Religious contradictions?

Came across an interesting article on sfgate.com about seemingly contradictory religious beliefs held by Americans:

Americans remain heavily religious, but their views rarely conform to dogma, according to a massive new survey released this morning.

Seventy percent of religious adherents in the United States believe multiple religions can lead a person to salvation, while 68 percent say there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of their religion.

Those views are at the centerpiece of a survey of 36,000 people released today by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The survey - unprecedented in its combination of survey pool and breadth of questions - reveals that religious beliefs and practices in America defy doctrine.

- 57 percent of evangelical Christians say that multiple religions can lead to salvation, though nary an evangelical theologian or minister would say that.

- 58 percent of Catholics believe society should accept homosexuality, a view that is greatly at odds with U.S. Catholic bishops, including the Bay Area.

- 12 percent of Eastern Orthodox Christians say they speak in tongues once a week, even though it is a Pentecostal practice that is not in Orthodox liturgy.

- 21 percent of self-defined atheists believe in God.

What also caught my eye in the article was this statement that holds incredible implications for those of us who work closely with people discovering, experiencing, living out, and growing in their faith:

But several scholars who read the study - or were involved in it - said the often counterintuitive results revealed another ongoing theme in American religion: Many believers may know little about the true practices of their own faith, much less others. So the fact that Americans largely see multiple religions leading to salvation may not reveal a trait of true understanding, but possibly naivete.

Cody's is closing for good.

Sad news from the Bay Area. Cody's Books is closing its doors and going out of business. I remember visiting the location on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley a few times when I lived there back in 1999-2000. More books than I could ever possibly consume in my lifetime. Loved the place!

Cody's Books, the legendary Berkeley bookstore that catered to literati nationwide for more than half a century and was firebombed in the 1980s because of its support of the First Amendment, has closed its doors, the victim of lagging sales.

The bookstore, which in recent years had closed its flagship store on Telegraph Avenue and its branches in San Francisco and on Berkeley's Fourth Street, finally settling in early April in one store on Shattuck Avenue, shuttered that store Friday.

Calling it "a heartbreaking moment," Cody's owner, Hiroshi Kagawa of the Japanese firm IBC Publishing, said in a statement, "unfortunately, my current business is not strong enough or rich enough to support Cody's."

"Cody's is my treasure and more than that, Cody's is a real friend of (the) Berkeley community and will be missed," Kagawa said.

Pat Cody, one of the store's co-founders, said the closing "makes me very sad. We worked so hard and we put so much into it, and it meant a lot to the community. It's a big loss."

Today's funny photos.

Two shots from around town today...

Pic #1: The people at Fry's Electronics forgot how to spell the name of this MacBook...



Pic #2: The owner of this car likes the name "Jetta" so much, a second appearance of the name on the back of the car was apparently warranted...

More coverage on killing of a Turlock toddler.

Couple new stories online about the weekend murder of a 2-year-old just outside of Turlock, where I grew up and where my mom still lives:

Article from The Modesto Bee

Article from The San Francisco Chronicle

Political roundup

A few interesting stories I've come across this evening:

Obama the delegator picks when to take reins
International Herald Tribune

Fiorina woos Clinton supporters for McCain
Reuters, via MSNBC

State-run Chinese paper voices doubts about Obama
Reuters, via International Herald Tribune

Analysis: Age an issue in the 2008 campaign?
CNN

Gore endorses Obama and promises to help him
Associated Press, via SFGate

Tragic news from my old hometown.

There's been a bit of covering in the last couple days about the brutal beating of a toddler in Turlock on Saturday night. I grew up in Turlock and worked there (twice) after college. Here's coverage from two media outlets:

The Modesto Bee article

The San Francisco Chronicle article

As of 5:45PM Monday, the Turlock Journal had nothing on its website about the incident. This isn't a surprise, because the Journal is a joke. It has been for many years. I'll admit it was a joke when I worked there, but it got worse when the paper was sold and went to twice-a-week publishing, instead of six days a week.

Schwarzeneggers debate Obama, McCain?

Great article on IHT about Arnold and Maria and the debate over which presidential candidate to support this year. Good read.

Of all the supporters behind the two presumptive nominees for president this year, none are quite as intriguing as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - a Republican who has thrown his support behind John McCain - and his wife, Maria Shriver - a Democrat who is a vocal backer of Barack Obama.

The lawn of their home has dueling campaign signs. The breakfast table has become a casual debating society. Shriver is even threatening to bring a life-size cutout of her preferred candidate into the house, something the governor has seen her do in other elections. "When one of the candidates screws up," Schwarzenegger said of the cutouts, "the kids carry them outside."

The four Schwarzenegger children - who range in age from 10 to 18 - have already taken sides, though only one of them, Katherine, is old enough to vote. She, too, favors Obama.

What will Bush's legacy be?

The time is quickly winding down on the Bush Presidency, and the International Herald Tribune had an interesting article today looking at the legacy question, especially from a European perspective:

The finale of George W. Bush's presidency has never seemed more imminent as it has during his tour of European capitals, a farewell visit in which reminiscence, valediction and even eulogies trailed him.

At the Vatican on Friday, Pope Benedict XVI gave the president a tour of the gardens where he prays each evening - the first time a pontiff has done so - and then offered a gift of four volumes about St. Peter's Basilica with an allusion to a life after office.

"Perhaps you'll have some time to read it," Benedict told him. ...

Legacy is a word over which Bush's aides profess not to dwell, and the president himself seems averse to reflection. "The president does not have second thoughts," his press secretary, Dana Perino, once said.

But his legacy hangs over his eight-day visit to Europe nonetheless - in interviews he has given to foreign journalists, in his friendships with European leaders, in his appearance Thursday night with Berlusconi when he had to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court's rebuke on the Guantánamo Bay prison, which remains an unredeemable blemish for many in Europe and beyond.

Tim Russert died.

Being a former journalist, I pay attention when a former newsperson dies. Was sad to see the news just a few minutes ago about Tim Russert dying:

Tim Russert, who became one of America's leading political journalists as the host of NBC's "Meet the Press," died Friday, according to the network. He was 58.

The network said Russert suffered a heart attack while at work and could not be revived. He had just returned from a family vacation in Italy to celebrate the graduation of his son, Luke, from Boston College.

Russert joined the network in 1984 and quickly established himself as the face of the network's political coverage.

Joys and pains of writing.

I'm the first to admit that I'm a word geek. Yes, I'm a geek in other ways (and for a few months of my life I was a Greek, but that's a different story), but my greatest geekiness is found in the area of words.

If you regularly visit this blog, you know I've written very little over the last couple of months. The silence fascinates me more than it fascinates you, because I enjoy writing, I love words, and I'm always full of thoughts and opinions.

Last week in Oregon I did more journaling and writing, which seems to have unleashed a desire to write again. I regularly use twitter (see the top right corner of my blog for recent updates), which I find to be an awesome form of micro-blogging.

Anyway, I guess this is my declaration of intent: I intend to write here more frequently, and to reactivate other areas of writing in my life.

Cindy McCain vs Michelle Obama.

Great analysis piece on CNN about differences between Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, and whether the potential First Ladies affect their husbands' candidacies:

They're not elected. They're not paid. There's no precise job description.

But whether it's an elegantly dressed Jacqueline Kennedy giving Americans a tour of the White House, Eleanor Roosevelt speaking on civil rights or Hillary Clinton saying "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies," first ladies are praised, criticized, adored and scorned -- but never ignored.

The two women poised for the job, 54-year-old Cindy McCain, wife of Republican Sen. John McCain, and 44-year-old Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, come from strikingly different backgrounds.

Obama courts evangelicals.

