weekend date...part deux

Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel we got up and went our separate ways for an hour or so. Jenny to Babies-R-Us and me to Sam's Club (I was looking for some trail mix...no luck...but most of all, I was determined NOT to spend an hour in Babies-R-Us thankyouverymuch).

Next was a stop at Penney's Outlet...always a must for Jenny if we're in the vicinity. And then finally to Easton for the remainder of our day.

Easton was a zoo. It was like Christmas time. It took us a good 15 minutes to find a place to park. Crazy. People everywhere. And this was just a typical February Saturday.

We visited more stores, including Nordstrom's. Hello. Jenny found a pair of jeans she liked. The price tag? $198. Which begs the question: WHO SPENDS $198 ON A PAIR OF JEANS!!! (by the way, she was able to find some much less expensive jeans...at Penney's Outlet...ThankyouJesus).

And guess where else we ended up shopping before we left Easton? The Container Store...again! Amazing. Simply amazing.

The good news: The Container Store is right next door to bd's mongolian barbeque which happens to be one of our favorite restaurants ever. If you've never been there, visit their website...it's a really interesting concept: Create your own stir-fry. You start at the raw meat bar (shrimp, lamb, tenderloin, pork, chicken, crayfish, scallops, you name it), followed by the veggie bar...and then last is the sauces and spices bar. I usually go Cajun. I like my food spicy. Then you take your creation to a giant grill and let the stir-fryers take it from there. Fun and filling! We try to hit bd's whenever we're in C-bus.

We headed home shortly after bd's...with one more stop in mind...DQ. Jenny got a Blizzard, I enjoyed a caramel Moo-Latte. Yeah...we ate good on our trip. Partly because we knew we were starting a 40-day Daniel fast on Tuesday. It's like we had a giant Fat Tuesday party all weekend long.

Thus endeth our trip to Easton.

my weekend date with my wife to easton

This past weekend Jenny and I got to go on an "extended date." We left the kids with some friends and headed to Easton for two whole days to ourselves. That was huge for us as a couple. Our complete focus for the two days was each other.

Here's a quick rundown of the weekend:

Left around 11 a.m. on Friday. Deliberately went through Millersburg so we could stop at Norman's for some creamsticks. Holy cow. We planned on eating well on this getaway and that's exactly what we did. I wish Norman's was closer, but at the same time I'm glad it's not (know what I mean?).

Arrived at Easton Town Centre around 1:30. Did you know that Easton is now America's largest shopping complex? Amazing. Our first stop: a store called "The Container Store." Guess what they sell? Yup...nothing but...containers. Apparently I thought I was funner than they did when I walked in and asked, "Do y'all have any containers here?" I crack myself up...Jenny just rolls her eyes.

I got a couple cool things for my office there. Jenny was looking for something very specific for the kids' bathroom...and she found it. But I think we spent waaaay too much time in a store that sells nothing but...containers.

From there we just kinda drifted through Easton, popping into various shops and boutiques. The one I landed in the longest amount of time for was The Discovery Channel Store. Very fun. I like books, toys, and science...and this store had lots of all three. While I was in there, Jenny ventured over to The Children's Place. I'm probably giving way too many details here (yawn)...so I'll get to the good stuff...

Before long our thoughts turned to where are we going to eat? We decided that because there are so many good places to eat at Easton, why limit ourselves to just one? So...we decided to restaurant hop--you know eat an appetizer at one place, soup at another, and so on.

We began our quest at The Cheesecake Factory. We ordered an appetizer called "Buffalo Blasts." Amazing. And filling. We were stuffed...certainly in no condition to head directly to the next restaurant, so we decided to see a movie.

The AMC theater there has 30 screens. It's huge. So many choices. And we had no clue about what to see. A dude with a spiked mohawk overheard us talking about Ghost Rider (you know the one with Nicholas Cage's head on fire), and he advised us not to see it. I think he repeated the phrase "It sucks" at least a dozen times. Good enough for me. We still couldn't decide. So Jenny began asking other couples who where buying tickets at automated kiosks what they were going to see. "Reno 911" was one reply. "Pan's Labyrinth" was another. Someone actually recommended Ghost Rider...confused now, but had already ruled it out. Another person advised us not to see The Pursuit of Happyness...but if you read my blog, you know I've already seen that one...

