leaving on the train

Tonya and the girls left on Wednesday on a train bound for Texarkana. We drove up to Union Station in Los Angeles and the girls boarded an Amtrak train. Here are a few pictures I snapped ...

random thoughts on prayer

Since I'm starting a new teaching series on prayer at LifePoint, I’d like to share a few reflections on prayer in general. These are drawn from quotes I have found meaningful as it relates to prayer.

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“Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

That quote is from Phillips Brooks, a Boston pastor in the late 1800s. During his life he championed the cause of ending slavery and gave one of the most moving eulogies of President Abraham Lincoln the Sunday after his death*. He lived through difficult times and knew the temptation to pray for an easier path. But there is also an expectancy in his words -- pray for powers equal to your task and you’ll receive them.

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“The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.” - C. S. Lewis

My first thought: easier said than done! But what we do in those first few moments of the day really do set the tone for the rest of the day.

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“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” - Samuel Chadwick

Chadwick once burned seven year’s worth of sermons because he felt he had been relying too much on self and not enough on God.

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* The sermon on Lincoln is part of the "Making of America," a really cool portal that is a collection of historical works.

custom spa covers

We just released a new custom product builder at Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct. It allows you to design a custom spa cover online. Of course, you need to be able to measure your existing spa ... we haven't figured out how to do that for you ... yet.

podcasts updated

I just pushed up another batch of podcasts for all of my twelve faithful listeners.

baseball's all-star game

In a few days, major league baseball will have its annual All-Star game. This particular game is significant (as far as baseball fans are concerned) because it will be the last All-Star game played at Yankee Stadium. Long considered baseball’s hallowed ground, Yankee Stadium will be torn down and a new stadium will be built for the Yankees.

A piece of American history will be lost. No longer will fans be able to refer to the Yankees ballpark as “the house that Ruth built.” Instead, they’ll have to point to a parking deck across the street and say, “That’s where it used to be.”

Gone will be the spot where Lou Gehrig stood after being diagnosed with ALS disease and said, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

Gone, too, will be the mound where Don Larson pitched the only perfect game in World Series history.

Converted to condos will be the grass where Notre Dame once played Army in a college football game. The game during which Knute Rockne delivered his “Win one for the Gipper” speech.

For people outside of the baseball family, those sorts of things seem trivial. After all, it is just game. Let me say it again -- it is just a game. But for people who love the sport, it’s a part of our national identity.

Perhaps that’s why I like the following quote from Leo Durocher. Known as one of baseball’s old-school managers, Durocher was often blunt and straight-forward. The fact that he managed the Cubs for a few years also endears him to me.

Durocher once commented on the similarities between baseball and church: “Baseball is like church. Many attend. Few understand.”

As both a baseball fan and a pastor, that hurts. It hurts because it’s often true. It’s one thing to sit through nine innings and not know what’s going on. After all, it is just a game.

But it’s unfortunate that some churches don’t make much of an effort to be understandable for newcomers (and old-timers, too). Because church isn’t a game -- it’s about life.

May God help us to help others understand what that life is all about.

I originally wrote this for our newsletter at LifePoint Church.

do it yourself lasik

A friend of mine referred me to this site today. It's too bad I didn't find it before I had a professional surgeon do my lasik surgery. I could have done it at home in the kitchen.

Lasik at Home

When you go there, make sure you click on the tab that says "Four Easy Steps."

it's true ... i'm really doing it

fourth of july

The Fourth of July has always been a special holiday for me. My childhood memories are of going to Fondulac Park in East Peoria, establishing a beachhead with the family, and then racing around the park for hours with friends.

Later, when I was able to drive myself around, I started going across the river to the fireworks in Peoria. The Peoria fireworks had live music and grilled bratwursts -- it was big-time compared to running around Fondulac Park.

Tonya and I have carried on the tradition with our girls. When the girls were little, we went to Old Navy and bought these matching gray t-shirts that had a flag emblazoned on the front. We put Hope in her stroller and went to the 4th of July parade in Concord, a town just east of San Francisco. I kept that t-shirt until it was almost see-through ... something I didn’t wish to inflict on any passerby.

This past Friday, we took the girls to the fireworks show at Lake Murray. We walked down from the house to the lake with a few friends. Along one of the walking trails we set up camp, which consisted of a few chairs and a blanket. In the background we could hear a local band playing cover songs from the 1980s. Closing my eyes, I could almost smell the bratwursts grilling alongside the Illinois river.

The 4th of July reminds us of our story as Americans. It celebrates the birth of a great experiment -- the experiment that mixed liberty, freedom, justice, and democracy.
Has the experiment been conducted flawlessly? The obvious answer is no. Our story contains less-than-noble chapters: slavery, segregation, the Japanese internment, political scandals, moral failures. We have people who fall through the cracks and those who help push them through.

But that’s not our entire story. The American story contains many more chapters of personal sacrifice, creativity, entrepreneurship, benevolence, and individuals who simply did the right thing.

On Independence Day, we remember and celebrate our freedoms. Freedoms that are often used in ways our founding fathers never might have imagined but for which they gave their lives. As did thousands of men and women from subsequent generations, including today’s.

For whatever reason, God has made you a part of this story. What will history have to say about the chapter you are writing?

a picture with no glasses

Since I'm not all that photogenic, I tend not to go around snapping pictures of myself. But now that I have a new iMac at work with the built-in camera, I really had no excuse. So for those of you who have been wondering what the post-Lasik Ken Hensley looks like, here it is:

expert author

Finally someone recognizes true talent. According to ezinearticles.com, I'm an "expert author." You can see for yourself. It didn't involve bribery or extortion ... it didn't involve a whole lot other than uploading some articles. But hey, that's what expert authors do ...

Summer Vacation Tips

With the rising cost of gasoline and airfare, I thought I might brainstorm a few ways you could “vacation at home” this summer.

1. You could pull weeds and tell yourself you’re on a "jungle safari."

2. Throw your garden hose on the roof and enjoy a personal waterfall. If you move it around every few minutes, you’ll also water your grass.

