I am not a techie, but I am Mac guy, so I was mesmerized, like many of my techie friends, with Apple’s new iPad.  This week when Steve Jobs introduced it, I felt an instant urge to hold one.  Did anyone else get that urge?  (Please don’t give me an idolatry lecture…I know my priorities…I’m not obsessing, but I am fascinated.)  Being one that is always looking for ways to improve my productivity, I can see how I would make use of such a product.

The most frequent question for me this week, however, has been what would I do with my Kindle if I got an iPad.  If you don’t know, my boys got me a Kindle for Father’s Day and I love it.  I wrote about it HERE. Granted I haven’t held an iPad in my hands, but I have pondered my “dilemma” this week, and I have come to the following conclusion:

I can think of 7 reasons I will keep my Kindle.  Here’s why:

1. The Kindle feels more like a book than I think the iPad will.  Putting the Kindle in a leather binder gives me the look and feel of holding the “real thing”.
2. The screen on the Kindle seems more like a book. If the screen on the iPad is like my MacBook Pro, I wouldn’t want to read long passages on it.
3. The Kindle is limited to being a reader.  This has been seem as a plus for the iPad, but when I’m considering it as a reader it’s a criticism for me.  When I’m doing serious reading, I don’t want to be distracted with other things I can do with the device.
4. Amazon is so easy to work with.  I’m confident that Apple will pull off a great database of books, but Amazon certainly knows what they are doing.  (I wonder if the two great companies will find a way to partner.)
5. The battery life on the Kindle is amazing.  I don’t get that kind of result from my iPhone or MacBook.   (As a matter of fact, my Mac power is running low now…)
6. My boys gave me my Kindle.  ‘Nuff said…
7. Sometimes simplicity is a good thing….Complex is often overrated.

There are my top 7 reasons for keeping my Kindle and not being disappointed if I don’t immediately get an iPad when they are released.  Still, if my boys are tired of socks and underwear again this year…

What about you?  Do you want an iPad?  Will you get one?  Do you own a Kindle? Will the iPad cause you to put aside your Kindle?

Start the discussion here.

I’m curious.  What type of relationship did you or do you have with your earthly father? I have asked this question dozens of times to different groups of men and women with surprising results.

I am soliciting feedback. Consider these questions:

• If you were seeking wisdom, would your father be the first person you would think to ask?
• Has your relationship improved with your father, as you have grown older?
• Does your perception of an earthly father, based on the relationship you had with your own father, strengthen or hinder your view of your Heavenly Father?
• Is it your goal to parent better or do you hope to just be as good a parent as your father parented you?

Would you do me a favor and comment here on this blog telling me a little about the relationship you had or didn’t have with your father? You can answer in a few words, a sentence, or in paragraphs, but I’d love your feedback on this one. (In fairness, I went first. I talked some about my dad HERE.)

I will blog more about this topic in days to come, but I would love to hear some stories first.

We have a great experiment this week at Grace Community Church. I’m one that chooses to look for the positive in every negative situation, so I really want to see what I can grasp from this opportunity.

Because our church meets in a school, today I had to write our first email to the church announcing that services are cancelled Sunday due to inclement weather. Here is the email:

Grace family,

Due to impending weather, Grace Community Church will not have services this Sunday, January 31, 2010. As this is written there is no snow falling, but the weather forecast is currently very threatening for our area, so the school system, in a precautionary measure, has cancelled all school activities for the weekend, which obviously impacts us. We are sorry for this inconvenience, but thankful for the advance notice and understanding of the need to protect the well-being of large numbers of people.

Please take this opportunity to enjoy some family time, rest, and spend some time reading the Bible and praying on Sunday. A few notes for those of interest:
*If you had planned to invite a friend, have them come with you next week. We will launch our new series for adults and children next week.
*If you normally give to the church or other causes we support, you may make those donations online (http://www.gcomchurch.com/give), mail them to Grace Community Church, PO Box 3136, Clarksville, TN 37043, or save them for next Sunday.
*If you have prayer needs or other items to communicate to the staff, please send them to office@gcomchurch.com
*Please pay special attention to the Grace website (http://www.gcomchurch.com) and the Grace Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/gcomchurch) for announcements you would have received Sunday. You might also want to make sure you have joined the Grace Facebook group, where we often send emails.)

Thank you for your faithfulness. Be safe and we look forward to seeing you next week.

Grace staff

Now here is the experiment. Will it make a difference? Will it matter to anyone that Grace Community Church will not meet this Sunday? Sure, it’s just one week, but what if it were every week? Would that matter to our community? Are we making enough of a difference that it would matter if we were no longer here?

What do you think? Has Grace made a difference in your life or in the lives of others you know? Please share a word, sentence, paragraph or story with us here on the blog where others may enjoy them. (If you don’t attend Grace Community Church, but want to give a shout out to the difference your church is making, feel free to share.)  Your comments will help me stay positive, because I’m really going to miss my friends at Grace this week, but will also be a blessing for others to read your stories.

