Most people who know me well know what I think about John Maxwell's body of work. I must say I was pleasantly surprised, however, when I read this snippet of an interview with the "leadership guru" in Rev Magazine recently:

Rev!: What would you do differently if you were starting over today?
Maxwell: I’d have a lot less church; I’d have less programs; I’d have less services. I’d have a lot less of everything.
Rev!: Why?
Maxwell: As a pastor I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but one of my major mistakes was thinking that life revolved around the local church and what we were doing. For example, if you were a member of the church, you had to have a ministry in the church. That was a huge mistake. I had high-capacity people in my church doing things that were pretty mundane for business people. If I had it to do over again, I’d have people doing a lot more ministry outside the church, in their workplace or in their community or in their volunteer organizations. I’d find out where they had the greatest influence and make their ministry where their greatest influence was, not confine it to a church. Huge mistake I made. And I didn’t see it until I was out, but I was too inward. I had a lot of high-capacity people who were probably never “salt and light” like they could have been. I’d change that immediately if I went back to the local church. I’d be much more into how we influenced the community and a lot less into “How can I get everybody onboard with my church and with my program?”

(If you want, you can read the rest of the interview here.)

Kari and I also listened to a message by Brian McLaren which was recommended to me both by Jason and linked on James' blog. It was very insightful and challenging, which will be no surprise to anyone who has read McLaren.

In light of some challenges which face the EPIC service here at BCN, we've decided to start an EPIC blog, administrated mostly by Jason, the teaching pastor in EPIC. It can be found here (right now all that is on there is a test post about how lousy the Green Bay Packers were in their preseason game against the Bengals). Hopefully we'll get it up and running soon.

Well, just an update on us. We're wading through (and really enjoying) "The Challenge of Jesus."

I've noticed a couple friends asking anyone who reads their blogs to post a comment to say how they stumbled there, how often they read, etc. This seems like a good idea. So, post away.

Here is a list of the fine, quality, Major League pitchers who have recently beaten the (ahem) defending NL Central Champion Cardinals:

• Dave Williams
• Steve Trachsel
• Aaron Heilman
• Michael Wuertz
• Paul Maholm
• Ian Snell
• Zach Duke

Awesome.

Is-ring-haus-en
Function: noun, proper
Etymology: German, from German issrinhaus, meaning sorry arm

1. An exercise in futility.

...who knows some stuff about composting, help me out. In the interest of not alienating our neighbors with any unpleasant aromas or unsightly piles o' crap (figuratively, of course), is this what we need?

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3 (Except I don't know if they'll ship to the States.)

Also, would these help?

It's been a nice couple weeks.

It all started on my birthday, ironically, when I thought I saw a ghost in the back of the church. Instead, it was my college roommate, Doug, with whom I have shared some of life's most amazing moments, and his lovely wife, Molly. They were visiting from Honduras, where they care for children suffering from HIV/AIDS. You can read about their work or donate to them by clicking here. They couldn't stay long, but it meant a lot to me that they went out of their way to swing by BCN and see if I was there.

While Doug and Molly were there, they invited me to a gathering in Columbus the following Saturday. While there I reconnected with some people who have played an integral role in my spiritual development, saw some old friends from college I haven't seen for years, and met some wonderful new people.

Then I got to have lunch with Brandon last week, one of those friends with whom I have reconnected in this journey. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be with him. He, Doug & Molly, and others (many whose blogs are linked to the right) have had a profoud impact on the (hopefully) deepening of my spiritual walk and commitment to Jesus.

All this sandwiched around a trip to my parents' in Kentucky so Braden have fun in the water, a couple small birthday celebrations, revisiting an old hobby (baseball cards; I've decided to start building my first set, the 1968 Topps set), an opportunity to speak in our EPIC service here at BCN, an amazing all-church prayer meeting, deepening friendships with the people in this new community, and the joy my wife and my son bring me day in and day out.

Kari and I are preparing to tackle our first NT Wright book together, The Challenge of Jesus. We're both excited about it. We're also still dealing with the balance between ministering to the young adults here at BCN and truly developing the Small Groups ministry, which (if accomplished with my true vision) will require quite a culture change. Frankly, there's not much balance at all right now.

I've been dealing with a few questions lately, mostly surrounding nationalism, patriotism, and the Kingdom. There's a great conversation on this topic taking place here and here.

Oh...Kari and I are about to start composting.

Cool.

Well, maybe you heard it somewhere else first, or maybe you figured it out on your own.

The Cardinals are terrible. They did a lousy job building a team to compete their first year in a new stadium. Their ownership, which has always been very aggressive and willing to reinvest profits in player salaries and team improvement, apparently has decided that the bottom line is all that matters anymore.

The Reds will win the NL Central, and they will do so with considerable ease (4 games or more). One of the teams from the West or the Phillies or Braves will win the Wild Card. The Cardinals will go home disappointed, where they deserve to be with a sorry pitching staff like the one they have.

This is not me being a naysayer. It's not me trying reverse psychology. It's not even me trying to prepare myself for the heartache. Any reasonable observer would draw the same conclusion.

Congratulations to the Reds, whose new ownership, as I feared, will embarrass Walt Jocketty and the boys for years to come. What a shame for Pujols.

When the Redbirds leave Cincinnati next Thursday, they'll be comfortably in second place. And they'll be lucky to stay there.