This is a really cool video that makes you want to get out on the trails! Happy New Year and Happy Trails!

Oh wait! I already got it. This is my bike which is a combo Birthday/Christmas present. Thanks Jen. I LOVE it!!!

When Amazon announced they were coming out with a tablet I must admit I was very intrigued. I told myself and others that I was going to hold out on getting one because the first version of any tech gadget is always lacking. So I held out for over a month but then I started to read some reviews of people I respected and who work in the same field I do and my mind started to change. You see about three months ago I purchased an Ipad and honestly I didn’t like it. It was too big and bulky to hold and really couldn’t justify the expense of having it so I gave it to our worship leader as his staff computer. I don’t think he has stopped giggling yet.

Below are five reasons why I like the Kindle

1.   I have a lot invested in my study software and was always frustrated that I had to read it on my computer. The iphone app was adequate but not very good for reading theological books. The Ipad was great for this but too big. The kindle is the size of a typical book but much smaller than most reference books which makes this a win win.
2.   I do most of my note taking, blog writing, and web capture in Evernote. The android app is great for the Kindle and offers more than the iphone app which I was using before. The size of the kindle makes it nice for both reading and note taking. Now I have cross reference for all my notes everywhere and the syncing makes it seemless. Best of all its free.
3.   I am a huge Amazon fan and Prime member. All of my books are through Amazon and now my music and picture are stored in its cloud technology. Since I was using a kindle before for my reading this was a huge boost in my content. Now I can watch TV shows, listen music, read a book through my membership.
4. The Kindle Size: My biggest knock on the Ipad was that I couldn’t type with both hands while holding it and I have big hands. It made working on it frustrating. The kindle is the size of a regular book. It fits perfectly between my hands and lets me type with both thumbs. While the Kindle is pretty heavy it still works great. Once I hook up my email to it and Twitter comes out with a decent Android app I will be set.
5. The Kindle Price: For $199 you can justify saving over $500 on the iPad. This more than makes up for the deficiencies that the Kindle has. I love that about this device and if you include the above reasons it easily becomes clear why I finally gave in a bought this. My iPhone usage has dropped dramatically since I bought this and once the software upgrade comes and more apps appear it will clearly be the Ipad killer that everyone thought it would.

I am a huge Apple fan. I have a Macbook pro, and iPhone 4, and our office is all Mac except for the bookkeeper. I am not going to abandon Apple over this but until Apple produces the rumored iPad-mini for the same price it is not a contest.

This is only a one mile race but look at the terrain. They even have to go through someones house.

This is a really talented doing a funny version of the classic song. Enjoy!

I know 12 million people have viewed this but it is still amazing enough to include in my Saturday Dreaming series. Not that I desire to be run over by a 300lb antelope (although that was my high school mascot) but when you bike in the wilderness there are certain hazards that can happen. In my area the possibility of being hit by a deer is remote but possible depending on how it was frightened.

Anyways enjoy it. WARNING there is a curse word in here. If that offends you then I suggest you don’t watch.

The next step in growing a healthy church is strong leadership. I am not talking about the personality of the leader but a leader who does three things

1. Works Hard: The word labor means to work to the point of exhaustion. It is no secret that ministry is hard work and many ministers toil for hours upon hours each week. The question isn’t how many hours you are putting in but what you are doing with those hours? 1 cor 3:13 says that our work become known when we stand before the lord. Hard work doing the right things produces results. Work hard at what you do.
2. Leads Well: Paul uses the term “over you in the Lord.” This has the meaning of leading or directing a group of people. As leaders our task is to take the group of people we are over somewhere. In the church that somewhere is discipleship and sanctification. That is called mission. The mission never changes. How we go about (vision) that changes all the time. As a leader do you know your mission? What is the vision that God is laying upon your heart to accomplish that mission? Seek Him out and then lead your people there.
3. Teaches Truth: The final role of the leader in the church is to teach the truth. Paul uses the word admonish which means to come alongside and instruct. We might look at admonish as a negative word but it is not. This is where the truth comes in. When we instruct in the truth it contrasts the lifestyle many people are living. They may feel admonished but it is the truth that is doing it, not us. As leaders in the church we teach the truth of scriptures. We lay it out for our people so that the Holy Spirit can convict and change hearts. Don’t shy away from the truth or be afraid how people might respond. If we don’t teach the truth it doesn’t matter how hard we work or how well we lead it will lead to nowhere.

When a church is led by leaders who work hard, lead well, and teach the truth the church will grow. It may not be evident in the numbers but it will be in the hearts and lives of the people you lead.

After a lot of research I have decided to try this alternative. It is from Anderlyn Desk and looks like it will work well with my type desk.

Paul uses three metaphors to describe believers in Jesus Christ in this passage and then contrasts that with three metaphors of unbelievers. Believers are those who are children of the light, day, and are sober while unbelievers are children of the darkness, night, and drunkenness. Now you may be asking what does this have to do with growing a healthy church? Simply put if your church isn’t dominated by children of the light then it doesn’t matter how many people you have it won’t be healthy. We measure the church by the wrong things. Our tendency is to look at how many people we have, what building we are in, or how much we have in the bank to determine success when Paul is telling us that it is based on if the Light of Christ is predominant.

The phrase “children of” (also “sons of”) means that character trait which is most dominant. This is why Jesus called James and John sons of thunder because their aggressive attitude was most dominant. If we are children of the light then Jesus Christ is the most dominant in our lives. The problem is that the church is sleeping. Verse six warns us not to be caught sleeping. Sleeping is a metaphor for the spiritually indifferent. The truth is that the church is full of children of the light who are sleeping, or just don’t care about the sin in their lives. If that is the case then we need to do something about it.

1. Be Awake: We need to wake up to the apathy in our lives and repent of the sin. There isn’t a wholesale call for repentance in the church today. We are content as pastors if the seats are full and don’t want to upset anyone so that they would leave. If you want to kick start some healthy growth in your church have repeated calls for repentance within your church. This will upset the malaise because nobody wants their sins pointed out. It our job as pastors to wake our people up.
2. Be Alert: There also needs to be a return to righteousness. We need to be on the look out for the in our lives. I have sat in my office with too many people who realized that too late. Let’s be proactive and resist the sin and temptation in our lives. Spend time in prayer, dig deep into the word of God, root out those areas in our lives that are causing repetitive sin.
3. Be Sober: Finally we need to be sober. To be sober means to be free of intoxicants. That means anything in our life that controls us like alcohol, drugs, smoking, food, etc… needs to be gotten ridden of and ceased in our lives. I wrote here how there is a rising problem with drinking and the younger generations. It hasn’t fully manifested but mark my words in five years we will have a full scale epidemic on our hands in the church.

In we are going to grow a healthy church we need to make sure that the people on the inside are children of the light. This means waking up to sin spiritual indifference in our lives and getting rid of all the sinful compromise in our hearts. If that happens God will resurrect dying churches and revive cold hearts. Then we will be primed for growth like we never experienced before.

This is just plain funny. Since it is the Christmas season I thought you might enjoy this.