3. Ladies, have your husband bring breakfast in bed and pretend it is room service. OK, that one may be a stretch.

Let me encourage you to make LifePoint a part of your summer activities. The need to stay connected to God never goes on vacation. In fact, summer is a great time to get involved, lend a hand, or spend time hanging out with fellow LifePointers.

a blogging moment

I'm working on free wi-fi at an "It's a Grind" coffee shop in Poway. We're in between tournament games and I'm squeezing in work on tomorrow's sermon. The three employees behind the counter seem totally bored -- no one's talking to anyone and it's oddly quiet for a coffee shop. Just a moment ago I glanced over and saw all three of them with cell phones in hand, checking messages or texting or something.

lifepoint band - the video

the lifepoint band

For those of you curious about what the wild and crazy LifePoint worship band looks like, close your eyes because here's a few pictures ...

we've been toilet papered

Is it proper English to say you've been "toilet papered?" Although I'm not sure about the grammar, I am sure about what happened to our yard. It seems that the Navajo softball all-stars have an annual tradition of toilet papering each other's yards. It's a rite of initiation reserved for squealing 10 year-olds who are up WAY past their bedtimes.

I had fallen asleep on the living room floor when I heard a loud thud on the door. It was a roll of toilet paper -- probably thrown by one of the pitchers. Below are a few snapshots of the damage :-)

Redneck Pool Heater

In the due course of doing "competitive" research for Blue Haven, I came across this site called "Redneck Pool Heater." Warning: it contains pictures of real rednecks. You have read it to believe it.

blue haven memorial day sale

Note: Here comes a shameless plug.

Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct is offering 10% off everything in our store through May 31st. This is in honor of Memorial Day and is our way of saluting the American spirit. Simply use the promotional code "MEMORIAL2008" during checkout to receive your discount.

My personal pick is the Ensolite Floating Lounge Chair.

bagpipes rock!

Just over a year ago I started fooling around with a few t-shirt designs and posted them on a CafePress store. Little did I know that people from around the country would start buying them. My best selling t-shirt looks like this:



You can view the t-shirt at my store.

follow-up to my toilet saga

FYI: I was able to conquer my faulty toilet once I purchased a bigger crescent wrench from Home Depot. I even purchased a dimmer switch and hooked our living room chandelier up to it. I was in the groove ...

lessons i've learned from my toilet

The toilet in our second bathroom decided to quit working yesterday. Actually, it was working but it had developed a leak inside the tank that caused it to fill up REALLY slow. So, in my earnest but misguided own way, I decided to check it out. Fast forward to shoving a towel under the hose and spending nearly an hour on my back looking up with a mixture of futility and despair burned on my face.

Here are a few lessons my toilet taught me:

1. Know the limits of your own ability.
2. Never twist something that wasn't designed to be twisted.
3. The right tools will make the job go much smoother.
4. Never try to fix what isn't completely broken until your in-laws leave.

sdsu drug bust

Within the past week, local law enforcement agents along with agents from the DEA busted a major drug ring at SDSU that resulted in the arrest of over 100 people. The most scary part of it was the connection to a Mexican drug cartel. Several fraternities were implicated and one of the students was majoring in Homeland Security.

Most amazing has been the reaction of some of the faculty. Many resented the fact that the university asked for law enforcement to get involved. This in spite of the fact that the investigation began because an SDSU student had overdosed and died. Also in spite of the fact that Mexican drug cartels don't take getting stiffed too lightly and are known for exacting deadly revenge. And did I mention that the number of Americans falling victim to armed robbery in Baja is at an all-time high?

Here's a story that appeared in the Daily Aztec.

the lifepoint story

Not sure what exactly this means but just today I was asked by two different people to tell the LifePoint story. It was nice to dust off the story and tell again how God created something out of nothing. Makes one wonder ...

softball

Navajo softball is winding down. This past weekend was the beginning of tournament play and the weatherman decided to serve up nearly 100 degree temperatures! It was so hot that my sunflower seeds starting popping in the shell, just like popcorn.

On a related note, Hannah was selected for the 10 and Under All-Stars. It means another three months of softball, almost daily practices, and tournaments around San Diego. She was so excited, I nearly cried!

advo / red plum

I'm just about finished designing a marketing piece for Blue Haven that will be used with ADVO (now Red Plum). ADVO is the one that puts together all the mail stuffings -- grocery ads, etc. This is the "big sheet" which simply means, it's big. We'll be doing two saturation drops.

help others find lifepoint on google

Did you know you can help improve our chances of being found when someone searches on Google for “San Diego church” or something similar? There are several ways you can help:

Link to us. If you have a website or blog, consider putting a link to www.lifepointcommunity.com and use “LifePoint Christian Church San Diego” as the text of the link (the official term is “anchor text”).

Write a review. Go to Google and search for -- LifePoint Church San Diego. If you see a search result that shows a map to our building, click on the link that says “More Information.” On the next page you’ll see a tab that says, “Reviews.” Click that and follow the steps to writing a review. Google uses local reviews as one of its ranking factors.

three c's

I spent several days this past week interviewing potential candidates for two job openings at Blue Haven.

Task number one was to sift through the mountain of resumes we received. After going through the first dozen or so, I half-expected to receive at least one or two from a Rear Admiral or nuclear physicist. And this was my stack of resumes for an entry-level position. Maybe next time I’ll thin out the competition if I put “No Ph.D. required.”

Then came the interviews. I’m probably one of the rare birds who actually likes interviews. I enjoy the give and take, as well as watching how people respond to questions they might not have expected.

When I’m interviewing potential employees, I’m looking for three specific things. The list I’m about to share didn’t originate with me. I first heard this explained by Bill Hybels at a pastor’s conference in Seattle. It made such good sense, that I decided to adopt it as my own approach to selecting leaders -- or hiring people.

Character. Does the person I’m thinking about selecting seem to have good character? Is this a person I could trust? Will they be a person of integrity?

