- Haven’t been motivated to write this past week so this is easy to do a Whatever Wednesday post since I can just bullet point stuff.
- I’m still wrestling through the emotional stuff from the shooting.
- I don’t think about it immediately when I wake up now but I have started dreaming about it…although that has morphed into some weird things.
- The other night it was of Lisa getting shot. That’s even worse than me so I don’t like those thoughts at all.
- I have an appointment with a counselor tomorrow so hopefully he will be able to help keep me on the right track.
- Ok enough of that…what else is going on?
- Was disappointed with the Super Bowl…not necessarily the outcome but just the game itself…really thought it would be a close, exciting game.
- The commercials were a bit lame as well this year.
- I’m taking my own advice from this past Sunday’s message and I’ve done a good job this week not complaining about the snow, ice, cold, shoveling, etc.
- It’s been nice this past week with all the bad weather having Lisa home more.
- After not using it hardly at all our first few winters here in Harrisburg, we are firing up the gas fireplace quite a bit this winter.
- Not so much for the heat but just because it’s relaxing.
- It was a bad night for my sports teams last night…both the Caps and Terps suffered disappointing losses.
- Oh well, at least the Wizards are above .500 for the first time in 4 years!
- I’m excited about our new series that starts this week at Exponential. It’s called “Crazy Love” and is based off the book of the same name by Francis Chan.
- The entire premise I’m going off of for this series is, “You won’t do what God wants you to do until you fully appreciate who He is!”
- Now you can do stuff for God but if you’re doing it because you HAVE to instead of you WANT to, all of the sudden your faith will seem like a burden and will be no fun.
- This is why many Christians struggle with their faith and have no joy.
- This is also why a lot of people reject Christianity…they think it’s just a bunch of rules and rituals…but who wants that? No one…so they end up missing out on the most life-changing and awe inspiring relationship a person could ever want.
- So for 6 weeks I want to help people fall in love with who God IS not what He can do for you or wants from you.
- OK guess that’s all for now…I have a busy day tomorrow but if I have time I think my Theological Thursday post will be my thoughts from last night’s Evolution vs. Creationism debate.
Momentum
As I was driving to the office this morning, I was still lamenting last night’s Washington Capitals playoff game in which they lost 4-1. For those of you who are not sports or hockey fans, my Caps dominated the regular season. They are the #1 seed in the playoffs and were expected to dominate the Montreal Canadians. The Caps won 3 of the first 4 games as expected and where only 1 win away from advancing to the next round….they had all the momentum. However, that’s when things began to change…
Montreal goal-tender, Jaroslav Halak began playing out of his mind. He had been so bad earlier in the series that he actually got replaced by the back-up goalie, but in Game 5, he held the high scoring Caps team to just one goal. Then last night, in the first few minutes he made 3 spectacular saves that gave he and his team the confidence they needed to sustain the momentum they had started in the previous game. By the time the game was over, Halak has stopped an incredible 53 of 54 shots taken at him. To put that in context…if a team gets off 35 shots in a game it’s considered a lot…or another way to think about it is…a Hall of Fame goalie over his career will stop 50 out of every 54 shots taken at him.
Ok, so here are some random thoughts of what to make of the above….
- People, businesses, teams, churches and organizations need to get and then sustain momentum.
- Sometimes momentum comes from just 1 person. By the fact the Caps got off 54 shots tells us that the rest of the Canadians were not playing well. Halak though was a difference maker.
- There will always be a key moment or decision that will determine whether you will gain or lose momentum. Halak’s first few saves gave him confidence that he sustained throughout the rest of the game. Had he even let in one of those shots the rest of the game would have likely been very different.
- When you have momentum don’t do anything drastic that might change it. The Canadians kept the same strategy and line-up throughout.
- In your life, family, organization, etc, what can you do to help build momentum?
- Have you realized that YOU, even though you are just one person, can be a difference maker that will inspire those around you?
- One final thought, the reality is this post was just a way for me to vent my frustrations with the Caps, so I came up with a lame blog post, trying to turn what Satan meant for evil into good. 🙂
So let’s hear from you…what lessons have you learned about momentum? And oh yeah…Let’s Go Caps in game 7 tomorrow night!
