so, tomorrow morning we’re going in for kelly to be induced.

we are very excited to meet our little guy face to face for the first time.

we would very much covet any prayers you might send for us, starting at 7am.

hope to update soon.

blessings.

well, another sports season has ended and another begins.

in honor of this momentous transition, i wanted to share some of my favorite performances of the national anthem.

if you’re in google reader, come on over and watch these. it’ll make for a fun 6 minutes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

wave, Ole Glory. WAVE!

it’s tuesday.

do you know about positive post tuesday?

a frequent subject of positive post tuesday, mrs. pensiero always finds a way to brighten my life.

this week is no exception.

upon becoming a mrs., mrs. p invented and instituted a new tradition for our little family: birthday week.

yep. it’s exactly what it sounds like.

the birthday boy or girl has a seven-day celebration, beginning on the day of their choosing, as long as the actual birthday falls somewhere on or between day 1 and day 7.

each day, usually in the morning, the birthday boy or girl receives a gift with a card and usually a song of some sort. then, throughout the day, said birthday boy or girl gets to choose pretty much everything. what to eat. what to watch. where to go. how often to pick up the cat and squeeze her face.

now, what you need to understand is that mrs. p loves birthdays. she loves them. yours, mine, hers. she loves them all. thus, she has a great knack for making them very special.

this week happens to be my birthday week. and, currently, i am in the thick of mrs. p’s joyful celebration, with all it’s lavish thoughtfuless.

(today i received a book that i will share with you if you come over to my house. and we will laugh.)

so thanks mrs. p. you make my birthday better and better each year.

i sure love you.

of course, another perk of birthday week is that is has spread.

so, no only am i enjoying birthday week with mrs. p, but my mom & dad have also taken to the tradition. this year birthday week is going to span 10 days and is going to be, as always, overly fun, incredibly personal and way too nice.

thanks mom and dad. you guys are the best.

it’s tuesday. be positive.

my travel companions had this dish in chile.

twice.

i declined.

however, in lima i did try cuy.

which is this:

yes, it made me sad.

no, it didn’t taste good.

photo by

Isaiah James May was born a little after 5 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2009, and was scheduled to die this past week – on Wednesday, Jan. 20 – just short of his three-month birthday.

That was the day chosen by Canada’s publicly funded, government health service as the deadline for Isaiah to recover from his traumatic birth or be taken off life-support.

“There is no hope of recovery for Isaiah,” reads a letter from Alberta Health Services delivered to Isaiah’s parents and dated one week before the health care system intended to pull the plug on the baby it has determined irreparably brain damaged.

“Your treating physicians regretfully have come to the conclusion that withdrawal of active treatment is medically reasonable, ethically responsible and appropriate,” the letter states. “We must put the interests of your son foremost, and it is in his best interests to discontinue mechanical ventilation support.”

Parents Isaac and Rebecka May, however, immediately appealed to the courts for more time, encouraged by signs that their boy was growing and moving, pointing to instance after instance where Isaiah had already proven the doctors wrong.

“He is doing everything they said that he would not do. Every day he does something new. So that helps us to fight,” the baby’s 23-year-old mother told CBC News. “His eyes dilate. He opens his eyes. He moves his limbs. He’s growing. He’s gaining weight. He’s living. They told us he would never do any of that.”

Then, the day before the hospital planned to allow Isaiah to die, a judge granted Isaiah a few more days of life.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Michelle Crighton gave Isaiah’s parents one week, until Jan. 27, to find an independent expert – to determine if or when the baby should be taken off life-support.

article by drew zahn

//

please pray for baby Isaiah and his parents, Isaac & Rebecka.

pray right now.

read the whole article here.

support the May’s on their facebook page here.

maranatha.

we were in Iquique, Chile from saturday till monday night.

on sunday morning we went down to one of the local beaches and had a baptism service/bbq/street evangelism time with the folks from calvary chapel mahanaim. a small group of converts were ready to take the plunge and we were asked to be the ones to ‘do’ the baptism.

now, it was the first time that jake, alex or i had performed a baptism. so, understandably, at one point we had to slunk off and figure out how exactly we were going to make this happen. you may not have thought about it (we hadn’t), but depending on your space and location, there are a number of different methods for full-immersion baptism.

it’s interesting how often God’s humbling is also so comical.

