I have a recurring dream that my alarm does not go off and I am late for work. this is a big fear of mine so I am loosing a lot of sleep.

If they made a movie about this year’s super bowl Ben Roethlistberger should be played by Seth Rogen. Anyone else see the resemblance?

I hate commercials that show every word the over voice says. don’t insult my intelligence. that’s like churches that tell me to sit & stand.

You are no longer special if you know someone who was on american idol.

A good point is a good point no matter who makes it.

The wise man talks because he has something to say. the fool talks because he has to say something.

Cars should have two horns. a nice horn and a mean horn.

Just ate at the new Panda Express 3 out of the last four meals. may be time to add a new line item to the Marcelli family budget.

There are only two things you need to succeed in this life: ignorance and confidence.

I love down town settings. does not matter what city.

If we were honest all the time we would not need the words “really” and “literally”

When you are looking to be upset it’s amazing how many reasons you can find.

Its no longer cool to be a radio dj and call your self ‘kid…..’

I may have reached the point in life where I would rather have more time than more money.

There is no music artist I have more respect for than Matthew West

Sad that some will consider it a success just if their party “wins” rather than our nation moving forward.

Auto flush toilets are not environment friendly. they flush and waste water every time you move.

Last year Beyonce made 218 times what the US President made. Isn’t there something wrong here?!?!

There is something deep down inside of me that just wants to always be silly.

I’m starting to think Katy Perry is not as christian as she used to be.

making homemade vegetarian quesadillas with the wife tonight. Great meal! Working together, ‘build your own’ style, and cost about $2 each

There is nothing wrong with distancing ourselves with others who are still part of our “group”

I like quality music videos that turn songs into stories

when we got home from church we found a water leak in our front yard. or should I say in our own little gulf

As many people & opinions as there are somebody’s always gonna be right. so don’t be too proud about being right, you may be right on accident

Just watched a horrible movie, “City Island” but cried because I love seeing people getting their lives worked out

I like movies where the main character goes through deep pain. makes the victory that much sweeter. that’s a story I want for my life.

My college friend, Dr. Stephen Scheer, taught me a principle I will never forget: “I don’t have time for that crap.”

Something I wish I heard more people say: “I don’t know both sides of that issue so I can’t give my opinion yet.”

So I guess America is a land of freedom as long as you are not gay or muslim. used to be women and black. same persecution different victims

The less you give your opinion the fewer people you will turn off from listening to what you have to say.

Goes to show what money can do – Katy Perry was NOT attractive when she began singing

Today twitter, blogs, espn, radio talk shows, and every other source of media is blowing up with hate and anger in reaction to LeBron’s choice.  The Cleveland Cavs owner has basically called LeBron an egotistical jerk (not exactly a smart move in recruiting future players) and some people in Cleveland have been seen burning jerseys of the player who was their hero just weeks before.

The emotional side of me of course wants to be upset that the best player in the game walked away from my childhood team.  However, stepping back from the situation, I have to admit that what LeBron did was a very humble and smart move.  He is taking less money to play on a team with his best friends and gives him a great shot at winning a championship.  I mean, aren’t professional athletes constantly criticized of following the money and having inflated egos to where they over estimate their own abilities?  In this case, LeBron has done exactly the opposite.  Again, he is giving up money to play where he wants to play, with whom he wants to play, and on a team that will probably win it all several times in the years to come.  Unless you are a fan of one of the other teams that wanted James, how in the world can you be upset about his decision.  Yet still, he is facing a lot of heat (no pun intended) for his choice to put winning above the dollar.

This just goes to show you will NEVER be able to please everyone.  There is no move Lebron could have made that would have made everyone, or even most everyone, happy.  The same goes for you and me.  When we try to live our lives according to common opinion, we will only set ourselves up to have more critics as well as becoming more aware that we now have more critics.

In a conversation with my wife just yesterday she made the comment, “It’s not ok for me to want that” in reference with a desire she has for her future.  Her statement came as a result of pressures she feels from others.  For most of us, if we continue our lives as current we will have to hear “concerns” from others as to why we are not doing “this” or “that.”  If we step out and make some changes, whether by our choice or pressure from others, there will be those who will question us as to who do we think that we are that we would go and do that.

