Greetings Friends & Bloggers. It’s time for the Wednesday night edition of ‘Bedtime Stories’.
This is the final blog entry for tonight - and for this month of April 2008. This was the biggest month in our history as far as unique views were concerned. In fact we totally shattered the previous record for the biggest month - March 2008 - by more than 20% ! That’s EXPLOSIVE growth month-to-month for this blog, and it’s all because of you - the loyal and faithful viewer that checks out what’s going on here every day and comments when appropriate. Thank you all for your support !
Besides tomorrow being the first day of May (’May Day’) it’s also a Thursday, so it’s time for another eye-popping edition of the fastest-growing weekly series here on this blog - the ‘Thursday Night Internet Hoax Hall-Of-Shame’. I’ll be posting a couple of SHOCKING pictures that you’re just not going to believe. But millions of people all around the world did believe. Is it deja vu ? Have you seen these pictures before ? I’m pretty sure that some of you have, but it’s where you’ve seen them before that will leave you totally stunned. Be sure to catch it tomorrow afternoon shortly after 4 PM.
May you have a safe, peaceful, and blessed Wednesday night with your loved ones - even if your all alone, and your loved one is God. You may be alone, but with Him in your Life you are never ever lonely. He is everywhere that you need Him to be. Love Him and Worship Him above everyone and everything else.
Until we hang out again here on the blog remember this:
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 5:28 PM
· Filed under People, Sports
This is not me, but he’s the same age as me. His last name is actually spelled ‘D-E-Y’ rather than ‘D-A-Y’. No matter how you spell it you still pronounce it the same way.
1. Some of the best television programming on-the-air is in the form of 30 and 60 second commercials. You know that it’s a great commercial when you pretty much stop what you’re doing whenever it comes on the tube - no matter how many times you’ve already seen it. I’m thinking about the AT&T GoPhone commercial right now that stars Meat Loaf and Tiffany. (NO - The’re not really married in real-life. That’s not really their son either.)
2. The sight of a large gathering of people applauding President George W. Bush after a speech is a beautiful sight. The concept of everyone respecting The President Of The United States Of America (whoever it is), and treating him or her like you would want to be treated by any other human being is just plain humane. Unfortunately it’s a concept that millions of Americans just don’t understand.
3. I think that I totally adore eating Kellogg’s Pop Tarts today just as much as I did as a kid back in the 1970s into the 1980s. I think that if you ask me about them again in another 30 years then the answer will probably be the same.
4. On the other hand back in the 1970s I did not appreciate Chinese food. In fact I didn’t really enjoy eating it on a regular basis until the mid-1990s. Homestead has no shortage of family-owned Chinese restaurants. Everywhere you look - ‘There’s one !’
5. Homestead also specializes in family-owned Mexican restaurants, and that’s a delicacy that’s even newer to my personal tastes than Chinese food. One day soon I’m going to have Lunch with this cat at a fine Mexican restaurant near my workplace.
6. If there are just 3 motorists driving along a somewhat secluded portion of highway in Homestead then those 3 motorists would just have to be myself, the slow-poke directly in front of me that’s driving 33 MPH in a 40 MPH zone, and the tail-gater directly behind me that is so close that I can no longer see his or her vehicle anymore via my rear-view mirror. Throw in an extra-special 4TH vehicle that’s rapidly approaching all 3 of us with its high-beams on, and you’ve got a typical Tuesday morning on North Canal Drive in Homestead !
7. Incidentally Miami-Dade County’s SW 328TH Street is known as ‘North Canal Drive’ for 7½-miles from Homestead Bayfront Park westward to the city limits of Florida City at SW 172ND Avenue. At that exact point SW 328TH Street is renamed ‘Lucy Street’, and it is the dividing line between Homestead (on the north) and Florida City (on the south). It has been that way since the 1940s. If you’re coming out of the Villages Of Homestead then you are making a turn onto ‘North Canal Drive’ - not ‘Lucy Street’.
