adventures in shopping.
a very sad thing happened a few weeks ago… my sony receiver gave up finally. the amp had been shorting out and going into protector mode for a month or so, but usually would fire up. it finally got to the point where it would not run at all. it was going into protector mode with nothing plugged in… not good.
I searched out a repair facility for the amp and discovered that i was in for no less than $149 and could go to the flat rate service price of $275. all of this with no guarntee that they could even get it working at all. so the search for a replacement under $150 began. logic here was that was how much the old one would cost to fix.
so thanksgiving weekend seemed like a goof time to look. I jumped online and found a great amp at Circuit City for the right price. hopped in the car later in the day to make the purchase only to find that the site had been updated since I viewed it and that the price had gone up $60… and no they would not honor their yesterday price.
so off I went to try and find that amp at the price I saw online at Amazon.com. I checked at Best Buy… no luck… they did not carry the amp. I checked at Costco… also no dice. I made the fateful error of visitng Fry’s electronics.
they had the amp in stock. cool. they had it for a price $60 over the amazon.com price, but I know they price match… so I asked what the process was for price matching. the kid who worked there informed me that they only match local competitors. i reminded him that if amazon ships me a product and I can order it at home that they are local. he just looked at me when I said that. I asked him why they would not match. he said, “well they have advantages over us since they don’t have stores or employees”. at that moment I laughed. he asked if there was something else I needed, I muttered no and headed out.
so here is the thought that I am left with… until retailers are willing to recognize that amazon IS their competiton, then big box retailers are doomed to fail. seriously… does anybody really enjoy going to Best Buy… or do you just do it because you can get a good price. eventually I think these stores will only exist as the place where you can go and look at a product before you order.
at the end of the day… Fry’s lost out on a decent sale by not offering a discount to be even somewhat competitive with amazon.com.
on politics.
there are technical requirements to run for president. one must be a native u.s. citizen of the age of 35 willing to swear an oath to the constitution. there are pragmatic requirements as well. one must be a leader with a strong ability to understand and manage a great amount of complexity. one must also have flawless judgement of character, as the president is responsible for choosing people to run the various departments in the executive branch.
while policy debates and stances on particular issues are important as a part of this political season, it is just as important I believe to measure the character of the choices that are made with relationship to a vice president and a staff. history has shown that most modern presidencies have been defined more by the people who surround the president than the policies he stands for upon entering office. doubt that? heard of h.r. halderman, john dean, henry kissinger, michael deaver, james a bakker III, janet reno? if you have heard of these people it is because of actions that they took on behalf of the president who selected them.
so why the rant? because I am disappointed in the choices that have been made so far. i am disappointed by both men running, but for very different reasons. i believe that mr. obama picked a very qualified candidate to be his vice president. he is intelligent, hard working & very service oriented. he just was not the candidate who had proven that people desired him to be president. over many previous attempts, mr. biden has been very unsuccessful at getting the support of the american public. mrs. clinton, however, did. she should have been the choice. mr. mccain in my judgement made a choice based purely on political theatre. while I believe that mrs. palin may be a wonderful christian woman, I do not believe that she is ready to stand the test of the presidency.
so where does that leave me? still wondering. still pondering. still processing. still listening.
what could candidates do differently? how about discuss who they would choose to lead in their cabinet. most presidential candidates spend so much time discussing plans and policies that rarely ever get passed. I would rather talk about how they will make choices and how they will lead.
oh… and one more thing. this is just really really really funny.
dealing with failure.
hope that you did not come here to read something particularly pithy or insightful. i honestly have got nothing today. but this made me laugh… so on the subject of failure… enjoy.
leadership summit day two.
great learnings all the way around. great leaders sharing their wisdom is always one of my favorite things. craig groshchel was incredible, chuck colson is greay, catherine rohr was inspiring. thank you to bill hybels and the whole team at willow for caring enough about leaders to invest your time and energy to help build us up. it takes a special organization to be willing to create margin to do what only they can do. in the case of willow that is building leaders. in the case of lifechurch.tv that is applying new technologies to make the world seem a little smaller.
