Craig asks why.

Craig Adams asks “why do we need a UMC?”

OMG!

Can you believe what so and so said about so and so?

I did it–reluctantly: Moto Q9

How about this for irony:

A series of problems and circumstances led me to this decision:

1. The ‘0′ on my phone stopped working. I had to have my wife text ‘00000’s to me so I could edit it whenever I had to make calls that involved ‘0′.
2. Too many people tried to make appointments with me or get info from me when I didn’t have my calendar with me and I was starting to forget things.
3. I got anxious everytime I had personal time because I didn’t have my calendar or my email close by.
4. My contract was up and I was, therefore, in an excellent bargaining position.

I got the Moto Q9 from Sprint:

I love it! Even though I have full access to my schedule and email, now I feel great shutting it off! It works wonderfully and I got a great deal! Highly recommended for those of you looking for a smartphone.

Churches Feel Economic Downturn

Sadly, many local churches are bearing the burden of the falling economy.  I haven’t been as heartbroken, however, as when I read about this church’s struggle with recession.

h/t: Kurt J.

WordPress, I loved you until you cut my soul in two

UPDATE: It appears to be back online. I shall call this “The WordPress Cloaking Phenomenon.”

I run two blogs off of my account. This one, and smumcyouth.wordpress.com, which is my church’s youth “website.”

Though all the links and everything appear on the web and in readers, all links come back to this blog. Smumcyouth is gone!

Oh, WordPress, you have cut me to the quick! How will I communicate with my beloved youth and their parents as well as I did before!?!?

*tears rolling down face*

*sobs*

*navigates through stages of grief*

*ends in anger*

I shall smite the wall until WordPress support opens at 8:00–pacific time (11:00 my time). Oh, my bleeding soul…

Tech. wasn’t the key.

Tecnhopastor has an interesting thought on technology for technology sake. It reminds me of one of my articles for the Young Adult Network.

I found myself frustrated in that there was far too much talk about the use of technology and thinking that the church had to jump on the technology bandwagon because “that’s what the kids are using.” What the leaders failed to recognize was that technology was simply a tool being used for a deeper purpose — facilitating community between like minded persons. Folks used blogs and IM’s as a communications medium not because they were inherently cool, but because they wanted to connect with others and these tools allowed them to do so in a cost effective way. The communicative function must always be the driver behind the use of technology, not the other ways around.

Your First Post

Reach back in time….

Read your first ever blog post.  What does it say?  Give us your favorite quote from it!  How do you feel about it?  How has your blog changed since then?

30k bottle rockets…

…bottle rockets. …and page views.

$10/gallon gas…and minimum wage, for good measure

Dan Dorfman of the New York Sun has an article that quotes some analysts saying that gas could go up to $10 per gallon in a few years.  He also shows the international precedent for it.

I’m going to remove myself from this equation for a minute and ask a few questions:

1. Minimum wage is $5.85.  It would take someone working full time (40 hrs/wk) 20 hours to fill up a 10 gallon gas tank.  Even with the step increases, this is a staggering thought.  I’m not comfortable saying “it doesn’t matter because in 2 years it will only take 12ish hours of work to fill their tanks.”
2. This has implications for church ministry.  Especially as we are often waiting for people to drive to us.  Attendance will go down.  Maybe many of us will be placed back into a parish model.
3. What does this mean for our lifestyles?  How will you change your behaviors?

Gimme ur digits…and other misspellings…

I’ve got a crazy thought:  I’d love to call up and chat with any Methobloggers that do youth ministry.

If you’re down, email your number to: thegreateststory[at]gmail[dot]com.