We settled, after much debate, on Amazing Grace. It was opening night. Hadn't heard much about it but the story intrigued us. Bought the tickets. Bought popcorn. Entered the theather. It was almost full. We found two pretty good seats...and as it turned out, the show was sold out, as was the other theater that was also showing Amazing Grace.

There's something about a full theater that makes the movie more enjoyable, in my opinion. There's more energy, more emotion, more laughter, etc. I'm going to write a separate blog about the movie because I thought it was great. I loved it. The folks in our theater actually broke out in applause at the end. Very unusual for a movie. More on that on another day.

After the flick we made our way to The Ocean Club. The Ocean Club is a Cameron Mitchell joint. If you're from Columbus, like we are, then you know all about Cameron Mitchell restaurants. They're all phenomenal. I actually met Cameron once, when I was working for the Columbus Dispatch. Back to the restaurant...It was Friday night...and it was packed...of course. I asked the host if we could just sit at the bar and order calamari (The Ocean Club's is the best). And that's what we did. And it was incredible. While enjoying our calamari at the bar, someone near us had baked Alaska delivered to their table. It got our attention. So we went for it. Neither one of us had ever had baked Alaska...whew! Too good! We'll be doing that again. We had planned, sorta, to head back to the Cheesecake Factory for, well...cheesecake afer the calamari...but the baked Alaska was callin' our names. Great experience. Great restaurant.

Afterwards we spent some more time shopping, Eddie Bauer, the Buckeye Corner, etc. and then headed for the hotel.

And that was our Friday. I'll give you Saturday's events tomorrow. Sleep well...and dream of baked Alaska.

oh the weather outside is frightful...

...but the fire in Origins Café is so delightful...It's a wintery Sunday morning in February. A mix of snow and freezing rain covered the landscape overnight. On Sundays like this, I always wonder how many folks are going to stay away from church saying, "Ah, forget it. I don't want to be driving around in that kind of weather." I know it happens. We've had a fairly rough month of February weather-wise (brutal cold, lots of snow, and now freezing rain). And attendance has been down a bit this month. However, the roads were not too bad at all this morning (so if you're reading this blog and trying to decide whether or not to brave the elements (bad pun, I know), I say, "Go for it." It's not too bad at all and getting warmer.

Back to my original train of thought now...as Jenny and I were discussing the weather situation last night, Natalie, our 11-year-old, spoke up--with distress in her voice. She was afraid that church might be cancelled due to poor weather. She said, "I don't want to miss church...it's the thing I look most forward to every week."

I can't tell you how a statement like that from one of your kids has a way of warming a father's heart. I am so glad my kids feel that way about church. They love it. Can't wait to get there. It's the highlight of their week. That's huge! In fact, we are locked in to attending that 9 a.m. service because that's when Natalie's small group meets--and there's no way she's going to miss small group...it's too important to her.

I'm thankful for a place like NewPointe that's relevant, and at the same time fun for our kids. The church I grew up in...well, let's just say...I wasn't as excited about going as Natalie is.

hoopin' it up at the 'pointe

Some of us guys on staff at NewPointe have begun playing hoops regularly--sometimes at lunchtime, sometimes early in the mornings. It's great to have that kind of access to b-ball courts. We're having a lot of fun...and it's great exercise.

Well, I don't know if the ladies who work at NewPointe felt left out, or if they just needed to blow off steam, but as we were preparing to hoop it up today, music started playing and all of the sudden, into the gym burst most of our female staff, decked out in their finest basketball apparel (click on pic). They ran a lap around the gym and then lined up for layups. Pretty funny stuff. Their coach came and gave them a pep talk, they had a scripted-out medical emegency--they put the pregnant lady in a wheelchair...or is that just a basketball under her shirt? They posed for team photos. And then they came over to challenge the guys to a game.

We didn't actually play the game...but it was funny. Funny enough that I felt that they deserved some 'love' on my blog.

