Thursday, May 31, 2007

Who's keeping you accountable?

I've been meeting with guy for some time now. Our relationship and our conversations have grown and we are getting to know and trust each other more and more. As such, I felt lead to take our relationship (touchy word for a guy) to the next level. Why? Because I need it and I miss having a trusted friend hold me accountable to the things I should be doing on my own. (Scott any chance you'd like to move back to Ohio?)

Over the years I've been in a couple of different accountability groups. What is that? It where the same group of guys got together every week and we asked each other a series of tough questions. I've made a few changes to the list of questions I'd like to use this go around.

Here's my list. What do you think of it? What would you add or take off the list?


1. How have you spent time with God this week?

2. How did you honor your wife this week?

3. Did you make your kid(s) a priority this week? How?

4. What was your area of greatest victory/accomplishment this week?

5. What was you area of greatest struggle this week and what’s your plan?

6. Did you look for and take advantage of opportunities to serve others?

7. What did you read this week and what did you learn from it?

8. How are you honoring God with the financial resources you are stewarding for him?

9. Who or what are you praying for?

10. How can I pray for you this week?

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

61 Miles and Thanking God

I hope you have a good holiday weekend. Mine was eventful. I always look forward to Memorial Day as we plan a long bike ride. This year we decided to ride out and around Clendening Lake in Harrison County. (ride distance 60 miles)

As the ride started and the bikers gathered, I was thanking and praising God for such a beautiful day. I couldn't wait to get riding. I'll fast forward this story to mile 40. . . .

We just began a decent after a long and hard clime. I was moving at 30+ mph on this down hill when a small dog started chasing after me. Because of my speed, the dog couldn't catch up to me. Andy on the other hand wasn't so lucky. . . .

Andy and the dog got real close and personal. Out of my rear view bike mirror, I saw Andy go air born off his bike. It was one of those time when it felt like things were moving in slow motion.

Here's were the thanking God part comes in. Andy landed in a grassy field and for the most part was fine. No blood no broken bones. Walking the crash site was chilling. Andy just missed a deep ditch and a culvert. Landing in the grass saved a trip to the hospital. I was praising God for the second time on this ride. We were able to fix his bike and Andy finished the ride.

As we rode the rest of the way home, I kept thinking how God is concerned with the everyday things of our lives. I sure an glad he's there and that he give me opportunities to see and thank him daily.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Perspective

Just before my trip to the Dynamic Church Conference, I was handed a box of newly designed "business" cards. I think they look great and not just because my wife Cindy designed them.

Shortly after I got done admiring the new cards, I headed down the office hallway. I noticed in our our Executive Directors office, Mike Conn had his card enlarged and in a picture fame. Upon further inspection of the "enlarged card" I noticed the following alterations and phrase at the bottom of the card.

Mike's title was crossed out and it was replaced with the phase, "Child of Mine". The phase below the business card read, "God is more interested in who I am than what I do. Way cool.

I couldn't get this out of my head and the next day, I asked Cindy to make one for me. It's framed and sits on my desk.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

6% on your savings

I'm a big fan of online banking. There are so many +'s. Here's another reason to be banking on line. I just came across FNBO Direct. It's the online arm of First National Bank of Omaha.

Though September of 2007, they are paying 6% interest. Wow, that's worth switching to from whatever/where ever you currently have your emergency fund.

I'm always looking for ways to make my money (God's money) work harder for me. This is an easy way to do that.

It would be cool to track how fast, how much and from where new accounts are opened with FNBO for this 6% rate. There will be at least one from Ohio.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Dynamic Church 07 Day 2

Day two of Dynamic Church 07 is over. It was a great day.

I have a few divine appointments today. I spent some time getting to know and talking with Jeff Hook the CEO of Fellowship Technologies. Among other things, I came to find out Jeff is a bicyclist. He rides a Banchi. Way cool.

At lunch, I found myself in line with Tony Morgan. We started talking and then enjoyed lunch together (that hour was the highlight of my day.) Tony grew up in Ohio and that gave us common ground for some good conversation. We talked church stuff, life stuff and coffee roasting. (Ok, I brought up the coffee roasting.)

