Healing Care, Healing Prayer: Book Review

Book: Healing Care, Healing Prayer: Helping the Broken Find Wholeness in Christ

Author: Terry Wardle

Pages: 233

Publisher: Leafwood

Favorite Quote: God wants to meet the caregiver at the place of his own deepest pain.

This is the final book that was a required reading for my spring course at Tozer Seminary called: Suffering and Healing.  This book has some great wisdom found it in about spiritual healing that the believer needs to engage in.

I would consider this book the most helpful, in my opinion, of the required texts I read.  I am not saying that the other books are unworthy but I am saying that this book tends to speak my language.  I enjoy having a plan and being able to think through steps to achieve that plan.  Wardle lays out some steps for healing that he has used in his ministry so you know the plan is something that has been tried and tested.

If you have some wounds in your past, like we all do, Warlde lays out the coping model that helps to see how we handle pain in our life.  Here is a quick snapshot of it:

Core Needs- Safety, Worth, Uniqueness, Love, Nurture, Appreciation and God

Pain Layer- Our personal reaction to stolen pain

Protection Layer- Strategies we employ to keep our pain in check

Provision Layer- Trying to meet the unmet need in a new way

Punishment Layer- Pain often births an anger that drives a person to strike back at the one who has perpetuated the injury

This model took me a while to understand but has helped me as I am dealing with unmet core needs from my childhood.  If you are seeking healing from the pain and suffering in your life then I would recommend this book!

Soul Surfer: Movie Review

About three weeks ago a man stopped by my office and gave me some promo material for the new movie that was coming out called: "Soul Surfer".  To be honest, I am not one who is typically interested in Christian movies.  I tend to think the cinematography can be cheesy.

I heard that this movie was going to be different and I decided that I needed to go see it and have some students come with.  Last night I went and saw this movie with a few students and a few leaders and I have to say that I was amazed at how good this movie was!  Now I have to share that the story touched home for me and there were times that I couldn't help but think: "What if something like that happened to one of my little girls?"

The movie has the theme that I love to see: Don't quit!

Hopefully you have heard Bethany's story and how she was bit by a shark and lost her arm.  I am so impressed at this girl and how she continues to battle in life without quitting because most people would have.  Bethany looses her arm and continues to surf.  The movie does well at portraying the pain that she would have to endure with the loss of her love of surfing and how to get that back.

I appreciate how they show that Bethany questioned her faith, and God, in this movie.  I think its more normal than not to question your faith in a situation like this one and I appreciate that the producer added this into the movie.  Every single one of us is going to have pain and suffering in our life; the question is what will you do with that pain?  Bethany chose to not quit surfing and now she is a pro!  I would definitely recommend that you go see this movie and her Bethany's story.

People of the Lie: Book Review

Book: People of the Lie

Author: M. Scott Peck, M.D.

Pages: 269

Publisher: Touchstone 1983

Favorite Quote: “If we seriously think about it, it probably makes more sense to assume this is a naturally evil world that has somehow been mysteriously “contaminated” by goodness, rather then the other way around.”

People of the Lie is another required text for the course I am currently completing for seminary titled: "Suffering and Healing".  Now the course has rocked me and this book really hit me hard in a few places. Peck became a Christian later in life but has been a counselor for most of his professional career.  Peck shares some of the cases that he has encountered in his years of counseling and I have to say that some of them are difficult to read.

Essentially Peck outlines how we live in a world that has been effected with evil and because of that it is so important for us, Christians, to live out our faith.  Peck shares stories about how people are partners in evil.  There is an account of parents who treat their child in a manipulative way.  There is a female who has multiple issues that lead her to have inappropriate thoughts toward Peck and the list goes on.

If you have some time and you want to be stretched in your thinking then I totally recommend this book. If you can be sensitive to the pain that we encounter in life and that is tough for you to handle then I would encourage you to read this book and face that pain head on.  The book will stretch your thinking but hopefully make you aware to what you encounter and the evil that lies behind that.

