Wildfire 101 at Pepperdine via CNN

Wildfire 101 at Pepperdine

If you visit the link above you're going to see some remarkable imagery of the wildfire currently raging in Malibu, Ca. The Malibu Castle, Malibu Presbyterian Church and several other private homes have burned down. Students on Pepperdine University's campus were "evactuated" to the field house, library and cafeteria. Nathan Rix, senior, was there to report it all.

Nathan was on CNN. He'll be on FOX News and Hannity and Colmes later today. Click above to watch his CNN interview.

Erica's 24th Birthday

On Oct. 13th, last Satuday, Erica turned 24 years old! We had a week long celebration. She has had several gifts for her birthday. The first of which was partially the Wii system that we bought for my birthday. However, that gift was mostly for me. I've also bought us tickets to the Chris Tomlin Concert here in town. A couple of weeks ago I bought her a season pass to download Grey's Anatomy from iTunes because we're not home to watch it on Thursdays. But the best gift of all, well I'll have to make her write about that one. Bottom line, I got points for the last one.

More later...

How Many?

This is a picture of Tokyo taken by Matthew Clark Photography.

Look at all those lights! It's crazy. I wonder how many of those lights represent the people who follow Christ in Tokyo. I've been thinking about the shear mass of people on the planet and the percentage of that mass that actually follows Christ.

On a typical Sunday morning I think, "Wow, that's awesome that this many students chose to come to our student ministry environment today!" But lately I've been attending some high school football games and it has opened my eyes. We have just a few handfuls of the students that are in our community. There are actually thousands! Thousands of lost souls, thousands of empty-dying people, thousands of people Christ loves and wants to be close with!

I want to start praying this prayer: "God, give us Clovis. Not for our glory, but Yours!"

Keeping It Fresh

I'm addicted to iTunes New Music Tuesdays! Every Tuesday I look forward to opening the program and browsing the store. Why? Because I'm looking for something fresh, something new, all the time. When I find that sound...you know the one...the one that makes your soul want to scream (but you can't because you're in the office and that might be weird). Today I'm buying Michael Olson's cd Where Fear And Faith Collide. I know, I know...it's not new. But I only had one song off the cd and wanted to check out the rest of it. Here are some other suggestions for those of you who crave a new song:

Fee - We Shine
Robbie Seay Band - Give Yourself Away
David Crowder Band - Remedy
Leeland - Sound of Melodies
Jackson Waters - Come Undone
Tim Hughes - Holding Nothing Back
Hillsong United - All of the Above

Church Conference Webcast - Free

Watch the Innovate Church Conference Online for Free | churchrelevance.com

I've been catching snipets of this webcast. Basically they put the entire conference ("Innovate") on the web for free. You didn't even have to go to be a part of the conversation and see what creative things churches are doing. Check it out, it's awesome!

BIG WIN

Check out this email I received from someone who visited our church for the first time yesterday! Awesome, eh?

"Hi, my name is __________. I am a senior at Clovis West. I attended New Harvest for the first time today and, I must admit, I fell in love. For the first time, I really opened my heart up to Jesus and felt the power and grace of our Savior. I am looking forward to joining the youth group and was hoping for some information about that. Where do you meet? What times? And any other important information. Thank you and God bless."

Not Up To Par

Last night's concert at the local fair was not at all what I expected. Casting Crowns and Leeland are awesome bands, but it just wasn't great. Something was missing. Perhaps that's the nature of fair shows and outdoor concerts, but I thought Kutless did a great job last year. Anyway, here are some pictures. We had fun anyways.

Give Us Clovis!

I just came back from a lunch with some youth workers (Northpark, Mountain View, New Hope, FCA, Youth For Christ, EV Free the Bridge) in the area. They invited me to Fugazzi's for a free lunch...how can I say no? Evidently the bistro is owned by a Christian and gives free lunches to this network of youth pastors and workers when they meet there. (So, go support them, it's good food.) The purpose of the meeting was for Red Ribbon Week, which is a big deal in the Clovis Unified School District. Since these churches and organizations support what the schools are trying to do through RRW, they capitalize on the events they do. Locally, we're bringing in Stephen Lungu to speak at several Clovis and Fresno schools. Following those assemblies, there will be two huge outreach events. The Clovis even is scheduled for Oct. 24th @ 7pm-8:30pm. It will be at Clovis Hills. Basically the goal is to hook students through the speaker and assembly, offer them free pizza if they come to Clovis Hills that night and then while they are there...share the gospel. The follow up work will be done by the youth workers that volunteered to help. We're praying for God to give us Clovis. Give us the hearts of these teens so that we can point them toward Jesus. It's a pretty cool event and opportunity.

