Monday Morning Brain Dump

• Leaving in a few minutes for breakfast with me wife and Gary and Lauren Odle. They are a great couple and I love having them at The Journey. Gary will be teaching while I'm in New Orleans, btw. We're eating at Emily's, a great greasy spoon just south of Brookdale Mall about a mile. They're only open for breakfast and lunch, a sure sign of a great breakfast place.
• Will be meeting with a missionary couple to Israel later today. I love God's chosen and am looking forward to hearing what God is doing with and through these 2 special people.
  
• Our life group is still meeting tonight, the holiday doesn't stop us!! We're just gonna have some great food and spend time talking about new years reolutions.
• I JAcKed someone today already. I was at a coffee shop and I paid for the next person in line. Left the "JAcKed" card for the 'jackee'. The barista was blown away by the idea and asked "what church is doing this??" So I whipped out a Journey card and invited her. Even though she didn't get JAcKed herself, she was witness to it and got just as big a kick out of it as the person who got free coffee. I'm stoked for this whole JAcKed thing!!
• Picked up a book on the Korean War on Saturday. Excited about reading that.
• Spent 8 hours shooting raw video footage and trying to edit it. It was gonna be a JAcKed video, but we couldn't get the video onto the laptop. Wrong cables, no firewire card, didn't have the camera driver software. Totally aggravating day on Saturday as I spent 6 hours or more on technology problems. AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!
• Got a great day lined up tomorrow...an old friend has invited our whole family over. They have horses, a sleigh, a big bonfire pit, and snowmobiles, along with land to enjoy them all. None of the kids know it yet--it's gonna be a fun surprise--but we'll have a great old time in the snow, riding horses, sleighs and snowmobiles...
• We head into Colossians this coming Sunday. Excited for that.
  

Katrina is Coming!!

I met with the Journey team who is preparing to go to K'ville (New Orleans) in just a couple weeks. I'm really stoked about this whole thing. We've got a great team put together--Scott Olson, Perry and Sue Stuns, Paul "Tall Paul" Jonason, Anthony Kasper, myself and a guy who is from outside the Journey.

Scott led us through all the stuff that we need to pack. We talked cars and routes to go down. We talked about what kind of work we'll be doing (construction stuff...the tear out work even in the 9th Ward has been completed).

I've been planning on this trip for 4 months or so. Now it's actually gonna come to pass. So, I'm getting excited about it all. New Orleans is an amazing mix of pagan and pious, rich and poor, black and white. It's a beautiful city and a city in shambles all at once. Kinda like all of mankind, when you think about it.

I'll be blogging on the trip when we go, so watch for updates.

The Studio

I hang out a lot at a local coffee shop called The Studio. It's a great place--coffee, the typical smattering of mixed fruit smoothies and mocha creations. But, it's also a fully functioning art studio. People come in and throw pots, slough glass and do other artsy stuff. Me, I drink bottled water, hot chocolate and cider. Not a coffee guy.

Anyway, I was gone from there for about 3 months. Just didn't hang there. I had been really busy with some school work and other stuff at church. It wasn't that I didn't want to come, I just couldn't come. When I started back, there was a warm welcome. They were glad I was there. No questions about where I'd been.

Do we do that at church? Lots of people drift in, then out, then back again. If you're like me, you start to think they are flaky, non-committal types. You wonder if they are really 'solid' in their faith. Lots of times people (I believe) disappear because they hurt and don't think they can trust fellow believers with their hurts. That's a tragedy. And that tragedy is compounded when we judge them from afar and act skeptical or offended when they return.

Something to chew on...

You got JAcKed!!

I'm pretty jazzed about the coming year, for one major reason. We're gonna be doing a crazy fun thing at church all year long called "You got JAcKed!!" It stands for Joyful Acts of Kindness. Kind of a random acts of kindness thing, a la "Pay it Forward."

We have a fun twist, though. We'll be giving cards out to everyone at The Journey...and when they "jack" someone, they give them a card saying, of course, "You got JAcKed!!" The card will invite them to a website we're designing. We're gonna gather up stories of people who've been JAcKed, explain why we are doing this, and invite folks to The Journey.

People who get JAcKed can use the card and perpetrate their own Joyful Acts of Kindness on others. We're hoping that this will start a fun, creative and meaningful chain reaction of people finding unique and practical ways to share Christ's love with others.

I'm hoping we'll get stories from all over the place. I'm hoping that people come to faith because of this. It's cool stuff and I can't wait to see what God does with this all.

