Adventures in missing the catch

Yesterday, Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson dropped a pass - a game winning, wide open, overtime pass that would have won the game. That's a bad day no matter what. But then, he tweeted this: p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 20.0px; font: 13.0px Times} I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO...The bad day just got worse. Here are just a few thoughts on life and leadership I have after hearing the story (and reading Romans 11 this morning). 1. Watch out for entitlement creep.It's real easy to confuse God's blessing with...

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God wants me to fail

It's true. And it's something I've been learning lately but is really difficult for me. I'm actually a bit of a perfectionist, if I'm honest. Let me give you a few examples. I don't play games for the fun of it. I play to win. If I don't win, it drives me crazy. I want to quickly figure out a better strategy and play again. Which means I can be pretty competitive at just about anything. It's not that I don't like you, it's just that I want to crush you in competition. Games like "Angry Birds" for example, drive me crazy. It's addictive to me because I must beat it. I can't let those little pigs win. A few years ago I picked up woodworking as a hobby. I've built a few things, but to be honest, it too drives me crazy. I want to build things with precision and yet my skills aren't there. I notice...

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Hey Story Church - help us out!

If you attend Story Church would you do us a favor? We believe that what God has been doing in us and through us is something amazing. We believe that the life that we are experiencing as a result is something that should be shared with others as well. There are lots of people out there looking for a life-giving church. So would you do us a favor? Here are a few ways you can help us to get the word out:Write up a great review on Yelp.If you blog, put a link to Story Church on your blog."Like" us on Facebook.Follow us on Twitter and retweet us every chance you get.Most importantly? Live an authentic, loving, generous, Jesus-centered life. There is no greater invitation than that!Thanks for helping us get the word o...

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Numbers

The number 100. It's a good number. A nice, round number. It's the first number that is three digits instead of two. And up until recently it was a number we had never reached at STORYCHURCH. That is, until yesterday. Yesterday, on my birthday, we had 101 in attendance!! It was exciting, not just for me, but I think for most of the people in the church who have been with us for a while. It's feeling fuller all the time and it's fun to be part of something that is growing and picking up momentum. And I think God calls us to celebrate. We SHOULD stop and take notice and party and rejoice over cool moments like this one. I was personally on cloud nine all day yesterday and woke up today feeling about as good as any Monday morning I can remember.Numbers are important. They tell a story - not THE...

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Sparky

About ten years ago I had the privilege to play a round of golf with Sparky Anderson, a hall of fame baseball manager who passed away yesterday at the age of 76. Some of you may know I'm a baseball fanatic. I played baseball in college at Biola University. It was as an alumni when I went to play in a fundraiser tournament that I got paired up with this legend. As a fan, I knew him as a manager who had won the World Series in both the American league with the Tigers, and the National league with the Reds. But I didn't know what to expect that day. Sparky was a small man as you can probably tell by the picture. But he was a man with a huge heart....

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Story Church lately...

We're almost 10 months old. I can't even believe it at times. And yet, in other respects I can't hardly remember life apart from this church that I love so much. I seriously can't believe I get to do this. Here are some of the things that have been happening lately:Growth. We've experienced a really fun season lately where we are seeing more and more people each week and more and more who are excited about making Story Church home. We think we'll crack the 100 mark sometime soon!A couple of weeks ago we had some visitors who came because one year ago our launch team (the group that helped get Story Church started) washed their car for free one day. Wow.Baby boom. More like explosion. Not that babies are exploding, but you understand. At some point I will try and count all the babies from this...

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