Guest Host for Announcements: Barak Obama

This week in our High School Ministry we brought in a guest to share what is going on.  Now most people may be thinking: "How did you afford to get the president to come help out?  Wasn't that expensive?"

To be honest in our ministry we live by the principle: "Nothing is too costly when you have a message to communicate" and that is why we asked Barak Obama to come share the weekly announcements:



Now with all joking aside it was fairly easy to make this happen but it took a few keys things to do it:

1) An intern who can make people laugh (if you don't have an intern you can always ask a student)

2) A video that we jacked from youtube using keepvid

3) Once the video is downloaded to your machine we simply dropped it into iMovie and used the voice recorded in there to communicate what we needed to say

4) Now take a break, play some video games, and export it to a quicktime file and you are ready to roll!

Thank you Obama for caring about our country and sharing the weekly announcements; our students loved it!

The Wounded Healer: Book Review

Book: The Wounded Healer

Author: Henri Nouwen

Pages: 109

Publisher: Image Doubleday

Favorite Quote: It is a painful fact indeed to realize how poorly prepared most Christian leaders prove to be when they are invited to be spiritual leaders in the true sense.

The Wounded Healer is a book that I recently read for Tozer Seminary.  I had heard great things about Nouwen prior to reading this book and am able to confirm what I have heard.  Nouwen is a brilliant man!

The overall subject of the book can be summarized in this quote from the book on page 78: "Who can take away suffering without entering it?"  In this book Nouwen encourages the reader to be a "Wounded Healer" meaning that we understand that we are not perfect people.  In fact I think it would be the opposite; that we are all wounded but some of us have chosen to initiate healing in our lives while others haven't.  Those who desire healing need to be wounded healers that are mending their own wounds while being aware of where God would like them to help heal others at the same time.

The book brings up some great examples, and illustrations, that can help those of us who desire to see life change happen in others.  I am going to recommend this book to others to read but I have to give you a waring.  If you read this book you are going to be stretched in your thinking and challenged in how you live your life from this point on.

9th Annual Student Ministry Garage Sale

Last weekend we had our 9th annual student ministry garage sale.
This was the 7th garage sale that I have been involved in at our church.  When I was first informed about the garage sale I was a bit skeptical and curious about how this would work.  The basic concept is that we ask members in the church, and people in the community, to donate their gently used items to our garage sale.  We get a place to store these items for about four weeks prior to the sale.  The week of the sale is just all garage sale; picking up large donations, setting up the sale, selling items and then cleaning up our church.

This year was a tough year for me in the garage sale.  To be honest; garage sales are not my "thing" but I know the value of this sale and how much we can make for camp (last year we made just around $12,000).  See every penny that we raise from the garage sale helps to send our students to summer camp and that is important for our ministry.  This year I was discouraged for two reasons:
1) I felt like we had less "high ticket items"
2) I knew we were going to make less than the previous year

When it was all said and done we have made over $7500 to help sends students to camp so far!  I may have times that I get discouraged but I need to remember that God knows all our needs.  I have to trust, and pray, that God will bring in all the money for students to go to camp.  I also get encouraged because I was able to spend hours with students selling stuff, picking up items and cleaning up the church.  I had extra time to spend with our team and hang out with new people from our church.  I also get to see this amazing family in our church (Kevin and Nancy Rock) do what they love and help lead this sale!

I may have had a discouragement about some of the sale but overall I am thankful for the amount of money we raised and how much time I was able to spend with students.

Empowering Students to Lead

Not just letting them lead...
Empowering Students to Lead!

