why i love my wife

Tomorrow (Dec. 1) is my 17th wedding anniversary. 17 years! Wow. Sometimes I find myself just thanking God for the gift of Jenny in my life. She's amazing. You know how sometimes people say they're married to their best friend and you just wanna say, "Yeah, right," because it sounds so corny. Well, in my case, it's true. Jenny really is my best friend.

I'm in South Carolina right now--over 500 miles away from her. And I miss her. I'll see her tomorrow and I can't wait. As I think about that day 17 years ago when we both said, "I do," I thought I loved her then (and I did), but little did I know that I'd have so many more reasons to love her 17 years later. So I thought I'd list a few of the Reasons I Love My Wife:

• She laughs at all my jokes...still.
• She always encourages me. She's my biggest supporter and fan.
• She an incredible mom to our kids.
  
• She has an incomparable sense of style.
  
• She gives me a hug every night when I come home (no matter how late it is).
• She ministers to our family by meeting our needs in so many ways. She's the hardest-working, most underpaid person I know.
  
• She loves Jesus more than she loves me.
  
• She's generous.
• She puts others ahead of herself.
  
• She lets me go on golf trips to South Carolina even when it overlaps with our anniversary a bit.
• She knows all my quirks, hangups, bad habits, and weirdness...and she loves me anyway.
• She's able to connect with me in a way that doesn't need to be expressed by words. It's like she can read my mind sometimes. It's that soul-connection kind of thing. It's real. It's us.
  

Man, I love my wife.

christmas at the 'pointe

This Sunday Dwight kicks off what I think is going to be a very cool, very relevant Christmas series, All I want for Christmas.

This series is a great opportunity to invite your friends, neighbors, family, and coworkers to experience Christmas (and church) like they've never experienced it before. Our promise to you is that we'll do our very best to create an experience for those coming with you that will wow them, encourage them, inspire them, and make them begin to look at their lives differently. It's gonna be awesome.

While we're on the subject of Christmas at NewPointe, here are some other things you might be interested in knowing:

• Go '07 (Christmas Edition) kicks off this week. Last summer we loaded up our local food pantries with over 1,300 boxes of food for the needy. For Christmas, we want to adopt at least 100 needy families and individuals in our area (and in the Middle East) and bless them in unbelievable ways. You'll get all the details at church.


• The Christmas Eve services are going to be absolutely OFF THE HOOK! I promise this is one you'll be talking about for a long time to come. DO NOT miss it. DO NOT miss out on the opportunity to invest and invite.


• It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at NewPointe. Partly thanks to the one and only and very lovely Jenny Bunn. I caught her in the lobby this morning doing one of the things she does best: decorating. I snapped this photo:

She's gonna love me for that. Hey, I hope you're getting into the Christmas spirit. Please pray for this series. Pray for open doors. Pray that lives would be changed through what happens here at NewPointe over the next 30 days.

the wisdom of andrew bunn (thoughts on marriage)

Watched The Nativity Story with the fam last night. Three quarters of the way into it, Andrew's curiosity grew and he asked, "If Joseph and Mary are married, how come they don't kiss?" (Because that's what married people do, right?)

Jenny asked him, "Andrew, when you're married are you going to kiss your wife?"

Andrew's response: "Yeah...if I'm brave."

sunday's scuds (november 25, 2007)

Dwight wrapped up the Confu$ed series today. In this series we've learned that it's easy to get confused financially. And we've learned that we can not be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ and remain confused. Today's message was very practical, helpful and biblical. Here are the scuds:

• "One reason we become confused in our finances is because we don't have a financial plan."
• "Financial confusion affects every other area of your life."
• "At some point you have to allow Christ to get involved."
• "The reason Jesus talked so much about money is because he knows that money and your heart are linked together."

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. But he who walks wisely will be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26)

• "If you and I will, in every decision we make, will ask, 'What is the wise thing to do?', you will avoid waking up and saying, 'How do I get out of this mess?'"
• "People who ask, 'What is the wise thing to do?' don't have to pray the prayer of deliverance. Their wise choices have already delivered them."
• "Why should we take our cues from our culture that doesn't want anything for you?--They just want stuff from you."
• Five steps that will bring financial clarity to your life:

1. Choose a percentage of your income to live on.
2. Plan and track your spending.
3. Get out of debt.
4. Work the plan.
5. Enjoy what you have.

