Why Feb 1st is when you should make your New Year's resolutions

Many people fall into either one of three categories when it comes to New Year's resolutions. 

There are those who year after year enthusiastically commit to various audacious goals only to experience failure a few months in. The meant well, but it just didn't come together. "Well, if the Cubs can try again next year so can I" is the annual attitude.

There are also those refuse to set resolutions. "No one ever sticks with those. Who wants to feel like a failure?"

And then, similar to the existence of Big Foot, there supposedly is a group of people out there who indeed do keep resolutions. I always wondered if such people were successful because they set goals like, "I'm going to make sure to breath every day this year." But if the resolutions are actually more challenging then this, then I need to meet the Sasquatch so I can ask him what the secret to success is.

To set goals is a good and necessary endeavor, a discipline of the successful and prudent. I'd like to offer the suggestion that maybe the reason some fail at keeping resolutions is tied to when they are made: New Year's Eve. 

Did you fall for yesterday's Back to the Future scam?

Oh Back To The Future.

You are up there with Ferris, the Breakfast Club and Ghostbusters as movies that inspired my generation's mindset (probably explains a lot about my weirdness). You also inspired us to skateboard more than Tony Hawk ever could and to play guitar before we ever heard of Guitar Hero. And though hardly any of us had ever seen or heard of a DeLorean before you (just admit it), nothing can take your place in our minds when that word is by chance uttered.

So yesterday was a big day.

It started slow but then grew like wildfire on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Yesterday was the day that Doc set the time machine to in Back to the Future II:

Obviously anyone who grew up with these movies would get instantly excited and then share the big news. I did. It was like an instant reaction: BOOM! RETWEET! RESHARE! REPIN!

Thing is...it was a scam.

Clouds of power, clouds of beauty

In Nashville for work yesterday, the city was under tornado warnings. The guy who handed me car keys at the rental booth said, "Might want to hunker down in the afternoon." Yes, he said "hunker down." It's Nashville. A Starbucks and a CVS I stopped at both had signs up stating, "Closing early due to impending weather." Apparently the storm was something to be concerned about. And of course the church I was at was smack dab in the middle of it all.

In the afternoon the sky shifted hue in the blink of an eye. Darkness came in an instant. I stepped outside when it first started up and took this video of the hail coming down:

Some thoughts about the fact the world is ending today

Harold Camping

Today the rapture might happen, the world as we know spinning into chaos. I type this while sitting in a Starbucks in downtown Orlando. Guess if I can't be in Chicago then the land of Mickey is as good a place as ever. It's unfortunate though because Baylee and Jaxon were anticipating the Magic Kingdom on Sunday. [insert churchee crack about the real Kingdom here].

Harold Camping predicted that this would all happen on May 21, 2011.  It didn't.

Mr. Camping explained his error and then rescheduled things. For today. Oct 21, 2011.

I'm going to bet my kids will be able to take a picture with Mickey this Sunday afternoon.  

A few thoughts on Mr Camping and end of the world predictions:

Everyone Mad Libs

The only people who don't like Mad Libs are the people who don't know what they are. And Nazi's. 

So for all of the unfortunately misinformed, and for all of the short evil dictators with little mustaches out there, this is the idea behind Mad Libs:

Give yourself permission today

We are not machines. You were not meant to work 24/7.

God doesn't want you to be like that.

So give yourself permission today to take a break.

Go for a walk

Watch a movie

Play Monopoly

Start a novel

Take a nap

Watch the Bears

Eat ice cream

Play dolls with your daughter

Wrestle with your son

Lock the kids out of the bedroom

Make dinner from a receipe

Sit in a coffeeshop

Visit Lincoln Park Zoo

Get out of the city, go to a forest preserve 

Play Xbox

Go apple picking

Go pumpkin picking

Read your Bible - Try Psalm 139 

Color or paint

Knit

Window shop

Visit Navy Pier

Go on a boat ride

Play guitar

Take another nap

Do something...other...than...work!

Read this or this for some other insights.

