Archive - June, 2010

The Future of Bookstores

June 29, 2010 in Book and Music Reviews with 1 Comment

Recently I made an interesting observation in how my shopping habits have changed. I love to read and I love hanging out in bookstores. When you find a good book and a comfortable chair and simply relax with the smell of coffee in the air, you can spend hours reading. Most bookstores today have great children’s areas as well, so our family frequents many of the big bookstores.  But over the past few years, I’ve noticed that we really don’t buy anything at the bookstores. We pick up a kid’s book every now and then, but for the most part, we just hang out and discover books.

Now, I either order books for my Kindle, or I choose to order several at a time from Amazon or one of the other online retailers at much cheaper prices than the store offers. I simply can’t bring myself to pay full retail price for books. I try to buy a few books from our local small family owned bookstore, but most of my purchases are now online.

So here is the question for you to think about: Can bookstores stay in business considering all the new electronic reading devices? Can they afford to keep such high inventories of books when people can order books online and have them shipped overnight cheaper? What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let me know what you think

FamilyShield Web Protection

June 23, 2010 in Technology with 1 Comment

I have shared about OpenDNS before, but I wanted to let you know about a new free service they are now offering. FamilyShield is a web filter that blocks out inappropriate sites on your home or business computers. I have used OpenDNS to protect my home network and our church network for the past two years and it has worked great.

FamilyShield is a stripped down version of OpenDNS basic that requires very little setup and no configuration.  It works by simply changing a few settings in your wireless router. They keep a constantly updated list of inappropriate sites and there is no software to install on your computer.  Since it works through your router, it also protects all computers on your network including any iPods, gaming systems, or other home devices. Check out their site for more information. I highly recommend it.

Using Google Voice

June 22, 2010 in Technology with 0 Comments

Over the past year, I have been using Google Voice to handle all my voicemail on my mobile phone. Google announced today that Google Voice is now available to everyone in the US. Before today, you had to receive an invitation in order to use it, so here’s your chance to try out something that is cutting edge.

Most pastors spend a large amount of time on their phones, so this service really works great for them. You can route incoming calls to your office phone, your home phone,  your cell, or even straight to voicemail. Google transcribes every voicemail into text so you can read your voicemails over text messages or emails.  Although the transciption is sometimes a little crazy, most of the the time you can decipher what the call is about without listening through the voicemail. They don’t have many local google numbers for my area, but they are adding more all the time.

This video explains a little more about the service.

Crab Legs and Fasting

June 20, 2010 in Church Related with 3 Comments

As part of the One Prayer series that we are participating in at Cornerstone, we are asking everyone to go to the One Prayer website each day to read the devotion and prayer guide. Each Tuesday, I have asked that we join with other churches around the world and fast from Sundown Monday night to Sundown Tuesday night. Fasting is a powerful but neglected spiritual discipline that can transform our lives. Fasting helps us to focus on what is truly important and it can clear our minds of daily distractions.

On Tuesday of this past week, our family was at the beach on vacation. Here’s where it gets a little complicated. Even though I was on vacation, I wanted to honor the fast. So Jennifer and I went 24 hours with only liquids and we spent some extended time reading scripture and praying for our church and our community. But to end the fast, we decided to go to an all-you-can-eat-gorge-yourself-on-incredibly-insane-amounts-of-seafood buffet.  I literally ate 3 or 4 pounds of crab legs in addition to prime rib, shrimp, and fish. Now it doesn’t take a detective to see through the problem in that.

In our country, we are so used to excess that we don’t even realize what we are doing. The restaurant said they cook over 1800 pounds of crab legs each night! We let food dictate our schedules and we even plan our vacations around where we can eat. And even when we fast, we are thinking about where we can eat next. Lord forgive us for our selfish and extravagant lifestyles. What really bothers me is that most people never even see the problem. We pray for those who are hungry around the world and then eat like it’s our last meal. I am thankful that fasting is teaching me lessons and opening my eyes to where my faith and actions don’t line up.

