Chris Elrod

I Posted To Relevant Christian

This afternoon I posted to Relevant Christian the first part in a series I'm writing entitled "True Relevance".  In less than an hour I had already irked someone off.  :-)

Random Thoughts & Links

The following are just random thoughts on a low-key Wednesday:

1. I was planning on writing a post this week about church planters that gripe about...well...church planting.  Leave it to Gary Lamb to do it for me with this post and this follow-up post.  Good stuff!!!  Too many people are getting into church planting just because they got fired from a church, can't take direction from senior pastors or are just too difficult to get along with other staff members of established churches.  If that's the case...go flip burgers...you've got no business in ministry anyway.  Like Gary, I'm tired of lead-pastor-wannabes planting churches because they thought it'd be a cool gig and then complaining because they actually have to work at.  Shut up already!!!

2. Why is that the Christian press is always two years too late to the dance.  I love Louie and I love the Passion stuff, but...in all honesty...that's pretty much yesterday's news. Passion is still around and doing great things...but they were the "hot, in-thing" almost three years ago...yet, Christianity Today is acting like it's just something that the world has discovered. 

3. What the hell was that on Sanjaya's head last night???  This year it's definitely "American Idiot" instead of "American Idol".  I know I should be pulling for the Christians...but they all suck this year.  God doesn't get the glory when you suck!  :-)

4. I have no clue what they have in the water out in California...but Dan Kimball's "expert" take on the young 20 and 30-somethings doesn't really reflect what Compass Point is discovering around here.  I think it is also dangerous to lump any "facts or figures" into such a large spectrum of age groups.  We are finding that the 25 and below crowd thinks completely different than the 26 and above group.

5. I'm not a huge Starbucks fan as I'm not crazy about coffee (it tastes like liquid cigarettes).  I do, however...love their marketing strategy.  Never mind that, I was reading this article about a Starbuck' conversation and I was reminded of a Gary Lamb comment he made at the ChurchPlanters.com conference in Atlanta.  He said...and I paraphrase...don't hang out at Starbucks if you want to reach disconnected people.  The only people that hang out at Starbucks are church planters and Christian college students.  That is so true in Lakeland!!!  When you go into a Starbucks in this town it's filled with Southeastern University students talking about what they are going to do for the Kingdom of God...when they graduate.  It's pathetic!!!

6. Yeah, I'm in a grumpy mood today.  I'm just sick of little people...with little vision and little work ethic that spend all day talking about what they are going to do if they get the right breaks.  How did the Kingdom of God end up with all of these wussies???  It's a battle for people's souls against Satan and his forces.  Armor up, grow a pair, forget about time off and take a shot...or shut up!!!

My New Store

After being encouraged by the Compass Point Monday night "Pub Club" and several dozen readers of this blog, I have put together a special ChrisElrod.com Amazon store.  It features books, compact discs and dvds that I highly recommend.  The first page of the store displays resources I'm currently checking out or have recently been featured on this blog.  You can also use the links to right to check out other resources that have inspired me or educated me in the areas of church planting and Christian leadership.

I've Added A New Blogger

I added a new blogger to my links section on the righ.  His name is Tony Wheeler and the title of his blog is "The Misadventures Of A Beautiful Letdown"...one of the coolest names on the blogosphere.  He and I have been corresponding by email over the last few months I never miss dropping by his blog on a daily basis.  Go check it out when you have a chance and leave a few comments when you get there!!!

Relevant Christian

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I'm honored to be listed on the blogroll for Relevant Christian.  It's fairly new, but their ideas and goals with the blog and podcast are exciting.  The sad thing is that on most days I don't feel very relevant...or Christian.

Politics Goes Viral

Political ads have finally gone viral.  Barack Obama's peolple are denying any involvement, but this video posted on YouTube is incredible.  Spoofing the original Apple "1984" video, someone spent quite a bit of time making it.  So far, no one has claimed "ownership" of the video, even though it's received tens of thousands of hits.

It's a new day in advertising...viral marketing is the future!!!