Interesting article today on cnn.com about Democrats, including Sen. Obama, targeting evangelical voters for the fall:

Polls have showed evangelicals, following national trends, are disaffected with Republican leadership and increasingly up for grabs.

The organizer of the "Matthew 25" effort, Mara Vanderslice, led the religious outreach for the Democratic presidential ticket in 2004, and -- perhaps more troubling to the GOP -- has done similar, and successful, work for winning Democrats in reliably red states and battlegrounds, such as Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Ted Strickland of Ohio and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.

This new energy has not been matched among conservatives. Same-sex marriage has galvanized some issues-motivated activists, but the Republican standard-bearer has yet to galvanize longtime evangelical foot soldiers this campaign season.

Since former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee ended his presidential run, many organizers and former Huckabee backers such as Farris have taken to the sidelines -- and said they have no plans to re-enter the electoral fray before Election Day.

And as new reports surface of McCain's difficulties with evangelical leaders, Obama's campaign revealed an ambitious effort to appeal to young evangelicals and Catholics set to be unveiled this month.

Tears of sadjoyness.

Just a few minutes away from my house, the doors have opened to a new In-N-Out restaurant. If you're unfamiliar with In-N-Out, it probably means you live in the ho-hum eastern part of our nation and have never experienced burgers that surpass nearly any other under the sun.

I like In-N-Out's burgers. Especially a cheese burger or Double-Double, animal style, of course. Their fries are incredible, and how can you resist dropping a lemon wedge into your Dr Pepper?

And of course, this is the sadness that surrounds my joy. I'm happy that I'm now just 5 minutes away from In-N-Out. But I'm sad because now I will actually need to be a disciplined adult and not eat there every day. That wouldn't be healthy.

So that, my friends, is the source of my tears of sadjoyness.

In search of a children's pastor.

Our church is in the middle of a transition, as we say goodbye to our children's pastor and begin the search for a new staff member. I've been spending fair amount of time on the phone and sending/receiving emails yesterday and today.

Here's the job posting, in case you know of someone interested. Maybe that person is you.


Antelope Christian Center is accepting applications for Children’s Ministry Director.

We’re seeking a person with:
• Committed relationship and love for the Lord
• Energetic personality and love for people
• Passion for children and family-oriented ministry
• Organization skills to help a ministry continue to grow
• Ability to work on a multi-staff team
• Positive heart and encouraging spirit
• Desire to recruit, train, and release adult leadership
• Experience in children’s ministry

Our church is looking for a self-motivated, highly energetic Children’s Ministry Director. The ideal candidate will have a clear calling to raise up children who are passionate about becoming more like Jesus, and expanding our team of adult leaders committed to that same goal. We’re looking for someone with godly integrity and values, and the ability to lead a ministry to the next level.

The Children’s Ministry Director is responsible for overseeing our various ministry for kids from birth through sixth grade, including Sunday morning, Wednesday night programs, events and activities, and outreach efforts, with the goal of operating a safe, effective, healthy ministry to children and their families.

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Antelope Christian Center is a church of 400 to 500 people, located in Antelope (North Sacramento region).

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, brief personal history, resume, and letters of reference.

Some "good" problems at church.

Ordinarily I dislike problems. I'm capable of handling and addressing and resolving problems, but I don't walk around pursuing them. Lately, I've been grappling with some "good" problems around the church:

1. We're running out of programs/bulletins on Sundays.
This is good because it shows our attendance is growing. But it's largely growing because of new people attending, getting saved, getting baptized and being discipled. We've been averaging 3 or 4 water baptisms a month, which is a good start! So, we've been increasing the number of bulletins each week, and just yesterday we ran out -- again!

2. We have too many office volunteers.
Seriously, I have one person who comes in Mondays and Wednesdays, another three who come in Thursdays, another couple who are here Wednesday mornings, and then a new one who will be starting on Tuesdays and maybe another day of the week. This creates a need for me to be more organized, so I have plenty of meaningful, significant projects for each volunteer.

3. We have too many new faces.
This goes back to "problem" #1. I walk around church on Sunday morning, and I'm still able to identify the majority of people in our services. But then I see someone whose name eludes me, and I can't ask them again to share their name. Oh the joys of having lots of new people in your church!

A Tale of Two Dads.

I don't quite know where to begin with this. Our church is having a rough time right now because of the tragic death of one of our members last week. I got a call around 1:40AM late Thursday/early Friday morning from a teen in our church. She asked for prayer because her dad had stopped breathing and he was being rushed to the hospital.

About an hour later, I got a text message from my senior pastor saying the dad had died. I was out of town, but I continued to receive text and phone updates throughout the early morning hours.

Losing a loved one hurts. Losing that person in a sudden, tragic experience hurts so deeply.

You see, we have another family in our church whose dad is battling cancer. His doctors disagree over how to battle the disease or how much the treatments will help. Tomorrow they have another conversation with one of their doctors. I'm praying they have clarity and wisdom and peace.

Two families. Two struggles. Two dads. The stories are similar, yet the circumstances are so different. One family didn't get the chance to say good-bye. Another family doesn't know when good-bye will actually come. One family was rocked by tragedy. Another family is slowly tossed back and forth by different analyses and different recommendations.

Both families are in my prayers, and both need God to prove Himself in their situations. I know He will. It's just sometimes hard.

Another summer movie I must see.

OK, my list of "must see" summer movies continues to grow. We have the latest installments of Indiana Jones, The Chronicles of Narnia and Batman. We have another Pixar flick (Wall-E) that looks interesting, a Speed Racer movie that might be entertaining (or lame, not sure), and several others I've seen in previews and summer articles.

Add to the list a new X-Files movie. Honestly, I didn't know they were shooting another one, which is pretty embarrassing for a guy who owns all the DVDs and used to avoid Sunday night activities so he could catch each week's episode.

Taxes, cell phones, and racquetball.

Unlike the last few years, I didn't wait until April 15 to file my taxes.

I got them done on April 14, instead.

The good news is that I'm getting a refund from both the state and the feds. Unfortunately, it's only half the amount of last year's refunds. It's rather ironic because I now own a home and have an entire year of reductable interest. The flip side is that I also have an entire year of roommates paying me money to live in my house. So it all panned out. Without roomies, huge refund. Without roomies, couldn't afford the house!

Topic 2. Cell phones. I bought a new one last week. The Palm Centro, with Sprint coverage. I like Sprint, it has good coverage here in the Sacramento area. The phone is cool, and with all the discounts and rebates, it came out to just about $100. And then I switched my service plan to the unlimited everything. So that's cool.

Topic 3. Racquetball. I played again today, against the third different friend since I got back into the game a few weeks ago. It's a good workout, good cardio stuff. Today, I almost lost the first game but pulled off a come-from-behind win, 22-20. Then I swept the second and third games fairly easily. But it's a good thing to do, as long as I don't do something stupid, like sprain my ankle again.

Am I a blogging failure?

Over the last few weeks, my blogging patterns have been weak. Horribly weak, one might say. Why has this happened? Let's ponder the possibilities.

1. Rob is spending too much time writing pithy messages on twitter; he's unable to complete thoughts longer than 140 characters.

2. Rob is so enamored with his most recent Moleskine purchase that he feels compelled to only write on physical paper using ink. Not pencil. Ink. Pencil is for wimps who can't commit to an idea.

3. Rob is spending too much time watching TV, now that he can catch new episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, and, um, well, what else does he watch...

4. Rob is overwhelmed with the project of re-creating his church's database from scratch because his senior pastor was tired of sending birthday cards to dead people and anniversary cards to divorced couples, so Rob got the job of using new software and starting from Square One.