There is a verse in the Bible that I was taught as a young Christian.  In  Bible college I learned that my role as a pastor is to NOT do all the ministry on my own.  Don't beleive me?  Then read this:

"Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ."  Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT)

Here are some thoughts I have learned from empowering students:

* It tends to be better when students lead
Don't get me wrong, we have failed by letting students lead but when we empower students to lead it tends to turn out better!  A junior in high school: organized this dance, got the team together to learn the dance, had the team there on time to run through the dance and they preformed it as an opener to our ministry night.  I love empowering students to lead!  Honestly the only thing I did for the dance was ask her to lead it and then check in with her, weekly, before the dance.

* Students feel more buy in
We currently have an amazing student leadership team in our high school ministry and on that team we have a young lady who loves to dance!  Now, not only does she love to dance she is really good at dancing.  A few months ago I asked her if she could choreograph a dance to open up our ministry night and she killed it!  We decided to do it again and this time we filmed it (Watch it here).  There is some huge buy in when you empower students to lead.

* More students are involved
For this particular instance we had a few students involved who may not have found another way to get involved in the weekly program (other than inviting a friend).  This gave them a cool way to invite their friends to watch them dance/sing.  I love it when we get more students involved and help them to have more investment in the ministry.

How are you empowering students to lead?

The "S" Word

In our High School Ministry we just wrapped up a three week series that I called: The "S" Word.  I have been convicted that we touch on sin in our ministry but we have never taken some time to really define sin and help students understand the consequences of sin.  The goal of the series was to teach students about what sin is, show it found in the Bible and then help them find forgiveness for their sins.  On top of that I want students to know what sin is so they can see it coming in their life and have some ideas of how to avoid it.

Here is how the series broke down:

Week One
I opened the series up some of my stupid choices in life and how those have impacted my relationship with God.  That night we looked at Genesis chapter three and the story with Adam and Eve.  I talked about how Adam and Eve had this amazing relationship with God and then one day that was interrupted.  The main point that I shared that night was how sin causes separation from our relationship with God.

Week Two
For week two of the message one of our middle school leaders, Evan Faircloth, taught on Samson.  He shared about how the choices that Samson made and how his disobedience to God lead to his demise.  The main point that Evan communicated was to let students know that they will never be stronger than any sin; only God is.

Week Three
This week we did something we have never done.  While I was laying in bed one night I came up with the idea to record the message, at a coffee shop, and show it for the final night.  The goal was to answer three questions that most students have about sin.  So I started live on stage and then we went to a 29 minute message that was recorded (I will put that up soon).  I ended the night with our need to listen to the Holy Spirit to avoid sin.

Overall I am glad we did the series.  I think it helps students understand sin and have more of a definition of it, areas in scripture to look at it and how to avoid it in their life.  Here is the bumper video we showed between worship and message.

iPad 2: Our First Touch

This weekend we took a trip down to Town Square.  The plan was that Charity and Leah would go to Old Navy and exchange some clothes for the girls while Sophie and I went to the Apple Store.  Sophie and I wanted to get our hands on the Apple iPad 2 and see what it had to offer.

When I first saw the iPad 2 I was very impressed with it!  I was one of the people who watched the live blog on CNET about it and then the first day it released I called my apple rep and bought one... The tough thing about that is that I bought at 3pm and have to wait 2-3 weeks for it to ship.  So while Sophie and I were there we decided to check it out.  Sophie got more hands on time with the iPad than I did but it was cool to see her playing with it.  I was watching her interact with it and it amazed me at how comfortable she was with it.  It seemed like she instinctively knew that she could open certain games and then she would play them.

There were a few times I was in shock at how easy Sophie could play on it!  We went on youtube and even watched the trailer for Tangled (we are totally buying it when it comes out).  Here are the three main reasons that I bought the iPad 2:

1) Convenience in Traveling
It seems that I have been traveling a bit more lately; especially this year.  I would love to travel a bit lighter and have not have to bring my Macbook along with me.  The iPad is going to make that happen.  I can travel and have access to the internet, type out notes, and Face Time with the girls.

