matt's thoughts

Drive 08 Website

love the website for the Drive 08 conference.  lots of fun.  you get to choose a car, drive it around and chat (still to come i think.)  anyhoo...big props to the designers...got me to stick around longer.  :-)

time to breath in...and breath out...

when i was in high school i was way into running...the mile in particular. i ran all the time, and had an amazing coach that did an incredible job at really drawing out the potential in the guys he coached. 

he worked us hard...really hard.  i remember running 8-10 miles a day during the week and then 14 miles on saturday during our peak conditioning for cross country.  it was tough.  but then there were strategic days, and moments where we would rest...when we would intentionally not run...so that we could race better. 

coach b used to tell us that our ability to rest well was as important as our ability to train well.

last night i was reminded of this as we had a time of worship and rest with my worship team.  these guys work their butts off.  we don't have multiple teams right now at our church...so most of my guys play every week...and rehearse every week.  after a while i start to feel the burn of this, and i know they do to...so we stopped...for a moment. 

admittedly i planned our time of worship mainly for myself.  i needed to breath a bit...and sensed that it would have some value for my team.  so for about 30 minutes before our normal rehearsal time we were silent...i made a playlist of some great worship tunes...no one played an instrument.  we just prayed and worshipped together.  it was so great.  about midway through our time i got up and served communion to each of our team members and we were reminded of the great sacrifice that our Saviour made for us. 

i was so refreshed after that time...even as short as it was.  i asked some of my guys if it was some thing that was valuable to them, and their response was so immediate, saying things like, "that was so necessary for me rignt now!"

i was so challenged and reminded as a leader that i have a huge responsibility to care for the spiritual well being of the folks that i am leading.  its ok to run hard...i think its important to run hard...but its just as important to stop and breath deeply...and rest...and just worship. 

Remedy Review...so far

i've listened just a couple of times.  there are moments that i have underwhelmed by this album.  perhaps as many have said, because it stands in the shadow of A Collision.  but then there are songwriting moments like this that take my breath away:

and the problem is this
we were bought with a kiss
but the cheek still turned
even when it wasn't hit

and i don't know
what to do with a love like that
and i don't know
how to be a love like that

remedy is here

just downloaded this...haven't even had a chance to listen.  really psyched about it.  i'll post a review after i've listened a bit. 

st. arbucks

took my little girl maddie out for a "daddy-daughter date" this evening.  we went by my favorite starbucks in the town center to see cody.  cody is an african gray parrot that belongs to my new friends bob & jim.  these guys are famous in our area for their bird who sits in the tree just right next to their regular table.  cody even has his own skate board and remote control car.  needless to say maddie thought cody was the coolest thing ever. 

my take on the ipod touch

so i scored an ipod touch this week.  totally a provision that God surprised me with.  here are my thoughts so far:

• love that it is so slim...like an iphone went on a low carb diet.
• love the interface and sound quality
• the wifi and safari inclusion totally makes it worth it.
• the calendar doesn't have an input option, but it syncs with my ical which is synced to google calendar where i do all of my inputs so this isn't a big deal to me.
• i'm totally missing the mail app, but i can deal with web mail until steve-o responds to the plight of the suffering itouch users.  :-)
• love the itunes wifi store...wish that it included podcast subscriptions...this is a huge bummer for me. 
• happy with the contacts sync.
• i like the online apps designed for iphone, and the touch.  especially typepad.
• viewed as an ipod...this thing is amazing.
• viewed as a pda it is lacking in some areas.
• i have discovered that for me it is sufficient, and actually just what i need.  i have noticed that my work habits have made included much more work in my moleskin, so the functionality of the touch is just right.
• i did away with the treo as a result of this purchase and i'm loving having a tiny phone again.
• i hate texting again.
• overall i am very pleased with this purchase...it is the right fit for me and my work habits.  i finally feel like i have tools that i really get the most of out of their functionality. 
  

worship confessional #17

iPod touch

blogging from my new tool. Simply awesome.

refreshing...

This is the kind of thing that I yearn for in our church.  Following Christ isn't about going to a meeting, but having your life radically transformed by a love that we cannot comprehend.

remedy is coming

so psyched for this...check out the preview.
ht: josh