Journey Church's Stage

My good friend, Adam Mayfield started a church this past February called Journey Church.  Journey meets one block from Compass Point.  Journey...like Compass Point...is a Southern Baptist church plant (don't hold that against us).  Journey uses a compass in their logo.  Compass Point uses the word compass in its name.  Most people said that it would never work..having two churches of the same denomination...with a compass identity...launch within a mile of each other.  Most people are stupid!  It's working and it's fun!!!

Anyway, I stopped by Journey's meeting space (a movie theater) yesterday morning to see their new staging.  Man it is AWESOME!!!  The folks that built it create conference displays for Fortune 500 companies.  The guy that owns the display company is related to Adam's assistant and Journey got the stage for a song and dance.

Adam and his church have truly been blessed by God.

Come to think out it...I hate Adam!  :-)

Go check out photos of Journey's new stage.

A Couple Of New Links

Last night I changed my header design and added a few new links.  The first new link is Matt Mewhorter.  His folks go to Compass Point and we've met through them.  He's an Emergent guy...but I love his art...and the fact that occasional he'll take a shot at Gary Lamb on his blog.  :-)

Another link is Ben Arment.  He absolutely sucks at replying to my emails (I think he was bothered by my assessment of Mark Batterson's latest book), but his blog always offers up some tidbits of great info for church planters.  He's in the middle of a relaunch and is kind of going through the whole planting process all over again.  He's really good about updating his blog everyday so you get a wonderful glimpse into the step-by-step process of planting a new church.  Besides, the graphics and website for his church absolutely rock!!!  Ten bucks says Ben doesn't respond with a comment to this "link love" posting either.  :-)

Finally, there's Kyle Meets Africa.  Kyle Mitchell is from Compass Point.  He is currently in Africa working with Book Of Hope taking the Word of God to multiple countries.  His blogging is sporadic as they are seldom not in "the bush".  However, when he does blog (about every two weeks) it is raw, stark and emotional.  Many times I have teared up reading about all of the people he is coming into to contact with and spreading the love of Christ.

The Promised Long Blog Posting

The past week has been one of the busiest I've experienced since planting Compass Point.  So much so that I have had precious little free time to blog.  If it wasn't for my Blackberry and some folks being late for meetings, I would not have been able to get the blog posts up last Tuesday or Wednesday.  Between preaching last Sunday, my turnaround trip to Atlanta for the ChurchPlanters.com Conference, my Dad going into the hospital, a podcast interview, a newspaper interview, several meetings with other church planters, normal Compass Point meetings, one really creative meeting with our children's team, time with Denise, time with my family, trying to work in a few hours of sleep, my 41st birthday and preaching yesterday...I'm completely wasted!!!

However, last week was a growing week for me.  God has showed me so many things that it has been really hard to process them all.  Between the truly awesome main speakers at the conference, the informative track times, hanging out with some great friends, meeting some new friends, late-night conversations, watching some new leadership at Compass Point step up and my normal quiet time/Bible study...God has been extremely vocal in my life this week.  There is just way too much to convey in this blog, but I will break down a few things that really moved me this past week:

1. I need to be a man of unction.  I love the word "unction".  I first heard my grandmother say it years ago, but had no clue what it meant.  Later I read about...and came to understand...what the word "unction" meant in Leonard Ravenhill's book "Why Revival Tarries". It had been a long time since I heard...or used...the word "unction".  That is until Matt Carter took the stage at the ChurchPlanters.com Conference last week.  He conveyed the need for followers of Christ...specifically shepherds of flocks...to men...and women...of unction.  When he said, "If you only have 24 hours to live are you going to download porn or spend time with God or your family?" it rocked my world...brought me to tears.  I realized then that I had not lost my passion for the things of God...I just let that passion simmer on low for a while instead of burning hot.  The word "untion" is definitely back in my everyday vocabulary!

2. There is a responsibility with blogging.  I was completely blown away at the conference when people would walk up to me and say, "I read your blog".  Some would be kind with their words, others would take the time to tell me how much I suck as a human being.  Either way, it was amazing to find out that people actually stop by here on a daily or weekly basis.  Typepad tracks the number of actual hits you get to the blog, but has no way of tracking the folks that read stuff through RSS feed services.  Over the last week or so I've been averaging 300+ hits to the sight, not to mention the countless others that are reading my mindless dribble through services like FeedBburner, Bloglines, NewsGator, etc.  I'm just blown away...and humbled by that. 

