up as I'm enjoying watching the "Battlestar Gallactica" miniseries. I absolutely love post-apocalyptic stories, end of the world, everything and almost everyone is gone. The truth is that as long as I can remember, since my childhood, questions like what would I do if my whole family died or our county was destroyed or I was left alone on the planet have bounced around my mind and the resulting thoughts have fascinated me. In fact I can't think of a single post-apocalyptic story (book, movie, audio book) I haven't enjoyed. It's like I'm sort of apocalypse junkie (for the record I have copyright on that term to use it as a band name).

Ironically the actual end times and the book or Revelation have never really held any fascination for me. I'm disinterested in that aspect of scripture probably to a fault. But then again I could argue it doesn't count because I know how it works out and it's not really the end just a transition and rather than being all alone I'll be packed into a jewel encrusted cube with all the rest of the redeemed.

I'm not sure why I like this stuff so much but I have a theory. I love order and simplicity. Wipe out 99.99% of humanity and suddenly things get much more simple. I hate grind, repetitiveness, and ruts and I love a worthwhile adventure. Fighting for the survival of the race seems like it would be a daily adventure. I love to create and I love to be left to my own ingenuity. A post-apocalyptic world seems like it would provide the opportunity to do that on a grande scale. I'm not sure what it says about me but the truth is I love this stuff and think about it so much, not because I worry about it actually happening or fear what I would have to do if it did. I like thinking about it because I think I'd like to live in that world. So if the end comes, and amidst the desolation and destruction you see this one guy grinning from ear to ear say hi, it's probably me.

Well, I should be going. Bed and an audio book await. What's on the play list tonight you ask? Cormac MacCarthy's "The Road". No joke.

Wordle My Blog

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:06:00 +0000

With thanks to Mark Brewer...

Don't Sacrifice - Trade.

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Balancing family life and ministry is somewhere between a concise effort and a major struggle for most pastors I know. Some will say "I will never sacrifice family for ministry" and in principal I agree but the truth is the nature of the work doesn't always allow you to tuck your kids into bed EVERY night or never be away for a few days.

Other take the opposite approach and believe that an approach to ministry that causes them to shirk their God given responsibilities as a mom or dad, makes their spouse essentially a single parent, and embitters their children toward Jesus and His church is somehow justifiable or even noble.

I believe the secret is not to throw your family under the bus of ministry nor is it to pretend you can be Johnny punch clock and work a predictable 9-5 5 days a week.

Don't sacrifice, trade. Ministry creates as many positive opportunities with family as it does negative ones. The secret is to see them and grab them. Last night, unlike a lot of good fathers. I wasn't home to tuck in my kids. However this afternoon while those dads were stuck in a meeting, or swinging a hammer, or finishing up the last project I was picking Micah up from school, seeing how his day went, and enjoying a trip to the hardware store on church business. I don't make a fortune and we don't take fancy vacations but this year my kids will go on their first plane ride, not on some crowded stuff jumbo jet but in a small private plane where they will be able to talk to the pilot. It's a ministry trip. Pretty cool if you ask me.

We could go on but the point is this. Ministry is a non-traditional line of work, it will require a weird schedule sometimes, and there will be times you don't get to do all the typical parent stuff as often as you would like to. But don't sacrifice family time, trade it. Take advantage of the flexibility of your schedule, the fact that you can easily move your day off, and the cool stuff you get to do. Be available when sally punch clock is stuck at the factory/store/cubicle. Family time isn't yours to sacrifice but it is yours to trade and like trading anything from baseball cards to commodities if you are any good at it you can actually come out ahead. That's my goal.

Amazing

noreply@blogger.com (The AJ Thomas) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:21:00 +0000

Like him or not I think it's inarguable that Obama is the greatest political public speaker of our time.