Sunday Recap

Today was an awesome day at McGregor. Let me share just a couple of the highlights.

It was a Sunday where we were in between series and our pastor, led by the Holy Spirit, addressed the issue that so many in our community are dealing with; an economy that has been drastically impacted by the faltering real estate market. It was powerful stuff.

It was exactly what our church family needed to hear. The central thought from his message was that even though our economy is struggling, none of this caught God off guard and He is still changing lives. Because of this, we need to keep our focus on the eternal, not on the temporal. Lots of decisions today, lots of life change.

This afternoon we had a great TEAMS Rally for all of our Adult Sunday School leaders. Our drama to kick it off was our own infomercial entitled "The Purposeless Life" with special guest Warren Ricks. Mr Ricks was trying to sell his newest stuff called "Purposeless Living." My favorite part was Wade Harmon, as Warren Ricks, lip syncing the song "Dancing Through Life" from the musical Wicked. Very funny stuff. The drama was a jumping off point for our equipping sessions that focused on knowing our purpose - why we do what we do in our classes. Purpose keeps us focused, gives us clarity, and keeps us moving in the right direction.

Enjoy a few of pics from the drama below.



It was another awesome Sunday at McGregor. Thanks God!

Innovate 2007, Pt 4

It's getting close to the end.

It's been another great day at Innovate 2007. But something just happen a few moments ago that may be the best part of today's sessions. While on break, sitting with David and Steven, I was identified by the Dream Team and was given an iTunes Gift Card! Yeah!!! The ironic part is that 2 minutes earlier I was complaining that someone else had just won an Nintendo Wii and that the Dream Team was profiling people they knew to win. I was wrong. I'm over it and glad to have my gift card.

The highlight today for me was Rob Wegner's talk first thing this morning on Communication. Most of his talk was wrapped around the book Made to Stick. (I have been pushing this book for over a month now.) Rob did a phenomenal job of making tons of ministry/church application from some of the principles in the book. He also showed us, through video, how Granger has implemented these "sticky" communication principles.

Oooh...I just noticed the guy that won the Wii is sitting at the table next to me. But I'm over it. Next time the lights go down I'm sending Steven over to nab it. Just kidding Macy.

That wraps up my in-conference update. Go to the Mark and Miller Show to hear our podcast we did up here in Indiana. Later.

Innovate 2007, Pt 3

Yesterday's sessions at Innovate were awesome and challenging.

It started with the opening session with Guy Kawasaki, CEO of garage.com, a Silicon Valley venture capital company. He was also the chief evangelist of Apple Computer back in the 80's. His talk was awesome. The title of his talk was the Art of Innovation and he gave us 10 steps to innovating. I think this talk with be the highlight of the conference for me. Guy challenged me with practical steps to think beyond the ordinary. He truly was able to combine inspiration with application. Very rare today in many speakers. Go here to check out Guy's blog.

My breakout session yesterday afternoon was another highlight. It was on Communication and was led by Kem Myers, Communications Director at Granger Community Church. Great session. She debunked 5 myths about communication for us. Example: Myth #2 - Advertising creates interest and reinforces the brand. Not true. Advertising at best creates awareness. Brands are built on experiences. So the question needs to be asked: what kind of experiences are people having when they show up at your church? Are they consistent experiences across the brand?

Last night after dinner we went back to GCC for their Mid-week Believer's service called New Community. Wonderful time of worship and Bible study. It was cool to be able to see the church with it's own people, not just all the people here for the conference.

Looking forward to more innovating today!

Macy - I miss you!

Innovate 2007, Pt 2

I'm sitting in the final session of the afternoon with Tim Stevens. He's talking about the key elements of worship planning/programming. Really good stuff. If you click on his name you can go to his blog and from there you can download his notes for this session. I think it's very cool be able to pull up his notes while I'm listening to him talk and while blogging. Granger is very wired!

I'll try to give some more observations from the earlier sessions with a different post later tonight. I can't wait to tell you about the session with Guy Kawasaki.

Innovate 2007

I love to learn!