As for our game...well, my team got beat three out of five. But we all know those guys cheat.

what's the point of small group?

I've been wrestling with this question: Am I in a small group because I want to grow my faith? Or, Am I in a small group because it's the 'right thing' for a Christian--a member of NewPointe--to do?

The reason I've been asking it is because I just get the sense that often times we 'go through the motions' when it comes to group. I think there are people who do small groups because they don't want to be labeled as not participating in small group life. It's such a part of how we do church at NewPointe that I just get the feeling sometimes that there are some of us who are just going through the motions.

I think one clue that helps tell if group participants are in it for the right reasons is in the discussion that happens during Bible study time at a group. I mean, have you ever been in a group where one or more of the group members feels like they have to chime in on everything. It's almost like they want the rest of the group to know how well-versed they are in whatever it is you're talking about. I've also been in groups where someone shares something in an attempt to make themselves appear vulnerable and transparent but it's not because they truly are vulnerable and transparent, they just want everyone to think they're vulnerable and transparent.

Man, I'd love it if our small groups would all just "get real" with each other. What would happen if we were honest about where we are in live? What if we shared our fears, our shortcomings, our failures, our dreams, and the sins that we struggle with? What would happen? What if we were serious about holding each other accountable? What if we were more interested in growing our faith, even if it costs us our repuation? What if all of us did group life for the right reasons?

Most small groups I know of never really get down to the nitty-gritty of what’s going on inside the heart. Most groups do a study, throw out some good ideas, one or two members offer a "safe" confession (stuff like, "I haven’t spend as much time in God’s Word this week as I should.") and then we leave, feeling good because we've 'been to group.' But we rarely have an action plan for how we’re going to live differently because of what was just discussed—we rarely address the real issues, heart issues. We'd just rather leave there feeling good about ourselves because we discussed spiritual issues. Hey, I went to group...and I'm deeply passionate about the topic we discussed...I know a lot about it...and I got to talk about it...so I feel good. I'm spiritual. I've been to group.

At the end of group we pray for each other that we’ll "do better" but we really don’t care all that much.

Here are some practical ways you can help your group move beyond this:

-Close the group for a season. Authentic community is difficult to achieve if the group is always open to anyone.
-If you’re in a couples group, during prayer and sharing time, split up the men and the women (men in one room, women in another). More things and deeper issues tend to get addressed with this approach.
-Be intentional about the curriculum you choose. Find studies that address real-life issues. A great resource is www.groupcurriculum.org.
-Spend time together outside of group time.

For more information on how this works at my church, NewPointe Community Church, visit www.smallgroupleaders.com.

journaling as a spiritual discipline

In August of 2006 I began journaling regularly during my "God time" (I don't like to call it a quiet time because with me, it's not always quiet). Prior to August, my morning devotional time was somewhat sporadic. I never felt like I was in a good groove when it came to this particular discipline. I know, I know, sad, huh? A staff pastor at a large church whose prayer life and devotional time is not all that consistent. Well, yeah...I'm confessing. I could soften that statement by dumping a whole bunch of excuses as to why I was not as consistent as I should have been but those would be...well...excuses. The bottom line is this: we always find/make time for the things that are important to us.

One of the things that has helped me gain consistency in this area is the discipline of journaling. I had tried journaling in the past, but I never stuck with it. In August, at a staff retreat, Dwight challenged the senior leadership to journal for the six upcoming months--we were nearing the move to the new building...a lot was happening). He thought it would be a good idea for us to write out our thoughts, prayers, feelings, fears, etc. He gave us each a nice leather journal to help us get started.

Six months later, I'm still journaling. And, quite honestly, it's helped me stay consistent with my 'God time.' Part of the thing is: I don't want to miss journaling. I've filled half the journal so far. Mostly with my thoughts, struggles, and tons of prayers. There's something interesting, motivating, captivating about writing out your prayers. It helps me focus. It helps me stay on track. It forces me to think about my prayers. I'm glad I starting journaling. In fact, I just finished journaling this morning and then I decided to sit down and blog about it.

