Chase

Believe Curriculum and problems with humanity

2010-01-17T15:37:00.002-06:00

Today in Jr. High Sunday School we started the first lesson of "The Messiah" Curriculum that is suppose to lead up to the Believe event we are going to in Tulsa in a few weeks. The first lesson is is titled, "The Messiah as High Priest". One of the exercises is to have all of the students write down one to three examples of what they believe to be the biggest problem(s) facing humanity. Here is how the results of the poll came out:

Economy - 6 votes
War - 5 votes
Obesity - 2 votes
Terrorism - 1 vote
Disease - 1 vote
Obama - 1 vote
Global Warming - 1 vote
Earthquakes - 1 vote
Homeless - 1 vote
Fast Food - 1 vote

After discussion and hearing what people online believed to be the biggest problem, everyone agreed that "greed" was the one of the biggest problems with humanity. Isn't it interesting that economy and war received so many more votes than any of the other topics? The students are in 7th and 8th grade, but I bet their answers would not be too far off if we polled adults. I also think it is a little ironic that one student put down Obama and Global Warming on the same paper.

MOVE partnering with Blood:Water and Active:Water

2009-09-21T14:16:00.003-05:00

This past summer at MOVE, all attendees was given a “Kingdom Worker” challenge. It was presented in a sealed envelope and there were approx 50-75 different challenges that the students could get. Two of the challenges read, “1000 4 H20: Raise $1000 (at a job, doing chores, selling your stuff) and donate it to Blood Water Mission.“ and “26.2: Commit to being healthier. Train and run a marathon before next summer. Get started at www.activewater.org.”

Since then we have seen and heard of some incredible stories of students who have taken the cards and “ran” with them. There was a student who rode his bike across Indiana to raise money and awareness. Below you will see an awesome story about a student named Ian from Kansas who took the task to another level…by adding a couple of zeros to the end.

At Christ in Youth, we have decided to take it a step further and all programs will address the water crisis in the world next year. Next year, with MOVE specifically, we will try to raise enough offering next summer to build 5 wells in Zambia, Africa. Tomorrow, our MOVE programming staff will be in Nashville meeting with Blood:Water and Active:Water about a partnership for next summer. We are looking at possibly creating a film similar to “BAHT” but raising awareness for the water crisis.

I would ask that you would pray for the meeting tomorrow, that the Lord will lead us in the correct direction about this partnership. Also, pray for Ian that the Lord would continue to give him strength and perseverance over the next year.

Here is Ian’s story (email from Ian to Daren of Active:Water):

Hey Daren,

It’s nice to hear from you. I actually heard your story at a CIY MOVE conference. On the last night CIY handed out envelopes to each student. Inside the envelopes were cards describing a different task for the individual to do. But we were only to open them if we were serious about doing it. Now, I’m not going to lie, when I opened mine, my first thought was, “Wow. How am I supposed to run a marathon?” But the more I thought about it, it fits. Now, I’m not much of a runner, but one of my teammates had been training already for a marathon and the other is pretty athletic (and I’m not so bad myself). The more we began to think and dream of what God can do and what God wants to do through us, we’ve decided to raise $100,000 between the three of us. Along with raising $100,000, we also look to travel to Africa to give the people not only physical water, but the everlasting water of Jesus Christ. The race we are now looking at racing in is the Lynn Electric Kansas Marathon in Lawrence, Kansas (they have added a marathon for the April 2010 race).

That’s our story (as it’s developing). Here’s a little bit about me:

I’m 17 years old (18 in a few days) and I’m a Senior in High School in Wichita, Kansas. I had known that there was a water crisis, but never really grasped the depth of it until viewing your site. I’m heavily involved in church and I love being there. The church has become my second home. In fact, I work there everyday at a daycare. After my senior year, I plan on going up to Ozark Christian College to become a pastor. I’m really passionate about people and showing Christ to the world (although I fail at it everyday), so my desire to “deliver” the water myself is pretty strong. If there’s anyway you could help us do that, please do. We would love to run with you.

Thank you for your help.

Ian

Lane Kiffin made me watch

2009-09-20T21:18:00.004-05:00

I watched the UT-Florida game yesterday for really only one reason – Lane Kiffin made me.

I am a slight UT fan. I have been since I went to college about an hour and half away and I had numerous friends who went to school there. I have been to a few football and baseball games on the campus. I was not even cheering for them yesterday and I don’t necessarily consider myself a Lane Kiffin fan, but I had to watch.

Not too long ago the Florida-UT game was a big game and a big rivalry. From 1998-2006, UT had a record of 4-6 against Florida and Florida had only outscored UT by a total of 204-196 over those nine games. Every game was close and almost every game came down to the wire. Multiple games ended on controversy.

For the last two years this game has been a sleeper. Florida won 59-20 in 2007 and 30-6 last year. Urban Meyer, Florida's head ball coach, had Phil Fulmer’s number and the games were boring.

Enter Lane Kiffin as the new University of Tennessee Football Coach. During his introduction speech, he said, “ I'm really looking forward to embracing some great traditions at the University of Tennessee, for instance the Vol walk, running through the 'T', Singing Rocky top all night long after we beat Florida next year, it’s gonna be a blast, so get ready.” Immediately this game was put back on everyone’s radar. Oh yeah, and then Lane Kiffin accused Urban Meyer of cheating.

There was so much talk, blogs, ESPN College Gameday specials, etc. about this game when in reality the game was the #1 team in the country against an unranked 1-1 team. Would there have been this much hype for the Florida-Vanderbilt game? Not at all. Granted it is still a rivalry, but all the talk was about what Lane Kiffin said 9 months ago. I was one of the ones drawn into watching the game because of the hype. I thought, could Lane Kiffin really be right?

Lane Kiffin was wrong, and the Florida Gators won. Everyone expected them to. But, Florida only won 23-13 and UT played better than probably everyone watching expected them to. And because of Lane Kiffin there were a whole lot more people watching.

Know Sweat Joplin Night 1

2009-06-16T07:04:00.004-05:00

Last night was the first night of Know Sweat in Joplin and the nightly session all week is being held at my home church, Carterville Christian Church. Last night was a great night, there were a few small kinks to work out, but it was awesome to watch the session and to get excited about how God is going to move this week through 200 jr. high students in my hometown. Brad Moss (also from my home church) led worship and Johnny Scott (program director of Believe) is the speaker all week. Last night you missed Johnny talking all about his chickens at Scott Farms.

I will be at a week of Know Sweat later this summer in Cincinnati and I wanted to see as much of the adult meeting/first night so I could be prepared next month for when I am in Ohio. The theme for the week is Amplify and last night the sub-theme was to Amplify the Message through service because of Christ.

It is about 7am on Tuesday and the groups are suppose to meet down at the truck to go to their projects in about 30 minutes....but....it is currently raining and raining hard. It is suppose to stop in the next couple of hours and the groups should get to their houses by 10. Pray that the Lord will use the students this week in Joplin to amplify Christ through their service.

Possibly the Best Customer Service Ever

2009-05-19T15:20:00.002-05:00

A girl ordered a pizza from a Domino's Pizza in Chicago. When the order arrived it was wrong and it took over an hour to arrive. What did she do? She twittered that she had bad service.

Most people would have no idea if someone complained about there business online or through a tool like twitter. Here is the video of how the owner responded quickly.

How does your organization respond when someone has a complaint? Do you even notice? How can you respond?

Spring Believe Tour 2009

2009-05-13T10:30:00.005-05:00

We wrapped up our 2008-2009 Believe Tour a few weeks ago in Michigan and now it is time to get ready for the next year. Before I post anything about next year, I wanted to say one or two things about each stop this past spring. Enjoy!

Flagstaff, AZ - Jan 15-16
First Believe Event ever in Arizona. Over 300 kids. Jason Raitz, our speaker, had his house burn down the day before. Crazy and Scary. Johnny spoke instead and did a great job. Also, Shawn Brown got us the hookup from the catering staff!

Anaheim, CA - Jan 30-31
Located across the street from Disneyland. This was the trip where one of vans and trailers didn't make it. We left Joplin, MO after a crazy snow storm and an hour away the van hit a semi truck and rolled on it side. Thank God no was injured.

Tulsa, OK - Feb 6-7
First time our event ever occurred right after a gun show. We found a bullet on the floor, I put it in my bag, tried to get on a plane the next week, and was taken by security to run background checks on me. You can't take bullets on planes. Also, we got the new inflatable that weekend!

Cincinnati, OH - Feb 20-21
Largest event of the year, almost 4,000 students and adults. Great weekend until Mark Hand and I had to go to a mechanics shop in Big Bone Lick, Kentucky at 2 in the morning and eat White Castle. Good times.

St. Louis, MO - March 20-21
Got to go up a few days early for vacation with my wife. Had a blast riding my bike on the Katy Trail. Also, Eric Timm had his first child that weekend and had to miss the event. Josh Hall filled in as the inventor.

Kissimmee, FL - March 27-28
Located 200 yards from the Astros Spring Training Facility. Isaac and I got to watch about half of a game on Friday of Believe. First time I ever went to a sporting event the day of our event. Went to 2 more games over the next 2 days after Believe. Planned that right!

Atlanta, GA - April 3-4
Kurt Johnston helped me play a prank on Isaac Schade by wearing his UNC jersey on stage with "Villanova" written on tape across the front. Nova should have won it all. Chick-fil-a across the street - next time you are in there, see how many times their employees will say, "My pleasure". They are trained to say that every time you thank them. Seriously, try it.

Anderson, IN - April 17-18,18-19
Two event in one weekend for the second year in a row. Danny Curry helped us out big time and spoke on Friday night and did great. Doug Price (one of the band members) also played an incredible prank on our lighting director Seth. Seth covered Doug's car in toilet paper and covered the windows....Doug found a police officer and had him write a fake ticket....Doug didn't tell him it was fake for a week...I have never seen Seth feel so bad.

Holland, MI - April 24-25
Last event of the spring. From Robert Pierre to Board Members to Old Comedy Groups to Other Event Leaders, there were a ton of visitors there that weekend. We shaved all of Isaac's hair off before the last session. Holland is one awesome town.

That is about it for the Spring leg of the tour - be looking for updates about next year!

Rapha House Gallery Grand Opening

2008-11-16T15:35:00.002-06:00

Last night Abbey and I were able to attend the grand opening of the Rapha House Gallery Grand Opening here in Joplin. It was incredible to see the work that has gone into the gallery and different stations set up for you to go through and pray through.

If you are unfamiliar with Rapha House, they are an organization that is dedicated to rescuing young girls from slavery and setting up safe houses for the girls. This past summer, MOVE partnered with Rapha House and made a documentary shot in Cambodia, BAHT, to raise awareness of this terrible movement that is taking place around the world. View the trailer of BAHT below. Yesterday, BAHT had two different viewing during the grand opening.

Rapha House is also our mission at believe this year and the experience station at believe will be a smaller scaled version of the entire gallery.

If you live in the Joplin area or you are in town for a visit, I would encourage you to go by spend some time walking through the gallery. I am going to take my small group of guys from my church over there sometime next semester. If you would like to know more about Rapha House and the amazing things that are taking place, either send me an email or contact them directly at rapha@arm.org.

Southern California Jr High Network

2008-11-15T10:58:00.002-06:00

Last week I had the privilege of going to California and sitting in on the network meeting of Junior High Ministers in Southern California. The primary reason I went was to talk about the Anaheim believe coming up in January, but I really enjoyed the meeting and learned some things that I know will be helpful at my church and my small group back in Missouri.

First off, Kurt Johnston, the junior high minister at Saddleback, did an amazing job leading the meeting and also sharing his experience about believe. He has been one of our speakers for the last couple of years and I truly admire him in his leadership and genuine humility. If you are a junior high worker, or even have a small interest in youth ministry in general, you should follow his blog here.

Some of the main topics discussed was how ministry has changed or is changing with the state of the economy, working with unchurched kids tied together with working with the parents of the churched kids, measuring spiritual growth in students and assimilating volunteers and the volunteer process.

In my small group I have the senior minister's son, one boy who's parent's don't go to church and another boy who lives in a foster home and is up for adoption. It was interesting to hear how they mix the churched and unchurched kids and the goal of "outreach" events.

Also, since I was in college, I have been a volunteer/sponsor/small group leader for 4 or 5 different churches, and everyone of them has done things really well (and could improve on somethings) with volunteers.

I also met the youth minister from Rock Harbor, which is the same church that Steve Carter (one of the Believe speakers) is going to starting in January. I honestly had not heard of the church till Steve told me he was going there a few weeks ago and since then I have seen or heard about the church a few times.

While I was out there, I also went and took a tour of our venue, the Hilton of Anaheim. I did not realize it until I turned off the highway, but I had actually been there about 4 years ago for a Youth Specialties conference. This location is a drastic improvement from the previous 3 years (Palm Springs, Pomona, Ontario) in Southern California. Also, there is going to be a California Pizza Kitchen and Jamba Juice inside the hotel. Looking forward to January 30-31.

Oregon Believe

2008-11-12T20:21:00.007-06:00

It is always nice to go to the Northwest. I somehow seem to make it up there 2-3 times per year on different trips. This was the first Believe that actually took place on Halloween. We didn't really know what to expect and not sure how many costumes would be worn. I think we did lose a few students to holiday and events at churches such as "Trunk or Treat" or "Hallelujah Carnival". But what do you expect when church is giving away free candy?

Another "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives". Matt Gilchrist and I went to the Byways Cafe and enjoyed some hash and organic blue corn pancakes.
Boise Bible College was the sponsor for this event and provided volunteers.
On Friday I was able to sneak away and my main venue contact got me into the back of a Dave Ramsey seminar. It was part of his Entreleadership series and I heard him talk about Adding and Subtracting from a Team, Delegation, and Making Decisions. That hour and a half was better than any book I have read over the last 6 months.
On Friday, the band didn't wear costumes, but they did all wear ties. Very strong resemblance to The Supertones.
Had a great conversation with Steve Carter, and his new direction. He has been a blessing to Believe and to me personally. I am excited for him and his opportunity back in California.
We ate Red Robin twice. Probably two times too many.
This was the last Believe event for Krystle Fernandez, who has been apart of the Believe Staff for 2 years. She has done an amazing job and as a result she has been promoted to a position that oversees the bookstore for all high school events at CIY.

Omaha Believe

2008-11-11T20:54:00.007-06:00

This was our second time to Omaha in the year of 2008 (our first event in Omaha was in May). We moved the Omaha event to the fall because we heard it worked out for schedules of those attending. We did have to move venues from the Qwest Center to the Omaha Civic Auditorium because of the dates we needed. It is a much older venue, and there was good and bad things to compare to the Qwest Center.

