Programs you can't live without?

Just downloaded the sountrack to "John Adams" on the iPod. Excellent! Great study music. I'm one of those who has to have something on all the time. You?

After a lot of my friends have been updating their Plaxo, I decided to use it myself. Anyone else use Plaxo for their calander, contacts, etc.? Do you like it? Dislike it?

What's the programs can you not live without on your computer? For me, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, NIV Bible Study, Palm Desktop, Google Images, iTunes would be on my must list.

College football season is here! Finally! Can't wait to see what Bobby Petrino does with the Hogs this season. With 26 freshman getting significant playing time, could be a rough year for the Razorbacks given their schedule. The upside will be in a year or two! Oh, baby. Just hope we can keep Petrino that long!

Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend. I have nothing planned, and I hope it stays that way. Time to watch some football!

Tithing Our Time

Dan Kight was at Southside this past weekend encouraging us in ways to make our small groups guest services more effective. He and his wife Vicki minister at the Overland Park Church in Kansas City.

He introduced a great way for us to tithe. Most churches emphasize that we should give 10% of our income (hence the word "tithe" -- "ten percent). He challanged us to tithe our most precious resource -- our time. He said that we should aim to give 10% of our time every week in doing "kingdom things".

He asks two questions: What impact would that have on our schedules? What effect would that have on the kingdom - if we all did that?

Try it this week. Add up the number of hours in the day. Mulitply by seven. You'll find that it's about the equivalent of one day. Hummmm. Now, that sounds familiar.

Tithe your time this week! See what happens! Report back.

catching up!

Haven't blogged in a while, so let's catch up with each other! Had a good summer. Our big trip was to Oklahoma City for a wedding back in June. Spent a few days with my mother in Garland, Texas doing fix it jobs around her house. Just took my oldest daughter back to Oklahoma Christian for her senior year.

Been listening to "The First American" by H.W. Brands on the iPod. Part one is 19 hours! A very enlightening look at one of the most interesting people in our country's history. Right now, I'm reading several good books. "Countdown to Sunday" by Chris Erdman. The subtitle "A daily guide for those who dare to preach" caught my attention.

Really enjoying "If You Lived Here I Would Know Your Name" by Heather Lende. It's a book about small town life in Alaska. The woman writes the obits for the paper. The book is full of their stories. Good stuff.

I'm in the second book of the "redemption" series by Karen Kingsbury and Gary Smalley.
Just finished "Child 44" about a murder mystery in Russa. I found it interesting to learn about Russa culture during the cold war.

The Dark Knight and Get Smart were my favorite movies of the summer.

Your favorite books/movies of the summer?

tuning out Christian radio?

Do yourself a huge favor by reading this blog post by Chad Hall:

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2008/06/tuning_out_chri.html

He has some challenging thoughts concerning Christian radio! I agree with much of what he has to say.

Your reaction?

A Great Trip

I've been on a ten day trip to Oklahoma and Texas. Dropped my daughter at Camp Zeneth at Oklahoma Christian, then dropped down to see my mother for a few days in Dallas. Did some fix it things around her house and ate some great Tex-Mex. Man, did I eat some great Tex-Mex! We don't have great Mexican food in Salt Lake, much less good Tex-Mex. I do miss it!

We went to the wedding of Savanna Osborn, the daugther of one of our elders here at Southside. The wedding was in Edmond, Oklahoma. She is one of our adopted daugthers- so we had to be there!

It is good to be home! Where are you going on vacation this summer?

Jericho

On a recommendation from a good friend, Scott Warren, I've been watching season 1 of "Jericho". I gotta admit, it's a very good show. My daughter is now watching it with me after she gets home from work. Hey, you gotta grab time when you can.

Rent the series "John Adams" now that it is out on DVD. Very good. Plus, you'll learn some history. Would make a good father's day gift.

Did something that I've wanted to do for a long time but just couldn't muster the guts to do it. I finally did! I went to an ole fashioned barber shop (haircut $10) and got a flat top. I think it looks pretty good. Feels good, too! I'll keep it over the summer, then start growing my winter coat to keep me warm on those cold snowy days.

Second thoughts on my list

I've already added some books to the list. This Present Darkness & Piercing The Darkness are by far my favorite Christian fiction books of all time - yes, including Narnia series. Perhaps a list of my favorite Chrsitian fiction books?

A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm by Philip Kellor has to be on the list! So, add that one. Great, great insights into the Psalm 23. (He also wrote the Good Shepherd - a great book as well!)

I also enjoyed the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Great allegory.

Other books that overlooked?