And that's exactly what I'm looking forward to doing the next few days. I will be attending the Innovate 2007 Conference in Granger, Indiana (about 90 miles east of Chicago) this week with two other guys from our staff. I'm going with an open heart and and an open mind, wanting to learn.

I love the whole process of hearing new ideas and seeing how I can apply them to my life and ministry. And this is exactly what this conference is all about. Here's what the conference website says: "Innovate 2007 is not about creativity. It's about how to take action on creative inspiration to make a mark of greatness."

Let the inspiration and greatness begin!

Getting Excited

It has been approximately a year and a half since we started looking for a new Preschool Minister. And as of today, it seems we are very close in finding God's person for this position! I would ask that you pray for me and our church as we continue to seek God's will in this incredibly important position.

Two Great Restaurants on Marco Island

I'll say it again, I really love Marco Island.

Yesterday was a most relaxing day for Macy and myself. After our morning session we went looking for a new place for lunch. It took us a little while, but we eventually stumbled upon an incredible little Mexican restaurant called Cilantro Tamales. Some of the best Mexican food we have ever had. Macy got their sampler platter and I went my usual - enchiladas. Highly recommend. (Sorry, no web site to send you to for this one.)

For dinner we tried an Italian restaurants that is located right across the street from the hotel called Davinci Ristorante. When I saw on their web site they had a "pizza chef" along with a wood burning oven, I knew this was the place for us. Incredible! They had the best tomatoe basil soup I ever had and the pizzas lived up to my expectations. I would probably drive down to Marco just to eat here again. Everything was excellent, including the service.

This morning we finish up with our last session and Macy and I will be heading back home to the real world.

Day 2 on Marco

We arrived on the island mid afternoon, got checked in to our hotel, and settled in. I met the team a little later and we got setup for the nights opening session. The hotel we're staying is the same place we've coming to for 7 years. It provides the perfect setting for a marriage retreat/get-away.

Our theme for the retreat is "Have I Told You Lately..." In just a little while I'll be leading two of the teaching sessions this morning. I'll be talking about how important our words are and reminding the couples onces again how different men and women really are. We're going to start our time out this morning by playing "Don't Forget the Love Songs" based on the now popular "Don't Forget the Lyrics." Should be fun.

Heading to Marco Island

Macy and I are heading out in a few minutes to beautiful Marco Island for McGregor's annual Marriage Retreat. We love Marco Island and we love where we stay. It has a very sentimental value to us - it is where we spent part of our honeymoon.

I'm looking forward to this weekend and the opportunity to teach and encourage other couples in their marriage. Our theme is "Have I Told You Lately..." It's gonna be a blast. Hope the weather is good. I'll bring updates later.

By the way, my last post was #100! Hard to believe.

0-2

That's my fantasy football team's record. What a terrible start. I was all excited about my team, my draft, my players, until we started to play the games. Now it's not so much fun anymore. I got crushed this weekend (140-78). My opponent (Ed Harger) has Carson Palmer who produced 49 points! At the end of that game, my weekend was over. 49 stinkin points by one player.

Wait, I'm suppose to be doing this fantasy football thing for the "fun."

It's still hard to have a whole lot of fun when you're losing. But there's next weekend. Watch out Russell Howard!

The Race for the White House

Without trying to get too political here, I wanted to make sure my readers were aware of one of the lesser known presidential candidates. I am very impressed with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, even though I think his chances of winning this upcoming election are pretty slim. My hope is this campaign will allow him the exposure to be able to mount a great run in 4 years. Who knows, he might just surprise a lot of people this time around.

Check out this clip on see his awesome response to a question about creation vs. evolution in one of the debates....

Choices

I have been wanting to post about Apple's announcement last week about their new iPods, so here goes...

My current iPod is going to be three years old in December (I also have a new iPod Shuffle that I use for running) and I'm getting close to "needing" a new one. Three years for an electronic device is pretty old, so, I've been thinking this holiday season I'm due for an update. Much to my delight last week, Apple announces two completely new iPod models, in time for the holiday shopping season. Choices!

First, I am very excited about the new "Touch" iPod. It is basically the iPhone without the phone. Similar in size, only slimmer, it has the same large 3.5 inch screen. While not as small as the new Nano, it is still pretty light (4.2 oz) and very, very slim. The Touch comes in 8GB and 16GB editions and is priced $299 and $399 respectively.