Dinner tonight was with the GCC gang. We when to Sonny Bryans Barbecue and I enjoyed some great Texas BBQ ribs. I’ve also tagged around with the GCC gang a lot over the last day and ½ there a fun bunch. Thanks Dave!

Oh ya, the F1 stuff. Today for me was full of great and practical information. I wont bore you with the details. Here are the sessions I participated in today.

1. Effectively managing Your Volunteer Pipeline

2. Why Your Ministry Can’t Afford Not to Track Volunteers

3. Advanced Query Builder

4. Fellowship One for Outreach Fund Raising

5. Customizing Contributions Statements with XSLT

6. RUG’s (Regional Users Group initial meeting)

I’m looking forward to the sessions tomorrow and for a safe trip home.


Thursday, May 17, 2007

Day 1 of the Dynamic Church 07 Conference in the books

It's 10 p.m. Texas time and I'm just getting settled back in my hotel room. Day one of the Dynamic Church conference in the books. It was a great day on a number of levels.

1. I met and spent time with lots of new people.

Joe from Anchorage Alaska - Database manager
Dave Moore - my counter part at Granger Community Church
Susan Griffiths - Senior Manager of Operations Mariners Church Irvine Ca
Karen & Cory Estanbrok - Grace Brethren Church Columbus Ohio

2. I was filmed during one of the breaks and found myself in a video that opened for Fellowship Tech's CEO Jeff Hook. That was cool.

3. Hands on training for the Volunteer Pipeline.

4. 2 Breakout sessions.
Best practices for contributions processing (Look out Anita I'm bringing back some ideas)
Best giving reports.

5. A few key points from Jeff Hook's keynote talk.
a) You cannot improve what's not measured.
b) When someone hits your website do you consider them a 1st time visitor?
c) You have to measure what you value.
d) Maximize the Change in peoples lives.

I look forward to tomorrow toward more learning and connecting to more people.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Road Trip Day 1

My day started very early. Up at 4:30 a.m. to take my son Chaz to school. Why so early? He and 165 of this closest classmates were off to Washington D.C. for his 8th grade trip. I hope they have a great time.

I went back home, caught and hour of sleep then headed for the airport. My first flight was delayed an hour (Akron to Atlanta) which meant I missed my connecting flight and had to reschedule. (Atlanta to Dallas) The rescheduled flight put me on the ground and in my rental car right in the middle of rush hour. To add to my adventure their was much construction on Texas 121 N and the road I needed to turn left on wasn't accessible. (I took me over an hour to travel some 18 miles.

Anyway. I'm in my hotel room after a wonderful dinner with Mark Lindsley and his wife. Not only did they treat me to some great Texas barbecue they also drove me around and showed me the sights. Thanks guys.

Oh ya, I almost forgot to tell you why I'm in Texas. I'm here for the first every Fellowship One End Users Conference. My hope is to learn and connect. I'll keep you posted.

Monday, May 14, 2007

41 cent tipping point?


With the USPS increasing a first class stamp cost to 41 cents, is it time for you start paying your bills on line? I've been using free online bill payment through my bank for year. Each time the postage rate goes up, I feel even better about banking online. (Yes, it's safe and I'd venture to say much safer than writing a paper check.)

According to the 2007 Consumer Bill Payment Survey just released by Harris Interactive and The Marketing Workshop, for the first time bill payments made online exceed paper check bill payments among online households. Some 74% of households pay at least one bill on line.

Online payments are good for your bank also. According to an IBM study, it costs banks some 9 cents to 15 cents to process a paper check and about 1 cent to process an electronic transaction.

Here are three great reasons why you should be using this free service.

  • Complete control. With online banking you can time your payments and get real-time alerts. The savings comes from avoiding late fees and spending less time resolving problems.
  • Better security. Here's another tipping point. The funds are transfered out of your account into the bank's account and then the online check is written from the bank's account. So your personal information stays secure. (ie. your home address and phone number do not appear on the check.)
  • Better organization. Less paper means less clutter. You can also do online research for years of payments to anyone you have paid through online bill pay.
So what are you waiting for? Find a bank, online or local that offers free online bill payment. It's fun, fast and reliable.