what are you guys doing?

oh, nothing…just trying to figure out how to baptize a person without drowning them…

after finalizing out our game plan we trodded off into the surf.

it was…cold.

really cold.

but as each of the 6 or 8 people came out to us, we became warmer and warmer. there was an incredible excitement that we were participating in something unique and life-changing and special.

at one point, while we were waiting for another baptizee to head out, one of the large waves knocked the 3 of us down and pulled us a few yards back. but, as we came up for air, we just laughed and struggled back into position. never before had any of us experienced a morning like this.

it’s hard to express how honored we felt to be a part of something so personal and powerful. as the people came out we prayed together. after they were baptized they went back to the shore, into the open arms of the church body who were clapping and cheering and smiling, waiting to receive them.

the same welcome was waiting for us when we finished and made our way back to the sand.

i don’t think any of us will ever forget the great privilege God gave us that day.

maranatha.

we’re back.

the Lord did cool things.

i can’t wait to share them with you.

so, yesterday on twitter i learned about formspring.me.

it’s a new spin on micro-blogging/social networking, where you ask people questions and then they determine whether they will answer them or not.

here’s how they put it:

Send and receive anonymous questions, and learn more about people you find interesting by following their answers.

i think it’s a smashing idea.

now, i will say that i think that the name/url of ‘formspring’ is going to cause them problems.

i mean…what does that even mean?

perhaps they feel they make up for it because it ends in [dot]me…but…if i was them i’d be looking into new branding.

that said, i like the concept a lot. it takes a portion of what we like about social networking and focuses on one task: questions. it also takes the interactivity ‘pressure’ off since the whole point is for one person to come with questions and the other to come with answers.

this seems like a great avenue for more prominent folks like bands or artists or politicians who already use twitter/facebook/websites well and desire a good back-and-forth with their fans.

then again, it seems like just a fun thing for regular people (like us) to do. yeah?

so, all that to say: i signed up. and i’d love to answer some questions. and if you sign up, i’ll ask you stuff too.

let the sharing begin!

…but it’s not quite plastic either.

if you’re like me, you get emails like this on a pretty regular basis:

just a friendly update that JesusBoatMuseum/Sunset_Plaza/AsthmaWatch (not to mention the morally inappropriate accounts) are now ‘following’ you on twitter.

on the one hand, we’ve come a long way from even just the beginning of 2009 where i would still regularly hear people knocking twitter. but, with its popularity it has brought a host of spam/commercial/not-real-people with it.

now, i love twitter. i think it’s a great idea. it’s fun. it’s engaging. it’s even helpful.

i love reading about what my friends are doing, listening to, driving toward and, yes, even eating.

i also enjoy keeping up with various church accounts from different calvary chapels or friends’ churches. it’s fun to see what people are studying on sunday mornings, what events they’re having on thursday nights, how life groups are going and get messages from the pastors.

i even follow a few commercial accounts (IMDb, DreamHost and Colorburned to name a few).

but the spam i could do without.

because they’re not helpful. they’re not personal. they’re not actually participating in the whole point of twitter.

while one could argue that the commercial/celebrity/church/company/correspondence accounts i follow are not overtly personal either, i think there’s a basic difference between information I’M seeking and spamformation that seeks me.

it’s not the real thing.

just like the stuff you buy in the can.

it’s not quite meat, but it’s not quite plastic either.

let’s end with a suggestion and a question:

here’s the suggestion: though it may feel like it doesn’t make a difference, let’s take 5 minutes every now and then to block every spam account that is following us. at very least those with inappropriate content.

yes, they’re automated.

yes, they keep coming.

but we can do our part to clean house.

here’s the question: does twitter spam bother you or does it not make a difference?

lay it on me.

it’s tuesday.

do you know about positive post tuesday?

today i had to drive to visalia at about 10:30am.

the current weather in the valley has cleared the usually smoggy air so that we could see the mountains with particular clarity.

it was lovely.

unfortunately, i did not have a camera, though i noticed at least a dozen places on the road where a picture would’ve been magnificent.

i’m truly sorry that i wasn’t able to share the view with you. instead, another nature shot will have to do:

the heavens declare the glory of God
and the firmament shows His handiwork.
{ Psalm 19.1 }

thanks Lord.

it’s tuesday. be positive!

blessings.