2) Family Learning/Movies
We have a family trip coming up in May.  I envision this trip us not taking a laptop.  We will take the iPad and be able to watch movies on the plane (I love the 10 hour battery life).  We will have access the to internet, be able to take pictures and just have some fun with the iPad in downtime.  Sophie can practice letters, numbers and play her matching game.

3) Ministry
Now I know this could sound weird but I see the iPad helping me in ministry.  I plan on getting to a place where I teach from the iPad.  Its going to save me paper (I manuscript all my messages) and my Bible software has an app!  I plan on using it in small group to look up questions that come up.  I plan on using it in meetings where I can just have something to take notes, be online or show a quick video that we may be looking for.

I'm really excited for my iPad to arrive at my house and see if what I think I will use it for is really what we will use it for!

Little Readers

I don't really remember loving to read when I was a child; I don't really love to read right now but I know that reading helps me grow and learn.  The other afternoon Charity was out and I put Leah in Sophie's bed to hang out for a minute.  Sophie started reading to Leah and it was too cute to pass up!

I'm so thankful that our girls get along so well right now!

Our Small Group

This year is a first for me in small groups.

For most of my life leading small groups I have been the sole leader of the group.  The burden has fallen on me to make the contacts, plan the events, choose the curriculum, line up the house, meet with the guys, pray for the guys and much more.

This year though I decided to change that and let me share what brought about that change.  See one year ago our second daughter was born.  I took some time off when Leah Joy was born and that meant that my small group wasn't going to meet during that time.  After that month off it just hit me that there has to be a better way to do this.  I thought about it, prayed about it and talked with other high school pastors about it.  All those conversations lead to the current plan we have for our small group setting now; Our Small Group.

Yep, Our Small Group

I just got home from our small group.  Another leader and I are teaming up this semester to lead our small group and its going great!  He is the freshman leader and I am the sophomore leader but its our small group.  We all meet together in one house.  We eat dinner together then jump on the couch, or sit on the floor, and open the Bible together.  Right now we are studying the Beatitudes, a small group study from Simply Youth Ministry.  

We meet together as a group and its really cool to see all the guys connect and interact with each other.  I love seeing the guys open their Bibles and asking questions.  I love leading with Mikey McComb and watching him teach (he definitely hit a home run tonight).  Then after the study we break into smaller groups (freshman and sophomore) where we pray for each other and give guys a chance to confess any sins they are struggling with.

If you are leading a group on your own I am more convinced now that it is a good idea for you to find someone to share that experience with.

Live Like a Banker

The other day I was having lunch with a friend, and ministry partner, here in Vegas.  As we were talking he brought up a principle that I have neglected thinking about recently.  As we were talking my friend reminded me to live like a banker.  I was confused for a minute and then the flashes in my mind became reality.  I became convicted because recently I have forgotten to live out a principle that I had done fairly well earlier in life (now at this point I could give you the list of my failures and reasons for not applying it but that is not the point of this post).  The point of this post is to talk about living like a banker.

See in every relationship we have a "bank account" with that person.  Now when you first start the relationship there is little room for withdrawals and most of the interactions, if you want to keep the relationship healthy, need to be deposits.  Deposits are normally in the form of; encouragement, gifts, acts of service or affirmation (but are not limited to these areas).  Maybe you have helped the person out when they got a flat tire and this got you a huge deposit in the account; think of things like this.

As time goes on and your bank account with that person increases you can now make withdrawals in that relationship.  Withdrawals can come in the form of asking for help when you find yourself in a tough spot.  They can be talking to the person about a difficult subject where you see the person could grow.  A withdrawal could be calling the person out when they have blatant sin in their life and no one else has the guts to tell them.  Withdrawals come in many forms.

There are some relationships you have in life that are constantly close to empty because the exchange is constant.  There are some relationships that you have that are thriving because you both make deposits into the others life and if there happens to be a withdrawals here or there it is not detrimental to the relationship.  There are some relationships we tolerate in life just because we work with the person, see them regularly or have to interact.   There are some relationships in life where you had to close the account because there is nothing left to keep the relationship going.