5. Rob is using all his spare time coming up with excuses on why he's slow on getting editing projects back to his friends at Simply Youth Ministry. No wait, that doesn't sound very professional.

So pick whichever excuse you like. All of them are right and wrong, in an Obi Wan-explaining-to-Luke-about-his-father-and-truth-from-a-certain-point-of-view way.

The prayers of my blog.

We just wrapped up our church staff meeting, and in his closing prayer, our senior pastor prayed specifically for each of us. When praying for me, he said, "God, we ask that you would answer all the prayers of his blog," which made all of us laugh.

I know Kansas DID win the national championship last night in men's basketball. And according to at least one online article today, some people believe God played a role in helping the Jayhawks win.

I'm not a huge proponent of the "God lets Christians win" theory. If two Christian QBs face off in the Super Bowl, only one can win. Does God play favorites? Does God have a big coin in heaven that He tosses to pick the winner?

Certainly I believe God gives us the strength to do our best, to excel, to perform well. Besides, didn't we all learn years ago that it's not if we win but how we play the game?

Then again, I'd be a bit unhappy today if Kansas had lost last night. So maybe I still have some learnin' to do...

Parking confusion?

So, did this guy park in the wrong section of the parking lot? Or did the rest of us not get the message?

Too many text messages.

OK, so my five-month experiment has come to a close. Back in November, I decided to see if I could set a personal record for the most text messages in a month (combined incoming and outgoing). Before November, I had never used more than 1,550 in one month.

Well, November ended up being around 2,900 -- thanks to my sending messages to friends, asking them to text me. In December, I continued the experiment and got my count up to around 3,400. In January, I reached 4,400. In February, it grew to 5,100.

This brings us to the just-completed month of March. I broke all those personal records. In fact, I completely shattered them: just over 11,000 text messages used last month.

My friends, that works out to be more than 350 messages per day.

That's insane.

And I'm done.

Not with texting, but with my attempts to use mass quantities of messages. I'm sure I won't fall back into the 1,500 range again, but if a month from now, I've sent and received more than 11,000, it's time to check into rehab.

Back in the swing of things.

I played racquetball this afternoon, the second time in a week -- after a break of more than 4 years. I've been surprised that I still have some of my skills intact, although a strong, highly talented player would probably crush me -- just as I've crushed the two younger guys from church that I've played against.

Still, it's good to get back in the swing of things and add an extra reason to visit the gym, and we all know I need as many reasons to get down there as I can.

A good time in Old Sacramento.

Went down to Old Sacramento on Saturday with my friend Trista (yes, I know I'm late in posting, but better late than never, eh). We had a good time walking around, checking out some of the unique stores down there, and enjoying a dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. The weather was perfect, and the company was fun.

One of the interesting moments was coming across some "Jesus Junk" that would make Marko proud. In fact, it's probably appeared on his blog before. But this picture is Trista holding up the Jesus Action Figure. I thought about buying it for my office, but decided to hold off for now.

We also ran into some former youth workers from my church. It was great to see them and talk for a few minutes, and then they came to our sunrise service yesterday. Good stuff!

How should we judge Easter 'success'?

So, today is the "day after" and I'm still in recovery mode from Easter. I've managed to get some productive work done around the office, but I'm definitely not running on all cylinders.

One thought bouncing around my head is how to judge the "success" of an Easter weekend. Is it just about numbers? Which numbers matter most? Is something entirely different beyond numbers?

Here's what I know about our weekend. We had a strong Good Friday service, with around 60 folks at noontime. We had a great Easter Sunrise service, with around 80 people at 7AM. Our 9AM service had 260 people (usually around 100) and 11AM had 285 people (usually around 160), plus our kids areas had at least 40-50% more than a typical Sunday.

Does that mean Easter was a success?

We had dozens of volunteers get involved in our weekend activities. I had a crew that showed up at 6AM Sunday just to set up tables and chairs outdoors. We had about three dozen people involved in the actual Easter presentation, and we had new volunteers serving throughout the weekend.

Does that mean Easter was a success?

Things flowed nearly seamlessly throughout the weekend. We had no major problems, no major obstacles. The power didn't go out, the donkey didn't drop "Jesus" in the Palm Sunday scene, and we had enough parking for everyone.

Does that mean Easter was a success?

We don't actually know how many first-time guests came Sunday, but we had response cards from 13 (we usually get 3 to 5 most weekends). We had at least 5 people indicate that they made a decision or recommitment to follow Jesus, and I'm sure we had others who said a prayer but didn't respond to let us know.

Does that mean Easter was a success?

I guess that last paragraph has some of the most important "numbers" and info. The other areas are important, too, so it's hard to say. I'd call this weekend a success, but I'm still struggling with what was most successful -- and if our level of "success" could have been higher, and if more people could have responded to a chance at a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A good reminder for drivers.

Just came across this story; it's a good reminder that we California drivers have some new rules to follow come July 1:

"Come July 1, drivers in California who make or receive phone calls other than emergencies will be required to have a hands-free way of talking. Motorists who don't can be pulled over and cited, $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent violations.

At the same time, a companion law will go into effect that prohibits drivers younger than 18 from using any type of electronic communication device to text or talk - even hands-free ones. However, it's a secondary infraction, which means it can't be the main reason a driver is pulled over."

My brother is moving to Iowa.

For most of his life, my brother Rick has lived here in California. Our family moved here just before his 1st grade year, he went to college in CA, and he's lived in the Golden State (with the exception of some extended trips overseas).

But this week he's moving to Iowa. He'll be living in the same town as my dad and stepmom, and it should bring a whole host of fun, new experiences for him.

Dad and Rick stopped by Wednesday evening on their way east, traveling on I-80. We grabbed a quick bite at Wendy's before they went back on the road with the U-Haul and Rick's car in tow. Best wishes to them on this trip, and to Rick in this new season of life!

'24' comes to an end.

Well, OK, it's really just Season 1 of 24 on DVD, but it did conclude tonight -- remarkably, with the same outcome as every other time I've seen the final episode. Our crowd was a little smaller this week, but it was still fun. We've been watching at my house every Monday night for the last 11 weeks, and next week we'll launch Season 2 on DVD. Sure wish the new season was running, but if it's as horrible as Season 6, maybe we'll just keep watching the DVDs over and over and over...

Every Sunday is "Open House."

This evening, our preschool and our K-8 school are hosting their spring open house. Staff members are feverishly cleaning, assembling packets, trimming shrubs and making sure things look just right. The economy is tough right now, but we're still hoping and praying for a strong turnout tonight and a strong interest for fall enrollment.

Hearing the lawn mower outside reminded me that churches generally don't hold "open house" events for the community -- at least, not in the usual sense. But the truth is, every Sunday is an open house for a church! We have guests every weekend checking out our facilities and ministries and people. We have people walking through the doors who are looking for information and are considering "enrolling" in a church. We have folks who are just checking things out, and others who are ready to make a major commitment.

The question is, are we ready for those guests each weekend? Do we treat Sundays as an "open house" event for people in our community?

Are you a cruise control leader?

Some years back, I began talking to teens about how Christianity is a journey, not just a destination. While traveling this past weekend, I spent a lot of time on the freeway and a lot of time using my cruise control. It’s a wonderful invention for long trips, but leading a ministry with a “cruise control” style is risky. How do you know if you’re in danger of being a cruise-control leader?


You’re content with current results
If we’re cruising for new adventures, we always want more people to show up, more lives to be changed, more volunteers to get involved – basically, we’re unwilling to settle for the status quo.

But if we’re on cruise control, we’re OK with a “solid, steady” crowd through our doors. We’re happy that people still love God, even if they aren’t inviting their friends to church and they can’t remember the last time they shared God’s love with a stranger. We love our volunteers to death, but we’re just too busy or content (or maybe even tired) to recruit, train and release anyone new.

