Face(book) Time Does Matter!

This Facebook thing is getting interesting. I have to admit, it's a bit addicting. Even though I only have four friends. I must have hit the big time however (I'm going to name drop...prepare yourself) because the Simply Strategic guy himself, Tony Morgan asked me to join his friends list.

Did he possibly hit the wrong button? Or a bad case of the gas cause him to relate that smell to me? Why Tony? Why?

Nevertheless, I am cranking on Facebook. Feel free to contact me if you want to be on the infamous friends list.

Now I need your help. I am in search of the best add-ons for Facebook. What are the top apps that you use? What are the apps to avoid?

Laughter: the Best Medicine?

Anyone that knows me will agree that I'm a practical joker. I especially like those "one-liners" - you know, the kind that make people groan out loud, but really they think it's incredibly funny...they just don't want to show it - it might encourage you.

Our church staff crack each other up on a weekly basis. Actually, it's more like daily. While we work as hard and as serious as anybody else, we also like to let our hair down and party awhile. Laughter can often be the best medicine. Check out this post on laughter and the church.

It reminded me of Disney's film "Monsters, Inc." Whether they knew it or not, the Disney folks are really imitating God. The monsters tried to get energy from scaring people - bottling up their fear. But in the end (spoiler alert!) they found that laughter blew the roof of the energy meter! Laughter made their world go round!

Churches have found themselves in those two camps as well. Camp One - the church that is made up of the "glass half empty" folks. They try to control everything and fear is their greatest weapon. If you're having a good time at church, then there must be sin in your heart (or as the popular song says, "if there's hair on your ears, there's sin in your heart...or something like that).

The other camp? The church that worships God for who He is - a loving and FUN God. God has a sense of humor!! Don't believe me? Observe people. They're hilarious (names withheld to protect the innocent...er, guilty?)! Why can't we serve and worship God and enjoy it at the same time? I think that's the essence of how God has created us!

Which camp do you find yourself in? How do you worship God? In fear? Or with the sounds of laughter in your heart?

Opening Pandora's Box

I've mentioned several online radio type sites in the past, but there's a new site out called "Pandora Radio" that has a very slick interface and intuitive features. Click here to try it out.

You can set up different "stations" based upon the type of music and/or artist you like to listen to and Pandora will find similar artist that you might like. You can then select whether you like the tune or not and it will adjust your "station" accordingly. A very cool and effective way to listen to music online.

Free registration will allow you to listen as long as you would like . Check it out and let me know your favorite stations.

[site from this guy via this guy]

MO Youth Honor Choir

I'm hanging out in Jefferson City, MO with my son and four other boys who made the MCDA Honor Choir. We had a great time yesterday, with stops at the outlet mall, our hotel and then all 24 of us from Fredericktown who asked to be seated together at Applebee's! And guess what...they did it!

The guys are in rehearsal all day today, with a performance this evening at 7pm. Then we'll be on the road back home!

Facebook Anyone?

So I've now created a Facebook page. I'm not sure really what to do with it, but here's my profile. If anyone wants to add me as a friend let me know. Where will this crazy technology lead? Who knows...

UPDATE: I now have one friend...and his name is Steve.

Back In the Day...

This should be fun...

Check out these pics and these pics by this guy...

Those were the days!

Weekend Wrap Up

• Speaking at Meadow Heights this weekend was incredible!! I love our team and volunteers - they are top notch!


• Handing out duct tape to 450 people can be a challenge!


• The videos for this weekend made a huge difference - thanks to Jeremy, Jeremiah and Elaine for their contribution.


• Having my wife pull me aside and pray for me before the first gathering on Saturday night left me speechless. I must be the luckiest husband alive!!


• Seeing Steve Osborne today made my entire weekend - this guy is the real deal and we miss him!


• We had tons of guests today! Summer tends to bring a lot of guests or just people who are checking things out.


• I had a great time with some friends on a quick trip to St. Louis this afternoon. We went to check on a friend in the hospital. Along the way we took a detour to deliver clothes, nearly had an accident, made another detour for a different accident, stopped for "extra" gas, saw an incredible hospital garden area, laughed a lot, and had my first meal at "Red Robin!"