+

january 15, 2010 came fast.

several months ago it seemed much farther off than it does today: one week prior.

got my shots…got my passport…got my snacks…got my hair cut, because next friday i’m heading south to Chile & Peru on a trip with a couple other fellows from @calvaryhanford.

we’re going to spend some time with a church in Lima that we’ve had a relationship with for a number of years and we’re also going to be meeting some new friends in Iquique, Chile to see how we can support their ministry.

they’ve got a lot planned for us on our short scouting mission, so we would very much covet your prayers.

as of now, we know that we’ll be involved in these and other things:

> ocean baptism
> a church leadership meeting
> teaching at a singles meeting
> teaching at the midweek service
> visiting a peruvian rehabilitation center
> visiting a maximum security prison

…plus whatever else the Lord provides for us.

no idea what the internet situation will be, but i will do my very best to capture some video and photographs of our time.

we’re very excited, though i will admit i am probably going to be a bit anxious about mrs p and our little baby, who is slated to be born in just about 7 weeks.

which reminds me…anyone have a skype phone i could borrow for a week or so?

blessings & maranatha.

going to introduce this one to @calvaryhanford this sunday.

what’s your favorite worship song right now?

i need some help.

here @calvaryhanford i have a wonderfully varied job. sometimes i’m on a computer, sometimes i’m on a phone, sometimes i’m on an errand, sometimes i’m on a ladder (though i try to be on a ladder as little as possible…).

i’m very glad for this variety, however many times my ‘expertise’ does not match up to specific tasks.

lighting is a good example of this.

i don’t know anything about lighting. however, i would like to do some minor improvements in our stage-lighting setup.

so here’s the deal:

some of you know some things about stage lighting…what works, what doesn’t, where to get some decent parnels & fresnels* and how to color a stage so that everyone doesn’t look like a ghost on the video feed.

i would guess that some of you even fill this role at your churches to some degree or another.

that’s where you come in. i need you to give me some tips. whether it’s a website, a retailer that you trust, or especially little bits of information on what has worked for you, i need it.

give me an education in the comments or you can directly email me here.

*yep. after nearly 5 years of working here i have learned the names of 2 types of stage lights. that is the extent of my stage-lighting knowledge.

the year is coming to an end.

the last quarter of 2009 has proven to be the least-blogged period in recent history.

seriously…people aren’t posting anymore, including me.

i very much want that to change.

so let me ask you this:

why do YOU think people are blogging less?

too busy?

too distracted by microblogging?

or do you think the trend is coming to an end?

lay it on me.

very soon.

i think they probably have a pretty good practice routine…

ht: mr. brown

as we face the modern world with all its trouble and turmoil and with all it difficulties and sadness, nothing is more important than that we who call ourselves Christian, and who claim the Name of Christ, should be representing our faith in such a way before others, as to give them the impression that
here is the solution, and here is the answer.”

{ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones }

it’s tuesday.

do you know about positive post tuesday?

pastor greg laurie has been posting these short, devotional videos recently which help focus our thoughts on God and to remember all that He has done for us.

this video is entitled Why Should I Give Thanks To God?

it’s a fair question and deserves a thoughtful, Biblical answer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

today i hope you discover a little more of how much God loves you and all that He desires to do in and through your life here on the earth.

it’s tuesday. be positive!

blessings.

+

she’d be sneakier if she didn’t have that bell around her neck.

last year my friend luke mundy suggested that we make a christmas ep to give away on our blogs.

it was a little last minute, but we decided to go for it and i am very glad that we did.

we had a wonderful time getting it done for the 2008 christmas season.

this year the tradition continues with the Noel ep.

4 songs, free to you, that you might be reminded of the precious gift we received from God, who sent His only begotten Son to live, die and rise again.

all for us.

not enough gets given away for free these days, so Noel (along with the With Us EP) are available at no cost, no spam and no strings attached.

many thanks to sean munoz for partnering with me on this year’s project. his creativity, musicality and friendship made the process tons of fun, while also helping me learn some things along the way.

sean and i hope you enjoy the songs and, most importantly, we hope that they remind you of Jesus.

blessings and merry christmas!

click to download the Noel ep

thanksgiving is gone.

which means that it’s time for my favorite christmas-time tradition.

enjoy.