There will always be opposition, many times from those we least expect and possibly even those we are closest to.  Case in point, we cannot live our lives trying to appease others.  It’s a formula for exhausting ourselves and becoming walked all over.

Be who you are.  Want what you want.  Do what you feel like doing (as long as it’s legal) and don’t apologize for it!

That being said……I see principles for learning in everything.  So I thought how I would go about appealing to “King James” if I were a NBA team owner.  In wiring it out I realized some of the same principles apply in attracting friends, customers, or church visitors.

1. Get rid of hindrances

The Cleveland Cavs have already gone about doing this by firing their coach and general manager, both of whom Lebron is rumored to have disapproved of.  The Cavs are also not resigning any other players that Lebron did not get along with.  If your church or business has some potential “hang-ups” for guests such as location, rules, confusing or mixed messages, you may want to reevaluate these and see if having them is worth losing people over.

2. Consult him on major decisions

Following up on the last point, do you really think the Cleveland Cavs fired their coach and GM without the ok of LBJ?  I don’t!  Who are you trying to appeal to?  Well have you ever thought to ask their opinion on what you do and how?

One of our plans for outreach before we church plant is to approach the people in the community we intend to plant in and ask them to fill out and return a survey about their view of church and what kind of a church they would be willing to attend.

3. Make things comfortable and familiar

In the Lebron James case, the Cavs already have the advantage in this because they are the team closest his home town.  I still believe though that they should bring in his old High School coach as a team assistant.  Lebron loves his old coach and knowing he could be close to him on the professional team would certainly be appealing.

Likewise, what could you do to bring this element to your place of business or worship?  Don’t be so caught up in the idea of having everything as “new” that you alienate people by making them confused and uncomfortable as soon as they walk in your door.

4. Put our best effort forward

If we are trying to sign the best basketball player in the country, we’re not just going to hope, wish, or even pray that he signs with us.  We are going to put forth a solid effort and make him feel valued.  We would bring in the best coach we could get.  We would sign players that would compliment Lebron’s game and let him know we are serious about winning.

If people think you are after them for money or inflated numbers, they will walk.  Are you putting your time and resources into a good presentation and a solid product or are you assuming people will come and already dreaming about the next step?

5. Appeal to his dream

If you know Lebron James (as I obviously do!) you know that his dream is to become an international icon.  Ok, so that’s public knowledge.  But what would you do with that knowledge.  Again, if I were a team owner, I would be spending money out of my pocket to rent advertising space in every major country on the planet and posting a huge image of number 23.  If I care about Lebron, then I care about his dream.  And I would take initiative in helping make his dream happen.  People will always be loyal to those who are helping them accomplish their dream.

What is it people in your family or your community want?  How are you going to help them take steps toward fulfilling that?

So….that’s my foolproof plan for signing Lebron James and reaching your community.  You’re welcome NBA general managers!

The game itself was exciting.  There was a lot of action.  The pace of hockey games is really fast with a lot of quick substitutions.  The crowd was really into the game.  And of course, there were several fights.  As a matter of fact though, I was surprised at just how into the game the entire crowd seemed to be.  In my mind, hockey is not a major American sport, but an impressive amount of people were in the arena, all glued to the ice, cheering and reacting to almost every move.  I did get into the game and even jumped to my feet when the home team scored, but at times I still felt lost.  A lot of whistles were blown for rules I did not understand.  Players were penalized for slashing and dashing and flashing and all kinds of things I didn’t know about.

We tried to pick up on the rules from the discussion of some grade school kids behind us but I still could not help but feel like an outsider who had energetically intruded into the hockey nerd’s bubble.

Because I think about church all the time, I could not help but draw the comparison.  I have to wonder how many people every week have feelings about church like I did at the hockey game.  How many ‘outsiders’ give church another (or a first) try and end up feeling like they don’t get it or confused because they don’t understand or know the rules.  I grew up in church but was still exposed to how a non-church person may view our services every time I brought a visitor.  When we have a new person we care about accompany us to work, school or church for the first time, we over-analyze everything, trying to view it in their eyes.  I did this, and it was not until I did that I realized how so many of the things that occur in most church services only appeal to or can be understood by “church people.”