Chemistry. How would I feel about sharing an office with this person for eight or more hours a day? Is there a sense that we would enjoy working together? Do I think they would drive me crazy!

Competence. Do they have the skills to do the job? Do they have an aptitude for learning new things?

They are listed in the exact order of importance. If a person has competent skills but lacks character, I’ll take a pass. If a person has character and is definitely competent, is there enough chemistry to where we could work well together? Generally speaking, competence can be gained through training and coaching; character is not so easily learned at a conference.

What is true in hiring new employees, is also true in selecting ministry leaders or when looking for a husband or wife. Too often people compromise by choosing competence or chemistry over character.

But when you have all three ingredients in good measure ... watch out! You have the makings of a true blessing.

pool slide tips

One of my many opportunities at Blue Haven is to write the content for our email newsletters. Most of the time I wax eloquent about chlorine or some other glamorous topic. But we recently began a push on S.R. Smith swimming pool slides and have stepped up our marketing efforts. So, we dedicated our last email blast to pool slide. To help lighten things up, I offered the following pool slide tips:

Tip #1: Never go down the slide without your toupee securely fastened.

Tip #2: It’s not wise to carry the family cat on your lap. You might enjoy it, but the cat won’t.

Tip #3: All slides are more fun when there’s bluegrass music in the background.

new churches

If you’ve been around LifePoint for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard us refer to other new church efforts that are underway here in San Diego. As a relatively new church ourself, we believe in helping out other new churches as we can.

CityWalk Church began downtown in the spring of 2007. CityWalk’s lead pastor, Steve Denney, has spoken several times here at LifePoint. Back around Christmas time, we had Matthew Blake from CityWalk lead our worship. Steve and his group are tackling a tough job -- starting a new church in urban environment that is both diverse and expensive.

Wave Christian Church started in Chula Vista back in September. Jim Osbourne, who had been our bass player on Sunday mornings, felt the call to start a new church in his hometown. Wave is up and running and reaching people in the Southbay for Jesus.

These are just two examples that LifePoint is personally connected to through our relationships.
These are by no means the only two new church efforts underway. We praise God for all efforts -- by new churches and older existing churches -- to reach our community with the message of Jesus.

This is where church and business are different. Unlike in business where one company views other companies in the same industry as competitors, there is no competition between churches. Well, let me rephrase that -- there should be no competition between churches.

Unfortunately, even church people sometimes view other churches as competition.

Even if every sanctuary in San Diego was filled to capacity this morning, there would not be enough seats available to accomodate San Diego’s population. In other words, we don’t have enough churches to accomodate even half of our population.

We are only in competition if we are competing for people who are already in the habit of going to church. If we are true to our mission of reaching people outside of Jesus and the church, then our “market” is nearly untapped.

That’s why I choose to celebrate any effort to reach new people for Jesus. I can rejoice in knowing that church is a team effort -- and the team is larger than just one church.

the difference a day makes

What a difference a day can make! On opening night at Petco Park, there were over 44,000 fans in attendance and only a few drunk people within five feet of our seats. Several years ago, Tonya and I developed what we call the “5 Foot Rule.” The 5 foot rule simply states that no matter where you sit at a baseball game, you will be within five feet of a drunk person. And with the recent price increases at Petco, getting drunk at a Padres game can be an expensive endeavor.

But that was Monday. Tuesday night was a different story. Twenty-four thousand “fans” somehow disappeared between Monday and Tuesday’s games. While on opening night you had to squeeze and tuck your way down the row to get to the aisle, on Tuesday night we had the entire section to ourselves. It still costed as much to get drunk as the night before, but there were definitely fewer drunks in the crowd.

That’s the difference a day can make. Trends change and what is popular today is out of style tomorrow. There is more buzz to be generated by talking about attending opening night than the second game of a four-game homestand.

Our fickle nature extends beyond baseball to media and relationships. The turnover of self-help titles at Barnes and Nobles used to be measured in years; now it’s measured in months, if not weeks. That’s how quickly trends come and go. If you were to sample best-sellers from the last ten years, you would find a myriad of approaches to fixing your finances, getting healthy, or finding love. A number of “principles” from one year would even contradict “principles” from another year.

One reason I’m drawn to Christianity is because it is a faith rooted in history, not the changing winds of pop culture. Within Christianity there is a thread of orthodoxy that runs longer than a thirty second sound bite or a New York Times best-seller. The way of Jesus has been faithfully followed by pilgrim, prince, and pauper alike for more than 2,000 years.

Modern churches find themselves in an awkward spot. As our culture races from trend to trend, from celebrity to celebrity, there is a temptation to shun anything ancient or historical. No one -- or church -- wants to appear dusty and out-of-touch.

But perhaps what lies at the heart of our culture’s fascination with trends is a desire to find significance and meaning. If so, then who better than the church to offer a real answer ... rooted in 2,000 years of history.

paying taxes

April 15 ... a distant memory at last! The mere mention of the date is enough to make certain people panic. These are usually the same people that are seen on the news driving up to the post office at 11:58 PM to beat the deadline. Of course, now that we have electronic filing, some of those people are now clicking the submit buttom in their pajamas rather than driving out to the post office.

If the Internet shuts down around midnight on April 15, we’ll know it’s because of all the last-minute electronic filers.

April 15 doesn’t strike that much fear in me. In fact, I don’t get all that bothered by the thought of paying taxes. That’s not to say I enjoy how our tax dollars are often misspent -- but I’ll save that rant for the blog.

I realized a number of years ago that what I enjoyed in terms of roads, bridges, emergency services, etc., far outweighed whatever I paid in tax dollars. There are parks I can enjoy, trails I can walk, all available without paying admission. Taxes build roads, fund schools, and provide a quality of life that is the envy of many people throughout the world.

Jesus was once questioned about paying taxes. During his day, Israel was occupied by the Roman army and the Jews were forced to pay taxes to Rome. Many Jews resented paying taxes to a foreign government.

Jesus asked to see one of the coins that was used as currency. “Who’s picture is on it,” he asked. The answer was obvious because it was a portrait of Caesar. Then Jesus added, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.”