Cruise control limits us from accelerating to see increased results in our ministry.


You’ve lost your big-picture vision
If we’re cruising for new adventures, we keep our eyes focused on the big picture for our ministry, our congregation and our lives. Our ministry’s purpose is consistent with the direction for our whole church, and we look for ways to support all the other ministries – and even other churches in our community.

But if we’re on cruise control, we lose sight of the world beyond our ministry’s walls. We know that God has a big plan and a big purpose, but right now we’re just happy with teaching and leading this week. We aren’t on the lookout for ways to strengthen other members of our “team,” and if we pay attention to other churches, it’s only to compare and see who’s doing a “better job” in the community.

Cruise control limits us from cooperating with other leaders headed in the same direction.


You don’t get enthusiastic about new ministry ideas or opportunities
If we’re cruising for new adventures, we’re dreaming up new ways to create passion, impact and excellence in our ministry. (Call it the PIE phenomenon.) We’re filled with a hunger for doing things differently. We’re experimenting with new ways of discipling or reaching people who don’t know Jesus. We’re looking for new strategies to connect people and help them move into a place of honoring God, growing together, and serving others.

But if we’re on cruise control, we see “new” as a code word for “more work.” We don’t want to be stretched, we don’t want to risk our “successful” ministry for any new ideas, and we’ve lost our sense of passion. We still love people and we may still love ministry, but our comfort zone has become our ministry zone, and when we’re brutally honest, we admit that we’d rather be comfortable than challenged.

Cruise control limits us from driving new highways, ministering to new people, and experiencing God on the risky roads.


You’ve stopped planning for the future
If we’re cruising for new adventures, we can’t wait until tomorrow arrives – not because we’re tired of today, but because we know God has even better things in store. We’re placing ourselves and our ministries in the path of success and growth, and tomorrow means the opportunity to be involved in more people’s lives for His glory.

But if we’re on cruise control, we’re using the same map we’ve used for the last decade – or longer. We don’t look far beyond this coming Sunday or Wednesday, and we certainly don’t have many dreams about what our lives, ministries or church will look like in 6 months, one year or five years. We aren’t failing – yet. But we are failing to plan for the future, and when the future arrives, we may look back and regret our lack of preparing, dreaming and planning.

Cruise control limits us from accomplishing all that God has in store for us in the weeks, months and years ahead.


The good news, of course, is that at any time on our trip, we can turn off the cruise control and put our foot back on the accelerator. And that’s when the journey takes on new life once again.

Spontaneous substitute.

Just got done teaching a class of fifth- and sixth-graders at our Christian school. Our regular teacher had to bow out for a family commitment, so I got asked about 25 minutes before class started! Not much time to prepare, but it still went well. We talked about 1 Peter 1:14-16, and what it means to live "holy" lives for God.

Funniest thing about that mixed class is that there are just 2 boys, so quite a bit of talking amongst friends. Would I want to teach them day in and day out? Let's just say my appreciation for our teachers increased significantly in the last hour!

Did daylight savings affect your church?

Remarkably, today's services weren't significantly affected by the "spring" forward on our clocks. In fact, in the service I work with most directly, we had our second strongest attendance number from the last 6 months. I guess that's more a sign of health in the ministry and improvements in our follow-up efforts with newer folks.

Still, we did have a couple of funny tales today. First, our main bulletin-distributor didn't show up on time, so we had someone fill in for her. I should have sent her a text message yesterday to remind her -- but I forgot to do that! Second, after checking on another building, I was walking back toward our sanctuary just before noon -- or 11AM, if you forgot to move your clocks ahead, as was the case for the family I saw entering. They were surprised at how full the parking lot was -- until I asked if they had forgotten to change their clocks.

Oops!

Good to be home.

Just got back in town a couple of hours ago after a full day of driving home (Sacramento) from down south (Orange County). The trip reinforced my disdain for L.A. and its smog and its traffic, although the OC is nowhere as bad. Driving 8 hours alone is always fun... faster pitstops, no real conversation, and lots of choices on the iPod.

Great trip, overall. Odd to see green hills almost the entire way, and even saw a little snow on some of the hills along The Grapevine. But now I'm home and tonight we all lose an hour of sleep. So it's "really" 11:19PM, and that means it's definitely time for bed!

Hmm, Blogger won't let me add a pic. Argh. And i'm tired. So maybe I'll update with the pic tomorrow.

UPDATED: Finally, I can post a pic (4:25PM Sunday)

Fun times in Southern Cal.

I've been down in Orange County for a couple of days now. Weather has been ideal, conversations have been great, and it's been a good time. A few of the highlights:

On Thursday, I got to hear/observe the recording of the Simply Youth Ministry podcast at the SYM offices. That was pretty cool, especially since it was the first time they've tried live simulcast online from their offices (an earlier session was done at a youth workers conference a couple weeks ago). I hung out for a bit, talking with Nadim and Andy and Chris, plus the podcast regulars of Doug, Matt, Josh and Jana.

Then I got to hang with Fields for a little while to talk about some book ideas. It was great to get some feedback on the strentghs, weaknesses and possible audiences for the concepts. Good stuff.

Later in the afternoon, had coffee with Sandie Morgan, a good friend for many years. I worked with her and her husband Jean over in Greece back in 2000-2001, and my senior pastor is her brother. Got to spend a little time on the Vanguard University campus, which I'd never really explored much in the past.

Today was great. I slept in. Felt so good to do! Of course, I FIRST woke up around 6:30am, and took me about an hour to go back to sleep. But after 7 hours of driving Thursday, and knowing that I still have a lengthy drive ahead Saturday, sleep is good!

This afternoon, had lunch with Josh Griffin, Jeff Baker and Tony Steward. First time to meet Jeff and Tony, and first time to finally have a long-promised lunch with Griff. Then Josh took me and Jeff on a tour of the new student ministries building over at Saddleback. That's gonna be one sweet place! (The pic is Josh and Jeff showin' off their construction best in front of "The Refinery.")

All in all, good times down here, and I head back tomorrow -- just in time to lose an hour of sleep Saturday night because of the time change! Argh...

My newest addiction: Texting.

There are many good reasons I don't drink alcohol. Probably the best for me personally is because I have something of an addictive personality. Getting bottles of booze into my hands probably isn't a good thing!

Here's my latest addiction: text messaging. I'm not totally new to the world of texting, but my texting activity has reached new heights in the last few months. It really got started in November, when I asked friends to send me lots of texts, so I could see how many I'd send and receive in one month. The total? Somewhere around 1,900. Not bad -- my highest month before that was just over 1,500 (incoming and outgoing combined).

In December, the number grew to more than 3,400. In January, I passed the 4,400 mark. And this month? Well, by the end of this day I expect to have received or sent more than 5,100 messages.

This actually puts me into the realm of some students at our church. I talked with one teen yesterday, as I was reaching the 5K mark, and she was around 5,900 at that point.

"Hi, my name is Rob." "Hi, Rob." "I'm a textaholic."

Happy leap day.

Wow, an extra day on the calendar. Nothing terribly special about the 29th of the month, except when it happens in February. And this year it lands on a Friday, which is my day off from the church. I'm sure I'll find some way to memorably mark the event. I might do yardwork, or clean the house, or go to the gym, or work on some book ideas, or...

I'm hyperconnected.

This weekend, I entered the hyperconnected zone. I was on my cell phone talking to a friend. At the same time, I was engaged in two text-message chats. I also was talking to two friends in MSN Messenger, and another friend in AIM. I had MySpace open and got a few messages that way, too.

