...to everyday life

What Did Jesus Look Like?

I was thinking the other day about what Jesus looked like. The answer came in a flash of insight: If he looked like his mother, he looked middle eastern. If he looked like his dad, he looked Cuban.

Passed by Route 66 on our Road Trip

On Our Road Trip

Lois and I are on a road trip, enjoying seeing friends and relatives. Some highlights so far include:

• Paella at my aunt's. Lobster, crab, etc. on rice. Awesome.
• Seeing my nephew Henry Blake playing ball.
• Seeing my best man (one of two, my cousin Henry was the other) and his family after about 15 years. We were inseparable in high school (see picture).
• Seeing Aaron play at Cornerstone (see picture). Wild place. Fun.
• Lunch at Primanti Bros. in the Strip District in Pittsburgh with the Westurns. The sandwiches were delicious and one of a kind (meat, fries, coleslaw, cheese, tomato). Or was the highlight walking 4.5 miles with them (half of it going up a mountain)! Guess which one.

Really Important Stuff

Thanks to Brad Wiger for alerting me to this really important stuff. See below. If you missed this last weekend's service, it was my singing debut and i sang a portion of Bohemian Rhapsody (all for the purpose of presenting the gospel, of course).

"I need to to know...now."

“Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?” (Francis Chan, Crazy Love)

Recession Benefits

Here are "10 Benefits of a Recession" by Michael Hyatt.

1. It causes you to get more creative.
2. It forces you to make the tough decisions.
3. It thins out the competition.
4. It makes you realize you can’t take anything for granted.
5. It reminds you that real wealth isn’t about the stuff you own.
6. It fosters out-of-the-box thinking.
7. It makes it easier to abandon business-as-usual.
8. It brings you back to the basics.
9. It accelerates change.
10. It causes you to be less wasteful.

Major Study on Megachurches

Interesting study. Here's the executive summary.

Changes in American Megachurches
By Scott Thumma and Warren Bird

Summary:
Megachurches – Protestant congregations that draw 2,000 or more adults and children in a typical weekend (attendance not membership) – show considerable consistency over the past eight years. They continue to:

• Grow in size,
• Lead the way as America’s most multi-ethnic class of church,
• Show a strong bias toward contemporary worship, and
• Remain minimally involved in politics.

However, they are also institutions in transition. They are now:

• Offering more worship services and expanding to multiple-locations,
• Shifting to playing a greater role in community service,
• Decreasing their use of radio and television, and
• Putting greater emphasis on the role of small groups.

These are some of the most salient findings of a national study of America’s roughly 1,200 megachurches with approximately one third returning a usable response to an eight-page, 150-question survey that was fielded between February and August, 2008, with comparison given to similar (but non-longitudinal) national studies in 2000 and 2005. 

More from Marshall Goldsmith

I quoted Marshall Goldsmith's blog from Harvard Business Review at Leadership Community this past weekend. Here's the question and the first part of his answer. But you've got to see what he says in the last part of his answer.

I'm just entering the workforce and it is really stressful. With all the global and economic turmoil, do you have any advice for someone who is just getting started in the workforce?

The advice I have to give to young people from the West who are just entering the workforce is simple. In this new era of uncertainty, we all need to think like entrepreneurs.

...A few final points:

• Forget about taking a year off.
• Don't spend your adult years "finding yourself."
• Unless you are rich, don't buy the flat-screen TV. When you are poor, live life as a poor person; don't try to live like a rich person.
• And, like any great entrepreneur, invest your time and money in your future.

What have you eaten at the fair?

I've gotten to the fair twice this year. I absolutely love the fair. Heard some really good music the second time. But the highlight for me is always the food. Here's what I remember eating (most items shared with others): crepes, deep-fried pickles with cream cheese, fries (dipped in malt vinegar), gyro, chocolate malt with raspberries (thanks, Marcie, for this tip), Blue mountain coffee, egg shell coffee, roasted corn, ostrich on a stick, corn dog, milk.

What did you eat? Try anything new? Is there something I just have to try next year?

Renovating vs. Redocorating

Here are some pics from the bathrooms I mentioned in my message this week. The first one is bowed ceiling. The second and third show the same general area, with the deteriorated floor in view in the third. Tile going up today. Yahoo!