Top 20 Favorite Books

Here is my list of Top 20 favorite books. Feel free to add to or take away! (I did cheat a little -some have multiple books counted as "one"book. For example, the Ken Gire "Moments" series.) -- Randy

1.) Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz
2.) Your God is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan
3.) Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli
4.) Confession of a Pastor by Greg Greschel
5.) Visioneering by Andy Stanley
6.) Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
7.) Unnstoppable Force by Erwin McManus
8.) Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
9.) I Just Want To Be A Christian by Rubel Shelly
10) Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey
11) Working the Angles by Eugene Peterson
12) 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley
13) No Wonder They Call Him Savior by Max Lucado
14) Moments With Savior series by Ken Gire
15) Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
16) If You Want To Walk On Water, You've got to Get Out of The Boat by John Ortberg
17) Wild Men, Wild Alaska by Rocky McElveen
18) To Dream Again by Robert Dale
19) God Came Near/On the Anvil by Lucado
20) Houdini Solution by Ernie Schenck

Others: The Imitation Of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis, My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers,

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.

50 Goals!

I have made 50 new goals - one for every year I have lived. I would highly recommend that you do the same. It's a good excerise. Some are big; some are small. I review them twice a week to keep me on task.

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In a few weeks the summer movies will start rolling out. A few that I am looking forward to are: Prince Caspin, Indiana Jones, Get Smart. All in all, looks to be a disappointing summer season of flicks. Thoughts?

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Is it harder to loose weight or keep it off?

I'm back!

Spent the last week in Dallas doing some odd jobs around my mother's house. It was great to spend a few days with her and eat some good "tex-mex". Some things are just worth the calories! I forgot how much I miss a good cheese enchilada smothered in queso.

Then, I went to Oklahoma City to pick up my daughter at Oklahoma Christian. We cleaned up her apartment (so she could get her deposit back), then hit the road for 20 hours.

Boy, it's good to be home! Seeing those snow covered mountians were a sight for sore eyes.

Working on my sermon series for this summer. We're doing a CBS - combined Bible study - our sermons, adult classes and small groups will evolve around the theme "Psalms in the Summer". Should be a great way to spend our summer!

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Six Razorbacks were taken in the NFL draft. Felix Jones went to the Cowboys! I'm not excited to see Darren McFadden in the Raiders uniform. Oh, well. I'll be a McFadden fan but will continue to hate the Raiders.

Sunday Night Relfections

Finished "The Purity Principle" sermon series this morning with "Getting Radical About Purity". I was really nervous about this series. I studied. I prayed. I read upteen books. I prayed some more. I believe the church needs to talk more about these kinds of issues facing our society.

All of the sermons, along with powerpoint slides (we're working on getting the slides posted) are posted on Southside's website.

We also concluded our shepherd selection process with two new men being affirmed as spiritual shepherds of our congregation. We will now be blessed with 6 men to shepherd, bishop and as elders of the band of believers. I am really blessed to be working with such godly leaders.

Sermons now posted

Some of my most disappointing movies - "Praire Home Companion" is right up there, along with "Eragon" "The Firm" (why make a movie of a book if you change the story?). Have a movie that you were looking forward to yet were disappointed in?

We now have the first two sermons of the Purity Principle now posted on our church's website (www.southsidechurchutah.org).

The NBA playoffs begin this weekend. Have a favorite? The Jazz and Lakers both seem to be hitting their strides. Should be interesting. The champion should come from the west.

Purity Principle

Can't believe it's been almost a month since my last blog. My laptop crashed again -- the fourth hard drive that Best Buy has installed. Thanks to Utah's lemon law -- it happens again and I get a new laptop!

Been preaching on "Purity Principle: God's View of Sex" for the last several weeks. The response has been incredible! They have been recorded. We hope to have them posted on the Southside website very soon.

I've read some great resources for this series. "The Purity Principle," "Passion and Purity" "Sex is not the Problem; Lust Is!" "Techinque to Intimacy" "Interviewing Your Daughter's Dates" are a few of the books I researched for the lessons.

Went to see "Leatherheads" the other night. Pretty disappointing. Can you think of some movies that you had high hopes for but it just didn't deliver for you? What are some of your all time movie disappointments?

It's good to be back.

The Shutdown of Starbucks

Great article by Gordon McDonald (who has written one of my favorite books, Ordering Your Private World). You can read the article at http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2008/cln80317.html then, come back and answer some instrospective questions:

What could your church learn from a "shut down"? How do you think your church could be more relevant to the community you are a part of?

No church banging, please -- that is too easy. Offer positive criticism - concrete ways in which your church could improve.