Courage

Tomorrow morning I'm speaking at Mountain View Christian School's Wednesday morning chapel service. I've done it three times now and it's one of the most rewarding guest-speaking engagements I regularly accept. The students know me by name there. Only the problem is, my name is not my real name...they know me as "the cheez-it guy." I guess if you tell something memorable to elementary school kids, they remember it because it was funny. Evidently, I was funny that first time I spoke about what I've found in my couch cushions.

Tomorrow's topic will be Courage. I'm going to use Deuteronomy 31:1-8 as my story. But the main verse is famous, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." In my elementary years I had many instances where courage was required...don't you remember being afraid to be in the dark? On the side bar I'm going to create a poll of fears, please click the ones that have applied to you.

Culture: Physical Fitness

On Saturday we joined a gym here in Clovis, Ca. It's called GB3. It's the first time I've ever done this sort of thing. I'm not a very fit person and I don't regularly workout. But now, now that we've spent...I need a return on my investment. We're going to try to get to the gym for an hour four times a week. I'm starting out on the tredmill. Yesterday we went for about fourty-five minutes and I ran 1.5 miles and biked. On their bikes, as long as you pedal you can surf the net. It's a great feature. I checked up on the blog world while I biked! Love that!

Part of the reason I wanted to join a gym is because it's a huge part of our culture here in Clovis/Fresno. Most people here spend an average of ten to fifteen hours a week at the gym. (statistic totally and completely fabricated by my own perceptions) Seriously though, the students I work with are fitness crazy. They won't eat donuts or candy (much) because they know they'll have to work harder in the gym! I was not that way. I was a McDonald's once-a-day kind of guy while I was in High School. So this whole healthy thing, it's new to me. But I know it's better in the long (and short) run.

Check back to see my progress.

Back In Business

After more than a year I'm getting the itch to write again. This time it's not short stories, screenplays or books. It's simply articles. I've written in the past for Relevant Magazine and Campus Crosswalk. So, check back in a few days and I may have a link to a new article.

One more thing, I added a new blog link. Check Phillip McCart out, he's got some great insights into student ministry.

See You At The Pole

Today, all across the country, students met at their local school's flagpole to pray at an event called See You At The Pole. I went to Buchanan High School and watched students come together of their own accord and pray for their schools and friends. God is good! I think BHS had about 150-200 students, Clovis North (the new school in town) had just under 100. It felt good to see students like Andrew Balch, Taylan Bennett and Kaleb Smith join in the circle. If you've never seen this sight in person, you should watch next year. It's good!

Twenty-Six Years Old

On Sunday, the 23rd, I turned 26-years-old! We had a little party at the Solberg house. It was great. Lots of family and a few close friends. Eric, Jamie, Paul and Jenn. Here's some pictures from our fellowship.

Random Picture From The Scott-Calhoun Wedding

technorati tags:micah, erica, foster, calhoun, scott, wedding, picture

Concert Crazy

Chris Tomlin is coming to Fresno and we're going to the concert. Last time I saw him was about a year ago at Great America. It was THE best worship experience I've ever had. His songs resonate with what my spirit knows is true. The concert is Nov. 3rd (Sat.) @ Warnor's Theater. Get your tickets here.

We are also going to see Casting Crowns, Leeland and John Waller @ The Big Fresno Fair on Oct. 3rd (Wed.). We'll be there with Paul and Jenn Haugen. You can get your tickets here.

technorati tags:chris, tomlin, casting, crowns, leeland, john, waller, big, fresno, fair, paul, jenn, haugen

Buckhead Church & Baghdad Schools

Recently I posted about a church in Georgia that challenged their congregation to donate school supplies for kids in Baghdad. They did one announcement, one email, and one blog post and this was the response they got...

You can check out their blog post here.

God is good!

technorati tags:buckhead, church, baghdad, georgia, iraq, school, supplies, kids, donate

Podcast Reaches Over 1000 hits!