According to some of the staff that worked there, we were the largest production in the history of the room we were in (I don't think we have heard that before). We had to rig (hang equipment from the ceiling), and I guess nothing had been rigged in the room in over 4 years.
Josh Walker, our Production Manager, and Amy Girton, the Stage Manager, had a bet going all weekend to see who could save the most food money throughout the weekend (one of the rules was they had to eat something every meal). The winner would win whatever money the loser had left. Josh lost.
A few of us did get to go to another "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." We went to Dixie Quicks Magnolia Room and it was stinkin good. Our whole staff tried to go the night before and we were turned away. They only have seating for about 20 and they only take reservations. While we were eating lunch, I think we saw him turn away about 30 different parties that didn't have reservations. Seriously, YOU NEED TO CLICK ON THE LINK AND SEE THIS RESTAURANT'S WEBSITE. I could teach that guy a thing or two about missed opportunities.
Steve Carter, the speaker for the weekend, left the hotel, followed a crowd (which he thought were kids for Believe), and ended up at college hockey game. He then realized he was at the wrong venue.
Nebraska Christian College sponsored the event, and they provided a ton of help. One of the volunteers actually collided (head to head) with a student by the basketball goal. The picture of what happened to the volunteer is below.
The Adult Meeting Room was kind of a mix between a high school cafeteria and church fellowship hall.
Jared Hall did play bass for one song. Picture below.
The union staff that helped with load in and load out was by far the best union staff we have ever worked with.
There wasn't a single door in the entire venue that actually had a lock. If you wanted something locked up, you needed a chain and a padlock.
After tear down all our staff went to Spaghetti Works for all you can eat pasta. I think everyone ate way too much.

Chicago Believe

2008-11-10T22:01:00.002-06:00

This was the first time Believe had been to Chicago in about 7 or 8 years and it was good to be back. There was no baseball game involved this time, but at least we were in the same city as Cubs. We also had the highest attendance ever for a "new location."

A few of us tried to go see "Call and Response," but on the way there we found out it actually started a day later. Disappointing.
So, instead we ate at Giordano's and had some great pizza.
Stayed in the probably the nicest hotel all year, which was also connected to the Convention Center. This is always nice because you can roll out of bed and walk downstairs and be in our room. Or you can go take a nap at lunch.
There was a tv in the mirror in the bathroom. Really cool.
Yes, I had a fruit trap and some cool Japanese candy in my room.
Scott Rubin and Jason Raitz, two of our speakers stopped by to see us and the event. It is always great to see those guys.
The Village of Schaumburg has "quiet hours" and Friday night we cut it close to violating the "village rules."
Why would Chicago ever have two airports, and have them located over an hour apart? And why would we have staff members flying into each of them. Definitely bad planning on my part.
One flat tire, on the way home. Changed and back on the road in 20 minutes. I think we could work for a pit crew we are getting so good at this.

Arlington Believe

2008-11-09T20:45:00.004-06:00

This was our second year in Arlington at the Arlington Convention Center, which is about a thousand times better than our previous location in downtown Dallas. The convention center is right off the highway right across from Six Flags (no, we didn't get to go). Here are some highlights from the weekend.

We didn't get to go a baseball game, but we do have to drive right past The Ballpark at Arlington every time we went to and from the hotel. Scott Rubin made the joke that a requirement for a Believe venue is it has to be within walking distance of a major league baseball stadium. I only wish that was true.
There was a Quik Trip located within a mile of the Convention Center. I went 5 times. Doesn't get better than that.
One of the other rooms in the Convention Center had some guys dressed up as the Founding Fathers of our country. I was barely able to get the picture (see below).
Jeremy Weldon (the Foundation Red drummer) and I began an ongoing game of knock-out with the basketball and basketball goal that travels with Believe. After Arlington, I was winning 2-1.
Some of the students had to recruit Brent the Stunt Guy to scale a wall to get down their hackey sacks they had thrown up in a window sill.
3 of the band members, Michael, Jeremy and Chris, took the lead in tear down and truck pack this week. It still had a long way to go, but it was awesome seeing those guys take ownership in that area.
Saturday night Auburn lost to Vanderbilt and then the Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs. I almost gave up sports.
We had two flat tires on the trip. One on the trailer. One on the van. One on the way to Texas. One on the way home.

The Fall is over....I'll start with Baltimore

2008-11-08T20:45:00.006-06:00

Well, the Fall portion of the Believe Tour is over. After 5 events in 6 weeks and over 2,000 students, it is good to get a little break. It was an awesome fall and the God moved in amazing ways. Over the next 5 days, I will write a post about each location and include some pictures (if I have any from each event). I'll start with Baltimore.

Baltimore -
This was the first time in Baltimore for Believe, and the first event of the Tour. It had it's challenges of a new venue and new location, but overall it was a great event.

A few of the staff and myself were able to go to a Baltimore Orioles-Tampa Bay Rays game the night before. See the picture and few people there were. Yes, the game had started and was in the second inning.
This was our longest set-up of the year, as we had an extra day for rehearsals.
One "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" location, Chaps Pit BBQ, was visited. I had "The Bulldog." The actual location of the restaurant was located in a very interesting area of town. I will leave it at that.
Some of the girls were able to visit D.C. during some of the rehearsals.
One of the youth ministers was mugged outside of the convention center on Friday night. He had to navigate explaining to his students the difference between showing compassion to a homeless man and a man stealing your money.
On the same note, one of our production staff was also scammed and lost almost $100 the day before the event.
After this event and one incident, Isaac Schade will never talk to venue personnel again.
First event with the basketball goal, and the students loved it.
After Friday night session, a large group of staff went to Cheesecake Factory and got back to the hotel way late that night. I think that was the last time our staff went out eat after Friday night session.
It rained like crazy on Saturday and during the last two sessions water was coming in from underneath the doors of the exhibit hall.
Truck pack was horrible.
The trip home was by far the longest one-day drive we will have all tour. Something like 19 hours. It's all downhill from here.

the day I almost gave up sports

2008-10-20T16:15:00.003-05:00

I almost gave up sports for the rest of the calendar year 2008. But then the Rays decided to show up in the ALCS.

For the last two weeks, every team I cheer for has been not playing to potential and losing. There are so many things that have gone wrong with sports over the last two weeks, I made a vow after the Red Sox came back in Game 5, that if the Sox somehow won the ALCS, I was not going to watch another sporting event in 2008. Here is a small portion of everything that has gone wrong:

The Cubs got absolutely destroyed in the NLDS to the Dodgers. They played amazing in the regular season and then didn't even show up in the playoffs and lost 3 straight. The Cubs are horrible.

The Auburn Tigers are pitiful. They have lost their last two to Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Granted, Vanderbilt is not looking too bad this year (haven't really played anyone yet), but Arkansas is horrible. Auburn fired their offensive coordinator and they have no offense. They beat Miss. St. 3-2. That's right, 3-2. A two run home run and a RBI double. Soccer scores are higher than that. The only thing left I care about with Auburn this year is that they beat Alabama (and chances of that are slim).

It is currently the worst college football poll in the history of anything. Texas is ranked #1, and Alabama is ranked #2. I absolutely despise Alabama (being an Auburn fan), and I can't stand anything about Texas (being an Oklahoma fan, which I inherited from my wife). I have said the only time I would ever cheer for Texas would be if they played Alabama. I hope the world comes to end before that ever comes to reality.

My church softball team is 0-6 and we lost 2 games last week with scores of 24-4, and 34-6. Tonight starts the tournament. I am not expecting for us to go to far.

If the Rays had lost the series to the Red Sox after being up 7 runs and only 7 outs away from the World Series, I was swearing off watching sports this year. Fortunately, it did not happen. I can watch sports.

Cubs v Rays (x3)

2008-06-21T14:30:00.008-05:00

This past week I have been down in Tampa, Florida visiting my parents and what do you know, the Cubs are in town playing the Rays for a three game series. The plan was that Abbey and I were going to go the first game of the series with one of my roommates/teammates from college and his wife, skip a night, and then go to the series finale on Thursday with my parents. Next thing you know, my parents came back early from a trip, so my mom decided to go on Tuesday with us. Then my dad made a comment about going on Wed, and next thing you know we had tickets to all three games.

It was incredibly disappointing because the Cubs lost all three games, when they had won the 3 previous Cubs games I have attended this year. I then came to the conclusion that I am good luck for the Cubs, but better luck for the Rays, or I am good luck for Ted Lilly only (he pitched in the 3 previous Cubs games I attended, but not in any game in Tampa). What was also disappointing was that Kerry Wood never got in any of the games. Wood is Abbey's favorite player and in the 5 games she has been to this year he has not pitched in any of them. He warmed up in the first two and Abbey got her picture with him in the first one (see above).

The only thing that is kinda redeemable about the series is that did lose to the Rays. I was cheering for the Cubs the whole time, but I am pulling for a Rays/Cubs World Series.

GAME ONE - Tuesday - Rays 3, Cubs 2
- Our seats were great. I bought tickets online the week before the game and we had the best seats in the entire section. We were on the first row (there was a party deck between us and the field), and we were 25-30 feet away from the Cubs bullpen mound.

- I was able to see Scott Kazmir, one of my favorite players, pitch and he did really well besides a high pitch count.

- It was a great game and the Cubs made a rally in the 9th and almost pulled it out with a suicide squeeze. Evan Longoria made a great play and the game was over.

- It was great seeing Todd and his wife Rachel. Todd was one of my teammates at Milligan. They live in Ft. Meyers (where Rachel is from) and they are also big Cubs fans.

- At the end of the game, I was involved with breaking up a fight. There was a punk kid (20ish) Rays fan sitting a few rows behind us and he was past obnoxious the entire game with his cowbell. He would be standing up ringing the bell the entire game and people would be yelling at him the entire time. Once the game was over, a drunk old man Cubs fan went after him. I along with another guy were able to wrestle the Cubs fan off of him, and told the Rays punk to put down his cowbell (he would continue to ring it in the guys face). When we left the game, the Sheriff had the Cowbell guy, another cowbell guy, the cowbell guy's girlfriend (who I guess chipped her tooth), and the drunk Cubs guy. Don't know how that one turned out.

GAME TWO - Wednesday - Rays 5, Cubs 4
- This game also came down to the ninth with the Cubs trailing by 2 runs. Soto hit a home run to bring it within 1 but the Cubs could not get another run across.

- Carlos Zambrano left the game injured, and now he is on the DL.

- My dad was wearing a Cubs hat, but was cheering for the Rays. The next night he wore Rays gear.

- What is really cool is that Abbey is turning into a huge Cubs fan. Last night she had me pause Sportscenter because she wanted to see the Cubs highlights (even though we watched the whole game). She want to hear the analysis and the postgame report.

GAME THREE - Thursday - Rays 8, Cubs 3
- It was incredible to hear the stands cheering for the Cubs instead of the Rays. Cubs chants could be heard throughout the whole stadium. When the Rays pitcher would throw over to first base he would get booed. When they announced the Rays lineup one day, they got booed. When we sang the 7th inning stretch, all you heard was, "Root, root, root for the CUBBIES!"

- The Cubs made it look like they were going to win but taking a late lead, but then Carlos Marmol had his worst outing of the year walking two, and then hitting two.

- We arrived early to hopefully get an autograph (Abbey really wanted one from Kerry Wood), but probably because they had lost the first two games, nobody signed autographs. Highly disappointing.

One thing that did come out of all three games - Abbey hates cowbells.

The Windy City....Chicago Believe

2008-06-19T08:34:00.003-05:00

This fall, Jr. High Believe will be headed back to Chicago for the first time in over 5 years. Believe will be at the Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center the weekend of Oct 17-18. Schaumberg is a suburb of Chicago and is located in the middle of the Chicago metro.

We are excited about going back up to that region and can't wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of jr. high students in the great city where the Cubs play. Nate Head, from Southland Christian Church, will be the main speaker, and (like every believe) there will be the cast of Jared Hall, Eric Timm, drama, Foundation Red, and a special artist The Rubyz.

Anyways, I will be up in Schaumburg next Thursday (the 26th) and down in Orland Park next Friday (the 27th) hosting a couple of free lunches (really good food) to talk about this specific event to youth leaders and to get feedback for the future of Believe. If you know anyone in the Chicago area that might want a free lunch, have them shoot me an email (chase@ciy.com) or tell me who they are and I'll call them.

Go CUBS!

Jr. High Camp

2008-06-17T12:36:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday night I was able to tag along with Robin Sigars to go to one night of Jr. High Camp at Camp Cyokamo in Alba, MO. My home church, Carterville Christian Church have a group of jr. high students out there this week and if my schedule had worked out, I would have loved it to attend the whole week as a sponsor - but I was glad to at least be there for one night.

It was nice to see some guys who I have know a while - Ryan Bennett and Drew Henderson from Sunnybrook Christian Church in Stillwater, OK, and Matt Harenza from First Christian Church in Carthage, MO.

There was somewhere between 250-300 students packed in a little auditorium and let me tell you it was LOUD. Occasionally people will complain about the sound level being too high at Believe, well, they need to go to camp. The band was from Owasso, OK and they did a really good job. Robin spoke, with one of his main examples about jumping off a cliff with his sons.

The theme for the week is "More than a game" and it has a Olympic feel to it. Many different churches were walking around with big country flags and I know there are many different "Olympic" stlye games planned for the week.

I really enjoyed watching the students worship. Actually I really enjoyed watching the students doing motions to some of the songs. No, actually I really enjoyed watching the students doing their own made up never seen before motions to some of the songs.

It's Not about Me - Teen Edition

2008-06-14T21:46:00.003-05:00

The second book I read from the MOVE station is It's Not about Me, Teen Edition by Max Lucado. I'll be honest, I haven't read a Max Lucado book since I was a sophomore in college 6 or 7 years ago. From what I remember, his books were easy and quick reads. So, you can image what I was thinking when I picked up a "Teen Edition" book he has authored.

There are 14 chapters in book divided into 2 sections, God-Pondering and God-Promoting. The first half (God-pondering) is truly about recognizing who we are in God's plan, dealing with our internal and external struggles, and grasping that God's hand is never changing and His love is great. The second half (God-promoting) is how to put this into action. The chapter that stood out to me was chapter 8 and the way we live is a reflection (like a mirror) of the light of God.

Lucado did a good job of truly making this a teen book. There is an example in every chapter on every topic (set-up similar like a news story) of a student in high school or college. There was a lot of scripture, and the concepts were easy to understand and foundational.

