"Signature of Divine (Yahweh)" by Needtobreath

This video is comprised of over 3,000 photos and a 6-day shoot. Check it out!

Anybody thinking?

What are you thinking about?

Call of Duty - World at War

I bought a PS3 few months ago and so far it has been a lot of fun. Helps me relax...

I am looking forward to this....



Any games you think I should check out?

"Quote"

Never make a decision that has permanent consequences during a temporary season~Bishop McBath.

ChurchMetrics!

Here is a great new free tool from the Digerati Team at lifechurch.tv

It is a great tool to keep a track of records that relate to your church or organization.  


Introducing ChurchMetrics from ChurchMetrics on Vimeo.

Click here to check it out. 

Satan's thoughts on the Church!

This is a video by lifechurch.tv

Four ways to wreck a small group

1. Don't Prepare: Don't go over the lesson and try to do everything on the go. (this might help with a few leaders ego - to show that you might be more "spiritual") OUCH!
2. Let a student dominate the whole group: Let the guy/girl who always opens his/her mouth and has an answer for every question talk all the time, without giving others a chance to talk or share.
3. Don't have any guidelines: Let the students do whatever they feel like. Let them treat other students in the group any way they want to. 
4. ALWAYS stick to the lesson: Even if there is a student that needs to talk about an important issue in his/her life that needs attention, don't take the time to do that, since "the topic" is not a part of the lesson.

There you go!

So the next time you want to absolutely wreck the small group experience, simply follow the four ways mentioned above.

For those of you who want to have a great small group experience do the exact opposite of the four ways mentioned above!

Have other ideas.....go ahead and comment.

Me, running for president??!

Click here to check out the video!!

Let me know what you think?

Music Video - This is home by Switchfoot

Electing a US President

Here is my first post that has to do with politics.

Take your blog Mobile!

Almost every cell phone that is being introduced to the market, has the ability to access the internet and more people are beginning to use their cell phones to access websites more than ever before. With this is mind, it is important to have a mobile version of your blog/website.

If you have a blog and want to have a mobile version of it, well head on over to Mofuse.

They will make a mobile version of your blog, for FREE! All you have to do is register and it hardly takes a minute to get everything done!  

BOOKS!

Here are three new books that have either just come out or will be coming out in the near future. 

1. 13 ways to ruin your life by Jarrod Jones is available as a free download. Click here. I think EVERY guy SHOULD read this book!
2. Tribes by Seth Godin is available on itunes for only 95 cents.
3. MAD church disease by Anne Jackson does not come out till Feb. 09 but you can get a free chapter by clicking here. 

Karting in Dubai!

This past summer, I had a wonderful opportunity to visit Dubai with my family. These are some pics from the Dubai Autodrome. It was the best karting experience that I have had so far.

L3 - Leadership Lessons Learnt

As I learn about leadership and what it means to be a leader, one of the common phrases that has really been on my mind about leading is "Leading by example." In the last three weeks this has become more apparent to me then ever. 

Even though it is a very common and basic leadership principle I found myself neglecting it at certain times. If you are not intentional about it, you WILL end up neglecting it. In the last few weeks, I have been very intentional to address this and I have already seen a change in the team that I lead. No matter what you do it life, if there are people that you influence and would like them to do certain things, there is no better way to lead them then by example. 

I honestly believe that if you lead by example, the people will always be willing to follow. 

Let me know what you think.... or if you have any thoughts about this.

Music Video - Where the streets Have No Name (Live) by U2

U2 is my favorite band and I personally think this is one of the greatest songs ever. Here is U2 performing live in Ireland.

Small Group Help

I found two great articles about small groups. Anyone who has ever been involved in leading small groups knows that it is not an easy thing to do. 

Click here to remind yourself about 4 things you need to know as a small group leader.

and

Click here to look at some great sample questions that can be used no matter what the topic of discussion maybe. If you are already following a particular curriculum or questions, then go with it, if not these are good.

Frustrated? read this!

If you are a youth worker and frustrated with the way things are moving, reading this article and learning might do you some good.