(as always, you’re more than welcome)

it rained a little in our neck of the woods yesterday. when it was over (and kelly and i were unloading our christmas tree), i squealed like a small child and told the mrs. to get the camera so i could capture our western sky.

blessings.

it’s tuesday.

do you know about positive post tuesday?

despite his presence on the very last entry, today’s positive post is for mr. sean munoz, who is still receiving a link even though he hasn’t updated his blog in more than 3 months.

i first met sean in a somewhat embarrassing way.

see, i was in college and he was in high school. he was previewing the university and was sitting in on a music theory class in which his brother and i were enrolled.

after a quick hello, we sat and prepared for our lecture. for the following 75 minutes i sat in dejection as sean outperformed the lot of us in all things music.

fast forward a couple of years and sean was on my worship team playing a variety of instruments. i’m sure my less-than-inspired drum ‘ideas’ were pretty comical to him.

“hey, do you think you could like…play the toms more?”

staying in the montage spirit, we then find ourselves in 2006 where sean stood with me as a groomsman at my wedding, followed by last year when i stood with him as one myself.

we stay pals and enjoy making each other laugh. in fact, sean once almost killed me via a youtube-induced asthma attack.

last week i got to hang out with mr. munoz for a day while we worked on a little project that will be coming your way as soon as possible.

as always, i was blessed and encouraged to hang out with him, and was inspired by his grasp of music and instrumental proficiency. i am convinced that if i want to better my own musicianship, i need little more than to challenge myself by partnering with him and his perfect pitch-edness.

so thanks sean. i appreciate your friendship and your excellent musicality.

please don’t destroy my respiratory system ever again.

it’s tuesday. be positive.

and now, we close with a picture of sean’s strat:

+

we’re making you a present.

if you hadn’t seen this yet, it was high time you did.

on wednesday mornings we have a men’s study @calvaryhanford.

a while back i taught through a series called Battle Ready, where we took a look at some of the battles of the Old Testament and attempted to pull out some personal application for our daily lives.

the fourth stop in the series was the battle in the wilderness of Edom, where we saw that one of the keys to victory there was to be exhaustive.

audio and transcript below.

blessings.

pdf transcript

just hear the sleigh-bells jingling!

it’s already been a week, so it’s time for another installment of Christmas Caroling.

quite fittingly, plug number 2 goes to A Concord Jazz Christmas 2.

this little hidden gem is another staple in our christmas playlist. 17 different tracks from various collaborators, mixing instrumentals and carols alike.

though the songlist has a lot of standards, this album is remarkably surprising when you hear it. the arrangements are unique and fresh, with that very jazzy feel that you would expect from a jazz album.

it might have a skipper or two, depending on your tastes, but let’s be honest…it’s almost twice as long as the average album, so we can extend a little forgiveness if need be.

so, bottom line: why is this one of our favorites?

couple of reasons…

#1 – we are suckers for jazz. if you’re not into the genre, i suggest you give it an honest try some time. matter of fact, this might be a good place to start.

#2 – there are many times when we’re driving along listening to this album and we hear something and think “wow…that was unexpected!” either in the melody, arrangement or interpretation of the songs.

so, there you have it. a great, easy cd to have on in the background, but challenging enough to bring a smile to your face when you discover something new from a song you’ve heard thousands of times.

get it on amazon or itunes.

as always, love to hear what some of YOUR favorite christmas albums are.

it’s tuesday.

do you know about positive post tuesday?

mrs. p always brings home wonderful surprises from the store.

a staple surprise is canada dry ginger ale soda, which i first encountered on a flight to honduras many years ago.

other times it will be some delectable treat like mallowcreme pumpkins or jordan almonds.

how can a regular staple still be categorized as a ’surprise’ you might ask? well, that’s the wonder of being married to a sugar-addict.

my name is gene. and i love sugar.

glad that’s over.

monday was shopping day.

to my delight, when we got home i discovered that my wife had thoroughly exhausted WinCo’s cereal sales, scoring some of our favorites…PLUS HONEYCOMB!

that’s right, honeycomb!

it had been a very, very, VERY long time since i had a bowl of Post’s bee-themed breakfast.

i poured a hearty serving today and was reminded that breakfast can be a good thing.

thanks honey. i love you.

and thanks honeycomb. i love you too.

what is one of YOUR favorite breakfast cereals?

it’s tuesday.

be positive!