Now, most mornings begin with some devotional reading, prayer, and journaling (not necessarily in that order). Are there days I don't feel like doing it? Sure. But I'm sticking with it--fighting through those days...because I want intimacy with the Father. I want to know him--really know him. And I know that I'll never have intimacy with him without the discipline of having a regular, consistent time alone with him.

Do you struggle to find consistency in your devotional/prayer life? If you're like me (or most of us), you do. Try journaling. It's helped me.

NewPointe staff blogs

I guess blogging is all the rage now. The fifth NewPointe staff member began blogging today (Kevin West--Director of Family Life). It adds to the blog lineup of Todd Colucy (Business Administator), Dave Mast (IT), Dave D'Angelo (Director of Communication), and me.

I think it's great. One thing is that it helps me keep up with these guys. I also think it's great that the folks each of us lead can get insights to the way we think.

So, welcome to blogdom, Kevin.

For links to each of the above mentioned blogs, see my list on the right-hand side of this page; Linking Outside the Bunn.

a lesson in recruiting volunteers

We've reached crunch-time when it comes to two new environments we're getting set to launch this Spring at NewPointe. Aqua (for college/singles) begins its bi-weekly schedule in March and Married Life Live! begins in April. Guess who is responsible for both (hint: it requires some thinking outside the Bunn). Anyway, right now it's all about recruiting volunteers. We've identified seven different volunteer teams needed for Married Life Live and six teams needed for Aqua. Each team is different but on average we need about 8 per team. That translates to roughly 100 volunteers that we need to have in place by the end of March. Yikes. So what am I doing about it? Well, it's so simple it's stupid...I'm asking people to volunteer. Yeah, that's it. I'm just asking. I started with a printout of certain demorgraphics from out attendees. I painstakingly went through the loooong list and highlighted names that I thought would be good candidates for volunteering in each environment based on what I personally know about them. I also counsulted a few other staff members for more input. And then...I just began asking them to get involved (well actually, I began by asking each of them if they'd be willing to come to a volunteer orientation--I did two, one for each environment--to learn more about the mission, strategy, and volunteer opportunities for each. Each orientation was well attended--between the two we had about 60 people come). And I think all 60 volunteered in some way. Another dozen or so said they couldn't make it to the orientations but they still wanted to get on board. Bottom line: we're about 75% of the way there. And I asked for a one year commitment in each environment.

How can I get away with asking for a one-year commitment? Great question. It's all about casting vision. I feel that I was able paint a very clear picture of the mission and strategy of each new ministry. And then I boiled it all down to NewPointe's bottom line: to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. When we cast a compelling vision, and people can see and understand that there's a solid plan with good leadership--they'll get on board. That's what we've seen happen. And it's extremely exciting.

I'll wrap up with an excerpt from an email I received from one couple I asked to volunteer for Married Life Live:

As newbees to the Pointe we are excited to get plugged in somewhere and feel God calling us to serve in a couple of areas. One of those or maybe both was because you asked us to. Another God-thing; as we had been praying for God to show us where we were needed.

These folks are basically just saying, "We're so glad you asked! We want to be involved." And the thing they needed was to simply be asked.

How many people are there out there who never get into the game--people who would be great volunteers, people who could really impact the kingdom, and we'll never know because we never asked.

Asking seems scary sometimes. I mean, what if they say no? I don't know if I can handle that kind of rejection! Well, what's the worse thing that could happen? They could say, "No." Oh well. I'm willing to take that risk.

okay, okay, you asked for it, here it is...

good ol' bubba joe

I get to have fun playing several different recurring characters at NewPointe. And man, I don't know if there's anything as fun as being Bubba Joe Crankshaft at KidStuf. It's a hoot!

Bubba Joe is easily my favorite role. He's just fun. I've had many people tell me that the Bubba Joe character seems to come waaay too easy for me. Maybe so.

Bubba Joe showed up at KidStuf yesterday to help Kevin introduce this month's virtue: Service. Bubba Joe had a great idea: to "lend a hand" to Kevin (notice the latex glove on Bubba Joe's right hand...and as Kevin learned yesterday, you really don't want to go there).

