Megan and I went and voted early today since we’ll be driving home from Wisconsin on Novmeber 4th. No matter what happens, this election is a big deal. But if you’re still looking for a reason to vote, GOOD Magazine published an article with 1,565 Reasons To Vote (read it as a series online).

Here are 10 of my favorites:

#1.  An “I Voted” sticker is the unequivocal best accessory of all time.

#16. Nader supporters will.

#21. “Whether we like politics or not, politicians are running our lives. They decide issues of war and peace, whether we’ll have jobs, whether we can afford a good education, the quality of our environment, and whether we and our loved ones will be able to afford quality health care. How can we possibly choose not to care? ” -Jerry Springer

#96. It’s so easy, even old people can do it. And they do. In 2004, only 47 percent of people age 18 to 29 voted; 73 percent of people age 65 to 74 did. Are they voting for the person you want to win?

#190. More than 1.1 million people will apply for legal U.S. citizenship this year—an all-time high. While those immigrants wait to enjoy the rights of that citizenship, we have all of its privileges now.

#202. As the “leaders of the free world” we seriously lag when it comes to voter turnout, and not just behind our friends in Western Europe, who have us by about 20 percent. Despite major suppression and violence, and an almost-total boycott by Sunnis, Iraq still turned out a higher percentage of voters than we did last time around. And Malta turned out 93 percent of voters in its last election—that was a down year.

#784. You voted for prom queen at your school. Ditto season two of American Idol.

#1521. The previously irrelevant town of Obama, Japan (population 32,000), wants to maintain it’s high Google ranking and booming tourist trade.

#1552.  You get to see the inside of some municipal facility you’d never otherwise visit.

#1554. The United States has scared the crap out of the world, and with a major change, we just might be able to rectify the damage done to our reputation and standing in world affairs.

This weekend we made the annual trip to the apple orchard. This year it was to Christ Orchard in Elmwood. Megan was on the ball and we already have homemade applsauce! Anyway, here are a few pictures.

Moving went really well. We had lots of help from lots of friends. Thanks to everyone- we couldn’t have done it without you!

I’m learning the joys of owning a home. My to-do list is never ending. But we love the house. I’m just anxious for all the boxes to be gone. Or to at least have one room in the house where I can sit and not see something that needs unpacked.

We won’t have internet til next week and I plan on updating more then. Right now I’m at Panera Bread and Megan is ready to go so that’s it for now!

The day has arrived. I’m in my last hour as a staff member at Christ The Rock. The journey here has been crazy. Megan and I have learned and grown so much over the past 3 years. People ask me how I’m feeling and the best answer I can come up with is surreal. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet that I’ll walk out of here on a Friday and on Monday I’ll be moving into my house in Peoria. It’s a crazy mix of emotions- one moment I don’t really want to leave and the next I can’t wait to get to Peoria.

The CTR community has been incredibly encouraging to us and it is so good to have their blessing as we go. We feel that in a way we’re being sent out from here. Words on the screen hardly do it justice.

But I’m incredibly excited about starting at Imago Dei and getting to work closely with good friends. I’m overwhelmed with the goodness that God is showing me…I don’t deserve to have a job that I love so much. 

Thanks to everyone in the Appleton area who has been a part of our lives for the past 3 years. Stay in touch.

Grace and peace.

I have never been accused of being an organized person. My desk is usually cluttered, my calendar isn’t up to date and my to-do list (if I even have one) is on random scrap pieces of paper. With the big move coming up in a month there is a lot to keep track of at work and personally. It gets a bit overwhelming at times and feels like I have so much to do but don’t know what to do next.

So in light of being in a stage of major life transition plus knowing that working at a church plant means juggling many things at once I’ve been on the lookout for organization/productivity tips. I came across this video of Randy Pausch’s “Time Management” lecture. Now that doesn’t sound too exciting at first but this guy’s story is pretty inspiring. Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the video of his “Last Lecture” gained a lot of buzz online last year. He gave that lecture after he had been diagnosed with cancer and only had a few months to live (he just died a few days ago). It’s well worth your time if you haven’t seen it. Just good philosophies for life.

This “Time Management” lecture was also given after his diagnoses. It’s just as good but much more practical in nature. If you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day- take the time to watch this. I like his approach because it’s not ultimately about “getting more things done in less time” but rather- using your time wisely so you have time for things that really matter like family and friends. It’s a little over an hour long but it doesn’t feel like it. Skip ahead to about the 12 minute mark when he actually starts the lecture. And I would suggest watching it on Google Video so you can make it full screen.

The changes this inspired for me:

• Started using Remember The Milk for to-do lists. It not only lets you put due dates on tasks but it lets you give each task a priority and then sort your list by priority. That’s something most to-do list apps miss. You can have multiple lists in your account (work, personal, etc.) Plus there’s tons of other features and it’s free.
• Integrated RTM with my Google Calendar and GMail account. Now I can see and manage tasks right on my calendar or in my e-mail.
• Cleaned my desk.
• Cleaned out my e-mail inbox down to zero. (Check out Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero method for a more in-depth look at e-mail management.)
• Started to pause a few times a day for task managment. This seems like it takes more time at first, but in the long run it’s a big time saver.

Now the real trick will be making habbits out of these things. I’ll report back in a few weeks on how it’s going. (a to-do item right there!)

In honor of Independence Day (and my wife’s consistent requesting) my face is now independet of a beard. I’m not sure if I like it. I kinda think once you go beard, you don’t go back. So cast your vote…beard or no beard? (See the photo at the top of my blog for a bearded reference.)