• I still don't have our pool up and running. It's now officially a race - will the pool be up and running or will the summer end? My wife assures me that the pool WILL be up and running! :)


• I'll be working on my day off tomorrow so that I can travel to Jeff City on Tuesday and Wednesday to chaperon my son and two other boys. They auditioned and were selected for the MO Youth Honors Choir. I'm proud of you Seth!


• I saw an iPhone live and in action today. I have been downplaying the phone and telling myself that I wouldn't want one. Hmmm...now I want one! Jealousy is clinging to my soul! Good thing we'll be talking about that next weekend!

Show and Tell

It's approaching noon on Saturday and I just finished up the message for this weekend. I normally get pumped up for the weekend, but for some reason I am really stoked about this message. It's foundational to what God has commanded us to do - "to love Him and love others."

St. Francis of Assisi shared some wise words:

"Preach the Gospel...and if necessary, use words."

Would people know you are a follower of Jesus simply by what you do? Notice the word "do." Too many times we fall into the trap of "telling" people what it means to follow Jesus. God says to "go and tell" but not only that, I think he's commanding us to "show and tell!" Brings us all the way back to kindergarten doesn't it!!

It's time to stop, reach out and help! Kindness is love in action!

Trekking the Trail

It's been a long night (after a long day). Our four year old has been up every 30-45 minutes violently vomiting!! Melissa finally went to bed at 2am leaving me to trek the throw-up trail. Mac talked last week about how we'll sit with our kids when their sick - not because we want to, but because we love them. How true that is!

Here are some posts that have struck me in my sleep-deprived state:

Slowing Down - This gal writes on the busyness of life - this has to affect every single person I know!

2:00 In the Morning Lessons From God - this guy writes about how we cry and whine sometimes. Maybe I related due to the title?

Slow Food - this wikipedia entry talks about eating slow. I don't like to eat slow. I didn't even know there was a "movement" for this! I eat fast for my own movement! :)

Whatever It Takes!

It was a busy day again today (surprise anyone?). Jeremy, Jeremiah and I shot a video for this weekend's message - @ 6:30 this morning!! YIKES! You know what I love about those guys? The fact that they will do whatever it takes to make an impact in our community. Even if that means getting up at the crack of dawn to shoot a video!! I love those guys!

Mac said it last week - don't miss this weekend at Meadow Heights Church - it just might be one of the most important messages in this series! I've been praying all week that God will show up and that people will "get it." Not just agree with God's truth but truly be impacted in their hearts and souls by what He has to say. It's that important.

We'll also be launching the "Summer of Love Blog" this weekend. It will be a great way to share your thoughts on this weekend's message and what God is saying to you during this series. I'll post the link as soon as we go live.

It's Movie Day!!

It's a Goldsmith Family tradition that we always go and see each Harry Potter movie the day it comes out. Today is that day. I had never even read a single page the first time my kids talked me into going to the show. But as an avid film buff, I enjoyed it tremendously!

This evening we'll embark on another chapter of the Harry Potter viewing saga - sans my oldest, Kayla. Never fear, she caught the 12:01am showing in Orlando, and thus became the first of the Goldsmith's to see this movie.

Butt Paste????

This guy cracks me up. See his latest post on "Butt Paste" - I'm sure you'll crack a smile!

I've Got Big Buzz...

There's still a lot of "buzz" out there about the iPhone. With over one million proud new owners, the iPhone is THE hot ticket today. Mass hysteria? Worth the hype? One thing is for sure - people are talking about it and the BUZZ IS HUGE!!

How does this relate to the church? Check out this post by Perry Noble. Some great insights!

Where's Your Hiding Place?

I rarely have a total "holy hangover," but today I am dog tired!! It's been a long past four days - the visual arts for our new series "Summer of Love" kicked our tails, but it looks great. Thanks again to the team for the incredible transformation.

