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food

I am on vacation right now, but I am sharing some of my best posts from the past years...here is one of food since I am sure I am eating great right now. I also want to add Mia and Grace to this list. I took Steph there a week ago and it was AWESOME...

FOOD: We had Jet’s Pizza yesterday. It’s a new place over by Walmart in Muskegon. Some people love Fricano’s or Scribs with their thin and greasy. This was pan - lots of crust. It was good for a chain type pizza. We use to eat at Topo’s a lot, but now they are closed (has anyone gone to the new Alleydoor or whatever it is called in Topo’s place?!?!?!) Anyways, I love food. We use to eat out all the time. We still eat out like once a week. One thing I like about the lakeshore is there are some good local tastes. So here are some of our top spots...

Best Pizza - K 2: above Kirby’s Grill - part of the Kirby House. They have the oven brink deal and you can make crazy combinations.

Best Burger: The Station - I love the signature, the olivette, the chili burger and the bacon cheese add grilled onions & mushrooms. You gotta get the Texas fries there and their wings are good - not the meatlest - but good. Also, try the artichoke dip - awesome.

Best Fast Food Burger - Rays Beefburgers in GH. You can beat a triple cheese burger with crinkle cut fries and a pineapple shake. You can see the goodness soaking through the brown bag.

Best Coffeehouse: I am a Starbucks man. I love the consistency. It is always good. There are some good spots - panera, jumping java, brooklyn bagel, bigsby, and more - but THE Coffee House on Seminole and Seaway gets my vote. Great place. Good drinks. Free WiFi.

Best Date Night Places: Dockers and Sardine Room - Dockers is great in the summer when you can sit on the deck and watch the boats come in. Sardine Room is cozy and good.

Best Summer Spots - it all in GH. Summer isn’t complete without multiple stops to Butch’s Beach Burritos, Pronto Pups and you can beat the waffle cones at Temptations. You have to just keep walking the pier to work it off.

Best Overall - Hearthstone: The soup is awesome - but they always have something funky to try on the special menu. I like to try new things and they never disappoint.

Other Good Local Spots that we often hit: Pints and Quarts, Hobo’s Tavern, Two Tonys, Kirby’s, Snug Harbor, US 31 BBQ, The Cheese Lady, The Brownstone, the Pita Place, and G & L. 

I wish we had more ethnic choices - but we aren’t really a diverse city. I want a good Mexican, Chinese (nonbuffet), Thai, and Italian place. Maybe some fusion or something. There are some great places in Grand Rapids too - that is another day. Did I mention that I love food? What’s your favorite spots?

multi-site

I am on vacation. I am sharing some top posts from past years...

MULTI-SITE

PART ONE:We have been researching, visiting, and experimenting with a multi-site church concept. Our dream is to have a Journey experience every 20 minute just off of US 31 from Whitehall to Holland. 

Why Multi-site?

- Reach more people, easier to invite

- Easier for people to be involved if church is closer

- More opportunities to serve

- Keeps the big small

- Leverage our Journey Brand/Identity

- Good stewardship by pooling resources

- Increase our impact

Will it ever happen?

We did an experiment with the cinema last year. We learned a lot. One of the main lessons was - don’t do it if we can’t do it well. We will need a good team that has time to be prepared, a campus pastor, kids and music leaders, and top notch equipment when we do it next time. So, we are planning on it, but we want to make sure we do it right.

Next Time I will chat a little about some concepts for sites and how current team of staff fits into the multi-site plan.

PART TWO:

There are a variety of mult-site models because it is a newer idea and has mostly comes from dealing with building problems rather than copying another model. Innovation is often birthed out of limited resources and creative ideas...Craig told me something like that... Anyways, some multi-site are video sites, some are made of staff that pool ideas, some have live satellite, some share staff and meet at different times, and some meet in movie theaters, school, nightclubs or even bars. 

As we look to the future we see a variety of options. One concept we have talked about is having two sites and share some staff. Paul with speak on Topic A at Site 1 for a month while I would speak on Topic B at Site 2 that same month. Then the next month, we would switch sites...Paul would speak on Topic A at Site 2 and I would speak on Topic B at Site 1. We like the idea of video because we can also use it online. If video or other ideas, no matter - we will have a campus pastor who will be the main guy at that site. He would oversee the activities and people at that site and be the face of the place. We have also talked about doing a 10-15 minute video each week and having the site pastor share the rest. Just thoughts and ideas.  

