The Clearing

To be honest, I actually don't have those skeptica...

2009-11-01T15:26:46.303-06:00

To be honest, I actually don't have those skeptical thoughts about changed prison inmates.

I will more likely have those skeptical thoughts about changed politicians.

Hmm...I haven't seen either, but thanks to this re...

2009-06-19T18:56:08.881-05:00

Hmm...I haven't seen either, but thanks to this review, I have an itch to see both! INTERESTING :) Maybe, just maybe more thoughts to come later!!

Good review, Steve. One of the main drawbacks I h...

2009-06-01T13:56:12.349-05:00

Good review, Steve. One of the main drawbacks I had, as well, was that it didn't allow for the side of Truth.

Might I recommend another eye-opening documentary, as well...Soldiers in the Army of God...more relevant with the death of Dr. George Tiller.

Well, as a Gen Y'er (by a year), I have to say tha...

2009-05-31T16:49:04.642-05:00

Well, as a Gen Y'er (by a year), I have to say that I don't agree with every facet of this article. As far as WoW goes - and on a completely subjective level- I watched by younger brother fail out of college because he chose "raids" vs. "grades". I can't say that his advice to hop on is sound. However, I will say the article is thought provoking. It's interesting to believe a company could have people more interested in leisure and sharing a title, than becoming a "slave" to money and the pride of (insert title here). I LIKE IT. I think moving towards a global vs. local environment can only help broaden our scope and realize the grace and gifts God has bestowed upon us. After all, people are God's most precious possession right? Maybe we should be knitting ourselves together instead of conquering our jobs one title at a time...

this helps explain why so many people are willing ...

2009-05-26T11:15:39.593-05:00

this helps explain why so many people are willing to undertake projects for a cause they believe in. so organizations try to capitalize on this to motivate people to pursue something worthy.

but the flip side of this explains why people are so devastated when the institution seems to fail them.

And one more: Steve, Thanks for sharing. I thoug...

2009-05-21T12:52:36.296-05:00

And one more:

Steve,
Thanks for sharing. I thought this was an outstanding article and it definitely confirms the trends that I was seeing when I was in the legal placement industry. The large law firms were moving more and more towards using bright young contract attorneys and these attorneys enjoyed the flexibility of not being a slave to a large firm (more balanced work and home life). Thanks…

And another sent this: If you don’t recognize the...

2009-05-21T12:52:14.066-05:00

And another sent this:

If you don’t recognize the gift one receives through serving others, then what you end up with is a generation of youngsters who view grace as an expectation rather than a gift.

A friend emailed this response to me: Here’s my 2...

2009-05-21T12:51:44.651-05:00

A friend emailed this response to me:

Here’s my 2 cents…

As a Gen Xer, I feel like we are in a quandary. We have not necessarily been led well, but now are being put into a position of leading the Gen Yers—who don’t want to be led. I love what the Gen Y brings to the table and a huge part of me wishes I had been born later so that I was a part of it, but I don’t know how to support that generation in the way they need to be supported.

For me personally, I’ve been put in places where I have had to lead Yers and have failed miserably. Much of that was due to me just assuming they would be motivated like I was. In order to be successful at anything, I think we Xers are going to have to change the way we do things to meet the needs of the Yers. Problem is, if the rest of my generation is like me, we don’t know how to do that. I think we are way more adaptable than our parents were, but because many of us have been following the rules set up for us, it’s harder to think outside the box. We do the obvious—like learning to text, twitter and facebook, but know there is so much more we should be doing.

So what’s the answer? We’ve got to be trained. I think we need more people like you, who understand the Yers, but can speak the language of the Xers to teach us and to teach the Yers how to utilize our strengths to accomplish their task. I see the Yers as more visionary than my generation, but I see the Xers as more able to put a plan together to accomplish the goal. Working together, I think we have the perfect team dynamic, but I don’t know that many Yers believe that. It feels like they think they are the only ones who care about these causes and that it’s up to them to do it, if it’s going to be done. I think the Xers care, we just don’t know how to jump on board when it feels like our ideas are unwanted or not needed.

Hopefully that made sense and wasn’t just a ramble—see what happens when you ask for my opinion? 

theoretically, yes, I'm unashamed and proud of the...