You need to take a break. Give yourself permission to do it.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  Exodus 20:8-11

My list of movies that should not be remade

Heard the other night that Hollywood is going to be remaking the movie Scarface. Was a little hard to believe. In fact, I secretly question the producers sanity for making such a decision. Why in the world try to fix something that's not broke?!?! 

It seems there are SO many older movies being remade lately. Add these to all the sequels and it's hard to believe that Hollywood could come up with an original concept. 

Some classic stories are retold again and again. Dickens and Shakespeare stories have dozens of reiterations. You'd need the fingers of both hands to count how many different people have played Scrooge. You'd need a bookshelf to hold all the different versions of Hamlet. But in both cases it is the stories themselves being retold in different ways from different artists. Each movie is different. This is good.

But why take someone's retelling of a story and then try and redo that?!?! Scarface is complete - it doesn't need to be remade! If someone wants to dive into the Tony Montana character and attempt a new retelling of the story, OK, that might be interesting. But retell it, don't remake it. 

A perfect example of what I'm talking about is Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He retold the story, he didn't just go in and try to reproduce what had already been done. Though obviously close together and compared, there was still a separation between the two.

So this got me thinking of other movies that shouldn't be remade. Those that should have an edict of protection put around them so Hollywood can't mess them up. 

The list is just my opinion because they are movies that I love. I've stuck with only mentioning movies before 2000. To make the list I wrote a ton off the top my head, and then skimmed through this list and this list. 

Yes, there are some movies that need a remake! But in my opinion, these movies are fine just the way they are. Hollywood should use them as inspiration, but don't mess with them!

Where were you the morning of 9/11?

It was a Tuesday. But you probably already knew that.

That morning I had breakfast with Dane Mentzer, a friend who at the time was a student in my youth group. We ate at the McDonalds on LeGrange Ave in Frankfort, right across from Lincoln Way East. Once done eating, we continued our conversation in the car while I took him across the street to the school's front door. After he got out, I headed back across the street to hit Starbucks before going to my office. 

Since Dane and I were talking, I hadn't turned on the radio yet. But once alone, I tuned to Eric & Kathy on 101.9. They weren't their normal joking selves and it was obvious something had happened. 

"Again, for those just tuning in, we've had reports that there was a terrorist attack in New York just moments ago." 

Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by?

An incredibly busy city:

The capacity is of people with places to be. 

Jobs. Classes. Projects.

Meetings. Appointments. Tasks.

Daily, hundreds will drive down this street, LaSalle Blvd:

Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt's search for the myth

Last week, there was a headline on the Huffington Post Entertainment page that I couldn't resist clicking: "How Heidi and Spencer Squandered All Their Money"

If you've stood in line at a grocery store at any time over past this year, you've probably at least once seen their names on a magazine cover. A headline about her numerous plastic surgeries. One about their supposed divorce.

Here is the summary, with the main points: How Heidi and Spencer Squandered All Their Money. Here is the full article: When Reality-TV Fame Runs Dry 

My opinion: EVERYONE should read this article and really think it through.  Why?

Critiquing Criticism: a lesson from The Smurfs movie

Transformers. G.I Joe. He-Man. Mask (come on - who remembers Mask? It was a-maze-a-zing!). Thundercats. Voltron. These were my favorite cartoons while growing up. But I must be honest, I must confess: I also watched the Smurfs. Yes, yes I did. Papa Smurf, Jokey Smurf, & Hefty Smurf were my favorites. Smurfette was dumb and annoying (young guy's perspective). Yes...I am a closet Smurf fan.

The idea then of a live Smurf movie was a mixed bag for me. It could be cool or it could be horrible, there didn't seem to be a lot of room in-between. But, having a 4yr-old and a 2yr-old that can be taken advantage of to see kid's movies without losing my mancard, I was willing to give it a chance.

And then the early reviews came out.

Maybe you're the one who needed to read this today

This morning I needed to read this.  Maybe you need to as well:

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 

My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; 

his mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." 