The Turnpike podcast has now reached over 1,000 hits. The intended audience is parents of teens that attend our ministry, however we've reached a much larger demographic than that. People from Europe, North America, South America and Australia have found the podcast and downloaded it. Pretty crazy. You can check it out by clicking here or scrolling to the very bottom of this page and clicking on one of the podcast episodes.

technorati tags:podcast, new, harvest, church, turnpike, student, ministries, 1000, europe, south, america, north, australia, download

The Rosenthal Family Needs Your Prayers

Our Pastor of Community Life needs your prayers. Kelly Rosenthal and his family are on an emotional rollercoaster. Please read his latest blog entry and put him on your prayer list and your church's prayer list.

technorati tags:prayer, kelly, rosenthal, family, pastor, community, life, list, new, harvest, church

Other wii Pictures

Paul has finally posted his version of our battle. Check it out here.

technorati tags:paul, haugen, wii, blog, post

Hope is a gift and YOU have the power to give it!

I've recently started reading the official church blog of Buckhead Church in the ATL (AT). Last Sunday, September 16th, they challenged their church to gather school supplies and raise money to provide help for kids in Baghdad that have nothing. They just did a series on stewardship and felt that they shouldn't waste the momentum that had been built up. You can read about the challenge and follow up at the two following links:

Buckhead Church Blog: From Buckhead to Baghdad

Buckhead Church Blog: From Buckhead to Baghdad, Part

My challenge to you is to get on board with someone doing something great to change the world for Christ. You can jump on the Buckhead bandwagon or choose something else, but please give.

In Fresno on Oct. 6th there's something called "Light the Night Walk" to raise support, awareness and money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Participants can walk with a red balloon or a white balloon (white is reserved for cancer survivors). If you live in Fresno, that's one way to give.

No matter where you live, there are hundreds of opportunities for you to volunteer or raise money for a worthy cause. You can order a pair of shoes from Tom's Shoes and the company will automatically match your purchase with a gift to a child somewhere in the world who can not afford a shoes.

You can pledge to give $30-35 a month to make sure one child somewhere in the world, usually a third world country, will eat, get education and be introduced to Jesus through your genorosity until they are old enough to care for themselves. (World Vision and Compassion International)

(Pictures from Mission Mexico '06)

My birthday is this coming Sunday, September 23rd. I'll be 26-years-old! If you intend on sending me a card or gift, I'd like you to do something different. Don't give me anything but an email or comment that says, "I decided to take my twenty bucks and give it to a charity." Or something along those lines. That's one of the best gifts I can get. Give my gift to someone in real poverty, someone without hope, someone who needs to be filled with the joy of the Lord.

God bless you and remember that hope is a gift and YOU have the power to give it!

technorati tags:mission, mexico, tom's, shoes, compassion, international, world, vision, light, the, night, fresno, ca, birthday, gift, hope, give, baghdad, buckhead, church

More Wii Madness

Check out what I came across today...any challengers? Jason?

LucasArts to Unleash the Force on the Wii in Spring 2008

Star Wars™: The Force Unleashed™ Coming to Nintendo's Platform with Exclusive Duel Mode

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Sept. 18, 2007 - LucasArts today revealed that Star Wars™: The Force Unleashed™ will come to the Wii™ home videogame system from Nintendo next spring, offering owners the unique chance to live out their Jedi fantasies by wielding the Wii Remote™ as a lightsaber while using the Nunchuk™ controller to torment foes with their Force™ powers.

The Force Unleashed casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The game's expansive story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

The Wii version, in development by Krome Studios, will also add an exclusive duel mode in which players can compete head-to-head with their friends to determine the ultimate Jedi Master.

"The Wii is a great platform for The Force Unleashed, because the console's motion-oriented controllers really bring the game to life," said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts. "We've worked hard to make the Wii version of the game unique in order to truly let you unleash the Force."

technorati tags:wii, lucas, arts, star, wars, remote

J Mac - The Stuff of Legends

Remember this?

technorati tags:jason, mcelwain, basketball, legend, autism, hope, love, faith

Wii, Wii, Wii...all the way home.