8. I had planned to go to Publix this afternoon after work to buy some much-needed groceries, but then I decided against it on the way home because I have way too many things to do - such as compiling and publishing these ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. It’s all about the sacrifices that I make for you - my loyal and faithful friend of this blog.
9. I was referred to as ‘Pastor Chris’ a couple of times last week at the Exponential Conference in Orlando. I think it was because in some of the breakout sessions that I attended it was mostly all Pastors (and me). Unlike the Catholic Church Pastors tend to look and dress rather normal - just like you and me.
10. My fingernails grow so fast. It seems like I just clipped them a few days ago, and now they need clipping again. That’s another 5 minutes out of my busy schedule !
It’s a quickie ‘Bedtime Stories’ on a Monday night because it’s getting very close to 11 PM EDT (bedtime for me).
Be sure to catch the fun tomorrow afternoon after 4 PM here on the blog as I present to you everybody’s favourite weekly series - the ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’. You just never know what could possibly be on my mind on a Tuesday night !
Until then - be safe - be at peace - and remember this:
Monday, April 28, 2008 at 8:39 PM
· Filed under Blogging
This blog is getting ready to enter its 6TH month here on WordPress and 12TH month overall (including the MySpace time). Last night for the first time (since we’ve been here on WordPress) I initiated an ‘Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition’ on this blog that received its fair share of compliments as well as complaints. After a long day at work today I came home and went to this blog, and after a short little while I started to get a headache looking at all of the intense green. I was also starting to crave limes, and I don’t even care too much for them ! P.J.’s eyes were hurting. Paul referred to it as ‘radioactive green’. My brother thought that I had suddenly become an over-the-top Earth Day / Arbor Day fanatic. It had to go, so I changed it up again earlier tonight, and now I’ve got a blog that looks much crisper and more pleasing to the eyes. I hope that you all like the fresh new look of this blog !
NOT TRUE ! I like watching the National Football League on TV from the beginning of August through the beginning of February. That’s about as close as I get to competitive sports. I’m not an athlete. I’m a lover not a fighter !
This is the extended 1½-minute version of the traditional 30-second commercial that frequently airs on television. It stars rock and roll legend Meat Loaf as ‘Dad’, late-1980s pop diva Tiffany as ‘Mom’, and 16-year-old (at the time) actor-musician Adam Cagley as ‘Son’.
Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 3:28 PM
· Filed under Food, God, People
1. I was the first person to arrive at the movie theatre this morning. I beat both Pastor Paul and Anne J. by a long-shot. The ‘rock’ in ‘CHURCH ROCKS !‘ was already connected and playing its 3RD song in the main lobby once the other two early-birds finally arrived.
2. Two Names - Lesia & Evelin - They are the names behind two VIPs at Life Pointe Church. They are the ones that are working diligently behind the scenes (behind the curtains) to prepare the Starbucks Coffee that is served at our Café every Sunday morning. Without them we would have a lot of sleepwalkers roaming the hallway.
3. It was the final week of the ‘Simply Jesus’ message series this week. It’s hard to believe that we kicked-off this message series on our record-breaking Easter Sunday morning over a month ago. Pastor Travis hit a home run and brought it all home this morning as he explained ‘What Makes Jesus Superiour To Other Saviours’. God commanded that the baby born to Mary be named ‘Jesus’ which means ‘God saves His people from their sins.’ Jesus is a global Saviour who is sufficient for all people, all races, and all nations. Christianity is exclusive in that there is only one God. It is inclusive in that Jesus is the Saviour who invites all people everywhere to be saved by Him. If Scripture is true then we must be absolutely clear on this most important spiritual issue - that there is only one way to God.
4. I don’t usually report on Teardown because I don’t usually stick around for it, but on this Sunday morning I did just that. It all went so smoothly, and one of our loyal and faithful members Dan B. created this really nice wooden storage unit that has totally organized and simplified the Teardown (as well as the Setup) process. With a large bulk of our portable church materiel centrally located within one convenient unit it makes everything so much simpler than ever before. The only downside to this high-quality wooden storage unit is that when everything is in there it weighs several hundred pounds, and a 165-pound weakling (such as myself or Jesse) can’t push or pull this thing by ourselves.