• "Your financial peace is not determined on your income. It's determined by your spending."
• "I've never heard anybody say, 'I'm sorry we ever starting planning and tracking our spending.'"

facebook

Apparently if you want to roll with the cool crowd, you have to be on Facebook. Are you there yet? If you are, feel free to add me to your "friends."

Here's the link to my Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=776808078

thankful

Happy Thanksgiving.

It was just our family at home today...all day. It's been a good day. Turkey, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, pumpkin pie...the works thanks to Jenny Bunn. She rocks. At dinner Naomi asked each of us to share something we're thankful for. I shared...and I'll share some more right here:

• My family. I can't get enough of 'em.
• Jesus. Unbelievable friend and leader.
• A sense of meaning and purpose in my life. As Dwight would say, I've experience success, now God has given me significance. Words can't describe how sweet that feels.
• Good health. I'm pushing 40 and I can still get up and down the basketball court pretty well (can still knock down the 3-ball, too).
• Friends. There's not many things better than sitting down and having a meaningful conversation with people you care about. I got to do that several times this week.

stop it!

Dwight shared this at our nav team meeting Monday. It's classic.



It's funny...I get a lot of people who come to me for counseling and the interesting thing is, they rarely make a second appointment with me. Think it's because I'm too much like the counselor in this sketch?

weekend rewind

Tidbits and factoids from this past weekend:

• Natalie played her first 7th grade basketball game. Her team won 36-2. They tell me that they all won't be that easy.
• She also went to her first middle school dance Friday night. Yikes.
• Naomi went with a friend to see High School Musical Live in Cleveland.
• THE BUCKEYES BEAT MICHIGAN Saturday!!!
• The services at NewPointe were awesome yesterday. How often do you see this in church?


• Bubba Joe made an appearance in KidStuf in "The Bubba Joe Kookin' Show."

• I got accosted by a 2nd grader who informed me that I misspelled the word "Cooking." And boy was she unhappy about it.
• Had a great small group meeting last night. I love the people in my group. It's fun to be a part of their spiritual growth.

dental shenanigans

I visited my dentist a couple of weeks ago for a cleaning. After the hygienist had finished, he came in to have a look. I slipped my Bubba Joe teeth in before he turned around. Then I opened my mouth, smiled and said, "Hey Doc, I just want you to know, I tell EVERYBODY who my dentist is."

I had to go back a couple days ago for some touch-up on a couple sealants. I was right on time for my appointment and when I walked through the front door, this is was I saw:

He was waiting for me like a chauffeur at the airport...sunglasses and all. Very funny. He stole the sign from the coffee bar. Cracked me up...so I snapped a pic with my camera phone.

I'm glad I can go to the dentist and laugh.

what volunteers want (part two of two)

At my mentoring meeting Tuesday Alton told me that there's basically three things he's looking for when he volunteers for any organization:

1. It better be well-organized.
2. I want to know exactly why I'm there.
3. I want to feel like we're achieving something.

So I'm doing a mental inventory of all the volunteers positions I lead and asking myself: Are these true for the volunteers I lead?

Are there other things that need added to that list? What are your thoughts?

the theology of andrew bunn (part deux)

Today I asked Andrew (age 5) what he's learning in the Reign Forest theses days. This was his response:

"Jesus is powerful. He's strong. And he's the boss."

I'm not convinced that that's the way it was presented to him but hey, if we all believed that and lived our lives like it was true we'd all be better off wouldn't we?

what volunteers want (part one of two)

In my meeting with my mentor yesterday, we got onto the subject of volunteers. I told him that now that I'm in the church world it's a greater test of my leadership abilities because I lead a lot of volunteers. I told him that I feel leading volunteers is more difficult than leading "employees" because they don't 'have to' be there--they're not working for a pay check.

He pushed back and argued that it may be easier to lead a volunteer than an employee because, in his opinion, employees these days aren't committed to the cause. They generally don't care about the company they work for...it's just a job. "Let me do the minimum amount of work, collect my check, go home, and not worry about it any more. He said volunteers, on the other hand, are at least committed to the cause. They see the vision. They're there because they want to be there.