What is going on in your relational banking right now?  Do you have some accounts that you have neglected that need to get a deposit in them immediately so you can keep it open?  Do you have some accounts that are overdrawn and you need to ask for forgiveness because you have not managed the account well?  Do you have some accounts where you have the freedom to make a withdrawal that will help the other person?  Are you living life like a banker right now or just a person who is only thinking about their personal needs and gain?

Friday Family Day

Today is Friday and for the most part that means family day (besides the homework I am taking a break from right now).  Last month, February, was crazy for my family.  I was out of town for almost half the month and that means that I have been missing my family.  Today I tried to get us back in the swing of what the "normal" in our life used to be.

Early this morning Sophie and I got up and went to Krispy Kreeme where we had our fill of doughnuts and hot chocolate.  Getting doughnuts has been a cool way for Sophie and I to connect and get some one on one time with each other.  Charity puts Leah down for a nap and it allows her some moments of quite in the house.  This morning Sophie threw down!  She didn't eat her normal doughnut but ate two!  We meet a super kind Christian who got Sophie her second doughnut.

After doughnuts we stopped at the store to get Charity some flowers and headed home.  Once we got home we packed the girls in the car and headed out to Lake Mead to feed the ducks, fish, birds and seagulls (there are a lot of animals out there).  Loving our new iPhones because I can record HD videos on them and upload it straight to youtube so you can watch Sophie sharing her bread with the ducks!

Top 4 from Middle School Winter Camp

I know that there are "top X" lists all over the place but this one is going to be special to me.  See in October 2006 our church hired Chase Feindel to lead Ignite; our middle school ministry.  That year was a super tough year for me in ministry and it was nice to pass Ignite off to Chase, actually its realistic to say that I dumped it on him because I was done.  In 2007 Chase ran his first winter camp to Big Bear Lake and did really good with the poor planning and lame set-up that I had done.  I have to randomly include this picture of the coldest temp while were up there.

Well after leading a few more camps on his Chase has totally turned the wheel and done some amazing ministry.  This year was a treat for me to be invited to speak at our middle school winter camp up at Pine Summit in Big Bear Lake.  As I watched, engaged and spoke this weekend here are four things that really stuck out to me:

1) Our church has a great Middle School Pastor
Please notice that I did not say "good" middle school pastor.  Chase has grown into a great middle school pastor and I truly believe that he will continue to grow in his leadership.  I am starting with this because of how I see Chase lead students and his adult leader team.  There is a huge love for Chase in his ministry and I know that he desires to point these students to Christ; that is one thing that makes him great.

2) Adult Leaders who Lead
In our church we call our adults who help out leaders.  We do not have chaperones in our ministry.  Chase has a team of leaders who serve alongside him that are leaders.  Chase is actively training up new leaders and inviting leaders onto the team to lead students.  I loved watching this this weekend and just seeing leaders doing what God has called them to do.

3) God Sending Snow
I have been on so many winter camps that I cannot even count how many I have been on now.  This was my third winter camp this year (I lead one and spoke at another one prior to this) and it was so rad having God send snow!  It snowed about 18-24 inches while we were up there and it just made for a cool weekend.  Anytime you can take a bunch of kids from the desert and get them fresh snow its super cool.

4) Speaking to Our Church
It was so rad for me speaking to our middle school students and the leadership team.  See when I came out here over six years ago we had 8 students on my first night; there were many more than that this weekend.  I felt very strongly that I needed to communicate the message clearly to our students this weekend because I will have these students in my ministry in the coming year.  I felt like I had a chance to share with these students about what they can expect in their coming years at South Hills.

