I had a neat example in my own life just the other day.

I was in line at the store when I noticed that the little old lady in front of me was counting out change to pay her bill. The cashier was helping her and looked up smiling weakly and shaking her head “no”.  She was short. The lady apologized and started gathering up her money to leave empty handed.

I quickly stepped up and offered to pay one dollar towards her bill so that she could have her stuff.

The reaction was unreal. The lady was smiling at me like I had just given her $100. She thanked me at least three times, called me nice and sweet and tried to give me all of the change in her purse.

I kinda hate to admit that my real motivation in giving her the money was knowing that it would make the transaction go faster.

After she left the cashier told me what a great guy I was too. None of my hats even fit any more.

For one dollar I got the admiration of two strangers. That’s a better deal than the dollar menu if you ask me!

I did want to be a random blessing as well. In the end, I was blessed far more. Who says a dollar can’t get you anything these days?

Branding is an interesting thing when it comes to churches. Some churches try to avoid branding at all costs, but whether churches want to or not, they are branding themselves. It’s about reputation, and every church has one in their community. What’s your church’s brand? Is it “Friendly”? “Upscale”? “Folksy”? “Hipster”? “Hypocrites”? Do you know what people in your community say about your church? If it’s not good things, it might be reason to look at why.

Some churches are concerned about branding. They are involved with strategic church logos, websites, and outreaches with branding in mind. Just a reminder that branding or reputation is not about what you try to say, it’s what people say about you. People are the ones that define what your brand or reputation truly is.

I first heard about Cody’s adoration for Justin Bieber on the radio. As I struggled to endure the last few minutes on my elliptical, I listened as Cody struggled to contain her emotions for Justin. This 3-year-old’s crush put my past teenage crushes to shame. Never had I cried so openly or blatantly over a boy that made my heart skip a beat faster. Cody’s emotional response to her crush truly pulled on my heart strings. This little girl, who I’m sure watches Dora, wears ponytails, plays hopscotch, and eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, put my 28-year-old passions to shame.

Cody’s desire for Justin should be minimal compared to my desire for Christ. Yet, do I shed tears over missing time alone with God? Does it bother me when I miss my opportunity to tell others how wonderful my God is and what amazing things He’s done in my life? Do I hurt over time wasted in trivial matters rather than pursing my one true love? Do I desire to know more about my Savior than my spouse?

In the book of Psalms, David, known for being the man after God’s own heart, uses the examples of panting and thirsting after God. Psalm 42:1,2 states: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, o God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” Both action words simulate a real passion for wanting and needing God.

Fall in love all over again with the One who has given you everything. The One who holds your life in His hands. The One who holds your heart so dear. His everlasting love for us is worth crying happy tears over. Cody’s story ends happily ever after, and so can ours.

This second video is Cody’s happily ever after.

Do you desire God like Cody desires Justin Bieber?

Continuing our list of all things 5 to hopefully bring a smile to your Monday.

When I was eleven years old, all I wanted was my own TV set for my room. I didn’t need anything special, just something to hook up my Nintendo Entertainment System for some uninterrupted Super Mario Bro/Duck Hunt action. So when Christmas time came, I had one thing on my list, and one thing only: a TV. I became a modern version of A Christmas Story. It absorbed my thoughts. On trips to Walmart, I would request to break free from my Mom, and “hangout in electronics”. From there I had the perfect set picked out: modern, sleek, and a reasonable size. This was the one that I would save the princess with.

photo by pictoscribe

Christmas was drawing closer. My anticipation weighed heavy on my adolescent mind. A few weeks before Christmas, I saw a rather large present in my parents room. Though I promised I wouldn’t peak, I felt that it wouldn’t hurt if I at least knew if the large gift was for me. Later, I got my chance.

One day my parents left me home alone for a short while. I snuck upstairs, pulled off the blanket that was “hiding” the large gift, and sure enough. Just as I suspected. A wrapped, large box with “To: Brett | From: Mom & Dad” on it. And it was written in my Dad’s handwriting! It must be it! But what if it was all a rouse? What if this was just some large box to fake me out? So I made my choice. It was better for me to know that it wasn’t a TV now, then to go on thinking it might be on Christmas. I pealed back the tape on one corner with the steady hands of a surgeon. Slowly. Focused. I looked under the flap. YES! My very own brand new TV! Still in the box it came in!

Christmas came, and the last present was up. My TV. “Act surprised” I told myself. I had been practicing my acting abilities in the mirror for days, and swore I could out act that Macaulay Culkin kid any day. I tore off the paper. *Gasp* “No way! My own brand new TV?! YAY!” Then came the dreaded “Well, before you get too excited…” from my father.

What happened was a friend of the family bought a new TV and was getting rid of her old one. My parents, not wanting me to spend my pre-teen life indoors staring at a screen all day, decided it was best to buy the old one and wrap it in the convenient, about to be tossed, new TV box. That 27″ brand new Magnovox box contained a 13″, barely color, TV from the ’70s.

That little life lesson taught me the value of experiencing the joy in being surprised. This has also carried with me in my thoughts about Heaven. I try not to think too much of it, because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. There are, however, moments found in everyday activities here on earth that give a glimpse as to what Heaven may be like, and it gets me thinking…

So here are Five Heaven on Earth Moments Found In Everyday Activities:

1. Changing into Sweatpants After Getting Home From Work – How great is it when you get home from a long day, and hop into your most comfortable pair of sweatpants? Add some slippers and a t-shirt, and you start to think that there’s a possibility that you may have a crush on your clothes. Sweatpants mean that you’re home. You aren’t going out. No meetings to sit through. No awkward activities with strangers. No drumming up conversation to fill the silence. Just you and your family. I think Heaven will be like this. Home with your family. Comfortable.