5. Following Teardown about 20 of us eventually gathered over at my longtime favourite Chinese Restaurant in Homestead - Peking House. Being a regular of the joint it was so cool to hang out with a whole bunch of my friends at a place where all of the employees know me by name and preferences. The next time I go there on my own for Lunch I’ll be given the royal V.I.P. treatment !
… And that’s how I rolled from 7 AM to 2 PM on this glorious Sunday on God’s fantastic journey !
Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 8:00 PM
· Filed under Blogging, God, People
LEFTOVERS - Tuesday April 22ND 2008 - Thursday April 24TH 2008
1. This is the 4TH and probably final edition of the ‘Tossed Salad’ from the Exponential Conference in Orlando this past week. It’s the ‘Leftovers’ edition where I highlight the top items and events that didn’t get covered in the first three editions - such as the brilliant 2|42 Community Church band that was the house band throughout the conference. The’re based out of Brighton Michigan (in the southeast portion of the state). I actually thought that ‘242′ was the area code that they were from. Not so. I should’ve known that ‘242′ is the area code for The Bahamas ! Acts 2:42 (NLT, 2ND Ed.) states as follows: ‘All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.’
2. In order for existing churches to be exponential and give birth to new churches there needs to be an active movement of disciples within the parent church as well as the child church. ‘NO’ / ‘GO’ / ‘EGO’ - You’ve got to say ‘NO’ when it is appropriate. When the answer is not ‘NO’ then get to it and ‘GO’. Do it with ‘NO EGO’. Philippians 2:5 states as follows: ‘You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.’
3. The residents of the surrounding neighbourhood and city and region of your church may freely attend your community events, but don’t expect them to all flock to your Sunday morning services en masse. Get your name out there. Get your face out there. Get your mission out there. Make sure that the community knows who you are and what you are all about. Your neighbours are more likely to check out your church if not sooner then later. Be patient, and let God recruit the unchurched in His time. They will come when they are ready.
Never stop creating new leaders and disciples within your church.
A mature church is like an old oak tree and unlike mushrooms after showers. It takes years to get mature and healthy.
Don’t allow an environment that is conducive of having your leaders flame out on you.
Compliments and criticisms are there, but don’t put too much faith in them. We all serve Him. He owns our hearts.
Build your family before you build your church.
Love all believers. That’s what Heaven will be like.
Jesus Christ is the King of the Kingdom of God.
Focus on building people rather than churches.
Churches should not be personality driven - but purpose driven.
Don’t have huge eyes and a big mouth but tiny arms, hands, legs, and feet.
5. At this time I am publicly thanking Pastor Travis and Pastor Paul for giving me this opportunity to spend 3 days with them and the rest of the staff and their families in Orlando to attend this fantastic conference of information, education, praise, worship, and fellowship. I’ve been to Orlando many times over the past 15 years, but I can honestly state that this was the most memorable and enjoyable of them all. I am so truly honoured to be part of the Life Pointe Church leadership team. The next adventure of a lifetime is just around the corner, and I am there alongside with you guys and gals. You can count on me to serve Our Lord Almighty enthusiastically.
Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 12:55 PM
· Filed under Blogging, God, People
DAY 3 - Thursday April 24TH 2008
1. I attended Larry Osborne’s session entitled ‘How To Grow A Church And Still Have A Life’. This guy was a fantastic speaker. I could have listened to him speak for hours on end. He spoke on the ’sticky church’. In fact he’s got a book coming out later this year titled ‘Sticky Church‘. It’s all about slamming that back door (of the church) shut. It’s easy to get people in to church, but the goal is to keep them from leaving the church.
2. It’s all about assimilation. It’s all about getting sticky relationships going within the church. It’s easy to withdraw from a program. It’s hard to leave a relationship. Churches should be relationship-driven ministries rather than program-driven ministries. Pastors are less needed and can concentrate on more important duties within the church when sticky relationships are at work. Acquaintances are not significant relationships. On Sunday mornings we meet a lot of acquaintances that we see on a regular basis, and we may know some of their names too. But unless we spend quality time with each other away from the corporate meeting of the church family on any given Sunday morning then it is not particularly relevant. A small group that meets sometime during the week builds and maintains those sticky relationships. Small groups effectively close that back door of the church.
