::Leading With A Limp::

Christians and Halloween

Today is a big day...for the next 14 hours you will be assaulted until you give away a sweet confection of some variety.  Elvis sightings will be everywhere, Spiderman will be spinning his web and you won't be able to swing a cat without hitting a little princess or witch.  Welcome to Halloween.

As a Christian, what do you do?  Join in the party or fold your arms and refuse to be a part of a pagan tradition?

I know plenty of people on both sides of this decision.  My Christ followers choose to participate in a "harvest festival" or other similar event at their local church.  Some will dutifully stay at home and hand out candy but won't let their kids go out.  Some well-intended Christians will hand out tracts instead of candy.  (BTW, a note to those that participate in the latter...that's pretty much an open invitation to get your house egged...don't say you weren't warned).

My family?  We are going to dress the kids up in cute costumes (nothing bloody), join our friends/neighbors and go around the neighborhood.  I think it's a great way to meet the neighbors!  That and I teach my children the principles of capitalistic economics each year.  "Good haul children!  You did very well for yourselves this year...now I need to tax you all by taking 24% of your haul".  Yes, 24% is quite generous of me.  In some years of abundant prosperity they have fallen into the 40% bracket, but fortunately they were able to find enough write-offs to offset the candy cost.

So what about you?  Do you let your kids participate?  Why or why not?

Trick or Treat?

We Want A King!

In my morning reading I am in 1 Samuel 8. At this point Samuel is growing old, and even though he has two sons, Israel is asking for a "real" king.  Samuel's sons are losers and are completely corrupt.  Samuel is frustrated that the people keep asking for a king, because he knows that the LORD is their king.  But they don't want to hear that.  They want somebody to wear purple robes and gives them orders.

So Samuel has a talk with God, and God tells him to give the people fair warning.  So he does.  Essentially Sam tells the people that their lives will be absolutely miserable with a king in place, that instead they should honor God and follow Him. 

"But we want to be like everybody else, give us a king," whine the people. "Give us a king!"

Although this is the telling of something that happened a long time ago, it is still very common these days.   Not with a king that sits on a throne and gives orders to his servants, but with things that take control of our lives.  How often has God asked us to put Him first?  Yet we put other things before Him, other 'kings'...money, power, plasma TVs, time on Facebook.  How many times has God told me through prayer, the Bible and other people that I need Him to be #1 in my life?  I don't know the number, but I do know that I have rejected it an equal amount. 

My prayer for today is that I won't let the other things get in the way.  I don't need another king, I need The King.  Father, today I will follow you.

SpinVox Marries Facebook

I have been a fan of SpinVox since they made their debut in the States.  I even teamed up with the company to give away 1,000 free SpinVox accounts earlier this year. This is the single most useful piece of technology in my administration arsenal, it organizes things better for me than anything else.

You can imagine my intrigue when I read that SpinVox will offer voice updates for Facebook.

Hrm...the greatest productivity tool mashes up with the greatest social networking site.  It sounds like a good match to me.

Upcoming Concert

Our incredibly gifted worship leader, TJ Stafford, it playing a show in Santa Monica this Thursday.  He'll be at 14 Below with Noah Needleman and Sara Haze.  The cost is $10, all proceeds benefit Bel Air Pres outreach.  You would be foolish to not attend if you live in L.A.

You should head over to TJs website and check it out.  How is this for an incentive...you can download his latest album for FREE.  You'll love it.

As blog buddy Los would say...you're welcome.

How Many Times Do You Communicate A Message?

Answer: 7 x 77

When communicating information to your staff, your congregation or your community, how often do you put the same message out?  Did you say 'once'?  You did, didn't you?  You will need to stay after class I'm afraid, because once will rarely make an impact.

I'm not talking about an announcement like "there are muffins in the work room"...I'm talking about a message.  A direction.  An edict.  A vision!

I often talk to frustrated staffers that are upset because their message isn't getting out.  "But I already sent a memo," they will say, "everybody knows!"  No, everybody doesn't know.  You know, and that is about it, because the message is only important to you at this point.  So what do you do?  You need to repeat your message.  And then do it again. 

Before you think that I am talking about email, I am not!  Do not start spamming people with your thoughts, that will only make them tune you out more.  Talk to individuals one-on-one.  Reinforce your message in small meetings.  Make sure that those that work with you most often are aware of what you are trying to communicate, they can help spread the message. Above all...be patient! Remember, just because you know something is important it doesn't mean that others have grabbed a hold of your vision. But they will!

Getting The Message Out: God In The Spotlight

When the news of the fires in Malibu first got to us, and when we found out that Malibu Presbyterian Church had burned to the ground, I was sad.  In the midst of it all, I prayed that glory would come to God in spite of the loss. In my initial post about it, I hoped that the message of Christ would get into the media.