craig ended his talk (and I am also told his book, which I have not read yet) with this fancisican blessing. i think it is one of my favorite take aways from the summit this year…
“May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and the exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, and starvation, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.”
in the middle.
mariners is a big church with an equally big staff. there is a lot going on here.
today I was in the middle.
as I look hard at the near future and try to plan, God shows up and rocks the boat. HE reminds me that he is holding everything that is going on. in the midst of all of my frustration today i realized I was trying to control… set an agenda and move where I was comfortable.
so tomorrow is a new day. i am going to embrace the middleness and work to find ways to leverage the middle. why? because here in the middle we are engaging thousands of people to serve hurting people here in orange county and around the world. people are going to bed tonight fed and clothed and secure in their relationship with God because we are intently listening to God and following his lead. when I think about it like that, the middle seems like a pretty good place to be.
to all my comm peeps
enjoy.
Technolust.
I want an iPhone.
I always said that when it could talk to Exchange I would get one. Well guess what friends. It talks to Exchange now. So what is the problem? AT & T coverage SUCKS at my house. So I could have the world’s coolest phone and not be able to make calls when I am at home. Perfect. How about another cell tower in the Huntington Harbor area AT & T??? You could make a little boy very happy.
Wondering what features the new iPhone has? Check this video out.
Look Left & Right
Every day as I walk from our offices to the cafe I get a great view of all the progress that is being made on our Chapel & Student Center here at Mariners. Construction is rolling along and we are starting to all get very excited about the things that will begin when these facilities are ready to occupy. The plan for the Student Center calls for a two level basketball court, amazing theaters for services, hang out areas, a recording studio and a skate park. I dare any kid to think that Mariners does not care about them! Our Chapel is going to be a quiet oasis on a busy campus. It will be surrounded by a lake and full of light. It is going to be an amazing space.
As I look at the progress I am reminded of how large our task in ministry is. The construction of a building has a beginning and an end, but we are in the business of building people to be more like Christ, and that is a goal that we are always striving to attain. When I pause to look at the construction I say a prayer for the workers, and thank God for Kenton and the leadership that is willing to stretch this congregation to do something that will really make a difference in the lives of people.
Web 2.1
I’m not sure if that really exists or not… but I feel like I have so many things web related in my brain right now that I need to let some of them out. So here are some random thoughts about the Fellowship One Dynamic Church Conference ‘08 (DC08).
- The team at Fellowship One is amazing… Jeff Hook was off the hook (sorry… couldn’t resist.) Seriously, his passion for the church and for effective ministry leaks out and it makes me want to go home and quadruple our use of the tools he has offered us. Nick, Tim & the rest of the Dev Team are equally passionate, but about things like UI & REST. I think I know a few things about tech until I am around guys like this for a while, then I realize how crucial these guys and their passion are! Curtis Harris talks about Fellowship One like a kid in a candy store. He is passionate about helping us understand all of the new things out there. And could I leave out Steve?? He is a rock star sales guy who cares more about the people whose lives will be changed, than by making a sale.
- I wish I could bottle a conference like this and go home and share it with people. It makes me sad to know that while I am here getting pumped up for all this tool can do… there are meetings taking place at home talking about all the things it cannot do. I am resolved to try and help people see the potential, not the limitations.
- We have a lot of new things to implement in the near future… our website and our data need to reflect who we are as a church. What once seemed like conversations for another day are suddenly becoming much more urgent. If clarity + simplicity = max. impact, then our website needs help. Lots of help.
- There has been lots of discussion in the past few days about social networking and how the church cannot stand idly by and pretend that it does not exist. We need to embrace it to leverage it. If we ignore it we will get left behind. The more we get left behind the further we have to go to catch up.
- The church is in the content creation business, but we allow it to be created and consumed once. We need to figure out how to leverage what we create for more than one use… open source, on demand and mashable all come to mind. What if people did not have to wait for the weekend to hear some teaching or get prayer.