I've also realized that there is a responsibility that comes with blogging.  Shawn Lovejoy made mention at the Blogger's Round Table Discussion that some bloggers just wanted to get a laugh, get famous or take cheap shots at people.  I suppose I could be blamed for at least two of the three.  I don't totally agree with him about the "getting a laugh" thing, but I do see his point with the taking cheap shots at people.

Over the past few months I've shed some light on a disturbing trend of churches preaching about sex just to get publicity.  Some churches...truly led by God to do the sex message series...have reached their communities.  Others have done much damage in their community for the cause of Christ because they were chasing a PR fad.  The problem is...some really great men of God thought I was blogging about them.  That disturbs me.

I've also discovered...through a rather embarrassing...yet warranted...stage moment by Ed Stetzer (Ed was kind of enough to ask me permission before he did it - the guy is a class act) that I have taken cheap shots at people on this blog.  I really don't feel too good about that. Ed, Tony Morgan, Rick Warren and Mark Batterson are Godly men and great pastors - just because I don't agree with some of their choices...or methods...does not give me the right to take shots at them through this medium.  It was just utter arrogance and ego.  Gentlemen...and your family and churches...I am truly sorry!

In the days to come I feel a stronger need to ask the question, "Does my blog postings add to the Body of Christ...or take away?"  I'm becoming increasingly aware of the responsibility that comes with having such a public voice.

3. I have no passion for reaching church people.  I knew this tidbit of info before I traveled to Atlanta.  However, Gary Lamb's track session really brought it home that my heart...and drive comes from the unquenchable calling to reach out to disconnected people.  It's not that I do not have the patience for church folks...I'm just wired to shepherd people that have given up on church...and God.

Gary and I have churches that are polar opposites from each other in style, outreach and demographics.  However, we both reach an incredible amount of disconnected folks.  His description of the things they see (cash  instead of checks in the offering basket, lesbians talking in the lobby, people saying vulgar things in church conversations, no one getting into praise and worship, etc.) at Ridgestone are identical to the things we see each week at Compass Point.  I guess that is why he and I have a friendship that transcends church planting.

I know his track time ran some folks off from church planting...and that is fine.  The world...and the  Kingdom of God...has zero need for transfer growth churches.  Yet for me...Gary had me even more pumped up to reach the Lakeland community for Christ.  He helped to redefine the leadership priorities I have, the way I preach and the meetings I take.  If it's not concerning reaching the disconnected it doesn't make it into my Top 5 on my priorities of the week list.  :-)

I used to think it was bad not to have a heart for churches people.  I discovered that Lakeland has over 250 churches with the calling to reach churched people...Compass Point...and Chris Elrod...is wired to reach the disconnected.  Thanks Gary for the reminder!!!

4. I'm sticking with the Southern Baptist Convention.  Well, at least for the time being.  Compass Point was all set to bolt from the denomination.  We've downplayed our association with the SBC for months now, but recent stupidity had convinced us to leave.

Ed Stetzer changed all of that.  I'm not going to go into detail right now, but I think some fine changes are coming to the SBC that is way overdue!!!

5. Travis Johnson is one the nicest guys in the world.  We had only emailed back and forth until the conference.  On the way to Atlanta I met up with Travis in Gainesville for dinner and then sat with him most of the conference. There was not a moment that he wasn't offering to do something really great for someone.  He truly has a "Kingdom heart" and mentality.  It is so refreshing to be around a pastor that truly lives each day with a missional mindset.  Travis...brother...you really inspired me!!!

6. We don't have to be the same to get along.  In the world of conservative versus charismatic...Calvinist versus Armenian...and Emergent versus...well...pretty much everyone else...I discovered that style, technique and preferences really don't divide us.  It's our own closed mindset and stupidity...our failure to understand that we are all here for the same purpose...to reach the people of our local culture with the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

Mountain Lake Church is nothing like Compass Point.  In fact, my flock would see most of what they do as...well...cheesy.  That's okay, because the Mountain Lake folks would see Compass Point as weird and boring.  That...in and of itself...is the beauty of the Kingdom of God...we all have a place!  While the style and outreach methods of Mountain Lake never really interested me, their techniques were really great.  If I had "thrown out the baby with the bath water" and said "They're just a modern church with nothing to offer a pastor from a post-modern church" I'd have never gone to the track times.  The wealth of information I learned at the the track times by the Mountain Lake staff is beyond measure.  They have a different calling than us, but they are a large version of a "simple church" with big vision.  Just the way they do information cards and assimilate people was worth the trip to Atlanta.  I'm glad I went...and listened!!!