It was almost too much for my system -- meaning ME -- to handle!

How can people contact me?
1. Text messages
2. Email (I have four different addresses)
3. MySpace
4. Facebook (just joined last week)
5. AIM
6. MSN Messenger
7. Yahoo Messenger
8. Old-fashioned phone calls

Yeah, I'd say I have issues...

Lyrical thoughts: Volume 1.

Sheryl Crow - God Bless This Mess

Daddy’s in the hallway
Hanging pictures on the wall
Mama’s in the kitchen
Making casseroles for all
My brother came home yesterday
From somewhere far away
He doesn’t look like I remember
He just stares off into space
He must’ve seen some ugly things
He just can’t seem to say

God bless this mess
God bless this mess

Got a job in town
Selling insurance on the phone
With Robert and Teresa
And two con men from back home
Everyone I call up doesn’t have the time to chat
Everybody is so busy doing this and doing that
Something has gone missing

And it makes me kinda sad, oh

God bless this mess
God bless this mess
God bless this mess

Heard about the day
that two skyscrapers came down
Firemen, policemen
And people came from all around
The smoke covered the city
And the body count arise
The president spoke words of comfort
With tears in his eyes
Then he led us as a nation
Into a war all based on lies, oh

God bless this mess
God bless this mess
God bless this mess
God bless this mess

Odd dream.

I don't really have too many weird dreams. Sometimes I remember them, sometimes I don't. But last night I had a really weird one. (Honestly, it was probably early this morning, and we all know that's when the truly bizarre dreams occur.)

Details, as much as I can recall:

I was on a vacation to London. But we didn't visit any of the major tourist places. We were visiting places that I don't remember as being terribly London-ish, and I don't even remember who I was with. But then I recall being on an airplane headed to the next destination, and the airline was Oahu Air, so the plane flew like a dolphin, up and down and up and down. The right wing of the plane hit another plane but we were all OK. I could look out my window and see Big Ben, and then our plane flew under the London Bridge.

And then I was in an airport terminal, needing to buy tourist gifts for friends back home. I don't remember what was being sold. But I remember my mom and dad having a disagreement over what rental car to get, which is odd because 1) they're divorced and 2) I think this trip was nearly over, so what was the point of getting a rental car? (Sidenote: At least I wasn't trying to rent and drive a car in the middle of winter in Ohio.)

And somewhere around this point, I woke up and realized that it was a pretty odd dream with absolutely no hidden spiritual meaning. Only meaning I could find is that I enjoy traveling to Europe, haven't been to London since 1989, and maybe it's time to make a return visit. Perhaps? Yea, pretty weak. I agree!

Jericho returns to form.

I finally got around tonight to watching this week's episode of Jericho. I was reasonably pleased with last week's season premiere, but I felt something was lacking. Tonight I realized what it was: All of the first season was filled with this foreboding sense of doom and confusion and fear.

First episode of season two? Ho hum.

But with episode two, Jericho returned to form. The conspiracy is back, shadowy figures have been revived, and Ravenwood has stormed into town.

The next five episodes should be a blast.

Political sidenote: The "Allied" states are considered red states, and the "United" states are considered blue. A political undertone? Commentary by the show's creators? Perhaps...

Some iTunes purchases.

I'm not the kind of person to go around telling the world what iTunes songs I buy and load onto my device. There are a few reasons for this.

First, I don't buy individual songs. Call me a bizarre hybrid, but I usually buy entire albums from iTunes. Haven't bought a physical CD in a long, long time. But I still enjoy getting the entire experience of an album, and on several occasions I've discovered songs that I really like -- but they wouldn't have been original picks if I didn't buy the entire album.

Second, I haven't been buying a lot of iTunes stuff lately. I've just gotten back in the habit in the last couple of weeks. So for quite some time there really wasn't anything to say on this subject.

Third, most of my purchases are Christian music. Beyond that, most of those purchases are worship CDs. Is this bad? Of course not. But there's a certain attitude among ministry bloggers about Christian music and such. I agree that much of it is weak and mediocre. But the same can be said of most mainstream music, too. Hence the success of American Idol.

All of this leads me to the last few days.

Here are the albums I've purchased recently (within the last week, basically). It truly is an odd mix:

Detours, by Sheryl Crow

Hard Candy, by Counting Crows

God of this City, by Passion

Relentless, by Natalie Grant

We Need Each Other, by Sanctus Real

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto; Isaac Stern, Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto; Berliner Philharmoniker, Joshua Bell & Michael Tilson Thomas

Yes, quite a diverse mix. Haven't heard much from Sheryl Crow in years, sounded like an interesting album. Used to be a huge Counting Crows fan in the mid-'90s but lost track over the years. Love almost everything from the Passion worship people. Natalie Grant's stuff sounded intriguing. Usually love Sanctus Real (and I've been listening to it almost nonstop since last night and I really love this one).

And why two versions of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto? Each musician and orchestra interprets the work differently and I wanted to hear some new versions. I already own copies of the concerto by Jascha Heifetz and Kyoko Takezawa. Of these new versions, I really like the Bell interpretation. Stern is an incredible violinist, of course, but it's a slower rendition. Too slow for my tastes.

Great analysis of Hillary spin.

There's a great article over on Time's website talking about the insanity of Hillary Clinton's spin machine. Here are my favorite paragraphs, from later in the story:

It's understandable that the Clintonites operate in permanent spin mode; they weathered a constant barrage of attacks in the 1990s, and they came to see politics as a perpetual war room where you say whatever's necessary to win the day. It's hard to know whether their self-justifying and self-contradictory nonsense bothers actual voters, or just the reporters who have it force-fed to them. Strategy and marketing can be overrated in the world of retail; it might just be that a majority of Democratic voters, faced with a choice between two strong candidates with similar policies, prefer the Obama product.

But the Orwellian spin and the silly gotchas certainly could reinforce Obama's message that Clinton is mired in the small-minded, zero-sum, it's-all-a-game Washington politics of the past. There was that classic debate moment when Hillary said her worst quality was her impatience to change the world, and then criticized Obama for admitting he was disorganized. The next day, Obama said that if he had known that was how the game was supposed to be played, he would have said his worst quality was his overeagerness to help old ladies cross the street. Who do you think won that argument?

I love typos.

Having worked in the newspaper business for about 8 years, I understand how errors happen in a daily news environment. Sometimes the typos are just plain funny, like this one from a report about Barack Obama receiving an endorsment from the Teamsters:

According to AP, Ohio and Pennsylvania have some of the highest levels of unionization in the country. More than 15 percent of the Pennsylvania's workforce are union members, and over 14 of Ohio's workers are unionized.

Wow, glad to know that more than 14 people in Ohio belong to unions. That's power...

Is there a cancer in your church?

Perhaps that's an odd question to ask. I don't like thinking of people as being cancerous, but sometimes actions and attitudes do keep a church from becoming as healthy as God intends.

The idea came to my mind because of a comment a friend made a few days back. He told of a person who claimed that I had used the word "cancer" to describe members of his family many months ago. I didn't. I actually used that word to describe people from a completely different family whose actions and attitudes were crippling our ministry and undermining our senior pastor. Sounds cancerous to me.

But I guess even USING a word like "cancer" in a conversation is risky. Someone can misunderstand and misinterpret the main message being communicated. I certainly learned that!

Still lookin' for a new roommate.

As of yesterday, my house is down 1 occupant. Matt was one of my roommates for over three years (first an apartment, now my house), and this weekend he moved over to the Santa Rosa area. We'll miss him around here. He was a youth pastor at a nearby church for 4 years, and I know he's leaving behind some deep friendships as he takes this next step in life.