The part that I haven't decided is good or bad, is that he used various different translations, but many times the passages that were drawn out were from The Message.

The way I would suggest a high school student to read this book is like a devotional. There are 14 chapters and at the end of each chapter there is a question and then space to journal. The chapters are fairly short with lots of examples. This would also be an easy book for a small group to go through together.

On a side note, there was a mention of the Summer Olympics in one of the chapters, which made me look forward to watching some of the games this summer.

Believe Speaker Summitt 1.0

2008-06-13T22:53:00.005-05:00

This past Wednesday we held the first Jr. High Believe Speaker Summit. Johnny, Josh Walker, and myself met with Scott Rubin, Jason Raitz (both from Willow Creek), Steve Carter (from Mars Hill in Grand Rapids) and Nate Head (from Southland in Lexington) to discuss the next tour's theme, sessions topics messages, etc. The only speaker who was not able to be there was Kurt Johnston (from Saddleback). All of those guys spoke on the tour last year, and one thing we wanted to do this year to improve the program is gather them all before the tour to help give direction to the tour.

One thing all of them asked for - we were able to give them feedback on last year - things that went well, things that didn't, things that helped them as speakers, and ways they can improve and be more effective in communicating the messages.

Next tour's theme is "Speak" and it is primarily based on Jeremiah 1 and the life of Jeremiah. I know everything is not set in stone, but after that meeting the sessions and the topics/main points for the messages were all but done. Also, we made incredible progress on what "the call" for the students was going to be next tour.

Getting 4 of the 5 tour communicators together was valuable beyond words. All of them have been in junior high ministry for a good amount of time, so bouncing ideas off them on what a junior high student needs and how a junior high student will react was also important to the program. It also gave Johnny a chance to explain to them all the elements involved and what the purpose is behind all the different elements.

After the meeting I personally became more excited to see what God has in store for next tour.

Braves v. Cubs

2008-06-12T21:57:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, I was able to attend my thirds Cubs game, forth Major League game of the year. It also happened to be the third time I have seen Ted Lilly pitch this year. This was by far the best seats I have had at a ballgame in a number of years and it was also my wife's first time to Wrigley.

Johnny and I were heading up to Chicago for a planning meeting with all our Believe speakers on Wednesday. There was originally 4 of us planning on going to the game - Johnny, his 9 year old son Riley, one of our speakers Nate Head, and myself. As of 24 hours before the game we didn't have tickets and Abbey wasn't planning on going on the trip. I received a call from a friend and he had 2 tickets 12 rows behind home plate for us if we wanted them. The catch was they were expensive. I wasn't going to ask the other guys to pay that much, so I told Abbey she was coming (which she was really excited about because she didn't have to be at home alone for 2 days).

We saw a great game - the Cubs won 10-5, and Ted Lilly recored the win. This is the 3rd Cub win I have seen and also the 3rd Ted Lilly win I have seen - I seriously think he needs to start flying me to all his starts for good luck - what could it hurt? Anyways, below are some of the memorable moments that happened during the game.

- Riley telling his Dad, "To pay the man." Riley was extremely worried about missing the game and not getting tickets. Nate and Johnny were trying to get the best price by negotiating with the scalpers, while Riley is behind them making deals of his own.

- Riley enjoyed his first major league baseball game and now he is a Cubs fan for life!

- The Braves scored 3 in the first inning off a home run, and then the next pitch Ted Lilly threw a fastball at the batter's head. He was warned and so was each bench. If you remember the last time Lilly got ejected it was in the first inning against the Braves.

- Although Nate got to sit by himself most of the game, he was able to come down to where Abbey and I were the last couple of innings.

- Kerry Wood, Abbey's favorite player, warmed up 3 times, but never went in the game. He was warming up during the bottom of the 8th when the Cubs were only up a run, but then they scored 4 and Wood sat down. Then in the 9th, Jon Lieber (the Cubs pitcher they brought it) put two guys on base with one out. Kerry Wood started warming up. Braves hit into a double play and the game was over.

- We saw Candace and Jared Baker, some of our friends we haven't seen in a few years. Candace is the daughter of the Robin Sigars, the minister (and our good friend) that married Abbey and I. They just happen to be going to the game that night as well.

- This made me really mad - Abbey really wanted a Kerry Wood jersey shirt after the game. We went to 4 or 5 different places and none of them had one. BUT - one place had a Jim Edmonds jersey shirt. Jim Edmonds will always be a Cardinal and the fact they are selling his jersey and not Kerry Wood's in downright stupid.

Battling Unbelief

2008-06-09T12:19:00.004-05:00

Every summer I try to read as many of the books we are selling at our high school conference, MOVE. This past week I picked up and read the first one, Battling Unbelief by John Piper. Usually, when I think about a Piper book, I know I have to brew a pot of coffee and read about one page per day. And then I have to read that same page again 4 times. But honestly, Battling Unbelief was a smooth read (I wouldn't say easy) and I was able to get a ton out of it.

The book is an excerpt from one of his larger books The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in Future Grace. Piper walks through 8 different applications on to live by faith in knowing there is future grace and how not to let these 8 sins continue to make us stumble. The 8 things we need to battle are anxiety, pride, shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust. Below are a few things that stood out to me.

Battling ANXIETY
The thing that stood out to me in this chapter was when Piper is faced with anxiety about a range of topics, he has scriptures of the promise of future grace memorized. And then when he is anxious about _____, he quotes the scripture to himself. Example - When he is anxious about decisions he has to make about the future, he battles unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." (Psalm 32.8)

Battling MISPLACED SHAME
Piper describes two different kinds of shame: misplaced shame and well-placed shame. Misplaced shame is the shame you feel when there is no good reason to feel it - or, shame for something that's good, that doesn't dishonor God. Well-placed shame is the shame we feel when we are ashamed of something because our involvement in it was dishonoring to God.
The part that resonated with me was hearing about inflicting shame. I can look back over the past year and thing of a few specific examples where I made someone else feel shame that I never should have inflicted.

Battling IMPATIENCE
Last week, I gave a devotion to our MOVE interns about how God can call you to "not move" at a particular time. This chapter showed me that our faith in future grace will allow us to walk with God and to wait in his place, and go at his pace.

Battling BITTERNESS
This chapter really made me think. It states that faith in God's judgment is another form of faith in future grace. We need to overcome vengeance and bitterness by trusting God to settle all our accounts justly.

Battling DESPONDENCY
This is not something I have really ever thought about, but after reading the chapter I know it has been true in my life as I am sure it has been in every Christian at some point. Despondency is becoming dejected and/or depressed about our spiritual lives. We have to fight this by preaching to ourselves and believing in future grace.

There are many things I got out of this book and many things that make me think (Piper has a tendency to do that). I also know I will keep this book on my shelf and refer back to it in the future.

The Mariners are terrible

2008-06-05T12:06:00.005-05:00

I am currently in Seattle/Portland area for a few days to help promote the Oregon Believe that is going to take place this October 31-Nov 1 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. Yesterday was a travel day to get to Portland for a lunch today. So, I planned it and was able to go the Mariners/Angels game in Seattle yesterday. This was my second time to Safeco Field in Seattle (I went last year with my wife on a similar trip).

I met Nathan Cookston, a junior high minister from Smokey Point Community Church, and we went out to lunch and then he went to the game with me. For pretty much the whole game I learned all about his church and what his typically week, month, and year look like for his junior high ministry. I also learned all about what his kids are dealing with and how he actually got into Junior High Ministry. It is interesting to me to hear about similarities and differences in students in different parts of the country.

It is an incredibly nice stadium and the game actually turned out to be a pretty good game. I don't follow the Mariners that closely (besides Bedard and Ichiro - they are on my fantasy team), but I do know they are terrible. What I didn't know is how terrible they are with such an expensive payroll. I read an article in USA Today this morning about how the Mariners will probably be (unless something crazy happens) the first team in history to lose 100 games with a payroll of over 100 million dollars.

The Mariners gave up 3 runs before they recorded an out in the first inning, but only lost the game 5-4. There were two plays at the plate - one where the Mariners' catcher got ran over by Torii Hunter and the other where the Mariners' runner coming home Betancourt got knocked down and humiliated by the Angels' catcher. I guess after the game the Mariners' coach John McLaren took all the food, beer and towels out of the locker room and laid into the team. Then he later let it out on the media.

I am glad I am a Cubs and Rays fan - at least this year.

Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas

2008-06-03T06:52:00.002-05:00

This past Believe tour, we had the privilege of having Evan the Keytar Player play in the band and raise awareness for the "Save The Keytar" Movement. What most people don't know is that Evan is a real live junior high kid from Webb City, Missouri and that he has his own band (if you want to call it that - it is more 3 friends that do crazy stuff) called Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas. The members of the group are Preston (goes by Artsniff), Alex (goes by A-Buck), and Evan (also known as Monkey Luke). Alex and Evan are the llama tamers. Don't ask - I don't know.

Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas are the best thing that ever happened to You Tube. I actually think You Tube was created for them. You can click here and it will take you to their You Tube Page. Below you will find a couple of my personal favorites of their videos. I will give you a little background on a few videos, because I stayed up with Evan in Michigan at a hotel and watched pretty much all the videos. It was like having the director/producer/creator/actor sitting beside you watching a movie.

"Be a Friend" - The boys shot this at church and it was played during one of the Sunday youth services. This is about the only serious video on the page.

"Moving Forward in a Backward World", "A Day at the Park", and "Reversafiction"- These videos are reverse engineered. If you want something to mess with your head a little - watch these. Evan (or Monkey Luke) did everything backwards and then they played it forward. Seriously, watch it - then you will understand.

"Time Line" (featured above) and "Trevor Birthday Remix" - Classic Artsniff. The three boys sitting on the couch making up raps.

We have been recording videos with Evan over the last couple of weeks for our promotional DVD, and one of the videos is Artsniff and the Amazing Llamas on the couch with a rap they made up specifically for Believe. I can't wait till the video is done.

Moneyball

2008-05-28T07:22:00.003-05:00

I finally picked up Moneyball by Micheal Lewis. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for a couple years and I've always wanted to read it but never actually sat down to do it. I think it was a combination of Fantasy Baseball heating up, I just got done with a Business Statistics class, and I saw the movie 21 about card counting in Vegas. Once I started, I was done in 3 days.

I do recommend this book even if you don't like baseball. It is the story of a general manager, Billy Beane, of the Oakland A's and how he looked at Major League Baseball differently than the other general managers by relying heavily on statistics. Billy Beane used an analysis called Sabermetrics, which ignores some traditional stats and looks for stats that actually have a difference in the outcome of the game.

The book walks through how Beane got into baseball, dives into the detail about the "history" of Sabermetrics, and the season of 2002. The Oakland A's had a salary of $41 million, roughly 1/3 of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox and still had to find a way to be competitive. For Billy Beane and his staff, to be competitive and have an incredibly low salary, he had to look at the game completely different.

One of the most intriguing chapters of the book is about the draft and being "in the room" when all the decisions were made about who to draft and when. Because the A's valued different statistics and qualities in players their draft was unpredictable and highly questioned among the rest of baseball.

If you like baseball, if you have an interest in statistics, if you want to look at something completely different than everyone else in your field, I encourage you to read this book.

Arts and Crafts Time: Journals

2008-05-21T07:11:00.003-05:00

On Monday, the MOVE Interns arrived for the summer. For the last 4 or 5 years one of their first tasks has been to make a journal they would use for the summer....and I am the person responsible for teaching them how.

No, I am not the artsy type and I don't spend a whole lot of time sewing (although I did win a Home Economics award my senior year of high school - it was really because I made Sweet Tea and Brownies every day), but this is the 2 hours every year where my arts and crafts talents shine.

When I first came to CIY, I worked for our Discipleship program, and one of the session was teaching anywhere from 100-400 high school students how to make a journal. I did this 10 times and it was probably the most frustrating 10 moments of that year. Anyway, because of my experience with Discipleship, Ryan Claborn, the internship director, asked if I would teach the interns how to make journals.

It can be a little complicated, involving foam board, paper (obviously), glue stick, kraft paper, a tapestry needle, thread, push pin and ruler. I won't go into the details of actually making it (hey, I had to explain it yesterday to 25 college students), but every year when it is over I am glad I had the opportunity to teach them because it gets me thinking about journaling more.

When I was an intern in 2002, I kept a journal of different events that took place that summer. I came into the summer not having a clue what to expect. It wasn't until last summer when I picked up the journal from 2002 that I truly appreciated this discipline. I was able to look back and remember not only moments I had forgotten about, but also look back and see situations that shaped my life. I'll be honest - I'm not good at it. I can be lazy. But, I want to be good at it. I want to look back in 5 or 10 years and remember even more events that shaped my life.

Thanks to yesterday, I have a brand new journal. It doesn't have a ton of pages in it, but I have a fresh opportunity to keep up with my journal.

Hot Dogs, 4th Graders, and Duck-Duck-Goose

2008-05-19T07:04:00.003-05:00

Turing into an annual tradition, yesterday, Abbey had her 4th grade class from Carterville Elementary School over to our house for an hour and a half of fun. This is the second year Abbey has been teaching and near the end of the school year (one week left) she will invite the class over on a weekend to hang out.

There were a total of 12 (out of 17) that came over and they had a blast. We grilled hot dogs (only about 6 were eaten) and had chips, cookies, root beer and fruit punch for the kids. Two people were playing guitar hero pretty much the whole time, except for the last 10 minutes when they finally turned on Dance Dance Revolution.

It was also funny to see all the girls want to play football and really just run around in the back yard. Also, Abbey's class absolutely loves relay races. So, we got out two baseball bats, divided up the team, made them spin around with their head on the bat and then try to run to the other side of the yard. One girl almost ran into the trampoline (that would have been bad for so many reasons), and one boy fell down twice pretty hard. Then we played Duck-Duck-Goose. I think the last time I played Duck-Duck-Goose I was in 4th grade.

I think only two boys actually knew my name and one of them really wanted me to play him in DDR and the other really wanted me to pitch to him outside with the baseball and bat. I opted for the baseball, but promptly quit when he about hit our neighbor's house.

I know it has only happened twice, but I love this day every year, because these are the kids who have spent almost every day with my wife for the last year. It is incredible to see how much she loves the students and how much they love her. These are the kids Abbey tells me stories about every night and the lives that she has invested in and influenced for the last year. It is also fun and educational just watching the 4th graders interact with each other for an hour and half being stupid. You can learn so much by simply watching them play guitar hero, talk about playing guitar hero, tackling each other during football, and drinking root beer.

