::Leading With A Limp::

Girl of My Dreams?

I wonder how this will turn out...boy sees girls on subway, boy needs to meet girl, boy creates website.

What do you think...stalker or romantic?

ht: Another Storm

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.

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.

Call To Prayer: Malibu Presbyterian Church Has Burned

Friends, I am asking for an urgent call to prayer.  A huge fire has started in Malibu, causing among other things the total destruction of Malibu Presbyterian Church.  I understand that they were able to retrieve some computers and papers before it burned.

Although God exists outside of the physical walls of the church, this is a huge loss for those that called this place their church home. Please take a moment out of your busy day and pray for this church body, for the pastor, for the staff, for those that attend there and for the Malibu community.  Thank you.

UPDATE:  I just spoke with somebody from Malibu Pres, the church appears to be a total loss.  They are devastated but safe...praise God!  I have let them know that Bel Air Pres will do everything we can to assist them.

We are getting flooded with calls from television and radio.  In the midst of trouble, this is an opportunity to share the message of Christ with the media...

Friend, please pray.  The fire is not over, it's getting worse.  As of yet nobody has been injured or killed.  Please pray for protection for the people in Malibu.

If you want to watch live coverage, check out Fox Live.

Focus

I redid the look of my blog today, it's plain black and white.  No frills, just like a newspaper (remember those?)

Why?  I'm going to refocus.  I've gone back to Facebook and am going to use that as my primary social networking tool.  Please, feel free to add me as a friend!

I will refocus this blog, back to its roots.  The purpose of this little niche of the internet is to communicate, educate and interact.  I've been leaning too heavily on personal posts lately, breaking my own rule of a 4:1 ratio of business:personal life.

So I'm going plain for the weekend, then coming back next week laser focused.  Emphasis will be on communications, administration and technology.  Again, if you want to pal around online, you can find me over at Facebook.  See you there!

The Best Part of My Job

The best part of my job isn't even in my job description.  I spent most of last week describing what I do from day to day.  I focused mostly on the business side of it, that is what most readers have emailed me to ask about.  BTW...I actually read my Bible and journal almost every day, I just didn't include that in my posts last week.

Today I had the great opportunity to talk to three different people about life.  Yes, they work at the church, and yes, I have cause to talk to each of them about their work.  Today though we stepped outside of that.  We talked about life, about health, about theology, about struggles and insecurities.  We talked about what God wants from us.  None of this is within my job description, but it is the most rewarding part of my job.  I tried to share as much about myself with them as they shared with me, I think that is only fair.

Ministry is so challenging.  It stretches us so thin and makes us wonder if we will ever make it.  I wouldn't have it any other way...it is part of what creates our reliance of God.

California: No Cell Phones While Driving

Governor Arnold just signed a law that says teens 18 and under that are driving cannot use a cell phone or other portable electronic device at all...it doesn't matter if they have a bluetooth or not.  No talking, texting or surfing...period.

Next July a hands-free-only law will go into effect for all drivers in California.

While at times this may be inconvenient for me, I support this move, both the current action for teens and the future action for adults.  What do you think...intelligent safety move or "the man" keeping us down?

Airline Woes? Sacrifice a Goat

This doesn't really relate to anything...but it caught my eye.

Officials in Nepal were having some problems with their state-run airline, so what did they do?  Kill a couple of goats to appease the sky god.  Seriously, check it out.

Changing Churches

Carlos Whittaker quoted himself today.  He is moving from L.A. to Atlanta and recently announced his intentions to his church. True words, brother!

FlowerDust is a Gajillion Times Smarter Than Me

I am a dummy.  FlowerDust Anne Jackson is a savant.  That's really the bottom line to this story.  But my question is...are YOU smarter than FlowerDust?  Read on and let us know...

I got an IM from Anne this morning and she mentioned that she had recently taken and IQ test online.  Her husband did too...maybe I should take it.

"Hrm," I think, "sounds like I'm going to get humiliated.  Great!  Sign me up!"

I tell her that I'm pretty sure she will pummel me and that there is no way I will beat her.  She insists that I am tenfold smarter than she is and that I will ace this thing.  It's only 38 questions, how difficult can it be?  The thing is, it's also timed and so they deduct points for dragging your feet.  Likewise you are rewarded for going through it quickly.  So I hesitantly agree to do this, only if we will share our scores with the other at the same time. I walked right into her trap!

I cruise through the test, noting that I have a meeting to go to.  I go as fast as I can, and I start sweating.  Oh man...if only I spent a little more time maybe I would come up with a different answer!  No time for that, must finish.

So I crank through it in just under 10 minutes.  I am confident that I got them ALL wrong.

"Okay," I tell FlowerDust via IM, "I'm done.  Let the humiliation begin."

So she counts it off, "1....2....3!" At the same time we IM our results.

Matt Singley: 127

Anne Jackson: 131

Aaaaaarrrrrgggh!  I got whooped!  Dangit!  Anne Jackson is way, way, WAY smarter than me!  Dangit!

Or is she?

You see, at the end of the test you get your score emailed to you for free. You also have the option of paying to see a full report of how smart you really are.

Your Complete Personal Intelligence Profile has been generated and can be accessed immediately for only $9.95.

You will receive a graph outlining your performance in addition to a complete written explanation about how well you did in each of the test's 13 individual IQ scoring categories.

Me?  I'm happy with my results.  Ms. 131?  She paid!  Muhahahaha!  Who's laughing now, FlowerDust? :P

If you want to take the test as well, you can find it here.  If you do, go ahead and put your results in the comment section so that even MORE people can be smarter than me.  I'm an easy target.  But the real question is...are you smarter than FlowerDust?