We've been searching for a new roommate to move into my four-bedroom house, and so far we've had minimal success. Personally, I wish I could afford to NOT have another roommate join us. I'd love to turn the empty room into a true office, but I don't know if it's financially feasible.

So if you happen to know of any Christian guys in the Sacramento area looking for a room in a house, we have a spot! Leave me a comment with email info and I can get in touch with all the details. It's a great house, great location, fun place to live.

Great analysis of Obama's recent wins.

Was just headed to bed, but checked up on couple news sites. Came across this great article from the SF Chronicle (on sfgate.com) about Obama and his growing appeal in this presidential primary:

The contest for the Democratic presidential nomination between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a white woman, and Barack Obama, a black man, has scrambled 21st century identity politics, producing startling turns in an election that, whatever its outcome, will make history.

It was former President Bill Clinton who called the racial divide "America's constant curse" in his second inaugural address 11 years ago.

But it was after Bill Clinton injected race into the South Carolina primary last month that African Americans, one of the Democratic Party's most important voting blocs, abandoned his wife's candidacy in droves.

Obama's novelty is not that he is the first black candidate for president, but the first black candidate who is not running as a black candidate. Obama has scrupulously avoided racial stereotyping, yet his race is an obvious element of his appeal that no rival can match.

I know my states.

In 1m 56s

Click here to Play

ht to josh treece

Cleaning time, moving time.

It was a beautiful day here in Sacramento, California. One of my roommates, Matt, is moving out this weekend, so today turned into a packing-cleaning-moving event at my house. Matt has cleaned out his room and loaded a UHaul truck. That means Mike is moving out of his room and into Matt's old room, and he's doing most of the work this evening (with his girlfriend and her sisters assisting).

As Matt was cleaning his room earlier in the day, I got in the mood to do some dishes to make the kitchen look better, and Dave decided to do some other cleaning around the house. He then opened up a bunch of windows and patio doors, and turned on the whole house fan to bring in some fresh air.

The laundry's been running full-tilt in the garage all day, and the place has a nice clean feel about it. Except my bedroom. Didn't quite get around to cleaning it today. Oh well.

Sad but expected news on '24.'

Bauer fans lament.

NEW YORK (AP) -- One fallout of the Hollywood writers strike is that fans of Fox's drama "24" have to wait until next January to see Jack Bauer again.

The network has committed to air a full season on consecutive weeks and had been planning to start last month. If it had started airing new episodes soon, the season finale would not have taken place until the summer, when TV networks rarely show their high-profile programs.

Even though eight episodes for this season had already been filmed before the beginning of the writers strike, producers would have had to ramp up production soon to complete the season.

So "24" represents this television season's most prominent casualty due to the writers strike.

A January 2009 start seemed the best way to comply with viewers' wishes that a season's episodes run without interruption to conclusion, Fox said on Thursday.

They could have made it a fall premiere, but oh well. Life goes on.

Oh yeah. It's Valentine's Day...

Yet another reminder of just how single I am...

It's "spirit week" for our K-8 school here at the church, and the kids have been dressed creatively each day. They've been biblical characters, cartoon/fiction characters, and they've worn their pajamas. Much fun.

Well, today I got to the office and I saw all the kids walking to class, but I couldn't figure out the day's theme. I asked the school receptionist, and she started to laugh. "It's Valentine's Day, silly, so they're all wearing red and pink and white." As she said this, I realized what I wore today: a black shirt.

Guess I'm lacking that Valentine's Day spirit today...

How healthy is that volunteer?

I had a great conversation a few days ago with a ministry friend in another town, and we got talking about volunteers in our churches. We came up with a few characteristics of what makes a healthy volunteer, and I thought I’d share eight of them.

Spiritual Growth
A healthy volunteer is becoming more like Jesus. This seems obvious, but it’s easy for volunteers (or ANY of us in ministry) to become so focused on the “doing” God’s work that we forget about “being” a follower of Christ. A healthy volunteer has learned how to feed himself spiritually, without relying on the pastor or a program as the sole source of spiritual nourishment. A healthy volunteer knows that she is ultimately responsible for her own spiritual development, that spiritual growth is a process, and that there is always room to grow until the final day of life.

Balanced Commitments
A healthy volunteer understands the importance of serving God and others, but not at the expense of other major commitments in life. Ministry must never become a hindrance to family (spouse and kids if married; other family members if still single). But also, a healthy volunteer doesn’t spread himself too thin among too many different ministries. It’s tough to be an effective usher and worship team member and teen ministry leader and board member and greeter and sound operator and groundskeeper and kitchen cook and – you get the idea. Help volunteers find a primary (maybe a secondary, too) place to serve and then help them stay focused as they grow.

“Big Picture” Connections
A healthy volunteer understands that her place of service is just one of MANY in the local church. Her role is neither more nor less important than anyone else’s. A healthy volunteer also recognizes the importance of being connected to the church at-large by attending weekend services and being connected in a small group or Bible study. Serving others is important, but we do everyone a disservice if we ask our volunteers to be solely committed to our sub-ministry; all of us need a place where we can connect with the corporate life of the congregation.

Ministry Clarity
A healthy volunteer clearly knows where and how he is being asked to serve. Clarity increases impact and influence. Confusion increases discord and frustration. We must always make sure a volunteer understands our expectations of anyone serving in that specific role. At the same time, our volunteers should know what to expect from us: training, support, prayer, encouragement, growth opportunities.

Ongoing Recruiter
A healthy volunteer knows that the team always needs more members. I can’t think of a setting or ministry where we have too many volunteers! (OK, maybe if we have 12 guitarists on the platform at the same time – but even then, some of them will be rookies who are learning and growing and perhaps shouldn’t be on the platform yet.) Every volunteer should be encouraged and empowered to recruit other people to your specific team AND be on the lookout for folks who would be great additions to OTHER ministry teams in the congregation.

Faithful Giver
A healthy volunteer demonstrates faithfulness through consistency tithes and offerings. Let’s face it: Our healthiest volunteers are the ones who truly understand and support the mission of the local church, and one of the best demonstrations is through the checkbook. We don’t need to be checking the weekly offerings to see if all of our leaders are on the list, but it is important for us to model and encourage a lifestyle of giving.

W.O.R.D.S. Lifestyle
A healthy volunteer is growing in the areas of worship, outreach, relationships, discipleship, and service. This is important because our volunteers are leaders, and our leaders need consistency and balance in living out these biblical principles. We’re not just a “worship” church or an “outreach” church. All of these areas are essential. In our context, we believe people should honor God through worship and stewardship, grow together through relationships and discipleship, and serve others through ministry and outreach. Find ways to incorporate those themes into the sub-ministries of the church, and our volunteers will have a greater understanding and awareness.

Regular Breaks
A healthy volunteer needs to be permitted to take breaks. If a one-time commitment becomes a five-year or life-long commitment, our volunteers will crash and burn. Offering sabbaticals and breaks is crucial for the long-term health of our ministries, but more importantly, it’s crucial for the long-term health of our leaders.

Anyway, just some food for thought!

'Jericho' makes its return.

"The nightmare is over. Order will be restored."

An interesting promise for an addictingly fascinating show. "Jericho" returned tonight for a short season, thanks to the writers' strike and the original plans to cancel the show after its first season.

Tonight's episode was decent. It did a good job of tying up some plotlines left over from the season finale. Jake and Heather were reunited. A new flag is flying over Jericho. Most of the states west of the Mississippi have united under a new government, which appears to be corrupt.

I'm probably hooked again. Great...

Some new books in the hopper.

OK, so I'm addicted to buying books. And every now and then I actually read the new acquisitions. But here are some new ones that have joined my "to read" stack.

1. Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests Into Fully Engaged Members of Your Chuch, by Nelson Searcy with Jennifer Dykes Henson

2. Church is a Team Sport: A Championship Strategy for Doing Ministry Together, by Jim Putman

3. Among Empires: American Ascendancy and its Predecessors, by Charles S. Maier

4. Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerced, and Culture, by Taylor Clark

5. How Starbucks Saved My Life, by Michael Gates Gill

6. The Great House of God/Just Like Jesus/When Christ Comes (3-in-1 book), by Max Lucado

Now I just need to start making more time to read...

Hurray for writers.

For those of us longing for the return of such TV shows as The Office or 24 or 30 Rock, this was such good news today.

Magical odometer moment.

This happened a few days ago, but I just finally sync'd my Treo with my computer. Enjoy the wonderful numbers.

My ideal presidential matchup.

Just read that Mitt Romney is dropping out of the GOP race today, leaving John McCain as the clear candidate. Mike Huckabee is still in it, but let's face it, the nomination will go to McCain.

And I'm happy because McCain is one-half of the ideal Dem-GOP race that I'd like to see this fall.

On the other side, I'm pulling for Barack Obama as the Democractic nominee. I believe an Obama-McCain campaign holds the greatest potential for legitimate debate over issues and policy and direction and philosophy. Yes, there would be some mud tossed about -- this IS politics, after all. But if Hillary Clinton wins the Dem nod, then things will just spiral downhill and out of control.

So, we're halfway to my ideal presidential matchup for 2008.

Driving: Great opportunities to connect.

Sometimes it's easy for me to hop in my car and drive places solo. But this morning brought a great reminder that sometimes it's worth the extra effort to bring along a passenger -- or become the passenger! Instead of driving downtown today to feed the homeless, I caught a ride from one of the newer guys in our church. We've had a chance to talk briefly before, but I'd never heard his story of how he became a Christian and all the stuff God had done in his life. So, today's drive proved to be a great time to get to know him better and connect on a deeper level.

Just got done feeding the homeless.

We sent a team of about 30 folks to downtown Sacramento today to feed the homeless and the needy. This is a twice-monthly outreach that targets a specific area where homeless individuals tend to congregate. It was much colder outside today than I had first expected, and it's been raining periodically this morning. So, our crowd wasn't as large as it sometimes is, but we still had several dozen folks who got a hot breakfast, coffee and juice, and could then receive other items to help them... beanies, jackets, clothes, eyeglasses.

This is a healthy ministry at our church for a number of reasons.
1. We have many newer folks who are involved.
2. It gets us outside the walls of our church and into a hands-on ministry.
3. It meets a legitimate need in our community; certainly it doesn't solve the problem of homelessness but it does play a part in keeping people warm and fed.
4. Several of our ministries team up to help; our children's ministry and men's ministry have been particularly active, and our teen ministry leaders are interested in participating, too.

So all around, a good way to start off the weekend!

Teamwork on sermons.

We've been experimenting around the church lately with the way our senior pastor does his sermons on Sundays. Two or three times a week, he meets with a team of us to discuss his outline, brainstorm illustrations, and identify the best scriptures for his points. I'm aware of this process being done at our churches, but it's the first time for us.

So far, it's proving to be a positive experience. It's helping him because the whole process removes some elements from his plate but in return we're adding more content and application ideas. It's also good for me in my role, as executive pastor, and our youth pastor to gain some insight into how he preps his messages.

And it also means that if our senior pastor were to get sick at the last minute, one of us already would be familiar with the sermon and could easily step in to preach in his place.

Interesting times at Starbucks.

A new Starbucks opened just a short distance from my house this month. I realize many of you could utter the same words with identical accuracy. I've picked up several books on the company, its impact on our broader culture, and even its spiritual implications. But today I came across this news article:

"Starbucks ratcheted down the number of new stores it plans to open this year and said it would close some U.S. locations as it reported a 2% rise in fiscal first-quarter earnings Wednesday.

"The company said it's slowing the pace of store growth worldwide by 350 to 2,150 stores for fiscal 2008, down from a reduced target of 2,500 earlier in the month. That includes closing about 100 underperforming stores in the U.S. and opening about 75 new stores abroad."

Probably the most remarkable statement in those opening paragraphs is the idea of Starbucks closing some locations. That just doesn't happen. This latest news certainly doesn't mean the company is headed for disaster, but it could mean that Midas has left the building...

Best idea I've heard in the last 48 minutes.

Just caught the end of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. The final guest was a professor of some sort, who has a particular interest in poker. His closing suggestion to Colbert ranks as the best idea I've heard in the last 48 minutes: You should invite the presidential candidates onto your show to see how well they play poker. That would absolute entertainment.

Only problem: Bill would find a way to cheat for Hillary...

More pics of snow.

Here's my latest installment of my obsession with Yosemite National Park. Sure wish I was enjoying some of this snow... from the safety of a cabin with heating, fireplace and lots of food, of course!

The woes of sprained ankles.

I have some odd "reminders" and "anniversaries" that I keep on my smartphone. By far, the oddest is my annual note for January 23: "Call Jeremy re: sprained ankle." Want an explanation? Keep reading.

Five years ago yesterday, my friend Jeremy Anderson and I were playing racquetball down in Turlock. We had been playing regularly, but this would be a monumental day because I sprained during this particular session. Through that whole experience, I learned several important lessons:

1. When you're injured, don't hop around on your own. Use your friend's shoulder to balance yourself as you go out to the car. Otherwise you might fall down and hurt yourself.

2. If you must climb steps with an injured ankle, remember to NOT use the injured ankle on the second step. Otherwise you might fall down and hit your head against the front door of your house.

3. When you get ready to stretch out on a couch, make sure you're careful as you rest your head. Otherwise you might bonk the back of your head against the wooden armrest of the couch.

4. For you Pentecostal/Charistmatic types... If you're speaking in tongues while your body is in shock, be aware of how loudly you're speaking. Otherwise the health club employee may give you a weird look.

I've only played racquetball a few times since that injury in 2003. If you have a choice of breaking or spraining, I'd quickly pick the broken bone because the healing time is faster. It took me a long time to feel truly comfortable on my ankle after that sprain!

Political season: It's in the air(waves).

We've started seeing more political TV ads in recent days. Most of the ads involve the state propositions on the February 5 ballot, but now a new face is being seen: Hillary, proclaiming her ability to heal the nation, rescue the health care system, and bring global peace to this planet and the entire galaxy.

Or something like that.

Yea, the election is almost here. I'm registered as a "permanent" absentee voter, so I've already received my absentee ballot, and this time around I get to vote in the Democratic primary. I'm actually a "non-partisan" voter, but the Dems and American Independents allow NPs to vote in their primary. And considering I can't even name a single AI candidate from the last 100 years, the only real option is to vote Democrat.

And I can tell you this: I'm a big believer in the ABC approach to politics this year. "Anybody But Clinton." We had a Bush then a Clinton then a Bush... the last thing we need is a Clinton again. Let's find a new voice, a new vision, a new leader. Quit going back to the dynastic cesspool.

I ventured into the cold. Brrr.

It's pretty cold here in Iowa today. I think the temperature is around 17 degrees but it feels much, much colder because of the wind. My dad and I went walking around for a few minutes along the trail behind their house. I only lasted about 30 minutes, even bundled up like this:

Gettin' ready for snow.

We just watched the news... it's 6:30 here, which means it's 4:30pm in California... which really doesn't matter, but I thought I'd point it out...