I don’t begrudge paying taxes any more than I begrudge giving money to the church. Both are a part of my responsibility of being a mature Christ-follower. The difference between paying taxes and giving to the church is this: the IRS will come after you if you don’t pay or pay enough.

God, on the other hand, will not ask for an audit. He won’t garnish your wages or charge a penalty for being late. But the Bible is clear about one thing: God blesses those who give cheerfully and generously to further the work of the Kingdom. Many otherwise mature believers often miss out on God’s full blessing by not becoming consistent givers.

As a pastor, let encourage you to do two things: pay your taxes and make giving to the church a regular habit. You will make the IRS happy and more importantly, you’ll enjoy God’s blessing in a new way!

don't be such a baby

Did you ever have someone say to you, “Don’t be such a baby”? Nine out of ten times they weren’t telling you to stop being so cute and cuddly and irresistible.

It’s more likely they were expressing a frustration that you weren’t acting your age. Hopefully, for most of us, these sort of comments ceased around the time we entered middle school -- or high school for those of you who needed a bit more time.

It’s perfectly acceptable for a nine-month old infant to act like a baby. We expect them to drool a little, spit up, and make stinkies at the most inappropriate times. That’s just what babies do; it’s some sort of inalienable right God has given them.

In the same respect, the Bible refers to those who are new to the faith as “infants in Christ” (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-4). As the apostle Paul writes, he gave them milk to drink because they weren’t ready for solid food.

Though every life begins as infant, the goal is not to stay one forever. What is true physically is also true spiritually. When an unbeliever comes to trust in Jesus, they experience the beauty of being “born again.” Though they may be twenty-five or sixty-five years-old, they are “infants in Christ.”

Thus begins the spiritual process of moving from milk to solid food.

Today’s passage describes the danger in remaining a spiritual infant. As we mature in Christ, we will “no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14).

Those who remain indefinitely on spiritual milk become susceptible to people who peddle candy bars as health food. Sweet to eat and nicely packaged, spiritual candy bars provide a short-term buzz but lack the right stuff to build a healthy life.

The goal of the Spirit-filled life is growth and maturity. It is the life-long process of learning to crawl, then walk, and eventually being able to run. Fortunately for us, the Bible provides a road map.

You can decide today to stop being a baby. You can take the first step, as wobbly as it might be, towards growing up and becoming like Jesus.

supporting the troops

The USO has a long history of proving free entertainment for troops placed around the world. It's important that we support those that support our men and women in uniform.

Support the USO.
Show US troops America still cares.
Give what you can today.

me and da mayor

Today was my volunteer shift working the snack bar at Navajo softball. All the parents on the different teams take turns working two hour shifts to help the league raise money. I was fortunate that my buddy Matt had volunteered for the same two hour shift -- nothing makes moving corn dogs and slushies go any faster than having a friend to pass the time with.


Well, much to our surprise, who comes walking up but the mayor of San Diego -- Jerry Sanders. The mayor shook a few hands and then took a spot inside the snack bar working alongside me. Since he was wearing a long sleeve white dress shirt, I tried to steer the kids away from the chili dogs but it was too much to try and divert them from the slushies. Fortunately, my dexterity didn't fail me and the mayor's shirt survived unscathed.

The mayor even kicked in a few bucks to buy slushies and corn dogs for the kids.

dowhatsright dot org

My friend and fellow San Diego church planter, Steve Denney, is about to launch a movement. Steve has been working to establish a healthy, thriving Christian community in San Diego's bustling downtown area. CityWalk is not your typical church -- it's attempting to engage people in an authentic (dare I say, holistic) kind of way.

Steve is big on connecting our Christian faith to everyday life. He recently started a new blog called "DoWhatsRight." It's about how Christ-followers should simply do what's right in regards to people, faith, and the environment.

To learn more, visit the DoWhatsRight blog.

seasons tickets to the padres

As a Christmas present, the girls and Tonya gave me a small season ticket package to the San Diego Padres. I was able to go online and pick from several of the twenty game packages. Of course, I had to check when the Cubs were coming and picked the package that gave me the most Cub games. You can take the boy out of Illinois but you can't take Illinois out of the boy ...

So far I've already been to two games -- both against the Astros. Since I only have two seats per game, we're not able to take the entire family but it's good for having one-on-one time with the girls. And they even understand foul balls, so I don't have to spend time explaining them!

turbo twisting into your pool

We have a pool slide at our house. It's kind of old-school but it gets the job done but putting you in the water instead of on the concrete. At Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct we don't sell old-school pool slides ... we sell the thrill rides! I recently updated several of our product listings (mainly from a company called S.R. Smith) and added a few videos. Here's a link to the Turbo Twister Pool Slide, not your grandpa's pool slide.

anyone up for a trip to mars

As most of you know, I believe in almost all things Google. This little gem appeared just today ...

http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html

Elderly woman witnesses to man trying to rob her

This may be the craziest evangelism tool yet.

search san diego condos

Our worship leader at LifePoint is a local realtor here in San Diego. Recently he asked me to build him a new site as a lead generation tool. So we put up search-san-diego-condos.com and designed two different landing pages in order to A/B test the Google AdWords campaign. I even threw in a free logo as well!

new website, new eyes

As some of you already know, I redesigned a website for a local Lasik eye surgeon in exchange for free lasik surgery. Back last summer I decided to visit the websites of local eye doctors to see which ones might be in need of a redesign -- and then sent each of them the same email inquiry. Dr. Motwani was the brave doctor who took me up on my offer.

Here is what his new site (Alpha Laser Center) looks like:



My surgery was back in February and things are progressing extremely well. One week after the surgery I was reading at 20-25. Three weeks after the surgery I was reading at 20-15! It has been an interesting experience, to say the least. I'll have to post a picture of the "redesigned" me as well.

easter update

We had a wonderful Easter service at LifePoint yesterday. Everything went really well from start to finish, including the fact that we had three people make decisions to become Christ-followers. This was followed up by a baptism at our house after lunch. Yesterday was the third Easter we have celebrated as a church and each one has been special. After church we had about 20 people over to the house for lunch and the girls even swam in the pool!

free ebook on early christianity

ephesians

I've been teaching through the book of Ephesians on Sunday mornings since January. It's a great book for exploring what the Christian life can be like ... the way God intends for us to experience life. Listed below are a few helpful books about Ephesians.

