Un-American

You have to watch this video no matter which way you lien politically.

Getting Settled

Another move is complete!  Hopefully the last one for a looooooong time.  Just finished the last few items last night and now on to getting things hung on the wall and organized.  With a wife like mine things need to get organized quickly!  This is a good thing because it could be months to get it in order if left entirely up to me.

Now I just need to get back into routine with life and work and blogging.  I am hopeful that by next week I will be back into a rythm again.

Continued prayer for the Resnick family is needed as they grieve their great loss.  For me with my work situation.

Thanks for stopping by.

Crazy Life

I cannot believe how much time has flown by since I posted last.  A while back I committed to keeping my blog up to date, well I have failed at that big time.

Life is crazy in the Clayville house these days.  Jenni and I have been through a lot in the last month and it just keeps coming.  The latest tragedy that we  recently  experienced can be seen on Jenni’s site so I will let you read about it there.

We are moving this week end and just starting to pack.  I am looking for a full time job and considering buying a franchise.  Your prayers would be appreciated in regards to the right move for me.  Considering some Mortgage opportunities and applying for banking jobs in the financial services arena.

Chance and Paxton are both doing great.  Chance is talking up a storm every day and keeping us entertained with his new observations.  Paxton is starting to crawl and that means no more laying him down and not worrying about where he will end up.

After the move I will recommit to posting on a regular basis.

Today we celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary.  I am so in love with my wife!

Gays In the Military-Obama

I enjoyed watching this video to hear where our nation stands on this issue now.  I use to be very opinionated on the topic but now not so much. Check out MORE HERE (video included), it’s a little long but you should watch the interview with Choi.

Preaching Confessional

Today was an experience to be remembered.

I woke up early and angry.  Strange combination huh?  Anyway, I wanted to practice my sermon a few times before the kids got up and totally distracted me.  Of course, being angry it was really hard to get my mind wrapped around the sermon.  So, I spent a few minutes praying for freedom from the anger and the ability to focus.  My mind cleared up very quickly but then baby #1 looks down the stairs into my office with the question in his eyes, can I come down?  Of course, I invite him to come sit with me.

Recently Chance has been very whiney about everything so with in a few minutes he is whining about something and quickly getting on my nerves.  Then, Baby #2 wakes up and needs attention.  Long morning short, I didn’t get much practice in.  I read it one time out loud before we left the house.

At church, we were the second family to arrive for set up.  Matt Isborn was there with the trailer so we quickly jumped into getting church all set up.  We were short handed by 3 of our usual set up guys which could have made things very difficult.  What amazes me every week is how smoothly set up goes regardless of who is there and who is not.

Once the main things were handled I sneaked away to get one more crack at preparing my sermon.  I felt pretty good about it but certainly didn’t have it memorized.  The topic of our series is “Your Own Personal Jesus”.  It talks about all the different images people have of who Jesus is or was.  Mine was on “Middle Class Jesus” which is perfect for me.  It is so close to the image I have held through much of my adult life.  The point is that you can tell a lot about someones image of Jesus by what they pray about.  Middle Class Jesus followers pray for safety, take away my pain, make me successful and make me happy.  I was encouraging people to pray for Jesus to make them Dangerous, Deepened, Generous and Fully Alive in Him.

This was only my second time preaching to an adult audience.  I have to say, it was much more comfortable than the first time but I was still way too serious and tied to my notes.  Next time I will practice smiling and work to have it mostly memorized.  Any other preaching tips from you pros out there?

My hope for today is that someone was encouraged if they are in real pain right now. I also hope that people were challenged if they are too comfortable in their walk with God.  We can’t be comfortable and be on the front lines fighting against the evil forces that rule this earth.  If you are not engaged in the battle, I challenge you to take up your weapon and fight.

You can visit our website for Church! at Bethany and download a podcast for any of our messages.  Jenni had a great worship set and her team did a great job as usual.  Check out her recap of the day here.

Home Sweet Home

Home is a very happy place for me.  I have learned to slow down and appreciate the little things in life.  Making lots of money vs. making lots of memories, What is more important in the end?