Anyway, the weather folks (who are always right and never wrong, of course) are forecasting that this part of Iowa could get 4 inches of snow on Wednesday night, into Thursday. That would be supersweet. There's still snow here, but I'd love to wake up Thursday and see a fresh blanket of snow covering everything. Then I could grab one of my dad's sleds and slide down the hill in their backyard...like a 6-year-old kid. Awesome!

I've arrived in Iowa.

Yesterday turned out to be a full travel day getting from California to Iowa. There were no problems in the morning getting to the airport and leaving Sacramento. And there weren't any major problems in Chicago, either. But while I was waiting for my flight from Chicago to Cedar Rapids, they announced that they were looking for someone to give up a seat on the plane, in exchange for a later flight AND a free round-trip ticket to anywhere in the U.S.

I was tempted. But I had some freelance editing work to finish, and I just couldn't see myself doing the work in the middle of the airport. Then they made a second announcement. You could literally see passengers looking around at other passengers wondering, "Well, is someone gonna do this?" I walked up to the counter and asked if I'd qualify, because I already was flying on a free ticket. The woman working the counter said it was fine.

So, I decided to call my dad to see if it would be alright. The last thing I wanted to do was through off their plans by arriving 4 hours later. But he said it would be fine (though it WOULD mean I'd miss most of the Kansas basketball game on TV). I ended up giving up my seat, getting the free ticket, finding a relatively quiet place (with a table, even!) to do my work, and then taking the much later flight.

During that time it snowed, and many of the planes were getting the de-icing treatment. But eventually my flight made it. Needless to say, by the time I went to bed last night, I slept solidly. And my body didn't really want to get up this morning!

Cold days ahead for me.

I'm leaving Monday to visit my dad and stepmom back in Iowa. Just checked the weather forecast, and it looks like the HIGH temperatures may never break past freezing while I'm there. I think that's been the case both of the other times I've visited, too. Gotta make sure I grab my gloves, a scarf and my beanie!

I'm a cautious driver -- to a fault, perhaps.

Last night I spent time with some friends (and some total strangers) at a birthday party. First part of the evening was just hanging out at a pizza place; still a fun time. But the second part was a series of races at RPM, down in Rancho Cordova. They offer some intense kart racing, and it was a great time for everyone.

I even enjoyed it, despite coming in last. Seriously. I was dead last in our group of 16 racers. While talking to roommate Dave (who holds the 61st spot in their Top 100 RPM charts; check it out on their website), it occurred to me that I was driving way, way, way too cautiously out on the track. In other words, I drove on the track similarly to how I drive in the real world. Of course, in the real world, I haven't had an accident since October 1989... I've never gotten a speeding ticket... and I've only been pulled over twice by cops (see here and here for more info on that).

So, the moral of this story: Next time I go back to RPM, I need to drive more intensely. Or something like that. I'll also have to bring plenty of cash, 'cause it isn't cheap (it's only real downside).

The most annoying woman on TV.

Her name is Nancy Grace. Perhaps you've heard of her. If not, congratulations. Your world is a bit less shrill, less annoying, less bizarre without her.

I miss manual odometers.

This afternoon I was out running errands, and I realized my car was about ready to hit 33,000 miles. Unfortunately, I have a digital odometer, so I have to pay close attention or I'll miss the actual "rollover" moment. Watching the odometer and watching the road at the same time -- well, it's probably riskier than driving without a hands-free device on your cell! But I did catch the actual moment this time.

It occurred to me today how much I miss having a manual odometer. I loved the sense of anticipation for the changing of a thousand or a ten-thousand mark. You see one number slowly start to roll, then the next, then the next, then the next... With a digital odometer, nothing. One moment my car had 32,999 miles on it. The next it had 33,000. Blink and you miss it. Such a shame.

My fortune-less cookie.

Just got done eating a to-go lunch from Panda Express. Of course, I save the fortune cookie until the very end. When I cracked open the cookie, much to my dismay, I discovered that there was no cookie inside. Is the absence of a message somehow a message in itself? And if so, what would that message be? Hmm...

Presidential choices.

Thinking of voting for Rudy Guiliani this year? Interesting article here from The New Yorker that raises some deep issues for me about whether he's really presidential material. I already had concerns, but I'm afraid I'd almost rather have the styles of some other candidates over a Rudy-style presidency.

On another note, I was fascinated by the results of last week's Iowa caucuses. A year ago, who would have honestly guessed Mike Huckabee would win the GOP contest, and Barack Obama would easily win on the Dems' side? Remarkable how this year's presidential election is going. There are some candidates I clearly don't like or trust, but there are some others who could turn out to be good nominees, and I pray the one who wins end up being a good president.

Volunteers need access and support.

I learned a tough ministry lesson last night, though I hope it all has a good outcome. We ran into a problem over the weekend where a key volunteer wasn't able to access all of the places and resources needed for one of our teams. It added to a sense that priorities had shifted in our church, and formerly important things weren't quite as important as before. This leader and I spoke yesterday, had a really tough heart-to-heart, and it was clear that I needed to take a bigger role in making sure things happen correctly around here.

I moved into a new role back in the fall, and I'm no longer the "cheerleader" for any specific ministry, even though I work closely and directly oversee several groups. But really, my job is to be a cheerleader for all of the church ministries -- without appearing to favor one over another. That's a tough balancing act. It also meant I had to apologize to this leader yesterday, because the buck stops with me in my new role.

I guess I'm simply praying that yesterday's conversation will help me get back on track and remember that volunteers need access, support, prayers, friendship -- whatever it takes to help them succeed!

Have you googled yourself lately?

I hadn't googled myself in quite some time, so I decided to do it, and I was surprised by the results! When I typed in "rob cunningham" in the search engine, my own blog was the first hit. Remarkable! Last time I did it, my blog was the 13th result, so apparently I'm moving up in the world...

Mountain snow.

I realize some of you are convinced I'm obsessed with Yosemite. That's not entirely true. No, I lie. It's true. Here are two pics of fresh snow up there from yesterday's storm -- and more snow on its way today!

Pick 3: Politics

So, it's a new year and I've decided to drop the "5 stories worth a read" feature, and instead offer the occasional Pick 3 -- three news articles from online sources, all relating to one theme. That means I might have more than one Pick 3 post on a given day, depending on the news articles I encounter. This round: politics.

1. Close race means California primaries may matter from sfgate.com

2. Analysis: Huckabee up, Clinton down heading to Granite State from cnn.com

3. ABC cuts 3 from presidential debates from The Associated Press (via modbee.com)

Enjoy.

Crazy weather.

Today has been wild. It's just 2PM, but we've been without power for most of the day (since around 7:45AM). We've had a huge storm moving through, and the winds have been insane. I haven't been able to check much online because of the power outages (it seems rather stable at the moment) but we've had heavy winds, lots of rain, downed trees -- wild stuff.

Here are a couple of pics from my house. No real damage to show, but a bit messy outside today!

My dad now has a blog.

As I sit here, realizing my recently abysmal blogging patterns, it's worth noting that my dad has launched his own blog in honor of the year 2008. Or something like that.

He and my stepmom live in Iowa, which today is the center of the political universe. Tomorrow, of course, no one will give a flying leap about Iowans' views on presidential candidates. But today is the day faithful voters go caucus (apparently it's a verb, not just a noun) and pick their state's nominees for both major political parties. If you care who my dad's supporting, you can visit his blog.

Anyway, it should be interesting to see how consistently my dad maintains his blog. I've done a horrible job of late, faithful reader, but perhaps I can get back on the wagon. Or off the wagon. I always get that one mixed up...

My friend and blogging inspiration Josh Griffin (seriously, he's the one who encouraged me to take up this "habit" couple years ago) recommended that I consume energy drinks like Rockstar to inspire me and my writing. But I think energy drinks are of the devil. Like dancing.