Year End Mind Dump

A few blogging buddies of mine do a weekly mind dump. It's kinda fun. I'm doing a year end mind-dump and I'm gonna start a weekly mind dump as part of my New Year's Rezzies (Resolutions).

So, here's what's swirling in my mind about 2007, and looking into 2008.

• The vision team did an awesome job from February to July. They were totally faithful, creative, energetic and passionate about that work. It shows in the final product. I'm just dang proud of the entire vision team.
• The vision process was long and tiring at times, but has been well-worth it. Our ministry leaders have a good understanding of what we are hoping to do in the next 3 years and we're working together towards that.
• We need more vision updates.
  
• There's about a dozen or more people at The Journey who have come to faith this year or come back to faith in a significant way this year. That rocks.
• Our first annual leadership retreat was lots of fun. Looking forward to the '08 retreat, which is already on the calendar.
• I need to spend more time with my wife.
• I need to lose weight and exercise.
• If I do those 2 things, I will be a much better pastor.
• I took 3 classes at seminary this year, just 5 more to go until I graduate--Spring '09.
• I think Kate "Stripey" O'Brien has amazing instincts and passion for youth ministry and I'm excited to see her grow into that role.
• Josh has been a great leader on Sunday mornings, and it's always great to have Emily singing too. It's been a long year for Josh and Em as they are looking for a good fulltime science position for her, as she finished school and graduated, and as they navigated their first year of marriage. I'm glad you are here, guys!! Looking forward to the coming year.
• Ken Adams always is impressing me with his passion for involvement in whatever ministry he can get into. He's doing a great job with life groups, as a webmaster, on our search and rescue team, and as a tech guru. Life groups are vital to the Journey and he's doing a bang-up job there.
• Kids ministry has great momentum, with Theresa, Andrea, SJ and Kelly R all helping drive it. The kids' Christmas deal on Sunday was fun. Have to admit that I wasn't excited about "rockin around the Christmas tree", but it was darn cute.
  
• Gonna watch seasons 1 and 2 of Lost--got that for Christmas from my wife. I hear that kids can watch--that it's OK for kids the ages of ours. Maybe this will be a January family thing.
• We've saved over $17,000 as a church to help birth other churches. I'm getting more excited about the prospect of us joining forces with several other churches to help plant one or more churches in '08 or '09.
• Ukraine was fabulous this summer and I am looking forward to going back. Josh Stevens wants to go back too--for the food mostly.
• We've gotten killed financially lately at The Journey. We are almost 4 months behind in rent!! Got a year end gift from a dear friend of the Journey (doesn't go to The Journey) and it will pay roughly 3 months of our rent. Thanks to God!!!
• I'm thankful for Paul and Brett, the guys on Leadership Council with me. They are off the chart in terms of wisdom and they are very supportive of me on a personal level. I love both these guys as great friends. Beyond that, they provide a huge ministry to The Journey itself.
• The Admin team (hey, that needs a new name!!) rocks. They do tons of behind-the-scenes work, and often do so without thanks. Kelly J heads it up. I'm so thankful for these intrepid, faithful volunteers.
• The Journey has a well-earned reputation for being very friendly. I love that. People remark on it over and over again. That makes me so proud!!!
• Hero team. What can I say...they are incredible. Scott Olson, hats off to you. Uh, you can keep your hat on, though...I don't want to go blind.
  
• Search and Rescue....this team is gonna rock The Journey this coming year. They are high-energy, crazy cool creative, and they're gonna lead the way as we reach out to Maple Grove in exciting and meaningful ways. Just watch and be amazed. Then join in.
  
• Look for a new leadership gathering starting up at The Journey in January. This is one of our 2008 strategic goals and I'm excited about this.
  
• Our other strategic goals for 2008 are life group/discovery classes as well as the search and rescue team. Those are running strong!! So, before the year even starts, we have made huge strides towards achieving our 2008 goals.
• My new years rezzies--in addition to the weight loss/exercise and more time with Andrea--more time in prayer, a silent retreat in the spring, more reading for personal enjoyment (fiction, Civil War, other history). Also regular blogging. Don't ask me to define 'regular' right now.
  
• Hoping to get our Christmas letters/cards out soon!!! We always run late on those.
• My folks are in NY visiting my oldest bro and his family. The Journey is blessed to have them here. They have an important ministry here.

That's a lot. Probably forgot some stuff, but that's OK...