Sunday Night Reflections

Wow. What a weekend! Planting 600 plants, bushes, flowers, etc. over three days. People working together. Sweating together. Talking. Sharing stories. Working on a common goal. I just love it when we are a living, breathing community!

To see all the volunteers it took to put on a yard sale together of that magnitude just brought a smile to my face. We raised over $3,000! The money will go toward buying tables and chairs for the family life center. Again, the working together - building community - is priceless!

We honored our graduating high school seniors today. Our associate minister, Kevin Hooper, did and outstanding job of planning the assembly. Our teens wrote and performed a touching drama. I saw a few tears on the faces as the left the worship center.

This, I think, was a good day. Didn't have anything to do with attendance. Didn't have anything to do with something extra ordinary. It was just a great time for the family of God to work together and honor some of our own who have reached a milestone in their lives. Isn't that what a community is supposed to be and do?

It's almost Monday morning. I'm heading to bed.

A busy day at Southside

Had a great day today! Our church held a yard sale. The proceeds will go toward purchasing 25 round tables and 250 chairs for potlucks, banquets,etc. to be held in the multi purpose center in our new building. Most of the items were sold! The goal was $6,000.

Our men held a prayer breakfast at 8 a.m. Around 9:30 other people came up and along with the men began planting 600 shrubs, plants, rose bushes and flowers on our 6 acre campus. It looks beautiful. We probably had about 40 people helping with the landscaping. Had another 10 or so working on the yard sale. Good to see us working in community with each other! A good day!

Tomorrow we honor our high school seniors. Always a special day.

Anyone seen Prince Caspian yet? Any reviews?

Questions!!!!

It was good to see "The Office" in it's season finale getting back to its old self. Hasn't been the same since the writer's strike. Will Jim ever propose to Pam? Arrgggghhhhh!

Season 4 of "LOST" has been just awesome. Looking forward to that season finale in 2 weeks.


Prince Caspian starts today. Looking forward to seeing that. Won't be this weekend, though. We have a work day at the new building Friday and Saturday (planting 600 flowers, bushes and srubs). At least this should complete the landscaping. We also have a big yard sale on Saturday to raise money to buy round tables for Southside. On top of that, my in-laws are here for the week. SO - the Prince will have to wait.

We have just purchased a M Audio Microtrack II digital recorder. Should make podcasting our sermons a lot easier. The quality of our recording will improve dramatically. Any tips on podcasting? Are there some do's and don'ts?

Can the Jazz force a game 7 with the Lakers? Can the Spurs overcome the sting of the Hornets?

Should be an interesting weekend.

Psalms in the Psummer

A friend of mine suggested that we spell the summer series like this - "Psalms in the Psummer". I like it. It's good to have creative friends.

Really enjoying the book "Made to Stick". Here's an excercise to do: Take 15 seconds. Name all the things that are white in the world. Now, take another 15 seconds - name all the white things in your fridge. Most people come up with the same number of items in both lists. (not the same things, but the same number of things.) Most say that the fridge list is easier to come up with as well. It's all bout focus. It's easier to focus on our fridge than it is the whole world. I find that interesting. The book is great for all communicators - teachers, professors, preachers, etc.

Here's the question of the day: Had a call last night to come and pray with a family from Idaho whose daugther is here for surgery. They asked that I come from across town to pray with them before the surgery. (Being in Salt Lake, I get these kind of calls all the time). This particular hospital has one of the best chaplain programs in the country. Why not ask a chaplain to come down the hall to pray with them? Why do we feel better when "one of our own" prays for us? What does that say about "us"?

$100 Gift Card

If you had a $100 gift card for Amazon.com/Barnes & Noble -- what books would you purchase?

Made To Stick.

Saw "Iron Man" with my daughter - I must admit, liked it more than I thought I would. Good popcorn movie. Could have used more action though.



Right now, I'm reading "Made to Stick". Great book! If you present any material - at church or at work - this would be a great resource. The question the book pursures is this - what makes ideas stick and others disappear? As a minister, I want my ideas to "stick"!

The six traits of a "sticky" idea are: (1) Simplicity, (2) Unexpectedness, (3) Concreteness, (4) Credibility, (5) Emotions, (6)Stories. (SUCCESs). I'll give you a full review when I finish the book.

Also, I've quit reading "Pillars of the Earth". I was trying to avoid the scenes in the book where Follet goes into great detail in the sex scenes, but I felt that I couldn't read it and keep my purity. Plus, the scenes were getting more frequent. Maybe by me reading it I am encouraging others to read it.

Looking forward to the new Baldacci book "The Whole Truth". Should be a good summer read. Always enjoy his books. I've got it on hold at the library.