What you say to Christians who get all uppity about avoiding the Xmas abbreviation

Ever meet one of those people who says stuff like, "I hate it when they write Xmas instead of Christmas. They're trying to take Jesus right out of the holiday!" Ever wonder how to respond to those people?

Photo courtesy of Kat N.L.M. at Flickr.com

Well take heart. There's a good reason for the abbreviation. And it has nothing to do with Christmas originating from a pagan holiday if that's what you're thinking. The reality is, the Xmas abbreviation is a lot more Christ honoring than most people know.

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My most hypocritical post ever: calling out people who call people out on the internet

First, let me just acknowledge the tremendous hypocrisy with which I am writing this post. I'm using the internet to call out people who call people out on the internet. But I'm assuming that if I haven't killed my credibility with you when I shared my dirty secret or how I responded to the kid who sent my daughter a naughty text, then hypocrisy probably won't sink the boat either.

I'm old enough to remember the era before the internet. I was just a kid at the time. So I acted like a kid, and when other kids acted like kids it was perfectly normal. And when I was around adults, I assumed they acted like adults - you know respectable, responsible, and all that other lame grown up stuff.

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"With God, all things are possible" ... perhaps even some things that shouldn't be [Video]

Ever feel discouraged about your own skills or abilities? Well, let me encourage you. If these people can accomplish this, surely you can do anything.

Photo courtesy of David Resz from Flickr.com

I just added this video to the list of things I watch and listen to when I feel discouraged. Enjoy

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Worship Leaders Don't Talk Good. Is That Okay?

Last night I got into a full on argument with one of the worship leaders at my church, during rehearsal. We were playing through 'The Wonderful Cross'. Our disagreement was over the number of syllables in the word wondrous. She was very adamant that the word only had two syllables, but I sung it with three (won-der-ous).

At one point she even looked it up in a dictionary, which clearly stated that the word has two syllables. But I didn't let that phase me, because I know great artists don't let little things like facts or truth get in the way of creativity.

Photo courtesy of Taymtaym at flickr.com

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My wife just won't bow down and submit. What do I do now?

Going against the cultural grain, Allison and I decided to pursue a marriage with old school gender roles - the kind that are getting a really bad rap these days. That means we adhere to the Bible's words that say:

"Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord... wives should submit to their husbands in everything." Ephesians 5:22 & 24

Feel like you're going to puke yet? Please bare with me (if you're a woman, bare feet are not necessary in baring with me). This is actually going somewhere helpful.

Of course I obtained Allison's permission before posting this picture of her making a sassy duck face.

So in our minds, it is Allison's job to follow me and let me lead our family, which is actually what she told me she was looking for when we were dating. We still talk about pretty much everything together, and make every effort to reach a consensus on decisions. But with many things, she simply says, "This is your call baby." Then she trusts me to lead.

Now, if you actually know Allison, this may come as somewhat of a surprise to you but she doesn't always do things exactly how I think she should. Sometimes letting me lead can be uncomfortable for her, and occasionally she even disagrees with me. #gasp! And when that happens conflict typically arises in our marriage, which is her fault, right?

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My embarrassing one on one with baseball celeb Louis Gonzales proves my blog is already successful!

This is a little embarrassing to admit, but I do not understand sports. Not even a little. When other guys stand around talking about how many touchdowns the Cowboys got last week, I'm the guy that's like, "Touchdowns, that's football right?" I'm not even exaggerating. It's that bad.

So obviously I wouldn't be familiar with any sports celebrities like, oh say, Luis Gonzalez, who (from what I'm told) hit a game winning single that broke 2-2 tie with the New York Yankees and won the World Series for the Diamondbacks in 2001. That's a pretty amazing fact, and one I wish I was antiquated with before I met him.

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How my wife told me she's pregnant & my VERY honest response [Video]

One of my greatest mentors once said, "If God wants something to happen in your life, there's nothing you can do to stop it." And I have found that to be true, especially when it comes to the number of kids I have.

Allison and I had been talking about having another baby for a while. We were pretty much resolved to stick with the three kids we already have. In fact, I had even gotten a referral to a urologist to get snipped.

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Chuck E Cheese On Worship And Church Planning [Video]

When you take your kids to a place like Chuck E Cheese, you hope they'll have a fun experience. But my kid's experience was anything but fun when the man sized mouse came out, and acted like he just didn't want to be there.

If you're having trouble seeing the video, click here to see it.

 Chuck E Cheese was a great example of how NOT to create a great experience for people. And as I seek to build a memorable experience at Moon Valley Bible, here are three things that are working really well.

1. Simplicity Reigns. Your church family just doesn’t have the capacity to pay attention to everything that goes on during your services. And the more that you do, the less they’ll catch. So let simplicity lead your planning. If you’re planning a big holiday service, try just doing one special thing, but do it really well. That will help make it something they won’t forget.

At my church we’ve recently began to pursue simplicity by just announcing one thing each week during our services. It means many of our church’s ministries have to find other ways to promote their events. But it helps us put a spotlight on our biggest events.

2. Powerful personalities over plastic props. When I took my family to Chuck E Cheese, if a guy had come out with whiskers painted on his face who was excited to be there, it would have been more captivating than the guy in the full get up but who didn’t care. It’s certainly worth your time to make your church’s stage look good. But if the people preaching, greeting and leading worship don’t look like they care, then your church won’t either. 

3. Keep it moving. Have you ever watched aTV show where they begin playing the next episode while the credits from the previous episode are still playing? They do that because they understand that people disengage when there’s dead space.

As you prepare for your church services, it’s worth everyone's time to ensure that the transitions between your music, videos and preaching are seamless. The more connected your elements are, the more of your church's attention you’ll keep.