Oh year, next year, no more fruit punch. I sure hope that doesn't leave a stain on our carpet.

Omaha Believe

2008-05-16T10:36:00.004-05:00

Well, 13 events, 870 churches, 16,000 people later the 2007-2008 Believe Tour is over. Last weekend we were in Omaha for our last Believe event of the "Connect" Tour. This was the first time Believe had ever been in Omaha, and it turned out to be a great event. Time to plan for next year!

Highlights from last weekend:

- Nebraska Christian College sponsored the event and provided volunteers. Their volunteers were out of this world - they were great and they helped us so much. I know our load out saved over an hour because they were there.

- We were in the Qwest Center, which has the 7th most ticket sales annually over the world. Glad we could be a part of that.

- We ate at the Old Mattress Factory 3 times (only because it was close), and we were incredibly disappointed every time. But because it is so close we will probably eat there 3 more times in November.

- Seth's (our lighting engineer) family came from Colorado to see him put on a light show.

- During the last song, a few of our tech staff took apart Monte's drum set during the song. It was a great moment to finish off 3 years that Monte has traveled with Believe.

- It was good to Nate Ernsberger, Christ In Youth's representative from Compassion. This was the first Believe he has been to this year.

- Krystle and Yancy got to enjoy their favorite hotel, The Hampton Inn. (Which was incredibly nice because it has only been open since November)

- Tony Anderson took a final on stage during worship. I have nothing to say.

- Everyone chipped in to give Evan (the Keytar player) a Ipod Nano. He had his previous one stolen (or he lost it).

- Nate Head, our speaker from Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY, did a great job and got to reconnect with some of his students when he worked in Missouri.

- Johnny's birthday was on Sunday, so we celebrated with a Hannah Montana cake during the group time on Saturday. (See picture below)

- After talking to many people that attended the event, we are moving the Omaha believe to November of this year (instead of the spring) and we are excited to go back.

90%?....Really?

2008-05-07T23:01:00.003-05:00

Where do people come up with statistics?

Last night, Abbey and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and I was blown away by our encounter with the check-out lady. A few weeks ago, Abbey purchased 2 reusable bags from Wal-Mart (pictured above). These bags take the place of having to use plastic bags every time you leave Wal-Mart. Let's just say that is our little effort to keep the earth green (this is another blog post for another day).

Anyways, as we are checking out, Abbey gives the two bags to the check-out lady, and instantly Abbey was her favorite daughter that she had not seen in 10 years. It was incredible. Check-out lady then went on to tell us all of the things that she does with her bags, by pretty much taking them everywhere when she goes shopping (Macy's, Kohl's, ANYWHERE!). Then she told us about how she gives her Mother's Day gifts, Wedding Gifts, Graduation Gifts, Baby Shower Gifts, Anything Gift in one of the bags. I was already about to explode with laughter watching the situation unfold, until she asked THE QUESTION. She asked Abbey if she has been able to tell a difference in cutting back using plastic in her life. Abbey kinda smiled and said, "No, not really, haven't really paid attention to it." The bag lady responded by saying, "I have cut back plastic in my life by 90%!"

Seriously. I am currently taking a Business Statistics class and I know how much can be involved with coming up with specific stats. You don't even have to take a class to be blown away by that statement. How in the world did she know she has cut back 90%? What does that mean? 90% of total weight plastic? Does plastic bottles count? What plastic counts and what plastic doesn't count? And how in the world can you say such a specific statistic? Does she only use the Wal-Mart plastic bags every 10th time she comes to the store?

I had to walk away half laughing, half scratching my head in amazement, and half speechless. Oh, I know, you can't have three halves - that stat doesn't make sense - but YOU have no idea how I came up with it. Clearly it doesn't matter.

Cubs v Cardinals

2008-05-05T07:39:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday Abbey and I went the Cubs/Cardinals game in St. Louis with Jennifer and Grant. It was a great day and we had a great time in St. Louis. It was even better that the Cubs won. Although they only won one of the three games this past weekend, they won the game we went to. We went to Grant's Farm on Sunday (which I had never heard of) and it was a pretty cool place. We saw Chinese deer.

Highlights from the game:

- Once again, my favorite player, Ted Lilly, was pitching again for the Cubs. He won his second game of the year. He needs to pay me to come watch all his games.

- I talked to a guy who had his chest painted white with red lettering for about 20 minutes. He thought the season ticket holder who sold me my tickets should get his privileges revoked.

- This was Jennifer and Grant's first Cubs game, and they saw a winner.

- There was a drunk married guy two rows in front of us that was doing everything he could to pick up drunk women in the row in front of us. It was incredibly annoying.

- The Cubs can hit. They ripped the cover off the ball on Saturday and scored 9 runs.

- There was a good amount of Cubs fans. We were not alone.

- Parking was pretty cheap. Only $5 compared to $30 at Wrigley.

- The new ballpark is really nice (this was my first time to the new Busch) and definitely a step up from the old Busch.

- I could have bought a "Cubs Suck" shirt after the game. I passed.

- Our seats were great. We were 5 rows up in the bleachers and I was seated right next to the grass in center field. With the right hit ball I could have caught a home run.

Elevate - Willow Creek's Jr. High Service

2008-04-30T07:51:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday, a few of our staff had the great opportunity to attend Elevate, Willow Creek Community Church's Jr. High Service. Scott Rubin and Jason Raitz, two of the current Believe speakers both work there and it was great to see one of their "typical" weekend services. I think they enjoyed introducing Evan to numerous people who have seen his videoes.

The part that I was most impressed by was the fact although they are one of the largest churches in America, they still have to set up and tear down everything every week. The junior high meets in the gym which is used for about 75 other things every week. So they have to set up all the stage, curtains, stage props, chairs, tables, ping pong/pool tables, etc.

There are so many churches that have to set up and tear down every week because they meet in a temporary space such as a movie theater, night club, school, etc. because the space is only temporary. This is the same for the Jr. High Ministry at Willow.

Michigan Believe

2008-04-29T20:50:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was the first ever Believe event in the state of Michigan. We received a ton of great feedback on people that were excited to see us in the state, and we had the highest attendance ever for a first year new site location (All of the above made Andy Hansen giddy). The event was held in Holland, MI at Hope College in the DeVos Fieldhouse. Christ in Youth also holds two of their high school Move events there in the summer as well. Arena seating has such a cool feel (seats going up), and is drastically different from the convention center feel (seats on the floor).

Anyways, here are some highlights from the weekend:

- Steve Carter, from Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, did a great job. The evaluations we received appreciated not only the speaking time to the students but also the adult training on Saturday morning.

- The venue got crazy cold on Saturday morning. The temperature dropped outside, which we thought was the only reason it was so cold inside. After lunch we found out that it was our hazer which made the Fieldhouse cold (the exhaust fans had to be on when our hazer was on, and with the exhaust fans on the heating flame could not stay lit). Hope Staff said they would have this problem fixed by the time we are there next year.

- Great Lakes Christian College sponsored the event and combined with Northview Christian Church in Coldwater, MI, they provided one of the strongest volunteer forces yet. We had over 30 people that stayed and helped with tear down.

- Evan the Keytar player got in a paint fight with Doug the bass player and got black paint on his green jumpsuit.

- Seth, our lighting engineer, got to enjoy his favorite restaurant, Red Robin, numerous times.

- Major props and thanks goes to Ron, Mark, Monte, Seth, Tony, and Matt for spending hours last Wednesday to cover all the windows in the Fieldhouse with black plastic. No one who attended the event had any idea how much time they spent and what a difference it made.

Hotel Tip #1 - $3.00 Orange Juice

2008-04-25T23:33:00.003-05:00

Hotel Tip #1 - If you are going to charge $10.00 for breakfast buffet and $3.00 for orange juice, put a sign somewhere.

Yesterday, our staff was getting ready to leave for the venue, and we were going to get breakfast on the way until one of our staff told us they had continental breakfast. So...we all went in the room, grabbed some plates, sat down and eat. No big deal right - until she brought us our bill. Fortunately, my bill was only $4.50 (oatmeal and yogurt), but some people like Seth, had to pay $3.00 for a glass of OJ. I know you live you learn, but there were no signs and there were no menus.

If you are a hotel - first, don't charge for breakfast, and second, if you do charge, tell people you are going to charge them before they eat.

The land of U-Turns

2008-04-24T20:59:00.005-05:00

The Believe Team is in Holland, Michigan this weekend for the Michigan Believe. We spent all day setting up in the DeVos Fieldhouse on the campus of Hope College.

I guess because I have not spent that much time in Michigan, I didn't realize you can't make a left turn anywhere! All you can do is make a Michigan left, which supposedly cuts down on traffic accidents. My theory is Michigan drivers are worse than the rest of the country and this is why they used to have so many accidents when drivers tried to turn left.

What's in a name?

2008-04-23T21:07:00.003-05:00

This past Monday, a few of us went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch while we were in Chicago. This was my first time to ever eat there and I loved it. Krystle suggested it told me what it was like and we gave it a shot.

I never would have picked this restaurant on my own for one reason - I hate tomatoes. I don't like them on my salad, I don't like them on my cheeseburger, I don't like my chili to have too many tomatoes. I am not alone - tomatoes is an item that a lot of people despise.

From just reading the sign, I would have thought everything in the store had something to do with tomatoes. You would have been wrong - there were not too many things with tomatoes at all (which was a good thing).

So, the point is either (1) when you start a business, don't title your company something that is going to turn people away, or (2) a good reference is better than a bad name.

Cubs v Mets

2008-04-22T18:37:00.004-05:00

This afternoon, Josh, Krystle, and I were able to go to the Cubs/Mets game at Wrigley Field. Anyone who know me know I am a die-hard Cubs fans. I also have not been to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field in 10 years. The last time I went Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa were chasing home run records and Kerry Wood was a rookie.

We had a blast. Some of the highlights from the game:

- It worked out that my favorite player, Ted Lilly, was pitching today. He also won his first game of the season. I feel like I had something to do with that.

- The "Chicago Dog" was everything I expected it to be.

- Krystle tried to negotiate with a guy over $2 for parking. She lost.

- I really wanted to buy the "Cardinals Suck" shirt, but instead I just bought a normal Cubs shirt.

- Kosuke Fukudome is not only the real deal, but the city of Chicago is doing everything they can to make money off the guy. You should see how many Japanese headbands there were to sell.

- In the eight inning Ronny Cedeno hit a grand slam. I don't know if I have ever seen one in person before.

- Krystle was the only person in the entire stadium (no, really, she was the only one) who sat down during the 7th innning stretch and didn't sing "Take me out to the ballgame."

- Josh wouldn't let a van pass us on the way out (it was a one lane road, and the van was trying to pass us where parked cars usually are), and then we heard a barrage of colorful words yelled at us. We were really close to turning on the siren on the megaphone.

- We had great seats for a great price. We were about 15 rows from field near the Met's bullpen.

The Cubs are hot and have a record of 14-6 and sitting in first place. Go Cubs Go!

Chicago Believe

2008-04-22T09:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Josh, Krystle, and I took a tour of the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL. This is where the Chicago Believe event is going to be held this upcoming October 17-18.

The actual room that Believe will be in is very similar to most rooms we are in throughout the year - a large convention center room. We all walked away excited about having the event there.

Good things about this particular location:

- It is easy to get to off of all major interstates around Chicago. It is also located in a very nice area of town as well.

- Free Parking. This is a big deal for those attending, because most convention centers charge an arm and a leg.

- Our room is located right inside the entrance - meaning - we will be somewhat secluded and there won't be a ton of jr. high students that have to walk past another event (ex. The Great American Beer Festival - yes, it happened a few years ago).

- From our initial conversations, they should be able to handle all our productions needs - so, no surprises.

- There is an REI store located less than 2 miles away.

- It is in Chicago! Go Cubs!

Crazy Anderson

2008-04-21T23:31:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we finished the second of two Believe events in one weekend at the same location. As the first group was leaving on Saturday night, the second group was arriving. If there was ever a place to hold two events in the same weekend, Anderson University in Anderson, IN was the right choice. The Anderson staff is great to work with - they would even help sell merchandise and they also are a huge help with load in and load out.

Some of the highlights of the weekend include:

- Watching and hearing the locals react to the earthquake. Best quote (in your best Indiana farmer voice), "It sounded like a herd of cattle was right outside my window!"

- I gave Evan the Keytar player my camera for the weekend (which was a little scary) and told him to take 100 pictures during the weekend. Some of them are priceless.

- Sleeping downstairs under the stage and not leaving the auditorium for 3 straight days. (Comparable to where Harry Potter had to sleep)

- Scott Rubin, our main speaker from Willow Creek Church, did an amazing job preaching 12 times in 3 days.

- Seth, our lighting guys, passing out stickers of "The Rubyz" to everyone multiple times. (The Rubyz are new band that will be on tour next year)

- Watching 2000 jr. high students do the motions to "Mas Tortillas" simultaneously.

- Watching 2000 jr. high students gasp when Brent the Stunt Guy falls from 3 sets of scaffolding.

Two more Believe events to go on the Connect Tour - Michigan and Omaha!

Newest Member of the Golf Cult

2008-04-17T08:43:00.006-05:00

Last Friday Krystle, Johnny, Monte and I played a round of golf at the amazing Par 3 course in Joplin. It is so amazing it only costs $7 to play 9 holes. And in the months of January and February you can pay $10 and play unlimited holes all day. Oh, compare the grass on the tee box (Krystle's picture) to the sand in the sand trap (Johnny's picture).

It was Krystle's first time to ever actually play a round of golf (she has been to the driving range before) and I think we were all blown away by how well she did her first time. The weather was horrible for golf (low 50s, winds around 28mph, with gust over 40 mph), but I think Krystle lost less balls than I did, and I think her score was better than Johnny's.

I did forget to tell her that you can only use a tee from the tee box (can't use a tee from the fairway) and I think she only swung and missed once.

Anyways, I think she is hooked and now part of the cult!

On a similar note, I almost chipped in for eagle on another round of golf I played on Tuesday. It rolled up and hit the pin and bounce out - if the pin would not have been there I would have had an eagle!

Oklahoma State...blame Derrick Rose

2008-04-11T09:28:00.003-05:00

Oklahoma State can blame Derrick Rose. They can also blame Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Let me explain. The stage in the 2008 National Championship Game was set very similar to 2003 National Championship Game.

Roy Williams, current coach of Kansas in 2003, had speculation around him about taking the void North Carolina coaching position going into the championship game. Roy Williams played basketball for North Carolina.