+

{photo by}

on wednesday mornings we have a men’s study @calvaryhanford.

a while back i taught through a series called Battle Ready, where we took a look at some of the battles of the Old Testament and attempted to pull out some personal application for our daily lives.

the third stop in the series was the battle in the valley of Rephaim, where we saw that one of the keys to victory there was boldness.

audio and transcript below.

blessings.

pdf transcript

you know, christmas isn’t all that far away.

i know, i know. some of you out there are naysaying my recent rash of christmas-themed posting, but the truth is that christmas is just a very special season in all pensiero households.

a few posts back i confessed how the mrs. and i listen to christmas music starting october 1. in one of the comments it was suggested that a weekly pick be promoted for lovers of yuletide cheer.

so, without further disclaimer, welcome to:

Christmas Caroling @ genepensiero.com!

our first selection is one of my very favorites:

The Sounds Of Christmas: Christmas Symphony by the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

this album is a perfect background companion to decorating, wrapping presents, driving to the in-laws’ or even just working at your desk. the orchestration is beautiful and creative, while never losing any of the stately and formal charm that you’d expect from a philharmonic.

the album has some very popular favorites like Joy To The World and We Three Kings, but also has some less familiar tracks like In Dulci Jubilo and Still, Still, Still, which is part of a ‘manger-medley’.

what i like most about this album is that when it’s on you feel like you’re walking around Disneyland in December. it’s just big and grand and lush and musical. it puts a smile on my face every time.

bad news: this album is not available on iTunes.

good news: it’s available here for $6.98 (cd)

so get in the spirit: cook up some cider, grab a new song or two and let us know what christmas albums make you ready for december 25.

UPDATE

ok…so it seems that they’ve discontinued this album, reworked it and are now selling it under the name Christmas Violin. the song list is a little different, but they’ve added a few tracks to fill out the list.

the best part is that you can get the mp3’s off of amazon or iTunes.

let me know if you get it. and, most importantly, let me know about any christmas music you think i might be missing!

not exactly a positive post tuesday, but makes me smile all the same.

animals are fun.

(ht: my sister)

this was our sunrise friday morning.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
{ Lamentations 3.22-23 }

it’s tuesday.

do you know about positive post tuesday?

it’s getting closer and closer to the holidays.

that means it’s getting close to the time where we can make a real difference in the lives of struggling people in the 10/40 window.

every year Gospel For Asia puts out a christmas catalog where you can send a gift to a family or missionary in india for as little as $1.

one dollar!

we get really excited about the GFA christmas catalog because they always have an amazing assortment of items that grows and expands each year.

not only that, but we also get very excited about the fact that, through God’s incredible provision, this organization is able to send 100% of donations to the field.

one hundred percent!

one dollar can really make a difference in the life of a person. after all, we serve the God that can feed thousands and thousands with only 5 loaves and 2 small fish.

it is so exciting that God allows us to further His work with even the smallest steps of service & faith.

thanksgiving is coming. christmas is coming.

that means we can thank God and celebrate the gift that He gave us two thousand years ago and we can share that good news with someone on the other side of the world through the simple act of clicking a mouse.

God is a gift giver.

i’m excited.

it’s tuesday. be positive!

+

at the pensiero house we love christmas music.

in fact, we start listening to holiday carols and merry tunes on October 1st.

but, here’s the thing…despite the fact that we’ve been growing our christmas music catalog for a few years now, we still feel like we’re missing out on some gems, we just don’t know what they are.

some of our very favorite christmas offerings are:

Ella Wishes You A Swingin’ Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Wintersong
Christmas With The Rat Pack
Songs For Christmas (sufjan stevens)
The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra Presents: Classical Christmas

now, beyond those we have other stuff, just nothing that’s blowing our minds.

so, here’s the deal, we need to know what christmas albums you love.

give me 1 or 2 or 50. we just want to know. because we love christmas music. and we’ve already been listening to it for 25 days.

help me and the mrs (and baby p) out. leave your suggestions in the comments.

today is the day.

today is the day that it is finally cold enough to break out my very favorite sweater, which gets copious amounts of wear between the months of october & march.

sadly, the happy return of mr. stripey is tainted by the fact that this morning, in my zeal, i did not grab an additional coat for warmth, so i’ve been shivering and chattering while getting re-acquainted with my faithful standby.