 
I received a great email of concern this week on an issue I think others may have as a concern as well.  I know I have asked questions like this personally at times.

The email said, “I believe in prayer, but I never know what to say.  What if I say the wrong thing?  Does that make sense?”

Here was my answer:

Yes, it makes perfect sense, but I wonder if you are making prayer more difficult than it is intended to be.  Consider for a moment that God is the “friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  What if God were a person, who is actually in the room with you, that knows you better than anyone has ever known you, that would never betray you, so you could trust Him with anything, that loves you unconditionally whether you do the right things or not, and that always has your best interests at heart…could you talk to that person?

That’s who He is…now talk….

Do you ever struggle with what to say in your prayers? Could it be you are treating prayer as more of a religious formality than a conversation with someone with whom you have a relationship?

What tips can you offer to help others in their prayer life?    What questions about prayer do you have?

This past Sunday’s message was about failure. Although we had this message in the series planned for months and we spend considerable time in prayer about what to speak about each week, I never imagined how sensitive this topic would be. I have been inundated with stories this week of how failure has impacted people’s lives. (And to think I thought it was just my story…)

If you are dealing with failure, I hope you will consider watching this message.

As a teaser, here are five principles I have learned about failure:

Not everyone is talking about you….even when it feels that way…

The best days of your life may be after the failure…not before…
if you allow God to shape the rest of your story…

Would you allow your story to help others? What’s one thing you have learned from failure? (Please share it as a comment on the blog, even if you are reading this on Facebook, to allow others to read your thoughts.)

I talk with people consistently that are looking for some sense of normality in their life. Often they express that sentiment by saying something such as, “I just wish life could be normal for me sometime.” Have you ever said that statement?

What I have come to understand from experience is that life never rests long before some new highs or lows appear. The problem with desiring normal is that normal seldom looks like we expect normal to look. I’m wondering if normal may be more our reaction to life, than the circumstances we experience in life.

Perhaps the better goal is to learn to balance our lives amidst difficulties, good and bad times, triumph and tragedy, and the feast or famine the world in which we live tends to experience. In fact, I wonder if learning how to balance our emotions between the extremes isn’t the normality we are seeking, rather than periods where everything is calm. When we learn to live in the joy of every moment, normal may seem more attainable.  (Consider what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13)

What has your experience taught you? How would you define the “normal” life?  Is your life “normal”?

Having wisdom doesn’t mean you have made all wise decisions…in fact, it could mean the exact opposite. Wisdom often comes from painful and bad experiences. In fact, some of the greatest wisdom I have gained have come from some very foolish decisions I made in life. Many times you could have easily called me a fool. Hopefully I’ve learned from those times and can share my experiences with others. Certainly I hope my sons are learning from my bad decisions.

The Bible is full of this concept. Take for example Solomon, supposedly the wisest man of all times.

Those that know his story know he also made many mistakes. Read 1 Kings 11:1-4, as an example. Then read Ecclesiastes 10:1-3, 8-10 It’s almost like Solomon was saying, “I’ve learned a few things…take it from me…” Solomon was full of wisdom, given to him by God, but much of that wisdom towards the end of his life, apparently came through experience.

Life experiences, good and bad, have a way of smoothing out the rough edges of a person’s life and over time gives a person wisdom. Sometimes the “wise old man” (or woman), didn’t get that way by living a perfect life, but by learning from the times of imperfection. That being said, be willing to learn from people that have failed greatly, knowing that their wisdom today can protect you from making some of their same mistakes.

What’s one foolish decision you have learned from?
How are you allowing others to learn from your bad decisions?
Finally, who is a former “fool” you could learn from today?

For more thoughts on seeking wisdom, click HERE.

(For those that typically ask, I bought this picture from iStock, so I don’t know the guy. If he’s your grandfather, I don’t mean to offend. I was simply looking for the picture of an older man. I am sure he is a very nice man, but I bet if you could find him, you’d find a man that would agree he’s learned a lot from his mistakes in life.)

One would have to be living under a rock (or a shoe) not to have heard of Soles4Souls Ministry in recent months. Soles4Souls has a simple concept: they get shoes and give them away. You can read more about their history HERE. This is one ministry that went to work immediately and is making a huge impact in the Haiti disaster.

Grace Community Church recently became a collection location for the ministry, but I thought it would be good to get to know the man behind the vision.  Wayne Elsey is apparently an incredible leader.  The proof is in the growth of the ministry.  You can read more about Wayne HERE and follow him on Twitter HERE.

More importantly to Wayne, to get involved to the cause, click HERE.

Here are 10 questions with leader Wayne Elsey:

When you were growing up, is this what you thought you would be doing vocationally? If not, what did you want to do?

My goal was to get out of school, leave home and do something. I was not the best student and did not like school or my home life.

What’s the most different job you’ve had from what you are doing now and how did that job help you with what you are doing now?