I still don't know if one is more difficult than the other. It's just tough work to lead...period. My challenge is to recruit, train, cast vision for, and multiply volunteers. It's an interesting discussion. We concluded that we each have unique challenges but at the same time there are parallels. In the end, we're both trying to motivate and mobilize people to own the vision and perform at a high level.

Feel free to weigh in. I'm interested in your thoughts.

catching up with old friends

I drove to Akron today to begin a mentoring relationship with Alton Brown. Alton is the Executive VP/General Manager of the Akron Beacon Journal (a terrific newspaper by the way). I've asked Alton to mentor me on leadership.

We had lunch today and got caught up on all the "stuff." I haven't seen him since my old newspaper advertising days...over five years ago. We worked together in Columbus for Gannett.

While I was there I bumped in to another old friend, Bill Goddard. Bill and I go waaaay back. Bill hired me at the Columbus Dispatch about 12 years ago. Bill was the Classified Advertising Director. He hired me to manage the department's outside sales staff. We had some good times there.

Man, it is so much fun to get reacquainted with old friends. It's too bad we tend to let relationships slide. I've not done a good job of keeping in contact with old friends. Seeing Alton and Bill reminded me of how much I value those relationships.

I'm going to be meeting with Alton once a month to be mentored (we also talked about riding motorcycles together sometime soon).

Bill and I are going to try to get together for dinner sometime next week.

Here's a thought for you, my faithful blog readers: Which of your relationships have you let slide? Why not begin to rekindle the friendship. Call or visit an old friend and "catch up." You'll be glad you did.

sunday's scuds (november 11, 2007)

Dwight continued the Confu$ed series with a strong, practical message about getting out of debt. I kept thinking, Imagine what the people of God could do for the kingdom of God if they were debt-free. Anyway, here are the scuds:

• You cannot be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ and be confused about your finances. (Dwight has begun every message in this series with this statement. That's because its the #1 scud of the series.)
• There is no excuse for being confused in the area of finances. We're talking about numbers. They're factual, concrete.
• Many of us here today would not be able to do what God asks us to do because we're not free (financially) to do it.
• If you don't pay back your debts you're wicked. God expects you to keep all your promises.

The wicked borrow and do not repay... Psalm 37:21

• Just because bankruptcy is legal does not make it moral.
• It takes character to get out of debt. How much character do you have?
• Some of us will NEVER get out of debt because we're too proud to admit we need help.
• You'll never get out of debt until you quit spending more than you're making.
• Proven fact: the more TV you watch, the more money you spend.

When your ways please the Lord, He will make your enemies into friends. Proverbs 16:7 (GN)

am i the problem?

So here's the thing...I've been to two Ohio State games in the past three years...that's it...a grand total of two.

Interestingly, the Buckeyes have only lost two home games in the past three years. Guess which two? You got it.

Coach Tressel is going to ban me from the stadium.

People were asking me at church today if I was disappointed. Yes, obviously I wanted to see them win. I thought we had a legitimate shot at playing for another national title. But if you'd have asked me at the beginning of the season if I thought the Bucks would have been 10-1 after the first 11 games I'd have said "no way." It's been a great season. And...beat that team up North next week and we have ourselves yet another Big Ten title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. That's still a great season by anyone's standards.

I had a blast at the game. Even ran into some NewPointers...

That's actually the spot where we tailgated. Literally right next to the stadium. Unbelievable. I wanted to get more photos but my camera batteries ran out. The rest of these pics were taken with my cell phone inside the 'shoe.

The incomparable Script Ohio:

Here come the Buckeyes!

Great seats huh buddy?

go bucks!

I'm going to see the #1 team in the nation play today. I'll give a full report (with photos) some time tomorrow. Go Bucks!

"jim and casper are full of crap"

That's the way it was put to me recently as I got into a conversation with a friend about this book:
I read this book a few weeks ago because I was interested in the premise: Jim, a pastor, takes his atheist friend, Matt Casper, to visit a bunch of churches and critique them (Matt Casper, by the way has visited my blog and commented). The book offered food for thought but the further I got in to it, the less interested I became. At times the two come off as the grumpy old guys from the Muppet Show...