Bubba Joe's just an uninhibited idiot--that's what makes him so much fun to portray. One of my favorite things to do is to just be Bubba Joe in the foyer at church. People just don't know how to react. Can you believe that there have been several people that had no idea it was actually me?

Yesterday, in the hallway outside the KidStuf theater, one of our regular attenders tried to introduce me (while I was in character) to a friend he had brought with him to church. It was a riot to see him try to explain that Bubba Joe was actually one of the pastors...and I wasn't making it any easier for him...I just stayed with the Bubba Joe thing. I don't know if the friend will be back (just kidding).

What would we do without KidStuf? When we first moved into our new building, there were actually some adults questioning having to go to KidStuf every week! Since we've begun, I haven't heard a single complaint or criticism. In fact, every week I see people in KidStuf who don't even have KidStuf-aged kids. They just want to be in on all the fun and learning.

Kevin West, Jim Howard, and their team are doing a great job. Don't know what KidStuf is? Click here to find out more.

thinking for a change

Right now at NewPointe we're in the middle of a message series called Thinking For a Change. It's been very good. The idea behind the whole thing is that we believe that if you change your thinking, you can change your life. We've tackled topics such as problems, life, God, and sex (money and stress are the last two).

And I've been thinking lately about how true that is: if you change your thinking, you'll change your life. But it's easier said than done. If you're like me, the tendency is to fall back into familiar patterns. Even when we know a particular habit or behavior is bad for us--even if we know for sure that it's going to cost us big-time in the long run--we do it anyway. Know why? Because we haven't truly changed our thinking. Oh, we can get inspired--motivated to 'buck up' and do better for a while. But until our thinking changes, we're destined to fall back into those cruddy old familiar patterns.

Did you know that the typical dissatisfied person who wins the lottery falls back into their usual level of dissatisfaction within a year of winning it big? Wanna know why? Even though their circumstances changed--in a hugely postitive way...their thinking didn't. That's huge!

Consider this: the typical joyful person who tragically becomes a paraplegic will also revert to their once joy-filled outlook within a year of the tragedy. Again, the circumstances changed but because their bent was toward joy, their thinking and outlook was healthy, they revert to that way of thinking. I think it's amazing.

I've personally found this principle to be true when it comes to weight loss. Maybe you're like me; you once lost a bunch of weight due to commitment and discipline. But within a number of months you gained the weight back. It's because you changed your habits for a while but you never really dealt with your thinking. Your true thinking about diet and exercise remained the same. So when the diet was over, you went back to what you were comfortable and familiar with.

What that tells me is that your circumstances don't have much to do with your outlook on life. So...want to change your life? Change the way you think.

in case you're wondering what happened at group link...

A week or so ago blogged about the fact that Group Link was coming up and that we didn't feel prepared because way more people signed up than we expected. Here's how it turned out: It was awesome! Over 150 people attended. 16 small groups were represented by new leaders. The cappucinos and lattes were flowing--the cheesecake was incredible, but most of all almost everyone who attended got connected to a starter group. The atmosphere was warm and inviting. The room (the warehouse) was buzzing with energy. It was easily our best (and biggest) Group Link ever. As usual, Celeste Honigford was delightful and funny as my co-host. Teresa Raber, our Group Life coordinator did an amazing job as usual. And we had tons of volunteers who helped us pull off one incredible night.

The thing that I find most amazing, though, is the number of people who are brand new to NewPointe who attended. I spoke with literally dozens of folks who've been attending NewPointe for a month or less. One couple didn't even know who Dwight was when he came up on the Group Link video. Another couple asked me if I was the "main pastor." They wouldn't know otherwise because the previous Sunday was their first Sunday at NewPointe--and I was the guy who spoke that day. How cool is that? One Sunday visiting NewPointe, the following Saturday they're at Group Link, getting in a small group.

One guy I introduced myself to had come to NewPointe just once, six days earlier. He's brand new to church! (he even cussed during our conversation--he didn't know any better). That fires me up! He's getting in a small group!

So basically, in one evening, we ushered about 150 new people into small groups.

Man, I love what I do.