The Message of Ephesians (The Bible Speaks Today)

The Letter to the Galatians and Ephesians (New Daily Study Bible)

Ephesians (LifeChange Series)

faith of our fathers

I go through reading phases. One time I got on a Jim Jones / Jonestown kick and read four or five books about the People's Temple and what happened back in 70s. Another time I got hooked on stories of POW's (prisoners of war, for those of you born after 1980). One of the books I read during that time was "Faith of our Fathers" by John McCain. McCain has a fascinating story of being a POW during the Vietnam war. If you're interested, here's a link to the book at Amazon:

komodo coffee from starbucks

If you like bold coffee (like all true coffee lovers, do), then you'll love the Komodo blend from Starbucks. Here's the scoop ...

Starbucks® Coffees 1-lb. Bold Starbucks® Coffees Komodo Dragon Blend™, Komodo Dragon Blend, Whole Bean

Indonesia is the home of the world's largest lizard the Komodo dragon and this blend of Asia Pacific coffees bears its name. Spicy, herbal and earthy with a full body, each sip of Komodo Dragon Blend evokes the lushness of Indonesia. More about this coffee: Indonesian coffees are known as the deep, stalwart elements of the coffee world. Komodo Dragon Blend is wholly an Indonesian coffee. Now all Starbucks coffees are at your fingertips - StarbucksStore.com is the online resource for all Starbucks coffees. Buy Starbucks coffees - whole bean, ground, pods, caffeinated, decaf, single-origin, espressos, blends, organic, promotional/holiday/seasonal blends and Black Apron Exclusives - easily and conveniently, delivered to your home or office.

Starbucks® Coffees 1-lb. Bold Starbucks® Coffees Komodo Dragon Blend™, Komodo Dragon Blend, Whole Bean

messages on the church

I’ve been very encouraged by your response to our recent messages about the mission and nature of the church. As I mentioned last Sunday, God’s intention for LifePoint (and all Christ-centered churches) is to be a place where people can find their way back to God.

In real terms, this means helping people find hope, purpose, and significance. It means helping marriages hold together and giving parents a dose of encouragement and wisdom.

We live in a county where fewer than 10% of our neighbors actively attend church. Even if our sanctuary were filled to capacity each and every Sunday, there would still be over 2 million people within 30 minutes of our building who will spend Sunday morning doing something else besides attending church.

Church attendance is not a substitute for a personal connection to Jesus; but it certainly helps! For better or worse, God committed his message of hope and redemption to churches like LifePoint.

I’m asking you to join me in building a church community where people can experience the goodness of God. Let’s experience together the thrill of altering the course of eternity!

blue like jazz

One of the most captivating books on Christian spirituality that I've read in the past few years has been Blue Like Jazz - Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. Written by Donald Miller, it is equally challenging and entertaining. If you haven't read it, you should!

easter books for kids

Here are a few Easter books for the little kids. All books are available at Family Christian Bookstores.


Easter Easter Almost Here

mere christianity

Just out of curiosity, I decided to see what are the current Christian best sellers. I found it interesting that Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis continues to rank among the best selling books. I first tried to read Mere Christianity while a freshman in high school and it made my brain cramp. Only later did I come back to the book and really enjoyed it. Here's a link to it at Family Christian Bookstore

starbucks store

It's here ... now you can order Starbucks coffee online and have it delivered straight to your door. Note: hot coffee may cool off a bit while in transit :-)

win a free beach ball

Blue Haven Pools and Spas Supplies Direct is giving away free beach balls to contest winners. All you have have to do is register for a chance to win. Who wouldn't want to win a free beach ball during the middle of winter?!?

We'll pick a different winner every day.

www.freebeachball.com

google trends

If you enjoy occasionally peeking into the collective psyche of the world, you might try looking at Google Trends. Google takes in between 400-500 million searches a day. On the top end of the range, that works out to an average of 5,787 searches ... per second! I certainly add a few numbers to the daily search totals myself.

Google Trends (www.google.com/trends) is a new section of Google that allows you to see what the hottest search words and phrases are. As Google says, "Hot Trends highlights searches that have sudden surges in popularity." Many times you can tell what is in the news by looking at what gets searched for. Many times you’re just confused!

Just out of curiousity, I pulled it up for Friday, January 18. Top search phrase: "yin and yang." Number two: "sheep dash."

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution came in at number 14.

In a humbling display of arrogance, Google had the audacity to give me this message: "Your terms - Ken Hensley - do not have enough search volume to show graphs." At least I know my number of internet stalkers is fairly low -- at least on January 18.

While Christ-followers need to be aware of what is moving through our culture, it is also too easy to get caught up in it. The German theologian Karl Barth was once asked about what made for good preaching. His response: A Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. In other words, effective Christ-followers bridge two worlds -- the world we live in and the world of God.

When they compliment each other, there is tremendous synergy. Christians have harnessed the power of radio waves, television broadcasts, and the internet. These are not good or bad mediums -- they are neutral advances in culture until harnessed for good or bad. Creating music that fits the times is another powerful example of effectively bridging two worlds.

When the two worlds collide, we yield to the reality of God’s truth. Our challenge is to use culture when appropriate and to draw a line when necessary. This is the tension that authentic Christ-followers have lived with for centuries.

Add that to your Google Trends!

breaking news is probably not

One of the lesson’s I learned while battling a recent cold ... cable news networks only track three stories at a time and use 12 different anchors to tell you the same thing, but in a slightly different way. And whenever a lead-in proclaims, "Breaking News" ... it’s probably not.

groundhog's day

Yesterday happened to be Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania claims to be the home of the original groundhog and even gave it a name -- Punxsutawney Phil.