Bill Self, current coach of Kansas, had speculation around him about taking the void Oklahoma State coaching position going into the championship game. Bill Self played basketball for Oklahoma State.

In 2003, Kansas played a fast Syracuse Orangemen team lead by outstanding freshman Carmelo Anthony.

In 2008, Kansas played a fast Memphis Tigers team lead by outstanding freshman Derrick Rose.

In 2003, after the lose, Roy Williams was asked a very awkward question about if he was leaving Kansas to take the job at UNC.

Everyone was expecting Memphis, up by 9 with 2:12 left, to close out the game and become national champs. If that had happened...Bill Self would have been asked a very awkward question about if he was leaving Kansas to take the job at OSU.

But.....Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts couldn't make free throws. Between the two of them they missed 4 of 5 free throws in the last 1:15.

Also, in 2003, a last second 3 point shot by the Jayhawks was blocked. In 2008, a last second 3 point shot by Jayhawk Mario Chalmers (being guarded by Derrick Rose), was not blocked, went in, and the game went to overtime.

In 2003 Kansas lost and the coach left. In 2008 Kansas won and the coach stayed.

So Cowboy fans...blame Derrick Rose for no Bill Self in Stillwater.

10 inches from the cup

2008-04-03T15:07:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I was able to play 27 holes of golf. The first 27 holes of golf for me in 2008. I don't think I have even been to the driving range since December. I guess pneumonia will do that to you.

Anyways, the first 18 I played with my dad, and the last 9 with my dad and another man that works at his bank. We played at East Lake Woodlands Country Club, located in Oldsmar, FL. The course is beautiful and I spent most of my day in the sand. I felt like there were 5 sand traps for every hole! I also lost a few balls in the water. We did see 2 gators and a ton of wildlife.

The exciting moment took place on hole number 7 of the North Course which was about 130 yards. I came with 8-10 inches of a hole in one. Without a doubt the closest I have ever been and probably the closest I will get in a very long time.

On another note, if Tony Anderson ever says he will play golf with you (either real golf or disc golf), don't count on him showing up.

Moises Alou is a liar

2008-04-02T08:42:00.002-05:00

In Game 6 of 2003 National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins, the Cubs were within a few outs of going back to the World Series. Then on a foul ball, Steve Bartman reached out, touched the ball, and Moises Alou did not catch it. Yesterday, Alou came out and said he would not have caught the ball. His quote after the game in 2003, "I timed it perfectly, I jumped perfectly. I'm almost 100 percent that I had a clean shot to catch the ball. All of a sudden, there's a hand on my glove."

I know the truth. You know the truth. If Steve Bartman would not have touched the ball, Moises Alou would have caught the ball. The Cubs would have won the game. The Cubs would have gone to the World Series.

Moises Alou is a liar.

Opening Day

2008-04-01T16:47:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was opening day for the Cubs and the majority of the major league teams. The Cubs lost the first one 4-3 in 1o innings. My observations below:

The Good:
- Kosuke Fukudome looked liked an all-star and worth every penny the Cubs paid for him. When no one else could hit (the rest of the Cubs went 2 for 31), Fukudome was 3 for 3 with a double and a 3-run home run to tie up the game in the bottom of the 9th. Maybe the Brewers were throwing Japanese balls yesterday.
- Carlos Zambrano looked good pitching through the first 6 innings. He only gave up 3 hits and only walked 1.

The Bad:
- Carlos Zambrano left the game with tightness in his forearm, which means that the game was up to the bullpen.
- Besides Fukudome, nobody hit the ball.

The Part that makes me really mad:
- Kerry Wood looked horrible. He had an amazing spring training where he didn't walk a batter and then on his first pitch he hits Rickie Weeks with a pitch! Where did all his amazing control go? And then he goes on to give up 3 runs in the 9th inning. In a moment of frustration, I told Abbey that I was going to drop him from my fantasy team for giving me -1.5 points yesterday. She told me that was the one player I can't drop because it is one of 5 players she actually knows and he is her "favorite."

A very small good side note:
- The team I cheer for second, the Tampa Bay Rays (not the Devil Rays), won the first game of the season and are sitting in first place all by themselves! Take that Yankees and Red Sox!

Jumping off the Roof

2008-01-24T07:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we received our new crash mat for our stunt guy, Brent Longenecker, on the Believe Tour. So, our staff, reverting back to our junior high days, had to try out the new toy immediately. We didn't do quite the same tricks that Brent will do, but we all did jump off the roof.

When you jump you are suppose to land on your butt or back and not let your hands or elbows hit the mat first. As you will be able to see in the video below, all but Seth, our lighting intern, did not have a problem with that.

Next time you are jumping off the roof, make sure your feet don't get caught in the gutter.

Jr. High Small Group #1

2008-01-23T07:33:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday we had our first Jr. High Small Group of the semester. The 8th grade boys came over to my house and we just watched the Packers and the Giants (no comment on that game) and ate pizza. Because it was the first one of the semester, we just hung out for a couple hours.

My favorite part of the night was once Halftime started, two of the boys decided it was wrestling time and then proceeded to wrestle for the next 45 minutes in the middle of my living room. Isn't that what halftime is for?

My favorite quote of the night was when I told them I would e-mail this week with some info. I then got the reply to send a text instead of an email because he never checks his email. ATnd then when he does check it he has 2,000 messages. I asked if it was spam, and then I found out it is not spam but myspace comment alerts. Oh my how times have changed since I was in Jr. High.

I am pretty excited about the group and hanging out with this group of guys every week. One small cool thing is that we all are big sports fans, especially baseball.

Why do we hate perfection?

2008-01-17T07:53:00.000-06:00

The New England Patriots are 2 games away from being perfect in one season in the NFL since 1972. It seems like 9 out of 10 people do not want them to reach the milestone. Why are so many people against this from occurring?

Is it because:

- the Patriots were caught cheating in the first game of the season, and there is something wrong about a cheater not losing a single game all season?

- Quarterback Tom Brady is America's favorite un-wed father or because he went to Michigan?

- the Patriots have been the best team over the last 6 years? Would we be this passionate if the Vikings or the 49ers were about to go undefeated?

- Rodney Harrison just portrays smugness and is one of the dirtiest players in the NFL?

- everyone has to pull for the underdog, and the Patriots are never the underdog?

- they would have lost to the Ravens besides a timeout call and a phantom penalty?

- they should have lost to the Colts, and the Eagles (yes the Eagles with AJ Feeley as quarterback) could have beat them?

- the Giants should have beat them (if only the game ended after 3 quarters)?

- the score meaningless touchdowns to run up the score? Really, they beat the Redskins 52-7 and the Bills 56-10.

- the city of Boston is good at everything right now and that needs to stop?

- Who really likes Randy Moss anyways? (Unless he is on your fantasy team)

- Bill Belichick wears stupid sweaters?

Pick your reason, everyone hates the Patriots. Go Chargers.

Ballgame Number 7 - Florida Marlins vs LA Dodgers

2007-07-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

Last night, Abbey, Matt and I went the Marlins-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium in LA. All week I have been hearing from Chris Duncan, Matt, all the Matt Bayless band about how bad of an idea it was to go to a Dodgers game on Saturday night. They all swore up an down to make sure we wore blue, to not sit in the bleachers, to follow the crowd and not stray from the pack, and one even suggested I bring a gun. Anyways, I did not think my safety was that much in danger (maybe because I was wearing blue) but it definitely was a new experience.

I think this was the oldest ballpark I have been in all year. It was cool to come to Dodger Stadium, but it was a pretty boring park.
The Dodger dogs are all they're cracked up to be. They were good. The garlic fries were not.
The Dodger fans are the most passionate fans I have seen all year. The place would erupt if a Dodger even stole a base.
We did buy tickets from a scalper, which turned out to be a good decision. We sat in the second bowl for half the price of a box office ticket.
The place was 80% full, probably the most fans at a game I have seen all year with maybe the exception of the Rangers-Yankees.
The Marlins hit three home runs, all of which the ball landed back on the field after a fan threw the ball back. On the second home run, it was all in one motion - the fan catching it. winding up and throwing it back - with it almost reaching the infield.
I will agree about not sitting in the bleachers. Those guys were crazy. I felt bad for the security guard constantly trying to get the beach balls.
Derek Lowe still pitched well, but was not as good as two weeks ago when we say him in Tampa Bay.
Hanley Ramirez, the Marlins lead-off batter, is stinkin' fast.
Although he bats sixth and has an average of .273, Nomar Garciaparra is the the fan favorite.

Ballgame Number 6 - LA Dodgers at Tampa Bay Devil Rays

2007-07-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

Abbey and I were down in Florida about two weeks ago visiting my parents and while we were there we all went to the Devil Rays game. Anybody who know anything about baseball knows the Devil Rays are horrible (always have been) and could be considered a minor league team. Anyways, we had a blast and if I lived anywhere near Tampa Bay I would be the biggest Devil Rays fan there is. Here are my observations from the game:

This was the most fan friendly interactive stadium I think I have ever been to. On the lower level out in the outfield they have numerous exhibits/stations for free that you could go to whether it was looking at an actual locker room, batting cages, or the Ted Williams museum.
Though the Devil Rays are bad, they are doing some awesome things to attract fans to the stadium. Parking for the first 7,500 cars is free! This just blew my mind. Also, everyone who came received a free program, a free small Devil Rays cooler, and a Dale Earnhardt lanyard.
I like the dome. It was built in 1990 designed specifically for baseball. But the nice fact is no matter if it is raining outside or if the temperate is 100 (which it gets to in central Florida) baseball can still be played.
If the Devil Rays could play defense the could win some more ballgames. Numerous times did I see a catchable ball that was simply missed.
First time in my life I have seen back-to-back triples.
Nomar Garciparra did not play, but that did not stop the fans from holding up a blanket in the upper deck reading, "NO MAR ROIDS" My wife got a laugh out the sign. Maybe if Nomar had kept taking steroids when he was with the Cubs he wouldn't have been injured for the whole time he was in Chicago.
Derek Lowe is a great sinker ball pitcher.
If I lived around Tampa Bay I would have season tickets.

Day 7 - Friday - Influence

2007-07-07T09:59:00.000-05:00

Friday wrapped up an incredible week at CIY Summer Conference at Chapman University.

Friday morning, Doug Aldridge's sermon was right on. One of the quotes/examples he used was from the life of Jim Elliot. There was a prayer that Jim Elliot prayed, which was to not be a mile marker on the road of other people's lives, but to be a fork in the road where people have to make a choice after encountering him.

The dodgeball tournament was the first dodgeball tournament played on field turf. The tennis courts were being used, so everyone played in the end zone of the football field. The tournament was almost won by the same group of guys who won the basketball tournament. The crazy thing about that is they are from a smaller church (their group size was 27) and almost beat all the team from CCV, which brought 400. My favorite team name was "B&E" which stood for absolutely nothing. You ask them what it means and they rattle off 6 different names (ie. bacon and eggs, breaking and entering).

Like I have said before, this was one of the most stress-free weeks I have been apart of the last 6 years at CIY, with only one minor discipline issue involving play dough and pool table. But even that I don't think was any CIY kids. To top off the week, the semi-truck door was shut at 11.25pm, and nothing but praise for Matt Foreman for leading the team and getting it done.

Day 6 - Thursday - Isolation

2007-07-06T08:59:00.000-05:00

It is always exciting to see who you will reconnect with at CIY Summer Conference. Last night I was able to talk to Nathan Alcorn, one of interns from last summer, for about 30 minutes about his current internship at CCV and about what he is going to do after he graduates after this year. Nathan has a great heart and him and I are similar in many ways.

Abbey sat and talked tonight to the youth minister of Central Christian Church in Portales, NM, Josh McVey for long time after dinner. They had gone to Ozark Christian College at the same time and are actually friends on MySpace, but had no idea they would be here at conference. The first encounter was kinda like, " I know you," "Yeah, I know you too - Josh?".

Also, one of the other leaders of Christ's Church of the Valley, Luke Wright, was a bible college camp team member when Abbey and I were interns at Summer Conference 4 years ago. It just makes you think of who you meet today and the relationships you form, who knows when you will reconnect in the future.

Today during free time every church bolted for the beach, and so did our staff. We went to California Pizza Kitchen and Matt, Ben, Travis and I rode our bikes to beach from Chapman University. There is a great trail/mini road that runs for about 12 miles and dumps directly into Huntington Beach.

At the beach, CCV baptized a large number of kids and while this was going on, an amazing thing happened. A guy was walking by, he just graduated high school and was at the beach on vacation, he saw what was going on and ran out to the group and wanted to be baptized also. He has accepted Jesus into his heart, and for the last couple of months he knew he needed to be baptized, but did not know a pastor to do it. After the youth ministers talked to him, he was also baptized. What an amazing story.

During the night session, Dusty Frizzell delivered the sermon and it was a powerful site to see the students praying and erasing their own hurts and the hurts of others off the isolation booth walls.

Day 5 - Wednesday - Injured

2007-07-06T08:27:00.000-05:00

The theme of day 5 CIY Summer Conference is Injured. In the morning session, Doug Aldridge, a professor at Ozark Christian College gave a great message. He talked about David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel, but one the interesting things he showed us was - if you look at the chapter titles before and after David's sin in 2 Samuel 11, you can see there was a turning point. The first half of the book is about the rise and the second half (until the last two chapters) is on the downward slope. When Doug began, he showed us that "one day" and one sin or bad decision can leave us injured and down the wrong path. He concluded by showing us that "one day" and one decision can turn us back along the right path. When we are injured, healing does not start with the person that injured you, but instead it starts with you and often starts with you saying the words "I'm sorry."

Today was also the day of the Compassion/AIDS in Africa session. What a powerful session and the impact it is leaving on students. Abbey, my wife, talked to a young girl after who has had someone close to her (I think it was a family member) die because of the AIDS virus.

Today during free time, Ben, Travis and I made our way to another local bike shop and then back to REI. At REI, we were walking out, and I decided to ride my bike back to campus. It was about 8-10 miles, but I had no idea where I was going. I knew I need to go north, but the parts of LA you are suppose to drive through with your doors locked - I rode my bike through them not having a clue what I was doing. 45 minutes later I was back at the dorm. I did feel a little like Michael Bluth off Arrested Development riding his bike all over Orange County.

In the night session, students are asked to go and write their injuries on large plexiglass. After the night was over, Kevin had all the staff stay in the auditorium and pray for the hurts. We then got back together and discussed the injuries that stood out to each of us the most. To me the most reoccurring theme and hurt was abandonment and betrayal. There were many about relationships with their parents, and the one that got a hold of me was, "My mother and knowing that I was a mistake." This stood out to me because of someone I used to work with who has an amazing testimony about how he was supposed to be aborted and he was a "mistake."

