Halloween

Tonight was Halloween. Noah and Ana were so cute. I'll post pictures and video soon. JM

Acts 6:8-15

I hate when you are discussing/debating something with somebody and they leave logical arguments behind and jump over to emotional ones. It's like once they realize that they are wrong, or that they need to change, or whatever, they feel they need to bring you down, or bring up something completely irrelevent. It's all part of our stubborn nature. We refuse to admit that we're wrong. I understand that it's no fun to be wrong all the time, but what's so bad about saying "I was wrong" or "I screwed up". I'd rather say that and change my behaviors and thoughts than say something emotional and stupid while continuing to be wrong. JM

Colts Vs. Patriots

I hate the Patriots. I love the Colts. The two really go together. They play each other on Sunday and it's the biggest regular season game in the history of the NFL. Both teams are undefeated. The Patriots have been destroying their opponents. The Colts have played well, but have had closer games.
I'm so pumped about the game. I think the Colts will win. Maybe that should read "hope". Anyway, the Patriots are evil. They cheat, they run up the score, and they are insanely good. I hate them. JM

Acts 6:1-7

I love my job. One of the cool things about it is that it's a fairly creative job. I'm basically paid to think, create, and relate. That's it. I don't have to like lift stuff, or fix stuff, or anything like that on a regular basis, although I do on occasion. What's tough though is trying to figure out which things to delegate out. Obviously, there are a lot of things that you should keep doing like vision, direction, and stuff like that. But there is all kinds of other stuff that I can pass off to someone else which will give them ownership over something and help me develop my abilities as a leader. I delegated out some of the tasks that I typically do this year for Mission Impossible. Mainly, I used my secretary. I never use her. For anything. Ever. So this year she basically did all of my recruiting. It was scary to release something like that, but it worked out fairly well. There are a couple of things that I'll fix for next year, but it was good for me to delegate stuff out and see it still happen efficiently. JM

CVS Savings

I'm not sure how I ran across this, but this is a site that explains a method to shop for free at CVS, Walgreens, etc. It's kind of confusing at first, but I think I understand it. Basically there are certain products you can buy that will pay you back a certain amount of in-store credit. Sometimes that credit is enough to match the amount you spent. So while you still spent money out of pocket, if you were to do it again, instead of using your money you could use your store credit. Then you could get some stuff that you need and use the money you had budgeted for that stuff for other stuff. Man, that's really confusing, but I think it might actually work. We may try it sometime soon since there is a CVS like right next to our house. JM

Acts 5:40-42

I get really frustrated when I am the victim of persecution. And I've never been persecuted. I've had people make judgments about me because they know I'm a Christian, or because I'm a pastor, but that's really about it.
Then you read about how these guys were imprisoned, beaten, threatened and ordered not to talk about Jesus anymore. Then, when they are released, they're so excited because they were disgraced because of Jesus and they keep on doing it.
I guess what's so exciting about it is knowing that you're really living a life that pleases God. I mean, people get frustrated because you're doing what God wants and people are reacting to the Jesus they see in you. That's kind of a cool thought. JM

Paper Art

This is so cool. This guy creates sculptures out of a standard sheet of A4 (basically 8.5 X 11) paper. JM

Mission Impossible

I'll post more about it tomorrow night, but Mission Impossible went great. I need to make some minor adjustments for next year, but the kids came out like crazy again this year. I think we had 100 students exactly with the majority being guests. Awesome. JM

Acts 5:29-39

I love it when problems solve themselves. When other people fight your battles for you. One of the great things about surrounding yourself with a good team and living life in community is that people have your back. You have people who will stand up and defend you when you're not around or aren't in the position to defend yourself.
It's even better when the person fighting for you isn't somebody that you know all that well, but is simply someone who respects who you are or what you're about. The more we can lead lives that deserve attention and respect, the more we won't have to fight our own battles because we'll have others fighting for and with us. JM

Mission Impossible

Tomorrow night we have our biggest event we do all year. It's an outdoor capture-the-flag type game called Mission Impossible. We did it at my old church, and I've adapted it for down here. It's a lot of fun and we have kids come out like crazy for it. Last year we had 129 middle school students. So tomorrow I'll be busy making sure everything is ready for it. I'd appreciate some prayer if you've got a spare minute. Pray that we would provide a high-quality event, that students would bring their unchurched friends, and that I would be able to present the gospel in a clear and relevant fashion. Thanks. JM