My other option is the brand new Nano iPod, nicknamed the fatty. This is also a really cool new iPod that retains the basic look of the past generation iPods, but is drastically smaller in size. It is very, very small with a great screen, though small (2 inch). The Nano comes in 4GB and 8GB versions and is priced $149 and $199 respectively.

Choices. The good news is I have several months to decide.

I just heard that stores are already getting some of the new iPods in!

Washing Machine Update

We got a new machine installed late yesterday afternoon! I want to thank Rick, of Walters Appliance Service, for all the help and patience he gave us through this.

I Couldn't Believe It!

I came home last night from work to a sight I thought I would never, ever see - Macy had taken apart our washing machine!

For those of you who do not know my wife very well, this is sooooooo out of her character, and even more important, so out of her skill set! I had to just pause and take a mental picture of the whole thing when I walked in the door. So, you ask, "why was Macy taking apart the washing machine?"

We've been having problems with our washing machine lately, so, yesterday, Macy called our friend who has a local appliance company and described the problem. He was gracious enough to try and diagnosis the problem over the phone. He told her "Mark can do some things when he gets home and we can determine whether it's going to be worth fixing or we should replace it." By doing this step ourselves we would save a service call fee.

Well, Macy decided, through some coaxing of our friend, that she could do it right then and there and he proceeds to walk her through the process. The fact that Macy was willing to do this is huge in and of itself. The fact that she was able to pull it off is even more remarkable. Macy has no mechanical inclinations whatsoever. None.

So, my hat is off to Macy, who took apart our washing machine and saved us the cost of a service call, and who, after 20 years of marriage, is still able to surprise me!

Letting Go of My Baggage

God did some really cool stuff yesterday at McGregor.

• Our pastor's series "Baggage Claim" continues to challenge people where they are hurting. It's cool to see folks responding and making commitments to let go of their baggage and trust God. My favorite thought so far in the series: "when I'm in control is when I am most out of control." Good stuff.
• People making life-changing decisions in all of our worship services! God is doing some awesome stuff in people's lives.
  
• The lesson I taught in my class yesterday was "stop worrying...start trusting." Very cool how it went right along with the sermon series.
• God was/is challenging me to let go of something that I've been holding on to a little too tightly lately. Man, I hate when I have to make application. :)
• We had a great leadership meeting yesterday with about 80 of our adult SS leaders. I love being around our adult volunteer team. Lots of energy.
  
• I have the privilege of working with an incredible adult leadership staff team (Dan, Tod, Shawn, Wade). You guys are awesome and a joy to serve Jesus with!

It's going to be an awesome week!

Back to the Real World

Macy and I have enjoyed our time down here at Lover's Key.

• Last night we ate at Flipper's. Flipper's is next door to where we are staying and is located right on the bay. All seating is outdoors on the deck. We had a beautiful view and the seafood was scrumptious.
  
• Yesterday morning we spent several hours down by the pool. The weather was perfect and the sunshine and breeze was a perfect blend.
• I got my 3 mile run in this morning. Even running seemed more fun over here on the beach.
• Now we got to pack and head on home.

Back to the real world.

He's gunking up our nature!

Macy and I made our getaway yesterday to Lover's Key, just south of Ft Myers Beach.

We're staying on Lover's Key in a condo of some dear friends. How relaxing it's been so far. I was up in time this morning to watch a beautiful sunrise from our balcony. God's creation is so incredible. I spent an hour on the balcony reading my Bible and praising Him for His greatness.

Late yesterday afternoon we went over to Carl E Johnson park area and walked on the beach (until some lightning in the distance scared Macy). While leaving the beach area via the boardwalk, we noticed muddy footprints. They were left by a guy we passed as we were getting on the boardwalk. You could tell he had been fishing along some of the back bay areas. After realizing he was the one who left the muddy prints, Macy delivered my favorite quote yesterday by saying "He's gunking up our nature."

We decided to eat in last night so dinner was "gourmet" frozen pizzas just before the game kicked off. And speaking of the game...