Day 4 - Tuesday - Identity

2007-07-05T08:38:00.000-05:00

Day 4 of CIY Summer Conference at California One. The staff is obsessed with Jamba Juice. This cult following is led by our production manager Matt Foreman, who had Jamba Juice 3 separate times today. A few of the guys woke up and left at 6:30 am to go get Jamba. I am also guilty, I have had it twice today. It also didn't help we had an unlimited number of buy one get one free coupons.

Score one for the underdogs! Today we held our 3-on-3 basketball tournament which had about 20 different teams. This week there is a church of 400 and another of 100 from Arizona. For two days all we heard was how this team or that team from the large churches was going to win. The team that won the tournament was from a group of 27 that took a 15 hour train ride to get here.

The staff did beat the band in basketball and I did take another trip to REI, this time for Ben Platt to buy some additions to his bike.

The theme today was Identity, which seems to be very powerful and very clear. Doug Aldridge spoke in the morning and Chris Duncan spoke at night, both delivering great sermons. My highlight of the day was during Chris's sermon looking over and there are two security guard from the college listening to every word.

Day 3 - Monday

2007-07-04T09:01:00.000-05:00

Day 3 of CIY Summer Conference California 1 was unlike any other Monday of Conference I have been apart of in the last 6 years. Because there are 4 churches attending the week, and two of those churches are already on campus, registration consisted of the leader of each group calling me when they arrived and then I would take care of giving them all the information they needed. No large set-up, and the staff did not have to be at registration all day. The staff was able to relax and it definitely put everyone in a "stress free" mode.

Flagstaff and CCV, the two churches that arrived early, both went to Huntington Beach for the day. The other two churches arrived around noon. Central Christian Church from Portales, NM did something I don't think I had ever heard of before. From New Mexico, they took a 15 hour train ride to Los Angeles and then took the city buses to Chapman University. Josh, their leader, said the train was not too bad, the crazy part was the pubic bus system in Los Angeles. I can only imagine the experience that must have been. Christ Church of the Valley from Prescott, AZ left at 6am and arrived shortly after lunch.

The rest of the day consisted of an REI trip, where I bought some new toys for my bike and making sure everything was ready to go for 1st session. Matt Bayless and his band did an incredible job. Kevin did a great job with the sermon that night. He talked about how God is always pursuing us. God is always speaking into our lives, but do we ever stop to listen? Romans 5:8, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" was the scripture reference Kevin used to tie together the night. No matter what we have done, Christ gave his life to save us. God is pursing you.

Day 2 - Sunday

2007-07-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

Day 2 of CIY Summer Conference California 1 for our staff consisted of setting up, more setting up, and finally finishing setting up. We have such a hard working team (interns and tech staff) and everyone knows their jobs, so everything gets done quickly.

Two of the churches arrived early for conference which officially begins on Monday. Christ's Church of Flagstaff arrived Sat night and spent Sunday at Knott's Berry Farm, America's 1st Theme Park. Supposedly this place is cooler that Disneyland. Probably because I have never lived out west, when I hear "Knott's Berry Farm" I think you will go and spend a day picking blueberries off bushes and then at the end you get some good jam/jelly. The other church, Christ's Church of the Valley, arrived shortly after lunch and played a game called "Campus Commando". This is a game designed to get the students familiar with the campus. They primarily are dressed in black, camo, and a few of them wear ski masks. Great idea, but when the same church played this game last year, they forgot to let the campus security know they were doing it, and you can just imagine the mess they created.

Our staff enjoyed In-n-out again and also went to The Block later that night.

That night for church, Kevin Greer, the director of the week, began by asking everyone the questions of "What is one thing you love? Who do you love? Who is one person in your life that has help you grow spiritually?" He talked about getting deeper with your walk and also said a quote from A.W. Tozer that went something like, "No matter whether you are spiritually deep or spiritually shallow, neither will stay hidden for very long." One of the things Kevin has asked our staff to do, is during every encounter time, that our staff would also take their personal quiet time also every morning. The meetings and our tasks can all happen after that. This is one of the first times our staff has been asked by the director to take the quiet time at the same time as the students. Kevin is an amazing teacher and truly cares about making disciples.

Day 1 of California 1

2007-07-01T09:24:00.000-05:00

We began our travel for CA1 Summer Conference of CIY today. Day 1 was an extremely long day . For Kevin Greer, the director of the week, his day started by waking up before 3.30 am Central Time. Kevin, Abbey and I flew out of Tulsa at 8.00 so he had an extremely early morning. Abbey and I were fortunate to drive down to Tulsa the night before and stay with her parents.

We made it into Orange County about 11.00 am West Coast time and one piece of advice I learned yesterday - renting a car the weekend before July 4 can be an annoying, long process. Although we already had a reservation, everyone was disorganized and had no idea what they were doing.

Anyways, then we got some In-N-Out for lunch, meeting in the afternoon, quick nap, and then some stinkin good BBQ. We ate at Lucille's BBQ, located only out west and it was some of the best BBQ I have had in a long time. A Jamba Juice run, and then all of our interns arrived about 9pm and then the semi truck arrived about midnight. Load in at 8am in the morning.

The good new is that one of the churches has already arrived, and another church is arriving on Sunday. Both churches account for almost 95% of the people coming, so it will be nice for them and for us for them to receive all of materials they need before Monday.

Sunday will be a long day of set-up, but Matt Foreman, our production manager, will be in charge meaning there is nothing to worry about.

My First Love

2007-06-22T07:28:00.000-05:00

Last night I was able to reunite with my first love. My mom, Abbey and I went to Sonny's BBQ for dinner. For those you who don't know, Sonny's BBQ is a chain restaurant all throughout the South. I grew up on Sonny's in Pensacola and also worked at one for a summer and a few Christmas Breaks.

This trip to Sonny's was different from any other I have experienced. Sonny's is redesigning all their stores to make them a little more "nicer." All the new stores (and eventually the old), will have a full bar, a redesigned dining area, and an outdoor dining area. You can see some pictures of the redesign on their website. Also, they have added some more menu items. I tried the pulled chicken for the first time last night.

I know everyone has their opinion on the best bbq, but for pulled pork and beef, Sonny's is hard to beat. If you have never been to a Sonny's, you are missing out.

Seattle and Portland

2007-06-20T08:30:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago Abbey and I got to go to Portland and Seattle for a few days. The purpose of the trip was to meet with some youth ministers and tell them about CIY's jr. high program Believe. We flew into Portland late on Monday night, drove up to Seattle and had lunch with 14 guys from the area at an amazing restaurant on Tuesday.

After that Abbey and I went to downtown Seattle and went to the Original Starbucks, Pike Place Market, REI, the original Kavu store, and the Space Needle. That night we attended my fourth major league game of the year, the Baltimore Orioles vs. the Seattle Mariners.

The next day Abbey and I went hiking at Snoqualmie Falls and then drove down to Portland and had a great dinner at a restaurant downtown. We went to Powell's books and then called it a night.

One the last day, Abbey went and dropped me off at Abundant Life Church (where the lunch was being held), and she went to the mall. The luncheon, set entirely up by Randy Gay, the youth minister, was well attended and I received a ton of feedback about the last couple years of Believe. That is one of my favorite things about meeting with the leaders is finding out what we did right, what we did wrong, what we need to do better. Also, the food, prepared by the church, was amazing as well.

Anyways, I have attached the slide show at the top of some of the pictures from the trip.

Ballgame Number 5 - Cardinals vs. Royals

2007-06-19T09:49:00.000-05:00

Last week, Abbey and I went up to Kansas City with our friends Eric and Torrie to watch the Cardinals play the Royals. Eric works with me at CIY, primarily with the Superstart program. Eric is a big Cardinals fan and although I do consider myself a Royals fan, I am a without a doubt an anti-Cardinals fan. Fortunately the Royals showed up and scored more runs than they probably did in the month of May. We had a great time. Anyways, here are my observations:

When you buy tickets from a scalper make sure you look at your tickets before you actually give them cash. The scalper said, "I got 2 and 2. I got 2 and 2 together." It was actually two together and then one single ticket and one single ticket.
I came within a few rows of a foul ball. I have caught a few balls during batting practice of a major league game, but this was probably the closest I have come to catching a ball during a game.
This was probably the fullest I have ever seen Kauffman Stadium. I have been to about 10 Royals home games, and I think the only time fans show up is when the Cardinals are in town.
There were probably more Royals fans than Cardinals fans, but not by many.
A scalper will say whatever he can to get you to buy his tickets. At first he made it clear that the game was sold out (which it was not - not even close) and we would not be able to get tickets anywhere else. Then the next line (trying to sell us on the 2 and 2 together) was that all you need is the ticket and then you would be able to sit anywhere because there won't be that many people in the lower section.
The Royals raise their prices on tickets, parking, etc. when the Cardinals come to town. I guess they know these are the three games a year that people come to.
The Cardinals looked bad. The Cardinals looked old. You wonder how long Edmonds and Rolen will be around.
I know this is the only game I have seen the Royals in person this year, but they actually looked like a baseball team. They hit the ball.
Alex Gordon, the Royals next top prospect, didn't start the season too hot but looked like he could hit and did well in the game.
The Royals need to put my on salary and take me to all their games. In my lifetime I have seen the Royals play 8 times against the Rangers (2), Red Sox, Athletics, and Cardinals (4). The Royals have won 7 times. Give me a contract.
QuikTrip is amazing. The hot dogs are better at QT than they are at the stadium. You need to try their new Coffee Cappuccino Frozen Milkshake drinks.

The Dip by Seth Godin

2007-06-18T19:27:00.000-05:00

I recently finished the new book by Seth Godin, The Dip. It is a very short book which could be read in one sitting. I have read a few of Seth Godin's other books, and this one was similar but also very different.

This book had one main theme, a very simple theme and point, and was consistent on the main point.

The Dip tells us that whatever we do, we need to be the best in the world. If what you are working on right now is not helping you (or your company) to become the best in the world in your field, you need to quit it immediately.

Godin describes the actual dip as, "The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery. A long slog that's actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path. The Dip is the long stretch between beginner's luck and real accomplishment."

What he says in nothing ground breaking, but it is articulated in a very good way, and also a great reminder of where you want to be long term.

The one thing that stands out and I will remember is that no matter what you do strive and work toward being the best in the world. An example he uses is from the section The Biggest Mistake They Made in School:
"Just about everything you learned in school about life is wrong, but the wrongest thing might very well be this: Being well rounded is the secret to success.
When you came home from school with two As, a B+, and three Bs, you were doing just fine. Imagine the poor kid who had an A+ and four Cs. Boy, was he in trouble.
Fast forward a few decades from those school days, and think about the decisions you make today--about which doctor to pick, which restaurant to visit, or which accountant to hire. How often do you hope that your accountant is a safe driver and a decent golfer?
In a free market, we reward the exceptional."

Kelly Pickler sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

2007-06-14T14:46:00.000-05:00

It is a Cubs tradition that a celebrity sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch of Cubs home games since Harry Caray died about 9 years ago. On Tuesday night, Kelly Pickler was the lucky winner. Watch below, and notice she says "popcorn and cracker jack" instead of the traditional "peanuts and cracker jack".

Ballgame Number 4 - Baltimore Orioles vs. Seattle Mariners

2007-06-13T08:47:00.000-05:00

Last week I was up in Seattle/Portland talking to youth ministers about the Portland Believe event coming up in October. Being the smart guy I am, I looked at the Mariners schedule before the trip was planned and found a home game to go to. This was the first game that I have been able to go to with my wife this year. Here are my thoughts about the game in the great Northwest.

Safeco Field was probably the nicest stadium I have been to all year. It is only a few years old and you can tell they put some money into the stadium.

Granted it was the Orioles, but there was a significant low number of fans at the game. Maybe this had something to do with it being a little cold or the threat of rain (though they have a roof), but I think there still should have been more fans there.

I know Ichiro is the big star for the Mariners, but this was the most cross cultural group of fans I have seen.

Though there were not that many fans, they were the most supportive fans as far as apparel goes I have seen all year. Everyone was wearing a hat or shirt to support the home team.

Only in Seattle do I get to decide between clam chowder in a bread bowl or sushi (I could have got an "Ichiroll" for my in park meal. I chose the chowder in a bread bowl.

The bullpen was stinkin cool. You could walk up to a chain link fence by the bullpen and literally be 5 feet away from the pitcher warming up.

We bought a $3 program (not an official program, but a team program right outside the stadium) and it was one of the funniest things I have read all year. You would have thought the person writing the player bios hates the team. I read three all of them ripping apart their own team. Examples - Mike Hargrove, Manager - "We're pretty shocked to still be writing Mike Hargrove profiles for another season." Richie Sexton, 1st base - "For an annual salary exceeding $15 million, the Mariners and their fans deserve so much more. C'mon Richie, start earning your money!" and my favorite, Jeff Weaver, pitcher - "If he never throws another pitch for the Seattle Mariners, he'll go down in history as the worst player to ever play for the franchise."

The closing of the roof was pretty cool. The game started out outside, but with the threat of rain, about the 4th inning, they closed the roof. The entire process took about 7-10 minutes.

Another cool feature at Safeco, was that you could order food via text message and have it delivered to your seat. There were fliers that had instructions and corresponding codes to each food item. You texted what you wanted and waited for additional instructions. We did not try it out, but having it available was still pretty cool.

Tip for the game: Get early for parking. We parked a few blocks away at a "non-official" parking lot and paid $5. We arrived about 30-45 minutes before game time. As we were leaving the stadium we saw that the same sign had been changed $15.

Ballgame Number 3

2007-05-24T07:30:00.000-05:00

Ballgame Number 3 of the year. A few weeks ago Josh, Krystle and I were down in Arlington, TX to look at the venue for the Texas Believe in the fall. No other way to plan a trip then to look at the baseball schedule and see when the Yankees are in town. So we drove down from Joplin timing it so that we would hit Arlington about game time.

I think this was the first time in my life I have seen the Yankees play. I have not been to a ton of American League games, but now I can say I saw the Bronx Bombers. Also, this was the closest I have ever got in my life to seeing a no-hitter. The Yankees carried a no-hitter into the 8 inning and then gave up a hit. It was also the first win for Phil Hughes for the Yankees. Phil Hughes has been regarded as "The Next Great Yankee Pitcher." Anyways, here are the observations from the game:

- All Texas Police Officers have to wear Cowboy hats.

