But his First Word column in the magazine is usually a well thought out perspective on some important issues. The column in the Sept/Oct issue is a real thought provoker I believe. You can read the entire article here, but I’ll include a few quotes below as well. Let me know what you think.

I’m someone who tries to think independently and objectively, rather than simply follow what the pundits tell me to think. Because of that, I’ve realized I cannot fully embrace either political party. Both sides of the aisle have some great ideas and goals. But both also have areas where they simply get it wrong…

<snip>

The problem is, many Christians vote these convictions, but that’s largely where their personal involvement in the issues stops. Are the government leaders we vote for meant to do our job for us?

<snip>

I’ve heard that only 5 percent of people who attend church regularly actually serve in any way. I’ve read that if every Christian in America actually tithed 10 percent of their income, we would have enough financial resources to wipe out global poverty.

There’s more power lying dormant in pews around the nation than any government could hope to provide, and that’s where our focus should be.

<snip>

If you have a passion for an issue, rather than judging someone who doesn’t share that passion or viewpoint, just go do something about it. Give your life to it. Be the change you want to see.

It’s not up to Washington, it’s up to us—and I say it’s time we step up and lead the charge. But that means with our lives, our finances and our actions every day. Not just Nov. 4.

• We get lots of questions about how we do stuff
• stuff= how we tell the story through spoken or sung word or digital, web, print media etc.
• telling a fictional ‘but true’ story about Michael, a new pastor at SCC, Scranton Community Church. Telling how church gets so full of “STUFF” that it bogs the pastor down.
• Often times we let the stuff become the object of our attention. When the only reason the stuff is important is because it helps communicate Jesus.
• Stuff will never change a life. Stuff will, by itself, make a difference. We have brand schizophrenia. Our brand should be JESUS. Not the “stuff”
• Stuff can be good. It helps is communicate Jesus. But don’t worship the stuff.
• Don’t copy other churches and try to be who they are. Be who God created YOU to be.
• If we begin to manage our “brand” as a church, there’s a danger of forgetting that Jesus is our reason and goal.
• Not only do we manage brand but we perfect brand. We chase excellence and drives what we do. We pursue better art, and videos, and tech, and programs.
• If it’s just about the stuff, why not go work in the marketplace. Make lots of money. WHy would you waste your time w/ a hobby such as church. That’s a lame hobby. But if you are doing it for and because of Jesus, then your stuff has value.
• Brand no equals stuff. [new logo, slick look, etc] Brand is much more. A deep gut feeling of who we are.
• Brand = the aftertaste left by an emotional experience.
• That can be w/ an encounter with your website, your service, your greeters, a conversation w/ a member, etc.
• Having a new logo, or a slick look,or whatever isn’t the answer
• Find out who you are, and who God created you to be. And do good things in that.
• If God didn’t call you to be something, why would you do it? I would call that sin.
• “Don’t touch the poop.” So often I see all these thigns around me I want to do or take on, and God’s saying, “I didn’t’ create you for that” But we want to touch it. But if it’s not what He made us for….would you call that sin?
• What is the Seacoast Experience? Spirit Filled. Practical [not talk w/o doing. non spooky.] yet kind of mystical. experience in multiple locations. on the cheap.
• We measure everything through that.
• Know where you’re going as a church.
• The challenge is to not try to be someone else. Either as in individual or a church. Don’t chase after excellence just for the sake of excellence. Find out who you are as a church. And start doing something with it so that people can have an aftertaste that changes their lives.
• Eph 1:18 I ask God to make your eyes focused adn clear, so you can see exactly what it is God is calling you to do.
• We need to be laser focused on who God created us to be, instead of trying to be everything we think is cool.

• We got some rain this morning from Ike. Came through and left. I hope things stay away as I fly on small planes this week.
• We started putting the old fort back together. I built it in our backyard in Clinton. We disassembled it and brought it to Oxford. It was in lots of pieces since we moved. Now it’s in fewer pieces. And the girls can climb/slide a little now. More to come.
• My and my over analysis is making we wonder if I should sell my new Canon 40D for the new Nikon D90. I’m always looking over the fence.
• Last night Mississippi State played the #9 team in the country. We only lost by one point. The score was 3-2. Yep, 3-2. That seems like a hockey or soccer score.
• Church this morning was really full. Now we will see what our evening service looks like. This weekend was “Parents Weekend” at UMiss. So that probably had something to do with it.
• I think I need a new theme. Quickly
• I saw South Panola play football at their newly installed $750,000 field. Was impressive. So was the new pressbox. And everyone there was really nice and helpful as I taped the game against Grenada. It was a terrible game. SP had 500 yards offense. Grenada had -7. Ouch.

