I am henceforth starting a tradition on my blog.  Poll Fridays.  Every Friday there will be a new Poll for you, the reader, to cast your vote.  First up, who will win the Big Game this Sunday (of course!).

Yesterday was a good day.  Kristian Stanfill’s EP, Attention, was released on iTunes. It is 6 songs of pure awesomeness.  I have huge respect for Kristian.  His God-given gift to lead worship is incredible…second to no one.  The sound on this EP is uniquely his.  I am thoroughly enjoying the EP and am eagerly awaiting the full album release on April 21, 2009.  I give this a “definitely-worth-your-6-dollars-on-iTunes” review.

I am sitting at the Coffee Bean

…with my friend Kevin…we’re both diligently working on our MacBooks…I need to be in the office in 20 minutes for “office cleaning day.”  So what better way to spend those 20 minutes than to blog?  Here’s what’s been going on in my world:

• I am almost finished with Youth Ministry 3.0 (thanks again Marko!).  It has been a fantastic read.  Be looking for a book review.
• We hosted Silver Ring Thing at NorthRidge Church, January 11. It was a big hit.  Lots of people came out, lots of people made commitments to purity…awesome.
• This weekend I get to lead worship for “big church” @ NorthRidge…pretty pumped about that.
• Currently planning Velocity’s Super Bowl party. Should be a blast!
• If you don’t know, I have a Twitter Account.  Find me.  Follow me.
  

More to come (including pics, hopefully).

I work at a Church where there are a lot of moving parts and decisions that are made have the potential to effect multiple people at once.  I imagine our Church is not abnormal.

The thing is that unless you completely trust the leadership that is making these decisions, it is very easy to become bitter and angry at the decisions.  You begin to think thoughts like “Well, if they only knew how things were run…”  “They don’t even come to my ministry, how would they know what to do” or my favorite “If I were in their position…”  These thoughts can overcome any positive momentum you were gaining towards your leaders…and it will prove to be destructive.

Trust.  Completely.  I frequent Pastor Steven Furtick’s blog, and he had a post recently all about trust.  Part of it said “Trust is always believing that someone’s heart and intentions are pure.  This is so vital because even when actions fail or are perceived differently than how they were intended, you can always rely on the belief that the heart of the person is good.”

Trust, especially when we’re talking about trust in the Church world, is the assurance of one’s connection to God and calling from God.  For example, if the leaders of my church made decisions that affected me, and I didn’t believe that they were connected to God as their source for wisdom, I would have a hard time trusting their decision.  But because I have full confidence that my leadership spends time on their knees seeking God’s heart, I follow wherever they go.  I’m not saying it’s always easy, but I don’t think trusting is always an easy thing.

I was checking out Josh Griffin’s blog and came across this facebook application.

Apparently if you “flame broil” 10 “friends” on facebook, then you receive a free whopper.  Hmmm.  Wonder if anyone will “de-friend” me.  Are your friends on facebook really your friends?

It’s been a while since I last blogged.  I actually miss taking time to think through my recent happenings.  I am having a blast twittering, but that can only go so deep (plus, when you’re limited to 160 characters, how much can you say!?).  So today, amidst a very busy week, I am sitting at a Caribou and updating you…the faithful blog reader (hi mom!)…about all the things that have been happening in my world.

The “Holidays” didn’t really seem like that at all.  Maybe it’s because I have more responsibility in ministry than I ever have in my life, maybe it’s because during the two weeks I had off (a “break” if you will) I was house sitting for a church family and watching a needy dog, a devil cat, and a cranky bird.  I don’t know, but it was definitely not a “normal” Holiday.

For New Years I ventured to the “windy city” with my friends Daniel, Mark, and Matt.  We took the train, which was fantastic (only because it was my first experience taking a train anywhere.  I resorted to a child who spent way too much time playing with Thomas the Train).  Anyway, we had a blast; we walked around a lot!  I have included a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

The guys at Navy Pier waiting for the fireworks at midnight.  We met some interesting people down there!

94th Floor of the Hancock Building.  Navy Pier (where we were NYE) is the long skinny piece of land in the middle.

I have no clue what this building is.  All I know is that it’s SWEET!

What would a trip to Chicago be without a visit to the 2-story Apple store?  I was in MacHeaven.

We got to see the Bean.  We would have seen in the daytime, but we chose not to (ha! more like we got lost on our way!)

I just love this picture.

Probably the best decsion (and most fun) was to take the subway around instead of renting a car.  It provided an experience of the city life that very few people experience.  Daniel has a great post called “Take the Blue Line” on his blog….you should check it out.

Well, that’s it for now.  Before I arrived at Caribou I went to the gym to get closer to my goal.  All the treadmills were being used, so I opted for running on the track.  I was cruising.  It felt great.  Then all of a sudden my right shoe decided to venture over to my left shoe and get caught in my shoelace…yup, you guessed it (floor, meet Adam).  I skinned my knees a little, but even worse…I lost my drive to keep running.  Darn.  Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.

when you watch something like this it can be paralyzing.  what now?  what do I do next?

you do something.  now.

Just the other day I got to hang out with my old boss, Toran.  I did ministry with Toran for just over 3 years while I was in college.  He is a great friend and mentor.  He is also building me my first custom acoustic guitar.  Enjoy the pics.

Click on the Picture for a free album, live from NorthRidge’s Christmas Service.

Here are some pics from NorthRidge’s 11:30a service.  I had a great band leading with me.  Special thanks to Spencer Kitchen for taking the pics.  Some of the pics are of Josh, Joel and Nancy performing the special song to set up the talk.  They were fantastic!!