This past Friday, Erica and I went to Game Stop to purchase a gift card for her cousin's birthday, Bobby (10-years-old). We went in and I had been viewing a video about the Wii earlier in the week on another blog. We both gravitated to the wall with the Wii and the games. We went in with the intention of buying a gift card and came out with the card + a Wii! We're counting it for our birthdays!

Here's some pictures of Erica and Jenn (Paul's wife) playing a racing game and boxing. Enjoy!

Paul will have his pictures up soon on his blog.

technorati tags:paul, jenn, erica, micah, foster, haugen, wii, nintendo, video, games, racing, boxing, cooper

Small Groups Galore!

Recently we've had an influx of volunteers that has helped us to create more and more small groups for students to plug into. Here are some pictures of our small groups in action on Sundays. A picture is worth a thousand words right? Maybe more! Here are some goals for our small groups by the time we get into our new building (sometime this winter)...

We want four small groups per grade, two male and two female. Therefore we want 24 groups! In each group we want two leaders...that's 48 leaders! Also in each group we want 8-10 students...that's 192-240 students! Can we do it? No. But if God wants to He can!

technorati tags:small, groups, new, harvest, church, turnpike, catalyst, god, jesus, spirit, love, faith, hope, clovis, west, high, school, plant, goals

Jericho, KS - Season 2

Jericho, incase you missed it, was the best show on television last year. CBS pulled it off the air after it's season finale, which was a nail-biter. One of the key phrases used in the season-finale with "nuts." In order to understand it, you'd have to watch the finale, if you want to click here. Basically, the term was used to say, we're not going without a fight.

Fans of Jericho picked up this terminology and used it to send a message to CBS executives. They sent thousands of pounds of peanutes from nutsonline.com to the excutives with notes that said, "Nuts to you CBS!" Meaning, you can't take our show without a fight. Suprisingly the executives decided to give the show another shot. They rearranged their summer schedule to re-show the first season. The second season is about to start up again!

You can read about the crazy fan campaign to save the show here.

I never thought fans of a tv show could mobilize together like this. Imagine what the church could do together if we would mobilize.

Psalm 119:9

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your (God's) word."

Sounds pretty simple to me.

technorati tags:pure, simple, jesus, word, of, God

Over the Weekend

Our friends Nic & Kylee Bryson and Ryan & Kelly Loftis came to visit us over the weekend. We took it really easy. Introduced "Teddy" to "Cooper"...watched Balls of Fury (not recommended)...bbq'd kabobs...and it was a great time. Thanks for coming to visit guys! Hopefully we can come visit you in your own environment soon. Kelly, thanks for singing on Sunday...want the mp3? Jk.

technorati tags:nic, kylee, bryson, ryan, kelly, loftis, friends, labor, day, weekend, vacation

Re:action

We are getting ready to launch an entirely new ministry targeting college-aged people (18-24). There has been somewhat of a lull in attendance from this age group and they've been needing something completely tailored for them. Now, with the help of it's new leader Greg Zuffelato, this ministry is about to launch.

First we'll work on building a community within a core group of people, then build leadership roles into that core and do a full launch with the second semester of Fresno State in January.

This will also allow us to iron out some bugs and make sure we all know exactly what we're doing and what our involvement will be.

The basic principle behind the name is this Re = Ripple Effect. Every ripple effect starts with a single action. We want these students to perform actions for Christ that cause ripple effects that can build into a tsunami of God's grace and love for college-aged people in the Fresno/Clovis area. I'm excited.

technorati tags:ripple, effect, butterfly, effect, re:action, reaction, new, harvest, church, fresno, state, city, college, university, clovis, students, greg, zuffelato

Soccer Season

It's soccer season! We're out at the Fresno City College soccer game. It might be too hot to start the season in my opinion.

Crazy Skies

Yesterday we had scattered thunder storms. This is what I was looking at as I drove to work. Pretty cool eh?

What's up with Erica?

Hi! My husband has really taken over our blog lately, so I thought I would share a little bit about what I'm doing right now. : ) I love you Micah.