Next week I’m heading out to Indiana. I’ll fly into South Bend and then hitch a ride over to Granger, IN. I’ll be attending the Innovate 08 conference at Granger Community Church.

I had a friend that went last year and raved about it. And I read a few blogs of folks who had attended, and they said it was exceptional. My friend actually said, “It’s better than anything I’ve been to at Northpoint…” Those were some big words there.

So what am I looking forward to?

• I’m looking forward to hearing Mark Beeson teach. He’s a gifted communicator and has pushed his church in so many creative ways. [I still find it interesting that he's in a very "innovative" church, yet still preaches with a coat and tie each week. But hey, seems to be working for him!]
• I’m looking forward to hearing Shawn Wood talk of their creative process of finding the sweet spot of who God created his church to be and who they are not. That way they are not trying to be a huge buffet of ministries, but being dang good at what they’re created to do.
• Getting to hear Tim Stevens speak about recognizing and using culture to communicate the life changing truths of Jesus.
• Maybe meeting Kem Meyer and Tim Stevens both.
• Attending the Granger Film Festival where churches bring their best vids from the last year or so for a competition.
• Hearing Rob Wegner speak his heart about missions and how to impact the local community for The Kingdom.
• To be able to hear Kathy Guy speak on the small group strategies of GCC and how it makes a difference in their people. Might even get to grab lunch w/ her at some point.
• Steven Furtick will tell the stories of how his church has had a wild growth as it’s barely 2 years old. And the struggles and processes they’ve gone trough. And I want to see his weird hair in person.
• Plus, I hope to be able to walk around the campus of Notre Dame while I’m there too.
• And there will be some good companions from The Orchard in Tupelo to be with.

I will have frequent updates and maybe some pics/video of stuff while I’m there. I’ll “take you along” so to speak.

* Total number of deaths during 9/11 attacks (excluding the terrorists): 2,973
* Total number of people who will die on 9/11/08: 150,835
* Total number of people who will die on 9/11/08 from hunger/starvation: ~24,000
* Total number of children under the age of 5 who will die from hunger/starvation on 9/11/08: ~18,000
* Total number of people who will die of HIV/AIDS on 9/11/08: 5,479
* According to a recent Cornell University study, number of people who will die of causes directly related to water, air and soil pollution on 9/11/08: 60,334
* Total number of people who will not be allowed to live, due to their inconvenience to others, on 9/11/08: 126,027
* Total number of people who will survive on less than $2.50 on 9/11/08: ~3,000,000,000
* Total number of people who will survive on less than $1.00 on 9/11/08: ~1,300,000,000
* Total number of children of primary school age who will not be able to attend a school on 9/11/08: ~72,000,000
* Percentage of money spent on weapons required to put all 72,000,000 of those children in school: <1%

Soon, really soon.

•   Soccer: Addison’s first game last night got tornadoed out. There were warnings around us and a little rain, so it was called off. She was disappointed. In a word, soccer in Oxford doesn’t seem to be as big/good as soccer in Clinton.
• Owl City: It’s just a guy w/ some really creative skills in making music. It’s my new fave. It should be yours too. Unless you like Nickleback. Then there’s no hope.
•   I’m watching politics now. Not sure who I’ll vote for. Pretty sure who I won’t vote for. But nothing is for certain. Palin’s speech tonight should be interesting. I feel sorry for her daughter. On many different levels.
• I’m looking forward to this fall at The Orchard. Very interested to see all that God does with us. We want to be used by Him.
• MSU’s opponent for this weekend is actually staying at Camp Lake Stephens a few miles away from me. I might try to go see them playing in the creek or taking a mud hike. How funny would that be?
• I set up a 12′ soccer goal in my back yard Monday. It’s nice. It’ll be a pain to move/take down.
• There are Louisiana evacuees all around town. The Square was full of them yesterday. There are even a lot on my street. New Orleans still is closed.
• I miss a good Clinton High School pep rally. Nothing compares. And I especially like when they “close” with Superstar.
• My wife is at the doctor. Five dogs attacked her while she was running the other night. Bit her leg. Obviously it isn’t too serious if she’s just now at the doctor two mornings later. But for a tetanus shot and all that. But a car came up honking and swerving at the dogs to scatter them. She says if not for that car they might have taken her down. Scary.