Click here to read the article.

Effort - a myth?

I am a pretty big fan of Seth Godin's thoughts. I read his blog pretty regularly and have read some of his books. He recently had a post about effort and luck.  I think everyone should read the post. 

In the post Seth says "the paradox of effort: While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don't get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time."

Click here to read the post in its entirety.

Test run

I'm just trying to see how blogging with my phone is going to work out... So here goes!

The Unexpected (follow-up)

Just wanted to add a little something to the previous post about the unexpected.

I talked about building MENTAL RESERVES. To dig a little deeper, the next question would be HOW? I honestly believe that one of the best ways to do so is by reading about or learning from people who have accomplished something significant in whatever area it is that you are working on. 

When you read and learn from the challenges that those people faced, you learn to face challenges with a different perspective which might really determine the outcome of the situation. 

Music Video - Broken by Lifehouse

This song has been on heavy rotation on my computer, so i thought i would share it with you. I think the video is great too.

Check it out...

The Unexpected

In most cases when we plan for something, there is always the element of the unexpected: getting stuck in traffic, the powerpoint doesn't work, you spill something on you clothes and the list can go on. What do you do when something unexpected happens?

Do you get upset and give up and let that mess up everything else? If that is the case you will never really get much accomplished. It is very important that we have mental reserves built in when we plan for something. 

So the next time you are working on executing a plan and the unexpected takes place you will be in a better place of knowing what to do next. 

What unexpected experiences did you have? What did you do when you were faced with the unexpected?

Before you click SEND.

Most of us have sent/forwarded an email to someone which caused us embarrassment. Well here is a great list by marketing guru Seth Godin about things to think of before clicking SEND the next time!

Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola

Here is a link to a great post about the two huge brands going at each other.

You can check it out by clicking here.

Innovate Videos

When it comes to innovation and creativity, one of the best conferences that i have come to know about has been the Innovate Conference by Granger Community Church whose senior Pastor is Mark Beeson.

You can watch all the sessions from this year and the past years conference by clicking here.

Its Not About The Coffee (Book Review)

Here are some thoughts that i think are interesting from the book:

• Know who you are. Wear one hat.
• Goals are emotional. Accomplishing Goals needs effort and will not work if you are not emotional about it.
• Know what is important to you. Don't compromise.
• Be people driven, NOT project driven.
• Values are more important than money.
• If there was no praise or criticism in the world, where would you be and what would you do?
• Know why you are where you are? Spend more time in goals, strategy and people.
• Recepies are more important than rules. Rules set more of the ME culture.
• Communicate rules in such a way that they don't feel boxed, but rather make them feel that the rules will help the people that they serve.
• A business needs to be looked at as a group of volunteers who need to be given the freedom to unleash their creativity for the set goals.
• Honor and reward independent thinking in every area and department. Nurture independent thinking.
• The enemy of life is indifference!
• Focus less on what you are doing and more on why you are doing!!
• Good service is hands and feet but great service is heart!
• Listen with compassion without preconceived notions.
• Think like a person of action and act like a person of thought.
• Only performance is reality when it all comes down.
• Most of the time when things don't work it is because of the people involved.
• When trust increases, people will push each other to do better.

I would suggest this book to anyone involved in leadership or business.

Foldable Bathroom?

I thought this was really crazy...... swiss knife bathroom?

Check this out here.

Vision, Values and Strategy!

1. Vision: You need to know where you are going. It needs to be common to everyone involved.
2. Values: You need to have values, because values is what will guide you through the process.
3. Strategy: The strategy of how you plan to accomplish your goals is what makes you/you organization unique from the others. 

When you find high performance people in you team/business/organization, give them clear goals to focus and don't place too many restrictions.

Useful resources for Youth Workers

Here are some useful websites that i  found on Josh Griffin's blog.

gmail.com

blogger.com

youtube.com

myspace.com

facebook.com

yousendit.com

youversion.com

Read the entire list here.

First Run

Well this is my first go at blogging, so i am typing this just to see what it will look like once i click on "publish it"!!