• Longest I have been committed to a car – 8 years
  • Minimum: 6 months
  • Current car – 8 years
• Longest I have been committed to a house – 8 years
  • Minimum: 4 months
  • Current house – 19 months
• Longest I have been committed to a cell phone – 1 year (maybe)
  • Minimum: probably a few months (lost track)
  • Current cell phone – 1 year
• Longest I have been committed to a job – 6 years
  • Minimum: 7 months
  • Current job – 4 years
• Longest I have been committed to a marriage – 22 years
  • Minimum: 22 years
  • Current (and only) marriage – 22 years

This day in history
1860 – Lincoln nominated for presidency
1920 – Pope John Paul II born
1980 – Mount St. Helen’s erupts
1990 – Jim and Mary were married in Tulsa, OK
2001 – Shrek released
2004 – Randy Johnson throws a perfect game for the Diamondbacks
2012 – Texas Rangers vs. Houston Astros

Today is our anniversary and I’m happy to say after 22 years, we are still in this together!  Clearly, for me to remain focused and stay committed to something for this long is pretty amazing. I wouldn’t change a thing.

I love you, Mary!

We are so easily distracted as a human race and we are suckers for marketing. The point of today is not candy and hiding eggs. It’s really about the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

We ask why do bad things happen to good people but as Pastor Craig points out, bad things have only happened to one good person and that’s Jesus being persecuted and ultimately dying on the cross for our sins. Good things happen to bad people all the time, such as Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

Happy Easter!

Today, we had a close call. Driving back from lunch, I was hearing a different sound and we, my car and I, knew that something wasn’t right. I got back to my office and started making the left hand turn like normal but early into the turn, I knew something wasn’t right because my steering was nearly gone. Checking the dash, I saw that all systems were down, so I went with the momentum and let it carry me off the road and into the parking lot, essentially. I was able to make the right hand turn and off into the grass out of the way.

From here, my office is still a good 200ft away but fortunately, a vendor who was on his way to see me had pulled in behind me.  So, we assessed the situation as best we could and agreed we really had no clue.  I knew by now that the car had overheated in the 100+ degree weather and I knew there was a hole in the top of the radiator that wasn’t supposed to be there.

So, with me being a little too busy for this unplanned circumstance, I did what I had to do and I worked.  The security guard was all over it and I let a buddy of mine know that my car needed attention and gave him the keys. Over the next hour, they pushed my car up to the building and assessed the situation on a more professional level.

One of them found out the cost of the new radiator and once they tracked me down they told me once I get the radiator, it will be repaired pretty quickly. I called and found where I could buy the radiator and had to track down a 3rd person for a ride.

By the time I got back with the new radiator, my old one had already been removed, so the new one was ready to be installed.  It was done within the next 30 minutes and I really appreciate all of the help I received.  The only problem remaining was that I should have bought a new radiator cap but failed to, so within a few blocks of leaving, I was overheating again.  Once I got to the store and bought the new cap, I topped off the anti-freeze, then put the new cap on and life was good again. No more overheating.

When I got home, I promptly checked the radiator caps on the other 2 vehicles and topped off anti-freeze in both of them.  The last thing I want to do is for anyone in my family to be found overheated on the side of the road.

The day has not arrived yet which caused me to sadly kiss my car goodbye, but that day is quickly approaching.  As long as it keeps on running, I will keep on driving it.

This Texas heat is brutal and it’s time to be proactive.

Lesson O’ The Day:
Make sure your radiator cap has a good seal!

We have created a Facebook group where we offer suggestions on things to post on Twitter and Facebook about an upcoming series.  We are also using SMS shortcodes as another way to connect. Ultimately, this is all intended to draw people in so we, as a church body, can connect with them.

Initial results are not huge, but I am encouraged with what we have done so far. We went into this with nothing to gauge our results against, so in my opinion, any and all results are good.  Each connection is a person who potentially does not know Jesus and we are reaching them in a way that we could not have otherwise.

Is there value in this?

Are people being connected with the church as a result of this effort?

What is your church’s experience?