But last year this time I was on a plane. I was flying home from Washington D.C. after a great little get away to the nation’s capital. It was almost an impromptu vacation. But after having tasted and seen how much I liked being there, I want to go back for sure. Was able to connect w/ David Russell while there, but beating myself up that I forgot that a good friend from back home now works there too as an architect.

Anyway, if you ever get the chance to visit The District…do it! It is steeped in US History. Lots of cool things to experience. Most of it free. And you can walk pretty much everywhere. After spending four days there last year, I consider myself an expert.

Here are a few pics from last year. I have many more I’ll try to upload later.

First day we were there. A quick shot.

Nice shot of Abe.

Outside of la Casa Blanca.

A shot from the WWII Memorial. Washington Monument in the background.

There’s a longer story that goes with this, but George W. Bush is in that limo. I can post a larger picture if someone wants to try to see in there. But there were TONS of security cars before and after him. The limo is about to turn right into a back entrance to the White House. That lady biker cop you see was funny.

Random street shot.

Some artistic garden.

Lots of folks around. Taken from the porch of the Lincoln Memorial.

So now, what do I have to look forward to this football season? All is not lost. Don’t get me wrong. But Croom and company have their work cut out for them this next week. Yes, we lost big time to another Louisiana team in our opening game last year. But that was Louisiana State, not Louisiana Tech. LSU went on to win the National Championship.

So, my hopes of a surprise season were dashed. Momentum going the wrong direction. And dangit if I didn’t have to wake up this morning in Oxford, Mississippi and go to church with a bunch of Rebels who won their opener last night with a new coach. 

God has a sense of humor.

It’s a great team of people. We all laughed a lot at Dave’s jokes [but not @ him at all. right?] And when we had some discussion time it was good. Really good. Makes me really confident in the semester. Also, it almost made me want to keep those people together as a small group! We launch next week. And we’re looking forward to everything that happens.

And then tonight… While in Jackson I worked with the staff at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson a number of times. We went to the same winter retreat together and attended a lot of planning meetings for it. It is a large church. And they have lots of freshmen here at Ole Miss.

So a few of the parents from Jackson decided to have a “first of the year dinner” for them. There were around 25 freshmen there. You realize that they sent 25 kids to one university. Those 25ish would easily be larger than 90% of the Methodist youth groups in Mississippi.

But we were invited to come out and meet the freshmen. They seem to be a cool group of kids. Wes, their youth minister said there are some really solid leaders among them. A few came to The Orchard on Sunday. Hopefully some of them will call The Orchard their church “home away from home.”

Rick Warren

“Over the last hundred years, the hands and feet of Christ have been amputated. So, basically, in the eyes of the world, we have become a big mouth. Most of the time we are known for what we are against, instead of what we are for. The church must be mobilized for what it is for, not what is is against. I want to be for the poor, the sick, the lost, and I want to be “the friend of sinners.”

Last week I put up a Dylan song that g liked. So I figured I’d give g one more Dylan song to see if it was up to standards. I think this a much better remake than the one I had last week. Of course, I like DMB better than GnR too.

Welcome to The Black Parade [originally by My Chemical Romance]

If you’ve not heard the original of Welcome to the Black Parade by MCR, then you might not truly appreciate it. To transpose it to piano totally is impressive. I like the original song a lot too.

DCB* is about to release a new CD from their Remedy Tour that has two handfuls of new songs in a live format. I’ll be getting it. You should too.

You can click “LISTEN” above and get a few samples of the songs. There is also a DVD if you like.

This program says it can take you from no matter where you are in your pushup expertise and get you to doing ONE HUNDRED pushed all at the SAME TIME in six weeks. Wow. Sounds exciting. Anyone want to do it with me?