Lamentations 3:19-24

Yesterday you failed...today is new.
Yesterday you wanted to punch a wall...today is new.
Yesterday you were a jerk...today is new.
Yesterday you were lazy...today is new.
Yesterday you were ready to resign...today is new.
Yesterday you exploded...today is new.
Yesterday you procrastinated...today is new.
Yesterday you doubted...today is new.
Yesterday you were going through hell...today is new.
Yesterday is over...today is new.

Today is new.

His love for you and me...it never ceases.
His mercy for you and me...it never ceases.
It's forever and ever new.

Think about your junk and with it in your mind go back up and read that scripture again. (Read all of Lamentations 3 - it's amazing!)

And let it remind you...yesterday is over.

Today is new.

An elderly cerebral hemorrhage survivor got in my face

This week I'm working with a smaller education conference in the southern part of Illinois. It's incredibly hot, and the church only has air conditioning in the sanctuary, which basically means I've been sweating like a dog for the last three days.  It's still been a great time.

Not long after I did my presentation on Logos, an elderly woman came up to me and asked if she could sit with me at my table.  She thought the software looked amazing and wanted to get it to help her get ready for Sunday School. 

"This will be a good tool for me I think. I love to learn and study God's Word, and don't take the opportunity to be able to do so lightly"

"I'm with you there mame," I said. 

Looking over the Logos form, she says, "You see, I'm a cerebral hemorrhage survivor. Most people do not survive that ordeal. But I did"

Why it is awesome that Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man

In 2010 Bill Gates lost his title of being the richest man in the world.

He didn't loose this title on account of Apple being amazing (Yes, I'm an Apple kool-aid drinker now).
He didn't loose it on account of the Windows 7 Phones not really taking off (though I have played around with one and I think they are awesome).

He lost the title because he gave away money.

He used to be worth around 88 billion dollars.
Now he is worth around 49 billion dollars.
The guy has given away 28 billion dollars of his fortune!
(the other 11 billion probably does have something to do with Mac kicking Window's butt).

Around 1/3 of his wealth...given away!

Sure, we're talking billions here, not thousands.  But come on, to give away that amount of money is still truly amazing.

If he's going to lose the title of "Richest Man in the World" for this reason, I don't think he really lost anything.

I got paid today.
The offering plate will be passed on Sunday.
I'll walk by homeless on the city streets between now and then.

Hhhhhmmmm.

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.
He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.
“Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth;
but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Luke 21:1-4

Life at a Garage Sale

Last weekend we did a garage sale with my grandma. For us it was hopeful attempt #2 happening in Highland Indiana, as lame attempt #1 back in August was in the city.

Totally different experience.  We had more people in the first 30 minutes last weekend then we had at the entire sale in August.  We also quadrupled our profits.  Let's hear it for Hoosierland when it comes to garage sales!

The hardest part of garage sales is not setting them up.  The hardest part is not the pricing.  It's not running the sale or breaking things down.  The hardest part of the sale is figuring out what you want to get rid of.

1-2 Punch to the gut from God

Because there aren't really any radio stations that I like or can stand for long periods of time, I normally listen to audiobooks while driving and then music when I'm working or just hanging out. Yesterday morning, on the drive from Bridgeport to Oak Forest, I had a couple old songs from when I was in youth group that I couldn't get out of my head. Therefore, I put my book on hold for a trip.

Not a mere narcissistic social medium

I laugh hardily when videos are made making fun of Twitter, I also roll my eyes when some make blanket statements of how anyone who uses the medium is headed toward brain mush and a spiritually zombedic state (my exaggeration of John Piper's comments). Simply because I and others like Twitter doesn't mean we are fueling the "fires of narcissism." The Twitter use of some might step over that unfortunate line, but the majority of people I know who actively use Twitter just want to be connected with others and vice versa.

A perfect, current example of the power of Twitter is the election and post-election activities in Iran. From here on the other side of the globe I've been able to view images and read comments from Iranians as they live, not merely report, what is happening. CNN stated this morning that the Iranian goverenment has banned foreign journalists from covering today's rally's. But Iranian citizen's are still able to share (for now) what is happening in 140 character bites, and I am able to empathize with them more because Twitter is allowing me to see and hear their words.