I am not teaching...almost everyone I run into lately assumes I am teaching and asks what school I'm at. It's kind of funny. I guess that when you get your teaching credential people expect you to be a teacher. Who would have thought? haha. During my time at Pepperdine, I became an intern in Children's Ministry. Through this experience I discovered that I really loved it, and wanted to work somewhere in children's ministry after college. The advice I got at a Zoe conference from a children's minister from Texas was to get my teaching credential, and major in elementary education rather than religion because it would be more applicable. So, thus...I entered the elementary education program at Pepperdine. Once Micah and I got married, he was hired as a youth minister in Whittier, a church which I knew I couldn't be hired as a children's minister. So, I decided that teaching may be what I would have to fall back on because it obviously wouldn't be wise to work at a different church than my husband, and I knew that youth ministry was where God wanted Micah. There was no question about that. Then, we moved back to Fresno and Micah was hired at this amazing church, New Harvest. Through several discussions with some of the leaders at that church they discovered my passion for children's ministry, and now I am doing what I've wanted to do, and didn't think was possible. I love my job, and really feel like I am a part of something important..something BIG. It's amazing how God works, and I feel blessed to be a part of this movement at New Harvest. I'm also doing some private tutoring on the side, and am enjoying working one on one with kids. So, not to worry, I am using my credential...I'm not a teacher, but I am doing what God has called me to right now, and I'm LOVING it! : )

Hillsong United

Hillsong United is one of my favorite worship bands right now. You may listen and think, "uh, that's a rock band, not a worship band"...but do you see these people. Young people worship best when they can rock out. When someone rocks, it shows passion, and genuine belief!

Check 'em out here or watch below.

technorati tags:hillsong, united, worship, and, rock, jesus, band, australia

Buckhead Church: Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta Intown Newspaper

Check out what a local newspaper had to say about this Northpoint Community Church campus. It's pretty amazing.

And when you are done with that...check out this blog.

These are the kinds of ideas that capture my heart and make me want to scream! Seriously, if you want to know more about us, read these things and you'll understand a little bit about what we do and why we do it.

technorati tags:buckhead, church, video, church, blog, mid, town, gathering, intown, newspaper

Meshing His Art: Joshua Dildine's Savannah Collection

Recently I've had the pleasure of seeing some of Joshua Dildine's new developing style. It's pretty cool. He incorporates the framing into the art, it's one cohesive unit, instead of a painting or drawing within a frame...the frame becomes part of the art.

You can check his stuff out here.

technorati tags:joshua, dildine, savannah, art, collection

Breaking My Box

I like to think that I think big. But even big for my little mind is way too small for God's will. Before Erica and I moved back to Fresno, I thought the largest youth/student ministry I'd ever be leading would be 50 students or so. I mean I would dream sometimes of having hundreds of students show up for an event or service, but then I'd walk into work and face the reality of a handful of students.

But then we moved.

Since then, my thoughts have been much larger and REALITY has supported the dream. Yesterday in our student service (Turnpike) we had a total of 109 people, 93 of them were students. This is a record for this ministry. I know, I know...it's not all about quantity. But it sure does build momentum and create a wider sphere of influence.

I'm pumped. Because here's the deal. We've been projecting that when we moved into the new building (The Plant) we'd grow to about 120 students by sheer interest. So we've been planning for that and part of the plan was recruiting more volunteers to that we could actually retain that amount of students in our small group environment. But the Sunday that we moved a bunch of our new volunteers into their capacity...God did something unexpected, he brought a bunch of students early (about 20 more than our previous record).

So here's the deal. I think God's communicating something with us. And I think he's communicated it with thousands of people before through the movie Field of Dreams.

"If you build it, they will come." God has built it and He is bringing the people!

technorati tags:field, of, dreams, jesus, god, new, harvest, church, turnpike, student, ministries, fresno, clovis, west, ministry, praise

Speaking of Videos

Last night Erica's parents brought up the subject of Sermon Spice. It was locally launched, from Fresno, CA and they know one of the owners of the company. They sell videos for churches that help to enhance worship services or sermons. It adds some spice to it!

They brought up one of their favorite videos, it's called "That's My King" and it's made by Igniter Media. It's a famous description of God by a minister by the name of Lockridge.

I found it on YouTube for your viewing pleasure...check it out and leave your reactions in a comment.

technorati tags:that's, my, king, lockridge, sermon, spice, igniter, media, video, church, you, tube

Kris Strobeck Music

In case you've never seen it, you should check out former Won By One member, Kris Strobeck's, music page by clicking here.