We don’t know what exactly we will do - it will depend on staff and location. We do know that we can’t cut quality. Each site would need some kids & music staff and the campus pastor. So, Paul, Mark, Virginia, or myself wouldn’t leave the current location. However, we could oversee aspects of two locations.

Next Time - some crazy ideas we have also thought about...

PART THREE:

Here are a few brainstorms...

INTERNET - More of a impact on the web - this is a great place for video. Lifechurch.tv has an internet campus - it is also connected to a facebook application. They have people connect to the services in cities not even close to their church - then some of those people have community groups together. I think that is sweet. As we become more of a web-base society, we need to leverage our impact online. We are gonna experiment with an online community group this semester as well.

BRING IT - we don't know what this looks like, but instead of expecting people to come to us - we want to bring church to people in West Michigan. We have very few ideas how this is gonna happen, but we might try some crazy stuff in the future.

TWO VALUES - we have heard some wisdom that we hold dear...
~Everything is an Experiment - it won't happen if you don't try. Every great man or business or church fails sometime. Nothing comes easy. We feel like the Cinema didn't go great. But man we sure learned a lot of stuff for next time.
~If we are gonna reach people that aren't connecting, we need to do things that haven't been done. This means doing things that other churches don't do. This means stepping out of comfort zones and trying new stuff.

We don't know what is ahead. All we know is that we are going to do whatever we can to reach as many people as possible.

 

Two Worlds Collide

I am on vacation but sharing some of my top posts from the past years...

This week I am giving you an inside peak at my life hoping that it might be encouraging for your life...

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS I HAVE DONE OVER THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS:

Watched tons of football

Used power tools

Eat a meal of only meat

Snacked on beef jerky

Watched more football

Won my fantasy football week

Worked out

Mowed my lawn

Used a knife

HERE IS A LIST FROM SOMEONE ELSE...

Drank a Pumpkin spice Latte

Went shopping for kids clothes

Drives a mini-van

Cooked & Cleaned

Decorated the front porch with pumpkins

Pick out colors for decorating

Watched HGTV

Stayed at home with kids

OK - they are both me. Stephani makes fun of me sometimes about being a little fruity. Anyways - I am a mans man, but I enjoy or at least do some things people label as women’s work. Here are too things about me that might be encouraging for you. 1) I don’t read books, but I love to learn. I definitely learn by doing. I want to know a little about everything. I never face something and say I can’t do it. I might not be the best but want to be able to do it. I didn’t play guitar until I was out of college. Five years ago, when we launched the Journey - I knew nothing about video editing or graphic arts or starting a church for what it’s worth. Don’t miss out on life. As Nike said, just do it - learn something new, fix your marriage, make a difference in this world, learn to play the kazoo - whatever - just do it. 2) Don’t let people define you. I never thought I would be a stay a home dad, drive a mini-van or things like that. But I want do what is best - for my finances, for my family, and for my God. I want to be more worried about what HE thinks of me than other people. Next month at The Journey we are talking more about our image and messages on our hearts - don’t let others opinions define your life or actions.

Part Time

I am on vacation and I am sharing some of my top posts for the past years...

PART TIME:

I am going give you a peak into my life over the next few days. I will give you the 411 on my life. Maybe my life can somehow help your life.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT #1 :  I WORK PART-TIME

You may know this or not, but when Emma was born almost 4 years ago we faced a big decision...now what?!?!  We battled over what to do. We decided that we want one of us to be home with our kids - a big decision all families face. The next question was who will stay at home. Well, I won. Because Steph teaches, the option became clear. If she gave up her job, three major things would happen - we would lose the bigger income job, we would lose awesome health insurance, and Steph would probably never teach again (she would be over qualified and there are about 250 applications for each teacher job in west michigan). So, I became full time dad and full time pastor. About 9 months later, I almost had a nervous breakdown. I was trying to do it all and that didn’t work. So, after talking with Paul and lead team, I went to a 3/4 time position. I have a few people who watch the kids during a few specific times and we are able to make things work for me to stay home with the kids. It’s still really hard to balance it all, but it is great having time to connect with kids.

One of the major factor of this decision was regrets. I want to limit my regrets in life. I regret some things...not taking God seriously in my teens, passing up opportunities to talk to people about God...I don’t want to have regrets when it comes to my family. I am not saying that everyone should have a parent stay home with kids. I am just saying - don’t have regrets - lean into what is important. It might be hard, you might not be able to do everything you want and you might need help from others. All I know is life is better when you are doing the right things.

rest

I am taking some vacation time...actually 11 (maybe 12) straight days of vacation. I have taken about 3-4 weeks of vacation over the last 6 years since we started working on the Journey. So, I am going to take a long stretch to try to turn off my brain and relax. We aren’t going away for 2 weeks; but, have a few projects around the house, we have some day trips planned and we are going to just chill and spend time as a family.  