Every year the locals dress up in old-fashioned costumes and wait for Phil. We’re not quite sure how many “Phil’s” there actually are since groundhogs tend to look alike. But the locals have a good time nonetheless.

While doing some research into Groundhog Day, I came across a few lesser-known groundhogs:

Wiarton Willie of Wiarton, Ontario

Staten Island Chuck of in New York City, New York

Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh, North Carolina

Jimmy the Groundhog of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

The last one sounds like a member of the groundhog mafia or possibly a retired sportscaster.

On the one hand, it’s kind of quaint that the men of Punxsutawney dress up in top hats and gather in a field at 4:30 in the morning to await Phil’s arrival. Six weeks of weather hangs in the balance.

It’s quite another matter to make life decisions based upon the behavior of a groundhog.

For several years I have been fascinated by how people go about making decisions. I’ve known coupon clippers who would drive to two or three different grocery stores to save fifty cents here and a dollar there. Some of these same people would turn right around and buy a $1,000 television without doing any comparison shopping whatsoever.

Retailers love impulse shoppers. In fact, there is a quite a bit of psychology that influences how a store is designed and where products are placed -- all in an effort to influence buying habits. Trust me, they’re not concerned with how to save you money.

How do we as Christ-followers make decisions? Several years ago, Pastor Bill Hybels wrote a book entitled, “Too Busy Not to Pray.” He was reacting to people who say, “I’m just too busy to pray.” The truth is, the busier you are, the more you need to pray!

let's bring everybody up-to-speed

Wow, it's 2008 already and this blog was last updated one month ago. In the blogosphere, that is grounds for a time-out. It's not that I've forgotten how to type ...

Let's see ... where to start. Hannah and Hope are both involved in softball (opening day is this Saturday). We're really pleased with their coaches and both girls are enjoying the game. What more could you ask for! Look for pictures to be posted once the season gets underway.

Hannah recently represented her school in the county-wide spelling bee for Christian schools. She came in second out of all the fifth graders. She was a bit nervous, but probably only her parents could tell.

Hope is working on a state report project on New York and will be dressing up as the Statue of Liberty :-)

On the baseball front ... my Christmas gift was season tickets to the Padres (20 game package). I'm stoked! As an added bonus, my parking garage for Blue Haven is a short five minute walk from Petco Park. Free parking! That alone should save me enough coin to buy a hot dog.

LifePoint is doing well and we recently launched a new LifeGroup (that's our version of small groups).

For those of you snowed under, it's never too early to love your swimming pool. To show my sensitive side, here's a promo code you can use at Blue Haven Pools and Spas to save 10% of every purchase over $50 and get free shipping and handling.

Use "ILOVEMYPOOL" during checkout and we'll do the rest.

a look back at lifepoint 2007

It’s hard to believe we’re winding down another year. Though I know that minutes still have sixty seconds and a day is comprised of twenty-four hours, it sure seems like time is moving faster the older I get. Or maybe life is moving at the same pace it always has but my reflexes are just a bit slower.

The story of the past twelve months has been an interesting one. As the story unfolded, the evidence of God’s presence was on every page.

LifePoint celebrated her second anniversary, a feat not shared by every new church start-up. In church planting terminology, we were a “parachute drop.” That means we started without the benefit of mother church -- in fact, we started with a handful of people who simply wanted to follow a dream of starting a new church.

Much like a child learns to crawl, then walk, and eventually run, we have gone through our own growth spurts as a child. Numbers only tell part of the story; you can’t quantify things like renewed hope, forgiveness, and friendship. Numbers are important to the extent that they reflect individuals who are encountering God and giving their lives to Jesus.

Are we everything as a church that I had hoped we would be? Yes and no. We are far from perfect; if you’re looking for the perfect church, you’ve stumbled in to the wrong place. But when you serve an infinite God who can do the impossible, the opportunities for future growth remain as limitless as God.

I believe as much today as I did back in 2005 that San Diego needs more churches like LifePoint. I also believe that San Diego needs a healthy, growing LifePoint. We cannot become complacent -- or God forbid, defeated -- when so many of our friends and neighbors do not have life-changing relationship with Jesus.

As your pastor, I pledge to you that I will seek God’s direction, listen to his voice, and try to model his values within our church. Will you join me in this adventure?

healthy start 08

We've made a few changes at Blue Haven and one of them is our new "Healthy Start 08" section. As you might guess, it includes helpful information about getting in shape. We thought it might be timely now that the new year is rolling around ... and so are most of us! Rolling around, that is.

One of the more interesting features we added to the Healthy Start section is a body mass index calculator. It uses information published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition to help determine your optimal weight based upon your height. Note: it does operate on the honor system :-)

rock on, with bagpipes

As some of you know, I dabble in the t-shirt business. I thought I would share with you my best-selling design. It says "Rock On" and features a bagpipe player. I'm pleasantly surprised to find out that there are a fair number of bagpipe lovers out there. Click here to see all of my Rock On bagpipe shirts.

Save 20% on Holiday Stuff

Note: you are about to read a shameless plug.

Over at my day job -- Blue Haven Pools & Spas Supplies Direct -- we have created a holiday clearance section where every item is 20% off. These are items that we have stock and are ready to ship. If you're looking to buy your favorite blogger a gift, you might consider The Tingler ... it looks painful but I'm sure it feels fantastic!

les miserables on the street of san diego

As I'm returning from lunch at Quiznos (I highly recommended the Prime Rib and Peppercorn sandwich on Rosemary Parmesan bread) I pass this homeless fellow carrying his bags, etc., and his portable radio. In my younger, more hip days we called them boomboxes.

What is this fellow listening to? A song from Les Miserables -- "On My Own," the solo by Eponine.

Click here to read more about "On My Own" on Wikipedia.

artificial christmas trees

It's that time of year -- time to decorate the Christmas tree. We enjoy letting the girls pick out their favorite ornaments and place them around the tree. A few years ago we decided to buy an artificial Christmas tree and it has survived several moves back and forth across the country. No needles to pick up and the lights are already wired on! It doesn't get much better than that!