7. I miss hard wood trees.  Florida has nothing but live oaks, some scrub pines and a butt-load of palm trees.  While in Georgia I realized that I miss hard wood trees lining the road.  I miss the smell of fireplaces burning throughout neighborhoods of brick homes.  I miss 35 degree weather.  I miss living in someplace besides Florida with its 365 days of summer.

8. I'm too ADD to really get into corporate worship.  The Mountain Lake band rocked!  I mean they were really good (not as good as the Compass Point band, but a close second).  However, I had trouble getting into the worship because of my ADD.  I'm looking at the lighting system, making notes about sound levels, checking out the worship software techniques, drawing out slide ideas and was generally distracted by the live-action motion video behind the words.  It works for most other people...I'm just way too ADD to worship in large groups.  I'm better off with my iPod in the woods.

9. I could never live in Atlanta.  I'm a HUGE Braves fan, but I could never live in Atlanta.  The place is nice, the people are wonderful...but the traffic is from the pits of Hell!!!

10. God is faithful!!! It was an amazing, emotional and unreal week.  Yet...through it all...God was there in mighty ways!  It is so embarrassing to be in ministry...and still...at times...doubt that God will come through.  It is the shame of my life...and one that I'm working harder at correcting!!!

Link Love Triples The Hits

Due to some link love from Gary Lamb's post here and Monday Morning Insight's post here...along with cool props from some great folks I met in Atlanta...the hits to this blog have tripled since Sunday.  In all seriousness...I am humbled.  Thanks guys!

Free Documents From Northpoint

Andy Stanley and his folks at North Point Community Church in Atlanta has made the majority of their office documents and forms available for free online.  There is some pretty cool stuff here to use as an example for creating you own forms or docs.  Check it all out by going to the North Point Ministries Administration page.

THE Most Amazing Blog

I've been digging this blog for some time, but have never really posted about it.  Don is a 90+ guy from Canada that blogs about life through his eyes.  This posting is one of the most honest...and refreshing... pieces of writing I've ever encountered.  The man has seen and done much in his life, as his Wikipedia page talks about.  I never let a day go by without checking out his blog.  It...literally...is one of the highlights of my day!

Conference Bound

I rarely attend church planting or leadership conferences.  They are always way too Amway pep rally feeling for me.  It's always the same speakers, bragging about how great their church is and giving you just a tidbit of information in hopes you'll buy forty copies of their worthless book to get the rest.  Other times the speaker just rehashes the same old crap that was in their book so you feel hosed for paying twice for the same information.  I'm just too freakin' old, experienced and cynical to go through all of that "rah-rah" cheerleader garbage.

I made a vow after blowing Compass Point's hard-earned money on an extremely large...but useless...church plant conference in Orlando, that I was through doing church plant/leadership conferences.  Except for leadership stuff done by Mosaic (which is unlike any church leadership conference I've ever attended), I've only been going to Bible-feeding and theological/doctrinal conferences on occasion.  That is all about to change.

I'm pretty pumped up to be going to the ChurchPlanters.com conference in Atlanta later this month.  Not only is it an early birthday gift (I hit the big four one on February 28th), but I get to meet some folks in person that I've only talked to online.  While most of the speakers at the conference are pretty well known in my circle of blogger friends, they are not in the upper realms of Christian "super pastor" stardom of say...Bill Hybels, Ed Young, Jr., or Rick Warren.  I like seeing some of the newer voices in church planting being used.

What I'm most pumped about is the breakout sessions.  With guys like Gary Lamb and Perry Noble leading, you know you are going to get truthful stuff in a fairly "let's cut the crap" kind of way.  I'm really looking forward to it.

