Life Unscripted

Aqua

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Big thanks to Jeff Conn and Wes Feldner - our worship crew that led at Aqua last night.

I gave them less than 6 hours notice to learn a new song - can you say mastery!

I love working with guys who are incredibly talented, and more so incredibly humble and willing.

Thanks guys!

We don't realize

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:41:00 +0000

Yesterday someone was talking with me and then said this - do you mind if I speak into your life a bit?

And I immediately said yes! I love when people move beyond just casual conversation into helping me see who I should be becoming.

Many kind words from him and a thank you from me and I was out.

And then it hit me. We speak into people's lives more often then we realize. Even more than when we ask to.

Be careful with your words, it is affecting others. That's my thought on all of this. Because my influence on your life isn't only when I ask. It really never stops

Happy Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Twice in one week? Between Facebook, Twitter and this blog - I'm thinking about making some cuts.

Social media is great, but it can command your life. I refuse to work for technology.

Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Yesterday was happy father's day. Today is happy re-blogging day. I have thoughts and a perspective or even an opinion about why I haven't blogged too much. But I won't do that to you - because that would steal a post idea.

So to sum up my father's day request - I asked my wife if I could take a nap. She thought I was joking. But that's all I wanted.

1 hour later, I awoke to Gino banging on the screen outside the window above my couch. He was calling my name, banging and pointing to me.

Best nap of my life. Because I woke up to Gino calling my name. Kind of special on Father's day.

Don't expect a post tomorrow!

Off to the ATL

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Off to Atlanta with some of our team here at NewPointe - checkin out the Orange Conference.

Is it me or is Atlanta now the annual pilgrimage destination for mega churches? funny

hello

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Hello blog. I am your owner and primary content contributor, sometimes called author.

I haven't written to you in a while. Sorry. But my life has had some other priorities. weird huh? but stand by, I'll be back. I don't know when.

I broke a promise

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:37:00 +0000

I broke a promise tonight. i vowed not to update my facebook status. but go tarheels!

The Hard Way

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:27:00 +0000

You don't always have to learn the hard way in life. I am learning that over and over again as I take a quick look at my current life verses my life 3, 6, and even 12 months ago.

I had a great talk with a friend today, a really good friend, and we came to this conclusion. You don't always have to learn from experience. Because based on experience, Experience is a butt kicker of a teacher.

Too often pride stops us from asking for help, admitting we don't know it all, or finding someone who is doing it better than us and becoming the student again.

I had another conversation with another good friend in an earnest effort to seek help. And I think I prevented myself from The Hard Way.

So ask questions, don't stop being a student, admit mistakes - learn. Experience is a great teacher, but not the only teacher out there.

Utility or Experience

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Here's a few things we are working through right now as a staff at a growing church - we trying to figure out how to add a service, maintain spiritual significance, hire for a few key positions, . . . . .

And one simple temptation is this - meet minimal expectations. That's what I call utility. There is nothing wrong with utility. I eat for utility. I don't really love food and crave food. I get hungry, I eat. I don't savor tastes and think about food all day. That is utility. And I am a poor cook.

See, utility is ok, it's acceptable, it will get you by. But nobody talks about utility. Nobody seeks out utility. Nobody asks for more of utility.

But an experience is much different. Everyone craves an experience. Everyone asks about an experience, blogs or twitters about an experience.

I try to teach my class, communicate in HSM or Aqua by creating an experience.

So that is our issue we often face. There is only so much time, and you have to prioritize and rearrange your work week every single day of life. And you/we face a choice. Utility or Experience.

An Experience is much more challenging, intensive and time consuming. But so much more worth it.

I'm not saying we get this right all the time, but I think we know the right answer - church must always be an experience.

Jesus was an experience.

I guess you get my verbal diahrea when I don't blog for a bit.

I think I misspelled diahhrea. Pretty sure I did it again.

Diarrhea.

That was an experience

Pre Service Video

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:12:00 +0000

So I had a little Flip video camera yesterday and took full advantage of it! Here's a look (I didn't say quick look!) at life at NewPointe leading up to our first service.

It's my first movie. Enjoy.

Big Projects

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:53:00 +0000

That's what I have going on right now. But it's totally exciting. Know what I mean? I find that if I don't have anything BIG going on at the moment, I can get distracted and off mission.

Yes my brain hurts a bit right now, but it's that exercise-kind of hurt.

so what's big in your life? It could be something relationally, a home project, more schooling, pregnancy?

I think i am going to monitor my life and see that I always have something Big going on - I'm sharper in the moment.

love hate

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:04:00 +0000

I love facebook.

I also hate it.

it's self indulgent at times. it's very useful and fun at others.

in case you wanted to know - yep I'm on facebook. And yep i'm staying on facebook.

but i sit here and read people's updates and think - why did you want others to really know that about you.

I don't care that you are:

working out
drinking tea
playing with your dog
are fed up??????

Seriously less is more.

but then again, who cares what I think about facebook? a blog is just as self-indulgent.