One of the items we picked up at Blue Haven Pools & Spas for our holiday catalog are artificial Christmas trees. And these are not your big-box discount store trees ... these are really nice trees. Click here to see our collection of artificial Christmas trees.

gift cards for fire victims

LifePoint is partnering with Pomerado Christian Church in Poway to provide relief and assistance to families who lost or suffered damage in the recent San Diego fires. We are collecting gift cards from stores such as Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc., that will be distributed by Pomerado Christian Church to families in their community. You may bring your gift card to any LifePoint event and we will route them to PCC. Thank you for your help and support!

beating your drum too loud

Every now and then I'll crank out a line in a message that I really like -- I should do that more often! Here is one that came to me as I writing out tomorrow's message: "Sometimes we beat our drum so loud that we drown out the music of God."

a new look, same old me

In good lawyer terms, "on or around" my birthday I decided to shave off my goatee. This also coincided with a new pair of glasses and a haircut. No need to worry about a fancy sports car ... my 1996 Honda Accord is paid for!

Inflatable Fun for Winter

People in San Diego talk about visiting the snow for an afternoon. Growing up in Illinois, the snow visited you ... for about three months out of the year. I would have loved to have had one of the winter inflatables that we sell at Blue Haven Pools & Spas Supplies Direct. Given that I made due with the lid to a garbage can, I would have been in snow heaven on a Rugged Rush Snow Tube or a Nordic Express. Of course, I'm too old for that now ... :-)

See them all in our holiday section.

latest project at blue haven

We've been working on several projects at Blue Haven related to the launch of our holiday catalog. One of the most effective was a recent email blast we sent out to over 54,000 people. It's been really cool to see the results roll in. The email blast was a basic HTML newsletter that I designed, similar to the ones I send out for LifePoint.

Another project that has consumed much time has been our Whitehall section. Whitehall is a leading provider of home and garden decorations and accents. They are especially well known for their weathervanes. We created a special landing page that features only Whitehall products. Take a peek and let me know what you think.

san diego fire relief

Blue Haven Pools & Spas Supplies Direct, my day job, is located in downtown San Diego. As part of the San Diego community, we have decided to offer help to those who suffered loss in the recent fires. We will be scheduling a volunteer work day to assist with clean up. In addition, we've created a page where people can purchase basic pool cleaning supplies that will be donated to homeowners who need them. You can find the page here.

san diego fires

Just a quick note to let all my friends out in the blogosphere know that we are OK. Several major fires are burning throughout San Diego County but we are a safe distance away. With Santa Ana winds, that could change rather quickly but we feel very blessed. Over 500,000 people were asked to evacuate their homes. Please keep our friends and neighbors in your prayers.

dancing fools

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Tonya and I getting a little exercise, compliments of Jib Jab.

it's ho ho ho time already

Ready or not ... it's true ... the Christmas shopping season is already upon us!

I just wrapped up the holiday redesign of Blue Haven Pools & Spas Supplies Direct -- and it's not even November. We "flipped the switch" yesterday morning.

This coincides with our first-ever Holiday catalog, set to hit mailboxes starting this week. We've added an array (I've been looking for a way to say array) of diverse and fun products.

Take a look for yourself ... who knows ... you might just be inspired to buy me The Tingler!

Buy Me One!

i've been trained to make coffee

It's official -- I've been trained to make coffee. In order to continue consuming mass quantities of free coffee at work, I had to go to training. That seemed fair enough to me. Now I'm dangerous ...

divine appointments

"Divine appointments." That’s a phrase I first heard several years ago and it immediately made sense. A divine appointment is one that God places in your path. It may be an unexpected phone call, a question from a stranger, or even the reason behind why you went to Coco’s instead of somewhere else to eat.

I enjoyed a divine appointment last Friday night as I was leaving work. Our parking deck is less than a block from our building and I had just crossed over Broadway on my way to go home. Looking over my shoulder, I see Steve Denney walking up behind me.

Steve is the pastor at CityWalk Christian Church, the downtown church that LifePoint supports with our missions tithe. We’ve had the blessing of helping Steve establish a different type of church for the ever-growing downtown community.

Rather than hop in the car and head home, I ended up taking an hour’s walk with Steve through his neighborhood. I got to see and experience what makes Steve so excited about CityWalk and the opportunity to impact downtown San Diego for God. It was the best way to end a day of work!

Some would say that it was only coincidental that Steve and I crossed paths. Others might say that it was mathematically just a matter of time before we stumbled across each other. Steve lives downtown, I work downtown -- it was just a matter of time.

I’d rather believe that God knew we needed to connect and placed us both at the same intersection at the same time.

Have you had an divine appointments lately? It’s very likely that you have but may not have thought they were. Many of our divine appointments are less obvious than bumping into a good friend in the midst of downtown. They may even come from someone you’ll never see again.

A key part of our spiritual growth is simply being aware of what God is doing. Keep your eyes open -- you might have a divine appointment scheduled.

i like jesus but the church ...

Why are most people OK with Jesus but not too hip about the church?

That’s a question that modern-day followers of Jesus need to wrestle with. Many pre-Christians and non-church-going folks are attracted to Jesus -- but not his church.

In some cases, it stems from a lack of truly understanding Jesus. In my own life, as I’ve learned more about Jesus, it often challenges me to change something I’d rather hold onto. I’ve discovered that Jesus is far from a soft and cuddly action figure. He’s a cultural and moral risk-taker who challenges his followers to do the same.

That might be enough to unsettle a few of those who claim to like Jesus but not the church.

But that’s only part of the answer. The other part of the answer lies on the inside, not on the outside. It’s a call for the church to practice self-reflection.

It’s too easy to say we’re just misunderstood. That’s a defensive answer that will win no one over to Jesus. The Bible places the burden on the church to paint an authentic picture of what life is like within the faith community. If we are misunderstood, maybe it’s because we’ve allowed it to happen.