I hope that doesn't sound naracistic.

If you want to read some of what is happening in Iran via Twitter, from the Twitter page do a search for #iranelections or #GR88. The # is like a tag and allows you to find all Twitter comments that contain it and the phrase it is used with. Here is a site that gives some info on following things in Iran: CLICK HERE.

The Weight of Time

Both my grandparents and aunt & uncle own next door trailers on a small fishing lake, near Terre Haute, Ind. My mom & stepdad bought my grandparents trailer last fall, so we all decided to go down there over Memorial Day weekend. Though we've been eating fish out of that lake for almost 20 years, this was the first time in probably over 5 years that almost all our family has been down there at the same time: parents, siblings, aunt & uncle, cousins - just not our grandparents or one other cousin this time.

Caught almost a dozen fish over the weekend, most keepers, and I'll go ahead and brag - a bass that was the biggest caught over the weekend. Baylee and I went on her first boat ride and she helped me fish some. She fearlessly held both a worm and a fish. We all stayed up around the fire till past midnight talking & laughing, and also partook in the family tradition of playing Phase 10.

Tuesday before we left I was on the dock with Baylee for a last time. While basking in how much fun the weekend had been and also reminicing of other times standing on the same dock, a real weight came on me: the weight of time. I didn't realize how heavy something could be that you can't hold in your hand.

The weight of the past. All of my memories of the trailer are positive and special, and they bring me immense joy thinking about them. But what was heavy to me is what is obvious: I can't relive many of them. Sure I can still fish down there again...but never again with my grandpa. I dropped my glasses in the lake this past weekend...but it wasn't the same hilarious family experience as when my grandpa did it years ago. It's the same when you're remembering life after you see high school, college, or old church friends on Facebook. How many times in our lives have we been in a moment with friends or family and thought, "I hope this moment never ends." Yeah, they all did. You just can't TIVO the past, rewind & relive...and knowing that to be true doesn't mean it doesn't suck any less.

The weight of the future. Driving home up 41, sharing with Jeannette about being on the dock with Baylee, we started talking about the future as well. We'll be 50 when Baylee is 18, 60 when she's 28. I want more time with her than that! Only God knows if we'll even have that much time with her. It's a pretty heavy thought to wonder if someday you'll get to hold your 2 year old's 2 year old.

All this heaviness wasn't/shouldn't be about saddness, for me it was about necessary clarity.

I've been waking up earlier these last couple days to get to my work and get it done, so I can be home a little earlier. A two year old who doesn't want to go to bed hasn't been that big of a deal. Still frustrating, but a frustration that I know I need to cherish.

Like pressure on coal to make a diamond, the weight of the past & future give the necesary focus needed for the present.

From a drive I had late at night last week, the below Chris Rice song has been stuck in my head. Didn't know I'd be grasping it's message over Memorial Day weekend, as it pretty much encompasses what hit me on the dock standing there with Baylee:

Life Means So Much:
Everyday is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there’s plenty of room for writing in
All we do and believe and think
So will you compose a curse
Or will today bring the blessings
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketchings

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much

Everyday is a bank account
And time is our currency
So no one’s rich, nobody’s poor
We get twenty-four hours each
So how are you gonna spend
Will you invest or squander
Try to get ahead
Or help someone who’s under

Has anybody lived who knew the value of a life?
And don’t you think giving his own
Would prove the worth of yours and mine?

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much

Good Christians - Lousy Neighbors!

My friend Matt from New Life sent out this article yesterday that I thought was worth sharing. Give it a read...and then don't be a lame neighbor!!!

Good Christians - Lousy Neighbors!
- by Bob Lupton; June 1994

On our street, the most unneighborly residents are those most involved in their churches. This strikes me as being rather odd.