- Huge kick in the butt… “Your website needs to reflect who your church really is… not just where your church is and what time you meet.” Thanks Terry… that one is going to keep me awake tonight.
- One more thing… i miss my girls. That is not really related to anything web 2.1ish… but i do. and this is my blog so I can say whatever I like.
Ten on Tuesday (Monday Edition)
- I decided to post this today because I won’t likely have the time or energy tomorrow. This weekend is Global Outreach weekend and so things are pretty busy around the ol’ office. The bar for the weekend is pretty high… to help people understand that the best way to live is through serving others. We also raise a lot of money to fund our work, and sign a lot of people up for trips… but the homerun for our team is when people walk out of the service knowing that they need to love people (at home and around the world) just as much as Jesus does.
- There are lots of things that go into a weekend like this. In some ways it is like a Capital Campaign which usually lasts for weeks or months, being compressed into one weekend. We set goals, strategize ways people can be involved, recruit volunteers, raise money and awareness, create print and web collateral and have follow up events. All of this activity is coordinated to have maximum impact. Pretty big feat really!
- Michael Jo is am amazing graphic designer. When Matt Curtis left Mariners last year it was bittersweet. The team felt his loss greatly, and I felt it even more! Our search was pretty extensive and we went through a lot of good candidates to find the great candidate. Michael has been around for a pretty short amount of time, but he fits in great… has a great eye for design, and is absorbing the culture quickly. Best of all, because of Michael, I am not a crazy person this week trying to manage all of the pieces for GO Weekend and use outsource designers for the work. It is great to be able to have some back and forth creativity in the office.
- I am trying to read too many good books all at once. I need to update my reading list on the right column to reflect the current reads… needless to say I am looking forward to next week when I might have the brain power to finish a few books.
- NAB is this week, and during a different season of my life that would have meant a week in Vegas with good friends, having a great time… and lots of great conversations. I hope everyone hanging out with the Gurus Gathering is doing the same this year.
- I almost forgot… another big goal for GO Weekend is sponsoring 300 children in the Ugandan village of Soroti. When our last team was there, they committed our church to taking all of the children in this orphanage on. The box of pictures arrived from Uganda last week, and I am pretty sure that half of the kids have already been grabbed by the staff! Everyone looks through the box and can’t resist their adorable faces. The best part… the kids are all part of the church we parter with in Soroti and so anyone who travels to Uganda has the opportunity to meet and interact with their kid. Powerful stuff.
- Can you tell I am excited about this weekend? I am. One of the best things about my job and my team is that we get the opportunity to do things that are tangible kingdom building things… sponsor kids, build churches, gather and distribute clothes, feed people, show compassion & love, teach people to read. We also get to develop people in our church to be more loving and more like Jesus… we give them the tools to be fully devoted followers of Christ, through serving those who are poor and in need. We are on the front lines of growth and discovery! While many churches measure growth in the number of people that attend or how much money they have in their budget, we measure health of our church by the number of people who are involved in meaningful and sacrificial service. It is amazing to me that God has given me the honor to serve Him in this capacity.
- If you have not heard the latest CD by Tim Timmons, then you suck. Let me just say that the song Uprising is AMAZING! I chatted with Tim the other day at staff meeting and thanked him for writing the song. There are days when I wish I could play the piano and write songs… not many, but a few. When I listen to someone like Tim sing and play, I wish I could. His gift is so amazing. His songs are so passionate and real. He lives and breathes worship. The guy you see on stage leading is the same guy you chat with in the hallways… he is very cool. BUY HIS CD!!!
- Random quote of the past week. Sally says in the car on the way to church, “I would like a muffin.” “Ummm okay… a muffin?” I said. She said, “Yeah, a muffin.” Where does she come up with this… I could not even tell you the last time she had a muffin. When we got there, we took her to the Global Cafe and got her a muffin. She enjoyed it all. Yes, Uncle Kurt, she eats the WHOLE muffin.
- Please say a prayer for Global Outreach Weekend. Pray that lives will be changed, hearts will be opened and lot of people will take the step out on faith to get involved and serve others.