It was also difficult to come into this weekend mentally prepared after our Worship Concert 2007. Our lead pastor, Bryan, made a great point during our Creative Arts Team meeting last weekend. He noticed that while our team brings it every weekend, during the Music Concert we brought it on steroids. His point was this - why can't we bring it on steroids every weekend? That's a great point.

It's not so much that we have to be bigger and better every week (Or maybe it is? See this post), but God does ask us to bring our best. If we come into the weekend with a mindset of "it's just another weekend," then we probably aren't going to be bringing our best. Jeremiah nailed it on the head when he set up the song "Unashamed Love" this weekend - quiet our minds and find a hiding place. Yesterday is gone, but today is here. Worship Him every day because He is worthy.

To quote a recent theme, what are you going to do with the "here and now?"

You're calling me to lay aside the worries of my day
To quiet down my busy mind and find a hiding place
Worthy, Worthy

Buzz Audio

Mark Batterson and the peeps over at National Community Church have released the audio files from "Buzz Conference '07." You can download the files here. Videos will be released in the near future.

I HIGHLY recommend downloading these files - they will rock your world!!

Summer of Love

We're getting ready to launch a new series at Meadow Heights Church this weekend. Don't miss the opening weekend - you'll be amazed at the transformation of our auditorium!! Our visual arts crew have been working overtime getting this one ready.

This series focuses on one thing - LOVE. There are many trite phrases and cliches with the word love, but if we go to THE source on love we find this:


And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

We think this is so important that God wants us to talk about it for the next eight weeks. But don't think it will be boring - we hope God will radically turn you upside down with a fresh look at this concept. We'll be providing lots of tools for you, great music as always, and some incredibly practical challenges for your daily life. Don't miss it!

Let's start with this: go to this post and think about the article in terms of love, lost people and the church. Then come back, leave a comment and let's start a discussion about how we can change the world!

Animated Creator

We've all taken personality tests at one point or another in our lives. Well, here's another one!! It's very accurate and some new categories not found in normal tests. My results?


Click here to take the test.

Click here to see my full results.

[link via this guy]

The Burnout Bug

I think every leader has been hit by the "burnout bug" at least once - that phase of life when everything is overwhelming, nothing seems to be going as planned, creativity has stalled, and forward progress seems like a trite phrase rather than a philosophy.

It seems no one has wanted to own up to it, let alone talk about it.

There's a new book coming out by Anne Jackson entitled "Mad Church Disease (thanks to Terry for the link)." I love the title - it's creative, descriptive and definitely has the "buzz" factor. But Anne needs our help. If you are a ministry leader, a family member of a ministry leader, or a volunteer, Anne is asking all of us to take this survey. I completed the survey in less than five minutes.

I can't wait to see the results. I know others struggle with this and just maybe this book will help us all engage in a long overdue conversation.

It Is For Freedom He Set Us Free

Happy Fourth of July!! Here are some links to other comments on this holiday:

• Fireworks - Steven Furtick
• Separation of Church and State - Perry Noble
• 4th of July - Jo Hall
• Independence Day - Mark Batterson

Have a safe and Happy Fourth!!

The Life of Freedom

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

Galatians 5:1 (Msg)

MH Worship Concert 2007

WOW!! What a phenomenal weekend!

As I mentioned in the last post, we had our annual "Worship Concert" this past weekend, and the team was rockin'! We're all worn out, but God really moved and the place was electric. BIG props out to all the teams that helped pull off this event - music teams, tech team, visual arts team - you guys are top notch!

I mentioned that I would post the top 10 from the weekend, so here ya go!

We currently have 5 weekend experiences - 4 we'll call "contemporary" and then 1 "traditional" (southern gospel, etc.). Both lists are represented above. Our programming team noted that about 70% of the songs made the list for the first time. That's certainly a testament to the quality of music that was written this past year. I also noticed that a majority of the contemporary tunes were slower. It seems that more people are enjoying songs that pull at their hearts; an introspective look rather than a motivational type of song that we may have seen in the past. This also seems consistent with what we are seeing in society in terms of an increased interest in spirituality.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the top 1o selections. Feel free to comment or email me.