People told me the games would take on a whole new meaning as a fantasy football team owner. And they were right! I was quite into the game last night with 3 of my players involved. Joseph Addai produced 19 points for me and I brought in a total of 26. That seems pretty good for 3 of my nine starter. We'll see. I'm playing against Gerald Malloy this weekend (the only one in our league who has done Fantasy Football before). It would be a pretty big upset if I beat him. You're going down Gerald!

Gotta go wake up Macy...

Lot's Going On...

The day is off to a great start...here's what's rumbling around in my brain on Thursday morning...

• Macy and I are getting a away today for a little 3 day, 2 night stay out at the beach. Yeah!!!!
• I just finished a sub 24 minute 3 mile run. Oooooh, that feels good!
• Alfred Peet, founder of Peet's Coffee, passed away last week. Peet's is my favorite coffee.
• The NFL kicks off tonight along with my first Fantasy Football weekend.
• I'm still thinking about those Shrimp & Grits. Sorry Kelly.
• I'm looking forward to finishing several books and maybe even starting a new one this weekend.
• Did you see the new iPods (touch & nano) announced yesterday!!! Oh my!!!!!!!
  
• I'm glad yesterday is over (I crammed 4+ days of work into 2, pretty intense).
• I am so looking forward to spending a ton of time with Macy this weekend!
  

Got to go pack and get out of here.

Shrimp & Grits

This will be brief. Last night, Macy and I made the most incredible Shrimp & Grits dish in the world! Words cannot describe, so I won't even try. Ever since my first visit to Charleston, SC, about 9 years ago, I have been a fan of this dish. Well, last night, we blew away any Charleston low country restaurant by a mile. Good stuff!

Thanks Macy for a fun evening in the kitchen. Oh, and of course, we finished it all off with a vanilla latte'!

Getting Wet

As a pastor, one of the things I love is baptizing people.

Not just because I get to wear a bathing suit in the worship service, although that is kind of fun. The reason I love baptizing is the opportunity to be a part of someone's life who has been radically changed by Jesus. Yesterday I has the awesome privilege of baptizing in all four of our services.

Bibianna, a fifth grader who just that morning asked Christ into her life, told me she went home and started calling her friends and telling them what she had done. Pretty cool.

J.C., a middle-aged adult, who asked Christ into his life on Wednesday evening, told me his friends already didn't like the fact he was talking about God. Radical life change. He still came Sunday, and let everyone know he was identifying with Christ through baptism.

The Byrds, a young couple who have been believers for several months, were excited about taking the next step of obedience and getting baptized. They too were excited about their new faith and wanted to grow in that faith.

These were just a few examples of the lives that I had a chance to be a part of yesterday through baptism. Thank you God for allowing me to be a part of a church where the focus is on seeing lives changed. It's awesome.

I hope you have a great Labor Day!

Another Great Hamburger Joint

Several months ago I wrote about a great new hamburger place in Fort Myers called Cheeseburger in Paradise. Well, I've found another great burger joint that might even be a little better. Last night Macy and I tried the new Red Robin located in the Gulf Coast Town Center.

Let me start by saying we had a great experience. Their hamburger selection is huge, with 22 gourmet burgers to choose from. I went with the Bleu Ribbon Burger and it was incredible. Here's the description of it: A juicy burger basted with a tangy steak sauce and topped with crumbled Bleu cheese. Served with onion straws, lettuce, tomatoes and zesty Chipotle mayo on an onion bun. Wow! The Bleu Ribbon is similar to a burger I've ordered several times at Cheeseburger in Paradise. The difference with Red Robin's is the added chipotle mayo that gives it a little extra spice. Served with every hamburger are their Bottomless Steak Fries - and WOW are they good! Click here to check out all Red Robin has to off with their online menu.

Equal to the quality of our food was the exceptional service we experienced. Everyone we came in contact was extremely friendly and very helpful, enhancing the overall dining experience. Our server was Brittany and she did an outstanding job, especially considering it was only her second day on the job! We even had a chance to invite her and her newlywed husband to McGregor and to our SS class.

Summary: Perhaps some of the best hamburgers in town along with some great service make Red Robin a winner. Can't wait to go back.