Fix You For Every Generation

I'm a huge Coldplay fan, and probably my favorite song of theirs is "Fix You." We performed this song at Meadow Heights awhile back, and it still ranks as one of my favorite moments. I love the lyrics to the song and the spiritual overtones it suggests.

What I didn't think about however, is the impact the song may have on different generations. Creativegeneralist.com has a great video of this song, performed by Fred Mittle and the Young at Heart Chorus. Each member of the chorus is between the ages of 73 and 92, and they perform covers of the Rolling Stones, the Clash, and many others.

You can also check out the video here.

You Say It's Your Birthday...

I just returned home from an awesome night out with my wife Melissa. Today's her birthday and she's *cough, cough* years old today. We don't often get an opportunity to get away alone except on an occasional date night (even those seem a bit sparse lately!), so tonight was a great chance to spend some quality time alone together. We had dinner at 12 West (the pizza was PHENOM!) and then spent some time wandering around Penney's, Value City, and of course Wal Mart!

I am always invigorated by the time I spend with my wife. We always have some great conversations, and she is so insightful about life and especially me. After nearly 20 years of marriage, she can read me like a book! We could truly spend hours talking with one another - sharing our thoughts, goals and dreams. Tonight we shared our plans for the year 2007. We challenged each other to get intentional and promised to hold each other accountable. I love that about my wife - she's not afraid to challenge me when I need it!

I also shared the story of the "fat man" and the "skinny man." Now this may seem odd, but those two are one and the same. I'll try and post about this at a later time, but the idea comes from the book "E-Myth Revisited" which I have been reading lately. Definitely a book every business and ministry person should read in 2007!!

I'm excited about what the future holds for our family. We'll continue to develop our relationship with God first, our marriage second, and finally, our kids. We don't always get it right, but thankfully God's grace will always take care of the rest.

Stay tuned, I have a feeling 2007 is gonna be a whopper!

Where's Bucketology?

Outreach Magazine has recently listed the "Top 20 Web Sites for Church Communicators." You can check out the entire list here. I noticed Bucketology isn't listed...a minor oversight perhaps? :)

Christmas Time Is Here!

Whew!! We just completed our two Saturday evening Christmas weekend gatherings...what a great evening with a great crowd! Of course, as expected, we had several "challenges" tonight as well. From a/c issues, to lighting issues, to song issues, to noise issues, this evening was packed full of excitement. I love referring to these as "500 pound opportunities" (a quote I stole from Mark Batterson's new book).

Despite these opportunities, overall things went very well - Bryan did a great job with the message (welcome back!) - a simple but VERY effective and creative way of presenting the Christmas story. I am pumped to see what's in store for tomorrow, as well as celebrating some Christmas activities with my own family. Merry Christmas to everyone!

For free or not for free...is that really the question?

Mark Batterson posted today that the "Chase the Lion" series they just wrapped up will be available for free via an "open" site. Lifechurch.tv has also used this approach and they have received a lot of attention and hits to their site.

The whole debate on whether churches should share their information, media, messages, etc. is still out there. What are your thoughts? Should churches share their resources with others? Give me some feedback folks!

Diggin' the Video

Digg (one of my favorite sites) has gone video. Check it out here!

Lost "Soles"

Perry Noble talks about the top 20 reasons you don't want to miss this weekend's service at New Spring Church. One of my faves is number 14 (this ones for you Jeremy!):

#14 - There will NOT BE an interpretive movement done to the song “Christmas Shoes!”

Tippin' It To My Cup O' Joe

My friend and colleague Joe is taking on some new challenges. Joe has been on staff (or as a volunteer) at Meadow Heights Church longer than I can recall. Joe has recently resigned his part-time staff position in order to pursue a higher education degree and more importantly, his family. You can read more about the new plans for his life here.

Thanks for all your years of service Joe...we'll miss ya!!

Alive?? YOU BET!!

For the one or two readers of my blog, I am still alive!! I hope to be back posting on a regular basis very soon. The holiday season has particularly eaten my lunch the past week, but I'm itchin' to write about what's going on in my life.

I spent the day shopping in Cape Girardeau. We always seem to wait until the week before Christmas to do our shopping. Why is that? I have no idea, but when we hit it, we hit it hard! Fortunately, today didn't turn out to be a horribly busy shopping day. We stopped at three or four stores, then stopped at Olive Garden for lunch (we had a gift certificate!). The food was good, but the service was horrible! We hit four more stores, then ended the day with some frozen custard (the apple pie version!) before our trip home.

