American Idol - Final (Elite) 8 Live Analysis

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It’s gameday again. Being as sports-minded as I am, I always look forward to the actual game. Practice is the necessary evil that helps you get to the real deal….GAMETIME. I was curious about the theme for tonight and found out at another site that the eight fighters left try their hand at inspirational stuff. They also offered a few song suggestions.

David Archuleta - Papa Don’t Preach by Madonna
Kristy Lee Cook - Don’t Speak by No Doubt
Michael Johns - Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport by Rolf Harris
Brooke White - Crybaby by Mariah Carey
David Cook - My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
Jason Castro - I Am Not My Hair by India.Arie
Carly Smithson - I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Frank Sinatra
Syesha Mercado - Don’t Forget About Us by Mariah Carey

Gotta give ‘em credit…those are pretty stinkin’ funny. I’m hoping I don’t like the suggestions better than what actually happens. I have a suspicion that our contestants will either soar or flop…I don’t think there will be any in-between ground. Come back at game-time and we’ll get out the telestrator and explain what you’re seeing. Who needs John Madden anyway?

$500 Ideas

OK…this should be fun.  Thanks to some of you faithful readers, I made it into the next round of the blogging tournament This week, the subject for the contest goes in a very different direction that I want to invite you to participate in.  Here’s the challenge:

Blog about the best marketing and/or outreach idea for $500 or less. 

So here’s where you come in.  Give me your ideas.  It could be a lot of fun to see what people come up with and I may take your idea and enter it in the contest.  Here’s one that came from Tim M today that cracked me up. 

Reserved Gladiator Seating

1. Put reserved seating signs on all the back row seats and tables for a month or two.
2. Rent one of these http://www.thefunones.com/gladiator_joust_rental.html
3. Put signs up and let everyone know that you can only sit in the back row seats
   1. if you are a visitor
   2. if you battle the Pastor in Gladiator Joust and win.

Bring it on Baby!!!!!  It’s a battle royale for best seats in the house.  So what you got?  Post  ‘em here before the end of the day Tuesday. 

American Idol - Final Eight Power Rankings

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BREAKING NEWS! Malubay Ken is happy that Malubay Barbie is now coming home. According to Ken, “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone!” So while Malubay Barbie’s fans may disappointed with her exit, Ken is ready to start breaking out new Malubay furniture to welcome her back.

Last week brought some surprising developments in the competition…

• The performances with Dolly Parton’s material were outstanding
• Brooke White suffered a blow to her power ranking.
• KLC has more lives than a roomful of cats

Here are my power rankings for this week…changes are in order.

Sunday Night Lights

What a day!  Sundays provide both the highest satisfaction for me each week as well as the most stress.  Sunday is “game day” for me…it’s when everything I’ve worked for and planned for during the week reaches its fruition.  It’s also the time when EVERYTHING matters.  But week after week, it provides deep satisfaction.  Here are today’s highlights.

• We finished the LOST & FOUND segment of our series this morning.  It’s been a remarkable journey we’ve been on accompanied by the inhabitants of LOST.  Here’s the main points for the last 5 weeks.
  • The Wreckage - There was a crash and it changed everything.  Everyone was eqully lost.
  • The Realities - The wreck changed everything for the survivors of LOST.  We looked at paralells between thier situation and ours
  • The Rescue - Just when rescue was offered, the voice of the enemy suggested that it would be a tragic mistake.  When Jesus offers his rescue to us, we all have to wrestle with that same voice that urges us to rethink before accepting Jesus’ rescue.
  • The Return - As Jack said at the end of season three - “We have to go back”.   Rescue typically implies going from a bad situation to something better.  But many of us struggle with pain and suffering and doubt and fear.  If the rescue of Jesus offered something better, then why doesn’t he just take us on to heaven?  Because we have to “Go Back!”
  • The Requirement - Today we looked at the fact that going back is not an option….it is a requirement.  We are all called to participate on this mission that Jesus Christ gave the church.  And it is NOT a mission to satisfy the converted, it is a mission to reach the lost.  It’s messy, it’s hard, but it’s non-negotiable. 
• We concluded the service with one of the most powerful pieces of video I have ever seen a church do.  You MUST go to Dave Milam’s site (planting pastor of Kinetic Church in Charlotte, NC) and watch this video.  They had their trailer stolen with everything that belonged to the church in it.  This is their response. 
• I had several people share stories with me about how this series has helped them engage in some very needed spiritual conversation with important people in their lives.  This is fuel for my soul.  It fires me up when people are taking the spiritual meal from Sunday and turning it into spiritual conversations through the week. 

It was a powerful and beautiful day.  God is awesome.  I’m tired, but grateful.  I will sleep well. 

March Madness - Final Four

 The Final Four is here and the final standings in all brackets are up for grabs. 

Here at the Coach’s Corner, my offspring and I still have positions 1,2,3.  But that will all shift depending on the winners in these next three games. 

In my Blogging Church Planter’s Bracket, I’m stuck in the 30s, but can still rise to finish just outside the Top 10 if my teams win tonight.   Here’s how I see it—-

UCLA vs Memphis - Memphis utterly destroyed everyone it has played in this tournament and gave Texas (the team I had picked to finish in the Final Four) a Texas-sized beat down.  I could see it coming too.  Memphis is making a believer out of me, unfortunately it’s a year late (I had them picked for the Final Four LAST year).  But….UCLA brings three consecutive years of experience on this stage.  I think Memphis will out “athleticize” (new word here on the Coach’s Corner) them, but that the experience UCLA has will be the difference down the stretch.  I think Memphis’s best bet is if they get off to a running start that can see them all the way through, but I don’t think that will happen here.  UCLA by 5. 