Ignite Winter Camp 2011 Saturday Overview

This morning I woke up at 3:40am when Leah started crying
I moved to the couch around 4:20am when Leah came into our bed
I woke up around 6am when my mom came into the living room and opened the windows

I was so thrashed tire this morning when I rolled up to camp but it is so cool to see God moving up here.  I am so proud of our middle school team right now and tomorrow I'm going to post about my top 4 favorite things from winter camp.  This morning I spoke about finding our identity in Christ and helping students move from listening to the world to listening to God.  You gotta watch this video and see how the road conditions were when I drove to camp and how much snow we got last night.



After chapel I went home and played in the snow with the girls for a little while, spent some time with my family and then had a yummy dinner.  I headed back to Pine Summit for Saturday night chapel and God showed up.  I prayed that God would help students to leave here with understanding His truth and not my stories.  Tonight was decision night and I shared my favorite story from Mark 10; the story of Blind Bartimaeus.  I challenged the students pretty hard tonight because I go to the same church they do and I was convicted to not make it easy to accept Christ.  I know that salvation is free for us; but it was costly for Jesus.  I know its easy to raise your hand; but its tough to live for Christ.

My prayer is that these students grow this weekend and radically live for Christ

Love Story Overview

Last night we finished up teaching our "Love Story" series.  We are like most student ministry programs take the month of February to teach about love or purity; this year it fell on love for us.  The main goal that I wanted to communicate through this teaching series was to look at the different aspects of Love that we encounter in society.  We decided that the best way to do this would be to start out by looking at how God loves us and cares for us; that seemed to simple so I took it one step further.

Here is how the series broke out:

Week 1: The Joy of Being Loved
This week instead of talking about love and being kind of generic; I chose to talk about finding our identity in Christ.  The main point from the night was "Through forgiveness and acceptance I begin to find my true identity in Christ".  This point came from teaching about the sinful woman who fell at the feet of Jesus crying and found out how loved she was by Jesus.

Week 2: Protecting the Goldfish
I started off this week sharing my story of failure in my sexual purity and how I made one really bad choice that lead to other bad choices in my life.  Talked about how King David made one really bad choice and how that lead to other bad choices in his life; how sin tends to take us downward in a spiral.  I ended the message with an illustration about how the world is like a blender and we are a goldfish.

Week 3: Life is about Who you Love
This was a super cool message because one of our adult leaders taught the night while I was away at seminary.  Mikey McComb shared from 1st John about love and how we need to engage culture by loving it.  Mikey brought it that night and talked about how our love needs to flow from God.

Week 4: The Difference Between Pink and Blue
The last week of the message series had to be my favorite week for a few reasons.  One of our graduated students came home and has joined our Adult Leader Team.  She jumped in for this message and we team taught the message sharing about differences that guys and girls face but how we are all called to seek out God.

Overall, I was very impressed with the series and how it turned out.  For week two of the series our student leaders took the time to deck out our room and created an amazing environment for students.  We did what we call "Invite Night" and the room was packed; it felt good!  Better than all the students was seeing our students take their time to reach out to their friends.  Watch this video to see a quick overview of the night.

Leah's Got Style

I can't believe that in less than one month Leah is going to be one year old!

Well the funny thing about Leah is that she likes to do it her way and the girl has style!  Most kids crawl, and then walk; but not Leah.  Leah thought that she needed to add another step into the system.  So if you want to take 30 seconds out of your life and have a good laugh you can see how Leah walks... on her knees.

I have never seen this before but it makes me smile watching my little Leah grow up

Top 10 things to do in Vegas

This week I was catching a flight home and found myself talking with those around me about what to do in Vegas.  Since we have lived here for the last six years I decided to come up with this list of my top ten things to do while you are in Vegas.