They visit a church one time and then draw a bunch of conclusions based on a small sample size--a one-time experience. The interesting thing that my friend pointed out is that few churches, if any, operate under the premise that atheists are visiting our churches unaccompanied by a friend. That's the lens through which they seem to want to view these churches. The reality is that most of the churches they visited, along with NewPointe, aren't catering to or programming for a lone atheist that wanders into their buildings on Sunday. Most of us subscribe to the invest and invite strategy. Meaning, if you're visiting a church, you're likely coming with someone who's investing in you (because they care about you) and then they've invited you to come with them to church. The investor/inviter is the one who's responsible to help their guest navigate the experience. Yes, the church has some responsibility but it's mainly the one who's invited the friend that's going to be able to help that person (even if they're an atheist) feel welcome and comfortable at your church.

Casper writes about how, for instance, at Saddleback, he gained more insight and understanding from his conversation with Jim following the church service than anything that happened at church that day. EXACTLY! That's how it's supposed to work. It's called invest and invite.

Now, I won't go so far as to say that Jim and Casper are full of crap. They do offer some helpful insights and food for thought. I just think they need to remember that their approach and the lens through which they view our churches is very atypical. And obviously my friend does too.

Have you read the book? Your thougths? Am I full of crap?

newpointe news

Do you know that there are tremendous things happening all the time at NewPointe? Here are a few things you need to know so that you can be encouraged:

• We hear stories all the time of life-change. People stop me in town to share with me how their life is different since they began attending NewPointe and surrendered to Christ.
• New families and individuals are visiting every week. Some weeks we have as many as 30 new families visit.
• Did you get to see the baptisms two Sundays ago? Great stories of transformation.
• Our numbers are up...now, numbers are not the most important thing, but they are an indicator. Prior to the move to our current location our weekend attendance was around 1,600. Last Sunday over 2,300 came to worship. That's a 700 person increase in less than a year!

NewPointers, keep praying and asking God to open doors.

Volunteers, thank you for all you do to help lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Here's part of an email I received recently:

John my life since my family and I have been regulars at NewPointe has been off the charts! ...Our small group rocks! We love it and our new friends! Some very positive influences that my wife and I needed!

when you find something that makes you laugh...

...you just have to share it.



ht Mike Foster! Good stuff.

if i had a million dollars

Remember the BNL song If I Had Million Dollars? Welllllll....since we're in a series on money and personal finance, we thought it might be fun to do that song sometime during this series (and this Sunday is the day!).

Anyway, it got me to thinking...what would I do if I had a million dollars? Here are a few of my ideas (in no particular order):

• Take my wife on a cruise (neither of us have ever been on one)


• Buy a big, mean Harley


• Adopt another kid from Guatemala

What would YOU do if you had a million dollars?

what about bob?

That's the title of this month's First Wednesday gathering. Oh man, you do NOT want to miss this one. It may be the most important First Wednesday we've ever had. Now, I'm not trying to pressure you to be there...wait...yes I am.

We're starting with some incredible worship followed by a challenge that includes one of the most incredible true stories you've ever heard. As always, we'll worship God with communion and more worship. Oh, and you can expect some surprises along the way.

You need to be at this First Wednesday. 7:00 p.m., in the auditorium.

And that means you too, BOB!

back from ky

Thanks for your prayers. It was a good trip. Got to spend some time with my family. Celebrated my sister's 33rd birthday with her today. We also celebrated my grandfather's birthday...he turns 89 tomorrow. Here are a few more highlights:

• My brother-in-law gave a great message Friday night about worship. Strong.
• My uncle delivered a strong message last night about wells...it was...deep. :)
• Ate at a great Mexican joint for lunch yesterday. Pretty much had the entire Bunn side of the family take over the restaurant (view the pics here).
• Got to ride my brother Chris's crotch rocket Friday. Very cool.
• Got to pray with my dad at revival Friday night. Very cool also.
• Got to preach to a packed house today (Thanks, Dad, for the opportunity).
• Ate like an idiot all weekend.
• It took us 6.5 to get down there...exactly 5 hours to get back. How's that work?
• It's good to be home.

revival in kentucky

We're heading off to Kentucky this morning. I'll be preaching at a revival at my dad's church. It's a family kind of thing...my brother-in-law pastors a church in Indiana. He'll be preaching tonight. My uncle pastors a church in the Chicago area, he'll be preaching tomorrow night. And then I'm preaching Sunday morning. Please pray for me.