You can also check out his music video In Front of You and download his four demo tracks from his myspace page. It's worth a listen.

technorati tags:kris, strobeck, music, won, by, one

Poem by Ryan Smith

I Dream Of A Place

 

God I dream of a place of never ending love, and joy.

A place where I can always have a child like heart; girl or boy.

 

I dream of a place were I can be with my loved ones and never say goodbye.

A place where nobody tells any hurtful evil lies.

 

I dream of a place were I can play forever and never need to go home.

A place where I never get sick, scared or left alone.

 

I dream of a place it’s not hot or real real cold.

A place where the streets are made of precious shimmering gold.

 

I dream of a place where there is no war or harmful fights.

A place where God, Creator and savior is in my glorious site.

 

I know this is the way it really should be.

One day we will unite God, Jesus and believer; that’s me!

technorati tags:poem, ryan, smith, i, dream, of, a, place

Dog Walking vs. Walking With God

Around Januaray I started a practice of "walking with God" on my day off. Sometimes I would go for a few miles, just walking and talking with God. It was a great time of enrichment for my relationship with Christ.

Then Cooper (our dog) came. And it's been difficult to maintain that "walking and talking" time because it's been flipped backwards. Now it's just "dog walking".

I think I'm starting to understand how to balance. How to walk the dog, while talking with God. It's crazy how a small schedule change or change of pace can upset your universe, but then you learn to adapt to it and function well with it.

technorati tags:walking, the, dog, walking, with, god, balance

New Ministry Year

This Sunday, our church, New Harvest Church is starting our new ministry year. We've officially been at this assignment for 1 year! It's been amazing. When I first arrived here, I took a few months, tried a few things, but mostly watched for how things had been run. The ministry had been through some tough times, students were a little disillusioned because of their attachment to the previous two people in my post within a matter of months. I appreciate everything those men did for the ministry and I pray many blessings over what they are doing now.

We reached a point where it was clear that we needed to change things up, because the old ways weren't working well without the visionary of that model running things. Therefore we've been adopting and morphing a model of ministry which is completely compelling to me. In fact the entire church has been going through this change and process. Some of our staff attended a conference at North Point Community Church in Georgia last November. The conference is called DRIVE. It was amazing, life altering and completely freeing. The points shared and insights given at DRIVE gave us a new perspective. That perspective simply put is, "We are more committed to reaching people than keeping people."

This statement has raised questions and confusion. It has caused all of us to rethink and question our alignment with the church's mission. But I'm happy to say...the outcome is going to be amazing. God is truly working and he's molding us for a specific purpose in our community. Keep coming back for updates on what kinds of things come out of this.

technorati tags:new, harvest, church, north, point, community, drive, conference, reaching, people, outreach, student, ministry, turnpike

Simple

Let's keep it simple. I believe that the God of the universe, creator, and redeemer is all for simplicity. He knows how easily people get confused and complicate things. I believe it is a scheme of the enemy of our soul to cloud our simple belief. He wants to make it seem too difficult or too crazy to believe in. But God introduces to us new clarity. Clarity that can only be found in the simplicity of belief. Jesus made it easy and simple for us, he paid the price for our failures. Because of this, we can enter into relationship with him. And when you are in a relationship with God, you've got a one-way ticket to paradise. And this paradise will not be affected by global warming or nuclear bombs. This paradise is perfect. But the thing that makes paradise paradise isn't it's eternal nature or it's inherent resistance to house evil...it's found in the presence of the Maker. Because the reward is found in the relationship with God, paradise is just a bonus. Are you ready to meet him?

technorati tags:jesus, god, father, salvation, paradise, global, warming, nuclear, bombs, heaven, relationship, simple, simplicity, church

eHarmony Success Story

I recently found out that someone I went to college with and sang in Won By One with was featured in an eHarmony tv add. You've got to check this out. Just click here and scroll down to Kelli and Robert. Congrats guys!

technorati tags:eharmony, kelli, robert, duhaney, won, by, one, college, tv, commercial

Book: Communicating For A Change

I'm reading a book called Commnunicating For A Change (By Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church and Lane Jones) and it's pretty awesome. I just finished the first section, which is a story. A story about a Pastor/Preacher who is very unsatisfied with how his audience reactes to his messages. Simply put, they don't. They pat him on the back every week and say, "Great Job" or "One of your best!" And it eats him up.

