VP profiles

I came across profiles of the two major vice presidential candidates on the International Herald-Tribune website. If I recall correctly, the IHT is owned entirely now by the New York Times, so these articles may also have appeared under the NYT name elsewhere.

SARAH PALIN profile

JOE BIDEN profile

Final days: I keep way too much stuff

This isn't a new lesson or self-revelation, but I'm reminded of how much stuff I keep that should be thrown away.

My office is filled with all kinds of stuff, most especially old files from my youth ministry years and my exec pastor years. I've tried to keep the files to a minimum, but I've failed. So, I still have folders with planning information for events we tried once that failed, and events we did every year -- but with signup sheets that are completely irrelevant and unnecessary.

Unfortunately, this is not a new or limited experience for me. I like to collect stuff. Over the years, I've had collections of baseball cards, coins, postcards, Hard Rock Cafe hurricane glasses and shot glasses and guitar pins, books, DVDs, wooden toy cars...

Yea. Issues.

Final days: Institutional memory

I'm now in my final stretch of time on the staff at Antelope Christian Center. I'll be there for another two Sundays; the 26th will be my last time to lead worship, and then November 2nd will be my final Sunday. I'll be preaching in both services that day.

This weekend was our seventh annual Harvest Festival, and the event went well once again. After the event, it occurred to me that one of the biggest losses in any staff transition is the loss of institutional memory. I've been involved with the Harvest Festival for six of its seven years, and I've been the point person for the last two years.

So, one of my big projects in the next couple of weeks is to sit down and either type or record the most important aspects of this event. Who are our key vendors? Where do we get all the resources? When do we begin promotion? What has failed in the past? Why do we do certain things a certain way now? It's going to be a long list!

I guess the good news is that I'm not leaving the Sacramento area, so if others run into a wall, they can always call or text me!

Evolutionary thinking

Good post over on Mark Batterson's blog from the weekend:

Evolution is a lot like sex. It was God's idea. But God rarely gets the credit for it for a variety of reasons. The enemy has stolen the idea. He has abused it and misused it. And turned into a bad word. It's not a bad word. It's not a bad idea. It's a good word. It's a God idea.