When reading the Bible, I cannot help but see that the church is designed to reach people with the gospel message.  Therefore, everything that we do should be to appeal to them.  If church is boring, out of touch, or fake, those who visit will immediately be turned off and non-receptive when the message of Christ is presented.

All I know is going to that hockey game was fun.  I enjoyed it.  There was a lot of cheering and yelling and I was impressed with the player’s skills, but I still could not play the game by the rules, much less explain it to anyone else.  Could the same be said about our churches?

An interesting fact though, is that at the moment of the trade, the cavs already had the best record in the NBA this year.  Pretty much all the sports experts on ESPN were already choosing them to make it to the finals….before the trade.  So why did they make this move?

They did it because they still felt the could (and needed to) get better.  They needed a big man who could shoot.  They are always on the lookout for team players.  If you a the general manager of a sports team, you are ALWAYS looking to make your team better.  So even though they had the best record, and even though some already saw them as the favorites to win it all, they chose to validate those who believe in them rather than just coast on expectations and past performance.

Sadly, I don’t see this aggressive and strategic movements in all industries.  Many companies I have seen have very low expectations or a mission statement that employees have no pressure to live up to.  I have personally experienced having coworkers tell me, “if it aint broken, don’t fix it.”  In my opinion, that statement is nothing but an excuse for mediocrity.  What is “broke”?  The company loosing money?  A practice that causes injuries on the job?  A ridiculously high amount of customer complaints?  Is it not possible that most companies and their systems could prevent becoming “broke” by always looking to adjust and make improvements along the way?

In our businesses, our churches, and our personal lives, we should always be looking for opportunities to become better rather than waiting for “broke” to admit we need some fixing.  Good job Cleveland Cavaliers for seizing the chance to become great, even though you were already good!

Knowing how much joy basketball gives me and that going to games is a great way to unwind, I bought a mini game plan at the beginning of the season.  I have tickets to fourteen of the biggest games of the hawks season.  One of those games was last Friday.  The Hawks were playing the Dallas Mavericks at 8pm (according to my tickets).  On Friday I got off work, picked up some dinner, met Katy, and we made the hundred mile drive to the ATL.  As we approached downtown I mentioned the noticeably low traffic for a Friday night.  We were able to park without any delay.  Even more skeptical was the lack of ticket scalpers we passed on our way to the arena.  I pulled out the tickets to recheck tip off time.  We walked into Philips Arena at 7:55pm to an unusual amount of noise and an equally unusual amount of traffic.  As we rode up the escalator I caught a glimpse of a jumbo-tron only to realize the buzzer had just sounded for halftime.  The game had been moved up to 7:00pm and nobody told me!

After finding a team attendant to file my complaint to, I huffed off to find my seat and plop down in disgust.    I felt cheated.  I felt robbed.  Everyone else around me was getting the full game experience and I was getting half a show.  I found it hard to get into things or fake excitement even when the second half started.  It was only when the game ended up going into overtime that I somehow felt better about driving all that way and missing the first 24 minutes of play.

As I sat, watching the game with little emotion, my mind drifted to all the times I have sat in church, checking my watch, feeling the service had gone too long.  Every week I see people stumble into church late, showing up as though it’s more of a good deed than an act of worship.  So many times even I have publicly noted that preachers should have more respect for other’s time and make sure that the service ends promptly one hour after it begins.  At the basketball game I felt cheated when I missed out yet sometimes in church I felt confined for having to stay till the end.

Realizing this showed me some things – that I’m glad I no longer go to boring churches.  If you are one who have said such things about church or have the attitude of duty when attending, perhaps you should find a place of worship you can get excited about.  You go to church because you want to.  Because you realize it is a great place to worship, serve, or build community.  No one moaned when the basketball game went into overtime because such was going to ruin their lunch plans.  Yet that is the attitude when church runs five minutes over at many places of worship on Sunday mornings.

I have actually told others lately that when something comes up and I have to miss a week of church, I feel as though I have really missed out.  I’m disappointed.  I get the pod cast so I’m not left out.  How do you view going to church?  What would your reaction be if next Sunday you showed up and realized they were already taking up the offering (which I think is the church equivalent to an NBA halftime).