When I was 12 I was the kid over the summer that did anything. The most opposite I have ever done was scoop dog poop at a dog show. Candidly, that taught me a lesson that I am not too good to do anything – I feel the same way today.

Who is one person, besides Christ, who most helped to shape your leadership and how did they help you?

One person is hard to drill down but there are two people that motivated me to excel – One was my English teacher that told me that I can do anything I wanted to, it was all up to me and that I was in control of me. This encouragement was needed and I have not forgotten. Candidly, she made a huge difference in me shaping my character and desire to succeed. Two would be Bill Hybels – I have read every book he has ever written and watched him in many settings. This guy is a firm leader that gets things done. It is one thing to talk but doing is something totally different.

Besides the Bible, what is one book that has most helped to shape your thought process in life and ministry?

Good to Great

What are three words other people would use to describe your work style/ethic?

energetic, creative, results

What is your greatest strength in leadership?

Role model – leader – I do what I expect.

What is your greatest weakness in leadership?

Too hands on

What is the hardest thing you have to do in leadership?

Empower people more. In my current role as CEO, I have to empower people and back off. I am getting better everyday about this as I develop the right people.

What is one misconception about your position you think people may have?

I have an easy job.

If you could give one piece of advice to young leaders from what you’ve learned by experience, what would it be?

Just do it. Put your mouth into action with your hands. Do not just talk but do. Work hard, work smart and surround yourself with the best people forming a great team.

I debated posting this and then I asked for feedback and was overwhelmingly encouraged that this was a legitimate post. This morning Cheryl was the first to tell me that our youngest son , now a student at Moody Bible College in Chicago, had written a new blog post…and the subject was me. (The picture with this post is of him speaking recently at our student service.) She gave me time to read it and then came with heavy tears to get my reaction. She said, “This is what you’ve been living for…”

She was referring to a comment I have made many times as a father. I have stated that the pinnacle of success for me would be to one day receive one of those sappy, mushy plaques that talks about what a great dad I am…from children that really mean the words. I guess in this modern age of social media, today I received my first plaque.

Here’s an excerpt of Nate’s post:

Through my time the past month in God’s word I’ve come to have a much deeper appreciation for my dad. So many things I’m learning about God and His heart I remember watching my dad either experience or try to teach me, and I can’t explain how much that strengthens my faith. As I continue internalizing faith for myself I become so much more thankful for a dad who was willing to be open about his faith with his kids. (And just for the record, my dad doesn’t know I’m writing this. This week I’ve just been so overwhelmed by encountering Biblical truth I’ve seen modeled in him that I feel burdened to share.)

I want to list just a few things I can remember my dad doing with me that I think ultimately helped shape my faith. I don’t really know what readership I have here at Moons From Burma, or if I have any at all, but if you’re a parent or want to be a parent someday and desire that your kids love Jesus more than anything else, I think you should apply some of these to your parenting.

To read the remainder of his post and his points, click HERE.

For the record, I have two awesome sons, both that are respectful of me and genuine friends, but one blogs and the other one doesn’t (yet). The older did send me a very appreciative email recently that I may share (with his permission) in a future post. I love my boys.

Just curious. Is it okay for me to brag on my boys, as long as I realize without God in my life and theirs, we would be nothing?

 

One concept I have been an advocate for is setting ground rules for your marriage. Let me illustrate what I mean with a personal example.

It didn’t take long for Cheryl and I to realize that one of us avoids conflict and one of us actually enjoys it. If you read my blog at all you can possibly guess which one of the two I am. As a result, of this in our personalities, if Cheryl and I had a disagreement, she would quickly disappear to the bedroom. She always went to be early on days we had an argument. (Yes, pastors have those also.)

Since I believe in obeying Scripture in my home, and knowing I’m commanded not to “let the sun go down” on my anger, Cheryl and I decided that we need a rule in our marriage that we will handle disagreements before either of us go to sleep. Sometimes that means I have to “break the ice” by offering forgiveness, sometimes she does, but if we are going to obey the rule, we have to at least agree to drop any anger we have towards each other. We may settle the issue later, but we try not to go to bed angry. We have a rule!

I have often been asked how these are enforceable. Honestly, they probably aren’t. If the need to enforce them is your issue, your marriage may have bigger issues. The idea here is a mutual submission to each other (read more about that idea HERE), where both spouses agree that obeying these rules will make the marriage work better. It’s a shared agreement to behave in a certain way for the good of the marriage.

Please understand, I am a grace guy. I usually rebel against a bunch of rules for the sake of rules. The goal of our marriage, however, is for “the two to become one flesh”. We are trying to build a marriage that honors and glorifies God, but because we are two imperfect beings, we had to agree to comply with some basic understandings (rules) to help make that happen.

Do you need to set some ground rules for your marriage?

What rules would you need to have in your marriage to keep your marriage heading in the right direction?

What are some ground rules you think would be good ones for a marriage?

I would love to hear your thoughts.