3. Patrick Dennis from Fairfax County Virginia (my original hometown county) spoke on ‘Branding, Marketing, And The Church - A Primer For Church Planters’. He is the President of Church Marketing Solutions. A personal invitation to our friends is by far the most effective means there is to get them to come to church with us. But there is some tough competition out there on Sunday mornings - such as the MASSIVE Sunday big city newspaper, ‘Meet The Press’ and ‘Face The Nation’ on TV, DVDs, and even sleeping off that hangover caused by that long Saturday night of partying. Churches should NEVER EVER compete against each other. If your marketing tools are sending unchurched people to church for the first time - but it’s not your church - then Praise The Lord ! It’s all about Jesus Christ and populating His Kingdom - not your specific church.
4. Churches need to arm their guests, attenders, members, and leaders with effective marketing tools so that they can invite their friends and neighbours in unique and innovative ways. The marketing tools need to be authentic, realistic, surprising, strategic, and consistent. It all needs to be excellent and professional because you are representing the Kingdom with your advertising on behalf of Him. Every church has its own unique personality. If your church has decided to market itself as ‘that funny church’ then be funny in your ads and include responsible humour within all of your Sunday services. If you are ‘that church that ROCKS’ then be sure that it really does on Sunday morning. Don’t promise something on paper and then not deliver the goods. Don’t try to be ‘the everything church’.
5. Tim Keller is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan New York City. This guy was so intellectual mesmerizing that I wrote very few notes down while he spoke, so let me just leave you with this Scripture from 1 Corinthians 22-25 (NLT, 2ND Ed.): 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
1. God woke me up at around 6:40 this morning, tapped me on the shoulder, told me to get up and take a shower, and then insisted that I get a-steppin’ with my physical walk around my neighbourhood. He wouldn’t let me sleep in this morning and waste away the daylight. I obey Him.
2. I walked 2.2 miles again this morning - the same as the past two Saturday mornings. I also shaved another minute off of the time that it took me to walk it - just a tad bit more than 40 minutes.
3. It was quite comfortable outside this morning. It wasn’t really cool (72°F), but it was rather dry (68% relative humidity), so it felt cooler than it really was. In the middle of the Summer South Floridians typically wake up to temperatures right around 80°F with relative humidity readings above 80%. I won’t be walking in that hot and steamy mess !
4. ‘The cat by the dumpster’ was there again. He looked at me with his sad yellow eyes with no fear. I think if I dropped a few morsels of tasty food by his side then he would have gobbled it all up in a split second and then followed me for the remaining mile-plus of my walk. 10 years later …
5. Following the walk I eventually ended up at the Dunkin’ Donuts at the northern edge of Florida City for blueberry coffee, a sausage, egg, and cheese croissant breakfast sandwich, and crispier, juicier, tastier oven-toasted hash browns. You just can’t go wrong with that combo. I think that the blueberry coffee (with cream and sugar) is one of the best hot beverages that you can possibly buy for less than two bucks.
Greetings Friends and Bloggers. This is the Friday night edition of ‘Bedtime Stories’ - inspired by my dear friend of the past 13 months or so - Ms. Venus Diaz - one of the greatest trash-talkers in my Life Group ! (I’ll deal with you on Sunday morning.)
It’s fast approaching 11 PM EDT on a Friday night, and I’m really not sleepy at all. Since I don’t really need to be anywhere early tomorrow morning I’m thinking about a rare session of staying up late tonight and then sleeping in and waking up whenever I feel like it tomorrow morning. That’s actually not a good sign for ‘The Major’s Walk-A-Thon’, but I figure that I got plenty of exercise this past week up in Orlando walking all over the place at the Exponential Conference. Would you believe that I actually lost a couple of pounds this past week despite eating MASSIVE quantities of food ?