Question: Based on what you saw in the Chuck E Cheese video, do you think I should call the manager and tell him about the poor performance?

Please leave your response in the comment section below.

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I hope this quote kicks you in the spiritual crotch as hard as it did me.

Charles Stanley is one of America's favorite preachers. He leads a baptist church in Atlanta that reaches thousands of people each week. And his television, book and radio ministries reach millions of people every year.

Photo courtesy of Slowdevil on Flickr.com

He's also pretty old. Google says he's like 81. So, in my mind, he might as well be a million. And for that reason, I always assumed he was out of touch with my generation, and had nothing to offer me. So I've tuned into the teachings of his son, Andy, whom God is also using to do amazing things. 

But occasionally (and by occasionally, I mean almost constantly) God shows me that my bias assumptions are wrong. And not too long ago, He used a quote from Charles Stanley to give me a swift kick in my spiritual crotch. 

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17 things my dad always did that I'm making traditions with my kids!

Father's day takes on a whole new meaning when you become a dad. When I was a kid, Father's Day was mostly about remembering to wish my dad a happy Father's Day, and ask my mom which of the gifts she bought was supposed to be from me. And at some point, my school or church teacher would force the class to sit down and think of some thankful things to write on poorly crafted construction paper cards. I would dubiously make my dad a card. But when I actually gave it to him, I was like Here Father. I have forged this card out of my deep and undying gratitude. You're welcome.

Then a few years ago I became a father myself. It changed everything about father's day.

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What I said to a teen aged boy who sent a naughty text to my daughter.

Men, we've all done it - sat around, with our friends, daydreaming about how we'll terrify the young men who like our daughters someday. We talk about greeting young suitors with a shotgun. Or we'd tell them about our time in prison. Whatever we've imagined ourselves saying, the intention is always the same. We want to scare young men out of doing what we all wanted to do at their age.

photo courtesy of Charlie Smith at Flickr.com (CC licence)

But I've discovered that that's not always the way it works out, and perhaps isn't the way it should work out. Let me tell you why.

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2 Fool Proof Ways To Stellar Creativity For Creativity-Challenged Leaders

Easter is over, and now it's time to take a quick breath before you begin planning for Christmas; which is fine because all you have to do is come up with something super memorable, or relevant, or whatever it is your church values. But one way or another, it's your responsibility to make it awesome.

Photo courtesy of Ramnath Bhat at Flickr.com

 Easy right? maybe not. If you're anything like me, the pressure of having to make everything awesome can make feel crushing. From time to time, I find myself sitting at my desk, staring at a blank page, with a dumb gaping stare. I feel filled with fear and doubt about whether or not I'll be able to come up with anything worth while. But here's the problem with that. My fear and doubt don't show very much trust in God.

When I give into insecurity about my creative abilities, I'm also doubting that God has done a good job at guiding my life. It's like I'm indirectly saying God, you screwed up. You could have selected a better profession for me, or given me a different set of spiritual gifts. But that's a bad way of looking at my life, obviously. It keeps me from seeing the blessings of who He made me to be.

The truth is, God didn't give me a highly advanced sense of creativity. And it's also true that my job, like yours, requires a high level of creativity. But my job description never says anything about me needing to be the creative person on my team. And I'm guessing yours doesn't either.

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The 7 Trendiest New Kinds Of Parking Spaces For Your Church's Parking Lot

The parking lot at your church is a really important part your guest's experience on Sunday morning. It's where people first get a sense of what's really important to the people at your church.

Photo courtesy of Lucien Looser at Flickr.com

In recent years, lots of churches have been more intentional about creating parking that caters to the church's most valued persons. Most churches have included a number of guest parking spots near the entrance to their buildings, which is a great way to say Hey, we value our guests! And even more recently, churches are including special parking for expectant mothers. A friend of mine told me about a church here in Phoenix that even has spots designated for family parking.

The other day I was sitting in a staff meeting, talking about this very issue, and it got me thinking - If our parking spaces help us communicate our values with our guests, why don't we have special parking for the other important people groups within the church? Here are 7 types of parking spaces that you should consider adding to your church parking lot.

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The crotch in my jeans ripped this morning, at church. Here's why I'm happy.

This morning I walked into my office, ready for a really productive day. Then I bent over to plug my laptop in, and heard a loud tare. Of course I was wearing my favorite jeans.

At that point there was a temptation for me to give into pessimism and say, "The world is out to get me today." Then I'd started making a big deal out of every other little thing that goes wrong all day. But I hate having days like that. They're no fun.

Instead, I think I'm going to laugh this one off, and look at the bright side of things. So here are my reasons to be optimistic for ripping the crotch in my favorite pair of jeans.

1. I got to post a huge picture of the crotch of my jeans at the top of this blog post.

2. I'm going to get new jeans. score.

3. This one sounds kind of girly, and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. But now I get to go on Pinterest to see what kind creative stuff I can do with denim.

4. I asked my wife to bring me another pair of jeans, and I got to see her in the middle of my workday.

5. I got an opportunity to respond well to something that would typically stress me out.

6. I'm reminded Jesus is my foundation, and my clothes don't actually provide any security. 

Life is too short for bad days.

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[Encore Post] 10 Questions That Make Christians Wet Their Pants

Have you ever seen a Christian backpedal when asked a challenging question? Who am I kidding, of course you have. Maybe you’ve even done it yourself. I know I have. It’s embarrassing. For that reason, I have a rule about quoting the Bible in my home - You can’t quote it if you can’t find it.

This comes up most often with my oldest daughter, Alura. She likes to use the Bible to combat my wife and my parenting. One time she was frustrated with her chores. She came to me saying, “The Bible says not to overwork your children with chores.”

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