The May's* are a good example. They are a solid African American family with much to offer a neighborhood. Jim is a hard worker and natural born leader. Betty is a teacher and is great with kids. Their three children are well behaved, neatly groomed and bright. Their leadership, spiritual values and strength of character are much needed influences for struggling families and youth our urban community. But there is a conflict: the May's are heavily involved in their church. The same talents that are needed in our neighborhood are also needed in their church. And there doesn't seem to be enough time to do both. Jim and Betty never come to a community meeting or work on the playground or support a neighborhood youth activity. About the only time we see them is when they are pulling in and out of their driveway. And the May's are just one example. There are a number of others in our neighborhood too involved in church to be involved in community life.

I'm not saying that these are bad neighbors. They're more like un-neighbors - people who live on our street but contribute nothing to the well-being of our street. With the church as the centre around which their busy lives revolve, they become isolated from their neighborhood. Prayer meetings, choir rehearsal, visitation, Bible studies, committees, retreats and two services on Sunday pretty well consume their non-working hours. But how can you fault them? These are honorable, upright people who take their faith very seriously. They're good Christians, just not good neighbors, that's all.

With our nation's cities rapidly unravelling while church attendance climbs to record highs, I cannot help but wonder if something has gone wrong with the way we are doing church. I am beginning to suspect that a model of church that competes with, rather than promotes, being a good neighbor may be fundamentally flawed. My understanding is that God placed a rather high value on being a good neighbor, elevating it to a level of importance equal to that of loving God. One would have to wonder, then, just how acceptable to Him is the substitution of being a good church member in place of being a good neighbor.

Our urbanizing society is coming apart in large measure because of the disintegration of our communities. To oversimplify, healthy families produce healthy communities and healthy communities produce healthy families - these are the fundamental building blocks of society. Families are as vulnerable without stable communities as communities are without stable families. Without interconnected neighbors functioning as living ligatures to hold neighborhoods together, disintegration occurs. We see the results in living color each night in our living rooms on the evening news. If our contemporary model of church encourages - implicitly or explicitly, by its demands or its theology - the withdrawal from active, redemptive community participation, it may unwittingly be promoting this disintegration.

Is there an unavoidable conflict between our community of faith and our community of residence? Do strong loyalties to church necessitate disengagement from those who live next door? If so, I have a misconception of the role of the Christian in this world. I have understood the historic mission of the Church to be a pro-active force, armed with vulnerable love, infiltrating every strata of society, transforming fallen people and systems through the power of the Spirit. While it is tempting to allow the local church body to become our enclave of like-minded friends that provides a protective haven from the daily bombardment of destructive values, engagement - not withdrawal - has always been the operative word of the Church militant. And love of one's neighbor remains its fundamental tactic.

I wonder what a church would look like that measured its success by the quality of its members' neighborly love. What impact would such a church have on a troubled society if it undertook intentional training in loving God by loving neighbor? How different - how needed - would be the model that commissioned its most gifted to the strategic office of neighbor!

"It doesn't say...anything!"

In my Studying & Teaching the Bible class this morning we were talking about Lesson Aims: which in a nutshell are focused, measurable goals you have for your lesson that are focused on the student and their life change. Basically, what do you want to accomplish in this teaching? An example of a lesson aim: "The students will discover why staying up really late at night is bad for their health by going over statistics and research of sleep patterns & health issues." That just came off the top of my head - probably a Freudian slip that I need to sleep more.

Part way through we began going over examples of "bad aims" and why they were bad. The first was "I want to be a blessing to my class." Everyone got the glaring things: not measurable, focused on the teacher, too vague, etc. During a moment of quiet while they were pondering more critiques, Ben responded, rather matter-of-fact, "It doesn't say anything! I mean, that sounds good but what are you saying? It could be anything!"

It was a pretty funny moment the way he said it, but I also thought that it was so good, simple & brilliant. "I want to be a blessing." Sounds so good, so right - but am I really saying anything at all? Is it possible to use a lot of "church-talk" that sounds really good and sounds like we have it all together in our head and heart - but we really don't? Can we be talking a lot without really saying anything?

Obviously we need to be a blessing to people - but...what does that mean?

So...what does it?