Incidentally due to the unexpected MASSIVE popularity of the first two entries of the ‘Exponential Conference Orlando Tossed Salad’ (representing the first two days of the conference) I am adding a special bonus 4TH entry to the series ! The next entry will represent the final day of the conference (this past Thursday), and then I’m posting a ‘leftovers’ edition featuring the top items that didn’t quite make it onto the first three editions. Look for both editions to be posted here on the blog during the day tomorrow (Saturday).
Today (Friday) was the biggest Friday in our history as far as unique hits were concerned, and many of you were brand new to this blog. Let me answer two questions here. ’Tossed Salad’ is simply the unique brand name that is utilized as an identifier to my Sunday morning summaries of what happened at Life Pointe Church. There’s a certain recognizable structure to the series of ‘Tossed Salad’ blog entries, and that same general format is being utilized to summarize my day-to-day experiences from Exponential ‘08.
Well there you go with tonight’s ‘Bedtime Stories’. Be sure to check back with this blog at least a few times during the course of the day tomorrow. I’ve got a whole lot more of ‘Tossed Salad’ to share with you.
Until we hang out again here on the blog have yourself a safe, peaceful, and blessed Friday night with your loved ones. Before you retire for the night open your arms and raise them up high for God. Let Him know that’s He is fully in charge of you. Let Him know that you are fully dependent on Him.
Friday, April 25, 2008 at 8:03 PM
· Filed under Blogging, God, People
DAY 2 - Wednesday April 23RD 2008
1. The First Baptist Church Orlando is laid out like a college campus - or at least my personal depiction of what a college campus would look like. I never attended college, so during these three days at the Exponential Conference I got to be the college kid that I never was as I walked to and from sessions in classrooms and portable buildings carrying books, folders, pens, and paper. As the ‘Professors’ talked I listened intently and took lots of notes, and when it was time for all of us to meet assembly-style en masse we all did so in the big auditorium. That’s right - for three days I felt like a 41-year-old college kid !
2. Dave Olson was my Professor for 3 hours today. He’s the Director of ‘The American Church Research Project‘, and he wrote the book ’The American Church In Crisis‘. Dave highlighted a lot of negatively-trending statistics. On a typical weekend in 2006 only about 17% of adult Americans attended a church service. That percentage is expected to continue to drop ever so slightly (just as it has for the past 50 years), and it could be in the 14% to 15% range a decade from now. Overall church attendance (in raw numbers) is pretty much exactly the same as it was 15 years ago despite the fact that there are more than 50 million new U.S. residents today than there were back then.
3. Small churches (less than 50 attenders) and large churches (more than 2,000 attenders) appear to be growing just fine (or at least keeping up with population growth). It’s the mid-size churches that appear to be declining and even dying. 1% of churches close annually. That’s about 3,700 churches that cease to operate every year. At the same time about 4,000 new churches are born every year, so that’s a net gain of about 300 churches every year. Older Pastors tend to attract older attenders. These are the churches that are typically in decline, as there is no biological growth (new babies in the family), there is little to no conversion growth (people being saved), and they are not birthing any new churches because they are very set in their old-fashioned ways. They tend to be older than the surrounding community that they are supposed to serve. They tend to be more closed than open to the general public.
4. Is the American church an endangered species that is headed towards extinction ? If you look at what it was during its peak in the mid-1950s versus what it is now then perhaps you may think that is the case. The church (in general) needs to figure out what century and what decade it is living in. ‘Where Are The People ?’ A slightly positive trend has developed since the catastrophic life-changing events of Tuesday September 11TH 2001. The bleeding may have stopped, and overall attendance appears to be headed back in a slightly positive direction. But a lot of churches are stubborn. They refuse to adapt and change with the times. The times are changing. Churches need to change the way that they do business in order to be alive and relevant.
5. C3 Church in Orlando put on a really nice presentation for us at the Cinemark movie theatres at Festival Bay on International Drive. This is actually not where they set up their church every Sunday morning, but on this night they set up three theatres there to show us what church looks like in a typical movie theatre setting. They had a lot of nice features, gadgets, and storage units with their setup, but they also spent a lot of money for it all. The C3 ‘Praise & Worship’ band played on the main stage, and complimentary dinner and a movie was provided during and after the presentation. I think if I ever find myself in Orlando on a Sunday morning then I may just have to check out one of their church services and compare their movie theatre environment with our movie theatre environment at Life Pointe Church.