Long story short, he makes his way to a man who has wisdom in the arena of communicating. He boils it down to ONE POINT. That's right. It's not a classic "3 Point Sermon," it's simply ONE point.

If you want to full scoop, you'll have to read it for yourself. There are 7 principles in the book and they're great. Check it out.

(Here's what another blogger had to say about the book.)

technorati tags:ministry, church, preaching, teaching, communicating, north, point, andy, stanley, lane, jones, change

Sudoku

For Christmas this past year Kelly Solberg, my sister-in-law, bought me a Sudoku desk calendar. It's very interesting because I had just discovered the puzzle about a year ago while visiting my parents in the Northwest. That simple puzzle has got me thinking. Literally, everyday. It is the thing that gets my brain to function in the morning. Because of that calendar I believe that I am incredibly more productive than I ever thought imaginable before noon. Try it! It's fun!

My Personal DNA Map

I, Micah, am and Animated Creator.

Animated Creator

Try your hand at creating your personal DNA map here.

On to the mushy stuff.

Now that I've filled you all in on our last week and a half of craziness. It's time to take a time out and reflect.

Erica and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Monday (August 13th). It's crazy! I remember taking a class for "serious and engaged couples" on Sunday mornings at the University Church of Christ, which sits on Pepperdine University's Malibu campus. Susan Giboney, a woman of God, offers this class every semester to students. It's a type of pre-marital counseling, not a substitute for, but helpful.

From week to week she would invite different couples in to share their experiences on various topics, money, romance, chores, etc. Without fail, almost all of them would share that their first two years of marriage were the hardest and most difficult.

Sitting on this side of two years I'm asking myself, "WHAT?!" If that's the toughest part...we are in for a lifetime of awesomeness.

These past two years have been great!

On Monday night we went to PF Chang's for dinner and started a new tradition. We sat down and started reviewing where we had been and what we had done since we'd been married. We included such things as living in Thousand Oaks, Whittier, I (Micah) got shingles, we had season passes to Disneyland, Erica graduated with her credential, we moved back to Fresno so that Micah could work at New Harvest Church, we got a dog (Cooper), moved to a rental house in Clovis and more.

It's a great exercise and I recommend it to everyone. Sit down with your spouse (if you have one) and talk it through. Look how far you've come and praise God for his blessings and grace.

technorati tags:clovis, fresno, california, cooper, micah, erica, foster, pepperdine, new, harvest, church

Northwest '07

Erica and I visited my family up in the Northwest (Oregon/Washington) region. While there we went on the Columbia River with my dad's new toy (boat), thought I broke my foot, met our newest nephew (Will) face-to-face, spent two days on the Oregon Coast (Rockaway Beach), saw The Bourne Ultimatum with my brother, went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and I practiced playing guitar on my sister, Cheronn's guitar.

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

technorati tags:family, erica, foster, micah, northwest

John and Tracy Calhoun

Their wedding was beautiful and their marriage will be too. Here's a few pictures to wet your appetite.

John, Tracy, Erica and Micah.

Micah.

John and Micah. - I had no idea that I'd be second in the groomsmen line!

Micah, Erica, Hilary, and Josh.

On to the next wedding

It is now about 6:20am (eastern) and we're sitting in ATL waiting for the next leg of our flight.

We had a great visit with our family up in the NW and we're looking forward to seeing some our friends at the wedding in Kansas City.

Oh, the sun is coming up! I'm going to watch.

Will Foster, We've Finally Met!

Meet Will Foster, our nephew.

We're out...

Now's the time, we're headed out of town...it's been a year since we've had vacation and we're excited to have one!

First we are going to Lindsey & Pete's wedding in Santa Rosa, Ca.

Then we fly out of Sacramento to Portland and we'll hang out with my family (and meet the newest nephew) for a few days.

Then, on Thursday night, we fly from Portland to Atlanta, to Cincinati, to Kansas City. I'm in a wedding there (Tracy and John).

Then, on Sunday morning, we fly from Kansas City to Salt Lake City to Sacramento.

Not much of a "vacation" but it will be a great trip. It's a good thing that I like to travel!

So, hopefully we'll see some of our readers over the next week and a half! We can't wait to see you!