Rich Kao

It's official.  I'm going one on one with Jesus for the next 40 days...seeking His face, seeking His presence, seeking His counsel and just plain getting close to Him in a concentrated way.  I'm excited.  Day 1 was yesterday and had a fantastic time experiencing his manifest presence...crying out to him, unburdening my heart and getting clarity on my strength zones.  "Hear my cry O Lord, attend unto my prayer. (Ps 61:1)."

I love my church.  Course as the pastor, that's how it should be.  But I'm talking from my personal point of view, not because I have to.  My affections for my church are much like my affections for my own family.  I want everyone to grow, prosper, mature, experience life, reach for the stars and climb new mountains.  That would be my greatest joy.   The church is not about me, it's about "them." (and God of coarse).   The church does not exist for my vision, my ministry, my success.  It exists to be a blessing to be God's people.

I'm aching to see the church bust out and come into its own.  I'm aching for the church to take on a life that's independent of me.  I'm aching for the church to grow in numbers.  I'm aching for the church to experience a critical mass of people, a buzz that comes from a company of people being passionately in love with Jesus.  I'm aching for my city, and hoping of a day where the Church becomes a place where the multitudes can't wait to get to.  

Personal prayer:  "God, may you not only increase this burden in me, but also grant me the wisdom and insight and anointing and skill to do what I can to facilitate this dream.  Why wait Lord?  Why not now?  If not us, then please release someone else, another group, other people to raise up an awesome Jesus rockin church to touch this city.  I just want to see you worshiped and lifted up."

Compliments of Google, we now can do background checks in a whole new way!

A friend advertised on Craigslist for a housekeeper.

Three interesting resumes came to the top. She googled each person's name.

The first search turned up a MySpace page. There was a picture of the applicant, drinking beer from a funnel. Under hobbies, the first entry was, "binge drinking."

The second search turned up a personal blog (a good one, actually). The most recent entry said something like, "I am applying for some menial jobs that are below me, and I'm annoyed by it. I'll certainly quit the minute I sell a few paintings."

And the third? There were only six matches, and the sixth was from the local police department, indicating that the applicant had been arrested for shoplifting two years earlier.

Three for three.

Google never forgets.

Of course, you don't have to be a drunk, a thief or a bitter failure for this to backfire. Everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you're on Candid Camera, because you are.

Pastor Craig Groeschel posted this over at his blog.  I AGREE wholeheartedly with this post, down to every round bullet point he makes.  Not only do I believe what he says here, but we are turbo-charging & re-configuring the small group concept here in Vancouver into IMPACT GROUPS or MICRO-CHURCH PLANTS.  In fact we are framing out a Boot Camp to train up micro-church planters or impact group leaders.   You may want to sign up for one in the future, which also includes an integrated leadership module.

From Craig:

Several of my close pastor friends have recently spoken out against the effectiveness of small groups. Although I have tremendous respect for these men and will always honor them, I disagree with their views of small groups.

I still love small groups because:

• They follow the early church model of meeting in homes.
• They are a tremendous tool for discipleship. I prefer small groups to Wednesday night large group teaching because it gives people a chance to interact. I prefer small groups to Sunday School simply because you don’t have to build the expensive extra classroom space.
• They get more people involved using their gifts of hospitality, teaching, exhortation, etc.
• They engage the body of Christ in pastoral care. Instead of the pastors being the only ones who care for believers, small groups spread the load and utilize gifted lay people.
• They build leaders.
• Done well, they become a tremendous tool of retention. People want to be needed and known. Small groups make both possible.
• They have unlimited meeting space. You can’t run out of homes, restaurants, apartments, or coffee shops in which to meet.
• They have unlimited meeting times. In today’s busy world, a once-a-week discipleship opportunity will not work for the majority of your church. Small groups offer unlimited times to meet.
• They have changed my life. My family’s small group is like our extended family. God has used them to bless us in untold ways.

Here are some great tips from Literature Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway on how to write well, a life skill everyone should try to master.

by Brian Clark

Who better?

Many business people faced with the task of writing for marketing purposes are quick to say:

Hey, I’m no Hemingway!

But really, who better than Hemingway to emulate? Rather than embracing the flowery prose of the literati, he chose to eschew obfuscation at every turn and write simply and clearly.

So let’s see what Ernest can teach us about effective writing.

1. Use short sentences.

Hemingway was famous for a terse minimalist style of writing that dispensed with flowery adjectives and got straight to the point. In short, Hemingway wrote with simple genius.

Perhaps his finest demonstration of short sentence prowess was when he was challenged to tell an entire story in only 6 words:

For sale: baby shoes, never used.

2. Use short first paragraphs.

See opening.

3. Use vigorous English.

Here’s David Garfinkel’s take on this one:

It’s muscular, forceful. Vigorous English comes from passion, focus and intention. It’s the difference between putting in a good effort and TRYING to move a boulder… and actually sweating, grunting, straining your muscles to the point of exhaustion… and MOVING the freaking thing!

4. Be positive, not negative.

Since Hemingway was not necessarily the cheeriest guy in the world, what does he mean by be positive? Basically, you should say what something is rather than what it isn’t.

This is what Michel Fortin calls using up words:

By stating what something isn’t can be counterproductive since it is still directing the mind, albeit in the opposite way. If I told you that dental work is painless for example, you’ll still focus on the word “pain” in “painless.”

• Instead of saying “inexpensive,” say “economical,”
• Instead of saying “this procedure is painless,” say “there’s little discomfort” or “it’s relatively comfortable,”
• And instead of saying “this software is error-free” or “foolproof,” say “this software is consistent” or “stable.”