Way more fun than should be allowed at church

Kids love NewPointe and that gets me pumped. I know whey I was a kid going to church was not much fun nor was it something I wanted to go to. So what makes NewPointe different for kids? Great question.

One of many reasons is KidStuf. We like to say "KidStuf is where kids take their parents to church." KidStuf rocks! It’s fun, high energy and it teaches Biblical truths in a way that kids can relate.

Check out link below and you see what I’m talking about. You've got to watch the video on the link. Then come check out KidStuf live. You’ve got to act fast because KidStuf breaks for the summer. May 20th will be your last chance until fall.

Click here to watch. Enjoy!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Graduation

Last night was our final Financial Peace University class for this go around. I'm always grateful and humbled by taking part in FPU.

Here are four cool stats from this class.

  1. 45 Graduates of the class (This was our largest class thus far.)
  2. $5,400,000 in credit card debt offered to the class
  3. 50 credit cards cut up in class. (Wow!)
  4. Story after Story after Story of life change.
Here's a story that was shared with me last night.

A lady in our class was at a local retailer when she went to pay for her item, she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. FPU shows you how to use the envelope system to pay cash for certain items. The woman working the register as "what's with the envelope?" Our class attendee said, "Oh, I'm taking this financial class at my church. I'm trying to get out of credit card debt and the envelope system is something I'm implementing to help me do that."

The lady working the register almost started crying. She confided in our class attendee that this was her second job and she needed financial help."

I'm so proud of our class attendee. At this point she began sharing what FPU had done for her and recommended NewPointe in the fall as that's our next round of classes. Way cool!

How about you? Are you ready to "Change your family tree?" (Financially speaking?) FPU will change your life.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

DVR

I'm not much on TV. I'd rather be doing something, anything other than sitting down in front of the TV searching for something interesting to watch. That is until yesterday. I'm always on the lookout for a "BBD" Bigger Better Deal. I found on from our cable company.

I switched from Dish Network and Verizon to Time Warner Cable. I now have my TV, Internet, and Phone service all through my cable at lower $$.

With my new cable service came a DVR. This is an amazing piece of technology.

With the DVR I'm able to:
  1. Pause live TV.
  2. Find a show I like and record the entire series.
  3. Recored multiple shows at one time.
  4. Store up to 46 hours of shows.
  5. Fast forward through commercials in about 3 seconds.
So now when I sit down for 30 to 60 minutes in front of the tv, I'll be able to watch something I'm interested in vrs searching for something to watch. (Last night I set the DVR to record Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) and King of Queens the entire series.)

I'm really looking forward to recording anything and everything bicycle racing.

Monday, May 07, 2007

60 + 11

I hope everyone had a good weekend and got outside Sunday and enjoyed the sunshine.

I wanted to post a quick bog today and share two number with you. ( I like numbers)

60 - Is the miles I rode my bicycle Sunday. Left from NewPointe after second service. Rode with Kevin, Bill, Steve and Bud.

11 - Credit Cards cut up in my office today. Man I love being part of helping people get out of debt.

So, my week is off to a great start.
* Got to connect with people Sunday at church
* Got to ride lots of miles on my Bike
* Got to be part of life change

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Grass is on it's way

Today is one of those days that makes living in Ohio great. Temp in the upper 60's nice breeze and sunny. If we're lucky, we'll get at least 5 more days like this before the bugs and humidity show up.

Anyway, this weather has brought with it the last big peace of our construction process. Planting of the grass.

Here's a picture outside of my office window.



Thanks Bruce and your employees @ Vandall landscapes. You guys work really hard and take pride in your work.

I hope to post a picture of the same view in a few weeks showing nice green grass.

Get out and enjoy the day!

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Collection Practices at FPU Thursday night

This Thursday is week 12 of 13 for this round of FPU classes. (I can't believe we are almost done.) In this class, we will be talking about Collection Practices and Credit Bureaus. This is a very important lesson as debt is killing marriages.

I came across this video on YouTube. It's a tidbit on the upcoming movie Maxed Out.

Take the time to watch this video.