2. Eating Leftovers from a Good Meal That Is Somehow Better the Second Time - This happens often with pasta for me. Is a good lasagna somehow better after being in the fridge for the night? You bet! I think Heaven would be like this. Just when you thought things couldn’t get better…

3. Being Handed a Clean Sheet of Bubble Wrap and Not Sharing – First pop has to be the solo bubble. One single pop from somewhere in the middle with your thumb and index finger. The amusement of hearing that first “pop” is such a universal, pure joy. From there, it’s your move. You can twist, walk on it, scare your dog, be creative! If I can be happy with a sheet of bubble wrap, I can’t imagine what joy in Heaven will be like.

4. Sleeping in Freshly Washed Sheets, Blankets, and Pillow Cases – I love jumping into a bed with sheets that came straight from the dryer, or better yet, from outside! It’s like being hugged to sleep by your covers. It’s the freshness and cleanness of it all that makes an already enjoyable activity, (sleeping) even more so. Activities you enjoy here, I believe that in Heaven, it will be amplified.

5. Pouring that First Bowl of Your Favorite Cereal - Cereal is my favorite meal. No other food combines both entree and beverage together in one delicious harmony. Now, imagine your favorite cereal. (I’m thinking Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries) Imagine that first bowl from a new box, where you try to pour as much as possible into that bowl. From those first spoon-filled bites, to the two-handed slurping of the sugary milk, you cherish the whole ride. No bite was mundane or unnoticed. Moments in heaven will be like this. No boredom. No mundane. All incredible.

What about you? Do you have some everyday activities that make you think of what Heaven may be like?

We’ve been talking about office solutions for the past couple of weeks, but mostly we’ve just looked at the two premiere solutions in the areas of online apps (Google Apps), and desktop software (Microsoft Office). We talked about the the pros and cons of both, but there’s one last option I wanted to bring to light that combines “Desktop Office Solutions” with “Free”.

Open Office

Personally, I haven’t used Open Office a lot, but I have been kicking its tires this week after it was brought to my attention from some of our awesome readers. Open Office calls itself, “a free and open productivity suite”. There are five programs that you can get: Writer (Word Processor), Calc (Spreadsheets), Impress (Slideshow), Draw (Image publisher), and Base (Data manipulator). It had been awhile since I last used Open Offce (way back with my Ubuntu experiment), and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of updates and how complete the software is.

Open Office is easily the best, free desktop office solution available. It works for both Mac and PC, and my second favorite thing: it’s open. Which means anyone can jump in and suggest new features, write, or support the software. Open Office is also well established (Open Office has been around for about 20 years), and compatible with Microsoft’s Office.

If you’re looking for the best of the two worlds of “Free” and “Desktop”, Open Office is the way to go.

Thanks Tim & Scott!

[OpenOffice]

Clinton and Stacy, stand aside, because we are about to give your Sunday School classroom a makeover.  Here are some helpful tips for perking up your classroom this Spring:

• Storage - Every school classroom needs organization. Use bookcases, cubbies, or storage containers from your local Walmart, to keep things in order. Containers for toys should be child friendly. This means that corners should be rounded and lids should not fit too tightly.

• Use the Walls - Save space by using walls for posters, display shelves, books, and supplies.
• Create a new felt board for Bible stories - Select a piece of cardboard, and cut it down to your desired size. Then, cut a piece of felt that is just slightly larger than the board; and glue it to the cardboard. Fold the extra felt over; and glue it to the back. This will create a nice, finished edge. You can create your own felt characters from Bible coloring books, just color the person or scene. Cut it out, and back each piece with sandpaper. Make the stories more personal by taking pictures of the children in the class and putting them into the story! Use stencils to create uniform letters and numbers.
• Bulletin Boards - Create one a month to incorporate your theme, the seasons, your memory verse, character of the Bible. If you dont have a bulletin board already in your classroom. You can always make one yourself.
• Ask for Help - Don’t be afraid to ask the students to help you re-arrange your classroom. They might have some great ideas. When you incorporate their thoughts into how you set things up, you are telling them that their thoughts matter. Perhaps, they would even help in a bigger way like being a part of bulletin board making?

What tips do you have to give your Sunday School Classroom a makeover?

photo by bamalibrarylady

Online vs Desktop Series 1|Part 3

The past couple of weeks we’ve taken an Online vs Desktop look at why your ministry should use Microsoft Office 2010, and why your ministry should use Google Apps. Just to bring things to a close, here’s a side by side comparison of the two office solutions.

Click on the image for a better look.

The overall winner? Well, that’s up to you and your ministry’s needs.  If you only need simple and basic tools for just a few or a group, Google Apps might be the way to go. If you need a bigger, more complete office solution, Office might be worth those greenbacks.  Also, there are some more options outside just these two that may be able to fit the gap in your software needs that we’ll touch on here shortly. So what office solution do you most use?

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Opinions are like noses, everyone has one”, and the Internet has allowed everyone to show off just how good their’s smells. I didn’t want to discuss whether this was right or wrong (which would possibly make this one of the most ironic posts ever), but just wanted to ask what you did.

The Internet allows you the anonymity to easily confront anyone without worrying about much backlash. So what do you do when you see someone who is wrong or disagrees with you, do you find it your Christian duty to voice your opinion? Do you just pass over it all?  Or do you write up your own post as to why that person was wrong? Does much get accomplished through arguing or discussion?