what’s your favorite piece of winter clothing?

i know you have one.

it’s been a while since we had a positive post tuesday and, since we were reminded of it over where it all began, i thought now was as good a time as any to start up again.

do you know about positive post tuesday?

today’s positive post is for my true love, mrs. p.

as most of you know, kelly and i are expecting our first little one, who we’ll get to meet sometime in late february if all goes according to plan.

in the mean time, we’re enjoying our pregnancy adventure, and i must say that my wife is lovely as ever, wonderful as ever, perfect as ever.

i could not imagine spending my life with another person, nor could i think of a better mother for my son.

she has a half day today, which means we get to hang out this afternoon. that makes me feel downright smiley.

it’s tuesday. be positive.

sorry.

Click here to view the embedded video.

this song is called Everywhere and is part of a new album called Above The Sky coming out soon.

stay tuned on evanwickham.com and buy the album as soon as it’s out!

i like blogging.

strike that. i love blogging.

however, as you may have noticed, i have squarely slipped into a pattern of non-daily posting. at this point, i think i’m at 2 or 3 a week.

google reader shows me publishing @ a rate of 0.5 posts-per-day, but that really doesn’t seem all too accurate, if we’re being honest.

why would a computer misrepresent blogging-trend data? well…that i can’t figure out…but i’m sure the lonely servers in mountain view have their reasons.

anyway…

for a long time i did try to post every day (other than weekends), but for some reason that habit has been broken…and recently i’ve been wondering why.

when i thought about it, i started to realize that everyone is posting less…even people who also used to try to post each day.

in fact, other than the tech/design/company blogs that i read, no one is posting once a day.

it’s not a slam, just an observation. one that includes myself…and i don’t know why.

i look at my google reader trends and i see this:

our blurry friends there are the non-commercial blogs of friends
and other folks that i find interesting

i think this illustrates the fact that people are posting less. lots less.

this time last year those numbers under DVICE, The Apple Blog and Font Squirrel were 2.2, 2.0, 1.8, 1.5 and 1.0 (give or take).

publishing is way down.

however, i don’t see people abandoning their blogs…conversely, i see more people starting blogs.

so the question is, where are all our posts?

perhaps we have all embraced the micro-blogging phenomenon, which sucks up all our posting time in 140 characters or less.

or perhaps we have all together become more busy with other things in our lives. seems very possible, but unlikely that all of us would have experienced the same change at the same time.

or perhaps still, it is possible, i suppose, that we’re just all out of things to say.

what about you? have you noticed a drop-off in posting?

what do you think is the reason?

inquiring minds want to know!

on wednesday mornings we have a men’s study @calvaryhanford.

i’m teaching through a series that we’re calling Battle Ready, where we take a look at some of the battles of the Old Testament and try to pull out some personal application for our daily lives.

the second stop in the series was the battle at Rephidim, where we saw that one of the keys to victory there was endurance.

audio and transcript below.

blessings.

pdf transcript

say hi to baby p.

he’s happy to meet you.

Then the Lord spoke to my heart.
He simply said, ‘Who are you serving?’
I said, ‘I am serving You, Lord.’
And He replied, ‘Then quit your griping.’

So don’t serve with a bitter heart.
Don’t serve with resentment.
As the Scriptures tell us:
Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
(Colossians 3.17)

There’s no more important attitude to have in the ministry.
We need to serve as unto the Lord because we’re going to find people obnoxious.
We’re going to find them unthankful.
We’re going to find that they’re demanding and that many times they’re
miserable to be around.

So if you think, ‘I’ve got to serve them,’ it will get to you.
But if you think, ‘I’m serving the Lord,’ then you’ll be able to handle it.
Whatever our service, we must do it as unto the Lord, knowing that
from the Lord, you will receive your reward.

Don’t look for the applause of men.
Don’t look for people to say, ‘Oh thank you. Oh you mean so much to me.’
For so often it won’t come.

You need to keep the mental attitude of doing everything as unto the Lord,
knowing that of the Lord, you will receive your reward.

