WeTheChurch.org will be launching Monday morning. Please pray that the launch will go smoothly (from the technical side) and that it would make an impact in the ministry world.
I’m really excited about the potential it has. Look for a lot more here on Monday about it. Please let me know if you can blog about it to help promote it.
After looking at some of my pictures yesterday a friend of mine commented, “You know, there really is a difference between the quality of fancy cameras and regular ones.”
Maybe that’s why I spent so much on the fancy ones.
I’m trying out an incredibly cool new service for keeping track of notes/ideas/anything really. You can read more about it at Evernote.com.
The feature that sold me is the desktop client that syncs among the web component and multiple computers. As a user of multiple computers this really appealed to me.
I’ve got a few beta invites left. If you’d like one just leave a comment.
In my years at church I’ve heard money taught on mostly as a mathematical formula.
God gives you X. Multiply X times .1 and that’s how much you give to the church.
Does that seem cold to anyone else?
I’ve been going through a series on money for the Legacy Kids. Instead of starting with formulas or even verses on finances, I started with John 3:16. We spent an entire class dissecting every aspect of that verse.
Why?
Because love is the key to being successful in God’s eyes when it comes to money. Our giving of money to the church and to others should start and end with our love of God.
I emphasized to the kids that God wants our heart. He doesn’t need our money but he also knows it’s a sign of what’s important to us.
It shows our love. Love is the only thing I’ve found that will overpower greed. I want a new car right now. But I love not having a car payment. I also love being far enough out of debt that I can help others. That love overcomes my greedy nature that would rather spend $500 on a new car.
I think the church as a whole doesn’t talk enough about money because they are scared to come across wrong. This time I really felt like God was showing me a way to approach money that had very little to do with money.
Money is a touchy thing to teach in church. How do you approach it?
Today Conner and I were driving to eat. He looked at me from the back seat.
“Dad, what happens to a car when someone is driving and gets arrested?”
“They call a tow truck to and the person who was arrested can pick it up later,” I answered.
We drove farther down the road, passing by lines of traffic.
“Dad, what happens if there is a little boy with the man who’s arrested?”
“What?! Conner are you afraid I’m going to get arrested or something?”
“No, just checking.”
“Make you a deal, I’ll never get arrested so you never have to worry about it.”
“Ok.”
So seriously do I just seem like the type to get arrested or what?
I bought Grand Theft Auto 4 the day it came out. After a week of playing it (ok, actually I’ve only had a couple of hours to play it all week) I think I might return it.
Why?
Because of the rampant violence? No. I don’t think I own a game that doesn’t involve putting digital bullets in a digital person.
Because of the prostitutes and strip clubs? No. You know what I’ve discovered? GTA4 is a lot like real life. If you don’t go to the strip clubs or look for hookers you don’t experience either of those. So I don’t. Yes, I actually avoid the digital strip clubs and ladies of the night.
What does interest me about the game is the storytelling (yeah, that’s the modern version of “I just read it for the articles”). But seriously, I really am amazed at the world they’ve created and the way they use it to tell a story. The story is on par with the great crime movies. I actually find myself liking main character Niko Bellic. Sure he works for the underworld but he’s doing it to help his cousin who owes the wrong people money.
The real problem I have with it is the controls. They’re just not intuitive in any way whatsoever. Not at all. When I play online and manage to get a kill it seems more like an accident than actual skill. Rockstar Games has created a massive open world with a billion different options. But by doing so I don’t think they spent enough time making the most important part really great. I guess it’s hard to map all those different options to a few buttons on a controller.
And for the record, this game was not designed for kids. No kid should ever play this game. It’s on par with a rated R movie.
I met Lisa and Steven in downtown Austin for a late-day engagement shoot and had a blast.
You can view the entire set here.
And the best shot of the day…Steven about to get the crap knocked out of him. Told you they were a lot of fun.
Three weeks ago we shot a bridal session for Sylvia Diaz (Bowman after last night) at Chapel Dulcinea in south Austin. It turned out to be a perfect day for a shoot and a great location on the side of a mountain (or at least as big as mountains get in Austin). Sylvia had no fear about the dress which led to some great shots.
You can view the rest of the set here.
For my brother Cody, who insisted my blog needs 100% more Carl Weathers than it has now.
It’s an inside joke. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Inspired by a conversation yesterday I’ll leave you with a question while I’m gone.
When was the last time something happened that you’d qualify as one of those “heart attack” moments?
Mine was two weeks ago. On a shoot I changed out a lens. I grabbed my backpack with all my camera equipment and hefted it onto my shoulder. Turns out I forgot to zip it up. Many thousands of dollars worth of camera lenses and bodies came tumbling out to the tile floor below. I’m 6′2″ so it was a long fall.
I stood there for a moment, working up the bravery to check on it all. Luckily everything was ok, but for a minute I was not a happy camper.
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