In honor of March Madness with some really cool history thrown in for good measure…

This Day in Sports: Texas Westerns Starting Five Makes a Whole Lot of History – SportsCenter.com.

Just got the new book, Switch from the Heath Brothers. It is really good so far. Interesting article in Fast Company about making sure we catch problems early before they become even bigger problems.  Also a good lesson in making sure we read ALL of the fine print…

Van Halen buried a special clause in the middle of the contract. It was called Article 126. It read, “There will be no brown M&Ms in the backstage area, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation.” So when Roth would arrive at a new venue, he’d walk backstage and glance at the M&M bowl. If he saw a brown M&M, he’d demand a line check of the entire production. “Guaranteed you’re going to arrive at a technical error,” he wrote. “They didn’t read the contract…. Sometimes it would threaten to just destroy the whole show.”

In other words, Roth was no diva. He was an operations expert. He couldn’t spend hours every night checking the amperage of each socket. He needed a way to assess quickly whether the stagehands at each venue were paying attention — whether they had read every word of the contract and taken it seriously. In Roth’s world, a brown M&M was the canary in the coal mine.

Where are your brown M&Ms in your organization?

Business Advice From Van Halen | Fast Company.

For most of you all that know me very well, I have a huge heart and affection for the Passion folks.  When I was a student pastor, I would follow Louie and Tomlin around the country for Student Life Camp each summer.  It was (and still is) a pretty bad “crush.”  Actually, I think I like the movement so much because it really speaks to my heart like not a whole lot of other things.  I think that it is because it is all about making Jesus famous…taking His Fame and Glory to the nations.  I think the other thing is that worship has always been a huge part of my connection with the Savior.  There have been times of worship, both corporate and private, that have been very instrumental in my journey.  Many of those times have been around songs and sermons at Passion conferences. I love that they are still influencing the future generation to preach the Gospel to the Nations.

I first met Chris Tomilin over a very cheap meal for youth pastors in Fort Worth, TX while I was in seminary and he was a student at Texas A&M.  He was working for Dawson McAllister Conferences and we had a very enjoyable conversation over a “conference information lunch” about ministry, college life, and Taylor Guitars!  My, what God has done through him and used him to influence millions of people through his music!  What I loved about him was his “guy next door” demeanor.  He didn’t care to “work the room” like so many others in that room, but was very humble and personal.  It is amazing how God places experiences in our lives to teach us on this journey.  Pretty cool.

Kevin said I needed to check out the new Passion CD…it is amazing…as usual!

The title song is great and really speaks to my heart right now.  What would happen if we all truly had an “awakening” and Christ became the center of all of our lives!  What could happen if we “woke up” to the fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to go to the nations? What would happen if we were awakened to the fact that the Gospel needs take root in our own lives and our neighbors’ lives? Amazing things would be done for the name of Jesus!

Here are the words…

In our hearts Lord, in this nation
Awakening
Holy Spirit, we desire
Awakening

For You and You alone
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done
Let Your will be done in me

In Your presence, in Your power
Awakening
For this moment, for this hour
Awakening

Like the rising sun that shines
From the darkness comes a light
I hear Your voice
And this is my awakening

Like the rising sun that shines
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
From the darkness comes a light
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
Like the rising sun that shines
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
Only You can raise a life
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing

In our hearts Lord, in the nations
Awakening

I

n our hearts Lord, in this nation

Written by Chris Tomlin and Reuben Morgan / © 2010 sixsteps Music / worshiptogether.com Songs / Vamos Publishing (Admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) / Hillsong Publishing (admin. in U.S. & Canada by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music) (ASCAP)

Chris Tomlin – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar • Matt Redman – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar • Kristian Stanfill – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar • Christy Nockels – Vocals • Nathan Nockels – Vocals, Keys • Brett Younker – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar • Jesse Reeves – Bass • Daniel Carson – Electric Guitar • Travis Nunn – Drums • Matt Gilder – Keys

Here is my post from way back in 2007 when I went the first time.  It gives a bit of history of the monks and links to more info.  We are praying for them as they are in a bit of a “holding pattern” right now at that particular abbey.  Many of the monks living there are getting up in years and there have not been many new candidates come on board.  It is a really amazing place and these men are truly dedicated to the Lord in their particular “station” in life.