I then went straight to the high school to announce the varsity girls basketball game. Once again we blew out our opponent by approximately 20 while still playing 10 deep. This team is fun to watch!

There you have it...alive and kickin'! And that was just Monday! I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds! More posting later!

Two Minutes of Fame

Last night was my daughter Emilee's first "pre-school" Christmas play. Her part lasted all of two minutes, but we had a great time. I also had the opportunity to hear Jenny Revelle - can I just say she is "stinkin' awesome!!" Jenny has attended Meadow Heights Church a few times in the past few months, but recently she has been traveling with the Lesters (who just happen to be her folks!). It was great to hear her sing, and a fitting end to a great evening!

An Enjoyable Dinner!

Saturday, my wife and I had occasion to attend the first ever Fredericktown High School Choir "Madrigal Dinner." HUGE props out to Lisa Lewis and her students for a very enjoyable dinner. We went to the luncheon performance (which, by the way, I heard had fewer "challenges" than the evening performance!), and were quite impressed with several things:

• organization - you could tell the students had prepared very well for this event
• food - for a school type dinner, the food was above average (except for the dessert - very small portions!)
• costumes - by far the best part of the dinner - you could definitely tell that many hours were spent designing and creating the costumes
• set design - from the costumes to the pictures to the instrumental performers - good concepts!
• theme interpretation - I loved how the students stayed "in character" for the performance - they used "Ye Olde English" as much as possible, we had musical performers, jesters and the works!

Again, I was very impressed with the dinner, and for a first shot at a concept that is usually very foreign to our small town, everyone enjoyed the event! I can't wait until next year!

If I Could Save Time In A Bottle...

The past few days have been a blur. Between my son's basketball games and my prep for speaking this weekend, the hours are flying by. I'll be talking about manipulative people over the weekend. Does this bring anyone to mind?

We're also getting ready for Christmas weekend. We'll be having five gatherings again this year, two on Saturday and our normal three on Sunday. Hopefully we'll be able to accommodate everyone - our last major holiday (Easter) was totally packed out. A great "challenge" to work with!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Twenty years from now you will be more
disappointed by the things you didn't do than
by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.

~Mark Twain
via Chapter 8 of Mark Batterson's book
In A Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day

10 Things I Love About My Three Year Old

1. Singing her ABC's for the twentieth time in a row.
2. Playing the "name game" with her.
3. When she's scared and comes running into my arms.
4. Her eyes - they change colors depending on her mood.
5. Pushing her on the swing.
6. Watching her giggle - and then laugh. Really laugh.
7. When she tells me her memory verse from KIDMO - with hand motions!
8. When she talks and cares for elderly people - just like her mom.
9. Watching her play with other kids - her conversations are amazing.
10. When she stops and says, "I love you daddy."

Soul Cravings

Erwin McManus has a new book entitled "Soul Cravings." The book has not been released yet, but I love this excerpt that speaks to the concept of the creative nature of God:

You are a unique creation made by God to live and not simply exist. Your soul longs to find its ultimate purpose. It will not rest until you do. Your soul craves its destiny. Your soul desires. It always will. You were created as a creative being. You were made to grow, to dream, to achieve. It is your soul letting you know you come from God and your life is intended for a God-sized, God-inspired life.

Making it...I think!

It's the most wonderful time...of they year. Or is it? It's FLU time at the Goldsmith residence. My wife has been battling the flu for about five days now - from the stomach to the cold and cough version. My youngest is three, and she had the two hour flu on Friday(you know the type..."Daddy I'm fine now!" she exclaims after vomiting what seems like three trash cans full) which reared its ugly head again this morning.

Thankfully my son and I have not felt the bug...a bit of uneasiness? Yes. Please be in prayer that our house will become virus free VERY SOON!!

A Healthy Church = A Healthy Leadership Culture

Dave Ferguson talks about his interview with Catalyst (how cool is that?) in his recent post. Catalyst is one of my favorite conferences (AND it's a cool name) and their creativity is "off the hook!"

So Dave talks about the climate at Community Christian Church and about the leadership culture they have created. What's amazing to me are the similarities between CCC and Meadow Heights Church. Community, Cause and Culture are three mantras that we live and breathe every single day. We love working together, hangin' together, sharing life together. We're all on this ride together to see lives changed. AND...all of us have come from business or education where we made a lot more money . Here' s how Dave sums it up:

But they chose to be here because there is just something attractive about being a team of high capacity leaders who love each other and love the mission.