Chuck Smith • Calvary Chapel Distinctives

if you’re in college ministry, get involved in this!

visit livingwaters.com

phil wickham has a new album out.

if you don’t have it, you should get it.

right now.

i understand.

despite it being a one-syllable, four-letter name, Gene is neither common nor that easy to differentiate from the sounds of blenders, espresso machines, beeps, whistles and indie rock coming out of the surrounding speakers.

try it yourself. just say Gene and i think you’ll notice that it is one of the more garbley names out there.

however, something within me is always a little disappointed when i get a smoothie, milkshake or, in this case, short cappuccino back with my ‘name’ on it.

Jean is the most popular attempt, with runners up going to Jene, G and {no name written}. my personal favorite was the time i received my cup back with Chi written on the side.

ironically, i think Gene is the spelling/derivative i receive most seldom at this point.

today my Jean made me smile and then clued me in to at least two things:

the first was that i again realized how touchy we can be as a people. maybe it’s an american thing…maybe it’s a human nature thing, but i’m surprised at how i could actually take it personally that someone who doesn’t even know me might misspell or mis-hear my name! GASP! HORROR! THE HUMANITY!!!

we need to toughen up. we’re way too sensitive most of the time, especially in petty things like this. most of the offenses we feel are things that were never meant to offend or hurt us…we just decide that we’re offended.

why?

there is something within me that desires to be foremost and prominent, something selfish and ambitious and unforgiving. it’s the sin nature of course, but today it was interesting to see how that old man can display its toxicity even in something as simple as my name on a cup, looking for a way to reveal itself in all it’s self-centered, egotistical grossness. waiting for a moment where it might dominate my attitudes and decisions.

the second thing i realized is that, like it or not, simple portions of communication can offend or effect people negatively. maybe it’s not my fault, maybe it shouldn’t make someone upset, but the truth is, the way i communicate with people, from my words to my tone to my body language to the way i spell their name might potentially offend them, even if i don’t mean to.

i don’t think that means we live in fear, or that we become so bland and assuming that we never tell people the truth. obviously that isn’t the fix to our culture’s over-sensitivity to all things AND you can’t live life with out eventually offending someone.

so what do we do?

i suppose the check to people being offended is grace. and grace upon grace.

grace isn’t popular right now. the big names of ministry aren’t known for grace, but for other things. that’s just the swing we’re in for the time being.

but today i realized anew that grace is perhaps the most important virtue, and is one that i always need to be cultivating in my life.

because if people can get bent out of shape over a name on a cup, then i need to pay more attention to what i’m saying, singing, typing, writing and promoting.

what do you think?

i’m not exactly a lumberjack.

i don’t do much mountain climbing or motor-rehauling.

i don’t own a lathe or a power sander.

if you happen to find me doing yard work some weekend, all you’ll see is a lawn mower. no chainsaw…no chain-driven tool of any sort actually.

so you’ll understand why i, a guitar-playing, mac-owning, hair-wax using californian, have never had steak-and-eggs for breakfast.

in all honesty, i never felt man enough to order a steak before the evening hours. that seems like something men with beards do. beards and axes.

the mrs. and i are on vacation for a few days and, when on vacation, we enjoy our eating.

don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we’re foodies. we just like to eat food and look forward to a little eating out when we’re on holiday.

breakfast is no exception.

this morning we went to a place we’ve been a number of times, where i again encountered that menu item that has alluded me, lo these 26 years: steak+eggs.

it was time to take the plunge. we had a long day of walking around ahead of us, so i wasn’t too worried that i was going to slip into a coma after eating eggs, red meat, potatoes and bread.

i was a little apprehensive, but luckily my lovely wife always encourages me just right in my periodic willingness to try something new.

now, i almost never finish my whole plate (unless we’re eating spaghetti), so here’s how it went:

here i was about 1/3 of the way done and i had already mystically discovered WHY people order steak+eggs…
because it is a magical breakfast that blows your mind. that’s why.

little more than half done. this is the point where i start thinking:
“i wonder what would happen if i immediately ordered a second dish of this…would i die later today?”
i resisted the urge to double-up my steak+eggs intake.

so, yes, i left a couple potatoes and that vile weed that they served with my breakfast, but all in all, this was a eating performance i could be proud of.

as someone who doesn’t eat out a ton AND who doesn’t eat a ton of steak, i am happy to say that next time i have a chance i will be ordering steak+eggs.

today i am a man. this breakfast was, obviously, the last thing keeping me out of the club.

what’s your favorite breakfast?