My only concern is the addition of Ed Stetzer to the speaking roster talking about "Relate".  I love the guy and totally dig where he is coming from, but...most of us guys attending the conference are already in the missional camp.  Ed - if you actually ever read this blog - do us a favor...give us something more than you did in "Breaking The Missional Code".  Most of us have read the book, heard the sales pitch, bought into the idea and purchased the t-shirt.   Give us something about what the future of the missional church looks like...where it's going...how we can take it to the next level...something beyond what we've already read in the book!

I guess what I'm most excited about however, is hearing how God is working in the lives and flocks of other church planters.  That stuff always gets my spiritual and creative juices flowing.  I'm also hoping to meet some new people...and avoid the ones I've pissed off with some of my blog postings.  :-)

If you are going to be in attendance at the conference, drop me an email.  I'd love to hook up.  If you can't stand me or my blog and don't want to be around me...send an email anyway.  I'll send you my itinerary for the three days...that way you can avoid me with pinpoint accuracy.  :-)

Mosaic Church On YouTube

Someone at Mosaic Church has started putting their videos up on YouTube.  As of today there is only four videos, but there is some pretty cool and creative stuff there.

List Stupidity 101

Apparently, the recent craze of magazines or websites producing lists ranking "top" churches/pastors/etc. is undergoing a rising backlash.  There have been many online comments and blog postings (besides mine) in recent days concerning this new form of ego masturbation - including this great one by Drew Moser.

From what I can tell, no one...including myself...has a problem with listing great resources (influential pastors, innovative churches, best cleaned toilets in the children's ministry, etc.).  The problem arises when the lists are ranked from best to worst numerically.   I just can't see how a God that emphasized in His Word, "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" can really be all that pleased with this list stupidity!!!

The Most Important Blogs For 2007

Lately my posts have been pretty tongue in cheek or used humor to drive home a more serious point.  However, this post is 100% serious.

I truly believe that the face of church planting...and church leadership is changing.  2007 will...in my humble opinion...see quite a bit of change in how church and ministry is done.  With that in mind, I believe that the following five blogs are currently the most important ones on the Internet for all church planters, pastors and staff:

Tadd Grandstaff - Tadd is still a ways off from his church plant's official launch.  However, he is asking all of the right questions, concentrating on all the right things and providing thought-provoking posts about the core essence of planting a church in the 21st Century.  He has become a catalyst to take me back to some of those initial questions I was asking before Compass Point launched...and should be asking again!

Jonathan Herron - Jonathan just launched Catalyst Church near Kent State University.  Considered one of the most unchurched areas in Ohio, it is filled with artistic college students that could care less about going to church.  However, through grassroots marketing and innovative approaches (that should have landed Catalyst on that piece of crap Outreach Magazine list - more on that later), Jonathan has followed his calling and is reaching his community in a mighty way for Christ.  His blog is both inspiring and a look into the future of church planting!

Gary Lamb - Yeah, I know we are friends and therefore some may see this listing as biased. However, in getting to know Gary I can honestly say I have never met a person more in love with God and his community.  He really doesn't give a rip about the latest church planting trends, instead he concentrates only on what will grow his people spiritually and reach the unchurched of Canton, Georgia. Gary's blog is the definitive manual for church leadership in today's churches.  His people skills, combined with his almost-obsessive desire to reach disconnected people for Christ has helped to mold Ridgestone into a truly outward-focused evangelistic church.  They may never win any MTV Music Video Awards, but they will continue to reach North Georgia in a mighty way for the Kingdom of God!

Johnny Brooks - He may not be a name that pops up on your radar very often, but he has a blog I check everyday!  He and his family (wife and 3 children) left everything here to go to Africa in order to reach people for Jesus Christ.  Based out of Kenya, Johnny travels to many other African countries spreading the hope of Christ through true servanthood. His approach to missions is so different...and refreshing...than other missionaries I've come in contact with over the years.  His blog records all of the triumphs...and heartaches...his family faces as they serve God on the frontlines of foreign ministry.  I truly believe that future missionaries will be quoting Johnny's posts in the years to come as a blueprint for reaching other cultures for Christ!