On the way home yesterday, went to Rockbridge for lunch.  It is an old mill that is now a trout park.  Then we headed into Ava for an ice cream cone for only 10 cents at the Ava Drug Store and soda fountain.  Here are some pics of the Abbey as well as my traveling companions.

The Culps from Granger Community on Vimeo.

Check out this video from Granger Community Church.  Really funny stuff!  Guess we should read our Bible more, huh?

The Super Bowl is not only the biggest stage for American football, but almost as importantly, it is the biggest stage in the advertising and marketing industry.  Groups spend millions and millions of dollars to get people’s attention.  Check out this creative ad, “Casket,” for the Super Bowl made by Mosaic Church in LA.  Erwin McManus is the pastor of this very innovative church that has a ton of members that are a part of the TV and film industry in LA.

“Casket” was inspired by one of our team member’s funeral experience where his deceased grandfather requested to be buried with a beer and cigarettes. “Casket” is a commercial where a guy stages his own funeral just to munch Doritos and watch football undisturbed – in a casket. But of course, things don’t go as planned. (from vote for casket.com)

There is a good AP article explaining the reasoning behind their lighthearted spoof.

“We’re not trying to use Doritos to propagate a message, but I think we want people to know that we have a sense of humor, that it’s OK to laugh,” McManus said. “So much of what comes out of the faith community seems so dour and somber and we want to say, ‘Hey, we’re real people. You can be a person of faith and really enjoy life and laugh.”

Phil Cooke, a Christian producer, filmmaker and author says this about the commercial.

“Nobody’s going to fall on their knees and accept Jesus as a result of this spot. But advertisers on Madison Avenue spend millions on a Super Bowl spot because they know it influences people,” said Cooke, the producer. “It might not get someone converted, but I think it will get someone to say, ‘Maybe there is something I ought to investigate.’”

What do you think?  How do you like the “soft” sell approach to faith?

LA megachurch hopes to win Super Bowl ad contest – Yahoo! News.

Check out another review of the highly touted iPad from Apple.

iPad: The iPhone on steroids? | GDS Publishing.

Wow, the iPad is coming soon and it does a TON of amazing things that your iPhone, Macbook, and my Kindle does…all in a way that only Apple can produce.  Going to have to save up my pennies for one of these!

So is it good for Amazon or not? Here is a good article by David Camoy that might shed some light on this new war that Jobs is waging against Amazon’s eBook empire.

Apple – iPad – The best way to experience the web, email, & photos.

Monday is for Missions…

• Keep praying for Haiti.  FP has had over 60 people interested in going on relief trips to Haiti.  We have raised well over $1000 to go to Haiti.
• FP has a group in Kenya this week.  Pray for them as they minister in His name at the Mattaw Children’s Village
• We just had a group get back from Fort Worth, TX yesterday that were working in the inner city with a church downtown.

Too good of a post to pass up on this Monday afternoon…Enjoy!  This is from Matt Wilkie’s blog this week.  Powerful!!

A few months ago, I got my own Haitian mudpie. It sits on my desk. This gift from our Haiti director,Kevin Rose, has reminded me to pray for the poorest people in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

On Tuesday, like every other “normal” day in Haiti, people in the poorest areas of the country were eating these for lunch. Some ate them for breakfast that morning and dinner the night before as well. They’re made of dried yellow dirt, vegetable oil and salt.

I’m going to type that again…they’re made of dried yellow dirt, vegetable oil and salt. They’re real mudpies. People eat them.

Then an earthquake hit.

I’m still processing things…but I for now, I wanted to mention the mudpies.

around the world with Jesus » Blog Archive » Mudpies for lunch Tuesday, and then….