People Screw Up (Me Included)

Found this a few days ago in "UnChristian", and have been wanting to share it.

"Attack me, I do this myself, but attack me rather than the path I follow and which I point out to anyone who asks me where I think it lies.  If I know the way home and am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way because I am staggering from side to side!"

Leo Tolstoy

Sure, we should be trying to live like Christ, but I think sometimes we put up a front, like we have it all figured out.  Really, we know the way home, but as humans, we are going to screw up.  When we act like we have it all together, and screw up, it causes others to look at our faith differently.  We need to be honest about our faults, and not put up a front of perfection.  We know the way home, but we are stumbling along that path drunkenly.  Who are we causing to believe that it is what we know is any less the right way?

Free "Deadly Viper" audiobook

Go here to get a free download of "Deadly Viper:  Character Assassins".  That is all, just thought some of you might like it.

How?

How do we impact our world?  Is it by just sitting in church every Sunday?  No way, we need to go out and do life with people who don't know Christ.  We need to be in the world.  Obviously, building our own spiritual health is important.  We should be in church, we should be reading our Bible, we should be worshiping Him.  These things are immensely important, however we are called to go out into the world, and share Christ with those who don't know.

So, what's your plan?  It could be as simple as befriending that coworker who needs a friend, or it could be some huge plan.  They're all important, and being a friend to someone is probably the most effective that I know, but what are some of your other plans?  I just wanted to get you thinking.

How could a Coffeehouse be a blessing to your community?

I've been doing a little dreaming and thinking lately.  When we get this coffeehouse up and running, we want it to be an asset to GI.  We want to create community, and give people a reason to walk through the doors.  Have any of you heard of any cool ways to do that?  Here are my to thoughts, feel free to chime in with others. (IT'S OKAY TO MAKE COMMENTS HERE TOO).

-Maybe one day per week, coordinate with the public library and MOPS groups to bring their kids in at a certain time.  We could read a book to the kids while parents relax together w/a cup of coffee.

-This is an easy one, but a summer concert series.  We've got the connections to do something about every other week or so to start.  This is the kind of thing that you don't really see around our area.  I think it could be huge.

Coffeehouse logo ideas Part 1

I am working on some designs for a logo for Oasis Coffeehouse.  I didn't want to do the same old coffee cup thing, so I'm trying to go a little different route, and really playing off the name of the coffeehouse.  Would these make sense to you guys (like the literal oasis inside the O)?  I am making them all so that they can be used in black and white or color.  I'm not sure of coloring on the one with the palm tree coming out of the i, I guess it could be anything.  I could have the tree leaves green.  Also on that one, does anyone else see an inappropriate word when you glance at it, or is it just me?  I want to get this right, so I'm sure there will be more to come.  They'll probably all be mostly along these lines, unless I have some great idea pop up, or you guys can feed me an idea.  If you have an idea, let me know, and I'll try to come up with something.

Starting to dream again

I'm starting to have some big dreams again, so I'm going to try to get back into the mode of sharing my thoughts here.  Join me on the journey, and feel free to jump in.  Oh yeah, for the time being, I'm blogging under the new title of Real You Thoughts, since you all already know how to find me here.  I might be changing sometime in the future.

Another One Down

As of tonight, I will have finished my second book of 2008. It was a book I hadn't heard of, prior to getting it in a box from relevant leader. Glory Revealed by David Nasser, had a greater effect on me than almost any book I've ever read. The book is broken down into small 3-5 page chapters that you read one per day, or in my case, on a couple chapters, read one over and over for a week or so, and really chew on it. It's not the way I'm used to reading a book, but it was really effective for impacting me. He shares all kinds of ways that God, as the title says, reveals His glory. Some of which are obvious, but shared in a fresh way, and others that I never thought of before. If you look back at my post Coincidence, I think not, you'll see the thoughts I took from one chapter. I highly suggest this book, and I suggest reading it w/a partner.

My rating: A++++++++

Disconnected

We canceled our internet last week, and I'm already feeling disconnected. We figured that not having internet would cause us to be more focused on getting finished with a couple projects at home, plus we're saving a few bucks, so it sounded like a good idea. When we finish our basement, we're switching from cable to dish and DSL, I'm already working faster, so I can get that internet back. Until then, I probably won't be posting much, as blogger appears to be blocked almost everywhere I spend my time. I look forward to picking up the conversation again in a month or so.

Change to my sidebar

I've updated my sidebar to books I've read in '08. I just so happened to finish Holy Discontent this morning, so I'm taking credit for it this year. I've gotten a bunch of books for my birthday and Christmas, so hopefully that list will be growing fast.

I'm still here

Sorry for the long absence. Things have been really busy around here lately, with remodeling projects, birthdays, Christmas, and a host of other things, so I haven't had much time to even read what anybody else has going on. I'll probably be posting very sporadically over the next few weeks, because it doesn't look like things will be slowing down any time soon. Hope you didn't miss me too much.

Time to pick up the pace

I haven't been much of a reader during football season. Now, I have some new reasons to start getting back into the flow.

Some birthday presents:
Jim & Casper Go to Church: Based on the real story of a pastor who rented an atheist's soul on eBay, to take him around, to critique churches. Sounds interesting to me.










Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More










Mavericks at Work: This is one that really interests me. It's about doing things differently. While I love the idea of change, and trying new things, I'm not great at actually stepping out and doing them. I think looking at some success stories will really encourage me.







Deadly Viper - Character Assassins: I've read so many great things about this book over the last month or so, that this is another one I can't wait to dig into. Plus, it is by far the coolest looking book I own.








And my freebie, that all I had to do was ask for.

Unchristian: This goes into the way Christians are perceived in the world. And in case you didn't know, the outlook isn't that great. As a group, we're not really a great representative for Christ in the world.









Looks like I better go get to reading.

My Little Gamer

I got an XBox 360 for Christmas last year, and haven't really had a lot of time to enjoy it, with the busyness of our life over the last year. I'm home with Hannah and Olivia tonight, while Kim is at a Bible study. We just discovered a game called Hexic, where you have to match colored hexagons. I think Hannah is hooked. It's a pretty fun little game for her.