6. One last notable item of interest here. I met up with this cool guy during Lunch on this day. I personally thanked him for what he did for me. When he was at Life Pointe Church back in early-March as a special guest speaker he did an assessment of our church and reported to Travis and Paul that I was being underutilized as a leader. Travis and Paul then delegated their authority and gave me a whole bunch of work to do every week. I was given the amusing title of ‘Director Of Cool’, and I was put in charge of the assimilation process at our church. Yes - It is a lot of work every week, but this work is God’s work. He put me in this place at this time to do this work, and there’s no denying Him. I serve Him enthusiastically.
P.J. posted his ‘All The Way Thoughts’ late on a Thursday night. Folks this gets down to the core concept of blogging. This single blog entry is essentially ‘a week in the life of’ for the author (P.J.). This is what is currently going on in his Life. This is what he is all about. This is what blogging is all about.
Paul blogged all of his notes from the Exponential Conference in Orlando, and it’s so much good material that I can’t possibly hyperlink to any one blog entry (of his six !), so just give yourself an hour and then click on his name at the start of this paragraph to read all about it. YOU ARE THERE !
Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 11:08 PM
· Filed under Blogging, God, People
DAY 1 - Tuesday April 22ND 2008
1. This is the first of three editions in a row of the ‘Exponential Conference Orlando Tossed Salad’ - one edition for each day of the conference. These ‘Tossed Salads’ are being written more than two days after the fact based on my personal recollection of the events that were experienced and the material that was presented with strong support via a whole bunch of crib notes written shorthand style on three full sheets of letter-size scrap paper. I’m not one of those instant laptop notetakers that can type all of his or her notes just as fast as the speaker can speak it and then instantly publish it into a blog for the entire world to see. No offense to anyone who has that wonderful skill. I’m actually envious of those of you that can do that - such as my own Lead Pastor ! You’ll have to check out his blog if you wish to read his ultra-descriptive notes from the conference. Give yourself a good hour to read through all of it. You’ll feel like YOU ARE THERE !
2. The First Baptist Church Orlando hosted the conference, and their sanctuary is MASSIVE. Anne J. inadvertantly referred to it as a ‘convention center’, but that’s pretty much what it was in this particular type of setting. I know that it’s the largest church sanctuary that I’ve ever been in that wasn’t at the Vatican. I’m sure that there are countless others here in the U.S. that are much bigger than this one, but you’ve got to remember that I was saved just 20 months ago, and I went more than 30 years before I walked into a place of worship for the first time as an adult (in January 2007). The experience of being 1 of about 2,800 in attendance praising and worshiping Him in unison to a LIVE rock band is an experience that will forever remain in my mind as one of the most awesome ‘rock show’ experiences in my entire Life.
3. Church planting is an extreme team sport that is the greatest work on the planet in that we link together human lives. We obviously have plenty of church planters. 2,800 of us were in attendance at the conference. Now we need the movement to occur. We need churches to plant. We need to be more kingdom oriented. We need the kingdom of multiplication to spread. We need the kingdom to be exponential.
4. Because of their ‘thinking-outside-of-the-box’ innovation smaller churches are more likely to plant spinoff churches than bigger (mega) churches. The fact of the matter is that churches should actually be born ‘pregnant’. Non-denominational local neighbourhood churches make the best plants. More unchurched people would go to church if there were a church that was conveniently located just around the corner right there in their own neighbourhood. Healthy church plants include a durable and dependable support network. It should really be within the DNA of every church to be alive and be able to multiply. If we can successfully reproduce disciples and leaders then we can successfully reproduce churches.