I am also learning from my friends. Jennifer has also just completed a 21 day Daniel fast, and my friend Ronnie has been blogging and sharing about his 40-day fast. I’ve got to admit, God is really challenging me right now to get serious about prayer and fasting. And not just from food, but from other things that hold control over my thoughts and actions. I’ll be sharing more about my thoughts on technology and fasting as well.

But let me just stop and ask my readers, what have you learned from fasting? Leave a comment and join the conversation.

(if you want to learn more about fasting, check out this site from Campus Crusade. It has some great info on how to get started)

Time for Plan B

June 13, 2010 in Book and Music Reviews with 1 Comment

I just finished reading a book by Pastor Pete Wilson titled Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?.  It’s a book about hope in the midst of unexpected circumstances.

As a pastor, I am invited into many situations where families are looking for answers. Whether it is a family who has experienced tragedy or who have just lost a loved one, pain in life is inevitable. How do we respond when your marriage falls apart or you lose your job or even lose a child?  Do we share simple platitudes and quotes and say that God is in control and that everything works for good? Or do we look to God for our strength, comfort, and peace? Everything in life cannot be wrapped up and explained. Sometimes, we don’t understand why things are happening, but we cannot lose sight of God when things don’t work out the way we planned.

This book explores the relationship between shattered dreams and true spiritual transformation. How we can not only survive through pain and suffering, but how we can grow and learn to rely on God. We must learn to give up control of our lives and allow God to direct our steps. So many times we end up in what we consider is a Plan B, and we don’t allow God to grow us and change us through the pain. It was a book filled with examples from the Bible and examples from his own church.

If you are struggling with the circumstances in your life, then get this book. I’ve read a lot of books over the years trying to explain the problem of pain and suffering in the lives of Christians, but this book does a great job of really connecting and making you feel like the author cares. It is not written as a textbook or manual, but as a letter to encourage you. For that reason alone, it is worth your time. Check out the video below for more information.

Full Disclosure: I received this book as part of the BookSneeze Blogger Review Program. You can read more about my reviews here.

Plan B from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.

One Prayer

June 7, 2010 in Church Related with 0 Comments

This week at Cornerstone we joined over a thousand churches in starting the One Prayer series. This is our third year participating in the series and it has been awesome to come together as we strive to be the answer to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-24.

I shared a message about Unstoppable Unity. Just imagine what would happen if our churches were fully united in purpose and in love. I also challenged our church to go online and read the devotions each day at oneprayer.com.  We will be praying and fasting together as a church during the month of June.

I asked our church to join together from sundown Monday to sundown Tuesday to fast and pray each week. This week we are fasting and praying for unity so that the lost can see Jesus through us.  I’m excited to see what will happen when God’s power is unleashed through people who have joined together to fast and pray.

Jennifer and I have slipped away for a few days of rest at the beach. So fasting for us is a challenge when you are surrounded by so many great restaurants :-) . But rest assured, we are joining with you by praying and fasting for our church.  I can’t wait to see what God will teach us through this study.

Fifteen Wonderful Years

June 3, 2010 in Family with 0 Comments

The story begins twenty years ago when some of my friends convinced me to ask a sweet young lady to prom. Fast-forward through the end of high school of four years of college and I found myself walking down an aisle of a little country church fifteen years ago marrying the love of my life.  A lot of things have changed since then, but one thing has remained constant, and that is our commitment to God and to each other.

I’ve heard a lot of people over the years talk about how marriage brings out the worst in people, but in my case, Jennifer has brought out the best in me. She is my encourager and friend, and she is an incredible wife and mother. I can see glimpses of her in all three of our children and it reminds me how lucky I really am.

Looking back to our teen years, I don’t think I would have ever imagined that I would end up as a pastor of a church, and I know Jennifer never thought she would be a pastor’s wife. But God knew what He was doing when He brought us together, because we really make a great team. I can’t wait to keep writing new chapters of our life. Jennifer, you are an amazing woman of God, and I am blessed to be your husband :-)