1. Fountains at Bellagio
This has to be my favorite thing that Charity and I do here in town.  Its free so all you have to do is get down to the strip!  We always park Valet and just tip the guys a few bucks when we pick up our car.  The fountains run regularly every 15 minutes.  They play various songs and I have noticed that over the years they keep adding songs to the list. Cost= Free

2. Jean Philippe Cafe
While you are down on the strip and heading to the fountains, make a stop inside the Bellagio.  Charity and I like to go in there and share a crape.  We usually get one with nutella and raspberries on top.  This is a must while you are in town and in love! Cost= $15

3. The Shark Reef
If you have an hour or so to kill and want to just relax a take a stroll while looking at some super cool fish then stop in at the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.  We have gone here with friends, family and I loved it when we took our daughter.  The experience is not too long but its a great thing to get away from the slots while you are here.  Cost= $15 per person

4. Viva Elvis
We have seen about five shows since we moved here and this one was my favorite that we have seen.  Now don't get me wrong; KA, Celine Dion, and Blue Man Group (close second) are amazing but this was my favorite.  Viva Elvis combines dance, music and some sweet acrobatics into a tantalizing show.  Cost= Depends where you sit

5. Mona Mi Gabi
This is the restaurant that is directly under the Eiffel Tower at the Paris.  You can get reservations but don't.  If the weather is nice you want to sit on the patio.  The patio is on the strip and you sit directly across from the Fountains at Bellagio.  The food is great but not too expensive.  This is a great date for a couple that wants to have fun but not break the bank.  Cost= $60 for a couple

6. Indoor Skydiving
Its technically called: "Vegas Indoor Skydiving". This is pretty random on the list but I loved it!  I have been once and would love to go more often.  Its kinda like skydiving but less expensive.  Its a trill, something you will never forget, close to your hotel and not super expensive. Cost= $70 per person

7. Secret Garden at The Mirage
The Secret Garden at the Mirage is a cool exhibit that Charity and I visited about 4 years ago.  They have dolphins, tigers, and many other animals to look at.  The cost was worth the visit but I don't think that it is worth a re-visit that often.  I still want to take my daughters there.  Cost $15 per person

8. Visit Lake Mead
Lake Mead is slowly depleting but it remains one of my favorite attractions in Las Vegas.  While you are there you can hit the Hoover Dam tour, rent a boat, take out Jet Ski's, or catch a meal on a river boat. I personally like to bring a loaf of bread out there and just feed the fish and ducks with my family.  Cost= $5 per car

9. Canal Ride at Venetian
Maybe you don't have the time, or money, to head over to Venice and take ride on a Gondola but you can do that here in Vegas!  Head down to the Venetian and take a ride on the grand canal.  Charity and I have done this one a few times.  You can charter your own Gondola or if funds are tight you can jump in with some others.  The ride is totally worth it no matter what road you take.  Cost= $15 per person or $60 for your own boat

10. Take a ride on the Stratosphere
This one is for the trill seeker.  I only venture down here when some of my friends from back home head into town.  They drag me down and we usually ride the big shot that is on top; its not the only ride though you have many to choose from.  The cost on this will vary so check the website and get ready to pee your pants!

You may not have a local in town that you can talk to about what to do while you are in Vegas so here is my list.  You may find something that needs to be on here; just let me know and maybe I will add it.

10 Days with the Verizon iPhone

Originally I wanted to title this post: "7 days with the Verizon iPhone" but I had seminary all week so I am stretching it out a few more days.  Now just to make it clear; I am no tech review guy; I am just a normal guy who has waited for Verizon to finally get the iPhone.  There was one point we mentioned going to AT&T but I just couldn't see going to a lesser network for a better phone.

On February 3rd 2011 I was one of the millions of people who ordered the Verizon iPhone.  Not only did I order one for myself but I also ordered one for my wife.  Now I didn't get on at 3am in the morning but I did order them around 7am.  When I ordered them I was under the impression that they would not be mailed out until February 10th.  I figured we would get them right after I left for school and then I would have to wait a week to use it; but that didn't happen.  I got a tracking number the next day telling me my iPhone was on its way!

So after having the Verizon iPhone here are some of my thoughts:

Set-up: The set-up of these phones was super easy.  We just plugged them into our Macbooks and boom! It set it all up for me.