5. I’ve been a fan of Chris Elrod’s blog for quite awhile now, and he himself co-hosted a breakout session on blogging with Todd Rhoades and Scott Hodge. (I added Scott to my Blogroll a couple of days ago, and I just added Todd’s ‘Monday Morning Insight’ to it.) A blog is essentially an electronic extension of the person that is writing it. People all over the world will know you through your blog even though they have never met you in person. As a blogger you should always expect the unexpected. What you think will be a runaway smash hit on your blog could actually be a dismal flop. The unsuspecting blog entry that you don’t think that much about could actually be the one that pops big-time on the search engines and drives rush hour traffic straight to your blog en masse. (Don’t I know that !)
Dueling E-Mails have been in constant circulation over the past couple of years urging you to buy all of your gasoline from Citgo - or urging you to do the complete opposite. There are many different E-Mail variations of both sides of this issue, and in all cases the myriad of reasons given are untrue, exaggerated, or just plain fabricated.
Here’s what we know is true. Citgo is owned by the national oil company of Venezuela. Hugo Chavez is the President of Venezuela. Lots of different oil companies buy their crude oil from Venezuela - including the gas station that you would probably spend your money at in lieu of Citgo - which incidentally has its world headquarters right here in the U.S. - in Houston Texas. Citgo employs some 4,000 people, and they supply some 14,000 independent retailers with gasoline. Boycotting any particular gas station or gas brand only serves to possibly put a tiny economic ding towards the local neighbourhood franchise owner and his or her personal staff of that gas station or gas brand - fellow Americans like you and me - only if you had previously frequented that station or brand on a regular basis. If you don’t want to support the oil companies - both domestic and international - then walk, run, or pedal a bicycle. If you want to buy less gas then drive more responsibly. The fact of the matter is that boycotts (of anything) are virtually irrelevant and produce little to no results - positive or negative. When was the last successful boycott of anything here in the U.S. in our history ?
Good Morning Everyone ! It’s Thursday morning, and it’s the final (half) day of the 2008 New Church Conference - Exponential ‘08 here in Orlando, and I’ve got so many handwritten notes written down that it appears that I’ll be blogging all weekend long - once I return home to the comfort and convenience of my living room and (most importantly) the technology of my high-speed cable Internet connection. Here in Orlando I’ve been sputtering along at roughly 50.6 Kbps (via an old dial-up connection). That’s right. I’m cruising the Internet like it’s 1998 ! My next laptop will have that fancy schmancy new wireless innovation included within it !
OK friends here’s the plan. I’ll be back at home in Homestead later today (early tonight). I’ll post this week’s ‘Thursday Night Internet Hoax Hall-Of-Shame’ first and foremost, and then if I’m still wide awake and have some energy left over I’ll post the first of three ‘Exponential Conference Orlando Tossed Salads’. I’m devoted to posting a single edition for each day of the conference, so you’ll see all of my highlights / takeaways summarized in a way that is most worthy of the coveted (nearly legendary) ‘Tossed Salad’ brand name. I’ve also got to do the ‘Friday Night Blogroll Review’ on Friday night or else a whole bunch of you will begin going through withdrawals. I know that a lot of you regular bloggers post some of your best award-winning material on Thursdays in a dire effort to make it onto the ‘Friday Night Blogroll Review’, so get to it and I’ll get to it as well. Look for that shortly after 4 PM on Friday night.
So that’s what I’ve got for you on this Thursday morning in Orlando. Don’t forget - the regular Thursday night and Friday night features on here plus 3 days - 3 editions of the ‘Tossed Salad’ from the Exponential Conference. It’s all right here on ‘The Major’s Life Blog’ over the next 60 hours. Don’t miss the excitement. You won’t regret it pal. Cool beans.
I woke up this morning a couple of times during the four-o-clock hour, and then once and for all at 5:30 AM. It’s a beautiful Wednesday morning right here in Orlando Florida !
It’s going to be a l o n g day today - so long that I may not even be able to post another blog entry for today, so here it is if that indeed turns out to be the crazy case of the missing blogger.
I’ll make it all up to you later this week on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I’ll probably be blogging so much that you’ll have to check back about every two hours or so for continuing blog updates as they occur.