- There are more Yankee fans in Texas than there are Ranger fans.

- Don't take your kids to a game and go sit in the bleachers during a blow-out.

- Alex Rodriguez really is that good.

- Starbucks is taking over - they were giving out free samples when you came in, and there was a location inside the stadium.

- The Rangers are horrible.

- Yankee fans need to go back to New York and stay there.

How did my bag arrive before me?

2007-05-15T07:09:00.000-05:00

On my last flight I was flying home to Joplin, MO from Jacksonville, FL. On the flight down to Florida, I carried my bag on the plane with me. Why I didn't care them with me on the way back I have no idea.

I knew when I landed in Joplin at 3:25 pm on Friday there was a chance my bag would not be there. I flew from Jacksonville to Atlanta to Kansas City to Joplin and only had about a 30 minute layover in Atlanta. When there was no bag at the huge Joplin airport, I figured it was because my bag got lost in Atlanta. Though slightly annoying, my house is 4 minutes away and there was nothing in the bag I needed immediately.

After the bag ladies threw the bags out of the roll up garage door (seriously) and I didn't see my bag, they told me to go the counter. I go to the US Airways counter and the other lady looks at me like they have never lost a bag before. Before looking anywhere for my bag, she gives me a paper to fill out. I hand her the filled out form and ask if there is anything else I can do. "Well, here is the US Airways number - you can call that in a little bit and they might be able to help you." I had two phone numbers on the bag and one of the phone numbers was my cell phone which was dead - no big deal right, surely they will call both phones?

I waited until noon the next day (almost 24 hours later) to call the US Airways number, and they gave me the phone number the the US Airways baggage claim. I call the US Airways baggage claim but because I don't have a claim number (I never received this information from the lady behind the counter) and because my first flight was on Delta and because of some "baggage claim agreement" , I needed to file a claim with Delta also. They were so kind to give me the Delta number. I call Delta, they give me the number for Delta baggage claim. I call Delta baggage claim and after about 10 minutes I find out they can't help me because of the baggage claim agreement." I kindly let Carlos know that I don't care about any "baggage claim agreement" I just wanted to talk to someone who would help me find my bag. The only thing he could tell me to do was to go back to the airport.

Fortunately, I live close to the airport, but when I arrived there was no one at the US Airways counter because there wasn't a flight coming in for another couple of hours. So, I would need to come back. Why did I not carry on my bag? One of the rental car workers I think felt bad for me , and told me they would call the security officer in the barn. She did say though that if he was mowing, he would not hear the phone. This just keeps getting better. My luck, he wasn't mowing at that moment, he came out and what do you know but my bag was behind the counter.

I get in the car, pull out my charger, plug in my phone, and there was a message. It was from US Airways. Thanks US Airways for calling only one of the two numbers written on the bag. But this is the real twist. The message was at 2:43 pm on Friday. That means that my bag was in Joplin 45 minutes before my flight landed. That means my bag was behind the counter when I filled out the sheet that apparently lacked a "claim number." She didn't even look for a bag.

Now my question is, if my bag arrived at 2:43pm, why couldn't I have arrived at 2.43pm?

Ballgame Number 2

2007-04-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago the Believe team was able to see the Atlanta Braves take on the Washington Nationals (and watch John Smoltz pitch). This past Sunday I enjoyed my second Major League game of the season. Josh, Krystle and I were driving down from Indianapolis to Gatlinburg, TN and what better way to enjoy a pit stop than to go to a baseball game.

Let me first say that I have never been a big fan of the town of Cincinnati - every time I am there it just seems cold and bitter. Not that the game changed my opinion about Cincy, but it was nice to actually enjoy the town for at least one day in my life.

The Philadelphia Phillies were in town and it was a beautiful day in Cincy to enjoy a ballgame. Below I have listed my observations of the ballpark, the teams and players, attending a baseball game in general and so on. Hopefully there will be many more games this season to come.

- Picking up tickets at will call was about the easiest thing I have ever done. There were kiosks (like at an airport) - you walk up, scan your credit cards and out pops your tickets. Stupid easy.

- You can get Skyline Chili at the ballpark.

- Bringing young children to a baseball game can be a bad idea. I felt so bad for Tommy (the boy in the row behind us) because he couldn't do anything right. My favorite was when he asked his mom for some water and she snapped back, "I drank it all!" Poor Tommy.

- Obtain seats where you can see the large scoreboard. It will make the game much more enjoyable.

- The Lemon Ice is good, but man is it sour!

- You don't help your team's chances when you give up 2 runs before your teammates even gets to bat.

- If you want to make a lot of money, go get some coolers, fill them with ice and bottled water you bought from Wal-Mart, stand on the sidewalk after a game and sell them for $1. It will seem like a steal after everyone have been paying $4 a bottle inside the park.

- The Reds are bad, but they can still beat the Cubs.

Opening Day Predictions

2007-04-02T07:09:00.000-05:00

As far as I can tell, this is the first time in human history that three important dates happened on the same day. Palm Sunday, April Fools Day, and Opening Day of Baseball.

This year, like every other year of my life, I plan to get more into baseball than the year before. I also plan to attend as many games as humanly possible without losing my job, wife, house, etc.

With the excitement of the upcoming season, here are my fearless predictions:

The Royals will be one of the hottest teams in baseball until mid may when they realize they are not suppose to be this good...they get rid of their up and coming franchise player (ex. Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon) and finish last in their division.
The St. Louis Cardinals will finish 23-139 (this is more of a hope/prayer).
Barry Bonds will break Hank Aaron's record at home in San Francisco after sitting out a 8 game road trip because everyone outside of the Bay Area knows he cheated.
Mark Prior and Kerry Wood will be on the disabled list 12 times.
Sammy Sosa comes back with a fury and sets the single season home run record even after being drug tested everyday for the last two months of the season.
Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, will be arrested for drunk driving (oh wait, this already happened during spring training).
The Yankees will spend a lot of money, the will make the playoffs, ARod will all of a sudden strike out every time, make lots of errors and they will lose before the World Series (this is almost a guarantee - it happens every year).
The Cubs will beat the Indians in 5 games in the World Series. (Hey, it’s April, no games have been played yet, and there is still at least 3 weeks before the Cubs can be statistically eliminated)

Bad Dancing

2007-03-13T16:12:00.000-05:00

I will cheer for Florida in the tournament and they will be the team that I want to win, but in no way do I support this horrible example of dancing. Not that I could do any better, but Joakim Noah is annoying.

Diamonds are forever..maybe

2007-02-14T08:06:00.001-06:00

For all of you who are done with Valentine's Day...enjoy yourself.

He finally wins the big one

2007-02-08T06:52:00.000-06:00

For those of you living in a hole, Peyton Manning and Colts got the monkey off of their back by defeating the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl 29-17 in Miami on Sunday.

There are two interesting stories that have surfaced in the last day or two about a man named Peyton Manning. One of them is confirmed the other is not.

#1 - "Going to Disney World!"
I heard this story on the radio, but have been unable to find it in print.
After every major professional championship event, Disney World somehow gets the most prominent player/MVP to say that the next thing they are going to do is "Go to Disney World!" The first time I every remember seeing this was when the Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Orel Hershier beat the Oakland A's in the World Series. He was on top of his teammates shoulders and he was going to the Magic Kingdom next. Other have included John Elway, Barry Bonds, Magic Johnson.
Well, after the Super Bowl, Disney approached Peyton Manning about saying the famous line. He asked how much was the payout, Disney replied with $30,000. Not a bad check for saying one line if you ask me. Peyton, (also known as King of Endorsements), said no, but he would do if for 1 million dollars. Disney passed, and had the real MVP of the game (Dominic Rhodes) and the coach, Tony Dungy, saying the famous line.
I know Peyton is good, but asking for a million dollars?

#2 - Losing a bet
Back in 7th grade, I lost a bet (have not idea what it was about) and had to shave my head. When the Twins beat the Braves in the World Series, my dad had to wear a Twins tie to work. If Ohio State had beaten the Florida Gators Robert Pierre would have to wear a Speedo at a pool party. I am glad Florida won on so many levels.
Now let me bring you to a vow that happened over the Super Bowl. I can only guess how much alcohol was consumed when this man agreed to do what he did (It is fitting this happened in a bar). Scott Weise, a die-hard Chicago Bears fan, will officially change his name to Peyton Manning because of the outcome of the game. Peyton Manning was MVP of the Super Bowl. Scott works at Staples. I know about being a true fan, but changing your name, when is it too much?

Jeep Dealership --> You win this round

2007-02-07T07:31:00.000-06:00

Jeep Dealership wins round one. Hopefully this will be the last round.

A few weeks ago I received a coupon in the mail for an oil change, tires balanced and rotated and a brakes inspection from the Jeep Dealership (at Continental Auto Mall) for my wife's 2002 Jeep Cherokee. It actually wasn't a bad price for all that was included (usually there is no way in the world I would go to the dealership to pay their astronomical prices) and I love coupons, so we decided to take them up on their offer. Never again. It is a scam.

I scheduled my appointment, took the Jeep in and waited. The clerk/salesman (you will see why he has both titles in my eyes) comes out to the waiting area and lets me know the results of the brake inspection. Basically he informs me that my front brakes need to be replaced. But he does it in a way where I feel as though I could run off the road or into the back of a semi-truck if I don't get them replaced immediately. I had no problems with any of my brakes before he looked at it! So of course with the pressure on, instead of saying "No thanks" and going to someone else that won't drain my bank account, I cave to to the pressure and let them install the brakes. About 2 minutes later, after I come to my senses, I regret my decision.

This is not the first time I have been suckered with a vehicle scam. I will never take my car to the Firestone in Joplin after their little scam on my Explorer two years ago.

I really regretted my decision when I wrote the check. I felt like I had just written a check in response to an e-mail to get the Prince of Nigeria's treasure over to America.

Piece of advice - if the dealership tells you that you need to fix something, go to someone else get a second opinion and let them install it for a fraction of the price.

Yes, the Jeep Dealership won that round. I am a moron. And Continetial Auto Mall --> get a new jingle.

Make the process as hard as possible

2007-02-01T08:17:00.000-06:00

This past week I received a notice in the mail letting me know that I needed to renew my tags for my vehicle. No big deal, right? WRONG. This was one of the most annoying and not customer friendly processes I have dealt with in a long time.

On the notice to renew in big bold letters - "Three Easy Ways to Renew!" Man were they lying. The first was by mail, the second was online, and the third was in person. I was somewhat skeptical already about it being easy, so I thought I would choose the path of least resistance and go in person. This way I could know I got it done, get my sticker for my tag and go home.

I showed up to office, handed over my form and asked who I needed to make the check out to. She takes a look at the form and then looks at me, "Do you have your insurance form?"
"It is in my car, I will go get it."
"Do you have your car inspection form?"
Because I have owned my car less than a year, it was inspected last year - surely I didn't have to go again this year. Oh no, because my car is a '99 I have to get it inspected every odd year from here on out. But the inspection is not the last thing I need.

I also need to go get a personal property tax receipt. The wonderful lady at the DMV then informs me of the process to get the receipt. Here you go (kinda like choose your own adventure):
- Go to the Jasper County Courthouse. If you have already paid go to room 107 for a receipt, if you have not paid go to room 207.
- I had not paid, so 207 here I come. I stand in line for a while, make it to the counter, tell the lady my name, she looks something up on a computer, takes a scratch piece of paper, scribbles down about 7 numbers and then tells me to go to room 107.
- In room 107, I wait in another line, hand the scrap piece of paper to a guy who goes and looks something else up on a computer.
- Now I write my check to the County Collector. I ask who to make it out to (expecting "Jasper County Collector") and I make the check out to "Steve Holt." I know he is the County Collector, but it would make me feel (1) safer, (2) like I am not living in redneck Missouri, and (3) nobody could embezzle money if I could make it out to something official, instead of an individual.
Now I have my receipt, next is the inspection.

Please is whatever business you are in, please make the process as stinkin' hard as you can for the consumer.

Rivalry Game

2007-01-25T06:15:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday Night, the University of Alabama came to The Plains at Auburn for a basketball game. Auburn upset the number 12 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 81-57. This is worthy of a blog post for two reasons: (1) Auburn is rarely if ever good at basketball and because of this has lost to Alabama the last 7 times they have played and (2) you cannot explain this heated rivalry in words.

As far as the actual team that Auburn puts on the court to play, they are young, they are fast, and they are not very smart. They love to run and they love to take bad shots. But if you run faster than your opponent you will get shots close to the basket.

I absolutely love how much Alabama is hated in Auburn. There were two chants that were consistent throughout the night, "Overrated!" (Which clearly Alabama is); and "Bring on Saban!" (in accordance with Alabama's new football coach Nick Saban). The other spectacle I loved was students painted their chest orange and had a dark navy hand print square in their chest. This is to symbolize the last five times that these two teams have meet on the football field in the Iron Bowl - where Auburn has won the last five.

WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA!

Ice in Southern California

2007-01-16T07:47:00.000-06:00

I can only shake my head. I want to laugh but I know they are serious. On Sunday our Believe crew left Pomona, CA to drive back to Joplin, MO. On our way out of town we had to drop our truck drivers off at The Fairplex (our venue), and on the way I saw something I don't I have ever seen before.

Let me preface this: When we left there had been no rain or precipitation in the area for quite sometime. There was frost on the ground, and any ice on road had come from gutters.

I saw two large flashing signs reading, "ICE! CAUTION ICE AHEAD!" Not that big a deal - everyone across the nation would put out signs if there was ice. But then I saw it. There were 4 different cop cars at three different spots blocking small (and I mean very small) patches of ice on the road. When I say small, I mean 2 x 2. I mean smaller than my suitcase. The cops weren't just blocking these patches of ice, they were closing lanes to do it!

I can not claim I am from the Midwest (I will claim to be a Floridian till I die) but by living in Missouri the last 3 years and Tennessee the 4 before that you would not believe the difference the way people react to ice compared to California. People from Missouri and Oklahoma have an understanding of what to do when the snow/ice gets bad.

I also do agree that Southern California gets this way about every time the Bears win a playoff game, but I also know that cops in Pomona probably have something better to do with tax dollars that block off a patch of ice. Go catch some bad guys.

Our speaker, Nate Head, had his flight cancelled because LAX (only one of the largest airports this side of the world) because they did not have any deicer. How would like to be the 16-year-old sophomore working at Home Depot when you received that order? Nate said people were freaking out not knowing what to do because of the weather.

By no means do I consider myself to be an expert driving in/on ice, I am just amazed when something happens out of the ordinary to people, how they react as if the sky was falling is something to just sit back and watch.