If you were to die tomorrow, what would you regret about your life?  Who would you wish you had spent more time with?  What has been left unsaid that you would wish you could have said?  Who needs you to give them a word of encouragement or just spend some time listening to them?

Stop living half way and go see who you need to see, say what you need to say and dedicate the time to things you have been putting off.  People, our time on earth is short and we only get one shot.  Don’t live with regret, get it done!

Heavy Heart

This will be short.  I am sorry for not updating recently and don’t really have a good reason.

My reality has been turned upside down.  I have a hole in my heart that only God can fill for me.  Thank God for Todd Hoffman and his country get away in Sandy, OR.  He has been so gracious to feed me, hang by the fire with me and speak hard truth into my life.  If you are hurting and need a place to be alone or hang with other dudes who understand your pain you need to let me know and I will get you in touch with Todd.

Men need to have a healthy outlet to be whole for their families.  Our wives need us to be whole, to be strong and to love them with everything we have.  If you have never seen this modeled then you will have a hell of a time trying to figure it out on your own.  Most of us never do and we end up only giving our families a small piece of what they need.  Paying the bills and taking out the trash will not get the job done for them.  We also need to protect them from the lies Satan is whispering in their ears, he is one sly SOB and he will find a way in.

Thank you Lord for my family.  Help me to love them the way you love me.  Give me strength and courage to live fully for you so I can properly lead my family.

Roll Call

I have never done one of these because I don’t have that many readers yet.  However, I thought it would be fun to see who is reading and then check out your blog or follow you on Twitter.

Here are the rules:

Tell me your name, location, favorite joke and where to find you online.

I will start things off with a “classical” joke.

Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens? ……..Because they kept saying “Bach, Bach, Bach”

You don’t have to mock my humor, I know that was seriously corny and I will never do that to you again………. at least not for a while.

Thanks for playing along!

Twitter Psychology

I had to share this because it relates directly to my last post about community.  Here is an excerpt from the blog I was reading and if you want to see the whole thing you check it out here.

“Most interesting is how the Twitter system acts to fill a deep psychological need in our society. The unfortunate reality is that we are a culture starved for real community. For hundreds of thousands of years, human beings have resided in tribes of about 30-70 people. Our brains are wired to operate within the social context of community – programming both crucial and ancient for human survival.”  By Moses Ma, Psychology Today Blogs

Have you signed up to use Twitter and if not do you intend to?

I have to be honest, when I first heard about it I had no interest and thought it to be a complete waste of time.  My wife, Jenni started using Twitter and was totally excited about it.  She really wanted me to be on so I could enjoy some of the same conversations she was having with witty people all over the country and now the World.  Eventually she signed me up for an account but it was months later before I began to engage.  Now I am addicted and truly strive to use it to connect with people, increase business and provide valuable information to my followers.

Would all the tweeters reading this post please tell me briefly how you use Twitter  and what benefit you have seen in your life.

Today’s Message

I just wanted to make a couple comments about Matt Payne’s message in church today.  You can find it on podcast by tomorrow on the website of Church!@bethany if you want to  hear it.

He started the message this morning with a story that blew me a way.  A few years ago a man was found dead in his home.  That is not all that unusual, except the man was found holding a newspaper from four years prior.  He died in his home and no one missed him or realized he was dead for over four years.  How does that happen?

The main point of the day was about disciples of Christ doing life together.  What stood out to me the most was the reality of how busy we all get and how little time we spend really building relationships with people.  Think about your typical week for a moment.

• Do you just stop by and see a friend?
• Do you go visit someone in the hospital?
• Do you invite anyone over for dinner?
• Does your family have any meals together?
• Do you have close friends that you see every week that you can share your heart with?

I can honestly say yes to a couple of these but for the most part I get pretty wrapped up in myself and my endeavors and don’t really take time to be in community.

Besides being on Facebook or Twitter, what can you do to really connect with someone this week?  How about just starting by going to your neighbors house to say hi?