Jen called me earlier today to let me know about something interesting.  She had just left her Bible study in Westlake Village, a community Bible study that has nothing to do with Bel Air Pres or Malibu Pres.  She said that the instructor played a news clip for everybody, talking about God in the media as it relates to the fires.  She was surprised that the clip was one of the interviews that I did with NBC on Sunday.  I'm glad to say that the focus wasn't on me, it was on our Christian belief, "God exists outside the walls of the church".  I believe that to my core, and it's a great message that the media is helping us to relay to those watching the tragedy in Southern California.

In times of trouble, when the world focuses on loss for the church, we have great opportunity.  Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that lies inside of you!

If you want to watch the news footage with the short interview you can find it by clicking here.

I will keep the blog community updates on what happens with Malibu Pres Church. 

Malibu Church Service TONIGHT

If you live in SoCal, please join us tonight at Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church for a community church event.  I don't know the details of the time together, but I will be there.  You should go also.  Let's show support for the community during this challenging time.  7pm.  Be there or be nowhere.

SoCal Fires: How You Can Help

I think the news of the fires in Southern California has made it around the world.  The loss is simply devastating, and living right in the middle of it all I get to see first-hand how people's lives are affected.

The majority of the readers of this blog don't live in Southern California.  Many have contacted me to ask how they can help.  I have spoken with individuals that can only give $10 and to pastors that want to take a special offering this Sunday for their whole church.  Anything and everything helps.

Bel Air Presbyterian Church has been very active in getting people mobilized and help spread out, both with money and time.  If you would like to offer help in some capacity, please check out this page on our website, it offers a lot of information.

As more avenues of assistance open up (volunteer locations, etc) we will update it on our website.  Please check back.  Thank you.

Peppermint-Filled Baldies (My Lunch with Eric Bryant)

In just a few weeks, Bel Air Pres and Mosaic are coming together to present an incredible small groups seminar called 34 Degrees.  If you live in L.A. and are interested in small groups for any reason you really need to attend this, it's going to be fantastic.

One of the speakers is Eric Bryant, the "navigator" for Mosaic.  I will come right out and tell you that I'm jealous of his ambiguous yet intriguing job title.  With that out of the way, I wanted to get together with Eric and talk a little bit about what our two churches can do to make Los Angeles the greatest city for Christ.

We had lunch out in Pasadena today and it was a good time.  I wonder what the other patrons of the restaurant were thinking as two bald white guys chatted and laughed?  No doubt they assumed we were President and VP of the Moby fan club.

Eric brings a great amount of passion and wisdom to his job, I think Mosiac is lucky to have him.  After a little prodding I found out that "navigator" is just a slicker way of saying "Executive Director" as we share many of the same job responsibilities.  Directing (navigating?) a large church comes with many challenges and many rewards, it was nice to be able to swap war stories.

Eric was kind enough to give me a copy of his book, Peppermint Filled Pinatas, which I have been wanting to read for some time.  I had to confess that I have not read a single book cover to cover since my move to L.A., so it was a very welcomed gift.  If you want to check it out, head over to Amazon and order it today!  If you work at or attend Bel Air Pres you can buy a copy in our cafe starting this weekend.

So, faithful readers, I leave you with these marching orders:

1. Register for 34 Degrees today
2. Order a copy of Peppermint Filled Pinatas right now
3. Go check out Eric's blog
4. Throw some love into the comments sections

Zune 2

Every time I put up stuff about Zune I get blasted by the iPod koolaid drinkers.  So have at it, Apple fans.

Last night I went to a Zune 2 preview party in Hollywood.  The Zune 2 is slated for release in mid November, so Cesar Menendez from Microsoft if making stops around the country to show off the latest offering.

I have to tell you...I'm very excited for this to come out.  Aside from the 80GB "brick" they are offering little 8GB Zunes (I call them "Zunitos").  They come in a variety of finishes and have a Zune pad that is controlled by swiping the finger and clicking.  It is very easy to navigate and is very fast.  It has a speed up feature that, as you scroll through your music, speeds up as you go down the list.  Very cool.

Some obvious changes from the first generation Zune are the addition of Podcasts as a top-level service and some neat additions to the "social" (or wi-fi) aspects of the Zune.  Wireless syncing with your computer?  It's there.  I love that.  If you have other Microsoft Products (like an Xbox 360) it will sync content to that.  I also love that.

I've written about the Zune Marketplace before, and what a huge fan I am of this service.  The improvements to the Marketplace that coincide with the launch of the hardware are great.  Of course they are adding podcasts, but they are also adding a ton of video selections.  I'm pretty excited about this.

The picture on this post is Cesar Menendez holding one of the Zunitos.  It was very low light and they wouldn't let me take hi-resolutions pics, but you get the idea.

The bottom line?  I believe this 2nd generation will eat up more market share.  It is clear that Microsoft is not leaving the personal media market anytime soon.  They are in it to win it, and I think the Zune 2 is a step toward that goal.  I will buy one the day it comes out. What about you...are you sticking with iPod or considering a move?