UNC vs Kansas - UNC is paying out of this world and Kansas got all they could handle from Davidson.  Add in the “revenge” factor that Kansas is playing for, the “never been there before” factor for Coach Self, and I think it adds up to too much pressure to overcome the UNC juggernaut.  UNC by 8. 

I’ll wait to see how bad my predictions are to assess the final.  Good luck everyone!

Does the Presidential Election Matter?

I NEED YOUR VOTE!

The blogging world continues to expand in very cool directions for me.  I am learning, I am meeting new people, I am being challenged, and I am loving it.  One of the latest stretches for me is a blogging tournament run by the guys over at Planting Space.  It’s a blog geared toward the DNA-freaks that become church planters.  Anyway, they’ve decided to stage this blogging tourney pitting church planters from around the web-world against each other blogging on assigned themes.  Votes will be cast, and winners will advance.  This week’s topic is “Does the Presidential Election Matter?”  My response is below, but it would be really cool if you would drop by and cast a vote beginning 4/3/08 ……….(CLICK HERE TO VOTE): ………

Manhood (Part 13) - Man and His Family (Authority)

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In our last installment on this topic, we established how critically important the family is for every man. That in the end, his family is his legacy above all else. It would seem that our obligations as men are so high that we will never live up to them.

C. S. Lewis, as always, said it clearly:

It is painful, being a man, to have to assert the privilege, or the burden, which Christianity lays upon my own sex. I am crush­ingly aware of how inadequate most of us are, on our actual and historical individualities, to fill the place prepared for us.

Oh, how right he is. Left to ourselves we are totally inadequate. But “the place prepared for us” is still there, and it must be occupied. As Christian men, we must throw ourselves at the feet of the King of Kings, and beg His wisdom, insight, grace, and blessing. Still, the mantle must be worn. When a man refuses it, everybody is the loser for it.

Whatever our frustration-a culture that bites us, wives who won’t follow us, kids who won’t cooperate with us-we do not have the option of just tossing up our hands and walking away. God-honoring men don’t quit. God-honoring men don’t abdicate, or try to hide in the baggage from God’s anointing, like the pitiful king-designated Saul.

God-honoring men stay at it. And stay. And stay. And stay. Growing and improving. Taking the hits and pushing on down the field. Moving in one direction over the long haul. Many times it’s two steps forward, one back. But it’s still movement; it’s keeping on keeping on.

Signs of Life

I went over to the church this afternoon, and as I pulled back into the neighborhood, for the first time this year, I saw the unmistakable signs of life.  Trees and shrubs everywhere with those ever so small red tips.  There is life there.  It’s coming.  What has been dormant is now springing back. 

I feel that way about life many times.  I’ve been through numerous patches of dormant seasons where nothing feels right…where very little flows effortlessly.  But when new life arrives, it feels wonderful.  Happily, I feel like I’m entering one of those seasons now….where life is returning…where energy is renewed….where hope is plentiful….and anything is possible. 

How about you?  Ever been there?  There now? 

American Idol - Final Nine Elimination

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I’m on a slight tape delay tonight since I just wrapped up an evening of band rehearsal myself. But, with commercials being what they are, I’ll be caught up to real-time in a snap. I always have mixed emotions about the elimination nights. First you have to endure some of the hokiest, cheeziest group medleys ever created. I often wonder if the gang would rather skip this portion. Second, you have the whole wait to see who got the short straw. There’s always the hope that the worst will go home, but there’s always the realizaton that people like Chris Daughtry got sent packing before their time. It’s a bit of a crap-shoot but I guess that’s why we watch.

Worst Performances Last Night - This is a bit misleading because I didn’t really think anyone stunk the joint up last night. But, there will be three at the bottom….so who do I think will be there?

Manhood (Part 12) - Man and His Family (Authority)

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Yesterday we presented a clear and compelling case for the authority of a man in relation to his wife. Maybe one of the reasons that this has become a frightening concept for most women (and plenty of men) is because of how authority gets abused. But the sort of authority that God is mandating here looks much different than the type most of us are accustomed to. Once again, we’ll let Stu Weber lead us in this discussion…….

There is no room in biblical headship for self-inflated big shots. Still, God’s Word makes it undeniably clear that “the man” is the head of his home. The man is held responsible for the leadership of his marriage and home! The two words that describe his role most basically are “husband” and “head.” These two words are good words—benevolent words—intended to provide our homes with leadership, authority, order, and direction. Rightly understood, they are Camelot-inducing words. If you’ll allow me, I’ll borrow a couple of definitions from my earlier book, Tender Warrior, to nail these terms down.

HUSBAND. The noun form of the word means “manager.” A hus­band is a steward. He is a caretaker and caregiver. He is the man held responsible. In its verb form the word means “to direct, to manage.” Those are strong terms that imply effective and responsible leadership.

HEAD. “Head” means director. It means chief. As in headmaster. Principal. Foremost. “Head” equals leadership and authority, as in the head of the class, head of the military, head of the company, head of the church, head of the home, or head man. Head means head.