2009-04-30T21:33:41.210-05:00

theoretically, yes, I'm unashamed and proud of the gospel, but I'm not sure that you could look at every aspect of my life and see that.

What's cool about this is as I was listening on Su...

2009-04-10T09:13:08.692-05:00

What's cool about this is as I was listening on Sunday, I kept resisting. I don't like the language "master" and "slave". Then I realized that's because of what we, humans, have done to the master/slave relationship. I though, "surely there were good masters and willing slaves", then I realized...Obedience to my Master is easy, when I realize He truly has my best interest at heart.

McKibben, I like what you wrote in these, but I'm ...

2009-02-16T18:26:59.678-06:00

McKibben, I like what you wrote in these, but I'm not so sure I want to be found by people searching the internet for "h**kers!" ;-)

good point, momof3!But if I was looking for work, ...

2009-02-05T14:27:58.333-06:00

good point, momof3!
But if I was looking for work, I might start with them now that the name is in my head.

Trey knows McKibben. LOL!

I heard one of the ad agents givng a run down on t...

2009-02-05T14:04:13.974-06:00

I heard one of the ad agents givng a run down on the commercials and he really hated the CareerBuilders one because he said "they missed the bandwagon" because most people now are just glad to have a job vs "hating the job they have and wanting a new one." I thought it was a pretty good point with so many people without work now.

E-Trade was by far the best one.I also noticed tha...

2009-02-05T10:25:09.886-06:00

E-Trade was by far the best one.

I also noticed that McKibben pick mostly the degrading and mean commercials that he liked the best.

Of those, I think CareerBuilder was my favorite. I...

2009-02-04T21:12:50.047-06:00

Of those, I think CareerBuilder was my favorite. I felt like most of the ads were poorly thought-out this year. My fav was the E-Trade babies that aired right after the game, "shankopotamous."

And I never saw the one-second ads. Lolks like we're gonna have to redesign this site sometime so the videos can fit, eh?

High Life!!!!!

2009-02-04T15:36:37.580-06:00

High Life!!!!!

Careerbuilder is definitely a winner!

2009-02-04T13:06:56.415-06:00

Careerbuilder is definitely a winner!

Leviticle law does mention not getting tattoos (le...

2009-01-30T17:49:21.451-06:00

Leviticle law does mention not getting tattoos (lev. 19:28). now the question is what is the principle behind the law, and not what the letter of the law is.

Yes I have a tattoo. No it is not in a visible lo...

2009-01-29T22:59:01.349-06:00

Yes I have a tattoo. No it is not in a visible location. And yes...the artwork honors God and my wife.

Well the Newsboys are coming to LeTourneau Univers...

2009-01-27T09:28:59.065-06:00

Well the Newsboys are coming to LeTourneau University in Longview, TX on March 6.

Wow! Thats an amazing story. I won't lie that as ...

2009-01-25T03:15:23.047-06:00

Wow! Thats an amazing story. I won't lie that as I read it (and since it started with a statement about manhood) I was really hoping that you tackled the man, took the gun, saved lives, etc. I'm allowed to hope that because you would have obviously lived if you were blogging about it. Alas, no movie-like heroics, but still a great story. We, being most guys, always think given the opportunity we'll be the hero and save the day, when in reality maybe the real heroic thing was not to do anything stupid and to protect your wife and kiddos.

I've used my iTouch at church the last few times. ...

2009-01-21T08:30:15.600-06:00

I've used my iTouch at church the last few times. I agree with Steve that there is, and should, still have value in personal interaction. With that said, I think the Church should take advantage of technology the best they can, but always in some way directing them to a physical church so that the church can better walk with them in their lives. Technology is a great tool to use to reach out to more people, but the church still has to find a way to physically connect with those people too.

I've taken notes on my laptop a couple of times at...

2009-01-20T22:39:38.384-06:00

I've taken notes on my laptop a couple of times at Bent Tree--it makes me nervous and I try to overcompensate by making sure those around me know I have my Bible software open. But I want to keep going, and I look forward to interacting with others during the messages....

i love your blog. thanks for sharing the video! ...

2008-12-04T08:06:05.259-06:00

i love your blog. thanks for sharing the video! it is refreshing to see a pastor that raw and real who isn't just pushing his agenda. im not used to that. your church seems like a great place.