Ice storm of 09

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:49:00 +0000

That's the tree outside of my house. Ice Ice everywhere. Ice Ice Baby. Whatever phrase you want - there was and is lots of ice here!

Confession of a Dave Man

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:03:00 +0000

I don't blog enough

Classic - Go Steelers

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:25:00 +0000

Here we go Steelers, Here we go!

Messed UP

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:02:00 +0000

We're working on a redesign for our website and I want to get it right.

One thing that has made the fear of messing it up very real is ESPN's new site. Can you say where's the news? I went from daily visits (with multiple stops) to removing it from my google home page!

We'll see how it goes

baby it's COld

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:01:00 +0000

it's COld outside. COld, COld, COld.

And it's getting Old, Old, Old.

I thought about writing a poem. But i DON'T really want to talk about mold, being told, getting sold, or any other word that rhymes with COld or Old.

Just silly crazy after two days in the house. I bought a sweeper today though.

2009

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:48:00 +0000

It's here. I'm back at work. I have lots of ambitions and resolutions. But they are pretty much the same as they were on December 31st. I don't really want to be the guy that thinks life has a reset button on Jan. 1.

Just my thinking.

Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:42:00 +0000

Today I turn 30. And I have no morbid thoughts or feelings. I am 30 now. Simply one day older than 30.

Here's a roundup of what I did today:

played hoops and hit some shots, and missed more
won ebay auction for some ugg boots for Brooke
played with the kids
ate pizza
watched carolina hoops

So that's it. I'm 30. It was a great day!

Book I'm Reading - Crazy Love

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:24:00 +0000

So it started out pretty slow. I'm not gonna lie - really slow, and I was honestly disappointed. I've heard the author - Francis Chan - speak a few times and he was incredible as a communicator - passionate and challenging.

But this book didn't deliver - UNTIL . . . . . . I turned over the page to chapter 4.

And then the Francis Chan I've heard came through. And I'm happy to be reading this book right now!

Troubling Words

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:51:00 +0000

So I'm giving a disclaimer before I post - this is not about self-proclamation. Ok? good.

Today, I checked my voicemail and on it, someone gave me a compliment, and then called me a "Great Man."

Now, I know, we all would love to be called this - it's a huge compliment. It's maybe something this person often says pretty freely. It may have just been a transitional phrase before saying goodbye. It could have been an encouraging attempt to "love me into my future".

Whatever it was, it stuck. And it troubled me. It solicited lots of questions:

am I really a great man?
do I project this image?
am I simply fooling people?
did he know the full impact of his words?

And it's the last question I want to focus on today. The first three are mere attempts at some false level of humility - let's be honest. They are the Christianese thoughts that we religiously take ourselves through before simply accepting the title as true.

So whatever the words did to me, they really made me think about my compliments. Lots has been written/said/preached/filmed on misuses of the word love. But what about all of our compliments.

We choose our criticisms very carefully knowing that those words carry such impact and weight that they can literally crush a man's spirit.

But our compliments carry the power and helium to literally lift a man's spirit. So are we as careful with our compliments as we are with our criticisms?

Think about this - lots of people, me included, use compliments as fuel to carry us to our future, to carry us through our next challenge, to lift us out of some dumpy times. Maybe we should be wise and give accurate feedback often, rather than fluffy overzealous compliments seldomly.

Just a thought. Cuz I do want to be a great man. And I think I'm trying hard and making some real progress. But I'm not sure that this person's view of me is enough to say that I'm great. But I also never know who is watching!

Live at Aqua

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:27:00 +0000

Ok - so I'm the live feed for tonight. Hope you are reading this live, but that's not possible because when I post, the event will be over. THAT'S WHY YOU NEED TO COME.

JBunn is teaching tonight:

He's talking about the Just as principle. (STRONG)

basically, the bottom line is this - when Jesus commands us to forgive, he was not eliminating the standard of justice. But he was establishing a new level through which we must process forgiveness - the just as principle.
Just as Jesus forgave, loved, cared for, reached out - to us, we should to others.

Wow - never thought of it that way.

Now we're gonna worship. I dig Aqua.

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:23:00 +0000

Another Twitter Blog

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:23:00 +0000

In a meeting right now. I know the people in my meeting will be angry that I'm blogging right now as we are meeting, but I had to get this out there.

We have a great team that really works hard to figure out how best to do our MSM services. This month we are trying having a master communicator - speaking 5 times in a morning so we are all on the same page.

Also in this meeting, we found our curriculum that we'll use for MSM small groups! That's exciting. You may not get geeked about this, but I sure do.

Twitter Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (.) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:43:00 +0000

Can you tell that I'm fascinated with my new homepage? It's like twittering my blog!

So I'm sitting here alone with my wife. It's a date night since Nico wanted to go to see his grandparents in PA. We're watching some fascinating show on Meth addicts.

Wow, our eyes are seriously opening up to a whole new world that people have to deal with. It's breaking my heart. Too close to home. These kind of shows really illustrate what some loved ones experience. And the saddest result of these situations is that the kids get abused in the wake of it all.