Dr. Al Mohler - Love him or hate him, he is the voice of the evangelical community.  More than the Driscolls, Bells, McLarens or Warrens, the nation's top media outlets turn to him for quotes, guest appearances and debate panels.  He speaks for you, he speaks for me, he speaks for all of us...and his blog is a great way to gather insight into what he is thinking.  Time Magazine named him one of the "Top 25 Most Influential Religious Leaders For The 21st Century" and they hit the nail on the head.  For most unchurched folks he is the only face of Christianity and the Church that they will ever see.  I'm comfortable with that!

Congrats To Gary Lamb

Congrats to Gary Lamb and the leadership at Ridgestone.  They have made Slice Of Laodicea's "Hall Of Shame Award" this week for their Christmas Eve video.  I've always had a deep-seeded dislike for the bonehead that runs the Slice website and her mindless online dribble.  That fact that she voted Gary & Company as "shameful" only makes me like him - and the Ridgestone leadership - even more.  Rock on Ridgestone!  You're attracting way more unchurched folks for the cause of Christ that one woman with a microphone and a cheesy radio program ever did!

P.S. - Yeah, she hit a nerve!

My Portable Church Planter Speakout

The folks over at the Momentum Conference blog have been posting a GREAT section entitled, "Portable Church Planters Speak Out".  If you are a portable church planter - or are planning to be one - you need to check it out!  It's where they asked portable church planters to email in their answers to seven questions about being a portable/mobile church. They've printed up some cool responses by guys like Mark Batterson, Tally Wilgis, Gary Lamb, Perry Noble, Ben Arment and several others.  I sent my in . . . they never put it up on the site.  What can I say?  I get no respect I tell ya (read the previous two lines in your best Rodney Dingerfield voice).

Anyway, instead of waiting for the Momentum guys to come to their senses, I decided to go ahead and post my answers here:

#1 - How long have you been portable?

Three years

#2 - What type of facility do you meet in?  Have you met in any others?

We currently meet in a brand new YMCA.  Before that we met in an apartment clubhouse, another church's social hall and a large hotel conference room.

#3 - How long does your set-up/ tear-down take?

Set up takes about an hour.  Tear down takes about 45 minutes.

#4 - What's your biggest challenge to being portable?

Three things . . .
A) Burn out from setting up and tearing down each week.
B) Trying to darken the facility for lighting.  The gym has skylights and windows.
C) Being at the mercy of another organization's schedule.  About ten times a year we walk in to find several dozen teens asleep on the gym floor because of a YMCA leadership lock-in.  Trying to tip-toe around them with sound and lighting equipment gets to be pretty interesting.

#5 - What do you think is your greatest advantage to being portable?

No building debt/costs (other than rent) and it helps to develop a great work ethic for a church body that is committed to reaching the unchurched.

#6 - What's the weirdest thing that's ever happened to you being in a portable setting?

One morning while we were meeting in the hotel conference room, I was standing in the back welcoming guests as our praise band played.  A drunk hotel employee came up to tell me that the music was too loud - in the process interrupting one of our first time guests.  I told him I would get with the sound person in just a moment to see if we could lower the sound level.  Apparently he got angry because I didn't immediatly handle it and shouted, "You stupid @#!!!%, do it now or I'll beat the @#!!!% out of you!"  He then proceded to shove me against a wall and then took a swing at me.  He missed and fell to the ground where he basically passed out.  All of this was in front of the first time - and last time - guests.

#7 - What do you wish someone would have told you about being portable that would have helped you?

Don't financially skimp on the sound, lighting and stage equipment.  The cheap stuff falls apart after a few months. In essence, you get what you pay for!

Facebook

Compass Point has had a Facebook sight for several months now and it has been incredible for reaching out to college folks.  I finally got around to setting up my personal Facebook sight this afternoon.  I love it because it automatically updates my blog postings from this site to my Notes section of the Facebook site.

Crazy News

I always get a kick at weird and crazy news.  Here is one about a woman that killed her husband over a warm beer and this one is about an airliner that had to land because of . . . well, you're just going to have to read it.

Perry's Post

You have to check out Perry Noble's blog posting today.  It's hilarious, right on base and to the point.  I've never met Perry (however, I did meet Gary Lamb, who met Perry, so I've kind of met him twice removed), but I love his blog . . . read it everyday!

A Really Cool Video

I just discovered this link to one of the coolest videos ever made.  Watch the entire thing, even the credits!!!