Being a part of a church should be noticeably different than attending a business meeting or hanging out at happy hour. There should be the unmistakable spiritual atmosphere that brings to live true priorities, true purpose, and true meaning.

In a culture that is shifting away from Christian influences, churches may be tempted to change
things politically or rely more on marketing to attract crowds.

Neither is inherently wrong. But when they become the dominant identifier of the church, perhaps we’ve lost our way.

Wouldn’t it be much better if a non-believer could say, “If Jesus is like that church, then sign me up!”

brand management

As I have said before, I will say again: I am big fan of all-things Google. One of the many things I enjoy about Google are the little surprises they throw your way ... like the ability to do math by typing it in the search bar. Try it sometime: type “2+2” and hit enter. Or put “half a cup in teaspoons” and hit search.

In an age when corporations are all about protecting their “brand,” Google again stands out. Have you ever visited Google and seen a different version of the Google logo? (Visit the archive of Google logos).

Churches lose their way when they become concerned about their “brand.” It’s easy to fall into the image-driven trap of our culture -- to worry more about how you’re perceived than what you’ve become.

Jesus had brand identity: love God and love others.

questions and answers

I started a weekly Q&A at LifePoint last Sunday. We began circulating question cards a few weeks earlier and the response has been really good. It's open to any questions about God, Jesus, the Bible, LifePoint, or the SETI project. OK, maybe no questions about UFO’s.

the first official affiliate

It's true ... I'm the first official affiliate partner with Blue Haven Pools & Spas Supplies Direct. We're rolling a test affiliate program and since my blog gets swamped by pool enthusiasts from across the globe, I decided to sign up!

Don't worry -- you can sign up, too. Just click here to be on your way.

julian fire

After picking the aforementioned apples, we set off for the town of Julian, intent on spending an afternoon strolling the streets. For those who aren't San Diego locals, Julian is a historic mining town set in the hills above San Diego. It dates back to the 1800s and is a local treasure.

We were greeted on the road into town by passing fire engines and helicopters flying over head. Yes, we arrived at the same time a fire broke out just over the hill from Julian. From our parking lot we snapped the following pictures:

picking apples

I can remember going with my parents to an orchard just outside of Peoria. I believe it was called Tanner's Orchard, though I'm not one hundred percent certain. We could pick our own apples and drink apple cider made right at the orchard.

So we decided to take the family up to Julian to a local orchard. We found one through the Julian Chamber of Commerce website and had a blast filling up a bag with apples. The girls went from tree to tree and got to pick their own apples, including a few "baby" apples. Here are a few pictures from the grand event ...

christian threads

Like many companies, our’s has a company shirt that it gives out to employees. It’s a simple blue polo shirt with the Blue Haven logo embroidered on the left side. I was flattered when they handed me a medium-sized shirt during my new employee welcoming party. Flattery quickly gave way to reality and I swapped it out for a large.

Since one of my determining factors for picking clothes to wear involves choosing the least-wrinkled option, I chose to wear my new shirt to work last week. And so did three of my co-workers and the president of our parent company. We joked about posing for a group picture -- and at least one of the ladies considered leaving early.

As a man, I was thinking ... "If I’m careful and hang this up when I get home, I might get another day of wear out of it."

Companies give out shirts to build camaraderie and team spirit. It’s fairly inexpensive and it helps foster a good feeling among employees.

As Christ-followers, we’ve been issued a set of clothing as well. In fact, it was more like an exchange -- we gave up our old wardrobe in exchange for a new one filled with God’s idea of fashion. Obviously, I’m not talking threads but values and principles and priorities.

The Bible describes the redemptive process in this way: "You are all sons and daughters through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:26-27).

It should be no surprise that when Christians gather for worship or meet over coffee, that they show up wearing the same "clothes." If you’ll pardon my pun in advance, the one common thread we all share is Jesus. As the old hymns says, "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love."

So the next time you bump into a fellow Christ-follower, greet her by saying, "I just love what you’re wearing." You and I will know what you mean :-)

toy recalls

I'm very interested in all these toy recalls, especially the ones involving Mattel. Back in August when the issue first started heating up and before Mattel was forced to recall not one but multiple items, this quote appeared in the August 3, 2007, copy of the Wall Street Journal:

Mattel won't publicly name the manufacturer until the El Segundo, Calif.,
company completes an investigation of how the toys were tainted. But Jim Walter,
the company's senior vice president of world-wide quality assurance, said, "It's
my understanding that they are producing toys for other companies." He said if
products from the factory were sold to other companies, it would be the
responsibility of the factory owner, not Mattel, to alert them.

"We have no right to go in there to ask, 'Who else are you
producing for, and what else are you making?' " Mr. Walter
said. He added that he had personally received no calls from toy companies
seeking the name of the factory. The Toy Industry Association, which has close
ties to Mattel, said it hadn't asked for information on the toys' source.

That Mr. Walter is the senior vice president of "world-wide quality assurance" is not reassuring to me as a parent. His quote strikes me as "we have no moral or ethical responsibility to our consumers if it doesn't wear a Mattel label."

First of all, a company as large as Mattel surely knows who else is using their vendors and manufacturers. Do they have an a moral or ethical responsibility to their consumers? I think so. Where is the "greater good" concept that people used to believe in?

Personally, I believe most of the toy industry is in the same bed as Mattel and knowingly so. It's hard to believe that these many products could come from the same country and the senior vice president of world-wide quality assurance didn't know they had lead in them.

Second of all, how did this guy get to be a senior vice president of world-wide quality assurance and still allow himself to be quoted like this in the WSJ?

It's obviously a much wider issue than just toys and Mattel. The larger issue is our dependence on cheap stuff and, therefore, our addiction to Chinese resources.

Now, of course, the company is taking a totally different posture and the CEO is putting out warm fuzzy videos that seek to "empathize" with parents and consumers. Maybe it's conscience; it's probably a simple matter of economics spelled C-L-A-S-S- A-C-T-I-O-N- L-A-W-S-U-I-T-S.