I thank God for allowing me to be part of the "great experiment," and I thank my friends for joining me in the adventure. May our "otters" be forever untamed and the "warriors" within be fueled with an unending passion as we worship Him with abandon.

Follow Up?

Seth Godin recently posted about the difficulties of follow up. He suggests that it must be hard because not many people do it. It's hard because people approach it the wrong way:

Follow up. Not follow up to sell something, just to know. Just to ask. Just to set things right if they were wrong.

This has huge implications for the church. So many people are turned off by church because "religious" people call with an agenda. What happened to the relationship? Jesus sought after true relationships everyday. People over projects. I love how Seth closes out his post:

If you really want to generate those referrals, don't ask for a referral, ask if everything was great. Offer to help. Do it in a gentle way, with no strings, no additional addons, no sales pitch. If you really and truly care, why not ask? Not a form, not a survey. Just one caring person, asking. Not that hard, actually.

The church could learn a lesson from the corporate world. One caring person investing in the life of another. No hidden agendas. No "religion" up the sleeve. Authentic living. Now that's relationship!

No Vacancy

Three movies - watched all of them without falling asleep. Well, to be honest, I had to finish one movie the next day. All three very entertaining. One hit much harder than all the others.

Cars
My first attempt on Saturday night. I fell asleep about an hour in, but managed to finish it the next day. What can I say? Some of the best graphics I have seen in an animated movie, and with three kids, I have seen my fair share of animation. Cars was extremely enjoyable, had a great story, and an ending to bolster a great value - sometimes winning means losing. The whole family enjoyed this one.

Ice Age 2
WOW! This movie is HILARIOUS! There are SO many one-liners, it was often times hard to keep up. One disclaimer - there are a few spots in this movie that 3 year olds probably shouldn't hear. Most of the questionable content went right over my 3 year old's head, but fair warning to parents of young children. Otherwise, this movie is highly recommended for some great laughs, and the story line is decent as well (if you're in to the whole global warming thing).

Click
A great movie. One that hit me right in the gut. I was expecting a funny comedy from Adam Sandler, and he doesn't disappoint. But what I wasn't really expecting was the impacting ending of this movie. If you haven't seen this movie yet, skip to the end of this post. I'm not a big emotional type of guy. Very few movies make me cry, but this one hit me hard for some reason. By the end I was bawlin' away. It definitely hit too close to home for me. I could write an entire post on how we "fast forward" through life, but let me hit one concept here.

I had an opportunity to visit with my grandparents over Thanksgiving. They live in Kansas, so I don't get the opportunity to see them very often. It was very apparent during my visit that they are both nearing the end of their lives. Most of us go through life thinking our grandparents (and even our parents) are indestructible - they'll always be there for us. When I saw the feebleness of my grandparents showing in a tangible way, I was reminded about the frailty of life. I OFTEN TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED.

We sat for about an hour reminiscing about the past and telling lots of stories. God really spoke to me on my drive home that night. Here's what He asked me: Are you making memories or vacancies? It doesn't really matter what people SAY about you when you're gone - it's the memories of HOW you lived they will remember. Are you impacting lives or simply content to fill your own life with memories? Am I filling my kids with memories or leaving them with vacancies?

That's why Click hit me so hard. It was another reminder from God to invest in people and build memories. The BEST memories. The brain is a funny thing. It can recall specific memories based on a certain color, smell, or even a particular place. I would bet you are recalling things from your past right now. YOU have memories. But God says that we can't stop there. It's not enough to build our own memories - we have to share those with others as well. So the question is what memories will you create? Or maybe you've been creating more vacancies instead?

Take time this week to watch Click. You won't be disappointed, and I hope you'll really be challenged. I'll close this post with a few words from the classic hit "The Way We Were." I think they're worth considering:

Memories
Like the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were

Pay It Forward

Okay...so I never thought I would post anything about Oprah. Especially not TWICE. My wife was watching Oprah today (I swear it was her!) and they had a recap show about the "Pay It Forward" moments they have had since giving each member in the audience $1000 to spend on someone else. Talk about incredible stories!!

It was amazing to me that lives were impacted in such an incredible way - not because people took the initiative themselves, but because Oprah initiated it for them. Would those same people have made the effort on their own? Probably not. It doesn't mean their hearts were any less compassionate, but it does mean that sometimes we need an "external" motivator. The fact that Oprah gave everyone the $1000 certainly helped as well, but random acts of kindness don't have to revolve around money exclusively.

I'm sure there will be updates on this show - it was truly phenomenal. Lives can and will be changed if we will only seize the opportunities. Don't wait for someone else to be the catalyst.