Links For 10/24/06

The following links are what caught my interest so far this morning:

• Unconventional sanctuaries for mobile churches.
• One hot looking homeless chic.
• Mars Hill still taking shots from the blogs and press here, here, here and here.
• Where do I sign up for this class?
• McFly has gone political.
• A look at the future of evangelicals.
• Any butt-reeming idiot can be a parent.
• A new meaning for the phrase "the poop deck."
• Message in a bottle . . . sending out an SOS . . .

Links For 10/20/06

Here are some links that peaked my interest for Friday, October 20, 2006:

• Thomas Kinkade has painted himself into a corner.
• A new approach for evangelicals to politics?
• Yesterday all of Paul's troubles seemed so far away!
• The real reason why Donald Duck doesn't wear any pants.
• The gift that keeps on giving for the baseball fanatic in you.

Links For 10/19/06

I recently discovered Google Alerts and have fallen in love with them.  Here are few links that peaked my interest today:

• A Canadian church knows how to head bang.
• Apparently Rob Bell can write on something smaller than a huge whiteboard.
• Brian McLaren's theology and teachings just gets more frightening with time.
• Stingrays are no longer our friends.
• Southern Baptists can't even agree on a date to publicly disagree.
• And all this time I thought a leftist was somebody to be afraid of.
• A new blog has appeared.  Becoming Missional exists to bring missional ideas to light.
• I never liked math, didn't feel I did well in it and sucked at it.  So much for that theory.

This Week's Hot Topic

So what are 20-somethings in Lakeland talking about this week?  As usual, something on YouTube.

Two weeks ago it was the OK GO guy's treadmill video.  Last week it was the revelation that lonelygirl15 wasn't real.  This week it's the video from funtwo.

Apparently, funtwo is a South Korean student and guitar player that attends college in New Zealand.  Last year a friend shot a blurry video of him playing a shredding version of the classical piece "Cannon" on guitar.  The video has been floating around YouTube for several weeks, having been watched by millions of drooling guitar-god-wannabe's.  There's been a slight mystery about the guitarist because his face cannot be seen on the video and no one has stepped up - until this week - claiming to be funtwo.  Also, the guy - while hiting a few bads notes - is AWESOME for an amateur!!!

The really sad part . . . the kid has no aspirations to be a professional musician.  He's studying to be a designer of some sort.

Anyway, that's this week's hot topic.

Wandered Through The Trenches

Forrest Smith is a Southeastern University student, a Texas native and a former member of Jimmy Swaggart and John Haggee's churches.  He's also a regular Compass Point attender and an interesting writer/speaker/thinker.  He started a blog today and his first post is pretty thought-provoking.  I'd encourage everyone to check it out by going here.

Iron Maiden

Nicko McBrain, the drummer for Iron Maiden, became a Christian through Willow Creek back in 1999.  He's got a pretty cool interview talking about his conversion, witnessing to the other band members and the challenges (mainly from self-righteous Christians) he faces still playing in Iron Maiden.

He lives in Tampa and I got to meet him about a year or so ago.  He's the real deal and a super nice guy.  The night I met him he was hanging at club with Brian Johnson of AC/DC - who is also a Tampa resident.  Eat your heart Gary.  :-)

Dave Covey

One of the musicians/songwriters at Compass Point has begun blogging.  I dig his lyrics.  I don't understand them, but I dig them.  :-)

Check out his blog by going here.

Compass Point's MySpace

In response to yesterday's posting, I have received an email or two inquiring about Compass Point's MySpace site.  You can view it here.  It's not great, but our people seem to like it.

Also, you can view my personal MySpace site by going here.  Keep in mind that I substitute teach so my site has quite a few comments from the kids at school.  Oh yeah, if you're not a fan of Brother Cane then you probably won't like the music.  :-)

Back In Town

Denise and I made it back to Lakeland around 6:30 PM and headed directly to our Connexxion group.  We had a wonderful time on our trip.  She had a great visit with her mom and I had a great visit with several Godly men.  God really spoke to me in the quiet and I am grateful for the time I got to spend in solitude.  My "wilderness weekends" are something I look forward to all year.

I'll blog off and on today about my trip.  For now, Dr. Mohler has a great blog about tolerance . . . or the lack of tolerance.  Check it out here.