I feel kinda of spent lately. I always feel that way in May. I am just waiting for Steph to be done with school so she is home for the summer and I get a break from being dad/pastor full time. The main thing is God tells us to take a Sabbath Day. It has nothing to do with church. It is about taking time to rest and focus. Personally, it is easier for me to work more than less. But I know when I get worn out, things go bad. I am a better Jesus-follower, husband, father, and friend when I take time to rest. We have talked a lot at church about hearing from God lately. I can’t hear from God or even focus on His word or really even focus on anything when I am burnt out. So rest is very important.

How about you? There will also be more work to do so just leave it for tomorrow and take a loud off and refocus with a little r and r.

eli

I am on vacation so I am sharing some of my top posts for years past...This is a series of post based on the health issues we faced with Eli in his first few months...

April 30: We got a call from of doctor last night the Eli had a test come back abnormal for cystic fibrosis. We are going for further testings this week but we won’t know until next week. He also has hip problem that is correctable by wearing a brace. We have an ultrasound on Friday for that and then we meet with a specialist later. So, we are feeling overwhelmed. Please pray that everything comes back negative and for strength for us either way.

May 8: Kids make life fun, meaningful, and full of love. Kids make life harder. Eli has had some health issues. While I never claim to have life and God figured out...well, this just adds more questions. If God knit him together (Psalms 139), then why does he have these issues? I have felt like God has been challenging me to trust Him with my family over these past weeks.  I don’t think God gave Eli health problems for me to just trust God more. However, I have felt like I am being challenged to trust God with my family as we walk through this time. I think this is really hard...for dad’s especially. We need to take care & protect of our families, but can I really trust God with them? Can I trust that God knows what is best for my family and not try to control my world? We have been through a wide range of emotions over the last couple weeks...this has been an added issue. 

This past Sunday, we sang a song that said...not my will, but Yours be done. This was kinda hard for me to sing this week. It is easy to talk about wanting to follow God and trusting God with our lives and our families. It is hard to live that out. I would much rather pray...God break the laws of the universe for my benefit. But even if I have questions, I know that God is with me, that He loves me and that He wants what is best for me...and my family. While sometimes I have a different opinion on that, I think I will trust the judgement of the Creator of all things. If life was perfect and easy, why would we need God? Faith is about trust. It wouldn’t be called faith if it was easy.

May 24: We got our test back from Mayo Clinic. We are happy to report that Eli’s DNA test came back normal with no mutations. They still want to do some test in the future but we are putting this past us. We are thankful to God for Eli, his health, and the strength and patience through this time of waiting. Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Recap of Message on July 20: 

VANTAGE POINT _ WEEK 2

living with an eternal perspective

RECAP

Today we looked at how the trials in life can give us a broader perspective. I shared about the last couple month - the most stressful time of my life. During this time, Eli was born and we went through some health issues with him including getting tested for cystic fibrous (he has been cleared as of a couple weeks ago). We looked at James 1:2-4 - consider trials joy because they make us complete. Basic - no pain no gain - no adveristy, no opportunities. If we always look for the easy way out, we are incomplete. We looked at 2 Cor. 1:8-11 - and how the trials in life change our perspective so we are not focused on ourselves - it leads us to live in relationships - relying on God and the help of others. If we want to work through the trials of life, we can’t zoom in on the problem. The conflict will control us. Consume us. Destory us. Instead, zoom out for God’s perspective. Keep things in perspective. Understand that adversity leads to opportunities. Trials can increase our relationship with God. We need other and our scars can become trophies and stories that can change lives. Life is hard. We don’t want to invite conflict. But adversity leads to opportunities to see God work in our lives (John 9).

THOUGHTS

It was hard for me not be emotional. I was spent after the second service. I was happy to share my story. I hope it encourages others to share their story. Some people were like - we didn’t even know about it. Well, we didn’t broadcast it because we were sick of talking and thinking about it. 

getting to know me, getting to know all about me...getting to like...

Again welcome to my new blog. I am on vacation right now but over the next 11 days I will share some of my top blog posts from the last couple years...enjoy the summer! I will be back at the end of next week.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. I hope that this is give you a snapshot of my relationship with God, what is happening at The Journey, and why we do what we do. 

If you want to see older posts, you can check them out at my old blog.