Random Thoughts
Been awhile since I a random thoughts post. Here we go…
- Excited about the 60+ resumes that have come in to take over for me at United.
- Couple of potentially good candidates in that stack. Pray for the search team to find the right person.
- Balancing my full-time responsibilities I still have at CFCOG along with starting a new church is interesting.
- I have a follow-up meeting this Friday with a man that owns one of the buildings we’re looking at. Please pray about that.
- We have two really good but vastly different options when it comes to where we’re going to meet.
- Speaking of buildings, if you know anyone who’s looking to buy a house, steer them our way. Here’s the listing for our house.
- Excited about the new series we’re starting this weekend called, Littlefaither: The Worry Wart Series.
- Don’t forget we ARE NOT changing our clocks this weekend until after the Sunday morning Experiences.
- Love that we do this…why lose an hour’s sleep when you don’t have to!
- It’s amazing the speed I can rip through a whole box of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies.
- What’s even more amazing is how quickly I can go through two boxes! 🙂
- Really enjoying the warmer weather!
- I know NASCAR said they we’re going to let the boys be boys this year but the whole Carl Edwards thing was a bit ridiculous.
- When someone dies in the future they are going to have a lawsuit on their hands for being accomplices in a homicide.
- The lawyer will argue that because they didn’t do anything about it now, others felt it was ok and the result was death.
- Speaking of sports, my Caps are kicking some serious butt. Hope they don’t use up all there good game play in the regular season then falter in the play-offs.
- Ok, one last sports thing…sorry ladies once my mind goes there it’s hard to stop…This week and the next two are arguably the best all year round. Can’t wait for March Madness to start…especially since my Terps are playing so well!
- Now back to our regularly scheduled blog, already in progress…
- The Toyota with the stuck gas pedal thing had to have been quite frightening…did you see the guys face after he got out and was being interviewed.
- I think he was in a need of a change of underwear!
- Can’t believe there are only 9 more episodes of LOST.
- Please writers don’t let us down…we’ve stuck with you this long…give us a good conclusion or I’ll send the smoke monster to your house.
- Glad Idol isn’t 5 hours a week anymore. Even with the ability to speed things up on the DVR, that is still crazy.
- I really liked Andrew, but he’s been a disappointment recently. Now I’m thinking a girl might win it…Crystal?
- Guess that’s enough for now…have a great day!
Hockey Theology
As I promised the other day in this blog, I got a lot more out of Monday’s night’s hockey game than just a good time. Here’s a couple of thoughts God dropped in my head while there…
- Everyone rooting for the Caps was easy to distinguish because we were all wearing red. It should be the same way with followers of Christ…it should be easy to distinguish who’s for us and who’s against us…not because of the clothes we wear but by the fruit of our conduct.
- You’ve heard this from me before, but why is it that the loudest and rowdiest crowds are at sporting events. Don’t we realize that Jesus won a much more important victory for us than any athletic team ever will? Church should be full of rowdy, loud, passionate people on Sunday mornings…shouting, clapping and jumping up and down because unlike sports, we know we’re on the winning side.
- Every time the Caps scored, not only did Andy and I high five each other, but we also high fived complete strangers sitting around us. Again we we’re able to distinguish those who were for us by the red they were wearing. It’s the same with churches…if another church around us is leading people to Christ and helping them to grow in their faith, we should celebrate with them…not tear them down which is so common nowadays.
- One of our core values at United is that…”Excellence honors God and inspires people”. Seeing Ovechkin and Crosby at their absolute best was quite awe-inspiring. We need to make sure that in the same way they play all out to the best of their abilities, we do our very best to honor God with the gifts He’s given us.
- The hockey game was quite an Experience but the excitement carried on beyond the end of the game and even went outside of the arena. Even blocks away as we were walking to the metro, people were still excited…and that excitement got picked up by people who weren’t even there. It should be the same for us…our faith and excitment can’t just be on Sunday mornings…it’s got to carry outside of the doors and make an impact on people whom haven’t even attended yet.
Caps vs. Pens Game 2 Thoughts