I can say all of this after driving on 3 inches of ice up a hill with a trailer to get to our hotel last night in Oklahoma City.

I caught a shark

2007-01-12T10:47:00.000-06:00

Over the Christmas break, I was able to spend a week with my parents down in Clearwater, FL. They live on the beach and you can walk out their back door onto the sand.

The second day I was there, my dad and I went fishing out in the ocean (we waded out about 50 feet) and although we did not catch much (my dad only caught one catfish), I did catch something I had never caught before in my life. I caught a shark.

It was a bonnethead shark (see picture) about 2 feet in length. Because we were standing out in the water, and the closest camera was back the condo, I am sad to say that I do not have a picture of "my shark." I will say though it was pretty stinkin' exciting.

My Week in Sports

2006-11-28T07:44:00.000-06:00

College Football:

Texas A&M 12, Texas 7. After this score became final no other games mattered the entire weekend. I know, I know it was a cheap shot on McCoy but I'll still take it. If only USC could have taken out one of Vince Young's knees...
Notre Dame is overrated again. Blow out by Michigan, blown out by USC. Their biggest win is beating Georgia Tech by 4 points. Every commentator in America was holding onto the wish/hope that ND would play for the National Championship. Please.
Write it down - Steve Kragthorpe, head coach at Tulsa, will be the next head coach at Miami or Alabama. What would be hilarious is if he went to Miami and then Tulsa hires Larry Coker.
If you watched the OU-OSU game, did you know that Boone Pickens is OSU's #1 fan?

NFL:

Jason Campbell got his second start and first win in his pro career. Only about a year late Joe Gibbs.
Tony Romo throws for 5 TDs. Good thing he was sitting on my Fantasy bench.
Jay Cutler is in at Denver. After Shanahan's interview you would have thought Jake the Snake was already cut and playing in the Arena League.
Mike Vick can run like the wind but does not know how to react to drunk fans.
The Giants absolutely collapsed. Maybe Eli shouldn't have been a baby and gone to San Diego, I heard they have a pretty good team this year.

College Basketball:

I know the game was in November, but the Kansas-Florida game felt like March.
As much as I like watching Florida play basketball, I can't stand watching Joakim Noah. He acts likes a toddler.
How about Gonzaga beating UNC? Looks like they can still win after losing Morrison.

Baseball:

Cubs sign Alfonzo Soriano. They paid way too much. But it gives us Cubs fans hope for next year. Going all the way in '07.
McGuire won't get in the Hall on the first ballot. Something to do with steroids.

NBA:

It is still as boring as last year.

Hockey:

Why can't they go on strike for another couple of years?

Black Friday...Cyber Monday...It's a scam

2006-11-27T07:32:00.000-06:00

Oh how the holiday shopping season is upon us. There are more sales on Black Friday (the day after thanksgiving - to all of you living in a hole) than any other day of the year. I heard on the radio approx. 140 million people went shopping in America last Friday. This is day retailers tradionally turn profitable for the year. Today is Cyber Monday where there will be more internet sales today than any other day of the year.

Garden Ridge was open from 9am Thursday until midnight Sunday for 87 hours of madness (who goes shopping for towels at 2.30 in the morning?). You might even find a crazy deal on an EMachines computer at 4 am at Best Buy for less than $200 (for that computer it's not really a deal). Yes there are some good deals, but for the most part prices are really similar to the rest of the year. These two days are really about tradition. EVERYONE goes shopping on Friday because that is what they have always done. Oh, and the American media does nothing but hype the day even more (why would they not). If you truly are a smart shopper then you know there are deals like this all the time if you look.

My personal experiences of Black Friday - my senior year in high school I worked at Wendy's in the Mall and the day never ended. One thing Americans like to do about as much as shop is eat.
This year I enjoyed 18 holes of golf while people are sitting outside Target waiting to get $5 DVDs.

I will use this day to my advantage. 239 items are ending on ebay today from the username allcottcap. So fall into the trap, become a sad bargain crazed freak and go buy something.

Buy it, Buy it now!!!

2006-11-25T07:55:00.000-06:00

The link to my PS3 auction on my previous post does not work. Here is the correct link. Bid on it!!!!

I own a 60GB

2006-11-23T10:22:00.000-06:00

I own a 60GB...at least for a few more days. Yes, yes I am taking advantage of an opportunity to make a quick buck. Right now my PlayStation 3 is on eBay here.

Last week, I called Caleb and told him we would split whatever we made off of the PS3. Next thing you know he is picking up the cash from my wife (I was out of town - don't worry I would have been there too) and heading up to Best Buy at 8 pm on Wed. He can't buy one until Friday at 8am! Fortunately enough, he was number 20 in line and there were only 20 60GBs going on sale. There were a total of 26 people sitting outside the Best Buy (20 60GBs, 6 20GBs), all of them wrote their number on their hand, and they had a big party for a day and a half. All but one (a 14-yr old boy - does he have school?!) of the 26 planned on selling the coveted gaming system.

If you didn't hear about the PlayStation 3 madness across America last week, then you truly do live in a hole. Here are some of the highlights from last week.
- I was in Cincinnati, OH and went by a Target at about 11pm on Thur. and there were 9 people in line. Target was only getting 8 systems and the last guy was trying to buy a seat. The lowest anyone would go was $1500.
- Thursday, Jayson, Johnny and I had a conversation about how this was the perfect night if someone was going to rob a video game store. But then we thought, there is no way - tonight would be the night where there is crazy security and there is no way something like that was going to go down. Well it happened in Dayton, OH.
- At the Wal-Mart in Carthage, MO there were 10 lawn chairs set out. If you got up from your chair to do anything, someone could run in and steal your seat. Talk about setting your self up for a riot.
- Rumors were flying about how many systems Sony was going to release and when.
- Pre-sales on ebay reached as high as $10,000.
- Rules were/are up on ebay for selling the item and less than 24 hours after they were released 40,000 PS3s were available on the auction site.

We will see what happens, but for now, I own a 60GB.

Act like you know what you are doing

2006-11-10T13:37:00.000-06:00

Talk about a lack of security. Matt Foreman and I just returned from the Rose Garden in Portland, OR, where the Portland Trail Blazers play. We did have to walk around a little bit, but after a few trys, there was a open door. Next thing you know, courtside. We just walked right in. Then we walked on the court. Then we sat on the bench. Then we walked to the locker room entrance. This all took place in about 30 minutes. Then we left. Nothing. Nobody said a word. We walked past a few workers. There were some guys working in the arena. We acted liked we knew where we were going and knew what we were doing and nobody cared.

For all you farmers out there...

2006-10-25T07:57:00.000-05:00


Watch the chicken walking behind the horse

Wing Lady

2006-10-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

The other day my wife and I went into Wal-Mart to grab some of those Famous Boneless Honey BBQ wings from the Deli Dept. I gained a new perspective on customer service and what is acceptable and what is forgivable. We waited in line behind two other people and when it was our turn we ordered. A nice sweet slow little old lady was the only one serving the food at that time. Emphasis on slow.

Anyways, my wife got her meal, and then I asked for some wings. It just so happened they didn’t have enough for a full portion. So, this meant she had to go to the back, get a mixing bowl, wash her hands, get gloves, get sauce, get the chicken out of the fryer, mix it up, put it in the warmer, and then put it in the container. In the amount of time it took her I could have gotten my oil changed, my hair cut, and opened a bank account all without leaving the building. I finally got the wings, and I went home and enjoyed them.

The funny part of the story is that there were 3-4 people in line behind us. Through the whole “making of the wings” process, I looked at my wife multiple times and just chuckled. I laughed, not because it was slow, but because the little old lady was completely clueless to the line that was forming. If she did see the line, which I highly doubt, it made her move no faster at all. The guy directly behind me, also thought this was funny, and realized there was nothing he could do but wait patiently.

Why is it when it takes 4 minutes to get our latte, we wonder why the 17-year old can’t make it faster. When we hold for 2 minutes when we call a company our temper rises. But when Wing Lady moves at her own pace, we can only laugh. Is it because she reminds me of everyone’s grandma, she moves at her own pace or because it would do absolutely no good to get agitated?

Go to Webb City Wal-Mart, visit the deli, try the wings. But you can’t get upset at how long it takes.

Bad Weekend for Sports

2006-10-10T20:46:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was a bad weekend for sports in my house. My beloved Auburn Tigers got smoked by the Razorbacks. National Title hopes destroyed. My wife's beloved Oklahoma Sooners got beat by the Texas Longhorns. I really can't stand Texas.

What could be worse than those two loses above is that I got beat in Fantasy Football in our office league. I was the only undefeated team left, and I got beat by a girl. I did help her draft her team, so I kinda got beat by myself. But really, who would have thought the Chargers would have thrown to Gates to get a touchdown and not let their pro-bowl back LT run it across the goal line? If only I had picked up a tight end that would have played. I digress.

What is even worse, is now Jayson is in first place. He has reminded me several times that he is now the one in first place.

Maybe this weekend will be better. Go Bears. Beat Texas.

I just want the seeds

2006-10-06T15:22:00.000-05:00

On our way to Austin, TX, Seth, one of our interns for the year, told me about these sunflower seeds that were the best he's ever had. I told him I need to try them. Let me just say I consider my self a connoisseur of sunflower seeds. I played baseball for the first 21 years of my life. I have consumed dill pickle seeds. I typically have a spit cup in my car for seeds. So when Seth said they were the best ever, I was somewhat skeptical.

So I tried his seeds. They were good. They were really good. I would go as far to say they may be the best seeds I have ever had. Problem - I don't know where to get them!

Look at the picture above. This is the only label on the bag. I have no idea where to get more. Seth said he got them at a demolition derby in Colorado. Fat chance I will be at a DD in the Rockies anytime soon. Seriously though, there is no way for me to find out where the seeds came from. Horrible branding, marketing, selling, etc., etc., etc.

Give me a website. Give me a phone number. For crying out loud give me the name of the company! There is no where to go. I know the seeds are Roasted, Salted, may have peanuts or tree nuts and are from the lot #RSS177. That's it. Thanks for nothing.

Here is a piece of advice. If you develop a product that is "the best" in it's category, allow people to buy it. Don't just sell your product at Demolition Derbies in Colorado.

Don't cheapen Jamba Juice

2006-10-01T17:01:00.000-05:00

A few days ago when I was in the Llyod Center in Portland, I had a Jamba Juice. Typically I stop every time I am in the area of one. The other day Jamba let me down. They now have paper cups. Or at least the one I was at did. The cups looked the same, but they were paper. Don't know who made that decision. I sure hope that all of them aren't going that direction.

Not that the actual product (or drink) is affected, but what this does is tell me "cheap." Part of the Jamba Juice experience is the styrofoam cup. But you don't realize how big a deal it is until it is gone. If they go cheap on this, it begs the question, "What else do they or will they go cheap on?"

In my eyes Jamba is going down the cheap route to save, what $ .03 per cup. Raise the price of all drinks $ .05. I wouldn't notice. But I do notice when you change the cup. It is all perception.

What was funny was the lady in front of me. She asked for a second cup so she could "double" her cup. She said the drink feels cold on her hand.

I will still probably go to Jamba Juice every time I am in the area of one because they are stinkin' good, but I want the old cups back.

Jamba, please don't go cheap.

Oh also, get the double fiber boost....it's worth it.

Jr. High Kids in the Northwest

2006-09-29T20:52:00.000-05:00

I just got done meeting with as many jr. high pastors in the Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA area as I could in 2 days. I left my house at 2.45 in the am yesterday morning and I will return at about 10.30 in the am tomorrow morning (after flying the red-eye). It has been a crazy two days, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I have had the chance to meet about 10 different youth ministers all of which are directly involved with jr. high kids. Andy has been at his church two weeks. Grant's jr. high weekly service was yesterday afternoon. I heard him speak on forgiveness. Tony told me about how he dressed up like Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer a few weeks ago. Jon is serving in the same church he grew up in. Jonathon has one semester left of seminary. Matt is in a great church. Casey has a passion for ministry.

Highlights - Sitting in a coffee shop which is part of a hotel (where I stayed last night), both owned by a church. All profit from either go directly to the church to ministering to the community. Eating fresh Mahi Mahi on the Washington river bank. Going to the largest bookstore in my life. Hearing ways to improve Believe straight from the hearts of those attending. Praying with and for youth ministers.

No matter where I go or who I talk to a few things remain constant. Small Groups and their leaders are important. Jr. High kids just want to be loved. It is about relationships.

Always waiting at Chatters

2006-09-27T10:12:00.000-05:00

You don’t recognize customer service unless it is amazing or if it is bad. This past week my wife and I went to eat at new local restaurant, Chatters, with some friends. Chatters is a new restaurant in my town of Webb City. It is a sit-down similar to Cheddar’s (don’t know if that is where they got the name or not) or Applebee’s. They have really, really good food. We have been in twice, and both times the food has been great. Not everywhere can you get a burger with an egg on it.

The problem is that both times I have left frustrated and not wanting to come back. Simply because of customer service. I feel as if I can critique a restaurant objectively because I worked in a few for 6 years (mainly as a server). Let me rant for just a second and then hear me out.

There are things that I don’t particularly like about Chatters (walls are beige and empty, counter/waiting area reminds me of Shoney’s) but I can get past little things, but to get past poor customer service is hard. It is the little things that add up. When we were seated, we waited for 4-5 minutes before our server showed up. Ordering was annoying. Our drinks were always empty. We waited 35 minutes from the time we ordered till we received our food. We also had to wait for a long time for our check, and then it took forever for her to get our check back to us. It seemed as if there was something we were always waiting on. You may think I am just complaining, but from the time we sat down till the time we left it was an hour and twenty minutes. But I truly believe the problem is that her training did not emphasize the importance of customer service.

Now let me bring it back. I am a very easy customer and I rarely complain. I know what a server goes through, because I have been there. Multiple times, I wanted to fill out a comment card for the reason of improving the organization. But, my wife stops me not realizing my intent. I know that with a little bit of work, this could be an amazing restaurant. Like I said before, the food is stinkin’ good. Let me spend one night observing the staff, the procedures, the organization and then let me lead a re-training seminar. I could improve the customer service of Chatters, in turn changing the bottom line. I don’t think people realize how much one affects the other. Please, let me help - I’ll do it for free.

This is not a post about a restaurant.

Amazing customer service can fix a horrible problem. Poor customer service can kill an amazing product quickly.

Come to Webb City, go to Chatters, try the Gorilla/Lion Burger and tell me what you think.