I have proven over the years that I can do this, I can pick a topic to write about and communicate my thoughts in a way that people can relate to and understand. As a matter of fact, do you know that the year when I was between churches and between being actively involved in tech ministry, I wrote more and CTM grew more than at any other time.  I wasn’t writing about anything I was actually doing, I was writing about ideas that I thought made sense, in the church IT world and I wrote about what I saw others doing.

With that being said, I have a track record of writing about whatever has my attention at the moment, so I have no worries that I can pull this off.  I have no objection to writing about things going on in the church IT arena and in fact, I am currently working on some things in that regard and as we move forward, I’ll be sharing more about that.  I also intend to write about general tech topics and also some thoughts on leadership, writing, current social media trends and more.

In a general sense, I want to write about things that interest you and encourage discussion, in every way including commenting on this site, on Facebook, on Twitter and any other way.  In all honesty, I want this site to become even bigger than CTM. 

That burden is me. I have to write. As I do that, I expect you to do your part.

I’m up for the challenge. Are you?

• Can I afford the new boat that I want?
• How much is the iPad?
• How much is it going to cost to fix my car enough so that it passes inspection?

Something we tend to overlook, however, is what something costs in non-financial ways.  Primarily I’m thinking of time cost and energy cost.  In my life, everything is new and fresh.

• New house
• New city
• New church
• New year
• New activities
• New commitments

It’s so easy to fill every moment with some activity and generally, that requires a time commitment and some amount of energy.  I am trying to be very aware of the cost of things I commit to because once I’m over-committed, it’s hard to say no and even harder to pull back. This is a great opportunity to have a fresh start and calculate the cost in every way before I get in over my head.

In all that you do, how often do you overlook the key question, what is the cost?

So the point of this blog is to offer insight and information about how the church can effectively use technology to bring church members into a closer relationship with Christ and reach the local community and the world, literally, for Christ.

That was a portion of the very first post at Church Tech Matters. To me, it was a big deal because I felt I had finally found something that fit, something that clicked in my mind and in my heart.  It was a passion so unique that even I struggled to explain it in the years leading up to this first post.  However, my ambition in life was not to maintain a website for the next 1530 days. I figured it would be fun for a few weeks, then I would move on.

Little did I know the life that this site would take on. I did not have a goal to create a brand, so to speak, that attached itself to me and followed me where ever I went. Don’t get me wrong, the result of Church Tech Matters becoming known by so many opened many doors for me in so many different ways and I truly appreciate that.  But, in a way that I can’t explain, the idea of continuing to be the “Church Tech Matters” guy lost it’s appeal to me.

During the last half of 2008, I changed jobs and stepped down from my leadership role at my church, and at the same time, God was stirring in my heart to make a change with Church Tech Matters.  Due to my stubbornness, I held on as long as I could but in the end, I knew what I had to do.

I finally realized it was Time To Face The Change.  That final post that I wrote at Church Tech Matters does a good job articulating my thoughts at the time.

Church Tech Matters has given me a voice to share this passion that God has put in my heart and it has given me a place to focus my attention and energy. I consider many of you who read this blog to be my friends and I look to you often for advice or guidance or, lately, I have used several of you as a sounding board to help me determine what’s next for me.

After much prayer and discussion and thought, I have made the decision that this will be the last post written at Church Tech Matters.

I went on to say:

It has been an amazing ride and I am such a better person because of you, my readers and friends. God has blessed me so much through this experience and I am honored that some of what I have said seems to hold value.

That was a difficult decision but in my heart of hearts, I wanted to drop the label and write simply as myself.

I have been doing exactly that at this site for the past 2 years, but in a crazy turn of events, those writings are gone. I have been fretting over this but in many ways, this seems appropriate.  I have moved 2 states away, due to my job, and so many things in my life are new and fresh, so it’s time to have a fresh start at this site as well.

Without any big fanfare or established following, let’s get on with this and find whatever is next!

By the way, recently, I was asked “What happened to the church tech guy?” Maybe I’ll answer that question in my next post.