Our new youth minister, John Pape and family, have arrived from Indiana. A group from OCC helped unload their moving truck yesterday beginning around 5 p.m. The truck was completely unloaded by a little after 6 p.m. Then we had a nice time of fellowship with pizza and pop. Thanks to everyone that helped!

Noah and proud sister, Jacy.

Noah thinking, “Do you have to take all these pictures?”

Noah and his new Hot Wheels backpack.

Noah all buckled in Daddy’s cool car.

Noah and a Michael’s Bakery chocolate donut for breakfast!

Noah thinking, “I hate all these pictures!”

Noah and Jacy outside the school entrance.

Noah and his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Lantz.

If you had 30 seconds to talk with Tiger, what would you say? How did Brit do?

What about you? Got any resolutions? I’d love to hear from you.

Happy New Year!

The other day I opened a new can of “Great Value” Parmesan Cheese. But after I opened it, I discovered it was only about 75% full. What I thought was a “great value” turned out to be not so great.

I’ve noticed this with bags of chips too. It seems that most of the bag is filled with air, not chips. Does anyone know why? I’m assuming it’s all about making more money. If you take a little parmesan cheese out or just a chip or two, that could mean millions. But I feel gipped!

Does anyone else?

The diagnosis is Transient Global Amnesia. You can read a description by clicking here. This best describes what happened. I’m thankful that it’s unlikely to happen again. I should be fine.

I’ll have more blood work done on Monday and a follow-up with my doctor in a week or so.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. I hope to be in church tomorrow.

I took the DiSC personality profile again recently. I’ve taken it twice over the last 3 years. The results are pretty consistent. My dominant style is C with some S and a little D. Below is what my profile says I enjoy about managing/leading and what drains me.

What I enjoy?

- Emphasizing accuracy and precision

- Implementing rational ideas

- Creating efficient systems or procedures

- Keeping people on track

- Developing solid proposals

- Catching errors or flaws in design

- Improving upon others’ ideas

- Creating a reliable setting for yourself and others

- Setting high standards

- Providing in-depth analysis

- Emphasizing quality

- Calculating risks

What drains me?

- Building warm relationships with team members

- Displaying empathy

- Making decisions without time for analysis

- Giving enthusiastic praise or public recognition

- Initiating change

- Building a collaborative environment

- Managing a chaotic environment

- Moving quickly

- Offering emotional support

- Meeting new people

- Dealing with conflict

- Building optimism and enthusiasm

For those that know me, what do you think? Is this accurate? What would you add or take away?

Remember, be nice!

You can follow me on Twitter. I’ve pasted a widget to the right. Click here to visit my Twitter home page. Happy tweeting!

I was reminded this week of a survey conducted by sociologist Anthony Campolo years ago. He asked 50 people over the age of 95 this question: “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” The answers given were varied, but three themes emerged. They were:

- If I had it to do over again, I would reflect more.

- If I had it to do over again, I would risk more.

- If I had it to do over again, I would do more things that would live on after I’m dead.

I think it would be good for us to think about these responses. For many of us we still have time to do some things differently. What is that for you?

“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Ephesians 5:15-17

This coming Sunday OCC is bringing the “Silver Ring Thing“ to Orrville, Ohio. Let me encourage all teens and parents/grandparents of teens to be there. Click here (scroll down) for all the details. Below is a promo video. It’s going to be high-energy and life-changing. Be there!

David Faust, one of my college professors and current President at CCU, writes a weekly column in the Lookout magazine. This magazine is available at OCC every Sunday for FREE at the south Welcome Center. Anyway, he wrote an article a few weeks ago that connects really well with my message from Sunday. Click here to read the article. It’s all about relationships!

What would it look like for OCC to become more and more of a generous community?

I referred to a news story in my message Sunday about a couple that had sex for 101 consecutive days. Click here to read about it and watch an interview from the Today show.

It doesn’t appear that this couple are Christ-followers. However, some of the things they learned from their experience is really good stuff.

I heard of a church that did a campaign called 30 Days of Sex. They encouraged married couples to have sex every day for 30 days. They also encouraged singles to abstain from sex for 30 days. I considered doing this at OCC, but thought it was a little much. Sorry guys!

The Chronological Bible Reading Plan I’m using this year has me in the book of Job right now. Job’s three friends, if you can really call them that, are saying things to Job that aren’t very encouraging or true. They claim that all the bad things that have happened to Job are the result of his wickedness. There must be something wrong with him! Here’s one verse of Job’s response: “If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom” (13:5).  That verse stopped me in my tracks this morning! Sometimes (probably most of the time) the wisest thing to do is just be quiet.

Other verses came to mind as I meditated on Job’s response.

Proverbs 17:28 – “Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.”

James 1:19 – “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…”

James 1:26 – “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”

After reading Job and these verses, I continued reading “Winning with People” by John Maxwell, which is the leadership book I’m reading this month. Maxwell quotes Lady Dorothy Nevill. She said, “The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment” (p. 39).

I love it when things align like that. God must be trying to tell me something!

What about you?

Dr. Ed Dobson tried to live like Jesus in 2008. Click here to read about it. You can also watch an interview from Good Morning America.

I found it interesting that Dobson drank a couple beers and voted for Barack Obama. What do you think? Would Jesus go to a bar and drink a beer today? Would Jesus have voted for Obama?

One thing I appreciate about Dobson was his commitment to reading the Bible. He read all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) every week for a year! Even though I may disagree with Dobson’s choices, I respect his dedication and devotion to the Scriptures.

How devoted are you to living like Jesus in 2009?