Incidentally I’ve got the perfect ‘Thursday Night Internet Hoax Hall-Of-Shame’ to present to you. This week my dear friend of the past 11 months - Paul H. - provided the impetus. It’s got to do with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Citgo gas stations. Be there as I set the records straight like only I can !
1. I drove from Homestead to Orlando this morning with a crew of about 16 (including kids) from Life Pointe Church. We took 4 vehicles with us (including mine). This is the longest one-day road-trip my car has been on since the first couple of weeks of March 2007 when I drove all the way up to the northwestern suburbs of Atlanta Georgia for a work-related conference.
2. I paid a record-shattering $3.799 per gallon for gas along Florida’s Turnpike. 10.660 gallons of it went into my car, so that came out to a mind-boggling $40.50. I never thought that it would cost over $40 to fill up my fuel-efficient Saturn with less than 11 gallons of gas !
3. Venus pointed out to me several times that perhaps my driving is just a wee-bit on the conservative side for her personal tastes. In fact she hinted that I drive like an old retired Floridian. She stated that she likes to hang out on the road with her ’speeding buddies’. I inquired as to why she’s always late for everything if she’s always speeding. I also suggested that she leave much earlier to get to her destinations so that she wouldn’t have to speed, and she would arrive alive on-time.
4. To ‘rubberneck’ is to unnaturally turn your head at pretty much a 90° right angle and essentially stretch your neck so that it looks like it’s made out of rubber. When you’re driving along and everyone drives real slow so that they can examine the aftermath of a bad accident along the side of the road most people stretch their neck and hence ‘rubberneck’. Venus and I discussed that for a few minutes as Anne J. took a well-deserved nap.
5. This is the first time since November 2006 that I’ve been here in Orlando. Once upon a time in a previous life not quite so far away I used to visit this city 3 or 4 or 5 or more times per year. Orlando used to be my playground - my home away from home - my South Beach - my Panama City Beach - my Cancun.
6. Actual proof that it’s been awhile since I’ve been here in Orlando is the fact that I’ve made the wrong turn on at least 3 or 4 separate occasions right along the north end of International Drive - a road that I used to roll on quite frequently during a decade of fun.
7. I’m attending the 2008 National New Church Conference here in Orlando. It’s also known as the ‘Exponential’ Conference - subtitled ‘The DNA Of Reproducing Churches’. I took a whole bunch of notes ‘chicken-scratch’ style during the first afternoon of sessions. Eventually I will decipher my notes and then transpose them into a separate blog entry that is most worthy to be included within the prestigious ‘Tossed Salad’ brand name here on this blog. Judging by how many raw notes I took this afternoon alone this may turn out to be a multi-part mini-series of ‘Tossed Salad’ editions rather than one big one. It’s all good. There’s a lot of learnin’ goin’ on here, and the funnest part of learnin’ is sharin’ the knowledge. Knowledge Is Power ! Power Is Fame !
8. Pastor Travis and Pastor Paul are recording their notes from the conference via the new and modern way - directly onto their laptops on-site - and in Travis’s case - directly onto his blog and-or his Twitter. Believe it or not in the specific breakout session that I personally attended on blogging we spent a good 10 minutes talking about Twitter. That word - ‘Twitter’ - must have been uttered at least 50 times. Before P.J. introduced the entire Twittering concept to me and his tens of fans via his blog I had never heard that word spoken before in my entire Life.
9. Our entire crew met up at Giordano’s for dinner over in Lake Buena Vista (very near the far-eastern entrance to Walt Disney World). We ate a bunch of their ‘World Famous Stuffed Pizza’, and in no time flat we were pretty much stuffed, walking funny, and making wacky sounds with our bodies. I took my Lipitor a good 5 hours later than normal. Better late than never - especially after this potentially heart-damaging meal ! Paul - Remind me to give you my Doctor’s business card upon our return back home to Homestead.
10. I couldn’t possibly have more genuine fun here in Orlando than I did today, or on any other day that I’ve spent here in Orlando over the past 15 years. I am so totally humbled and blessed to be able to participate in this wonderful experience along God’s fantastic journey.