Battery LIfe:  This is something that is important for my life.  I have been up all day today.  I was in class.  I checked email, texted people, checked email, played a game, checked in for my flight, called my wife and even did some FaceTime with her.  I still have over 50% of my battery.

FaceTime: I love FaceTime.  Its great to be able to talk to my family face to face while I am away at work or out of town.  Its nice to be able to call them up and see how they are doing.  The bummer on this is that you have to be connected to WI-FI to make it happen.

Apps: I am not that huge of an app guy.  I actually had a student I work with grab my phone and flip through it.  I could see she was disappointed at my lack of apps.  I do have apps that work for me.  I have Twitter, Southwest Airlines, some games and then a few more apps.  I am satisfied with the apps and how they work.

Calls: The reason I didn't get the AT&T iPhone is due to the massive issue of dropped calls.  I have to say that I have not dropped one call.  This phone has great reception.  There was one instance where I had mediocre service but I could still hear just fine.

Camera: The camera on this phone is so rad!  All the pics on this post are from the camera on here.  It has great picture quality and the video capability is top notch also.  If you want to see video quality, I posted a video here on youtube.

Email/Calendar: I am weird on this.  I want my gmail but I don't want my work email.  I want my work calendar but I don't want my gmail calendar.  I can have all that.  It was very easy to set up to get my personal email but not my personal calendar.  I set up my work calendar but told it not to sync work email.  Very easy!

Overall: I love the phone!  I am one of the many Verizon customers that didn't switch and I am very thankful for that choice.  I am glad that I waited for the iPhone to come to me.  Overall I am a satisfied customer.

Eleven Years of Being Sober

Today is not a special day for me because of Hallmark or the present that I bought the love of my life.  Today is a special day to me because eleven years ago, this morning, is the last time I went to jail.

You may think that sounds funny... and to be honest it does.  February 13th 2000 is the last time I was arrested.  That night when I went to Vista County Jail I was sure that I was going to serve a one year sentence for violating my probation.  That night in jail, though, something different happened.  I specifically remember looking around the jail and questioning the choices I had made to get to this point in life.  I often wondered what had gotten me here and understood that it was a series of unwise decisions.

As the night wore on and I began more uneasy about staying in jail I did something that I hadn't done in a while; I prayed.  I started talking to God like He was real.  I started telling God all my unwise choices and how sorry I was for them.  I started telling God that I was sick of the life I have created for myself (I think He was sick of it too).  That night I asked God to do something for me.  I asked God if He would get me out of jail that I would quit everything and do whatever He wanted in my life (be careful when you say that).

I did the normal rounds in the jail: I went from cell to cell.  I got fingerprinted.  I got my mug shots again.  I made a phone call to my old youth leader.  As morning came around, and the alcohol wore off, I went to the last station.  This is where I was prepared to get my orange jumpsuit, again, and head down to county.  At this window came a pleasant surprise.  When I got there the lady at the window handed me all my belongings and told me this: "The bailiff will be around in 5 minutes to let you out.  Head over to that cell."

I thought it was a dream
I didn't know what to say
I was silenced
I did what she said and sure enough the bailiff came over and released me

That morning was the first time, in a long time, in my life that I thought God was real.  Well from that day I knew that I had to keep my promise to God.  He got me out and it was my turn to quit everything that I had been doing.  That week I stopped drinking and quit doing cocaine.  I didn't smoke anymore pot and to be honest it was one of the toughest weeks of my life.  Some people may think this is a tough story and it is but if I didn't get arrested that night I truly think that I would have died years ago from something drug related.

Today I celebrate new life
Today I celebrate having an amazing wife
Today I celebrate two little girls that love their dad
But most important today I celebrate a God who loved me so much that He released me from the jail I created for myself and pointed my feet on a road that leads to Him.
Thank you for loving me Lord; I need you just as much today as I did eleven years ago!