My lack of blogging lately has been partially due to laziness but also partially due to not being able to write about some big things that were in the works. But this week our big news officially went public so I’m incredibly excited to announce that I will be going on staff at Imago Dei Church in Peoria! This means that Megan and I are moving back to the area in Illinois we’re originally from! While we’re really excited about this new journey ahead we are sad to be leaving Christ The Rock. We have grown a lot as people and we love the church. It has really become home for us. But we know that Peoria is where God is calling us now.

So here’s the story behind the announcement…

Megan and I were born, raised and married in the Peoria area. We moved to Appleton six days after we were married in August of 2005 because I had just gotten a job as the Graphic Arts Coordinator at Christ The Rock. But for the past year and a half or so when we would go back to our hometown our eyes were being opened to a lot of the hurt and the need for restoration in that area. We had a few conversations about what it might look like to start a new church in Peoria but we thought that if it ever happened it would be at least 5-10 years down the road. And in the back of our minds we thought it would be really cool if our friend, Charlie (former blogger), would be the lead pastor. It was an idea that would come up every once in a great while but in all honesty, I’m not sure that I really believed it would ever come to life.

Then at the end of last year I got an e-mail from Charlie announcing that the community of people which made up his small group had decided to take the leap and plant a church. I remember reading that e-mail and my jaw just kind of dropped. I instantly knew that this raised questions for Megan and I about where God would want us. I e-mailed Charlie right away and let him know that we would be praying about if this meant that God was calling us back to Peoria. A day or two later I got a phone call from him and we talked about their plans for this new church and Charlie told me that he had been telling people that I was the first person he wanted to hire. Now I about had to about pick my jaw up off the floor. God was clearly up to something.

So a few months went by and March came around. Megan and I drove back to Peoria to celebrate the public launch of Imago Dei on Easter Sunday with our friends. I think after experiencing that first Sunday with them we knew that we would end up back in Peoria sooner than later. But again, I figured it would take a few years for the church to get off the ground and be financially stable enough to hire me.

Then about a month ago Charlie and I had a conversation and he said it was looking like they might be ready to hire me this summer. So Megan and I prayed about it and I talked to a pastor at CTR who has been a mentor to me for the past few years and God kept confirming over and over that this was the move to make. A few weeks ago we went down to Peoria and spent some time with the Imago leadership team and really enjoyed that time (although it was way too short!). So now it’s official. As of September 1, I will be on staff at Imago Dei.

Of course the first question everyone asks is, “what will you be doing?” And my answer is usually, “Well, it’s a church plant- so a little of everything.” But my main roles will be leading music, creating graphics, developing/maintaining the website and church database and also being a part of the leadership team providing vision and direction for the community. I feel incredibly blessed and humbled that the Imago team is inviting me to be a part of leading their community. It’s going to be very challenging but I’m excited to see all the ways that God will provide for and grow this new community of believers. And I’m sure my job will flex and shift as the community grows.

So pray for Megan and I as we transition. Pray that the transition from Christ The Rock would be smooth and that they find someone to take my place quickly. Pray for Megan and I as we buy our first house. And also pray for Imago as this is a leap of faith form them as well as us.

I can’t wait to start this new journey. I’ve already spent quite a few nights laying awake thinking and dreaming about new ways to do worship through music, how Imago might engage the Peoria community and other creative ways to bring the kingdom of God to Peoria.

So that’s the short version of the story but this is only the prologue.

• What’s In A Name?
• What We’re FOR
• Everything
• Imago Dei Church, Week 1
• and lots of other good stuff in the Imago Dei cagetory…

If you’re in the Appleton area come hang out with us at Copper Rock Coffee in downtown Appleton tomorrow night. We’re hosting an event as a benefit/fundraiser for our friend Lisa who is going to Kenya for 3 months to work with HEART. There will be root beer kegs, music from Nate Lenz and Beth Klemme and Tiffany Thompson will be speaking.

One of my favorite shows, This American Life, is doing a live event on May 1st. I’m quite excited about this. It’s going to be broadcast to select theaters nationwide (including Appleton and Peoria). I already bought tickets for Megan and I because we’re big fans. If you’ve never listened to This American Life you should go to their website and hear an episode or two. They tell true stories in an absolutely brilliant, funny and engaging way. You really have to hear it to understand how good it is. And I’ll bet money that the live show will be a blast. Get tickets here.

Thanks to my brother for getting me hooked on it. Anyone else going?

Presidential Election 2008, Vote for Willie!
Originally uploaded by Katz_42!

That has become my official position on the presidential election.

We spend lots of time and energy debating over which candidate is the “right” candidate. And maybe some of that is good.

But the truth is that I could do research and make a strong argument for any of the candidates. None of them are stupid. They all have their policies and their ideas on how to solve problems and they all have experts to back up what they’re saying.

Just look at the issue of healthcare. I’m sure if I wanted to spend the time, I could write a compelling argument for Obama’s plan but I could just as easily do that for McCain’s. And who am I to claim that I have any idea what would work best?

Or what about the war in Iraq? Do I really have a clue if we should stay there or if it’s time to pull out? I have no military experience and I barely understand foreign policy. But again, I can find strong arguments for both sides.

Most of the time I feel like political debate is really just a contest of who has memorized more arguments to support their side. I happen to support Obama but it wouldn’t be difficult to win a debate with me on who I should vote for. I’ve done some reading but I really can’t pull out stats on the fly to support my decision.

What you look for, you will find. We’re all basing our opinions on someone else’s reporting. And at the end of the day I’m voting on a hunch.

So let’s all admit that I don’t know and neither do you.